Disclaimer: We do not own ThunderCats.
Authors' Note: This story can be a stand-alone or take place in the Asking Price universe where Lion-O and Cheetara had Baby Revelin. You can understand and enjoy this without reading The Asking Price first.
A Mother's Legacy
Lion-O loved watching his wife interact with their son. She was a wonderful mother and he couldn't help but feel a tinge of sadness as he thought of how he never had gotten to know his mother. He knew that Cheetara had been taken in by the clerics when she was very young but they hadn't really discussed much about her mother. As Cheetara sat up in their bed and nursed their little boy, Lion-O crawled into bed beside her and wrapped his arm around her. She leaned into his embrace and he placed a gentle kiss on her forehead.
"Tell me about your mother." Lion-O began. "I know you were very young when you last saw her, but I would like to hear what you remember."
Cheetara was silent for a moment as she recalled her memories of her mother.
"I remember bits and pieces mostly. I remember that my mother was very beautiful but that she worked very hard to provide for us. My father had died before I was born and my mother did what she could to make ends meet. I remember her quiet voice and her kindness. No matter how tired she was from a hard day of work she would always sing me to sleep."
Cheetara took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. It was obvious to Lion-O that these memories were bittersweet for her.
"I was not quite three years old when my mother took me to the Sanctuary and asked Jaga to take me in. She thought I would better off with the clerics than with her—she loved me so much that she wanted me to have a better life than the one she could provide."
"I'll never forget the tears in her eyes as she hugged and kissed me for the last time. She told me that I was going to learn magic and that Jaga would take good care of me. I didn't realize at the time that it would be the last time I would see her. " The cheetah lifted her hand to wipe the tears that had moistened her eyes.
"If she only knew how much she had done for me—how she shaped who I am today."
Lion-O thumbed his wife's tears away before burying his nose in her hair and breathing deeply of her scent. "I wish I had known my mother. I have always felt cheated because Tygra got to know her and have memories of her. I knew nothing except that I caused her death. As children I used to beg him to tell me about her. IT was an unvoiced rule that my mother was not mentioned in front of my father. Tygra said that she used to read him bedtime stories and sing him lullabies. He said her voice was as sweet as the evening bird's song." Lion-O's voice was wistful as he reached out to twirl one of his son's red curls around his finger.
"There was a portrait of my mother hanging in the main hall outside of the throne room. As a child, I would stand in front of it for hours and pretend she could see me. I would even talk to her. My father found it disturbing and had the portrait removed." Lion-O sighed. "I felt like I had lost her all over again."
Lion-O leaned back against the headboard with a sigh. "I don't think Tygra ever realized how much I envied him. Seeing Revelin with you really makes me wish even more that I had known my mother."
Cheetara shifted the sleeping baby in her arms and turned to cup her husband's face with her free hand. "But Lion-O, you can get to know your mother. Just look at yourself. You have her eyes, her smile – I know because they don't match your father's. But even more than physical traits, you also have her compassion, the heart of a dreamer, her spirit. She would be so proud of the man you have become."
Lion-O's blue eyes shimmered with emotion and he leaned forward to capture his wife's lips in a tender kiss. "I love you," he murmured against her soft mouth.
"And I love you," she replied. Revelin grunted in his sleep and both parents looked down at the slumbering six-month-old.
Lion-O tucked his cheetah's long blonde hair behind her ear. "Revelin is so lucky to have you for his mother," he told her. "You are amazing."
Cheetara glanced up at her husband with a soft smile curving her lips.
"I can see your mother in you as well," Lion-O continued. "You would do whatever necessary to see that Revelin has a good life. You would sacrifice your happiness for him just like your mother did for you. I love watching you with our son. The love you show him is the love that I hope my mother had for me."
"Thank you, Lion-O," Cheetara choked out as her eyes filled with tears. "That means so much to me, and I know your mother loved you from the moment she knew you existed."
"Do you really think so?" the lion asked.
"I know so," Cheetara answered.
Finis