feeling the side effects of either eating too much or eating too quickly.

“Hey,” Pumbaa began, half concerned about the well-being of his best buddy, “Are you okay?”

“Yes, I feel like I am top of the world…!” Timon replied sarcastically, still groaning in pain. He gritted his teeth to show his agony. “Do I look okay to you?”

Pumbaa did not retaliate to the cheeky comment from Timon because he knew that Timon was always like that. He then took it that Timon was feeling a little under the weather due to stomach pains and decided to ask him a much more sensible question: “What’s the matter? Do you have a stomach ache?”

“Yeah,” Timon replied, “I think that I ate too quickly.”

Pumbaa then took something into consideration. He was trying to think about how he could help his lifelong companion get better. He then got an idea into his head.

“Here, let me give you a hand.” Pumbaa said as he started lifting Timon up and onto his shoulder.

“Wha-What are you doing, Pumbaa?” Timon asked, still feeling the pain in his stomach.

“Just hold still for a minute.” Pumbaa replied; and he started to pat Timon’s back repeatedly while he was still on his shoulder. Timon then let out a belch that seemed quite loud for an animal his size; like it could be heard by a quarter of the entire savannah. Pumbaa even jumped in surprise at the noise. Timon then let out what appeared to be a sigh of relief. He seemed to be feeling better now.

“Ahhh. I feel better, now. It was just a bit of gas.” Timon said.

“Oh, sorry.” Pumbaa replied with embarrassment, misunderstanding Timon’s remark as if it was directed towards him. Pumbaa always had problems with wind himself, and he was used to being picked on whenever he would break wind.

“Not you; me.” Timon said, half-amused by Pumbaa’s misunderstanding. That was not the first time Pumbaa had done that. He remembered Pumbaa saying that once back when they lived in the Tropical Paradise:

“I tell you, Pumbaa,” Timon began, “This stinks”

“Oh, sorry.” Pumbaa replied, thinking that Timon was relating to him.

“Not you! Them!” Timon remarked with slight annoyance as he pointed towards Simba and Nala walking away from them.

Timon now started to see the funny side of it and he was quietly snickering to himself. Pumbaa noticed Timon laughing to himself and he looked at him suspiciously. “What are you laughing about, Timon?”

Timon knew that he had been sprung and quickly stopped to clear his throat and look for an excuse. “Oh! Uh…I…I was just…thinking about something that amused me some time ago that involved my uncle.” Timon tried, knowing how much his Uncle Max was a little crazy and a little grumpy at times back when he lived with all the other meerkats.

“What was so amusing about it?” Pumbaa asked.

Timon knew that Pumbaa was going to ask this and he knew that he would have to say more just to escape from the situation. He always knew that when you are trying to lie to get out of something, it would usually take a few words until the questioner is satisfied and does not want to talk about it any more. He would also have to make it sound convincing enough so that no weird or silly answers would cause suspicion.

“He just made it back into the underground that time when hyenas invaded our territory. They almost mauled him and he said ‘I flinched when I should have scurried’ before collapsing. It was pretty serious at the time, but I find it funny now; because I think that his brain has been knocked about by rocks; and even during serious situations he made amusing comments.”

Pumbaa took this in and even started to snicker himself when Timon mentioned Uncle Max’s comment. He decided to take it as it was and not talk about it any more. His mind focused back to the subject that he brought up before helping rid Timon of his stomach pains.

“I see.” Pumbaa began, then immediately said, “Hey, could I ask you a question?”

“Sure, pal. Fire away.” Timon replied.

“I was just thinking about the times we had back at the Tropical Paradise, and…”

“You know what?” Timon interrupted, immediately catching what Pumbaa was bringing up. “Before my stomach went crazy, I was thinking exactly the same thing!”

Pumbaa was surprised that Timon managed to pick up the same thoughts as him, but he knew that they were both alike, and they always thought alike, so he took it well. “Really? You were? Well, I just wanted to say that there were some great times that we shared: Swimming, roller-coaster riding on the rapids, eating, bungee jumping…”

“…Bowling for buzzards, sunbaking, stargazing, swinging.” Timon added, “We had it all, didn’t we buddy? It is hard to believe that it has been some years since we saw it last, eh? Some good times that I would love to relive.”

“I was thinking the same, Timon.” Pumbaa replied, acknowledging the think-alike trio that they were. “Which was what I was just about to ask: Did you want to go back there for a while and relive those days again?”

Timon started to get excited at the idea, but at the same time thought about the Pride Lands, knowing that if they were going to go back to their original home, they would have to leave their friends and good memories in the Pride Lands behind for a while. He started to feel a little uncertain about some tough decisions, but in the end he made up his mind. “Yeah, Pumbaa,” He said with a reluctant and somewhat sad speech in his voice, “Let’s go back and see what those days did for our lives.”

Pumbaa smiled but at the same time could not help thinking about leaving Simba and his pride. Just the thought of his old home made him think about the days parenting Simba when he was just a cub. To him and Timon, Simba was like the son they might never have had. Not only that, but Simba’s daughter Kiara was like niece to them, and they had some really fun times with her as well that they considered her and Simba the family they never had. All these thoughts made him feel really sad about leaving family behind, but he decided to go along with Timon considering that it was his idea in the first place.

“Okay,” Pumbaa reluctantly said, “Let’s go.”

“Wait! Hold on a minute.” Timon said, just thinking about something that he and Pumbaa might have to do in this particular situation, “Before we go, we have to tell Simba about what we are going to do.”

“Why?” Pumbaa asked.

“Because we don’t want him to worry and wonder were we have gone. He might even send out search parties to look for us.”

“I didn’t know that you can party while looking for someone.” Pumbaa replied, misunderstanding again. Sometimes Pumbaa would not understand metaphors or unclear English that Timon would often speak.

“That’s not what I meant, genius!” Timon said in a cheeky and forceful expression. “I didn’t mean ‘parties’ parties. I meant groups that form together to look for people and certain things.”

“Oh! I understand; sorry about that.” Pumbaa replied, again slightly embarrassed at his mistake.

“It’s okay, don’t worry about it.” Timon replied in an understanding voice. “Now come on, let’s go and find Simba.”

And with that they both left for Pride Rock to go and find Simba.

4

It was now mid morning, and every lion inside the den at Pride Rock was now fully awake. Most of them had gone out into the Pride Lands to begin the morning hunt for breakfast, and some of the others decided to stay inside the den. Most of whom were some of the injured victims from the previous days’ battle, and so they were resting their bodies and nursing their wounds. No one was seriously injured. They all just had scratches and bruises. The ones who were most affected were the original members of Simba’s pride, because the new addition to the pride; the former Outsiders; were trained to fight, and therefore had the advantage in the fight to inflict the most damage on their opponents. But the Originals were recovering well, and they all just needed some more time to rest.

At the very back behind Pride Rock, Simba, Nala, Kovu, and