FILL: Siku Kwa SikuardentintoxFebruary 16 2012, 00:53:37 UTC
Thought this was awesome and I filled it. It also gave me an excuse to watch The Lion King and sequels for, ahem, "research." Siku kwa siku means "from day to day" in Swahili. ---
Sometimes Simba has nightmares.
They're mostly the same: him, and his dad, and an enormous space between them, and his scream echoing over the sound of pounding, hooved feet. And over it all, his Uncle Scar's voice: Simba, what have you done?
Timon and Pumbaa don't ask him what his nightmares are about. They just tell him that he can come and sleep with them. And when he wakes up in the morning, the dreams are in the past. Hakuna Matata. He forgets them sooner or later, and he's safe here in the oasis, without the scent of dust in his nose or the sound of his voice echoing in empty chasms.
He can't sleep by himself, not yet. But he tells himself that, since he learned to climb trees without thinking of slipping and falling and the feet below to crush him, that one day he won't need Timon and Pumbaa's comforting warmth beside him anymore.
One day.
--
Sometimes Simba has nightmares.
They're mostly the same: him, and his dad, and an enormous space between them, and his scream echoing over the sound of pounding, hooved feet. And over it all, Scar's voice: ...but this time Daddy isn't here to save you...
Nala asks him, after a few successful hunts, why he doesn't eat meat anymore, and he has to explain it all to her: how he can't go back to how he was as a child after spending most of his life eating bugs; that he respects his adoptive parents too much to eat anything remotely similar to them; why he can't stand to listen to the sound of running antelope herds.
She doesn't understand exactly, but she talks to him as best as she can. And she listens. She starts sleeping on his side of the cave, to simply be there when he wakes up, heart pounding, with the echoes of dreams in his ears. Her presence is his safety. When he proposes to her, formally, it's not a fulfillment of their betrothal but a natural extension of what they already have.
And maybe they'll have a cub and start being normal again.
One day.
--
Sometimes Simba has nightmares.
They're mostly the same: him, and his dad, and an enormous space between them, and his scream echoing over the sound of pounding, hooved feet. And over it all, Scar's voice: And here's my little secret...
He knows Scar was telling the truth. He realizes now that he was manipulated, and betrayed, and that his cub's mind was tricked into feeling guilty over something he wasn't guilty of. He knows. Nala tells him so, and Rafiki, and Timon and Pumbaa when they're in a serious mood.
But he still blames himself. If he wasn't always out playing, if he hadn't been so eager to trust his uncle, if he wasn't always seeking out danger and putting other people at risk, then maybe his father wouldn't have needed to come and rescue him. It's still his fault, in some small way.
So maybe he's a little protective of Kiara. He has to be. The Outsiders are dangerous (and have the cub that looks so much like Scar), and he is not going to lose another loved one. Not while he's still breathing. It's for her own good, even if she - like he did, at her age - doesn't understand it right now. But she will.
One day.
--
Sometimes Simba has nightmares.
He doesn't have them quite so often anymore - though sometimes he wakes up and sees Kovu in the far corner of the cave and has to remind himself that Scar is dead. He is still king of Pride Rock, and he is strong. Even if some nights he goes out on the savanna to look at the stars and wait for a forgiveness that never comes.
He talks to Rafiki about it, though the baboon is getting older and weaker and doesn't get out as much as he used to. He'll look at Simba, and shake his head, and say in his creaking voice, "Ah, Simba, you still don't know who you are."
Sometimes Simba doesn't have nightmares, and maybe he'll learn to live with them, and his past, one day.
Re: FILL: Siku Kwa SikuplanesandcranesFebruary 16 2012, 21:52:22 UTC
i love this so very, very much. "her presence is his safety." so perfect. and timon and pumbaa are so sweet. i love the rhythm you found -- it's so poetic, kind of haunting, like a heartbeat behind the whole story.
---
Sometimes Simba has nightmares.
They're mostly the same: him, and his dad, and an enormous space between them, and his scream echoing over the sound of pounding, hooved feet. And over it all, his Uncle Scar's voice: Simba, what have you done?
Timon and Pumbaa don't ask him what his nightmares are about. They just tell him that he can come and sleep with them. And when he wakes up in the morning, the dreams are in the past. Hakuna Matata. He forgets them sooner or later, and he's safe here in the oasis, without the scent of dust in his nose or the sound of his voice echoing in empty chasms.
He can't sleep by himself, not yet. But he tells himself that, since he learned to climb trees without thinking of slipping and falling and the feet below to crush him, that one day he won't need Timon and Pumbaa's comforting warmth beside him anymore.
One day.
--
Sometimes Simba has nightmares.
They're mostly the same: him, and his dad, and an enormous space between them, and his scream echoing over the sound of pounding, hooved feet. And over it all, Scar's voice: ...but this time Daddy isn't here to save you...
Nala asks him, after a few successful hunts, why he doesn't eat meat anymore, and he has to explain it all to her: how he can't go back to how he was as a child after spending most of his life eating bugs; that he respects his adoptive parents too much to eat anything remotely similar to them; why he can't stand to listen to the sound of running antelope herds.
She doesn't understand exactly, but she talks to him as best as she can. And she listens. She starts sleeping on his side of the cave, to simply be there when he wakes up, heart pounding, with the echoes of dreams in his ears. Her presence is his safety. When he proposes to her, formally, it's not a fulfillment of their betrothal but a natural extension of what they already have.
And maybe they'll have a cub and start being normal again.
One day.
--
Sometimes Simba has nightmares.
They're mostly the same: him, and his dad, and an enormous space between them, and his scream echoing over the sound of pounding, hooved feet. And over it all, Scar's voice: And here's my little secret...
He knows Scar was telling the truth. He realizes now that he was manipulated, and betrayed, and that his cub's mind was tricked into feeling guilty over something he wasn't guilty of. He knows. Nala tells him so, and Rafiki, and Timon and Pumbaa when they're in a serious mood.
But he still blames himself. If he wasn't always out playing, if he hadn't been so eager to trust his uncle, if he wasn't always seeking out danger and putting other people at risk, then maybe his father wouldn't have needed to come and rescue him. It's still his fault, in some small way.
So maybe he's a little protective of Kiara. He has to be. The Outsiders are dangerous (and have the cub that looks so much like Scar), and he is not going to lose another loved one. Not while he's still breathing. It's for her own good, even if she - like he did, at her age - doesn't understand it right now. But she will.
One day.
--
Sometimes Simba has nightmares.
He doesn't have them quite so often anymore - though sometimes he wakes up and sees Kovu in the far corner of the cave and has to remind himself that Scar is dead. He is still king of Pride Rock, and he is strong. Even if some nights he goes out on the savanna to look at the stars and wait for a forgiveness that never comes.
He talks to Rafiki about it, though the baboon is getting older and weaker and doesn't get out as much as he used to. He'll look at Simba, and shake his head, and say in his creaking voice, "Ah, Simba, you still don't know who you are."
Sometimes Simba doesn't have nightmares, and maybe he'll learn to live with them, and his past, one day.
One day.
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Thank you. :)
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and GURL. i truly love everything you write! <3
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