Secrets, Best Friends, Sunset - part of my TLK 3 story

[MeerkatOnTheMoon]

"I do believe there's someone out there for each of us. It just might take a while." Timon and Pumbaa secretly wish they each have a soulmate of their own. A oneshot that's part of my upcoming "The Lion King 3" story. Friendship and bromance. Not slash.

Hello! This is my Timon and Pumbaa oneshot. It's actually a deleted scene from "The Lion King 3" that I'm currently working on and will be sharing real soon. All events follow the timeline of "The Lion King", "The Lion King II: Simba's Pride" and "The Lion King 1 1/2". This oneshot takes place shortly after the ending of "Simba's Pride". Hope you'll enjoy it

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Sitting on the edge of Pride Rock, Timon stares at the marvelous sunset that stretches out across the wide open sky, giving it an orangey glow.

The Pridelanders and Outlanders have recently united, Simba can finally reign in peace, and Timon and Pumbaa have been given an upgrade in their royal duties to keep a close watch on Pride Rock while the lionesses are out hunting and roaming about and to do roll calls for royal meetings, since Kiara is a young adult who no longer needs babysitting.

Life is great now that he has a bigger purpose in life. But a melancholic look is plastered on his face as he watches the sun go down.

"Hey, Timon!"

"AHHHHH!"

Pumbaa calls out from another corner, causing him to trip over and fall.

"Pumbaa. You scared me there, buddy."

"Aww. I'm sorry. I was going to remind you it's finally time we go look for Kiara's birthday gifts. The grand party is tomorrow, remember?"

"Oh yes. I can't believe we still haven't got her anything. So much for being last minute. Let's find her the perfect present." Timon's face instantly lits up.

"Yesss. But Timon, are you okay?" Pumbaa looks concerned at his best friend.

"I'm perfectly fine, Pumbaa. Why wouldn't I be?"

"It's just that I saw you being sad and all. You don't seem as cheery as you normally are."

"Oh," Timon realizes he's been caught off-guard. The same sad feeling begins to take over once again.

"You know you can tell me anything, right?"

"Even my darkest secret?"

"Even your darkest secret. I won't judge. You know that," Pumbaa sits down and patiently waits for him to speak.

Timon lets out a sigh and stares back at the sunset for a while. He seems worried about expressing whatever thought has been lingering on his mind lately, even in front of Pumbaa. Taking a deep breath, he finally opens up.

"Okay. Sometimes... I keep hoping for a family of my own..."

"Awww. That isn't dark at all, Timon. Besides, we are all a big loving family, right?"

"Of course we all are. You, Simba and everyone are very important to me, and that will never change. I just wish I can also find a mate for myself when the time comes. Did it ever cross your mind to start a family, Pumbaa?"

Pumbaa gets reflective. "Actually, I think about it too. A lot, to be honest."

"Wow. You never told me that, buddy." Timon feels more at ease now.

"I guess we all have our own secrets. I'm just not comfortable with the whole idea of soulmates." Pumbaa begins to feel a little doubtful about himself. "I don't even know if I'm worthy of a cute female warthog's love."

"Pumbaa, you are always worthy. And you have the biggest heart out of everyone."

"Gee, thanks, Timon. I do believe there's someone out there for each of us. It just might take a while, I guess."

"Yeah. Well, I'm not so blue anymore. Thanks for lending me your ears." Timon shoots Pumbaa an appreciative look and a sincere smile.

"Always." Pumbaa smiles back at him, his eyes kind and warm. He and Timon glance at the sunset for a bit, just two friends enjoying each other's company. "So are we going gift-hunting now?"

"Sure we are."

Timon jumps on Pumbaa's back, and both make their way down Pride Rock.

"Uh, Timon, do you think we'd make great dads when we have our own families?"

"I hope so, buddy. I mean, we helped raise Simba, and we did babysit Kiara, though she kept slipping away most of the time. That's a good enough crash course in parenting, right?"

"I'd say it's more than good. Can we be neighbors and always stick together?"

"Yeah. Friends stick together to the end, right?"

"That's right."

Timon and Pumbaa take a stroll through the savannah under the soft sunset light with a brand new hope and a positive outlook on the future ahead.

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Thanks so much for reading. To find out what happens, feel free to take a look at my "The Lion King 3" story, which I will start uploading after next week

[Stormy]

What a wonderful read. Great oneshot! I think you got the personality so well done in here, it feels like it could be real.

[MeerkatOnTheMoon]

Aww thanks so much for reading I might just put it back in my TLK 3 story. Will start sharing it next weekend, beginning with the character descriptions, especially the new characters.

Just trying to finalize the title now, which is either "Hidden Kingdom" or "Icy Kingdom" (though it sounds Frozen-like). There's going to be a new world out there and a mysterious rogue lion queen named Cheshi, who I'm very excited to introduce. Also, Zira turns out to be alive. Lol.

[Timon the great]

I forgot to reply to this earlier because of the questions we've been asking in Q&A. But I think your introduction here is fairly decent. Maybe not necessarily great in my view because it seems like Pumbaa does more of the overall thinking here than Timon does.
I'd like to see more of Timon's own thoughts and reflection like on his feelings about his life before he tells Pumbaa what's really on his mind on this intro, just as an example. No criticism. But I'm hoping to see more of Timon's own inside world or thought processes in your work since I'm assuming this will be more focused on him overall.

I also saw this on FF.net and this same part was uploaded on there last year in September, but no updates yet. So I'm also hoping to see what's next on this pretty soon ))

[MeerkatOnTheMoon]

Many thanks for your comments. This is a deleted scene, although I may put it back lol. There will be more of Timon's individual thoughts and inside world in my TLK3 story. Posting in a few days - the character list first. I wrote Pumbaa this way just to make him more of a contributor. There are a couple of new characters who are sidekicks in my story, so I want the original characters from the franchise to have more depth. Thanks once again =D