Okay everyone! here is the full Chapter 7.

It took me awhile to figure a few things out, but I finally got to the point where I really liked what I had working here. Sorry for the elongated time between this and my last update, but writing something that is meaningful and isn't filled to the brim with cliches takes a little more thought :3

To make this easier, I added a line break after my preview section, so if you've already read up to that point, you can skip down and start reading under the line. please note that when you are reading, the preview was just a preview, and after the preview is still the same night, just seconds after where I ended the preview.

My Poll is still open if you want to vote on the genders of Liono and Tygra's kittens, im thinking of editing it though, so I will probably do that when I'm finished posting this chapter.

As always, please feel free to review when you've finished reading, The criticism helps me write better and the wonderful comments I've received are a real confidence booster. Thank you to everyone whose read Forever up to this point and liked it, I promise there is still much to come [figuratively and literally :P].

Please enjoy the latest installment of Forever. Chapter 7: Reconstruction!


The months had been slow, each brick set back into its place as buildings were raised down the streets of Thundaria. When the Thundercats had returned to what was left of their home, They were surprised to find some people were still lingering. Although nearly most structures had been leveled many months before, there were a few which looked safe enough to take shelter in.

As Liono and his mate wandered through this portion of the city, they were greeted by smiles and cheers as each worker turned to watch them go by. Everyone who lived under the crest of the Thundercats had been loyal to Claudus, and it seems that in his death, their loyalty has carried to his son. While his coronation as king had been postponed for several more weeks, at Liono's request, The citizens were already treating the Prince as if he already bore the crown.

Liono had received similar treatment even when his Father still lived, but every time he would a "Good afternoon your majesty," or a "You are looking very handsome today your majesty," he would start feeling the memories of his Father welling up from inside him.

He made a point to tell every citizen he came across to call him Liono, feeling that the title of "his majesty" still belonged to Claudus, that, and it made him uncomfortable every time he heard it. Only a few of the citizens frowned at him at his request, while the others just kept their smiles and bid "his majesty" a wonderful rest of the day.

The reconstruction was coming along faster and better than he had seen it play out in his head. The Clerics and royal guard had returned when they heard of Liono's own return, which made things go much smoother. He could never have coordinated all of this himself, and was feeling exceptionally lucky and proud that Tygra, at least, paid attention during their lessons as a child.

The Lion felt guilt creep up his back and claw at his heart, feeling horrible that his mate was left to handle the politics of the matter while Liono only bore enough knowledge to supervise and boost morale. Liono confronted Tygra about his feelings numerous times before, with each resulting in his lover assuring him that he could handle this, that the people needed someone to look up to, and they couldn't do that if their King was holed up in the palace ruins all day.

Liono forced himself to agree, and often was left to walk around during the construction work. He would make idle conversation here and there, lend a hand with this small project or that. No one would let him do anything on a large scale though, like help set bricks or paint or anything like that; they said that such laborious tasks as those were not fit for the King.

The words, no matter how many times he heard them, made him feel powerless, even though he held the power of Thundaria now. As he wandered around, passing through this intersection, or maneuvering over large obstructions in the street, he couldn't help but berate himself for how useless he was being. He looked around and saw everyone working hard to rebuild everything his Father had strived to protect, and when he looked down at himself, he saw only empty hands, a clean body, no sweat, and no smile.

Enough of the palace remained that Liono and Tygra could share the small dinner they had with the rest of the Thundercats. The large hall they sat in now, after a long day of work for most of them, was roofed to block out the setting sun, but with open windows to let the breeze waft in. With the royal guard and Clerics, the palace attendants also returned. Liono was forced to get used to being treated like a Prince again; there was always someone serving him something it seemed.

The Lion only picked at his meal, pushing the meat around on his plate as his thoughts swirled in a similar fashion. Everyone around him had already finished, and were looking down the table at Liono with worried expressions.

"Liono…" Tygra started, sitting closest to the Prince, putting his hand over the smaller one on the table and catching the dim turquoise eyes that came up to see him. "What is the matter, is there something wrong?"

"I am completely useless, no one is letting me work with them, I don't have the capacity for the politics; everyone treats me like I'm a kid when I want to help," Liono responded, resuming to play with his food while Tygra tried to come up with a response.

"But you are helping Liono."

"Explain to me how I am helping when all I'm allowed to do is walk around the streets aimlessly every day?"

"Why do you think everyone else is working so hard, if there was no King to lead them, then what point would there be in reviving a nation?"

"What are you saying?"

"I'm saying that, the people see you and know that you will be there to protect them and lead them. They know that you have done the fighting for them, they know that you vanquished the evil from our land, and want to thank you for it. As to why they won't let you help, well, I'm not entirely sure, but I think they might be concerned you'd get hurt, and they don't want to see anything happen to you."

"It will take much more than a brick or a branch to kill me Tygra," Liono said, raising his head to look once again into the mahogany eyes that were watching him.

"They know that, but they want you to rest now, you saved them from Mum-Ra, so they want to do the rest of the work."

"I am more than recovered, I am able and I am strong, I don't like sitting on the sidelines and watching everyone else busy, and me, well, not."

Tygra could only sigh, he didn't think he was getting through to the smaller male. He had no problems whether his mate wanted to help or not, but everyone else did had a problem. He was frustrating himself over something so menial. Liono went through one of the most difficult fights he had ever been in only a few months before. They returned home nearly a week later, and began reconstruction two days after they got back.

All of those events should have worn the Lion out, he should be happy that he has some time to relax now. Tygra thought having this time to himself would do the other male some good, he felt that they had spent too much time traveling, scavenging for food and sleeping in the cold of each night. That Liono still wanted to work concerned him, he didn't think his mate could handle anything else right now, but it seems that leaving him alone isn't a good option anymore. The Tiger went through his schedule for the rest of the week, hoping that he could leave matters in the hands of the temporary council they instated during the repairs.

When Liono pushed his plate away and bent forward to lay his head in his arms on the table, Tygra felt twinges in his chest and decided he couldn't leave his mate feeling like this. He excused himself and bid the rest goodnight, pulling Liono's chair out and helping the other male up and holding his hand as he pulled him through the shattered hallways. There was only one room in the entire palace that had remained completely unharmed, and was thankful his stepfather had been so paranoid as to make his own room a barricade. When they reached the thick wooden doors near the end of the ruins, Tygra pulled the door open with one hand, and pushed his mate inside with the other.

This was the room they had been using since the returned, finding it as they scoured the palace for anyone who might be finding shelter. Most of the room had been repositioned by now, the bed sitting on the opposite wall, the dresser moved to the wall farthest from the door, and so on.

The first time Liono set foot in here, Tygra thought he wouldn't be able to stop the tears, everything in this one space reminding both of them of their Father. As time went on though, Liono didn't cry as often, and hadn't even teared up in the past few days.

Tygra stood behind his lover now, wrapping his arms around the slender waist and holding the male close to him, resting his own head into the crook of the soft neck. Liono relaxed against him, and he felt himself relax as Liono took a deep breath and put his hands over Tygra's arms running his thumbs over them as the Tiger started to rock back and forth.

This was something he found himself doing often nowadays, and it was the only thing he knew could calm his love down. It wasn't any sort of romantic or erotic embrace, it was more of an affectionate gesture, one that said "I will always be here for you." Liono would often start to fall asleep as Tygra held him, and would leave the Tiger to carry the other male over to the bed and tuck both of their bodies in. Tygra himself would often stay awake worrying about whatever was worrying the Lion breathing in small, cute gasps next to him, but would always end his thoughts with how happy he was with this little Lion, the smile on his face sticking as he fell asleep to the edges of his oncoming dreams.

Tonight, however, when both Liono and Tygra were lying next to each other, the Lion was anything but drowsy, and turned on his side to face his love. Tygra turned as well to face him, and they just laid there for a few minutes while Tygra wondered if he should say anything.

"Tygra, I'm sorry, I don't mean to be bothering you," Liono spoke, his breath hitching as if he was about to cry.

"What makes you think you are bothering me Liono?" Tygra responded, trying his best not to frown.

"I haven't been doing anything a King should be doing, and shirking all of the responsibility onto you, it's not fair, and I regret doing it, could you…show me what to do so I can take over now; I cannot force myself to just walk around another day while I know you and everyone else are working their best to fix our home."

"Liono, please, you deserve this time off, you've spent the last ten months hunting down war stones and fighting off evil, it's time you got those ten months back, let the people fix their homes, let me do what I was taught, and if for me if for no other reason, let yourself relax and enjoy the feelings of being home."

Tygra knew that he sounded abrasive, he didn't like saying it like that, but there were times when Liono had to be commanded, and the Tiger felt like this was one of those times. He never liked using this tone, it made him sound aggressive and arrogant, but he hoped that Liono could look past that and accept the message for what it was worth.

"There must be something I can do, the thought of having ten months to supervise doesn't appeal to me."

"What do you want to do then," Tygra asked, seeing a little bit of color flood into those eyes he loved so much.

"I want to help the people, I want to help you."

"Maybe then, you could sit with me at the council meetings, although I daresay you might be even more bored in doing that."

"As long as you are there, I'm occupied." There was that smile, the first time the Tiger had seen it in days, and it warmed the chill he felt icing over his heart recently. He smiled himself and brought his nose close to nuzzle the smaller males nose, enjoying the purr he was getting in response. He brought his face closer still, and from nuzzling, he moved down to embrace his mate's lips with his own, circling a hand around the smooth back to pull it close.

Even though they cuddled like this every night, this one particular moment seemed to remind Tygra why he cared so much for the male who's taste was fresh on his tongue. He couldn't blame Liono for feeling useless, but as of right now, Thundaria needed someone to look up to, someone to unite the people. They didn't have to do anything except bring everyone together, and Liono is doing that already. If he were to be cooped up inside all day listening to the political rhetoric Tygra had been suffering through, then there was no one rallying the people together.

He resolved to table his thoughts for now, the more pressing matter being a cute and sleepy little Lion nuzzling into his chest. The Tiger couldn't help but widen his grin at the sight, feeling his pride inflate past normal standards. How had he been lucky enough to find someone like this? He didn't know, and right now he didn't care, all he wanted, was to hold his mate close, and call it a night.

A few hours passed of calm and peaceful sleep, the sheets becoming tangled and scattered as someone threw them off. The weather was still much too cold to be sleeping like this, and Tygra was finally roused from his slumber when enough of the chill from outside had slipped under the door to linger in their room.

At first he reached down to pull the covers back up, but Liono was laying on top of them and wouldn't budge. Tygra hesitantly poked him, trying to blink the clouds from his tired eyes. When Liono just groaned and rolled over, Tygra had to be more forceful. He slipped his arm under the male's unnaturally warm body and paused, He was burning up.

Tygra immediately had both hands on his mate, trying to shake him to wake up. When he saw Liono crack his eyes in confusion at him, Tygra asked him if he felt alright. When the Lion responded that he was really hot in here, and his stomach hurt a little, Tygra moved a hand down to rub over his mate's soft tummy.

Instead of finding the smooth body he was used to, there was a tell-tale bump now, although small. Tygra got up off the bed and walked around, lighting the candle and holding it close to the male on the bed. There really was a bump there, slight, yes, but still a bump...


Liono noticed his rounded belly and tentatively put a hand to it, intrigued by the distended flesh. Tygra tossed him some pants and told him to try and get up, that they needed to see a Doctor immediately. Liono asked him if it could wait until morning, but his mate's stern gaze gave him a firm and resolute, "No." groaning once again, Liono slowly dragged himself to sit up, pulling the pants on to cover himself. There pain was growing now, starting at the base of his spine and then working around his back and over his stomach. It started to flare up, and Liono found himself crouched over on the bed, unable to stand.

Tygra rushed over to check to make sure he was alright, but when Liono told him that he couldn't get up, the Tiger extinguished the candle and set it onto the table next to the bed. After that, he returned to his companion and slid his arms underneath to cradle his body, lifting him slowly as his mate groaned and hissed in pain.

Tygra was concerned and needed to get his mate to a doctor quickly, however he moved carefully so as to not make his Lion any more uncomfortable. There was no one up at this hour, the only thing moving being the breeze which ran over their skin as they moved along hallway after hallway. When Tygra finally reached the main hall, he was relieved to see two guards standing just inside the door, keeping watch.

He called to them and their heads jerked to look at him. When they saw Liono curled up in his arms they both rushed over and Tygra, not so calmly, told them that he needed a doctor immediately. One of them knew where they could find one and started to walk quickly down the hall and out the door, forking left and going only a short way until he stopped at one of the newly built residences and knocked loudly. Tygra had to jog to keep up with the other man, but caught up just as the door opened to reveal a middle-aged Cougar, looking quite enraged having been awoken at this hour.

Seeing the Prince in a fetal position, however, broke his anger and led him to bark at Tygra to bring him inside quickly. After the Lion was set down on a long table just inside the door, the man pulled a stethoscope from one of the cabinets built into the base and brought it to touch over the distended stomach. His eyes narrowed several times as he tried to determine just what was happening.

He asked Tygra what he had been doing, but the reply he received was that they had just been sleeping when Liono had started to heat up and say his stomach hurt. Tygra went on to say that when he noticed the distention that he immediately carried him to find help.

The Doctor seemed to consider these words and apply them to what he was thinking, walking around for several minutes, the pacing wearing on the tiger's nerves. Tygra had just started to open his mouth to growl for an answer, but the doctor moved away and to a bookcase standing on the edge of the room on the far wall, running his hands over the worn spines and finally plucking one of them and leafing through the pages until he found whatever he had been looking for.

Tygra quickly asked if he knew what was wrong, putting his hand in Liono's when the Lion groaned and started to rub at his belly. The doctor looked first at the Lion, then to the Tiger and held the book out for the larger male to take. When it was in Tygra's hands and facing the right way, he looked briefly over the section, his eyes catching the title which made his eyes widen.

Printed in large and fancy bold letters, was "Pregnancy Stage 1." Tygra processed what he was reading, the small paragraph which served as the introduction briefly mentioning what this stage was. It mentioned that the stomach started to distend as the kittens underwent stage one growth. In addition it advised certain methods of coping with the pain that ensued as the mother's body expanded to accommodate the beings inside. On the very bottom of the page, Tygra read the last sentence several times to make sure he had seen it right. It said that this phase lasted from anywhere between one to two weeks.

Tygra closed the book and looked back to Liono. He knew that his lover was pregnant, but he wondered why it had taken so long for his mate to start showing. He posed this question to the Cougar, who nodded in understanding and walked around to press a few fingers into the swelling flesh, stating that females already have the sexual organs to accommodate birthing their young. Males however, have to grow the organs over a few months so that when the kittens started to grow, they didn't obstruct the body. He went on to explain that while females may be the natural carriers of eggs, every male born in each new generation inherits blank eggs from the mother which are stored in a separate location just behind the testes. He said there were special pores in the anal tract which had the ability to absorb fluid and deposit it into the egg chamber, as he called it. In this way, should semen ever find its way into the egg chamber, that it was possible for the eggs to become fertilized and in turn grow into healthy kittens.

While he advised that not many males had ever actually decided to complete a full term pregnancy, it is possible. When the body detects that the eggs have become fertilized and have begun going through preliminary growth inside the egg chamber, the body releases dormant chemicals which alter the chamber behind the testes. What he meant by alter, he explained, was that the chemicals sparked cell growth of the sack and lifted it slowly up to hang just under the stomach with a canal forming between it and the anal tract. . This pseudo-uterus, would continue to grow as a result of the chemicals and cause the pregnancy to visibly show just like in females.

Tygra tried his best to keep up, but from everything he was just told, he realized that his mate must have already finished that process. When he asked for confirmation to what he was thinking, the doctor nodded and continued on to describe the rest of the pregnancy.

He said that after the pseudo-uterus was in place, instead of a placenta like in females, a cord with several valves will form between the stomach and the sack, regulating the food intake of the fetuses. Tygra stopped him to ask how that worked, and the doctor replied that the tube took in both stomach acid and partially digested food. It was held between two chambers so they food could completely digest, and chemicals were secreted by the walls of that chamber to neutralize the acid when the liquid was digested enough for the infants and determined safe by the body. Tygra asked how much food his Lion would have to eat to feed all the kittens he was carrying, and the doctor looked at him puzzled.

He asked If Tygra knew how many he had in there, and when Tygra told him about the six Cheetara saw, the Cougar cocked his eyebrow and asked how he could possibly know that. When clerics were mentioned, the doctor nodded his head and brought a hand up to his chin to stroke it. He had never heard of anyone having six kittens before, but nonetheless had a formula to determine how much one kitten would eat before it was full.

Tygra had trouble figuring out the doctors method, and had to ask him to write it down. The diagram the Cougar drew onto a sheet of parchment stated that each kitten could eat one-tenth its weight in Stage one pregnancy, and that each time the stomach passed food into the cord acting as a placenta, it was divided among how many umbilical cords existed at the end of it. Tygra couldn't do the math, not even knowing how to split grams into anything smaller. The doctor figured everything out for him, thankfully, and considering how much he guessed each of them weighed, he told Tygra that Liono would have to eat several pounds of food to not only feed his kittens, but to also feed himself. Tygra wasn't sure about the logic, but he had never had to take care of anyone who had been pregnant before, so he accepted what the doctor said and hope it was right.

The Cougar warned Tygra that Liono could not eat anything like he had been previously, and had to be given special food from now on. He jotted down several names of commonly used foods and handed it over for the Tiger to peruse. The list had fishes and vegetables and soft breads on it. Sweets were advised to be avoided and anything tough and chewy was discouraged as well. Tygra thanked the doctor for his help and asked if there was anything else he needed to know. When the Cougar shook his head and said that he knew everything he needed to in order to survive stage one, Tygra sighed in relief and made to pick Liono back up.

The doctor asked him to wait and said that they would need to go see a doctor once a week so Liono could be checked on and they could make sure the pregnancy was doing alright. Tygra asked him if they could come back when they needed to have a check-up done, and the Cougar pulled a schedule book from the desk beside the bookcase, flipping through the pages and running a finger down the scribbles. He told Tygra which time slots he had open for the next month, and the Tiger asked him to pencil them in, if he could. The Cougar nodded and reached for his pen to make the annotations, telling the male the times he would expect them and on which days before telling him he was all set.

Tygra hefted his mate up, who groaned again and cracked his eyes to stare, annoyed at his lover. On the way out the door, Tygra told the Cougar that they would pay him when they came next week. The male nodded and hoped they enjoyed their week, closing the door lightly after them, and most likely heading off to sleep for whatever little bit of time he had left before his day was supposed to begin.

They had been occupied at the residence for much longer than Tygra thought, noting the sun peeking over the horizon as he walked back down the street. He saw several people through the windows of their homes starting to wake up, and a few of them joining him to walk in the street as they went off to early morning jobs. Everyone he passed was looking at both himself and the bundle in his arms, some of them surprised and others cracking slight smiles.

Tygra wasn't sure he could mark off the looks at compliments or not, remembering that neither of them were wearing a shirt or shoes as the moved through the street. He was relieved to be back inside the palace, and nodded to the guards who met him this morning. They returned the gesture and perked up a little, one of them looking nervous as he watched the pair pass through the door.

Tygra noticed the expression and asked him if he was alright, and the guard nodded and said he was fine, but asked if the Prince was fine himself. Tygra realized that he was trying to ask about the Lion's belly, and said that he was just trying to handle the first part of his pregnancy. The guard's eyes widened as Tygra caught on to him and he tried his best to calm himself down visibly. He cracked a smile and said he was happy for them, wishing them luck and straightening himself. Tygra thanked him and walked back through the large room and into the hall which ran through the far wall and led to their room.

The Tiger would have felt better if the guard had simply asked instead of being so nervous. He sighed and remembered that you couldn't just ask someone a question like "Are you pregnant?" He tossed the thought aside as he finally reached the large wooden door and pushed it open, carrying his love back to the bed and lying him down on it, pulling both of their pants off and joining the other body on the soft sheets.

"I was awake the whole time you know…" Liono said, making the Tiger raise his mouth into a grin.

"I know, but since I am going to be the one taking care of you, I figured I would be the one doing the talking."

"What makes you think I need to be taken care of?"

"What makes you think a pregnant male can take care of himself when he can't even stand up?"

Liono had to admit he had gotten him there, but was still peeved about Tygra's 'dominance complex,' it made him feel like he was a kitten again. The pain in his stomach had subsided since they had returned, and he tried to relax as his love brought a hand up to scritch at the bubble on his tummy. The hand felt good and he couldn't help the purr in his throat at the touch.

Tygra chuckled at him and asked him if that felt nice, already knowing the answer. Liono had turned to look at him now, those glistening turquoise eyes like an ocean shimmering in the afternoon sun.

"I hope they have your eyes," Tygra cooed, leaning down to kiss his mate tenderly. Liono kissed back, the gesture of affection well received.

"I hope they have your smile," the Lion replied, bringing one of his own to occupy his face as his Tiger moved his head to lay it on the smooth chest.

"I love you so much Liono, you have absolutely no idea," Tygra whispered. A gentle hand on his back told him that the Lion did too know just how much he was loved, but that love was twofold. They fell asleep like that, Tygra resting on Liono's chest, his arm laying protectively over both his mate and their kittens.

It had been several days since that night, and in that time, Tygra had relegated that his mate try and exert himself as less as possible. Liono, of course, disagreed and tried to do little things here or there, but if Tygra ever caught him, there would always be hell to pay. Most of the time Liono was just shooed away and told to go rest; other times, Tygra would forcibly pick him up and take him with him as he busied himself with work to do around the palace.

It was considerably warmer now, with the palace reconstruction nearly complete, the wind could no longer blow freely down the hallways like it had in the first months of the Thundercats homecoming. That being said, new residents were returning every day, and as a result, construction on not only the palace, but also the city, began to speed up. The first of the seven tiers of the city had been completed, and the palace was going to be completed when the second tier was a third of the way done.

The rapidity of the restorations surprised mostly everyone; their determination to have their city back burning bright in every soul that lived and breathed inside and out of the palace walls. Life was beginning to take on the familiar feel of how it had been before the destruction all that time ago. Well, life had started to resume where it left off, for everyone except Liono and Tygra.

When their journey began, they were beset by hostile differences and unrequited love. Now, they have embraced each others hearts, and guard them affectionately. They had kittens on the way, and the previous Prince, was to be the King of all his Father before him had built. Life might be the same anymore, but it definitely felt better, to both of them.

Liono found himself in bed today, Tygra had taken the day off and shoveled his work onto the many staff he led. The Tiger had made a point to keep Liono occupied today, staying at his side the whole time. Liono didn't care much for the over immersion of attention, and tried to get Tygra to let them go for a walk or something.

"Still as energetic as ever huh, even when you're carrying…" Tygra sighed, patting his lover's stomach and, defeated, finally helped his mate up and led him through the palace to the front door. Normally, Liono wouldn't want to leave the palace nowadays, his stomach slowly getting larger as their kittens completed stage one.

The Tailor, who's shop was moved to the first tier of the city for convenience, had luckily been able to supply the Lion with a set of more… covering clothes that could accommodate his belly. Without having to worry about feeling exposed with the silken purple shirt hanging down to his waist, the Lion breathed in deep the afternoon air and asked Tygra where they were going, his mate not stopping as he led them down the steps and through the streets.

"I thought you might like to see the park," was the only reply the Lion received as he was dragged down several more streets until they stepped within view of the massive space covered in deep green grass and playing children. There was a statue here now as well, and Liono had to squint to make sure he was seeing it right.

There, in the middle of the expanse, was a towering marble structure which resembled him and Tygra, the latter having his arms wrapped around the former's waist affectionately with his head rested In the crook of the smaller statue's neck. It was a position they found themselves in often, and Lion blushed deeply when he realized that there was now an incarnation of one of their most private moments sitting in plain view for everyone to see.

"Tygra what is that?" Liono yelled as quietly as he could, his embarrassment painfully evident. Tygra smirked when he saw his mate to hot and bothered, stealing a kiss from his lips to try and calm him. It helped a little, but it would take more than that to make the Lion comfortable with this.

"I had it commissioned for the park, since we are going to be the ruling couple, I thought I'd announce it to all of Thundaria." His excitement bothered Liono, and he found himself staring at the statue now, eye twitching as he noticed how detailed it was.

By detailed, of course, he could only gape at how accurate the muscles were, how on point the facial expressions appeared, and how lifelike the entire peace looked. The more he looked at it, he started to think about how artistic it was, instead of how much it made him blush. And he was still blushing, especially when he looked around and saw the looks people were giving him.

Most of the women had their hands over their mouths, their smiles creeping around the fingers while the males simply looked approving. Tygra pulled him along and as they passed a few people, Liono could hear their excited chatter behind his back. Most of them talked about how handsome the new King was, while some remarked that they made a perfect couple. Liono already knew the last was true, he found the perfect person for him, but sometimes, his mate seemed to get too excited over him.

"I hope you liked it," Tygra said, breaking his mate's thoughtful trance. Liono hastened a smile and said it was very lifelike, to which the Tiger only frowned.

"So you don't like it?" Tygra sighed, slowing his pace to creep along the cobbles of the path.

"Oh, I do, it's wonderful, I just wish you would have told me about it first."

"Then it wouldn't have been a surprise."

"Trust me, it would have been."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"It means that anything you do would excite me, so there's no need for surprises," With that last, the Lion leaned over to peck a kiss on his mate's cheek, receiving both a wide grin and a loving squeeze on his hand.

The rest of their walk through the park went by with them talking to each other about the city and their kittens and how life would go with six little ones scampering about. Neither could believe that they were actually at this moment, they were on the precipice of parenthood, they had each other, and everything was right with the world.

They were lost in the euphoria of each other, when a very bubbly old tabby cat came up to them and broke into their conversation. She was quite inquisitive about their relationship, and said she was excited that everything was working out for them. Tygra and Liono were amused by her curiosity, but her last question, caught them both by surprise. She asked them when their wedding was.

"Wedding," Tygra repeated, his eyes widening. Liono did the same, and they looked at each other for a few moments while the old woman commented on how it was obvious they were mated, but without the marriage, it wasn't official.

She left them to their thoughts when she realized they were too caught up in her question to actually say anything else. Her giggling could be heard as Liono and Tygra came back to reality, their attention caught by Cheetara, who must have been standing there for a few minutes, given the impatient expression on her face.

"So you too are having a wedding without consulting me?" she asked with fire on her lips. Both males tried to explain that they hadn't even thought about a wedding until that woman mentioned it, and that seemed to perk the cheetah up.

"Wonderful, I'll have everything taken care of, you two will have the best wedding in all of Thundaria!" she yelled for everyone to hear, her smile wide and insane. The Lion and Tiger tried to ask her to be quiet, and Liono said he didn't want anything over the top, while Tygra nudged him on the shoulder and said he wanted one where everyone could be invited.

"Why does everyone have to be there?" Liono asked, feeling his social awkwardness poking him. He hated large groups of people, and he could only handle them when all he had to do was chop through them with a sword.

"Because you are going to be the King of Thundaria, there hasn't been a royal wedding in ages and especially not around the same time as a coronation, this is a once in a lifetime opportunity, and I want to make sure everyone in Thundaria can say they witnessed it."

"How are we going to fit everyone in Thundaria into our wedding?"

"I can help with that," Cheetara piped in, a sly grin on her face as she watched the two of them turn to her. "you remember how the room in the Elder Cleric's tower defied space and time? Well I believe he might know how to make larger ones, and if so, we can just attach it to the palace and our space problems would be solved!" She seemed excited at her thought, cutting them off before either could stutter a word and excusing herself, muttering something about the Cleric she needed to find.

"She seems too excited about this," Liono said, turning back to meet his mate's similar expression. Tygra just nodded and they finished their walk, hearing more giggles and mutterings from the people they passed. Liono was almost glad to be back inside the palace when they returned, feeling exhausted from the little exercise they had done. He had gotten more exercise than he thought actually, between their stroll in the park and the wedding that was sprung on them.

"Tygra, what are we going to do about this?" The Lion asked, walking next to his mate as they went into the kitchen to find some water.

"I guess we don't have to do anything, Cheetara said she'd handle it, and I believe we can trust her to do a good job."

"But this is all so sudden, we are in the middle of restorations, we're trying to make the supplies we have accumulated last while we wait for the southern and eastern farmlands to produce, and not to mention I am supposed to be coronate in two months. Trying to keep Thundaria stable while we raise it from the ground is tiring, there is no time for a wedding!" Liono was getting hot again, his face blossoming in all manner of pinks and light reds as he tried to weasel his way out of a public event like this.

"Sounding more like a King every day," Tygra whispered, stopping them before the kitchen doors and wrapping his arms around the smaller body, holding him close while he affectionately nipped at his lover's ears, making him gasp and whimper cutely. A clatter followed by a shattering sound broke their embrace as they saw a servant girl holding her hand up to her nose as she stared at them, the telltale lines of red seeping from in between her fingers. She hastily apologized for interrupting them and went to get a broom to clean the mess. Tygra smirked at her and drug his mate along, opening the wooden doors behind them and stalking to a basin on the far end, filling two cups and downing one while Liono sipped at the other.

"We don't have time right now for a wedding Tygra," Liono tried to continue, hoping his mate would spare him from this, not wanting to make a debacle of himself in front of his entire kingdom.

"You're just shy Liono, there is nothing to worry about," The Tiger responded, brushing off the concerned look Liono was giving him. Liono knew it wouldn't be easy to get his mate to change his mind once it was made up, and sighed, he wouldn't be able to get out of this now. He just hoped when the time came for it, that Cheetara hadn't planned anything over the top.

"you know Liono," The Tiger started, setting his empty cup down and looking over at his smaller companion, "You're check-up is tomorrow." The Lion had forgotten all about his appointments every week for the next few months, too preoccupied with being bored around here.

"I hope they don't have to do anything invasive…" Liono said, more to himself than to Tygra.

"They probably will, unless the doctor is a cleric, which I doubt, he's going to have to check inside you somehow."

"You don't think he'd have to… You know… stick anything in me right?"

"I'm not sure, it sounds like he would have to though."

The Tiger wasn't helping, and Liono started to feel reluctance to go back to the doctor. He didn't want to have anything stuck inside him at all, well unless it was his mate but that a different story. Nonetheless, for the rest of the day, Tygra and Liono tried to find something to do until dinner, all the while Liono's head kept being flooded with images of himself being strapped onto a table with the doctor holding a large syringe over his ass. He tried shaking his head to scatter the thoughts, but that only served to make him dizzy.

Tygra chuckled at his mate's paranoia, already knowing what was on his mind. He would try and milk this lie for as long as he could. He felt bad for telling his mate the doctor would have to go inside him, but his mate was too cute when he was worked up; Tygra couldn't let this opportunity pass him by.

It wasn't until a guard called that dinner would be ready in ten minutes that Liono temporarily forgot his fears, his grumbling stomach stealing his attention. "Hey, if I can wait then you six can too," Liono called to the kittens inside his stomach, giggling slightly. His tummy groaned in response as the couple made their way through the several hallways before the dining hall.

Panthro, Cheetara, and the two Kittens were already there, having been invited to stay in the palace with the Prince and his mate. This one time though, instead of not minding their presence, Liono was a little nervous about having the cheetah here after her ranting in the park.

He had every right to feel that way, She had grabbed his attention as he sat down and pulled several notebooks and catalogs from underneath her chair. Liono didn't have time to ask where she had found those kinds of items when the printing shop wouldn't be open for another few weeks. She was asking him what colors he liked out of twenty and if he preferred linen or silk and then went on to ask what kind of ceremony he wanted.

"There's more than one kind of ceremony?" The Lion asked, thrumming his hand on the table impatiently.

"Well of course there is silly, but I figured you might not know that so I went ahead and picked a few I liked," She shuffled a few papers across to him and watched intently as he read each little description under the illustration of the ceremony's procedure. The last one he read though, made his eyes widen.

"That one is the one I hoped you two would choose," she snickered, knowing perfectly well that Liono was looking at a special version of a ring ceremony especially for Males. Liono shot his blushing face up to give her a look half between surprise and disbelief.

"Absolutely not!" Liono said a little louder than he meant. If she thought he was going to exchange those kinds of rings with his mate in public then she was out of his mind. Tygra got up to stand behind him and read over this page, chuckling as soon as he saw the illustration.

"You don't want to exchange cock rings with me Liono?" Tygra cooed in his ear, making Panthro spit his drink across the table and the kittens to burst out into fits of wild laughter. Liono told him to be quiet and slid the sheaf of pages back to the cheetah, who set her hand on them absentmindedly and continued to watch the couple.

"Well maybe you two can do that on your honeymoon then," she winked, making both of them look up to her.

"We don't have time for a honeymoon, what is Thundaria going to do without someone to watch over it?" Liono shouted. It seemed like everyone wanted him to relax, or take it easy, or go on a vacation. He couldn't do any of those, he had to be King now and so far everyone else has been doing more work than him.

"Am I not fit to be king, do you really not want me as king? Because if not then I wish you would tell me instead of trying to get me out of the palace!" Liono scooted his chair back and got up, stalking out of the room and down the hallway to him and his mate's room.

Tygra sighed and apologized to the rest of the cats, explaining Liono's frustration about not being allowed to help as much as he wants. The servants were standing at the door to the kitchen, their cart full or trays and plates halted as they watched the group with wide eyes. Tygra could only guess how long they had been there, but assumed they saw everything.

He asked if they could bring their food to their room tonight, and when he received a nod from one of the older cats, he himself exited the room and went to join his love. As he wound his way through the palace to the back, he could hear little sniffles sneaking out of the crack in their door. Tygra jogged the distance to the room and poked his head inside worriedly. Liono was curled up on the bed, his face covered by his palms, thin streams of tears running between the fingers.

"Liono?" Tygra called, to which the other male shot his head up and asked him to leave.

"Liono, my love, please, what's wrong?" Tygra called, walking over to the male and sitting down beside him on the bed, throwing an arm comfortingly over the smaller body. Liono just slumped and fell into Tygra's chest, tears pouring twice as hard.

"Liono, what happened?" Tygra started to get worried, he had never seen his mate like this.

"Tygra, I am supposed to be the king, but I don't feel like I am, after everything with the citizens the other day, and now with Cheetara trying to get us out of the palace, I'm not so sure anyone WANTS me to be king."

How long had Liono had these doubts, Tygra thought about them as he tried to find something, anything to say. And to think, the Tiger thought that his Lion had no fears about being king, that he wasn't nervous. That was foolish to think, anyone would second-guess themselves if they were suddenly pushed into this power. Liono was supposed to have years of study and experience under his belt, but his father was assassinated and there was no other choice than to install him immediately. Be it seemed immediately wasn't soon enough. There were political and legal matters to handle, along with everything else going on, the coronation ceremony had to be pushed…back. That was it!

"Liono, it's completely normal for you to feel this way." Tygra had an idea, he hoped it would work.

"It… -sniffle-… is?"

"Of course, your coronation is still a few weeks away, so you technically aren't the king yet."

"Well when you say it like that…"

"Liono, my mate, please don't let this worry you so much, you have plenty of time to prepare yourself for what lies ahead, and I am here with you, and soon, so will six little ones."

"But Tygra…"

"No buts, everything will work out. Don't tell me that you can vanquish the paragon of evil, but you can't even sit on a throne." Liono hated to be teased, and Tygra hoped it would divert his mate's nervousness onto safer emotions. He was second guessing which emotions he considered "safe" when Liono started to narrow his eyes.

"Who says all I have to do is sit on a throne all day? I have to do paperwork and listen to petitions and handle court matters and attend politically important events and establish foreign allies and mountains of other things that I have no idea how to handle!"

" It was just a metaphor my love, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to tease you," Tygra said, holding his hands up to try and shield himself from his mate whose face was edging closer and closer to his.

"Damn right! You know I don't like it when you tease me!" Thankfully, that was everything he said. With the silence that ensued, all Liono and Tygra did was look at each other until Tygra couldn't resist slowly cracking his mouth into a smile. He hoped Liono wouldn't yell again, but when he saw his mate's do the same, he sighed inside, and snickered a little.

"You're so cute when you're upset," Tygra cooed, reaching his hand out for his mate to take. Liono blushed at the compliment and slowly edged his hand out, and when Tygra saw it, he snatched it and pulled his mate on top of him, craning his head up to make their mouths meet. Liono was burning up again, and could feel his mate's tummy gurgling against his.

"Liono, you really need to eat something now, I think you've waited long enough…" Tygra panted when they finally broke. Coincidentally, there came a knock at the door, to which Tygra rolled his mate off of him gently and got up to answer it.

On the other side of the door had been the servant girl from earlier, a small tray sitting on top of the cart she pushed and three smaller ones sitting on the shelf underneath. She was holding a cloth to her nose and Tygra could swear he saw a few smudges of red on it. He could only guess what had made her like that, and smirked slightly as she pushed the cart one-handed into the room, curtsied, and excused herself, rushing out as fast as she could.

"Tygra was she alright?" Lion asked, a concerned look on his face as he stared at the door.

"Yes, I'm sure she was fine, most likely saw something that got her all flustered." Tygra looked to the door too, reminding himself to lock it next time they decided to become intimate. He shook his head with a smile and walked over to the cart, wrapping a hand around the cover of the large tray on top and curiously pulled it off, filling the room instantly with the smells of exquisite food.

There was an enormous fish taking up the platter, the head and tail cut off and sitting on the side as garnishments which the middle had been sliced thin and marinated, but not cooked, leaving it a delicious color and seething a very appetizing smell. He recognized it immediately as a dish used to celebrate special events in the palace, like birthdays or Scritches day. He paused only for a second to wonder what the occasion was, remembering he had a hungry mate sitting on the bed waiting.

He pushed the cart over to sit in front of him, the Lion's mouth visibly watering as he eyed the fish that taunted him. He couldn't eat it yet though, they hadn't had the appetizer. Judging by the look Liono had, he was appetizer enough, but still picked out the tray with the large A etched into the cover and picked it up, wondering what could fit on such a tiny plate.

He soon found out, eyeing the two balls of rice with a piece of fish on top wrapped together with a grape leaf. He held the tray out to his love, who plucked up one of them quickly and popped it whole into his mouth, eyes closing and mouth upturning into an expression of bliss. Tygra felt the same way when he put the tiny food into his own mouth, relishing in the flavors of the yellow-tail mixed with the crunchiness of the leaf and the soft sticky texture of the rice.

Liono was waiting for him as he put the tray back down underneath and grabbed the forks, walking around the cart to sit next to his mate on the bed and hand over one of the utensils. The Lion wasted no time in digging in to the meal, skewering four or five pieces of fish at once and shoveling them into his mouth. Tygra wasn't sure this would be enough to fill him and the kittens up, hoping the chefs had read the list from the doctor right.

Tygra didn't think that this was for the both of them, and bent his head to look under the cart again. He saw the appetizer tray, and the desert tray with the large D on it, and another one without a letter. He grabbed that last one and held it in front of him, cracking the lid to sniff at the food inside, it was more fish. He took the cover off and saw a smaller portion of the marinated meat, along with a small pilaf of rice under it.

He smirked, this must be his dinner. He gave his mate another look, eyes widening as he saw that the whole fish was almost gone with the ravenous male doing everything to get it down except inhaling it. He decided to eat his meal and watch his mate at the same time. He laughed as he watched the other male, wondering if carrying six kittens really made him that hungry.

Before he knew it, he had finished his own plate, setting it back underneath and waiting for his love to finish, who had slowed partially as the last few bits of meat were stabbed with his fork and deposited into the thankful mouth.

When the fork clattered onto the plate, Tygra replaced the lid and reached under to pick the desert up. It looked like some kind of rice with a sauce on top of it and some mirrorberries tastefully decorating it. Tygra sniffed at it, and it did smell sweet. He put a small bit onto his fork and hesitantly put it into his mouth, stunned at the wonderful sensations playing on his tongue. He put some more on his fork and held it up for Liono to take, who did so enthusiastically and smiled around the food.

"What is that?" He asked his mate, looking at the Tiger curiously, but expectantly.

"I have no idea, it's good though."

"It delicious!" Liono looked like he was about to whine every time Tygra took a bite, finally making the other male hand the plate over with half of it left to the Lion's excitement. Liono thanked him quickly and devoured the desert, making Tygra both laugh in amusement, but frown inside at not being able to get any more.

"Thank you love, that was so good," Liono sighed as he put the plate down, leaning over after to kiss his mate on the cheek.

"I think that desert was worth a little more than a peck my little Lion," Tygra chuckled playfully, winking devilishly.

"You know we can't do that while I'm pregnant Tygra," Liono replied, returning the wink.

"That's not quite what I meant, I was hoping for a little more cuddling."

"As long as your gentle," Liono said quickly, and Tygra nodded, reaching over and pulling his mate into his lap tenderly, licking at the shell of his ear and making him purr deep in his throat. Gods, he loved that purr, it turned him on so much, but he really couldn't have sex with his mate now, not when he was like this. He would have to get himself off later, his mate was worth getting worked up like this, even if he couldn't do anything but touch him.

-Knock Knock Knock- Liono groaned and Tygra growled lightly as he set his mate down on the bed and stalked to the door, throwing it open frustratedly and looking at the elderly man outside the door with a look of pure annoyance. The man said that he and the Prince's bath was ready, reminding him that it was that time of the day. Tygra covered his face with his hand and called over to Liono, telling him they needed to bathe.

Liono had never liked baths, but the ones he took with his mate were much more enjoyable. Tygra held his hand gently as they walked down the hall to two slightly cracked doors, already smelling the bath salt before the doors were even in front of them.

There was no one else in here of course, and locking the door behind them, Tygra assured that no one would interrupt them again. With that done, he stripped his clothes off and helped his mate strip off the ones he wore. They had this large bathing pool to themselves thankfully, one of the perks of being royalty. They both stepped away from the clothes on the floor and dipped their feet in the steaming water, the heat feeling nice as they submerged in it up to their necks, sitting alongside the edge.

Once the water had soaked in enough, Liono got up to go grab the soap from the other side of the pool, a good two minute swim. What Tygra did in this time was a little secret, not being able to mate with, well, his mate, left him sexually frustrated sometimes, so he released his tension while his love was across the pool. He had a good five minutes for him to find what he was looking for over there, so he quickly got himself worked up, and in no time had begun pumping his shaft quickly so as to finish in time. Just as he heard the familiar splashes of his mate swimming back, he growled deep in his throat and released his seed into the depths of the pool, lying back to embrace the slight afterglow.

"I didn't know this was a milk bath," He heard Liono say, and Tygra quickly shot his eyes to the water and hoped he couldn't see his cum through the steamy surface. No he couldn't, but there was something else floating on it, it definitely looked like milk. Liono dipped his hand in it and brought it up to his nose. Tygra did the same, and surprisingly it did smell like milk, but also like him. Before he could figure this out, Liono had licked at the white on his hand, scrunching his face up thoughtfully as if he had tasted it before.

"It doesn't quite taste like milk, it tastes more like…" Liono's eyes got wide and he leaned over to his mate, sniffing at his neck, and then running his tongue gently over the flesh. Tygra purred at the lick, shivering a little.

"It tastes like...you…" Liono said finally, narrowing his eyes, clearly knowing what Tygra had been doing.

"D-does it?" Tygra stuttered, trying to find something to say.

"Why does it look like that, all milky and funny tasting?"

"I-, what do you mean Liono?"

"You know exactly what I mean, why does your cum look and slightly taste milky?" Now that Tygra looked at it, it did look very much exactly like milk.

"I-I have no idea, it's never been like this before…"

"Oh, so you've done this before?" Liono asked, crossing his arms. Tygra cursed himself for falling into the trap, but sighed and said that he had done this before, but made the argument that he was a guy and guys did this a lot.

"So you do this a lot do you?" Liono sneered, edging closer to his mate, setting the bottle in his hand, which Tygra just noticed, onto the ledge of the pool and bringing himself into his mate's lap, nuzzling into the chest as he started to grind his ass against the flaccid meat under it.

Tygra grit his teeth as he felt himself start to get hard again. He had wanted to do this for so long, but they certainly couldn't do it right now. Liono's intentions became clear, and when it seemed that he was just teasing, he reached a hand in the water and grabbed the thick shaft, giving it a few lustful squeezes, making Tygra moan loudly.

"Jeez Liono, it's been so long since we've done anything,"

"Just because I'm pregnant doesn't mean we can't do anything…" Liono smiled sexily, and Tygra felt something hard pressing at the underside of his erection. When Liono's hand wrapped around his meat again, he could only guess that his mate was going to get both of them off like this.

Even though he had already came, Tygra could feel himself closing in on another orgasm, the feelings of his mate's hand and cock against his own were things he only dreamed about nowadays. It didn't help that Liono was moaning too, those soft gasps accompanied by his continued grinding threatened to make the Tiger pass out from too much pleasure all at once.

Liono shot first, his milky seed shooting into the water and floating on the surface. Tygra could smell the musk of it, his mate's scent strong and lustful. He must not have gotten off in awhile, the sheer potency of the smell made Tygra's head swirl as he inhaled it like an addict. It had been too long, for both of them. This little moment was all they needed to destress after they emotional strain that today had put on them both.

Liono had slid his cock out from against Tygra's, and instead started to take a deep breath. Before the Tiger could clear enough of the haze around his head from the drug-like smells, he felt a warm and wet pressure grasp his shaft and give a long powerful suck. Tygra growled a moan, and released himself into the mouth around him. This orgasm felt ten times better than his first, and it also felt like he shot ten times as much. When he finally felt himself start to soften up, the Lion slid his mouth off and popped his head up above the water, taking a deep breath and panting for a moment, looking straight into his mate's eyes. Tygra saw that his mouth was empty, and raised an eyebrow.

"What did you do with it?" He asked the smaller male.

"What do you think my big tasty man?" Liono licked his lips as a clue, and Tygra snickered.

"you don't think that would hurt the kittens do you?" Liono's eyes widened at the Tiger's words.

"Crap! I completely forgot, but it tasted more like milk this time, so I just, I just had an instinct to swallow." The smaller male was running his hands through his hair anxiously, hoping he didn't just jeopardize their children's health.

Tygra was worried too, but they were going to the doctor tomorrow, and hopefully the cougar would tell them everything was alright. Tygra felt like he knew everything was fine, but he had never done this before, and needed to be sure. Needless to say, they finished their bath quickly and dried each other off. Tygra took his time running the plush towel over his mates body, taking the most time massaging the slightly larger belly.

"That feels nice Tygra," Liono cooed, leaning back into his mate's chest as he was rubbed dry, sitting between the larger male's legs. Surprisingly, the Lion hadn't felt any of the unease he normally felt this time of day, and didn't linger on wondering why, he just accepted the comfortable feelings he had and let his mate get him ready for bed.

Tygra liked to do little things like this, like dry his mate off and carry him to bed. It was that sort of romanticism that Liono loved about him, the tender touches against his flesh; the soft breaths on the nape of his neck. Everything he did served to excite the larger male; he had no idea what he did to deserve this, but was thankful that this was his life now.

When Liono was safely tucked under the sheets, Tygra himself slid under them and turned on his side to watch his mate drift off into sleep. He did this often now, watching his mate relax into the bed. Being pregnant must be exhausting him; Tygra wouldn't know that feeling, but would help Liono get through it as much as he could. He looked calm tonight, usually he would be restless for a little while before finally getting to sleep. Tygra curved his mouth up into a smile, pecking a kiss onto his mate's cheek, making the smaller male smile too. He laid down now, seeing his mate so peaceful, he might as well try to get some sleep, tomorrow had the possibility of being one of the longest days they would ever have.