"My hands…!"
Vail cried out and jolted to consciousness and jerked his hands up in front of him. The clean, undamaged paws that dangled before his face brought a sigh of relief to him, and he brought his arms down again. They still ached, true enough, but the slight pain felt nothing like the terrible agony that the Sword of Omens had inflicted upon him, when it tried to punish the hands of a stranger for daring to grip the sword of the Thundercats. Now, the flesh looked no different than they had before.
Slowly, Vail looked around the room that he found himself in, and the familiar surroundings washed away the recent encounter with Mumm-Ra and the Thundercats. He had no memory of bringing himself to that location, but he recognized it as one of a thousand such places that he'd arranged for his safety. While he could not always anticipate when/where he might come out while traveling, he had learned to create temporary shelters for himself, or to create friendships and relationships that would do the same, as protective spaces.
With some effort, he struggled up from the soft bed, pushing aside the sheets. He gained his feet, looked at the mirror across the room… then he clenched both his jaw and his still-sore hands at the sight of his reflection.
Younger.
Vail's face contorted with the uncomfortable realization that not only had he been healed from most of his wounds by the shadowy journey through time and space, but his body clock had been turned back yet again—noticeably. Muscle tone and healthy body fat had been regained. His eyes looked clearer and more alert. His fur grew shinier and thicker, without the loose strands of gray that he'd begun to develop…
And he hated it. He hated that younger self with a loathing deeper than any other emotion he felt. It took every ounce of self-control not to pick up the lamp beside the bed and hurl it at that unnatural image staring back at him. It had taken so long for him to find safe places, where he did not have to resort to the pendant around his neck to get him out of dangerous situations, and where he could grow old in a natural, welcomed way. How many times had he been this young age before? How many more times would he be forced to reverse the natural order of life? Why did he have to continue to be different than every other living thing in existence?
Only then did Vail pause and ask himself how he had gotten there. He looked around. "There" constituted a one-room apartment in a major city on Earth (Third Earth, his brain echoed to him, using the Thundercats' choice of planetary identification), at a relatively safe and prosperous time in the planet's history. It had all of the conveniences of the era, from lights and water to temperature control and comfortable furnishings, and he'd used it several times before, but how—
The door opened and he spun towards it, muscles tense and a low growl in his throat, only to freeze with astonishment at the sight of Cheetara. He barely recognized her. Her demeanor and her aura had not changed, and he cued in on those, however the trip back through time had altered her appearance. Her body, face and clothing looked no different than that of the humans who dwelled in the city around them, at that time in history.
"You… came… came back with me?" he stuttered. "I've… it's never happened before."
Cheetara closed the door, then leaned back against it and smiled. "I'll admit that it scared me at first, but I've grown used to it."
"Do you… can you still…"
She gave a sad shake of her head. "I've lost my abilities as a Thundercat." Her smile faded with concern. "Are you all right?"
Vail nodded, and gestured weakly to the mirror. "I've grown younger again."
Cheetara heard the sadness in his voice, and her face took on an expression at concern. "I'm sorry. But it was the only thing we could think to do that might save your life."
With a sharp breath, Vail rushed forward, and they held one another for a long time before Vail finally pulled away. He stroked her face with one hand.
"I'm the one who should apologize," he muttered. "Come. Let's return you to your people. I don't think the transformation is permanent," he reassured her. "Merely a reflection of the world we're in now. A survival mechanism, as it were. But it's not fair to you, to have lost everything for me in this way."
Vail started to reach for the pendant, but Cheetara stopped him.
"Wait," she said softly.
"Why?" He gestured towards the door she had just entered from. "I take it you've been out there? Seen this world? It's not the world you left. There are millions of people out there, and millions of different dangers. My powers are the same as always, but you don't have the same defenses. I can't risk anything happening to you."
"Then let's stay here. In this room."
Cheetara moved closer to Vail again, and she wrapped her arms around his hips as she put her face close to his.
"For a little while, at least." A wistful smile played on her lips. "Don't you remember, after our run, wishing that you had the strength to…"
Vail's warm, passionate kiss more than explained what he thought of her idea.