A/N: Thanks to all who review! keep the comments comming. I don't own TC, but oh how I wish I did!

Chapter2

Mere hours have passed since the previous incident that woke everyone in the camp. All of the Thundercats were once again sleeping peacefully; all that is,except one. Although sleep has finally claimed her, it is anything but peaceful. The young cheetah maiden is tossing and turning in the coverings of her bedroll, Cheetara's mind is once again playing havoc with her dreams.

"This court will be brought to order!" Panthero declared in a loud baritone voice.

Cheetara noticed that he was dressed in a Court Bailiff's uniform. She looked down and found that she was seated in the witness chair in what seemed to be a Thunderian courtroom. Not only was she on the witness stand, but her hands were bound together and each ankle was tied to a leg of the chair she was sitting in. Gone were her normal clerical robes, instead she wore some kind of prison attire. She tried to lean forward, but she found that her torso was also bound to the back of the chair. Panic started to fill Cheetara's heart as she struggled to get free when the next words she heard Panthero utter, froze her in place.

"The case of the people of Thundera vs. the former cleric known as Cheetara will now re-commence! The charges are Dereliction of Duty and Sedition"

"What?!..." Cheetara gasped, not believing what she heard. "This can not be happening…"

"Is the prosecution ready to cross-examine the witness?"

Cheetara looked up to see Lion-O sitting in the judge's chair above her. He had a hurt and saddened look upon his face as he looked from her to the prosecutor. His whole body was giving off a sense of despair.

"Yes we are your honor." Replied Tygra as he came forward to stand before a shocked Cheetara. She couldn't understand what in the world he was doing here, and more importantly, why was he looking at her with such malice?

"We will prove that on multiple occasions, this woman failed to perform her duties as a 'cleric and defender of the crown' and that through her actions, both willful and not, that she not only endangered mission success but the very life of the crowned King of Thundera."

"I have never-"

"Yes you have!" Tygra cut her off with a sneer before she could finish, "and I will prove that here today!"

This was the part of the job that Tygra really enjoyed. This is where he shined. He loved finding the weaknesses and shortcomings of others and exploiting them. He relished breaking them down and making them admit their failures and mistakes in front of a jury thus proving their guilt. That's why he became a prosecutor; it was the thrill of the hunt, and the best part of it was when he was going in for the kill.

"Answer these few questions if you please, Cheetara. In addition to being a royal bodyguard, is it not the duty of the clerics to be both counselor and advisor to the king? Is it not their duty to listen to his concerns and offer support, advice and/or encouragement if needed? In short, is it not the duty of the clerics to also look after the emotional welfare of the King?"

"I…well…um…yes, yes I suppose it is" Cheetara stammered. She got the distinct impression she was NOT going to like where this was headed.

"You suppose it is, or it is? Are you not sure of the role of a true cleric?" Tygra questioned with a touch of acid in his voice.

"Yes, it is!" Cheetara shot back with a little bit of heat in her own voice.

"Then you have failed miserably at it! It has been months now since you have counseled with your king. He has needed your counsel, and your encouragement, but you have failed to give it. Where were your words of encouragement after the whole Pumyra fiasco? When he was emotionally wounded and at his lowest, you were silent! It has been so long in fact, that another has taken that role from you. Wileykit is now doing what you should have been doing all this time!" Tygra's remarks were cutting straight through to Cheetara's heart, "Why did you fail in this duty?"

"I don't know…my relationship with Lion-O became strained and… difficult, since I chose to become your mate." She softly replied.

"So you quit because it was hard. You just gave up when something got too difficult? Funny, that doesn't sound like a 'cleric' to me. So how about support? When was the last time you truly supported Lion-O? In Avista, when I was busy making deals I had no authority to make, where was your support for your king? How many times since we left Thundera did I go against Lion-O while you stood there, all the time knowing it was wrong, and still said nothing?"

" I – I just wanted to show you… that I supported you-" Cheetara said, all the while holding back her tears as her emotions welled up and threatened to break forth, " isn't that what a Mate is supposed to do?"

Tygra was on a roll now, " So you admit that you intentionally withheld your support, even when you knew that his suggestions were not only better, but were the correct choices to make, just to make yourself look better to your mate? How selfish can you really be? Don't you realize that because of your actions we put ourselves into more dangerous situations than we needed to, just because you failed to have a backbone? Any one of us could have died because of you, even me, is that what you wanted?"

"NNOOO! That's not what I wanted!" she screamed, tears feely lowing down her cheeks, sobs wracking her body as she tried to speak, "..I didn't know… I wasn't trying…I never meant… I'm sorry, I'm so, so sorry!" Cheetara's face buried itself in her hands as she openly wept before the entire courtroom.

"We know that you are sorry, NOW! But there is still one final point to make. It is the Duty and Responsibility of the clerics as the 'Defenders of the Crown' to protect the life of the king above all others, even to the point of laying down your own life if necessary. But you Cheetara went against the expressed orders of your king and while in the middle of a battle threw down your weapon and surrendered which left Lion-O, Your KING, unprotected in the hands of the Mutants! WHY!"

"I… just…I just couldn't… watch you die…" Cheetara's voice was nothing more than a soft whimper as she slowly lifter her eyes to meet Tygra's. Tears continued to flow freely down her flushed and dirtied cheeks.

"I still could have died, we all could have. It was just dumb luck that Panthero was able to save us. The fact remains that you surrendered. You failed to protect your king! You failed to support the king, even when you knew he was right, and you failed to counsel, advise and encourage him in his times of need. In fact, you have failed in all of your duties as a cleric of Thundera. So Cheetara, only one question remains, how do you plead? "

Cheetara only wept.

"Cheetara, how do you plead?" Lion-O asked from the Judges stand "Cheetara….Cheetara…."

"Cheetara, wake up!" she heard as her eyes flew open with a start. She started to panic as she realized that there was a body kneeling directly over her. She looked up and found herself staring into the azure blue eyes of Lion-O. "Are you okay? You were having another night-terror. You were thrashing about and crying."

Cheetara quickly threw her arms around Lion-O's neck and pulled him tightly to her, nearly crushing him as she hugged him in a death-lock hold. "I'm sorry Lion-O… I am so… so… SORRY!" she cried as tears steamed down the sides of her face soaking his shirt.

"Ssshhhhh…it's okay, you're okay, everything is going to be just fine." He gently hugged her back with one arm as he used the other one to keep him from falling on top of her. Her quick movement had caught him off guard, and if it wasn't for the fact that his hand was already on the ground as he knelt to wake her, she would have pulled him right off his feet. Right now, though, his heart ACHED for this woman. Even though he knew that he shouldn't, he couldn't help but notice how good her warmth felt against him. His pulse rate doubled at her touch, and he couldn't help but think the way that her body molded against his somehow felt…Right! Now, however, was not the time. He couldn't indulge himself in his fantasies, he needed to focus. The cheetah he held in his arms still clung to him in a terrified death-grip, all the while continuing to sob into his chest. Cheetara needed him; he realized, now, that these night terrors had something to do with him. So regardless of how he felt, and despite his reservations, he was going to be there for her in whatever capacity she needed him to be. All he had to do was trample down the emotions that were threatening to re-emerge, all he had to do was keep himself from thinking "if only…"