Chapter 50:
Unlike the previous night, the day passed by quickly. The sun had begun to set. Yasmin's colony had returned to the Outlands to clean up the day's mess, and the pride returned to Pride Rock. The warthogs, Kito, and Morake were sound asleep in the lions' cave, sleeping close to each other. Morake purred and scooted closer to Bango. Bango lifted his head up and rested his chin on Morake's shoulders. Kito was curled up on Bango's snout, mumbling the occasional word or two.
Zuri sat against the wall, looking at Timon, who had been asleep since they left what was left of the hyenas' geysers cave. She yawned, and slapped herself. "Stay awake, stay awake." She sighed sleepily and pulled the leaves that were covering Timon up higher. "I can't believe how you can sleep so well..."
She then noticed Sudi walking over to her. "Sis, you should catch up on your sleep. We've been through a lot in the past two days and you need to regain your strength," he said.
"I know, but I wanna talk to Timon and every time I let him out of my sight he goes off somewhere."
"He's got a broken toe. I don't think he'll go too far if you sleep for a few hours. Everyone else is." He paused for a moment as he looked out towards the exit of the cave, where Sly was sitting, looking up at the sky. "Well... almost everyone else."
Zuri looked where her brother was. "Can you blame him?"
"Not at all. He hasn't said a word since we traveled to the old tunnels and buried Sengbe next to his mate. I'm surprised he's even still with us."
"Maybe he's taking me up on my offer."
He looked at Zuri. "Did you tell him about his connection to Timon?"
Zuri rubbed an eye. "No... and I don't think I should bring it up to him yet. Not after all this. Besides, if anyone should tell him it should be Panya. He'll probably hurt a little less by the time we get there."
"Here's hoping." Sudi turned to walk away, but glanced over his shoulder. "Seriously, Zuri, you should get some sleep. You'll feel better yourself."
"I told you before, I'm not..." Zuri yawned loudly and snorted softly, "... a bit sleepy."
Sudi grinned as he walked away. "Uh-huh. I'm giving you five minutes before your chin starts to droop."
Zuri watched her brother walk away, and then snorted softly as she brought her knees to her chest. "Smart aleck brother. I can last a lot longer than five minutes." She yawned again and rested her folded arms on top of her knees. She then laid her head down and closed her eyes. "Just rest my eyes for a minute..."
One hour later...
A small gust of wind blew into the cave, pushing the leaves up closer to Timon's face. It was so close that the steam of one of the leaves brushed his nostril. His nose wrinkled, and then he sat up and sneezed. He sniffled and rubbed his nose. "If I didn't know better I'd say someone made me sneeze on purpose." He checked his paw and then crossed his eyes to look at his nose. "At least I don't have whipped cream in my paw or on my nose," he said to himself. He winced softly and put a paw to his head. "Why is it whenever I run into a hyena I end up either bleeding or sore?"
"Just lucky, I guess," Zuri replied in a groggy voice. Timon looked at Zuri, surprised, but then relaxed. She was talking in her sleep and was now lying down. "Another tarantula daiquiri? Only if you find the ice." She mumbled something else and then rolled onto her stomach.
Timon smiled and softly chuckled. He went to wake her when he felt the wind brush past his ears. He stopped and squinted slightly. "You mean he's here?" he softly asked. He looked towards the exit, where Sly was still sitting. He looked at Zuri, and then back to Sly. He exhaled and grabbed the stick that was lying next to him. "I did promise I'd try to get along with him..." He stood and walked towards the exit, noticing he had a new, better cast on his right foot.
Sly was looking up at the sky, lost in the stars. He felt the wind brush against him, which brought him back to reality. He shook his head to clear it when he heard some clumping noises approaching. He smirked slightly as he looked back to the stars. "Finally back among the living, eh?"
Timon stepped up next to him and furrowed his brow slightly. "It was a very long night for some people, thank you." He noticed the distant look in Sly's face, and softened his slightly. "Get a hold of a bad bug?"
"I wish."
"So what's with the long face?"
"Sengbe. I know he wasn't my father, but..." Sly sighed and shook his head.
"What do you mean 'wasn't'?"
"I mean he died from his injuries. Died in my arms, basically."
Timon blinked and then rubbed the back of his neck as he sat down next to Sly. "Sorry. I know the feeling. But what I was confused about was that 'wasn't my father' bit. I take it you went back and got the answers?"
Sly nodded. "Lots of answers. One of them included that he wasn't even my birth father. Another..." He then pulled the doll that was hanging from his vine belt. "I don't suppose you'd recognize this?"
Timon wrinkled his eyebrows and looked at the doll. "Yeah... I used to have a doll just like that when I was a pup. Where'd you get that?"
"You wouldn't believe me if I told you."
"That's twice you've told me that. I wanna know what's so unbelievable about it," Timon frowned.
"Sure. I've got time. See, a few hours after I ran away from you..."
10 minutes later...
"... I don't believe it," Timon said with a straight face. "It's odd enough that you, of all people, are my long-lost brother, but that my father goes into your head and does a whole 'This Was Suppose To Be Your Life' thing?"
"Yup. And then I started waking up. But was it real?"
"Well, I can vouch for being there when Dad died and when I left the colony... everything else I wasn't there for or I was too young to remember. And Pete does have a nice scar on his back."
"Hmph. So it was real. They are real." He grunted as he looked up at the sky again. "Now I understand why Zuri said it wouldn't work out between us anymore." He groaned as he put a paw over his eyes. "Oy... I can't believe she's my sister-in-law now."
"I can't believe Kito actually found you." Timon scratched his head, considering. "Actually, you found him, didn't you? Well, either way... will everyone at the oasis be surprised! And Ma... she'll probably have a heart attack!" Sly gulped. "OK, maybe not a heart attack, but I'll bet you a June bug sandwich and a side of flies that she'll cry. After that, I'll show you the best spot to build a nest."
"I'm not too sure if I wanna stay there yet, Timon." Timon wrinkled his eyebrows slightly. "Don't get me wrong, it sounds like a great place, but is it for me?"
Timon gave him a weird look. "Is it for you? Ha! It's for anyone, Sly! Or is it Titus?" He scratched his head again. "Maybe Slitus? Tly? How 'bout Tylvester?"
Sly grimaced slightly. "I'd prefer Sly, thanks."
"Right, right, right. Anyway, I can make Hakuna Matata work for anyone! Once you get into the spirit, you'll feel right at home. Just spend a few days there and see how you like it."
"I don't know..."
Timon sat up a bit more squarely. "You'll know at least half of the meerkats there, remember. And you have to at least meet Ma and Uncle Max. Oh, and then there's Pete."
"I would like to see that scar up close..." Sly said as he put a finger to his chin. He pouted his lips a moment, and then looked at Timon. "By the way, is there any particular reason why you can't say the 'L' word to Zuri?"
Timon gulped slightly and then let out a cough. "To be honest, I can't remember. I could say it just fine before I met her and maybe a little bit after I met her." He cleared his throat. "Luh... loh... lie..." He coughed and hit himself in the forehead. "D'oh!" Sly softly snickered. Timon furrowed his brow at Sly's amused grin. "It's not funny, Sylvester." He sighed and rested his chin in his paws. "I just wish I could say it without choking and make her happy."
Sly tapped his chin, and then snapped his fingers. "I know one way you could do it without choking, and she'd understand it."
"Really?"
"Yeah. Listen carefully..." He leaned over to Timon and whispered in his ear.
To be continued...