Hey guys, I'm so sorry for not updating, I know it's been quite a while since I last did, I'm alive and moving and ready to give y'all the next chapter! Once again, thank you all for choosing this story as your favorite and for all the nice comments and I really wanna thank grapejuice101 for talking with me and helping with giving me some great ideas. Seriously, y'all go follow her and read her stories!

Anyways, here's another chapter with some emotions so you guys might wanna break out the tissues again :P

DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN THE LION KING OR THE SONG USED IN THIS CHAPTER

Chapter 9 – "Hakuna Matata"

Simba's POV:

I never knew that you could feel so many emotions just by walking for who knows how long. I've been walking and thinking and sweating and getting so much hunger pains, that it's becoming too much for me. After the hyenas had chased me all the way out of the Pridelands, out of my home, I knew that I was truly alone.

"You know I can't smile without you;

I can't smile without you"

My father's death basically crushed my heart, knowing that I…I murdered him, that crushed my sanity and being exiled from my home, knowing that I would never be able to hear Nala's friendly voice or Anaya's sweet smile, that crushed my spirit wholly.

"I can't laugh and I can't sing;

I'm finding it hard to do anything"

The hot deserted sand burned my paws and made me hiss a little in pain as I walked with the sun burning my back to the point that I thought I was on fire. I was tired and dizzy.

At first, I ran for a while but then the sun started to blaze so hot through the early mornings, that it made it extremely difficult for me to make it through it. I panted for air but that made me cringe because my throat was so dry. I swallowed thickly and hoped that some of my saliva would try to quench my hunger and thirst but it was of no use. No sooner was I unable to feel my legs anymore and then they gave out. My whole body crashed onto the dry, rough ground and my head started pounding.

"You see I feel sad when you're sad;

I feel glad when you're glad"

I looked ahead and in my delirious and dizzy state, I thought I saw my father standing in front of me before I blacked out.

"If only you knew what I'm going through!"

I just can't smile without you!"

Narrator's POV:

It may have been at least three days or more since the young prince blacked out. No one came around to help him, but who would? He was all alone is a deserted area with no help or other animals close by,…well, except for the buzzards nearby who have been watching him for three days, wanting to make sure that he was truly dead before they came in for their new meal. After those three days, Simba's small body started to shrink even more, to the point where you could see his ribs protruding from his now thin skin. The buzzards smiled hungrily and then started to circle the prince's body, looking down at his unconscious, what they believe to be dead, form and then descended down towards him. Some pecked at his dry and sunburned skin and others looked around to see if there were other predators that wanted to join them for dinner. However, before any of them could get a taste, they heard a yelling sound emerging towards them and looked in fear of what it could be.

"EEEEEEEHHHHH YEEEEEEEEAAAAAAH!" two animals called and then invaded the buzzards. It was a small meerkat riding on top of a big warthog. The warthog and meerkat shooed and kicked the buzzards away, scaring them off.

"Get out! Get outta here!" the meerkat shouted while his warthog friends kicked his small hoofs at them. The two then smiled and praised themselves.

"Whoo! I love bowling for buzzards!" the warthog said

"Hehe, gets them every time!" the meerkat laughed as he brushed some dirt off of himself.

"Uh oh! Hey, Timon! You better come look, I think it's still alive!" his friend said. Timon looked in disgust at it.

"Eeeh! Alrighty, what do we have here?" Timon said and then sniffed at it a little. He then picked up the paw covering the prince's face and when he looked, his eyes bugged out of his head.

"Geez! It's a lion! Run, Pumbaa! Move it!" he said with fear and then leaped on to Pumbaa's back, tugging on his ears.

"Hey! Timon, it's just a little lion. Look at him! He's so cute and all alone!" Pumbaa said with adoration. Timon looked at him as if he ate some bad bugs.

"Can we keep him?" Pumbaa asked with excitement. Timon looked at him crazily na dthen grabbed his ear.

"Pumbaa, ARE YOU NUTS?! You're talking about a lion! Lions eat guys like us!" Timon said

"But he's so little!" Pumbaa replied. Timon hopped off of Pumbaa and onto the ground.

"And he's gonna get bigger!" Timon argued.

"Maybe he'll be on our side" Pumbaa asked. Timon scoffed.

"HA! That's stupidest thing I've ever heard! Maybe he'll be-hey! I've got it! What if he's on our side? You know having a lion around might not be such a bad idea" Timon reasoned. Pumbaa smiled happily.

"So we keeping him?" he asked again and then picked him up with his tusks.

"Pbhh! Of course! Who's the brains of this alpha plan?" Timon asked.

"Uhhhhh?" Pumbaa mumbled

"My point exactly! Geez, I'm fried. Let's get outta here and find some shade!" Timon advised and then Pumbaa took off with the three of them to find a place where they could cool off.

Pumbaa and Timon found a place in their home with a little pond and splashed some water on the dehydrated cub. Simba flinched at the feel of the water on him and then blinked his eyes rapidly before opening them fully. At first everything around him was blurry but then his eyes adjusted to his surroundings and then he was able to see clearly.

"You okay, kid?" Timon asked

"I guess so" Simba replied in a raspy voice.

"You nearly died" Pumbaa emphasized with concern

"I saved ya" Timon said proudly and then Pumbaa snorted at him.

"Well uh…Pumbaa helped" Timon admitted, "A little" he then added.

"Thanks for your help" Simba said and the stood up and began to walk away.

"Hey, where ya going?" Timon asked

"Nowhere" Simba replied solemnly

"Gee,...he looks blue" Timon concluded

"I'd say brownish-gold" Pumbaa answered. Timon shook his head.

"No no, I mean he's depressed" Timon corrected and Pumbaa nodded and then went over to Simba.

"Kid, what's eating ya?" he asked

"Nothing, he's at the top of the food chain!" Timon joked and then laughed, but then stopped a moment later when he realized Simba and Pumbaa weren't laughing.

"So where ya from?" Timon asked changing the subject.

"Who cares? I can't go back" Simba answered. Timon and Pumbaa smiled.

"Ahh, you're an outcast! That's great! So are we!" Timon said with pride.

"Whatcha do, kid?" Pumbaa asked

"Something terrible, but I don't wanna talk about it" Simba relied

"Good, we don't wanna hear about it" Timon said sarcastically but Simba hardly paid it any attention.

"C'mon, Timon" Pumbaa warned, "Anything we can do?" Pumbaa asked, wanting to help the sad cub.

"Not unless you can change the past" Simba said sadly.

"You know kid, in times like these, my buddy Timon here says: you gotta put your behind in the past!" Pumbaa said and Timon groaned.

"No, no, no! Amateur! Lie down before you hurt yourself" he said sarcastically and then went to Simba.

"It's 'you gotta put your past behind ya'. Look kid, bad things happen and ya can't do anything about it, right?" Timon inquired

"Right" Simba agreed and Timon smiled impishly.

"WRONG! When the world turns its back on you, you turn your back on the world!" Timon said.

"Well, that's not what I was taught" Simba said and Timon smiled.

"Then maybe you need a new lesson. Repeat after me" Timon said and then cleared his throat.

"Hakuna Matata" he said. Simba looked at him confusedly.

"What?" Simba said and raised his eyebrow.

"Hakuna Matata" Pumbaa enunciated for him.

"It means, no worries" he added.

"Hakuna Matata…..what a wonderful phrase"

"Hakuna Matata…ain't no passing craze!"

Simba was still confused from the two of them.

"It means: No worries! For the rest of your days!"

"It's our problem-free….philosophy!"

"Hakuna Matata!"

"Hakuna Matata?" Simba asked

"Yeah, it's our motto" Pumbaa replied

"What's a motto?" Simba asked

"Nothing, what's a motto with you?" Timon joked and then him and Pumbaa laughed wholeheartedly at the joke, as corny as it was.

"You know kid, these two words will solve all your problems!" Pumbaa said.

"That's right! Take Pumbaa for example! Why-"

"When he was a young warthog"

"WHEN I WAS A YOUNG WARTHOG!"

"Very nice" Timon said fixing his ear

"Thanks" Pumbaa replied

"He found his aroma lacked a certain appeal.

He could clear the savannah after every meal!"

"I'm a sensitive soul! Though I'm very thick-skinned!

And it hurt….and my friends never stood..DOWNWIND!"

"And oh the shame!"

"He was ashamed!" Timon said

"Thought of changing my name!"

"Oh what's in a name!" Timon said

"And I got downhearted!"

"How did ya feel?!" Timon asked

"Every time that I-"

"Pumbaa! Not in front of the kids!" Timon said covering his friends mouth.

"Oh sorry" Pumbaa said. And Simba just raised an eyebrow.

"Hakuna Matata! What a wonderful phrase!"

"Hakuna Matata! Ain't no passing craze!"

And this time, Simba sang with some happiness in his voice.

"It means: No worries! For the rest of your days!"

"Yeah! Sing it kid!" Timon encouraged

"It's our problem-free….philosophy!"

"Hakuna Matata!"

"Welcome to our humble home!" Timon said as they showed the young prince around.

"You live here?!" Simba asked with amazement

"Yep! Home is where your rump rests!" Pumbaa added.

"It's beautiful!" Simba concluded and then the three of them began to walk around. The three new friends walked for a while until Pumbaa belched so loud.

"I'm stuffed!" Pumbaa announced

"I'm so hungry I could eat a whole zebra!" Simba said and Timon froze and shuddered.

"We're fresh out of zebra" Timon said

"Any antelope?" Simba asked

"Na uhh"

"Hippo?"

"Nope"

"Listen kid, if you live with us, you gotta eat like us" Timon reasoned and Simba thought that was fair enough. Timon and Pumbaa walked over to this huge log and then smiled brightly.

"Hey, this looks like a good place to rustle up some grub!" Timon said and then Pumbaa lifted the log up with his strong tusks.

"Eww, what's that?" Simba asked Timon, who had a big centipede in his arms.

"Ewww! Gross!" Simba said disgustedly and closed his eyes, not wanting to watch the gross scene before him.

"Mmmm…tastes like chicken!" Timon said. Pumbaa then slurped up a long worm from the ground which made Simba shiver in disgust.

"Slimy, yet satisfying!" Pumbaa remarked

"These are rare delicacies" Timon said before he bit off a bug's head.

"Pecans" he said with a French accent, "With a very pleasant crunch" he added and then ate the bug fully.

"You'll learn to love em'!" Pumbaa added with a whole bunch on bugs in his mouth. Simba wanted to hurl.

"I'm telling ya kid, this is the life! No rules, no responsibilities! Oooh! The little creamed filled kind!" Timon said and then ate another bug.

"And best of all, no worries. Well, kid?" Timon asked, offering a bug to Simba. Simba picked it up and sighed.

"Oh well, hakuna matata" he said and then slurped the bug down whole. He licked his lips trying to digest the slimy taste in his mouth.

"Slimy…yet, satisfying" Simba said with a smile.

"That's it" Timon replied. Simba smiled and then sighed. He knew that this was gonna be his new home but he couldn't help but be homesick. He missed his friends, his mother, the pride, the animals…but most of all…he missed his father. But someone back home was suffering too… and she looked to sky as little tears slid down her cheeks.

"Please…help us. Somebody….anybody…..help us" she whispered to the sky, hoping that someone could hear her small plea.

Another chapter done! Okay just letting y'all know, we won't be getting into when everyone is reunited until after the next two chapters, so please bear with me until then. Also the song used in this chapter was 'Can't smile without you' by Barry Manilow.

Review, review, review and I'll update as soon as possible!

Peace y'all