Lyrics

A good night's sleep did wonders for Simba's attitude the next morning. He felt more refreshed and ready to start the day. Today, after thinking about it over a late breakfast, he decided to actually do something instead of doing nothing all day. It didn't have to be big, something like a walk would do. Stretching his legs one by one, he walked away to find his friends. When he found Timon and Pumbaa, they were swimming in the river. Timon was riding on top of Pumbaa's belly while the warthog did backstrokеs. Simba called a good morning to them, and they wavеd back before paddling back to shore to greet him. "Hey, we're sorry we laughed at you last night, Simba," Timon said, drying himself off with a leaf. "We were acting like a couple of jerks." "Ah, Hakuna Matata. I'm feeling a lot better now," Simba replied, grooming himself. "What do you guys wanna do today?" Pumbaa shook himself dry, his tail whisking about. "We were gonna help you find your favorite grubs," he explained, "to make up for last night. I still feel bad for us laughing at you, Simba." "Then after that, we can relax in one of our secret hot springs," said Timon. "Do you wanna come with us?" Simba nodded. "Sure. But can we take a walk first? I'd like to do a little something for once." The pair nodded before Timon turned to Pumbaa. "Sure, why not? A little walk never killed anyone." "Of course, a walk won't kill anyone," replied Simba with a teasing tone. "Besides, you two old farts can use some walking with your purple flower girl." The trio shared an amused look before Iris shrugged. "Well, he's got me pegged. Let's get this walk started." So that was what they did. It was a peaceful morning to go for a stroll. Simba appreciated the peace and quiet, allowing his thoughts to give way to the gentle breeze and the sound of water trickling down rocks. He even stopped to smell some flowers along the way, which made his tail tip twitch. While they walked, Timon began singing a song, called "The Lion Sleeps Tonight". Pumbaa added the backup chants while Timon led the singing. They even got the other animals in the jungle to join them: first Daabi, then the antelope (both duiker), then the galago. Eventually, Bhati and the elephant shrew joined them, singing together and even dancing to the tune. Finally, Simba joined in by dragging out some of the tune, which Timon once accused him of "riffing". However, Iris spotted her penguin and went her own way, wandering away from the group. She ended up at the edge of the jungle and near the savannah end, where she, Pumbaa, and Timon usually never went to. Up ahead, the penguin had jumped on a log and Iris slunk closer and closer until she could almost touch and pet him. With a smart idea, she jumped up onto the log, her hands digging into the bark. A twig cracked, and Iris glanced behind her. "Timon? Pumbaa?" she called. But there was no answer. Iris shrugged and started crawling up the log to see her penguin, unaware of her appearance. She had seen Simba try this when he was a cub, back when he had caught his first flying grub. She was getting closer and closer... Suddenly, a lioness burst from the tall grass, roaring and baring her teeth. Iris screamed in terror, jumped down from the log, grabbed her pet penguin, and started running back into the jungle, the lioness hot on her heels, no matter how many turns she made. She ignored Timon's shouts of "IRIS!" from not too far away, running this way and that. Her luck turned for the worse, however, when she ended up getting stuck under the root of a large tree; there wasn't enough room to fit an aardvark. Fortunately, Timon was running up to her, eyes wild with concern. "Hey, what's going on?" he demanded. "SHE'S GONNA EAT ME!" Iris and the galago screamed to Timon wildly. Timon hopped up to the branch Iris was stuck under and looked at where Iris ran from. Timon was right; a lioness had been chasing the purple-haired girl, getting closer and closer. "WHOA!" Timon yelled as he jumped to push Iris out from under the hollow tree root used for getting out. "Jeez, why do I always have to save your - AAAHHHH!" The lioness had gotten closer and closer now. Just before the lioness could reach them, however, Simba leaped over the tree root and landed on her. The lioness looked surprised before Simba slammed her to the ground. In a few seconds, both lions were back on their paws, wrestling and grappling with each other. Their roars echoed in the jungle, startling and scaring the other animals that lived there. "Don't worry, buddy, I'm here for ya. Everything's gonna be okay," Timon reassured Iris and Pumbaa, patting behind a wall of rocks and watching the fight. When he saw Simba briefly get the upper hand, he yelled, "Get her! Bite her head! Go for the jugular, the jugular!" Then he darted back to Pumbaa, adding with a grin, "See, I told you a lion would come in handy." Meanwhile, the lions' grapples turned into wrestling. Simba saw the lioness rushing at him, so he reared on his hind legs to slam his paws down on her shoulders, to prevent her from going for the throat. As Bunga had taught him, exposing the throat in a fight was not good...but Simba remembered that his belly was now exposed to attack. The lioness kicked him there, and the two wrestled on the ground until she pinned him, one paw on his neck and the other on his throat. Then Simba recognized the lioness. He remembered seeing the teal eyes, the dark tan fur, and the way she had pounced. There was only one lion he knew who could pin him down like that. As the lioness continued to growl down at him, he choked out one name: "Nala?" The lioness's face immediately changed from anger to surprise as she got off of him, staring with jaws agape. Simba sat up, staring at the familiar creature. "Is it really you?" "Who are you?" the lioness asked, confused. "It's me. Simba," was the answer. The lioness's eyes seemed to shine when the name rang in her ears. "Simba?" Numb with joy, Simba nodded. And soon enough, Nala's face turned to pure joy as she and Simba greeted each other and jumped around like cubs. Timon was gawking at them, jaws wide open, ignoring Pumbaa asking if he wasn't going to be eaten after all. "Simba! You're alive!" exclaimed Nala as they jumped around. "It's so great to see you!" Simba cheered. "What're you doing here?" "What am I doing here? What are you doing here?" Nala asked breathlessly. They were so busy greeting each other and jumping that they hadn't noticed Timon walking over to them, demanding answers. After having avoided their trampling paws, he shouted, "HEY! WHAT'S GOIN' ON HERE?!" Both lions looked down at him. Simba couldn't keep the grin off his face as he introduced his friends to each other, "Nala, this is Timon. He's taken care of me while I was away. And Timon, this is Nala. She's my best friend!" "Friend?" Timon repeated incredulously. "Some friend she is! She tried to eat Pumbaa!" "I didn't know," Nala replied. "Any friend of Simba's is a friend of mine." "Hey, Pumbaa! Get over here!" Simba called to Pumbaa. The warthog had joined Timon and Iris with her penguin and was now walking to them. "Nala, this is Pumbaa. Pumbaa, this is Nala." "Nala's such a pretty name," said Pumbaa, smiling at the lioness who nearly ate him moments ago. "Pleased to meet your acquaintance." Timon face-palmed and sighed. "Pumbaa, don't say 'meet' like that. She's gonna look at you like you're a rack of ribs!" Nala, ignoring Timon, smiled back at Pumbaa. "The pleasure's all mine." Simba had to admit that Timon hadn't been wrong before. Nala had really been into the hunt, chasing Pumbaa down like a savage. Hopefully, he could introduce his old friend to some grubs so that she wouldn't eat him or anyone else. "Whoa, whoa! Time out!" Timon interrupted, bringing the chatter to an end. "Glad everyone's having some fun here, but let me get this straight. You know her. She knows you," he said, pointing to both lions. "But she wants to eat him," he said as he pointed to Pumbaa, who twitched an ear. "And everyone's okay with this? DID I MISS SOMETHING?!" "Timon, relax," Simba chided him lightly, nudging him with his paw. Nala was circling around Simba, admiring how he looked. "I still can't believe you're alive, Simba," she breathed. "And you look just like your father. If only he was alive to see you." Hearing the reference to Mufasa almost made Simba frown, but he pushed it down the best he could. Then he circled around Nala in return, smiling and remarking, "And look at you. You've really changed." "Wait till everyone finds out you've been here all this time," Nala said, her voice turning a little serious. "And your mother...what will she think?" But far from reassuring him, Simba felt doubtful and even afraid. Did they even know that he had caused Mufasa's death? It was even what Scar reminded him about what Sarabi would think if she found out that her son killed Mufasa. "She doesn't have to know," he told her firmly. "Nobody has to know." "Of course they do," said Nala. "Everyone thinks you're dead." Simba was surprised. "They do?" Nala nodded solemnly. "Yeah. Scar told us about the stampede. He became king after he told us this." "He did?" Simba asked, even more, surprised. It was strange how Scar came to be on the throne so fast after Mufasa's death, and it didn't sound right; then again, he decided, Scar had been next in line to be king before Simba was born. Then he thought of what Scar would tell the pride about his role in the stampede, and he feared their reactions as well. "What else did he tell you?" "What else matters? You're alive." Then Nala's eyes widened in realization, a hint of a smile on her face. "And that means, you're the king." The old Simba would have felt happy at the thought of being king. In fact, his cub self's words "I just can't wait to be king!" rang in his ears like bats' squeaks in a cave. All in all, this sounded like his old dream was coming true. But far from making Simba happy, it made him feel scared instead. He couldn't go back to Pride Rock, not after what he did; in fact, he didn't want to go back. He didn't belong there. "Simba? King?" Timon scoffed, leaning against Simba's paw. "Lady, have you got your lions crossed!" Nala's eyes narrowed. "No, I'm serious. Simba's the king." Timon rolled his eyes and retorted, "Yeah, sure. He's the king, I'm the emperor, and Pumbaa is the Grand Poohmbah." But Pumbaa was staring at Simba as if he were a grub too magnificent to eat. He got down to his knees until his snout nearly touched the ground. "King? I humbly bow before you, Your Majesty! I gravel at your feet!" he declared before trying to kiss his paws. "Stop it," Simba muttered, pulling his paw away. "It's not 'gravel'; it's 'grovel,'" Timon scolded Pumbaa. "And don't! He's not the king...are ya?" "No, she's wrong," Simba snapped at them. "I'm not the king. Maybe I was gonna be, but that was a long time ago." Simba no longer felt happy about the reunion. Things had gone from amazing to terrible in a few minutes. Seeing Nala again after all these years was amazing. But being reminded of his past, and how everyone would react to seeing him alive, was terrible. "Let me get this straight. You were the king, and you never told us?" Timon asked, amazed. "We've taken care of a lyin' king for years?" "Look, I'm still the same guy," Simba tried to reason. "But with power!" Timon interrupted with a grin. "Like that crazy chick said, you're the king now!" Nala bent her head down until she reached Timon's eye level. "Could you guys excuse us for a few minutes?" Timon folded his arms in protest. "Hey, whatever she has to say, she can say in front of us. Right, Simba?" Simba wasn't sure what to say at first. Of course, he trusted Timon and Pumbaa; not with his deep secret, of course, but he wouldn't tell anyone else in the jungle if something was wrong. But then again, he wanted to spend time with Nala again, after having not seen her for so long. Finally, he replied, "Maybe you'd better go. I'll catch up with you guys later; I just wanna catch up with Nala first." Timon stared at him, mouth agape. Then he rolled his eyes and started heading off. "It starts," he grumbled. "You think you know a guy..." Pumbaa sighed, but he followed his best friend. While they were in the bushes, Simba heard Pumbaa say, "I knew he was a king all along, Timon. I felt it in my gut!" "No, Pumbaa, that's gas," Timon bit back wryly. "And did you get a load of that? Aw great, now I gotta gravel." "It's grovel," Pumbaa reminded him. "Whatever!" Simba chuckled as he watched them go. "Timon and Pumbaa. You learn to love 'em," he remarked. But his smile faded when he saw Nala's reaction. She had looked away from Simba, a sad look on her face. "What?" Simba asked, catching up to her. "Nala, what's wrong?" "It's like you're back from the dead," Nala replied, looking around at him with a pained expression. "You don't know how much this will mean to everyone...what it means to me." Simba smiled and brushed up against her. "Hey, it's okay now. I'm here." To his surprise, Nala reached over and rubbed her head along Simba's neck. "I really missed you," she murmured. "I missed you too," he rumbled, returning his friend's nuzzle. In the time that Simba was reunited with her, Nala seemed different to him. She still had the same description from when she was a cub, but she seemed tougher, wise, and stronger. In fact, she looked like she had carried a heavy and terrible burden. With empathy for his best friend, Simba decided to help her out. "Come on, I'll show you around the jungle. You look kinda tense," he urged her. "I'm telling you, you're gonna like it here." With a nod from Nala, the two lions walked down the jungle path together. Iris, Serena, and Valerie watched in amazement.