"I don't believe this," Nala said to herself, staring at her reflection in the water. "It's been an hour now. Don't you think that would have been enough thinking time for Simba? For him, an hour is a long time to be on his own."
Haiba emerged from the water, resting against the edge of the river. "Ah, don't worry about him," he said. "You know Simba – he probably just got side-tracked trying to save a poor, defenceless creature."
Nala shrugged. "Maybe you're right. But what poor, defenceless creatures are there going to be all the way out here? Aside from a few flies, I doubt there's anyone else around. It's just us three cubs. No one else. Unless, of course, everyone who lives here turns invisible after a while."
"Nah," replied Haiba. "I've met invisible people before. They make hide-and-seek way more fun than the normal version."
Nala stared at him. "Is there a trick to telling whether you're lying or not? Because half the time, I can't tell!"
"You shout at people a lot, don't you?" said Haiba, sticking a claw in his ear. "I think it's affecting my hearing. Use your quiet voice the next time you speak to me."
"Quiet voice?" Nala exclaimed loudly. "Since when did you care whether I'm shouting or not? I bet this is all some big joke to you! Is that what this—"
"Lots of quiet, in very large amounts," Haiba interrupted, holding up a paw for her to stop speaking. "I think that would be best. Now would you please tell me – quietly – why you're so worried about Simba all the time."
"Why do you think?" was Nala's response. "You get that way when you love someone. Especially someone as reckless as Simba. Do I need to remind you what happened when the King of Dreams decided to mess around with our heads?"
Haiba had a glum look on his face. "How could I forget?" he replied. "We killed ourselves. Twice. Not many people can go up to their parents and say, 'Hello, Mom, guess what I did today? I killed myself – twice!'"
"You see?" said Nala, grinning. "When you love someone that much, and they're taken away from you, you lose your mind."
She frowned, her expression turning deadly serious. "It's just that… Simba is very special to me. He was my first and best friend – he still is. And ever since then, I just… don't want anything to happen to him. I thought he was going to die once before. I also felt like killing myself then."
She looked into Haiba's eyes. "Do you ever get the idea that I'm completely insane, Haiba?" she asked him. It was actually a serious question. "Sometimes I get the feeling that some of my… father's personality has rubbed off on me."
"That's just a mental thing," Haiba explained, pointing to his head. "You've never thought that until you discovered the truth. Trust me, Nala. You're nothing like Hago. From what I saw of him, he was unbelievably evil. As for you – you're one of the nicest cubs I've ever met. And I don't get to say that very often."
Nala stared at him for a few moments, and then, she smiled. "You just want a kiss, don't you?" she realised.
Haiba sighed and nodded, smiling. "Yes," he admitted. "Yes, I am." He chuckled. "Darn. You are good, aren't you?"
"So good that no one can catch me out," Nala replied. "I kind of see you as a brother, Haiba." She narrowed her eyes.
"That actually sounds quite creepy, if you think about it for long enough."
"Maybe I have a better chance of making it with Simba," Haiba joked. "He is one cute cub. Man, I need to find someone to kiss. Do you know how long it's been since a last had any kind of romantic moment with someone? A month! A whole month! I think I might die if I don't get at least a hug within the next week…"
"Oh, don't worry, Haiba," said Nala, patting him on the back gently. "You'll find someone who's exactly the same as you – one day. And then you can do whatever you like with each other."
"Well, that makes me feel better," Haiba said sarcastically. "At least one day I'll find someone. What if I don't find someone for years, Nala? Where am I going to get my 'action' from?"
"I guess that's a problem you're going to have to solve yourself," Nala told him. "All I know is that you're not getting any kind of 'moment' from me, and that's that."
"What a shame." He shrugged. "Oh, well, I guess I can always dream."
That sat there in silence for a few moments, listening to the sound of the water gently flowing through the liver. It was so nice and peaceful around this magical place. Nala wouldn't actually mind living here.
Well, she wouldn't mind if there were a few more people around. Right now, it just seemed kind of… lonely. It was as if no one had been here for years…
But surely someone must have been around? Otherwise, all of this would have dried out and died, along with the rest of the land surrounding it. A lot of things seemed to be dying recently. Nala supposed that was just coincidence…
"Right, that's it," Nala said, getting to her paws. "We're going to find Simba. Come on – get out of that river."
"But I like the river!" Haiba complained. "Why don't you go look for Simba, and I'll stay here?"
"If you find him then I'll give you a hug."
Haiba jumped out of the river. "Nala, what are you doing standing there?" he asked as he walked away. "Come on – we've gotta find Simba!"
Nala smiled, following Haiba. "Works every time," she said to herself. The power females had over males amazed her sometimes. No wonder her mother was always telling her to "take control of the situation."
"So where would our high and mighty Prince be this time of the day?" Haiba asked as he walking along the hill. "He can't have gone too far. Unless he suddenly decided to leave us all on our own."
"I don't think so," replied Nala. "Simba wouldn't just leave us like that. That'd just be… evil."
Haiba gave her a teasing smile. "Well, Simba has been evil before…" he muttered, stopping at a group of trees. "You never know what schemes he could be plotting in that mind of his…"
"Are you trying to say that Simba's left us all the way out here, in the middle of nowhere, so we'll starve to death?" said Nala, a doubtful expression on her face. She'd never heard of something so stupid before!
"He might have found another Uchoyo Diamond," Haiba mused. "And now maybe he's going to go back to the Pride Lands to finish what we started. Maybe this has all been part of his plan."
"Haiba, don't be so stupid," said Nala, ignoring his comments. "Simba's heart is filled with nothing but love for me and you. And when I say 'love', I mean it in a friendly way, so don't go getting any ideas. He's mine!"
"I see you're treating your boyfriend as an object," Haiba remarked. "He's just something you can own, now, is he?" He looked ahead, and pointed at something in the distance. "Oh, look, Simba's walking away with a frog on his head."
Nala followed his gaze, and then nodded. "Oh, yeah. Simba's walking away with a—" Her eyes grew wide. "Wait, what?"