Tick Tock.

Zazu stood in the crowded line for morning coffee, books tucked under her arm and bags slung over her shoulder.

The shop was filled with the warm buzz of customers chatting and laughing and celebrating the end of the Apocalypse. Down the street, someone yelled “God bless Hera” in a loud, raucous tone, his call accompanied by a wild cheer and the sound of breaking glass.

People were just happy to be happy, and finally they had a reason to.

Zazu herself was overjoyed, of course. Finally things would go back to the way they were supposed to. She could get a university degree, finally stop being Simba’s babysitter and be his friend again. She could live her life like she thought she would before the apocalypse struck down all her dreams in one heavy zombie step.

But she was curious. How had Hera, if it was her, been able to finally stop the curse, and how did she do it so fast? Zazu herself knew of the difficulties of dealing with zombies, of how the research had been trudging along even though the facility was the only building who got near 24/7 electricity.

Perhaps Mufasa would know. He was certainly higher up in the facility hierarchy than she was, and he responded directly to Hera herself. If anyone knew, it was him.

The cure had been found. Rabbit wasn't sure how, but he surely wasn't arguing. He had been so close to turning bonie just a few days ago and now he was a living, breathing human again.

Back when things were normal, there was one particular coffee shop that Rabbit tended to spend quite a bit of time at. He vividly remembered sitting in the corner, doing his work for Lucy while having a cup of coffee. He also recalled the large clock that hung across from his table, and the way it's ticking reached his ears despite the chatter in the shop. Naturally, if there was one place Rabbit wanted to visit now that he was human again, it was that very shop.

When he entered, he kept his head lowered and avoided eye contact with most people inside. One thing that stayed the same with Rabbit throughout his transformations was his nervousness and as a result he didn't tend to enjoy making eye contact. One girl in particular did catch his eye though. A blonde standing in the line, staring off into space. Rabbit positioned himself in the line behind her before speaking, just loud enough for her to hear. "Are you... are you alright?"

The question spouted from simple curiosity on Rabbit's part. Usually when he saw someone with a look like that, they tended to be lost in some sort of thought and Rabbit couldn't help but to wonder what that thought was. Plus, this stranger seemed friendly enough for him to speak to.