(Jason's POV)

I jolted awake in the cave with a slight gasp. My racing heart being calmed by several deep breaths as I surveyed the area. The royal family were all sleeping on the raised platform in the back of the cave. Shuja, his mates and his cubs were sleeping around the platform. With a frustrated sigh, I stood, picked up my bag with a towel and made my way to the entrance of the cave. I needed some air.

Millions of stars danced across the pitch-black night sky. Gazelle where grazing in the field's below. Sam's RV, which he shared with his girlfriend, Sarah, was parked at the foot of Pride Rock. Nala tried to convince Simba to let them stay in the cave with the rest of us, but Sam's past as one of the men who had captured and killed innocent animals in Simba's mind, made that impossible.

Crickets chirped in unison with hundreds of frogs croaking in the ponds that crocks and hippos shared to get food. Herds of zebra now joined the gazelle in grazing, some newborn foals among them. None of them looked the least bit scared of me; I guess they got to use to seeing a human around since... Lee.

I know I shouldn't be this sad over him being gone. Not to sound harsh, but the royal family had a much stronger connection to him then I did. Nala especially still hasn't come out of her almost coma like state she's been in since Lee's funeral. Only waking up from her sleep when nature called, she barley even spoke to her four living cubs she had left. Sarafina had to almost yell at her to eat to avoid starving herself. And Simba wasn't much better. Still being this anger fueled powder keg of fur and teeth. You would be right to assume we haven't exactly gotten along better.

Shuja and his three mates, Nya, Tishala, and Masika were a big help to making sure we didn't run out of food. With Nala being practically frozen most of the time and Sam and I working together to keep out invaders, Sarafina would have had to do most of the hunting on her own. I say 'most of' because Simba would bring back food every few days, but what he brought back had been torn apart so much that it almost didn't look edible.

Two of them or one and Shuja would take turns helping Sarafina hunt while the other two watched the royal cubs as well as their own. Not that Sam or I wouldn't watch the cubs when we were home. It's just that usually we were gone patrolling for large portions of the day. And when we got back, we were dog ass tired. Sarah would also happily volunteer to cub sit whenever she just wanted company. Sam didn't particularly care for her doing anything too physical with the baby being weeks away.

I was so deep in thought that I hadn't noticed I had already made it to my destination. The pond Sarafina had told me Lee used to bath in. Not that it would have made much difference without soap and shampoo. I wonder what he smelled like after a nice shower? Most likely something with a strong scent, as strong as him.

Chuckling to myself, I started to get undressed. It would be pointless to try and go back to sleep now, I was wide awake. That and the sun would be rising by the time I got back to Pride Rock. The smell of the bodywash and shampoo made all the sweat and grime of the last few days vanish. I managed to get clean in under ten minutes; and it wasn't fun soaking in water unless it was a hot tub. Just as I was about to get out, I realized my towel wasn't in my bag anymore.

"You dropped this kid."

Sam stood in front of me with my towel draped over his shoulder. He wore a pair of shorts and a white tank top that may as well have not been on him. Every muscle in his upper body practically popped out of the thin material of his shirt. I had to look down or he would have seen my beat red face that could light up the whole Pride lands.

"Thank you." I said sheepishly.

Without me having to ask him, Sam turned around while I got out to dry off. My slim, one-hundred-and-forty-pound frame paled in comparison to Sam's goliath figure. While I was putting my clothes on, Sam called to me from behind his shoulder.

"You're up early."

I could say the same about you." I told him.

He chuckled, "Kid, I've been up all night, Sarah is still trying to come up with names for the baby."

I smiled, "Thought of any good names yet?"

He shrugged, "A few."

"Well, I'm happy for you."

"Thank you. So, what are you doing up so early?"

"I had a dream; it woke me up and I couldn't go back to sleep. Plus, I wanted to take a bath anyway."

He turned to face me, "A dream? You mean a nightmare?"

I took a long breath, "No, it was a really nice dream actually."

I finally looked up at Sam. He simply nodded in understanding. A lump caught in my throat as I turned away. My eyes started to water, part from embarrassment that I just told him that and the reality that it would aways just be a dream. After several seconds of tense silence, Sam finally responded to my answer.

"You miss him, don't you?"

I sniveled, "Look, it's not it was 'love at first site', okay? Lee and I barely even knew each other. Still, he seemed really kind and fierce."

"Jason," Sam began, "You're just a kid; infatuation can do a hell of a lot to your emotions. Don't kick yourself for having a crush."

His footsteps got closer until he was right next to me. If I felt dwarfed compared to him at a distance; I felt microscopic standing beside him. Having to look up at him, I saw he was staring right back at me. His thick red beard almost hiding his kind smile. He placed his gigantic arm around my shoulder and rubbed my arm in a comforting manner.

"Do you... want to talk about it?" he offered.

I looked down as my face got red as a tomato.

"I appreciate that, but I'd rather not."

"Okay, just thought I'd ask. Well, since we're both up, let's get some breakfast going before we get breakfast for about a dozen hungry cats?"

I nodded, "Sounds good, and Sam?"

"Hm?"

"Thank you.

"Any time, kid."

A/N: I Know, I know, this is way too short of a chapter to come back with for being gone for almost five years. I'm sure you're wondering where the hell I've been. And I'll be blatantly honest, it's because I just lost the drive to keep writing. I got too lazy to even crack out a few sentences at a time. And with the near apocalyptic pandemic, well, that just added fuel to the fire. I'm really sorry I've been gone for so long guys. I promise I will try to get more chapters of this out soon. Also, I'm taking down my 'Sister's Keeper' fanfic I started a while ago. Both because of the lack of attention it's got, which I know sounds incredibly shallow but why waste time on writing something if you don't know if anyone is listening. More importantly though, I realized that I don't have the talent to write about something so serious. I'm going to make a different version of my story. Slightly more optimistic. Anyway, let me know what you all think and I'll see you next time!