The Lion King - The Bonds of Trust

Chapter 17

Chapter 17: Can You Feel The Love Tonight

The next morning, Shani was walking towards another pond with a small waterfall. The night before, Timon and Pumbaa apologized to her for laughing and making fun of her and Simba's father figure, letting her know that they never meant to upset her. The African woman went on to forgive them, but warned them not to joke about such a thing again.

As the woman came towards the waterfall, Shani began to cup the water flowing into her hands and began to take a drink. She soon began to sing while she brought the water to the top of her head, letting the water pour down her hair;

Kumbaya my Lord, kumbaya
Kumbaya my Lord, kumbaya
Kumbaya my Lord, kumbaya
Oh my Lord, kumbaya

The woman soon stopped however, as she suddenly began to hear footsteps and someone shouting,

"Shani? Shani!"

Knowing that it wasn't Simba, Timon, or Pumbaa, Shani took action and ran out of the stranger's view, climbing up a tree to hide. Once she made it to one of the top branches, Shani looked down to see an African man in a light brown cloak. While she recognized the man's voice, she soon caught a glimpse of his large dagger. Mistaking the man for a possible poacher and alarmed that he actually knew her name, Shani gave a suspicious glare as she jumped from tree to tree, trying to keep from being spotted.

While the man continued to call out, "Shani! Where are you? A-Are you there?"

Shani eventually made her way back to the ground, and with the man's back turned, she slowly and quietly began lurking towards him.

Taking the chance, Shani grabbed the man and shoved him up against a giant rock that was close by the waterfall. Quickly grabbing her dagger, she brought it up to the man's throat and growled,

"Just who the hell are you?! And how do you know my name?!"

The man said in alarm while holding both of his hands up, "Woah! Woah! Shani, it's me! Tamur!"

Immediately recognizing the man's name, Shani slightly backed up and put her dagger away as she said in confusion,

"Tamur?"

Tamur answered with hope in his eyes, "Yes, Tamur. Remember? I use to live in your aunt's village."

Taking a good look at the man's face, Shani soon received flashbacks of when Tamur caught her after falling from a mango tree and when their chemistry was building while they were hanging out at Tamur's home.

Realizing who it was, Shani smiled and exclaimed as she ran up to her old friend and embraced him,

"Tamur! Oh my God! Tamur! Oh! It's so great to see you!"

Tamur returned the Shani's embrace and said with a chuckle while swinging her around in his arms, causing the woman to laugh with joy,

"It's great to see you too, Shani!"

Stopping for a second, Shani asked with both of her hands on Tamur's shoulders, "What are you doing here?"

Tamur answered with a smile, "I came to look for you."

Shani asked, "You have? Well how did you get here? I know it must've a tough trip by yourself."

Tamur answered, "It's kind of a long story. And actually, I didn't come alone."

Shani asked with a raised brow, "You didn't? Well who else is with you?"

Before the African man could answer, the two suddenly heard a loud scream and looked to see a warthog being chased at a high speed by a lioness with her teeth and claws bared. Getting a closer look, Shani was able to see that the warthog was Pumbaa and exclaimed,

"Pumbaa?!"

Seeing the two run away from them, Shani shouted while pulling out a spear,

"Pumbaa! Tamur, we gotta go quick!"

Tamur asked as both he and Shani took off running, "Who's Pumbaa?"

Shani replied, "That's my friend!"

And with that, the two began to run after Pumbaa and the lioness, hoping that they weren't too late.

Meanwhile, as Pumbaa continued to run from the lioness, he eventually found himself trapped underneath the root of a tree that Timon just happened to be standing near. Taken aback, Timon asked as Pumbaa kept trying to squeeze through the root of the tree,

"Pumbaa! Pumbaa! Hey, what's goin' on?"

The warthog shouted in a panic, "SHE'S GONNA EAT ME!!!!"

Confused, Timon replied, "Huh?"

Getting up on top of the branch, the meerkat looked out into the distance and was able to catch a glimpse of the lioness charging towards him and Pumbaa at full speed. Alarmed, 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,

"Woah! Jeez! Why do I always have to save your AAAAAAAHHHH!"

The meerkat screamed in fear as the lioness began to close in on them while Shani and Tamur finally arrived at the scene, with Shani screaming out in fear,

"NOOOOOOO!!!!"

Before the lioness can go in for the kill however, 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.

Timon said to Pumbaa reassuringly, "Don't worry, buddy. I'm here for ya. Everything's gonna be okay."

Turning his attention to Simba, Timon shouted while their friend continued to fight the lioness,

"Get her! Bite her head! Go for the jugular! The jugular! See, I told you he'd come in handy."

Seeing the two viciously go at it, Shani said to Tamur with worry, "I gotta stop this!"

Tamur said while to stop her, "No! Shani, it's too dangerous."

Shani argued, "They're gonna end up killing each other if I don't!"

And with that, she broke free from Tamur and raced into the fight with Tamur exclaiming while running after her,

"Shani! Wait!"

As the African woman got in between both Simba and the lioness, Tamur joined the three as he stood in front of the lioness to block her as Shani did the same with Simba. As the two continued to stand in between the two lions, Tamur said to the growling lioness to try to put her as ease,

"Woah! Woah! Nala, easy! Easy!"

Looking over her shoulder for a second, Shani asked with a raised brow, "Did you just say, Nala?"

With the African woman distracted, Simba knocked Shani aside and Nala did the same to Tamur and the two continued going at it. Shani and Tamur watched as the two lions wrestled each other until Nala flipped Simba and pinned him to the ground with a loud thump. Although startled, Simba looked closely at the lioness as she continued barring her teeth at him.

Realizing it was his childhood friend, Simba asked in shock, "Nala?"

Shocked that the lion knew her name, Nala backed away from Simba as he asked,

"Is it really you?"

Examining him, Nala asked, "Who are you?"

Simba answered, "It's me. Simba."

Nala asked with a raised brow, "Simba?"

Looking closer at the lion that stood before her, Nala realized that it was her childhood friend from long ago and shouted with joy,

"Woah!"

Simba shouted with joy, "Aaah!"

And the two lions ran together and greeted each other with joy as they ran around each other and Simba said,

"How did you... Who... Wow! This is so cool... It's great to see you!"

Nala said at the same time, "How did you... Where did you come from... It's great to see you!"

Coming up to the two, Shani asked the lioness, "Nala? Is it truly you?"

Turning her attention to the human, Nala exclaimed with joy as she ran up to Shani to embrace her,

"Shani? Oh my gosh, Shani! Where have you been... I haven't seen you in ages!"

Shani returned her embrace and said, laughing with joy, "I know! Last time I saw you... You were just a small cub. And now look at you! You're all grown up and everything!"

Baffled by the sudden change of events, Timon asked as he came over to the two lions and Shani,

"Hey! What's goin' on here?"

Too excited to hear the meerkat, Simba asked Nala, "What are you doing here?"

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

Frustrated with being talked over, Timon finally shouted, "HEY! WHAT'S GOIN' ON HERE!?!?!"

Turning their attention to him, Simba said introducing his childhood friend,

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

Timon asked with confusion, "Friend?!?"

Simba said, calling Pumbaa over, "Yeah. Hey Pumbaa, come over here!"

Once he got himself out from underneath the root of the tree, the warthog made his way over to the group while Simba introduced him to his childhood friend,

"Nala, this is Pumbaa. Pumbaa, Nala."

Pumbaa said politely to the lioness, "Pleased to make your acquaintance."

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

Timon began to say, "How do you do..."

but soon stopped himself, and proceeded to say in a both confused yet exasperated way while pointing to Tamur, who was standing a good distance away from the group,

"Woah! Woah. 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?!? And second of all, WHO'S THIS GUY?!"

Realizing that she hasn't introduced her friend yet, Shani grabbed Tamur by the hand and said while bringing him over to the group,

"Oh, well I'm sorry. I guess in all of the craziness, I forgot to introduce you. Everyone, this is Tamur. He was an old friend of mine from my aunt's village. Tamur, these are my friends, Simba, Timon, Pumbaa, and Nala."

Tamur said while waving hi to everyone, "Hello everyone, it's nice to meet you all. And actually, Nala and I already know each other."

Shani's eyes widened in surprise as she asked, "Really? How?"

Nala explained, "Well you see, Tamur and I came across each other in the desert after I had left the Pridelands. I was beginning to die of thirst until he came up to me and gave me water. It was because of him that I was able to survive the journey and we were able to get out of the desert."

Shani asked, "Is this true?"

Tamur nodded and explained, "I was walking through the desert when I found her, and she looked very tired and weak. As soon as I saw her collapse to the ground, I knew I had to do something. I just didn't want to see her die."

Grateful that the African man saved his friend's life, Simba said,

"Wow! You really saved my friend's life. I don't know how to thank you, Tamur."

Tamur replied while shaking his head, "There's no need. I'm just glad to see that Nala's alive, and especially to be back with my dearest friend."

Shani smiled at him in response as Nala went on to say to the human woman and Simba,

"Wait till everyone finds out you've been here all of this time! And your mother... What will she think?"

Nervous at the very thought, Simba said shaking his head, "She doesn't have to know. Nobody has to know."

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

Taken aback, Simba asked, "They do?"

Nala answered sadly, "Yeah. Scar told us about the stampede."

Surprised, Simba asked, "He did?"

Listening to the conversation, Shani asked with concern, "What else did he say about it?"

Nala replied with a realization, "What else matters? You're both alive. And that means... You're the village chieftress. A-And Simba... You're the king."

While both Simba and Shani looked to each other in shock, Timon said to Nala with a scoff,

"King? Chieftress? Pfftt! Lady, have you got your lions and humans crossed."

Pumbaa said as he came over to Simba and bowed to him, "King? Chieftress? Your majesties! I gravel at your feet."

The warthog then proceeded to kiss the Simba's paw and Shani's foot, causing Simba to pull it away and say in disgust,

"Stop it!"

Shani said while pulling her foot away, "Hey! Cut that out!"

Timon said while correcting Pumbaa, "It's not 'gravel.' It's 'grovel.' And DON'T! He's not a king and Shani's not a chieftress. Are ya?"

Shani answered with a nod, "Yes we are."

Simba said in disagreement, "No."

Nala asked in a dismayed tone, "Simba?"

Simba explained while walking away from the group, "No, I'm not the king. Maybe I was going to be, but... That was a long time ago."

Shani argued, "Whether it was a long time ago or not Simba, as Mufasa and Sarabi's living heir, you are still eligible as the King of the Pridelands. Just as I would be eligible as the new chieftress of my family's village."

Trying to fathom this new information, Timon asked the two, "Let me get this straight. You are the king, and you are the chieftress? And you two never told us?"

Shani shook her head and answered, "I told you I was the daughter of the village chief when Simba and I first came here. Don't you remember guys?"

Thinking back to that memory, Timon said, "Hmm... Now that I think about it, I do remember you saying something like that when we first met you and Simba."

Pumbaa added, "I guess because it was so long ago, Timon and I must've forgotten."

Simba said reassuringly, "Well guys, no matter what... We're still your same buddies."

Timon replied enthusiastically, "But with power!"

Nala apologetically asked Timon, Pumbaa, and Shani, "Could you guys... Excuse us for a few minutes?"

Shani answered while gesturing for Tamur to follow her, "Oh sure, we'll be over there if you need us. Come on, Tamur."

Tamur followed the African woman as Timon argued while tapping Pumbaa on the nose,

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

Thinking for a moment, Simba replied with a nervous smile, "Hmm. Maybe you'd better go."

With his jaw dropped, Timon stood their aghast for a moment. But the meerkat soon said in annoyance as he left the conversation,

"It starts. You think you know a guy!"

Pumbaa sighed disappointingly in response as he followed behind Timon, leaving the two lions and humans alone. With Timon and Pumbaa gone, along with Shani and Tamur standing at a good distance, Simba said reassuringly to Nala,

"Timon and Pumbaa. You learn to love 'em."

Simba soon looks to see Nala's head bowed down in sadness. Concerned for his friend, Simba asked as he walked over to Nala,

"What?... What is it?"

Nala explained quietly with a pained expression,

"It's like you and Shani are back from the dead. You don't know how much this will mean to everyone... What it means to me."

Simba said comfortingly, "Hey, it's okay."

Nala went on to say with a purr while she rubbed under Simba's chin, "I've really missed you."

Though initially startled by Nala's affection, Simba replied while reciprocating, "I've missed you too."

Watching the two lions lovingly nuzzling each other from a distance, Shani said to Tamur,

"Oh, just look at those two, Tamur. They're both so happy."

Tamur nodded in agreement, saying, "I know. Who would've thought the lions that we were friends with would've ended up coming together as lovers. It's funny how life can play out sometimes, right Shani?"

Shani replied with a smile, "Yeah."

Thinking about what Tamur said to her before they met up with the rest of their friends, Shani asked,

"Hey, Tamur? Can I ask you something?"

Tamur answered, "Sure, Shani. What is it?"

With hopeful eyes, the African woman asked, "Did you mean what you said earlier? You really traveled from Bolah's village and across the desert just to look for me?"

Tamur answered while pulling out a letter from his bag and handing it to Shani, "Of course I did. Ever since the day you left the village, nothing has been the same. Every night when I went to go to sleep, I would read your letter."

Looking over the letter that she had written to Tamur all of those years ago, the African man looked Shani in the eyes and explained,

"Shani, all I could do was think of you. Every time I went to the mango tree to go pick some mangos, I would look up at the branches and see you up there, looking down at me with that big, beautiful smile of yours. When you left the village, my whole world just felt so cold and empty. And after a few years went by, I realized that I couldn't live my life without you... And... And I just can't stop loving you."

In shock, Shani asked, "You... You actually love me?"

Tamur answered while taking Shani's hand, "Shani, I would go to the ends of the Earth for you if it meant staying by your side. Cause when I'm with you... Girl, I feel that Heaven has just begun."

Touched by his words, Shani said with a warm smile, "Well boy, if this is Heaven... Then I don't ever want it to end."

And with that, Shani took Tamur in her arms for a warm loving embrace. Initially stunned, a loving smile formed on Tamur's face as he wrapped his arms around the African woman in return, holding each other in complete love and bliss.

Meanwhile, off hiding in the bushes, Timon and Pumbaa watched the two humans and two lions' lovely exchange.

In complete dismay, Timon said with a heavy sigh, "I tell you, Pumbaa. This stinks."

Thinking the meerkat was referring to him, Pumbaa said regrettably, "Oh. Sorry."

Timon replied in frustration while they watched the two humans and lions walk away in two different directions,

"Not you! Them! The men. The ladies. Alone."

Pumbaa asked nervously, "What's wrong with that?"

Timon began to sing;

I can see what's happening

Pumbaa (Spoken): What?

And they don't have a clue

Pumbaa (Spoken): Who?

They'll fall in love, and here's the bottom line
Our quartet's down to two

Pumbaa (Spoken): Oh.

Timon proceeded to sing sarcastically while climbing onto Pumbaa;

Ze sweet caress of twilight
There's magic everywhere
And with all this romantic atmosphere
Disaster's in the air

----------------------------

As the sun was halfway through setting in the jungle, Simba was guiding Nala towards a big waterfall, walking alongside it on top of the rocks. The two lions stopped by the resting pond to have a drink of water, Simba's inner thoughts began to sing;

So many things to tell her
But how to make her see
The truth about my past? Impossible
She'd turn away from me

While she continued drinking from the pond, Nala's inner thoughts sang as she soon stopped and gazed up at Simba, who had a mischevious smile on his face;

He's holding back, he's hiding
But what, I can't decide
Why won't he be the king I know he is
The king I see inside?

The lioness watched as Simba ran a distance, and soon ran back towards Nala with a vine in his mouth and goes splashing into the middle of the pond. Looking out over the still water, Nala is suddenly pulled into the water by Simba. The lioness immediately came out of the water all dripping and miffed at the same time, with Simba coming out with a big, goofy smile on his face. With a smirk on her face, Nala playfully pushed Simba back into the water.

Watching from above the waterfall as Simba got out of the water to chase after Nala, Shani smiled down at the sight as Tamur had walked away for a brief moment. Her thoughts were suddenly interrupted however, she gasped and shouted as she felt her back being hit by a splash of water,

"Hey!"

Turning around, the African woman saw Tamur laughing with his hands all wet. With a mischievous grin on her face, Shani said,

"Oh! Now you're gonna get it!"

And she scooped up a handful of water, proceeding to throw it into Tamur's face.

As the two continued their water fight, they grabbed each other's hands to try to wrestle each other. That soon stopped however as Shani pushed Tamur and herself into the flowing river. Although terrified, Shani took Tamur's hand as the two slid down the waterfall together and into the water. After a moment of being submerged, Tamur and Shani eventually came up to the surface with smiles on their faces, singing as they held onto each other;

And can you feel the love tonight?
Won't you stay to see

Shani began to swim towards the ledge of the rocks as she got out of the water with Tamur following behind her. The African man watched as Shani walked on the inside of the waterfall, with the African woman nodding to him to follow her while the two continued singing;

Stealing through the life's uncertainties
A truth for you and me

Walking through the tall grass, Shani sang while she looked to the dusk of night as two stars appeared in the sky and back to an emerging Tamur shyly;

Somewhere there's a reason
Why I had to go
To keep away from this star-crossed voyager
That I don't want to know

Tamur sang as he walked up to Shani, placed a hand onto her cheek, and eventually lifted her up by her waist and spun her around in the air;

Never trust the future
Never miss the past
If you live for the shining moment
The moment may just last!

The two continued to sing as they eventually found themselves inside the jungle, wandering through it and following each other through the vines and trees;

And can you feel the love tonight?
It is where we are
It's enough for this wide-eyed wanderer
That we got this far

Coming towards the edge of a steep hill, they saw on the other side that both Simba and Nala were tumbling down another steep hill. With a mischievous grin, Shani immediately jumped into Tamur's arms, catching the African man off guard and sending the two tumbling down the steep hills themselves. Once the two made their way down the hill, Shani and Tamur were all smiles, with the latter helping Shani sit up as she happily glanced at Simba and Nala nuzzling each other lovingly.

Spotting a beautiful white flower, Tamur picked up and gave it to Shani. Taking a whiff of the flower, Shani placed it into her long, curly black hair while she and Tamur sang;

Can you feel the love tonight?
Shani: Can you feel the love...
Won't you stay to see
Tamur: Won't you stay to see...
Stealing through the life's uncertainties
A truth for you and me

As the two helped each other off of the ground, Tamur and Shani softly sang as they gazed into each other's eyes and leaned into each other for a tender, loving kiss while wrapping their arms around each other. Holding each other in the starry night;

Stealing through the life's uncertainties
A truth for you and me...

---------------------------

Meanwhile, a tearful Timon and Pumbaa watched the four lovers' exchange as the meerkat sang while Pumbaa gave a sniffle;

And if they fall in love tonight
It can be assumed

Unable to go on, Timon hugged Pumbaa tearfully as the warthog sang sadly;

Their carefree days with us our history

Timon and Pumbaa finally sang sorrowfully yet dramatically;

In short, our pals are doomed...

Briefly looking to each other, the two immediately burst into loud tears, crying into the night as the two lions and humans had finally fallen in love.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hey guys! Here's the next chapter of this story and the one we've all been waiting for! Anyways, I hope you all enjoy this one. And as always, stay tuned for more! ;)