No Greater Love

For Tara

Part Four

He awoke to darkness. As unctuous as the oil Panthro used to lubricate the Thundertank's engine, as inky as the writing fluid extracted from the belly of the squid by the Tuskas, as suffocating as being wrapped head to toe in bandages. Like that demon, who took delight in torturing them, who had taken Cheetara from him. Like Mumm-ra.

He awoke and this time his eyes opened to the brightness of the infirmary, not the nightmare of his imagination. He lay back on the soft pillows, breathing hard, and letting the rush of blood cease its frenetic pounding through his veins. Then, with calmness came the realisation that much had changed since he was last conscious.

Being home meant that they had escaped Mumm-ra's clutches. He remembered the smell of decay about the place, the feel of grime beneath his hands in a pit with a cage door above, the tightness of a lash that was fixed around his waist to pull him out of the hole and the great despondency that shook his soul when he was told that Cheetara might die. And then more memories came skulking back and he remembered. Cheetara had died. He had watched the light fade in her eyes and seen her fall lifeless to the ground. He remembered taking that infernal crystal in his hands and wishing Mumm-ra to a place from which he might never return. Then, going to Cheetara and wishing her back to life with magic that itself was dying. He remembered knowing what he had to do and the quiet acceptance of his fate that had settled over him as he had said the words and seen Tygra desperately trying to stop him. The weakness that had made him sluggish and demanded that Panthro help him every inch of the way from their prison had intensified to the point where he no longer had the strength even to think. At that point, he supposed he had lost consciousness.

Then what, he wondered. Somehow the other Thundercats had managed to get him out of the Pyramid and bring him home. But what of Cheetara? He had not expected to survive the transference of his energy to her to save her life. He had thought to open his eyes to an afterlife on the Astral Plane, with Jaga chiding him for his foolishness in throwing away his life so carelessly. Instead, he was alive. The terrible thought gripped him that Cheetara now languished on the other side of that ghostly divide. Had his fight to save her been in vain?

He sat up, feeling the tug of exhaustion willing his tired body to remain where it was. He gritted his teeth and worked through it. With a groan that he felt from his nose to his toes, weary muscles grudgingly responded to the mastery of the mind. He made it off the bed, only to find that further progress was impeded by the syringe that was causing an ache in his arm where it was being shifted around by his efforts. He pulled it free, bringing with it a trickle of blood that wended its way down to his wrist. The injection site hurt, but not as much as the fear that had tightened itself around his insides and had set his mind reeling.

He had to find out what had happened to Cheetara. He had to find out now.

Shakily, step by painful step, he made his way to the door and looked out into an empty corridor. The overhead lamps were on, but since the depth of infirmary inside the Lair made lights a necessity, he was none the wiser whether it was day or night. The tempting smells of cooking that were drifting in his direction and making his stomach rumble at least gave him some sense of time. It was dinner, or perhaps it was breakfast, or even lunch. With a shake of his head, he decided there was little point in wasting effort trying to come to a decision when he would find out soon enough for himself.

Using the wall as a support, he inched his way along, having to pause every few paces to get his breath. Only the need to know kept him going. Without that, he knew he would have collapsed in a useless heap on the floor.

Help came with two high-pitched voices that were heading towards him a good deal faster than he was able to react. WilyKit and WilyKat thundered around the corner, oblivious to the world around them, and almost knocked him from his feet. It took all his strength to stay upright, much less answer the questions they were excitedly throwing at him.

"Wow!" WilyKit cried, "you're awake. How are you?"

Her brother added to the clamour. "Are you all right?"

"Are you feeling better?"

"Do you want something to eat?"

"Shall I get Snarf?"

"Do you need help?"

Lion-O held up his hands in defeat. "Stop," he said. "I just want to know what happened."

The kittens exchanged glances.

"You don't remember?" WilyKit said doubtfully.

"Everything until I passed out. What happened to Cheetara?"

"Oh, she's all right," WilyKat muttered, kicking an imaginary lump of dirt with his toe. "She's a bit funny though."

Relief flooded his tired body. She was alive. Cheetara was still with him. "Funny? How?"

The kitten shrugged. "She's gone away."

The breath caught in his throat. "Why?"

"She was upset about what happened," WilyKit explained. "But I don't really know. You should ask Tygra."

"Yes, I will. Where is he?"

"In the council room. We've just had dinner."

So it was night. "How long have I been unconscious?" Lion-O asked.

WilyKit grinned. "Ages. I'm pleased you're all right now though."

With that, the pair darted away, happy as children usually were that their world had returned to a semblance of normality. From what they had said, however, Lion-O feared that it was only skin deep.

He continued on his way until he reached the door of the chamber. It opened at his approach and the occupants within looked up at him with a mixture of surprise, relief and disapproval. Snarf embodied all three sentiments at once and hurried over to help him, alternatively scolding and purring with delight.

"Weeow, you shouldn't be up," he chided. "But I'm so glad that you are because it means you're all right, snarf, snarf. You had me worried, Lion-O. I've a few more white hairs because of you. Don't do it again!"

"No, Snarf," he replied meekly, allowing himself to be helped to the nearest chair. Snarf dashed around, saying although dinner was over, it would take him no time at all to make Lion-O his favourite dish. When he had finally vanished through the door in pursuit of his quest, Lion-O was able to meet the inquiring gaze of the other person still in the room.

"I have you to thank for saving my life," he said.

Tygra regarded him over the top of his mug. "Actually, no, Cheetara did that at considerable cost to herself. How are you feeling now?"

Lion-O ran a quick internal assessment and was pleased to report that apart from his tiredness, everything seemed to be intact and functioning normally.

"You were lucky," Tygra said, taking another sip of his drink. He placed the empty mug on the table and pushed it away. "By rights, you should be dead."

"I thought I would be." He lowered his eyes, anticipating Tygra's next pronouncement. "You think I made a mistake, don't you?"

"Do you?"

"No."

A sound midway between a grunt and a laugh escaped him. "Nor do I," Tygra said, "despite what Snarf thinks. You did save Cheetara and she in turn saved you. Things worked out for the best. Although…" He paused long enough to make Lion-O look up and meet his eyes. "In future, I think we would all prefer it if you did not take risks with your life."

"It wasn't something I could ask anyone else to do."

"Perhaps not. But you are Lord of the Thundercats. If anything happens to you--"

"Then you take over," Lion-O reminded him.

Tygra sighed. "It's not as simple as that. I can understand why you did it, but you weren't thinking clearly. You were already weak and the further strain upon you was too great. I would have gladly taken your place if you'd told me what you were planning."

It was a logical argument. Lion-O sought and found a way to counter it. "You were injured, Tygra. How are the ribs, by the way?"

He pulled a face. "Getting better. Of course, carrying you and Cheetara home didn't really help."

"I'm sorry," said Lion-O. "I should have wished you better."

Tygra smiled. "I guess you had other things on your mind."

"Like Mumm-ra, you mean? Do you think he's really gone this time?"

"He is the ever-living servant of evil. If his masters forgive him, I expect they can find a way to bring him back, especially now the Wish Crystal is gone. Its destruction probably negates long-standing wishes like that."

"But not for things like healing people?"

"That was more immediate. Besides, Snarf has shown no signs of his injuries returning." Again, the smile, this time more rueful. "Don't worry, I won't hold your oversight against you."

"Thanks."

"No problem. I've had worse. I'll get over it." He hesitated, the pause giving his next statement extra emphasis. "I wish I could say the same about Cheetara."

Lion-O's ears pricked up. "How is she? The Thunderkittens said she had gone away."

Tygra nodded slowly. "It took her a time to recover. We're still not quite sure what she did to save you, but it drained her. You have both been unconscious for some time."

"How long?"

"Five days. Cheetara awoke yesterday morning." Tygra looked away and toyed uneasily with the handle of his mug. "She said she needed space to think about what she was going to do, given all that had happened. She's gone to stay with the Warrior Maidens until she's made up her mind."

Lion-O felt his jaw dropping open. "She's… left us?"

"Possibly. For the first time, her eyes have been opened to the scope of the power she has at her command. Whether she can come to terms with it will determine her decision."

"No, she can't just leave us like that." Using the table as a support, Lion-O pushed himself up his feet. "I have to go to her and talk to her."

"If you must," said Tygra, regarding him with interest. "What will you say?"

"That we don't care what happened. Mumm-ra did that, not her. That we don't fear her, that we need her."

"I see."

Lion-O gave him a sharp look. "Then what would you say?"

His smile reached his eyes. "I would tell her the truth, Lion-O."

"I… can't."

"Why? What have you got to lose? Or are you afraid of what you might gain?"

"No," he murmured. "I'm afraid that I'll lose her completely."

"It's a risk. But then so is holding your tongue. She needs a reason to believe in herself again. Maybe you can provide her with one."

Lion-O allowed the smile that had been threatening to make itself known lift the corners of his lips. "How did you know?"

"Nothing escapes me, you should know that by now," Tygra said with a smirk. "That and the fact you wear your heart on your sleeve."

"I'm that obvious?"

"I would say risking your life for hers was a pretty big hint." He nodded to the door. "Go. Panthro's down in the hangar. He'll take you to the Treetop Kingdom. I'll let him know you're on your way."

With a final word of thanks, Lion-O hurried as fast as his weakened legs would allow him from the room and across the hall to where the Thundertank was housed. As Tygra had promised, Panthro was already waiting for him, with the engine purring in anticipation of their departure. He clambered into the front seat with a little effort and sighed with relief when he was able to sit back and let the Thundertank take the strain. Panthro said little during the course of their journey, beyond inquiring about his general health and making the usual comment about it being good to see him up and about. For all that, however, Lion-O could feel the curiosity burning off his friend and had to ask why.

"I'm just wondering what you think you can say to her to change her mind that we can't," said Panthro, alternating his gaze between the darkened road ahead and Lion-O's face. "She was adamant about not coming back until she had made up her mind. Although," he added ominously, "I would venture to say that she already has."

"You don't think she's coming back?" Lion-O asked.

Panthro pursed his lips. "Difficult to say. She was pretty cut up about what happened. We all told her it wasn't her fault, but she took it badly. I guess we'll know sooner or later if we're going to lose a member of our team."

Lion-O shuddered at the thought. "Don't say things like that. Cheetara would never leave us."

"It's happened in the past to others. Things happen and people can't live with it."

"But where would she go?"

"Anywhere as long as it wasn't near us, I should guess."

"Why?"

Panthro glanced over at him. "Because she's afraid of hurting us."

Lion-O felt his soul sink. If that were the reason, then surely nothing he said would bring her back. The journey continued in dogged silence as he turned this revelation over in his mind, constructing every possible permutation to counter whatever argument she might have against returning. Only when they bumped into a glade and the Thundertank pulled to a halt did he snap out of his reverie.

"It's all yours," said Panthro. "Good luck."

Lion-O hauled himself out and made his way over to the base of one of the towering trees where the Warrior Maidens made their home. This late, they had pulled up their ladders and only the flickering lights of torches high above gave any indication of their arboreal abode.

An arrow struck the ground inches from his feet and he stopped.

"What do you want, Thundercat?" came a voice from the unseen archer in the branches to his left.

"I need to speak to Cheetara."

"It's late. Come back in the morning."

"I'm sorry, this can't wait. Please."

A moment of inactivity passed, in which he caught himself holding his breath and praying that his request would be granted. Then, the sound of a hunting horn sang out through the glade. More lights came on amongst the leaves and shapes began to move.

"Lion-O?" he heard a familiar voice say. "Is there a problem?"

Even from this distance, Lion-O could tell he had woken Willa from her slumbers. Her usually sleek hair was dishevelled and she was rubbing her eyes.

"No problem," he called up, "but I must speak to Cheetara."

"Why?"

"It's important."

Willa sighed. "It must be, to have made you come out in the middle of the night to disturb us. Get her, Nayda."

"I'm here."

Another figure joined them and Lion-O saw Cheetara looking down at him.

"Go home, Lion-O. I'm all right."

"Good," he replied. "Please, come down. I must speak with you."

She shook her head. "There's nothing to say."

"Very well. Then I'll come up."

He grabbed a creeper and made a good attempt at heaving himself up. His arms would not bear his weight and betrayed him by sending him reeling backwards to end up flat on his back. From above, he thought he heard someone laugh, and then came Willa's voice, ordering for the lift to be lowered.

She was waiting for him when he reached the uppermost balcony level and gestured to where Cheetara stood some feet away.

"Don't be too long," she said. "Some of us have to get up early in the morning."

"Yes, thank you, Willa," said Cheetara.

Willa made an approving noise and, pulling her wrap tightly about her shoulders, left them alone. For a long time, Lion-O stared at Cheetara, not knowing what to say until she broke the silence.

"You wanted to talk," she prompted.

"Yes," he replied, startled out of his confusion. "Why are you here?"

She sighed and looked away. "I would have thought that was obvious."

"No."

"Yes, you do. I tried to kill my friends. That must never happen again."

"It won't."

Her eyes returned sharply to his. "How can you be so sure?"

"Now you know of what you are capable, you will learn how to handle it."

"How?"

"We will help you."

She snorted and folded her arms. "No, Lion-O. I've made up my mind. I must go away. Even being here with the Warrior Maidens makes me nervous."

"Cheetara, no, don't do that." He reached for her, but she took a step backwards away from him. "We don't fear you."

"Then you should. You saw what my powers can do in the wrong hands."

"Exactly. It wasn't you who did all those things. It was Mumm-ra controlling you."

"And how easily I gave in." She sighed. "I knew something was wrong and I tried to ignore it. But that only made him stronger. What sort of Thundercat am I that I didn't share something as important as that with my friends?"

"You weren't to know," Lion-O said reasonably. "No one blames you."

"They don't need to," she muttered. "I blame myself." Her gaze dropped to the floor and she seemed to be staring at the wooden floorboards, although Lion-O could tell that her thoughts were far from this place. "You should go," she said at last. "There's nothing for you here."

"Except you," he said on impulse.

Her eyebrows twitched upwards. "Is that enough?"

He knew what he wanted to say, but hesitancy held his tongue. Tell her the truth, Tygra had said. Would it be enough to change her mind, or only make him look even more foolish than he felt? He had no idea how she felt about him, if indeed she considered him at all. After all, it was not that long ago that he had been yapping at her heels as a cub. If he had trouble adjusting to the change, he had to wonder if she felt the same. And if so, then what he had to say could drive her even further away.

He decided to play it safe.

"You're a member of our team," he replied awkwardly. "We need every Thundercat we can get if we want to remain on Third Earth and have any chance of survival. If you leave, the odds will tip in the Mutants favour."

She took a deep breath and nodded. "I understand that. But I also understand that I am a weapon they can use against us. No, it's better that I leave. You'll manage without me."

"We won't," Lion-O insisted, feeling the tug of deeper emotions trying to escape the confines he had placed on them. "Please, Cheetara, stay."

She had wandered a few paces away and now turned on him with tears burning bright in her eyes. "Why?"

"Because…" He swallowed hard and tried to think of something mildly sensible to say instead of the foolish notions that crowded his head. But there was nothing. All that was left was how he felt. And it would know containment no more. "Because I love you!"

She stared at him, her mouth slightly agape, shock showing in her expression. Lion-O cursed inwardly, knowing he had shown his hand and failed. She would definitely leave now.

"I'm sorry," he mumbled. "I'll leave. I shouldn't have said that."

He turned, stopping only when a warm hand came to rest on his arm.

"Yes, you should," Cheetara said, coming round in front of him. "Lion-O, I never realised."

"Really? Tygra says I was obvious."

"To him maybe, but I… I must have been blind." She stared into his eyes as though searching for something. "That's why you risked your life to save me, isn't it?"

He nodded.

"I felt so guilty," she went on, "making you having to do something like that. But it wasn't because of a sense of duty, was it?"

"No, I did it because I love you," he said, reaching out to take her hands in his. She did not resist his touch and her fingers curled around his as though they had found their natural resting place. "Because I could not imagine my life without you. If you were not here, then nor would I wish to be. And you, you did the same for me. Tygra told me so."

A look of confusion clouded her expression. "I did it, because I did not want to lose you, Lion-O. Over these past few months, I've found myself viewing you not as my lord, but as my friend and…" She paused. "Something more."

His heart leapt. Could it be possible that she had the same feelings for him as he had for her? "Cheetara, what are you saying?"

"I'm saying that… that… oh, I don't know what I mean." She abruptly pulled away. "All I know is that if I stay, I will end up hurting the people I love and I couldn't bear that."

"And I couldn't bear to be parted from you," Lion-O said.

She shrugged the hand away that he laid on her shoulder. "No, it's wrong. You are Lord of the Thundercats. You need a lady and I'm…"

"The woman I love," he finished for her.

She turned and met his gaze. "You mean that, don't you? You don't fear me, after all that happened?"

"It only makes me love you more. I understand, Cheetara, what it feels like to be in possession of great power. Coming to terms with the relationship I have with the Sword of Omens hasn't been easily, but if I can do it, so can you."

"The Sword you gave away to save my life," she said with a rueful smile. "How can I doubt how you feel about me?"

"Perhaps," he ventured, remembering the conversation he had with Tygra back at the Lair, "it's yourself that you doubt."

She considered that possibility and nodded. "Perhaps you're right. What are we going to do about it?"

He took her in his arms and held her close to him. "Come home with me. Don't leave. That's not the answer."

"And sleeping with you is?" she said, smiling at his boldness.

He felt a blush spreading across his cheeks. "Oh, I didn't mean--"

Cheetara put a finger to his lips to silence him. "No words," she said softly. "Show me."

Her head tilted very slightly towards his and he knew what she was offering. Tentatively, like sipping the cool waters of a mountain stream, he let his lips touch hers and felt the shiver that flowed through her body. She kissed him, drawing deep to test the depths of his feelings. He hoped he did not disappoint.

"Well?" he said, when she drew away and stared up into his eyes. "Will you come with me?"

"Anywhere," she whispered.

And he knew his wish had come true.

The End

THUNDERCATS, characters, names and related indicia are trademarks of © Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. and Ted Wolf. All rights reserved. Stories, characters and incidents mentioned in this work are entirely fictional. Characters, names, etc. are used without permission and the above story has no official endorsement. This is a work of fan fiction, for entertainment purposes only and certainly not for profit. No infringement of rights is intended nor any harm meant by its creation and existence. May you enjoy reading it as much as I have enjoyed writing it. Thundercats Forever!