Welcome to the Pride
By Man of the North
These stories were partly inspired by a piece on Deviantart called No Remorse by Alan-the-leopard. I do not own The Lion King or the Timon & Pumbaa TV series or any other fandom, characters, or songs.
Chapter One: Queen's Peace

Timon watched Simba and Nala step out from the cave and into the warm sunlight as they did every morning. They giggled, bumped their hips, and rubbed their bodies together; talking in soft tones about everyone and everything and nothing and nobody. To see them adoring each other in such a way, you would never think that they had nearly killed each other once.

And it had been because Nala had tried to kill Timon and Pumbaa.

It hadn't been anything personal. The Pride Lands had suffered dearly under Scar's reign. The savannah became barren and the herds had literally left for greener pastures. Nala, unbeknownst to Scar, had escaped in the middle of the night to seek help from someone strong enough to usurp the tyrannical king. Timon, in spite of himself, had to admire the lioness for making the journey across the desert to his old home in Hukuna Matata, underfed as she was...

And then defeating Simba in combat...

He and Pumbaa had been enjoying a morning stroll through the paradisiacal jungle until he noticed Pumbaa had wandered off. The only predators Timon and his warthog buddy ever worried about coming into their jungle were two Machiavellian cheetahs, who never bothered them again after Simba had fully matured.

Yet, without Pumbaa, the world around him became still and deathly quiet. The meerkat's gut churned as the tension in the air weighed down on him.

Abruptly, violently; the silence was broke by Pumbaa's shrill scream echoing through the forest, followed by a ferocious growling roar.

Timon dashed off in the direction of the sound, frantically calling out for his friend. He found the poor warthog desperately trying to get free from beneath a giant arched tree root.

"What's going on?!" demanded Timon.

"SHE'S GONNA EAT ME!"

'Huh?'

Timon scrabbled onto the tree root to see what Pumbaa was shouting about, and he would never forget the sight of a feral slavering lioness charging at them through the undergrowth.

This was different than the cheetahs. While the cheetah brothers had retained some of their rationality when hunting, this nightmarish creature had totally given into her primal instincts. There was no reasoning with a predator whose killer instinct was shifted into full gear. Nala was going to slaughter Timon and Pumbaa without hesitation... without remorse.

A bloodcurdling scream loosed from Timon's own mouth when the savage monster lunged at them, teeth bared and claws extended.

Thank the spirits that Simba came in at the last second to tackle the lioness. The meerkat cheered him on as his adopted cub matched Nala blow for blow. He was confident that their lives were not forfeit. Then, his heart dropping into his stomach, he saw the lioness pin Simba to ground, her fangs inches from his throat.

It was over... Simba was dead and they were next.

'Nala?'

It was a name Simba knew that Timon didn't recognize. And, miraculously, the girl's bloodthirsty expression immediately melted into shock. Her eyes became clear and she backed away, almost fearful. It'd make sense for her to be scared, snapping out of her feral state, coming down from the adrenaline, and meeting a strange lion that somehow knew her.

To Timon's slack-jawed amazement, Simba and this 'Nala' creature cried out in joy, dancing around each other like two bosom friends who hadn't seen one another in years.

And it was exactly that. She was Simba's best friend from his childhood. The male lion called Pumbaa over to meet the lioness, in which Pumbaa warmly greeted her and she returned in kind. Momentarily taken in by the cheerful atmosphere, Timon was about to introduce himself before remembering what had happened in the past two minutes.

'Whoa! Whoa! Timeout! You know her. She knows you. But she wants to eat him. And everyone is okay with this...? Did I miss something?!'

Simba's simply told Timon to calm down in response.

It hadn't been personal. It was just The Circle of Life that Nala had been following. Timon and Pumbaa were fair game in her eyes, but they didn't die, so all was well.

Not for Timon it wasn't.

That animal had been hell-bent on feasting upon Pumbaa's flesh. She had almost killed his surrogate son/little brother. He didn't know what would have become of himself, but with the way she had been, Nala likely wouldn't have scorned a little meerkat appetizer.

Pumbaa just said 'Hukuna Matata' and let himself be completely at ease around his would-have-been murderer. Timon was also an experienced student of the carefree lifestyle, but he was a meerkat. He could never completely abandon his paranoid and skittish nature. While he was different from his fellow meerkats and more easy-going like his mother, she told him he took more after his father, who had been a life long sentry. While he had been a brave confident meerkat, his mental condition in his final days had become worse than Uncle Max's.

Paranoid and skittish was an understatement. Knowing that your species is so low on the food chain that you live underground would put you into a state of constant fear, which it had with most meerkats.

And Timon, just getting used to living among a lion pride, still feared Nala a great deal.

"And Timon decided that since he had cute little gumdrop eyes, a swirly cue shell, and he was a snail; he'd name him 'Speedy'!

Timon watched and listened with some amazement as Pumbaa elicted a peal of laughter from a certain Queen lioness. Timon knew full well the forgiving and kindly nature of his friend, yet for him to just nestle himself besides Nala like it was the most natural thing in the world was... He didn't have a word for it.

"Hey, Timon!" called Pumbaa. "Come join us! I'm regaling Nala with tales of our adventures!"

The meerkat stood rigid before the lioness' gaze. She smiled at him invitingly, happy to let him partake in the conversation. No hostility or ill-intent in those blue eyes.

She genuinely wanted his company.

For a moment, he almost gave in... but his strong memory held him back... and not for the first time.

Pumbaa furrowed his brow in concern when his normally outgoing friend said not a word, but simply turned away to walk back into the cavern.

The troubled frown etched on Nala's face disappeared before the warthog noticed it.

The picture of a warthog and a meerkat sleeping in a lion's den was unreal.

But when you live long enough in a universe like ours, you'll come to realize that the term 'reality' gets pretty shaky.

Timon rested on Pumbaa's stomach, wide awake with his eyes glued to the ceiling. He couldn't get to sleep! No matter which way he twisted or turned, his body refused to get comfortable. Sighing in aggravation, he sat up to survey the den. Lionesses were piled about all around, absolutely dead to the world. Cats! It doesn't matter how big they are. They are the heavyweight champions of slumber.

His eyes locked onto Simba and her sleeping on the plateau in the middle of the cave. Timon could not deny that they looked just right together; all cuddled up and Heaven have mercy on whoever tried to hurt either of them in each other's presence.

'Heaven had mercy on you and Pumbaa when that crazy chick attempted to eat you.'

Timon gave a sharp jerk of his head.

This wasn't good! This wasn't healthy! That crazy chick was his cub's mate. She was the queen of The Pridelands. And if Pumbaa was cool with her, she was cool with ole' Timon!

'Oh no, she's not. Did you see that gazelle's blood on her muzzle from lunch? Her teeth stained pink from tearing into the poor creature's flesh? I can't believe the damage those jaws can do... What they could have done...'

The meerkat slid off his friend's stomach, running out to the edge of Pride Rock's peak.

He once said to Pumbaa that the stars were millions of fireflies that had gotten stuck up in the sky, but by how humbled he became by those millions of sparkling dots decorating that endless dark blue ocean, he knew they were something much grander. They gave him this awesome feeling of smallness and a yearning for adventure that never failed to make his face light up in excitement.

Not until tonight, that is.

He hadn't felt this troubled since the day he was kicked out of the colony for leaving his post to go woo the princess, allowing a cobra to break in and ransack the town and kidnap the same princess.

He wished Ma were here. She'd know how to make him feel better. Uncle Max would encourage his fear of Nala. Simba would be surprised and hurt if he knew Timon's thoughts. Pumbaa would just tell him to remember 'Hakuna Matata' and become friends with the queen. And Timon didn't feel he had known Simba's mother, Sarabi, long enough to confide in her.

And he really didn't want another meeting with that crazed monkey shaman! He liked to whack people on the head with a stick!

So, who did he turn to?

'Somebody once told me that the great kings of the past are up there, watching over us.'

The meerkat mentally kicked himself for having laughed at Simba's belief. Timon did indeed believe in an afterlife. And with the kind of life he had led, he could believe in past lion kings living up there. Heck! By now he could believe in just about anything! He would never have believed Simba to be royalty.

He cleared his throat nervously, having never done what he was about to.

"Uh... Your majesty, King Mufasa? I don't know if you know me... Well, if you've been keeping an eye on Simba, then you probably know me. Pumbaa and I did raise him... Definitely not the way you would've if the stories I've heard of you are true, but we gave it our best shot and I would say your son's grown into a fine feline."

Timon hadn't really been expecting a response, it just felt good to talk. So, he was caught off guard when a sudden soft breeze hit him, just strong enough to make stagger back a bit.

"I hope that means you agree," muttered Timon. "But what I wanted to talk to you about was his girlfriend, Nala."

Silence.

"As you may know, she tried to eat Pumbaa and me. And if it weren't for your son, we'd likely be up there with you. I'm not a king, though... Your son considers me family, but I really don't know where I'm headed after I give up the fight here... But getting back on topic; she scared- no. Terrified me. I hadn't felt so scared in my life. It wasn't just for me, but for Pumbaa and Simba..."

Timon bowed his head.

"A-And there was nothing I could do... Your son used to throw me up in the air and bat me around with just a twitch of his paws when he was a cub. Timon the meerkat versus a vicious full grown lioness? A-ha ha ha! A-heh... Oh..."

He ran a his fingers through his crop of red hair.

"And if Simba hadn't recognized her, he would have been as much a goner as we were. And I know that Nala loves him. She wouldn't hurt him now. And I want to believe she wouldn't hurt me or Pumbaa, but whenever I look at her, I see her as she was when she attacked us. I would like to say 'no worries' and she was just being a lion, but I... I don't want to be food! I don't want the last thing I see in this life to be the gullet of a beast!"

He sat down to bring his knees up to his chest and bury his face in his arms.

"I forgot about these feelings when she and Simba fell in love and when we saved Pride Rock, but now they're back. And I don't want to feel this way about her... I really don't. I want to see her as part of the gang. Part of the family. I... geez..."

No voice came out of the sky and there was not another gust of wind.

Timon chucked, waving his hand dismissively.

"I guess I'm just being a mook. You shouldn't have to be ashamed for being what you are. She was a hungry lioness. I'm such a fraidy meerkat... I shouldn't have to bother you with this stuff. I bet you've got plenty of really important things to worry about up there. Don't worry yourself about me."

He continued to sit there, staring off to the horizion until he was startled by the rough tongue of a lion grooming his back.

"What the-?!"

The warm cerulean waters of the Caribbean flooded his vision as they had the morning Nala roused him awake to inquire of Simba's whereabouts. The first time, he had only seen the eyes of a carnivore, triggering his ancestral fears until he realized it was only her, and she meant no harm. There had been no fury in those waters that morning, only curiosity.

Now, they bore down on him with such tenderness that all of the meerkat's ugly imaginings were drowned by them.

Timon regained his composure, looking away from the lioness in a sheepish manner.

"I take it you heard me, huh?" he asked.

She rumbled softly with a graceful dip of her head.

"I'm... sorry... I'm so very sorry..." he whispered out, sorrowfully.

In a gentle motion, Nala reached out to draw him close.

"Simba loves you and Pumbaa. Sarabi loves you. I love you... And I won't ever try to hurt you or Pumbaa again."

She pressed her muzzle to Timon. The same muzzle she used to take down prey and nearly used on him and Pumbaa.

And then she began to purr, sending vibrations through his tiny body. Consoling, protective purrs.

His fear was gone, never to return. So long as she lived, Nala would fight anyone or anything who threatened her mate's fathers.

Slowly, Timon wrapped his small arms around her muzzle, unaware of when she lied down and gathered him into her paws. He could not have stopped one happy tear from escaping him to save his life. He was at peace, and they were well and truly family now.

He sighed blissfully as he nuzzled into her light golden fur and a soft second breeze stroked them.

"You know," murmured Timon, "You are going to make a fine mother someday."

Nala's purr rose and her tail lazily rose to flop back onto the peak's stone surface.

"You... are going to make a fine uncle very soon."

Timon simply hummed in reply before his chocolate eyes snapped wide open in shock.

'Uncle? Cub? Late night bathroom runs? Tree climbing?! ROUGHHOUSING?! WATERFALLS?!'

The longsuffering wail of our favorite meerkat made certain nobody on Pride Rock was getting any sleep that night!

To be Continued...

If Disney has plans for ever making another honest to goodness Lion King movie (The Lion Guard was oh so disappointing), show them this story! And by the way, do you think the humorous ending to this chapter was needed? Should I have kept it serious and sweet?