I DID IT! 4 years of writers block, finally beaten!

Anyway... here ya go. ;3

Things in the clearing were, admittedly, quite awkward after the sudden mutual declaration of love. Timon seemed to realize this first, as he backtracked so quickly that he seemed to trip over his own words.

"Uh... actually, this is moving kinda too fast for me so it might be best if - maybeIshouldjustgo..."

"No, wait!" Shenzi was suddenly angry. "I just lost the only two people I've ever been able to call friends because of you. Whether you like it or not, we are in this mess together now. If you leave me, too, I won't have anyone left."

A little shocked at her outburst, Timon was speechless for a moment. Regaining his composure, he said, "Well, technically speaking, no one forced you to pick me. That was all you."

Shenzi considered this, then replied, "Sure, but none of this would have happened if you hadn't proposed to me in the first place."

"I only did that to distract you from, y'know, eating me!"

"I'm a hyena!"

Putting a hand to his forehead, Timon could already tell he was in for the long haul. "Oh boy... listen, I think we may have run into this a little too quickly... don't you think we should get to know each other a little better first?"

"Yeah..."

Now it was really awkward. Timon suddenly broke the silence by clearing his throat and adding, "Why don't I show you around?"

The two walked around the Oasis, as Timon pointed out landmarks, all the while bragging about how he'd "discovered" the place. Shenzi couldn't help but roll her eyes, knowing he must be exaggerating - he was practically lauding himself as a genius.

Suddenly, they found themselves atop a small ledge overlooking an amazing view of a waterfall. They had been climbing a steep incline moments before, and Shenzi wasn't exactly in the mood to go on any for a while.

"Do you mind if we stay here for a while? I'm pretty tired. We can talk, if that's okay with you."

This was strange. The giddy feeling had returned, and she quickly realized that she had never felt like this before in her life. She was always so preoccupied with being in charge that she never had the opportunity to live for herself alone before.

"Yeah, sure," Timon replied. "What do you want to talk about?"

"Oh God, anything but more about how great you are."

He laughed, thinking he was liking Shenzi more with each passing moment. Simba and Pumbaa often dropped hints when his egotism was showing, but no one had ever said it outright before. And he wasn't offended at all. It was something he had always been aware of, after all, but he never made efforts to cover it up. And he like that Shenzi didn't try to hide what she was thinking.

"Okay..." He tried to think of the least awkward topic they could possibly talk about, but Shenzi spoke up before he could.

"This is a really nice view," she said. "It's not anything like... well, you know."

"Yeah." He paused, then added, "You don't have to go back there, you know."

"I probably shouldn't, anyway. I don't know what Banzai's told the rest of the hyenas. It might be best if... if I just stayed here for a while?" She realized he might be uncomfortable with that, considering his entire colony was rumored to live there.

Timon just raised his eyebrows. "You'd have to eat bugs. No eating me or my friends."

Shenzi rolled her eyes. "I'm not going to eat you."

But now the thought was in Timon's head, and he had to follow up. "Oh yeah? How do I know this isn't just all some elaborate ruse to lull me into a false sense of security and then eat me and my colony?"

"Well, for starters," she answered, "I didn't even know for sure that your colony lived here until you told me just now. But anyway, maybe I really do want to eat you. That's why I did it in such a way that I made a fool of myself and lost my only two friends in the process."

Seeing that she was teasing him, Timon could finally let himself relax.

"Y'know, we might have more in common than I first thought."

She laughed in disbelief. "How's that?"

"Well, in a word... sarcasm."

"Yeah, I guess you're right."

A few moments passed, Timon leaning against Shenzi's leg, before she admitted, "This is really weird, isn't it?"

He turned to look up at her, trying not to laugh. "Which part?"

"All of it! Honestly, have you ever heard of anything like this happening before?"

"Well, no," he said, thoughtfully, "but it doesn't feel wrong like I thought it would."

"Like you thought it would?"

He let out a jilted, nervous laugh. "When I first met you - I guess it's more like 'when you first tried to eat me' - I kinda started, y'know, liking you..."

Shenzi raised an eyebrow, doubting him by the way he talked. "Kinda?"

"Okay, fine, completely. But I never said anything to anyone, because I knew it would never work out... but somehow it did, and I still don't know how."

"To be honest, I don't either, really... but I'm glad it did."

Please review! I really missed this story!