*Chapter 16: Reunited*

The next day, Zuri was walking towards the small pond with a waterfall. She is relieved that she, Nala, and Nia had found a jungle and need to find something to drink and eat. Zuri took a drink of water she collected in her hands. She then washed her face with water and put some in her hair. It felt so refreshing. But the sounds of footprints are heard around the bushes. Zuri got out her dagger and look around herself, keeping her guard up.

"Who's there? Show yourself!" Zuri demanded. A bird flew out from behind the bushes. Zuri sighed in relief. "Worked up for nothing, Zuri." She said to herself. "There's nothing to be afraid of. Now, to find Nia and Nala." She puts away her dagger and walk through the jungle. She pushed the fern leaves to get through and saw the sight of the young man holding a spear with his back facing her. Zuri held her breath as she studied him. He is tall with long dreadlocks. But there is something familiar about him. Before she could utter a word, the man turned his head towards her. The man let out a yell and lunged at her. Zuri cried out and got her dagger out and press the tip of the dagger against the side of his neck. Ajani looked down at the teen by pinning her to the ground with his spear as he felt the tip of her dagger against his neck.

"Who are you?" Ajani asked.

"I should be asking you the same thing!" Zuri spatted. She kicked him off of her and got in her fighting stance. She removed her cloak. Ajani then noticed the headband she is wearing. His eyes widened. That was his headband! "Hey...where did you get that?" Ajani asked by pointing at the headband.

"I'm not going to tell you!" Zuri said as she charged at him. Ajani dodged her and kicked her from behind. Zuri let out a yelp and almost stumbled. She turned back to him with a look. Ajani chuckled a bit. Zuri tried to fight with him with her fists and feet, but Ajani blocked her attacks and grabbed her wrists and throw her aside. "Come on! Fight like a man!" Zuri said.

"You know...you look cute when you get angry." Ajani said with a smirk. That made Zuri more furious. She ran towards him with her dagger and tried to stab him, but Ajani grabbed her wrist. He tightened his grip on her, making her drop the dagger. Zuri growled in agony. "I'll let you go if you calm down. I'm sorry I attacked you." Ajani said.

"You should be! That was uncalled for! How ungrateful men could be!" Zuri said, pulling her wrist away.

"Well excuse me!" Ajani remarked with a look. "Now, I'll ask again. Where did you get that headband? That belonged to me long ago."

"It was given to me. A dear friend of mine gave it to me before he left the village." Zuri told him. Ajani stared at the teen in silent. He couldn't help but to find her familiar. It couldn't be her...could it?

"You...you're name isn't...Zuri, is it?" Ajani asked. Zuri looked up at him.

"How do you know my name?"

"Zuri... It is I, Ajani!" The man replied with a smile. Zuri's eyes widened. She covered her mouth with one hand.

"Ajani." She whispered. "Ajani! You are alive!" She jumped on him by wrapping her arms around his neck as Ajani wrapped his around her waist and spin her around. They both laughed. Ajani set her down and got a look at her. "Ajani, I can't believe it!"

"Look at you! I didn't even recognize you at first!" Ajani said.

"Same here!" Zuri said. But the moment was interrupted by the sounds of screaming coming from the jungle. Ajani recognized it. It was Pumbaa's scream. "What was that?" Zuri asked.

"It's Pumbaa. Come on!" Ajani said as he grabbed his spear and ran through the jungle to follow the screams. Zuri followed him.

Pumbaa continued to run from the lioness and the female hyena, he eventually found himself trapped underneath the root of a tree that Timon just happened to be standing nearby.

"Pumbaa! Pumbaa! Hey, what's going on?" Timon asked as Pumbaa tried to squeeze through.

"THEY'RE GONNA EAT ME!" He yelled in panic.

"Huh?" Timon climbed up on top of the branch. The meerkat looked out into the distance and was able to catch a glimpse of the lioness and the hyena charging towards him and Pumbaa at full speed. "Whoa!" Timon shouted in alarm as he got down from the branch and began trying to push Pumbaa out from under the root of the tree. "Geez! Why do I always have to save your..." Timon turned back to see the lioness and the hyena began to close in on them. "AAAAAAAHHHH!" Timon screamed in fear.

"Nala! Nia! Wait!" Zuri shouted as she and Ajani arrived at the scene. Ajani stood there, knowing it would be too late to save his friends. Before Nala can go in for the kill, Simba came in at the last minute and bounded over Timon and Pumbaa, catching the lioness head on as the two got into a savagely fight. Nia avoided the fight and saw the sight of the humans. She gasped to see Ajani.

"Ajani!" She said happily.

"Nia? Is that really you?" Ajani asked.

"Ajani!" Zuri gasped as she watched the lions fight.

"Don't worry, buddy. I'm here for ya. Everything's gonna be okay." Timon said to Pumbaa. Turning his attention to Simba, Timon shouted while their friend continued to fight Nala. "Get her! Bite her head! Go for the jugular! The jugular!" Timon turned back to Pumbaa with a smile. "See, I told you he'd come in handy." Ajani, Zuri, and Nia watched as the two lions wrestled each other until Nala flipped Simba and pinned him to the ground with a loud thump. Simba looked closely at the lioness as she continued barring her teeth at him.

"Nala?" He spoke as he recognized her. Nala backed away from Simba.

"Is it really you?"

"Who are you?" Nala asked, staring at him.

"It's me. Simba."

"Simba?" Looking closer at the lion that stood before her, Nala realized that it was her childhood friend from long ago. They both shouted in joy. And the two lions ran together and greeted each other with joy as they ran around each other, talking over each other. Nia smiled at the scene as the humans chuckled. Ajani walked over to Nala who gasped at the sight of him.

"Ajani! You're here too! Oh my gosh, look at you!" Nala said, nuzzling against him.

"You don't look so bad yourself! You've grown so big!" Ajani told her, hugging her.

"I knew you two are alive! I knew it!" Nia says as she walked over towards them. Ajani gave the hyena a hug as Zuri stood at her spot. "This is where you been this whole time?" Nia asked. Baffled by the sudden change of events, Timon came over to the two lions, the hyena, and Ajani.

"Hey! What's going on here?" He asked. But the group didn't hear the meerkat.

"What are you doing here?" Simba asked Nala.

"What do you mean, 'What am I doing here?' What are you doing here?" Nala asked.

"HEY! WHAT'S GOIN' ON HERE?!" Timon shouted, trying to get some attention.

"Timon, this is Nala. She's my best friend." Simba introduced.

"Friend?!" Timon asked in confusion. "And what do you call that?" He pointed at Nia. The female hyena gave him a glare.

"This is Nia. Don't worry, she's harmless." Ajani said, petting Nia.

"Yeah. Hey Pumbaa, come over here!" Simba said, calling the warthog over. Pumbaa got himself out from underneath the root of the tree. He walked over towards the group. "Nala, Nia, this is Pumbaa. Pumbaa, Nala and Nia."

"Pleased to make your acquaintance." Pumbaa said with a smile.

"The pleasure's all mine." Nala replied with a smile.

"Same here." Nia said with a nod. "And...sorry for trying to eat you."

"How do you do..." Timon started but he stopped himself. "Whoa! Whoa! Time out! Lemme get this straight. You know her. She knows you. But she wants to eat him. And everybody's...okay with this? DID I MISS SOMETHING?!" Timon then pointed at Zuri. "AND WHO'S THIS GIRL?!" Ajani turned to Zuri who waved at them a bit. He walked over to her and took her by the hand and brought her over.

"Everybody, this is my childhood friend, Zuri. She was from the village where I used to live." Ajani said.

"And she can understand us too?" Pumbaa asked. Zuri nodded.

"Yes. It's nice to meet you all. But Nala, Nia and I already know each other." Zuri said. "Ajani, I left the village to look for you."

"What?" Ajani asked. But before he could find out why, Nala spoke to Simba.

"Wait till everyone finds out you've been here all of this time! And your mother... What will she think?" Simba is nervous at the thought. Ajani had thought about the Pride Lands for some time and thought of the pride. He did wonder how Sarabi was holding up after Mufasa's death.

"She doesn't have to know. Nobody has to know." Simba spoke.

"Well, of course they do. Everyone thinks you and Ajani are dead." Nala replied.

"They do?"

"Yeah. Scar told us about the stampede."

"He did? What else did he tell you?" Simba asked in surprise.

"What else matters? You're both alive. And that means... Simba, you're the king." Nala said with a smile.

"Oh?" Zuri wondered.

"King?" Timon scoffed. "Pfftt! Lady, have you got your lions crossed."

"King?" Pumbaa asked. He walked over to Simba. "Your majesty! I gravel at your feet." The warthog proceeded to kiss the Simba's paw, causing him to pull it away in disgust.

"Stop it!" He said.

"It's not 'gravel.' It's 'grovel.' And DON'T!" Timon corrected his warthog friend. "He's not the king. Are ya?"

"No." Simba replied.

"Simba?" Both Nala and Ajani asked in dismay.

"No, I'm not the king. Maybe I was going to be, but...that was a long time ago."

"Let me get this straight. You are the king, and you two never told us?" Timon asked. He looked up at Ajani. "And you knew about it, did ya? Why didn't you say anything?"

"Yes, Ajani. Why didn't you?" Nia asked with a raised brow.

"And didn't he mention he was the son of the chief from his old village?" Zuri asked, crossing her arms. "His goal was to be the next chief."

"What?!" Timon and Pumbaa exclaimed. Ajani made a face palm.

"Ajani, you are also royalty?" Timon asked. "Have any other secrets you kept?"

"Could you guys...excuse us for a few minutes?" Nala asked, not wanting to make things awkward for everyone. Ajani and Zuri did what Nala requested and walk away. Ajani knew he had some explaining to do. Right now, he needs to talk to Zuri. She deserves to know what has happened to him after he left the village long ago. Nia walked away from the conversation.

"Hey, whatever she has to say, she can say in front of us. Right, Simba?" Timon said.

"Hmm. Maybe you'd better go." Simba replied with a nervous smile. Timon stood there with his jaw dropped for a moment.

"It starts. You think you know a guy!" He said with annoyance. He and Pumbaa left the lions alone as they also noticed the humans are in their own spot to chat.

"Timon and Pumbaa. You learn to love 'em." Simba said as he turned to Nala who bowed her head in sadness. "What?" Simba walked over to her. "What is it?"

"It's like you and Ajani are back from the dead." Nala explained quietly with a pained expression, holding back her tears. She turned to the lion. "You don't know how much this will mean to everyone... What it means to me."

"Hey, it's okay." Simba said with comfort. Nala rubbed under Simba's chin with a purr.

"I've really missed you."

"I've missed you too." The two nuzzled each other.
Both Ajani and Zuri watched the lions from behind the bushes. Ajani smiled at the sweet moment. He thought they would make a cute couple. He recalled the day when Zazu told them as cubs that one day they will be married. He chuckled as he remembered.

"Ajani, I'm so happy to see you alive." Zuri said as she took his hand. "I think about you every day. Your foster parents were worried sick about you and searched for you. They thought you were dead too. They even searched your old village that was still destroyed by the fire long ago."

"They...they were worried?" Ajani asked.

"Of course! I was worried about you too. So, I left the village the other day to look for you and...bring you home. You see...we need a new chief. You have a chance to become one like your father." Zuri told him. Ajani blinked in shock. The village needs a new leader. This is his chance. The village may not be his father's, but it needs a new chief. Ajani can make good changes.

"I...I don't know what to say." Ajani said. Zuri embraced him. "Zuri?"

"I've missed you so much, Ajani." She said. Ajani smiled and wrapped his arms around her. He missed her too. He didn't think he can see her again till he finds his village. But it didn't matter now. He is with her again. Both lions and humans are in loving embrace.