FLASHBACK – Claud-Us's search for his daughter

Claud-Us had been searching frantically for Lioness-A for the last year or so in an effort to get her returned to the capital so she could join her brother aboard the royal flagship as ThunDera was found to be slowly cracking apart due to explosions within the core. Though he had people looking, no one had been able to locate Lioness-A or the Baroness Rella, especially when it was learned that her mate, Ternas had died the year before in a Mutant raid. The Baroness and Lioness-A were safe so that was the only good news.

"They may have found passage on a liner off-planet Claud-Us," Jaga said gently. "Not much we can do."

"I had hoped that Rella would bring Lioness-A here once she knew how bad the tremors were getting to be," Claud-Us said sadly. "I'm not going to stop looking until I know where my daughter is." Jaga sighed and withdrew from the room as Snarf brought Lion-O to his father. The boy was almost twelve now and scared of what was going on. Claud-Us slid an arm around his son's shoulders. "Lion-O, I'm going to make a promise to you that I'm going to find Lioness-A and somehow, someway find a way to get her to join you."

"I know you will Father," Lion-O said as the two hugged.

.::~*~::.

Four months later:

ThunDera exploded a few weeks past Lion-O's twelfth birthday and Claud-Us was seized by the Shadowmaster as he was trying to get to the escape pod. For many years Claud-Us was the prisoner of the Shadowmaster and he really had no idea of how much time had passed until he heard the Shadowmaster talking of an eclipse on New ThunDera. Had the planet reformed somehow? He got his answer when Lion-O appeared in the realm of the Shadowmaster nearly an hour or so later. They fought and Claud-Us was able to assist his son a few times and after Lion-O used the Sword of Omens to free him. Claud-Us was proud of his son but could sense that though Lion-O was grown, the suspension capsule had malfunctioned on the escape over ten years earlier and most of Lion-O's childhood memories were hazy at best.

'I will not tell him of his sister yet. Not until I know that she's alive and well,' Claud-Us thought. He was happy to be with his son and the two hugged before Claud-Us left the sphere and appeared in the Astral near Jaga. The two paid a visit to Lion-O and returned.

"Someone wants you," Jaga said as Claud-Us felt a hand grasp his.

"Claudana?" he asked, his voice choked. She smiled and traced his cheek. Though he'd been blinded when the twins were nearly ten, he still knew that this was Claudana by her scent. They hugged tightly.

"I know how much you were worried for our daughter but I found her," Claudana said softly.

"Is she?" Claud-Us asked.

"She's fine and as grown as our son is," Claudana replied and opened a water mirror to another world. "This is Boktor and home to the Interstellar Council with whom we've had an alliance with for many years. Rella bought passage for herself and Lioness-A and they went there just before the planet exploded."

"Why didn't Rella reach out to me?" Claud-Us asked Claudana. She sighed.

"She was in grief for the loss of Ternas and it affected her deeply. The life-bond affects each mate differently as it did with you when I passed," Claudana said as he sighed painfully. "Lioness-A was about the only thing keeping Rella grounded and when Rella knew that the destruction was imminent, she took action," Claudana replied. "They know that the planet has reformed due to Boktor having people out and hearing of it and the space officer known as Mandora brought word back of it. It will not be long before the king of Boktor begins to grant passage to our people there for them to return to our homeworld and rebuild it under the reign of our son."

"I made a promise to Lion-O before he left on the ship with Jaga and the other hand-picked nobles that I would do whatever I could to find his sister and I now know where she is," Claud-Us said and sighed heavily. "But due to a malfunction of the capsule he was in on the way to Third Earth, his memories of his childhood are hazy at best and he doesn't remember Lioness-A at all nor will he remember that promise I gave him."

"At least he freed you from the Shadowmaster," Claudana said as Claud-Us smiled.

"I am still proud of how well he's done so far," he said.

"We weren't aware of that capsule being faulty Claud-Us," Jaga told him. "How did Lioness-A grow?" he asked.

"She grew normally on Boktor as it took a few days to get there and they were able to rescue most of the people that were in escape pods after the Mutants attacked the convoy," Claudana answered. "During those years it took for the flagship to make it to Third Earth, she grew normally, going through the teenage experiences and it's likely why Lion-O grew as well."

"Best explanation I've heard yet on it," Jaga said. "Lion-O learned quickly after he came out and I know how proud of him you are Claud-Us." The blind lion smiled.

"How does Lioness-A look?" Claud-Us asked softly.

"A lot like I did when I was her age," Claudana replied with a gentle smile. "And very stubborn too but she doesn't have the brashness her brother does. And before you ask, yes, she does remember her brother and misses him dearly."

"But why not tell him about her?" Claud-Us asked.

"He would force the issue of finding her and it's way too soon for it," Claudana said. "I can't explain it except that the twin bond they have between them will be one of the strongest ones yet but it has to develop gradually and things have to come together for them. If Lion-O forces the issue, it will cause problems for them both." She laid a hand on Claud-Us's arm. "Trust me, it is better this way. He has had some dreams of her though."

"I knew of those but I don't know if he remembers them. But does Lioness-A even know her brother's okay?" Claud-Us asked. "And does she ever wonder about me?" He was still hurt at the thought of not seeing his daughter one last time before ThunDera had exploded. Claudana took his hand then and they stepped through a portal into a spacious apartment. "Where are we?" Claud-Us asked.

"Rella's temporary home on Boktor," Claudana replied. "She and Lioness-A won't know we're here but you will hear our daughter's voice and sense her again." Claud-Us sighed and listened as the baroness entered with Lioness-A behind her and his sightless eyes watered as he heard the voice of his daughter talking to Rella. Lioness-A's scent hadn't changed but he could tell that she was a fully grown young woman now and her voice sounded close to that of her mother's. It gave him peace, knowing she was safe.

"Has she done well?" he asked. Claudana smiled.

"Better than expected on her studies. She's also had some training on how to be a proper Princess of the Blood and she will be the support her brother needs when they do reunite," Claudana replied warmly. The couple paused when they heard the conversation then.

"Are we going to try and book passage to our new homeworld now that it's been confirmed it's there and there are Thundercats on it?" Lioness-A asked Rella.

"Yes, but it will be sometime before we go there," Rella said. "It's to give things time to settle down there." Lioness-A sighed and went to her bedroom. She'd wondered about how things were going to go now that ThunDera had reformed but at the same time, she was nervous. It had been years since she'd seen her brother and father and she had no idea if either of them was alive.

'I want to find them but I don't know where to begin on finding them,' she thought. Rella entered her room then. "Why did you raise me from the time I was seven till now?" Lioness-A asked the cougar. Rella sighed heavily as she knew this question was long overdue although why Lioness-A hadn't asked it till now had her wondering. Claud-Us knew why his daughter was asking it as she didn't understand the customs at the time. It was also a bit difficult to understand as well, especially for a young cub at the time.

"Because it was strictly political in a way Lioness-A," Rella said calmly. "Your mother had passed and there was no one there to teach you the things of the court and how a true princess should behave and live. These were things that Claud-Us was not familiar with, being the king of our world as he was."

"And if Mother had lived?" Lioness-A asked.

"She would have taught you everything that I have taught you," Rella said as she sat beside Lioness-A on the bed. "You know now how old and austere the title of 'Princess of the Blood' is and what goes along with it. This is important in that you will help the king of our world once we do go home."

"How am I to find him?" Lioness-A wondered.

"We will see what happens when we arrive there," Rella told her. "This is why we should wait here for the time being until more is known of our new homeworld."

Rella left the room and Lioness-A laid back on the bed and closed her eyes. Somewhere on New ThunDera Lion-O was busy doing something and the faint call of "Thundercats HO!" had her jumping from the bed and looking at what it was her brother was staring at, which was at some weird looking creature with a long tentacle arm and the body of an octopus.

'What was that about?' Lioness-A thought shakily as she caught her breath. 'I've never felt anything that intense before now. Could it be that we're closer to each other now than we were before?' Claud-Us had been surprised that Lioness-A had sensed the call but Claudana had told him that it had been happening for a while already and was due to Lion-O being on New ThunDera which was close to where Boktor was. The two lions withdrew back to the Astral World then and Claudana looked toward her mate.

"Now that you're here with me we can finally be together for longer than we were on our world," she said softly as she stroked his cheek.

"How can their bond be that strong with them so far apart?" Claud-Us asked her.

"It's that strong because Lioness-A had a chance to go through puberty and it woke in her and she found ways to handle the effects of it. Lion-O doesn't have that thanks to the suspension capsule malfunction," Claudana said. "Lioness-A will have to wake his end up once they do reunite and once she does, it'll be powerful and they will be a worthy pair to protect ThunDera together."

"So that's what the prophecy means on there being two like hearts watching over ThunDera together," Claud-Us said as she nodded.

"Whoever they join with in marriage will share in that power with them in a way," Claudana said. "And I sense our son has a love interest already."

"Ah yes, Cheetara," Claud-Us noted. "She was older than he was until the malfunction but they are very close now. I hope the same can be said for our daughter." Claudana frowned slightly.

"There is one out there for her but he's not on New ThunDera yet as Lion-O had to leave two behind on Third Earth," she said.

"Tygra?!" Claud-Us exclaimed before he considered it. "I think I can see the reasons for that as both of our two do need strong people to support them in what they do."

.::~*~::.

Claud-Us finished the narrative but he purposely left that last bit out about the marriages and to whom possibly and Claudana knew why he had. The twins really didn't need to know this information or they would try and push the issue when it wasn't time and that wasn't exactly a good idea, given the way things were going. Still, Claudana knew her twins were strong and would overcome whatever was thrown at them in the months and years ahead.

"Time for Claud-Us and myself to withdraw to the Astral World. We'll be here if you need us. Take care and we love you both," Claudana said as Claud-Us hugged the twins as she stepped forward to hug them before joining Claud-Us and taking his hand. They took each other's hands and then they were gone in a flash of bright blue light. Once the light cleared Lion-O turned to study his twin.

"What did you think of that?" he asked, running a hand through his mane.

"Interesting, but needed," Lioness-A answered. She walked over and laid a hand on his shoulder. Lion-O blinked and studied her face for a moment. "Thank you," she said softly. Lion-O smiled and hugged her tightly.

"You're welcome," he whispered.

Tygra happened to be passing by the Sword Chamber on his way to get lunch and overheard the twins talking so he paused a few minutes to see what was going on. By doing so he heard them talking about the visit with their parents and he figured out that Claud-Us and Claudana had come from the Astral to see the twins.

"At least they're getting some questions answered and also understanding more about the other," Tygra mused to himself. He watched the twins for a few more minutes as they talked a bit about a few of the treasure pieces in the room. "It's good that they're together and I can tell they have great potential together." The tiger sighed a moment as he thought of something. 'I wonder if Lioness-A is aware of the growing feelings that I'm feeling for her?' he thought as he watched the lioness. She was beautiful and he saw the same grace and poise that she'd shown that day in the city when he had run into her. The tiger smiled slightly and headed toward the dining room before either of the twins saw him.

"Want to see if lunch is ready?" Lion-O asked Lioness-A after a few minutes. She nodded.

"Yeah, I'm getting a little bit hungry but that was worth the time to see that," she said as he nodded as he left. "Is that still going to happen when we have our own families?" she asked.

"I don't know," Lion-O answered. "It's something that I am thinking about cause I really don't want to rip my family, when I do have one, apart like that." He looked at her. "You left and Father said you were supposed to come back to us at the age of sixteen but due to the explosion, that obviously didn't happen and look what we went through for those years."

"There's that," Lioness-A said softly. "I'll send Rella a message sometime later and let her know things are alright here but I assume she knows that I found you since the ceremony was shown."

"The part on our reunion wasn't though," Lion-O told her. "I try to do what I can on keeping my private life private but as you probably figured out by now, it's not that easy."

"I've been meaning to ask you about how you were handling that," Lioness-A said. He snorted.

"Not as easy as you would think," he said. "Tygra's working with Tillen on a special guard for me and they're going to extend it to include you now."

"Special guard?" Lioness-A asked.

"A unit specifically designed to guard the king and any relatives he has and would extend past the duties of the Thunderguard," Lion-O answered. "Called the Hunters or Huntresses if I heard everything right." He looked at her as they walked along. "Those days I was able to eat my meals with you at the tournament grounds was while I was able to let the guard see to other things for a bit so I could see some of the training firsthand and make sure it was up to speed on everything."

"Did Father have one of those units?" Lioness-A asked.

"For a while he did," Lion-O said. "I went places with him after you left and there was always two or three guards following us everywhere. Even I had one or two near me while I was in school and I heard he had two or three near the school where you were for a while."

"Ternas sent them back and had two of his own guards take over but I gather Father told him he could," Lioness-A replied.

By now the twins were outside the dining room and Lion-O looked at his sister a moment before smiling.

"At least you're here now and we can stay together," he said as she smiled before they entered the room.

I wish to thank everyone for following this rewrite and I felt that I owed you an explanation on this chapter which wasn't part of the original version. When I started the effort to rewrite this I realized that I didn't have Claud-Us's version of events in there on him trying to locate his daughter whom he loved very much. This chapter is the result of that and shows what he did to try and locate Lioness-A before she makes it to ThunDera in addition to some of the powers she and Lion-O would have once their bond was at full strength. I wish to thank frankannestein, Heart of the Demons and for following me on this journey of the rewrite and for giving me encouragement to do it. I hope you enjoy it.

Yours, Cynthia