Nala's eyes flickered open. She expected to see the familiar insides of the den at Pride Rock, where she usually slept every night.

But this morning, Nala woke up in a completely different location. She felt really dizzy, and everything looked like it was upside down.

It took her a few seconds to realise that she was upside down. Swinging back and forth to be exact. When she came to her senses, Nala found that she was hanging from a tree branch by a vine that had begun tangled up, causing her to swing back and forth. She noticed that Simba was also tangled up in the same vine, sleeping right next to her.

She nudged him. "Simba," she called. "Simba!"

Simba abruptly woke up. "What? Who? Where?"

"Simba, Simba - it's me," she told him. "We're upside down!"

Simba looked around, and slowly realised. "Oh. Yeah. We fell from that tree last night, didn't we?"

"I told you sneaking off in the middle of the night to climb some trees was a dumb idea. And now look where it's got us."

"We just need some practise, that's all." Simba eyed up the vine they had become stuck in. "It's easy enough to get out."

"Oh yeah. How?" Nala asked, doubt in her mind.

"Uh… I guess we just… bite through it…" Simba opened his mouth and bit down on a section of the vine.

"Simba, wait—" Nala began, but it was too late. The vine snapped, and the two were sent hurtling to the ground, hitting it hard with a thump!

"Ow," Nala said flatly. She picked herself up off the ground, as did Simba.

He dusted himself off. "See? It worked."

"Yeah, but now we'll have big bruises all over," she told him. "I wonder why no one even tried to help us while we up there. You'd think someone would've noticed."

From behind them, the two cubs could hear a loud laugh. The two cubs narrowed their eyes, and then turned around to see Zazu perched on a tree branch, laughing his head off.

"Something funny?" Simba asked Zazu angrily.

Zazu's laughter came to a slow halt. "Oh, it's nothing, young master," he replied, still chuckling slightly, "it's just that I find you getting tangled up in a vine rather amusing."

"How long have you been there?" Nala asked him.

"Oh, about forty-five minutes," Zazu replied.

"You were there for almost an hour and you didn't try to let us free?" Simba said angrily.

"Well, I would have, but I figured that after all those tricks you've played on me I deserve a little reward. That reward being watching you trapped helplessly in some vines." Zazu laughed again. "I call it payback."

Simba growled furiously. "We could have brain damage for all you know!"

Zazu laughed again. "Oh, young master, don't be so dramatic." He scoffed. "Brain damage, indeed. Maybe you should take some interest in educating yourself rather than getting into trouble, hmm?"

Zazu was trying Simba's patience now. Why did he always have to be so serious? He always wrecked everything! One day Simba would like to teach him a lesson. One he wouldn't forget. Ever.

"What are you doing here, anyway?" Nala asked.

"I was looking for you, actually," Zazu revealed. "I have been told to look after you for the day. Apparently you're getting into too much mischief, not that it's surprising."

Simba and Nala looked at each other and groaned.

"Why me?" Simba moaned, looking up at the sky. Today was going to be horrible. He knew it.

Zazu - to Simba and Nala - was the absolute worst babysitter anyone could ever hope to ask for. He watched them everywhere, talked about rules and regulations all day, and wouldn't let them do anything that was even the slightest bit fun.

Why couldn't his Dad find a better babysitter for them? Maybe a wolf, that would be cool…

"Do you have to?" Simba complained to Zazu.

"Don't bother trying to argue against it," Zazu replied. "Unlike you, I do what I am told to."

"That would explain why you're no fun," Simba muttered quietly.

"I heard that," Zazu informed him.

"Yeah, well you were supposed to," he told Zazu.

"Oh, come on, Zazu, don't you have something else to be doing?" Simba asked, thinking of anything to try and get Zazu to leave them alone. "Don't you have that annoying morning report song to sing or something?"

Zazu shook his head. "This is all I have to do, unfortunately. Nothing would give me greater pleasure than to leave you to your own devices, but an order is an order. And orders I don't disobey. So, where were you planning on going next?"

Simba and Nala looked at each other. Their expressions said it all.

Worst. Day. Ever.

The two knew that they were going to have to think fast if they were to escape Zazu's watchful eye.

Simba spoke up. "Well… We were going to… run!"

Simba and Nala bolted away from Zazu in the opposite direction, prompting him to frown as he watched them flee.

"Typical," said Zazu to himself, before taking flight. He flew at his own pace. He was in no hurry to chase after them.

Because he was clever, he knew they'd have to stop sooner or later, so why should he waste his energy chasing after those two mischievous cubs?

This was one part of his job he hated. He was better than this, surely? He was the King's advisor! Why couldn't he be put in charge of more important jobs? This wasn't in his job description, so why was most of his time spent doing this? It made him feel so… degraded.

Maybe he could plead with King Mufasa to let someone else do this mundane task. But Zazu wasn't exactly one to argue with the King. He was like a soldier. Following orders without question.

Little did Zazu know, things were going to get much, much worse for him.