4

"She kicked you in the shin?" Bengali's voice was incredulous, and then he laughed long and hard. "She's got guts, that one!"

Lynx-O nodded. "Yes. I imagine that she's getting fed up with my visiting her nearly every day and knocking on her door. But that's good, it reminds her that although she's lost her sight, she's not lost anything else. I only have to be careful not to make her too angry."

Pumyra was smiling. "She's doing better then...I'm so glad." She paused. "So...you think she was waiting for you to knock?"

"Well I have been coming at the same time of day...I imagine she listened for the gonging of the town's clock tower and hovered by her door in ambush. Tomorrow I hope that she will be a little more receptive. Now that I have gotten something other than 'no's' and 'go away's', I believe that she might."

Two days later, when Lynx-O came into the house, he sensed something a bit different. He discovered that Kohlee's parents were in the kitchen, as he heard them talking. All the previous times they had been anxiously waiting for him to get there, and worried about leaving Kohlee alone for too long. That was also a good sign, then. He waved in the direction of their voices, and approached the girl's room.

Another thing that he sensed different was that the door was open. He could feel the fresh breeze from outside. He cocked his head slightly, his ears twitching. He thought that the girl might be standing in the doorway but he was not sure. And so he only stood and waited.

Finally Kohlee spoke. "You're not going to leave me alone until I talk to you...are you?"

Lynx-O smiled broadly. Her tone was almost that of a child who is trying to sulk but has a parent successfully trying to make him laugh. Torn between amusement and annoyance.

He did not answer for a long time, and he could sense her watching him, and waiting for his reply. "If you truly do want me to leave," he said to her. "Then say so...and I will leave and never come back." At that there came surprise from the girl. "But I would like very much to speak with you."

"But...why?" she asked, sounding a little bit frustrated. "Why do you care? What's talking going to do? It won't help anything!"

"But it does, Kohlee. Have you never heard of mind healers? They heal by talking. Some use medicines, but most heal only by talking and helping their patients find their own healing, inside their hearts."

Kohlee made a disgusted sound. "I don't have anything left in my heart,' she said, sounding almost as if she was about to cry.

At this, Lynx-O laughed. "You've got plenty in your heart," he said to her. "A lot of boldness being a good part of it. Not to mention a good strong kick."

He could feel a change in her mood, and after a moment decided that she was either ashamed or embarrassed. It turned out to be the latter. "I...I guess I'm sorry I kicked you," she said to him.

Lynx-O shook his head. "It is accepted. And as I said...I am glad that you did it. Will you speak with me?"

There was a bit of a silence, and then Kohlee sighed. But she did not sound unhappy about it, only resigned. "Yes...yes I'll speak with you..." She backed up a bit to give Lynx-O room to get into her bedroom.

Lynx-O smiled. "Thank you." He stepped carefully into the room, feeling along the walls to make his way again to the bed. He needed to bring a collapsible chair with him next time, he thought. He might break the bed if he sat in it too often. His fingers brushed what felt like papers on the walls, with the smooth, waxy feel of crayon or colored pencil on their surfaced. Drawings then...she drew. That alone could have made someone want to kill themselves, if their drawing meant anything to them at all. Not being able to do it anymore...

"Why?" Kohlee asked, closing the door. Lynx-O heard her walk a few feet and sit down, in a chair, he presumed. She had mentioned having one.

"Why?"

"Why do you want to help me so bad?"

Kohlee sounded rational for once, and Lynx-O was glad to hear it. She sounded subdued and very weary, but rational. "Because you need it," he said simply. "And I am a ThunderCat." He made a noise before Kohlee could speak out. "Hold on, hear me out. No, I do not want to help you because as a ThunderCat it is expected of me. I became a ThunderCat because I want to help people, and it is what they are dedicated to doing. I believe that anyone that is able to should help others when they can...then fewer of us would have to suffer."

There was nothing for a moment. And then, "You speak well,' Kohlee said. "You should be a politician."

Lynx-O was not at all put out by this. "Thank you, speaking was something I always did well, both in school and out."

"Yeah....con men speak well too, you know." She knew she was being rude, but she didn't care. Not now.

Again, Lynx-O did not take offense. "They do," he agreed simply. "Do you doubt that I mean what I say?" He did not ask this as a challenge, only as a question of curiosity.

Kohlee was taken aback. Her one eye blinked, something that she was getting used to. It always felt swollen and misaligned now, because of the horrible scar tissue beneath the lid. The other had not been able to be saved, and the lid had been cut off to rid the socket of the infection that had settled in. "Well..." she said finally. "I...I don't know."

Lynx-O nodded. "Fair enough."

There was a pause before either of them spoke again. And then Kohlee asked what had been preying on her mind since Lynx-O's first visit. "Are...are you really blind?"

This was expected. The girl sounded tentative, as if almost expecting Lynx-O to say that he was not. "Yes," Lynx-O said. "I am." She said nothing, but he could feel her skepticism. "" believe that I can prove this to you."

This time Kohlee sounded openly surprised. "You can?"

"Yes." Lynx-O got up off of the bed and knelt on the floor. "Come here," he said in a soft voice. He heard her stand up also and walk slowly toward his voice. Listening to her footfalls, he held out his hands so that her shoulders hit them. She jumped a bit, and stopped.

Lynx-O put his hands on her arms and then ran them down to take her hands. "There are other ways to 'see' besides using your eyes."

Kohlee frowned, but she did not pull back when Lynx-O drew her forward. He gently placed her hands on top of his eyes...or where his eyes had been. She gasped as she felt the horrible scars there, and felt that his eyes had also been seared shut, like her one eye had been. She could also easily tell that he was not shamming. "I..I'm sorry..' she said, running her fingers over the man's sightless eyes once more before drawing away. She sounded horrified. "How did it happen?"

"Thank you," lynx-O said with a smile. He stood and sat back on the bed. "It happened when Thundera was destroyed."

"Des...destroyed?"

"Yes...that is why we are on this planet. The planet that we lived on...they don't know why or how...but it had begun to tear itself apart. There were earthquakes, geothermal bursts, disastrous weather that all became worse and worse as Thundera deteriorated." He paused, then continued. "A burst of steam hit me square in the face as Pumyra, Bengali and I evacuated."

There was nothing from Kohlee's direction for a very long time. And the she asked, "Were you ThunderCats then?"

Lynx- shook his head. "No, that happened later, when we were discovered. It is long story, and I will gladly tell it sometime. But today... I would just like to tell you what I would like to do. If you are willing."

"What?" Warily.

"I want to teach you." He waited for a reaction to this.

Kohlee frowned, not quite knowing what Lynx-O meant. "Teach me...teach me to what?" she asked.

"For a very long time after we crash landed here...I sat around and felt sorry for myself. And that was very normal and natural. But as the weeks and then the months went on, I began to learn new ways of doing things. Knowing who was walking by, by recognizing the differences in their footfalls. Knowing how tall someone was by listening to where the sound from their speech comes from. Recognizing someone from their scent. There were a few things that I could no longer do; But as I learned more and more, the things that I could not do became fewer and fewer." He paused, and Kohlee was silent. "I had friends to help me. I would like to teach you these things, Kohlee. I would like to teach you how to use your ears, and your nose, and your hands to see the world around you."

Kohlee listened to Lynx-O talking, and felt somewhat numb. That was a lot to digest...and so soon after her trauma. But...but if there was a chance, even a small one, that she could maybe have a normal life again... "What...what would I have to do?" now she sounded a little bit scared.

"Only listen," Lynx-O said. "Listen, and try. I would like to come here three days out of the week...and begin teaching you these things. And there are many things that I will ask that you try when I am not here. It will be rather like school."

"And...and my parents would be all right with this?"

Lynx-O chuckled. "Of course, young Kohlee. They care very much for you and would like, even far more than I, to know that you are beginning to heal."

Kohlee said nothing for a while, and then bit her lip. It sounded very frightening. But with someone helping her that understood... "All...all right," she finally said, and then nodded her head. She frowned, and made her voice lose its tremor. "All right. I...I'll try."

Lynx-O smiled delightedly. "Good! Good, Kohlee...I am pleased." Lynx-O stood and put his hands on the girls; shoulders. This time he did not fumble before finding them, as he had spoken to her and listened enough to get an idea of her size. "I would leave you with an instruction then."

Kohlee turned her ear towards him, looking suspicious. Lynx-O could not see this, but could imagine the leery look on her face. "What?" she asked warily.

"Well, I have listened to you move about your room," he said. "The first time that I was in here you bumped off of nearly everything. Today you have done it considerably less." He smiled. "I would like to come by for the first lesson in three days... In that time I would like you to learn the layout of your home. I would like you to go through it, feeling along the walls, feeling everything along them that you can reach. You know and remember what furniture is where...I want you to feel it with your hands, remember how many steps it is from one piece to another... When I come here in three days I would like to hear you walk about the place without bumping into anything." He paused. "Do you think you can handle that?" He stopped, a bit surprised, and then laughed. "No pun intended."

Kohlee also frowned, wondering what he meant, before making the connection to feeling around and handling. She laughed, a sound that surprised them both. It was a good thing to hear. "Okay," she said in a small voice. "I...will try."

Lynx-O nodded. "Thank you. I will see you in three days then." He put a hand on the doorknob, pausing there. He had heard what Kohlee had not; hr parents were listening outside the door. He wanted to give them plenty of time to go into the other room. He had an idea Kohlee would be indignant if not angry to know they'd been eavesdropping.

H heard them moving away quickly and almost laughed aloud. Then he left the room.

After staving off many thanks and expressions of relief, he told them that they should probably not eavesdrop on their daughter anymore, no matter how worried they were. It indicated a lack of trust. They had been a bit ashamed and agreed, and told him that they would do their best to try and loosen up a little bit. Pleased with this also, Lynx-O left.

"So how did it go?" Bengali and Snarfer were both in the control room when Lynx-O arrived back at the Tower of omens. He had been considerably longer, and the others were not sure if this was a good or a bad sign.

But Lynx-O was smiling. "It went well," he said. "A bit tiring of course, as dealing with anyone that has suffered a trauma is tiring to the heart. But it went well. I told her that I would like to teach her and she agreed." Lynx-O laughed. "At first she listened only because I promised that if after I was finished she still wanted me to leave for good, that I would. But we spoke, and she accepted my offer."

"Great! Snarfer, snarfer. She needed that," Snarfer proclaimed confidently. He nodded his head and jumped into a seat. "I'll bet she's a fast learner, too. She's a lot younger than you were, Lynx-O." The young Snarf realized that that had sounded very rude and turned red under his fur. "Er, sorry Lynx-O, that didn't come out right."

Lynx-O chuckled. "I don't mind, Snarfer. That's very true. Children adapt far better in many cases than do adults. I believe that nature has made them so to help them survive when they are too small to do it through sheer strength and learning."