A/N Sorry everyone, I was trying to get a Gorillaz fic going and I wanted to update them together (it's not the one i put up today, but you guys should tell me what you think of it anyway. it's called 'Mistletoe'! look it upon my profile!)

Anyway, I figure for my birthday I'd give you guys the gift of a new chapter rather than make you wait. We're starting to see Hadiya's temper, and the source of it all. Enjoy it everyone!

Oh! I still haven't thought of a title. Suggestions?

x x x

"This isn't what it looks like! I was...uh..." Timon tried to push his mother's hands away when he saw Hadiya enter the nest. His hair was twisted into one oversized curl that fell onto his face. Hadiya merely blinked at him and addressed Osono.

"Ma'am, would it be okay if Timon came to play?"Osono smoothed her son's hair back into place, nodding. Without bothering to see whether he wanted to come along, Hadiya pulled Timon through the entrance tunnel by the arm.

"I'm not 'playing'."

"Good, me neither."

"Then wha-?" she shushed him and led him past several twists and turns, eventually coming to an old stretch of tunnel. It looked like it had been unoccupied for some time. She lead him along, seeming to know her way quite well.

"You're like me, aren't you? You need to get away from everyone once in a while." they turned to the side and entered a small chamber. Timon hadn't seen the opening, but Hadiya hadn't even looked for it. He got the impression that she came here often.

"Sometimes."

She sat against the wall, leaning back and looking at him. "I come down here a lot, when my dad's in a bad mood. Sort of my place. You'd better not tell anyone I come down here." she warned, giving him a very stern sort of look. "If you don't tell I'll share it with you."

"I won't then." he settled next to her, watching her out of the corner of his eye. "So, what did you want?"

"Nothing really."

"You mean you dragged me down her for nothing?" Hadiya looked a little offended as she looked at him.

"No, I wanted to thank you again. And, I wanted to say...you know...I'm sorry."

"Oh." he knew what she meant. He had been hearing it from nearly everybody. He dropped his gaze to the ground beneath them and Hadiya smiled kindly at him.

"At least you had him for a little while, right?" he didn't answer. "Timon?"

"What's that supposed to mean?" he glared at her, tears starting at the corners of his eyes. Slightly taken aback, she shrugged.

"I just meant...you should be glad of the time that you had with him."

"Oh yeah, that's easy for you to say. Your's still comes home every night." it wasn't something he had meant to say, but he had certainly been thinking it. He didn't want her sympathy, and the way she was talking made him think. It made him realize that he hadn't really appreciated his father when he had had him. Now that he was gone, Timon knew just how important he was.

"I wish he didn't."

"What?" a growl escaped Hadiya's throat. It wasn't directed at him, though.

"I wish he didn't come home. Ever. I...I wish I could..." she pulled her knees to her chest and set her forehead against them, covering her head with her arms. "Can't say it...can't..."

"What's wrong?"

"I'm sorry. Sometimes I get a little angry..."

"A little?"

"Okay, a lot."

"I can see that." Timon patted her shoulder awkwardly, not entirely sure how to go about comforting girls. "Is he bad?" he asked, having nothing else to say.

"I'm not supposed to talk about it. Mama says it's our business so it's inappropriate to tell."

"I won't tell anyone." she glanced toward the opening to their little room and leaned toward him, her voice low.

"Let's just say he gets angry and leave it at that." Timon nodded, even though he didn't quite know what she meant. With a small grin Hadiya stood up, offering a hand to pull him up. "One of these days when I'm bigger he won't be like that anymore. I won't let him. I'll get mama away from him and she'll be much happier."

"Hadiya..."

"What?"

"Nothing. Should we go, you think? We've been here a while." She nodded. As she lead him back out, she turned to smile at him, much happier than she had been since they'd started talking.

"I'm glad you came down here with me. If you want to come again let me know, it'll take a few trips before you can find it without really looking."

"Right."

x x x

Hadiya didn't always like coming home for one reason. That reason was Kesi's swollen eye. She was very sure that there were bruises forming under her mother's fur, even though she couldn't see them at all. Kesi pretended that they weren't there as she met Hadiya outside their nest.

"Your father's home."

"Yes, I can see that."

"Are you going to help me get dinner? I thought maybe we could go to the surface and try to find a nest."

"Can't we just dig for something down here?" Hadiya twitched as she asked, following her mother. (if you were a meerkat you'd be twitching too!)

"No, your father wants eggs. It's been some time since we've had any."

"All right then." Hadiya watched Kesi walking ahead of her. Frowning, she saw Kesi wince as she moved.

x x x

A/N sorry if it cuts off too quickly there. I've decided that, since this is kind of like Hadiya's point of view, I didn't want to write what was going on between Kesi and her husband (who is, at the moment, nameless). I think I made it fairly obvious what is going on with this family. If somebody didn't pick up on it, well, then I guess I'll tell you when I reply to your reviews.

Thanks for reading! Until next time!