I normally don't like posting one-shot stories, but it'll give me something to do. This is set about a month before Out of the Blue. Guess this means the pups' personalities will be a little different, as they are younger.
Which One's Grandpa?
By Kari Gilmore
Nighttime. It was one of Timon's favorite times of day. That was when he'd lay out in an empty field and look up at the sky, forever lost in the stars. Growing up he couldn't do this without the risk of a predator attacking. It was never safe outside at night, so he rarely saw the stars, or fireflies as he thought they were called. When he was four months old, however, he went outside to be away from his father, after another argument they had. His parents came outside to find him and they watched as the fireflies ran a race. Timon would never forget that site, ever. And now his father was among those fireflies, and watching over Timon and his family. And now Timon could watch them every night in his safe little oasis without having to worry about being attacked. … Or so he thought.
"Daddy!"
"Ooof!" Timon was caught by surprised when his two-month-old daughter Shani jumped out of the grass and onto his stomach. He coughed for a moment as Shani giggled at his expression.
"That's a funny face, Daddy! Did I jump on you too hard?"
Timon let out another cough as he sat up and lifted Shani off his stomach, letting off a slight chuckle. "No, you just knocked every ounce of breath out of me."
"Oh. So long as I didn't jump on you too hard." She smiled and giggled again.
"Uh-huh… Why are you still awake?"
"'Cuz my eyes are open," she blinked. Timon softly smiled and chuckled. "And I'm trying to find Kito."
"His eyes are still open, too?" Shani nodded. "His stomach's probably awake, too. I thought I laid out the rules about midnight snacks: Not without me." Timon began to stand when he heard some rustling in the grass next to them. He grinned. "A-ha." Shani blinked as her father walked on all fours, low to the ground and around the side of the grass. A bit more rustling and a small sound was heard, which sounded like a surprised squeak. Timon stood up straight while holding something by the tail. "Hmm… a very unusual coloring for a worm."
"Daaaad, lemme go!"
"Hmm?" Timon pretended to be surprised by the strength of the wiggling "worm." He turned it over to find it was attached to a wiggling meerkat pup, also two-months-old. He held the pup up to his face, his eyes squinting a bit. He then grinned and ruffled the pup's hair. "Oh, it's you, Kito. Had you not spoken up we'd be calling you Stumpy in a minute."
"You wouldn't really have eaten my tail, would you, Dad?" Kito asked, looking a little worried.
Timon pouted his lips out for a moment, thinking, and then shook his head. "Nah, odd-colored worms give me indigestion." Timon set his son down and walked back over to Shani. "OK, now you two get back to the nest before your mother starts to notice she's sleeping alone tonight."
"But I'm not sleepy yet, Daddy," Shani said with a slight pout.
"Me neither. Can't we stay up for a little longer with you?" Kito asked, letting his eyes go big and sad.
"Pleeeeeeeeeeaase?"
Timon grimaced slightly as Shani copied her brother's eyes. "Hey-hey-hey, no fair! I haven't gotten a chance to be prepared for the Double Puppy-Dog Eyes Gang-Up! You weren't suppose to learn that for at least another week!" He growled softly to himself, "Sudi's pups must've taught them. Remind me to thank him later."
"C'mon, Daddy, just a few more minutes?"
Timon exhaled and mumbled to himself, "The Puppy-Dog Eyes get me every time… oy..." He then rolled his eyes. "All right, all right, all right. I guess if Zuri doesn't wake up to notice you gone, you can stay a few more minutes. But tell her I let you stay up and I'm not sharing my desserts with either of you for a week."
Both pups gulped and nodded, holding their right paws up in vow. "We promise!" Timon nodded and gave them both a pat on the head. They watched as their father went back to his groove in the grass and plopped down, looking back up at the stars. He rested his paws behind his head and exhaled. Kito and Shani looked at each other, a bit confused, and then they walked over to their father and leaned over to look at him.
Timon frowned slightly when he noticed his view was being blocked. "Yeeees?"
"What are you doing?" Kito asked.
"What does it look like I'm doing? I'm firefly gazing." He sat up and patted the ground next to him on each side. "Grab a seat." He then laid back down.
The two pups looked at each other and shrugged, doing as instructed. After a minute of silence Shani decided to break it. "This is boring. There's nothing up there but shiny dots and they're not doing anything."
"Yeah, this is dumb, Dad," Kito agreed. "Why do you do this?"
Timon frowned again and turned his head to look at both of them. "First of all, those shiny dots are fireflies that fly about in the sky at night. And second, it's not dumb. You two just don't understand." He shrugged as he looked back up at the stars. "Of course, you're only a couple months old, so that's kind of expected."
Kito sat up to look at Timon. "Then how'd they get up there?"
"Yeah, why don't they ever come down?" Shani asked as she sat up.
Timon pouted his lips for a moment, deciding how to explain this to them. "Because…" He sat up and cleared his throat. "They're not just ordinary fireflies, kids. I used to laugh at it myself, but your Uncle Simba says that those fireflies are the Great Kings of the Past that watch over us. And they have servants to… serve them. Those are the less bright ones."
"Wow," both pups said, sounding bored.
"Quiet, or you'll wake up your mother with all that commotion you're making," Timon said sarcastically, annoyed that his son and daughter weren't too interested in the matter.
"Well, Daddy, it's just a bunch of lions up there. Why should we be excited about lions if there aren't any meerkats up there, too?" Shani asked.
Timon smiled and pulled both of his pups closer to him. "Oh, but there are meerkats up there. Not as many as there are lions, though. And only the great ones end up as a servant to the Great Kings of the Past."
"Which Kings do they serve? And which one's in charge up there? There are so many kings I'll bet they give each other orders and don't listen to each other," Kito laughed.
Timon blinked. "You've got a point there…" He shook his head to clear that thought. "Anyway, you might be interested to know that your Grandfather is up there among those fireflies."
"Grandpa Fearless Buzz?" Kito and Shani both asked.
"That's the one. He did an amazing feat for meerkats, and that's why he's up there."
"Wow…" Timon smiled because this time the pups were interested.
Shani looked up at Timon, grasping the fur on his arm. "Does that mean you'll be up there when it's your turn, too?"
Timon looked surprised at that question, having never given such a thing a thought. After a moment of silence and consideration he closed his eyes, bowed his head, and smiled. "I just might… and it'll be great to see your Grandpa again."
Kito looked at his father, and then looked up at the stars. "So, which one's Grandpa?" he asked.
Unsure of what to answer, Timon returned, "Well, which one do you think?"
"Umm…" Kito looked up among the stars, as if expecting his grandfather to reveal himself. He saw one star let off a twinkle and then it shot off across the skies. "That one! That one's Grandpa, I just know it!"
"Hey, I think he wants to meet us!" The siblings shared a look, and then a grinned. "Last one there's a rotten stink bug!" Shani said as she raced off towards where she thought the firefly ran. Kito quickly followed.
"Wha--? Kito, Shani, get back here!" Timon stood, dusted himself off, and ran after them. "Those kids have too much energy to burn…" He then yelled after them, "And no matter what you say I'm not a rotten stink bug!"
The two swift pups ran to another field that seemed bare and ordinary. It had taller grass, but that was about it. Kito hopped onto a spot when they stopped running. "I won, I won, I won!"
Shani trotted up next to him, panting. "That's cuz you're a big fat cheater."
"Am not!" Kito stuck his tongue out at her, to which she returned the gesture. They both then glanced around the area, finding nothing special in the immediate area. Kito then put a paw on his hip. "I thought you said he landed here," he said with a furrowed brow.
"He's a firefly, remember; maybe he didn't land, but he's still flying or something," Shani said as she flapped her little paws.
Kito rolled his eyes slightly and shook his head. Apon doing so he noticed several fireflies fluttering about overheard, and one firefly dropped down closer to the pups' level. He pointed at that one. "There he is!" The firefly fluttered by, as if it didn't notice the two noticing it. "Grandpa, wait!" The two meerkats pup began to chase after it.
Shani jumped up and tried to catch it in her paws, but it was up too high for her to catch. "Grandpa!" She let out a few giggles as she tried again, finding some enjoyment in the attempts.
Kito followed his sister's example and jumped to catch it, but he couldn't do it either. "Come back! We just wanna say hi!"
Soon the two found trying to catch the firefly as a sort of game. They were having too much fun trying to catch it that they hardly realized they were running in circles. They were laughing and having a good time, and then they stopped when they noticed the firefly's glow disappeared. Timon, being taller than his daughter and son, caught the firefly between his paws with ease. He stood in front of them with an arched brow.
Kito gulped and cowered his head slightly. "It's not our fault we run faster than you, Dad," he nervously said.
Shani nervously smiled and nodded. "Yeah, Daddy… Not our fault you're a rotten stink bug." She cowered her head when Timon's brow furrowed slightly. She then looked at her father's paws, where the firefly was. Timon noticed her gaze. "We've never met Grandpa before, and… well… we just got excited."
Timon stood there for a moment, looking at his pups, and then at his own paws, which held the firefly in place. He felt its wings fluttering against his paws, tickling them slightly. "Is that all?"
"Mm-hmm," the brother and sister nodded.
"Well, in that case…" Timon smiled and lowers his paws down, opening them enough for them to see the firefly, but not release it. Kito and Shani stood on the tiptoes to see the firefly in their father's paws. "Dad, meet Kito and Shani. Kito, Shani, meet Grandpa Buzz."
"Hi, Grandpa. He's so pretty…" Shani said with a giggle.
"Yeah… so that's what a firefly looks like up close…" Kito said, amazed.
"And now I think we should let him go. He needs to return to his position in the sky," Timon said as he lifted his paws back up. He opened them up and blew on the firefly, sending it on it's way. It fluttered off behind the grass, disappearing from site.
"Bye, Grandpa Buzz…"
Timon watched after the firefly, putting a paw on his hip. "That reminds me of the time your grandparents and I watched the fireflies run a race. Do you wanna hear about it, kids?" Silence. Timon blinked and looked at his pups. "Kids?"
Kito and Shani were sitting on the ground, yawning and sleepily rubbing their eyes. It was obvious the running had tired them out. "Sure, Daddy," Shani yawned.
"Might be fun," Kito barely managed to get the sentence out. "Start from the beginning and talk slow."
Timon smiled and carefully picked them both up. "I'll save it for another time, when your eyes are still open."
Kito yawned and nuzzled his head against Timon's chest. "OK…"
"Aw, no fair," Shani tiredly pouted as she closed her eyes and got comfortable.
Timon softly chuckled and then looked up at the stars. "Sorry our quality time was so short tonight, but at least tonight you spent some time with the grandkids this time." The wind blew softly through his hair, making him smile again. "Good night, Dad." He then walked away towards his nest, leaving both the field of fireflies and the field of stars behind… at least for the night.
The End