"You sneaked out again, Lion-o." said King Claudus sitting on his throne. "When will you learn that you have responsibilities as a prince?" he asked the boy, who was standing in front of him, with lowered head.

"Shouldn't I see how my people live? Or what's out there, Father?" the king sighed and touched his temples. The other prince, Tygra, sitting on the seat to the right of the throne snorted.

"You are the prince, Lion-o, the heir of my legacy, you can see what is out there, but you should not neglect your duties and you should not make havoc on the streets." the king grunted, as a sign of dismissing his son. The young prince sighed and nodded.

"My king, sorry for interruption." said a guard entering the room. "But there's a… Situation…" he said sheepishly. The king nodded and the guard opened the door revealing three more guards and two unknown cats, both having their hands in handcuffs. As those cats entered the room suddenly everyone hold their breath in shock. Both young princes exchanged looks and then looked at their Father who looked angry. Jaga, who was sitting on the left was suspicious and examined the visitors. One of them was a tiger and looked exactly like Tygra but a little broader, taller and older, oh, and he wasn't wearing the royal blue, though the red mark of the Royal Palace was on his green armor. He looked shocked but ready to attack if needed. The other though looked like, the young prince, Lion-o, but he was broader, taller, and older and looked worn out a little, he was wearing the royal blue and the mark of the Palace punctually his armor looked similar to the Crown Prince's and the King's armor. He wasn't showing any signs of shock, he had an outstanding superiority as he watched those in the room, just like a king. The guards kneeled them down in front of the king. One guard had the Gauntlet of Omens in his hands and showed it to the king.

"How on third Earth did we get in this situation?" the tiger asked the lion, who grunted.

"They tried to steal the Sword and the Gauntlet, your Majesty." said the guard.

"Tried?" asked the tiger revolted.

"The Sword of Omens and the Gauntlet belong to the Lord of the ThunderCats." said the lion, not looking away from the guard. "And that" he rose. "Shall be me."

"What is your name?" the king grunted and the lion looked right into his eyes.

"I'm Lion-o Lord of the ThunderCats and Founder of the United Animals Alliance." said the lion and the king rose from his seat and nodded to Jaga, who ran away.

"You can't be Lion-o, he's here." Tygra pointed at his brother. By that time Jaga came back with the Sword of Omens and gave it to the king, who put it between his eyes and used it. He flinched at some point, sadness appearing on his face, then he looked gently at the so called king.

"Welcome home, Lord of the ThunderCats." young Tygra and Lion-o gaped. "And Prince of Thundera." he looked at the tiger, who rose with a smile.

"How can this be possible? Is it technology?" the young prince asked in awe as the guards took off the visitors' handcuff and handed the gauntlet to the next king.

"Those are fairy tales, little brother." young Tygra snorted.

"Oh, really?" older Tygra took out a gun from his gun holster and threw it to his younger self.

"I-it can't be…" the young tiger whispered. The king looked skeptic and watched older Tygra.

"I think you altered the future." older Lion-o remarked turning to his brother.

"No need to worry the magic of the clerics will erase these memories if needed. I will make sure you will get back to your right time." Jaga informed and the visitors nodded with a pleasant smile.

Later on the king sent cats to fetch two rooms for the visitors, but stopped the older Lion-o to inform him that they must talk about what he saw in the Eye of Thundera. The young king nodded, though his mind was hazy with thoughts. Are they in a new realm? Are they dreaming? Or did he die again? He didn't know. All he knew was that it hurt. It hurt seeing his Father alive. Seeing him not recognizing his sons. Seeing him ruling as sternly as he remembered him. It really hurt.

It was eight o'clock, Lion-o was standing at the gates. Looking into the forever curiosity about what's out there? He had always come here. He loved this place. He missed looking into the far. After some minutes he heard somebody approach slowly. He didn't turn. He knew it was the king. His Father. It hurt thinking like that. They both watched the far, until the older king spoke.

"Thundera will fall." he stated, but the younger king didn't move. "I will die." the young lion closed his eyes and nodded. "You'll go away. You'll change. You'll have friends, allies."

"Yes."

"Then the stone showed me you fighting against evil. But then it was just you, standing alone and looking…lost." he whispered the last word, trying to forget his son's gaze, but that gaze will hunt his dreams for sure. "And there was a feeling, of sorrow, guilt… I stopped there."

"You died because a cat betrayed you." Lion-o faced his Father. "Thundera fell with you. From one day to the other I lost my people, my Father, all I knew, and I got in charge… Later on I learnt from others, from other species, but then I found the remained cats. We saved them, I mean I, Tygra, Cheetara, WilyKit and WilyKat, Panthro and Snarf. We got a new team member, Pumyra." the young cat stopped, closed his eyes and sighed as a tear contoured his face. "I was a fool. I thought she's one of us. I was wrong." he looked away. "I was betrayed by a cat." he admitted. "And it hurt to know my own species would turn against me. I realized maybe I'm not a good king and how hard it must have hurt when you died, Father, to know that you die because of betrayal." the older cat put a reassuring hand on the young's shoulder.

"I know how hard it is to lose a father. I lost mine when I was 25, I know it hurts. I know how's to lose Thundera in front of your eyes. I was never betrayed, my son, but I understand you." and with those words the young king found himself in a familiar embrace. So he let himself, there and then to show weakness, so he cried it all out, the sorrow, the guilt, the sadness, the anger, the pain… In his Father's grip, he wasn't ashamed, he wasn't too proud. The king cried for the first time, just like when he was little, he cried his grief, his betrayal, his broken heart… All there, where was nobody else, but his Father alive and well.

Disclaimer

I do not own the characters.

Dear Readers

This is my first attempt at writing a story about the ThunderCats. So if I'm wrong with details or facts please tell me. Oh, and English is not my native language so please tell me if I have gramatical errors.

Thank you for reading. :)