Nala sighed to herself, allowing a smile to spread across her face. It was so relaxing around this area Simba had brought them to. She was sorry for ever doubting him. All that time spent walking was completely worth it…

"Oh, Simba…" said Nala, resting her head on her boyfriend's chest. "Isn't it so romantic around here?"

"I guess," he replied, smiling back at her. He let a yawn escape his mouth. "Wow. This sun is making me tired. This place is so sleepy and… exhausting – but we haven't done anything. Am I the only cub here who finds that a little bit weird?"

"Simba…" Nala pulled his face towards her. "Don't go worrying about things like that. It'll spoil this… romantic moment between us."

Simba chuckled nervously, realising what Nala was getting at. "Well, Nala… I'm not sure about this… Maybe we could try doing a 'romantic moment' some other time. Maybe next year."

Simba tried to pull away, but Nala persisted, pinning him down and kissing him on the muzzle.

Simba's eyes widened in surprise. Whoa… he thought, before kissing Nala back. Mayb e this romantic moment won't be so bad after all…

Haiba jumped out of the water, landing next to Simba and Nala by their spot on the hill. "Have you tried swimming in this river?" He realised what they were doing, and smiled. "Hey, you're kissing. Cool!"

Simba and Nala noticed him, and quickly jumped away from each other, blushing. "Haiba!" Nala exclaimed, staring at him angrily. "What the heck are you doing over here?"

He pointed to the river. "I was just… swimming, and I came here to dry myself. You wouldn't see me doing that in the water, would you?"

"You couldn't have left it a little longer?" asked Nala. "We were kind of having a… moment, if you know what I mean. A special moment."

Haiba raised his eyebrows, looking quite horrified. "You're not trying to have cubs of your own, are you? You can't! You're way too young!"

Simba sighed, shaking his head. "Are you insane?" he asked in disbelief. "She was talking about kissing! Do you really think we're stupid enough to try and do something like… that? It's just… It's just… sick!"

"Phew!" Haiba breathed a sigh of relief. "I got worried for a second there! I almost thought you two were trying to play a little game of 'Kings and Queens', if you know what I mean." He shook his head, chuckling. "How silly of me."

"Yeah, silly you," said Simba, getting to his paws. "Tell you what: I'm going for a walk. You two stay here. I need some time to myself."

"Time to yourself?" Haiba exclaimed. "A minute ago you looked like you two were stuck together! You might as well be inside each other's bodies!"

"Been there, done that," remarked Nala, thinking back to one of her and Simba's previous adventures. That was one of the more memorable ones… "Don't ask," she said, upon seeing Haiba's reaction.

Haiba shook his head. "Whatever. What's with the 'Lone Prince' attitude, Simba?" he asked. "When did you start neglecting your good friends?"

"Uh… I'm not," replied Simba. "I just kind of… need some thinking time to myself, you know? There are things that… I need to think about. That's why it's called thinking time. Get it?"

"Sort of," said Haiba, scratching his head. "Well, go on, then. Just don't go getting yourself into trouble."

"And what are you going to be doing?" Nala asked, turning to Haiba.

"Swimming some more!" Haiba replied, a grin spreading across his face. "That water isn't too hot and it isn't too cold. It's just right! Reminds me of a story I heard once before… Anyway, I'm gonna try and get to the bottom. I wonder what secrets there are down there…"

He shot a look down at the clear, sparkling water of the river. "There could be bodies, or treasure – or both!" He looked at Nala. "You can join me if you want, Nala. Or is swimming above your duties as the Princess?"

"Nothing is above me, Haiba," Nala told him. "But I'm occupied with something else at the moment. There's a spot over there with my name on it! I am going to soak up the sun until there's nothing left of it."

Haiba narrowed his eyes at her. "Right. I'm not sure that's physically possible, but hey, it's not the weirdest thing I've ever seen before," he said with a shrug. "I remember this one time where I thought the sky was falling." He shuddered. "I still have nightmares about that day."

"Why is it all of a sudden you're the ones who are getting nightmares?" Simba wondered. "It's pretty weird, if you ask me. The day I stop getting bad dreams, you start getting them." He shrugged. "Oh, well. See you in about an hour or so."

"Watch out for branches sticking out of the ground," Haiba warned Simba as he walked away. "I hear that if you fall on them, then they can impale you right through the chest!"

"I'll be careful," Simba assured him. "When am I not careful?"

"So many times that I've completely lost count," Nala answered, as she lay on her back, shuffling her body around to make herself comfortable. "Just be Prince Simba – you're good at that."

Simba saluted her, smiling. "Got it," he said, before vanishing through a group of trees.

I'm always careful, Simba told himself. I've only ever gotten myself into trouble, like, a hundred and seventeen times before. That's nothing. It could b e worse – I could have gotten into trouble thousands of times! Just who do they think I am? Some sort of cub who has a thirst for danger?

He chuckled a little. Well, I am a cub with a thirst for danger, but that's not the point. I'm a very careful cub with a thirst for danger. And there's nothing wrong with that at all.

Simba hopped over a bush, and found himself at a small little pond. "More water," he said, still surprised by how much water there was in this strange forest-like area. Where was it all coming from? This was all in the middle of nowhere.

The ground was dried up. It was as if the place had a magical aura surrounding it…

But he didn't have time to think about this, because he heard an odd little sound coming from around the pond.

The croaking of a frog.