A/N: Sorry for the delay in writing, many things have happened. Thank-you for all those who took the time to review and respond it helped me a great deal. As always, I don't own the TC or make any money off of them. I hope you enjoy!

Chapter 6

Several weeks later…

As the first rays of the morning sun began to shine in the horizon, Cheetara busied herself with building up the fire and beginning the preparations for the morning meal. She had already been up for hours, having drawn the last shift of the evening watch, and as she was setting things out, her mind began to wander.

A few hours earlier…

She enjoyed this particular time of the day. The quiet and solitude of the early morning had allowed her some time to meditate completely undisturbed. She was pleased with the progress she was making; she had not had a night-terror in the last ten days. Her continued talking with Lion-O was helping her immensely. She had tried to talk with Tygra about her night-terrors and the revelations they had given her to no avail. Although he tried to be sympathetic and supportive, he could offer no insight because this was outside of his normal expertise and quite frankly waayyy out of his comfort zone. This aggravated him terribly because he was a 'fixer'. If there was a problem, he went in and corrected it; but this was something that he couldn't just fix, and he had no idea of what to do or how to help her. In the end, Cheetara decided to keep the discussions about her dreams between only herself and Lion-O. The young lion king was incredibly easy to talk to; he would listen attentively as she spoke, he didn't interrupt her, and he would wait patiently as she tried to figure out how to express her thoughts and feelings in words. He would offer comments and opinions when they were warranted, he was always positive and supportive, and when she needed to vent her frustrations, he would sit there and calmly take her yelling, ranting, and raving without a hint of annoyance.

After her meditation, Cheetara ran through her morning routine of elaborate static and dynamic stretching. Although she was probably the fastest being on Third Earth, that speed came at a cost. Leg injuries were very common to the cheetah clans. Severe leg cramps and sprained ankles were certainly the most prevalent ailments, but more damaging ones like ripping ligaments or severing the Achilles tendon were not unheard of. In order to prevent these impairments from happening, she made a habit of stretching and using some small controlled movements several times a day. Cheetara worked diligently on maintaining the strength and flexibility of her joints and extremities; this not only helped to prevent those injuries, but also helped her with her fighting prowess as well. Not only did her flexibility aid her in the acrobatics she so often employed, but many of the commonly known joint locks and bars were ineffective when used against her. These were just some of the many precautions she took to keep herself in 'tip-top' fighting shape. She always needed to be ready, because she never knew when her life, or more importantly the lives of others, would depend on it.

Presently…

Cheetara's thoughts were interrupted by the sounds of people rustling out of their bedrolls. She looked up to see the other thundercats had woken up, probably from the smell of the cooking food she was preparing, and were slowly working their way to the campfire. Lion-O was the first to reach her and her eyes brightened immediately when he approached. "Good Morning" she told him as she handed him his plate. "Morning" he replied as he gratefully accepted it. He flashed her a boyish grin and playfully asked, "Why are you so perky today?" Seeing the teasing look on his face, Cheetara decided to play along, "What, I can't be in a good mood for once?" she chided, placing her hands on her hips and leveling a hard stare at the young lion, "or am I doomed to be gloomy and moody for the rest of my life?" Cheetara was mildly impressed with herself that she could actually say that with a straight face, but she really had to work at it when Lion-O threw up his one hand (the one not holding his food) and with a look of mock terror on his face responded "Oh No! Anything but that! Please, I surrender!" After a few seconds of silently staring at each other, both of them busted into a fit of laughter. After laughing heartily for several moments, Cheetara was the first one to compose herself. "So, you CAN be taught... I'll have to remember that for the future." She stated as she turned back, still giggling, to prepare another plate of food.

"Well, aren't you two just bundles of joy this morning." Tygra grumbled as he walked up to the campfire, clearly glaring at Lion-O. Panther-O, Wiley-Kit, and Wiley-Kat had also decided join them at that moment, and were now carefully watching as the scene unfolded. The tension in Tygra's posture was evident to everyone that looked at him, and Cheetara thought that she could actually feel the animosity radiate off of him.

Deciding to take action before anything really started, Cheetara walked over to the tiger and handed him his plate. "Now you stop that" she gently scolded as she lifted up onto her toes to place a quick kiss on his lips. "Lion-O and I were just playing around. It's a nice day, and I'm in a really good mood today, don't ruin it for me." She held his gaze until he finally nodded his consent, "Okay, but only for you." Tygra stated with an obvious frown on his face. "Thank-you" she returned as she leaned in for another quick kiss before heading back to dish up plates of food for the rest of the waiting thundercats.

While this was transpiring, Lion-O had seated himself on one of the boulders on the other side of the fire. He purposely tried to put some distance between himself and the couple in front of him. The last thing he wanted right now was to get into yet another fight with his brother over Cheetara. That was an occurrence that had become more and more frequent since he started helping her with the night-terrors. Tygra seemed to be agitated all the time now; the strangest part was that Lion-O had no idea why. The only thing he and Cheetara ever did was talk. After the first fight, Lion-O made a conscience attempt to ensure that he did not do anything that could be taken the wrong way. He suggested that Cheetara go talk with Tygra about her dreams. When that didn't go so well, he invited Tygra to sit in with them and just listen. That also did not go well. Afterwards when it was just the cheetah and him, he made sure to keep a respectful distance while they talked, not to far away as to imply that he was uninterested, but not too close to suggest anything unwanted. He made sure that he did not touch her more than was appropriate, and when they did touch that he not linger any more than was necessary. He encouraged her to spend time with Tygra and even made excuses for them to be alone when they made camp. He did everything in his power not to be a hindrance to their relationship, and still Tygra was irritated with him. He just didn't understand what his brother's problem was.

Meanwhile...

Tygra watched as Cheetara walked back to dish up the remaining food, and he felt like his stomach was dropping to his feet. He was losing her, losing the best thing that had ever happened to him, and there was nothing he could do about it. He found himself a seat by the dwindling fire and began to unsuccessfully eat his meal. He looked over to where Lion-O was sitting and his temper flared again. He couldn't believe he was losing Cheetara to his brother, his younger brother, and the worst part of all of this was that the little punk wasn't even trying to get her. Tygra wasn't stupid, and he wasn't unobservant. He knew that Lion-O and Cheetara shared some kind of connection between them; anyone who watched them could see that. And Tygra did watch them, frequently. When they talked, he noticed that her shoulders were relaxed, her body language was open, and she appeared to be more comfortable with Lion-O than she ever was with him. He also noticed that they seem to be gravitating more towards each other. Whether this was conscience or not, he wasn't sure, and the distance they allowed between each other was continuously getting smaller. If one left the camp, it wasn't long before the other left to go search them. While in camp, if one got up and moved out of their 'range' then the other would get up for something or adjust until they were back in it. It was like some force was preventing them from being apart for too long.

Tygra took a deep breath and turned away from his brother. He needed to calm himself down. He knew that Lion-O wasn't intentionally trying to take her away from him, in fact the opposite was true, and that was what was really pissing him off.

One Week Ago…

While Scouting a Path through the Ironwood Forest…

"Hey Tygra, you got a minute?" Lion-O asked while watching his brother shimmy down from his vantage point high up in the nearest tree.

"What do you want Lion-O?" he responded as he dropped the few remaining feet to the ground.

"I was talking with Panther-O earlier, and he mentioned that we should be coming up on a large town within the next week or so." He explained off-handily.

"Yeah and? What is it you want to do?" he replied as he dusted off his paws and started brushing some tree bark off of his shirt. He was slowly making his way back towards him.

"I was thinking of taking the kits on a picnic for an afternoon, and thought maybe you could take Cheetara into town for the day or..." He never got to finish his statement because Tygra had abruptly cut him off. "I Don't Need YOUR Help with Cheetara, Lion-O" he attested loudly while leveling a baleful glare at the lion. "I was the one she chose, Remember!"

"Of Course I Remember, Tygra" Lion-O shot back just as loud, all the while returning his stare. "I'm not and idiot you know. I can see that she chose you. I see it everyday. I see it when you kiss her, I see it when you hold her in your arms, and I see every night when you lay down next to her. And if that's not enough, you remind me every chance you can. I get it, She's Yours. That's why I'm trying to help you, you MORON!"

Normally, he would never have allowed Lion-O to call him a name without some form of retribution, but right then he was just too shocked to process that part of the comment. "What do you mean you're trying to HELP me? When have you ever HELPED me with Cheetara?!" Tygra shouted.

"Really," Lion-O yelled back. "Who do you think keeps the kits busy so she can come sit with you? Who do you think encourages her to find you whenever she has a free minute? And who do you think has been doing all the extra chores to give you two the time to be alone?! The only thing I haven't done is hold her hand and escort her to your BEDROLL!"

Tygra felt like he just got slapped in the face. Of all the possible things to say, he never expected that. He knew that she had been having more time for him recently, but he never guessed that Lion-O was the cause of that.

Lion-O took a deep breath to calm himself before he began to speak. "Look, it's like what you said earlier. She chose YOU. For whatever reason, you make her happy; or at least you used to. I don't know what your problem is, but you need to fix it. We've been traveling for weeks together without a break, and everyone is starting to get on each other's nerves. I'm obviously getting on yours, and you're definitely getting on mine. That's why I thought you might like a day alone with her. Take her to dinner or the Bazaar or whatever it is that you do, just be with her." he told him as he started to turn away. Just then, he stopped in mid-step and looked back at his older brother, "Or don't. I really don't care anymore." With that Lion-O began walking back to the Thundertank leaving the tiger alone with his thoughts.

Back in the present…

The meal was finished and the team was already breaking down the camp. "If all goes well today, we should reach a large town by nightfall." Lion-O announced to the group. "We will be staying around there for a few days. We need to get supplies, and we all need a break from the constant traveling we've been doing."

"Yeah! Maybe we can get some Candy-Fruit there." Wiley-Kit exclaimed to her brother as she bounced up and down.

"Good, that will give me some time to work on my Baby." Panther-O said to Lion-O, "She needs a little loving care after that Ironwood forest." Lion-O just chuckled as he watch the panther glance at his pride and joy. Soon they were all packed and were headed on their way.

Later that Night…

The thundercats arrived outside the city of Altintas just before sunset. They quickly set up camp, but decided to wait until the morning before they did any exploring or venturing into town. After dinner, the cubs were so anxious that they took forever to settle down enough to actually get to sleep. Panther-O volunteered for the first shift on watch that night, so he left the others to go set up the perimeter lines. Lion-O decided to turn in early because he would be the next one on watch duty. This left Tygra and Cheetara sitting alone to enjoy the campfire in the cool evening air.

"Cheetara," he asked softly as he gazed at the beautiful cheetah next to him.

"Yes," she replied as she basked in the warmth the fire was providing.

"Since we are going to be here for a while, I was wondering if you would spend one of the days in town with me. It'll be just the two of us."

"Tygra! I would love that." She agreed eagerly, "I can't wait!" With that she proceeded to snuggle up next to him and lay her head on his shoulder. This is just what we need she thought to herself. They had become distant with each other over that last few weeks. It was like they weren't connecting anymore; the spark and the passion that they once had just seemed to be missing. She really hoped that this time together would fix whatever was off between them; she hated that feeling that something was wrong. Whatever it was, she was sure they could work it out, right now she couldn't wait for morning to come.

Later that morning…

Cheetara awoke with a gasp. Her breathing was ragged and her heart was beating so loudly she was certain everyone could hear it. Sweat beaded on her forehead and she knew her cheeks were flushed. It was just a dream she thought to herself. With shaky hands she brushed her blonde hair back from her face as she turned over in her bedroll. Tygra, who had once again braved sleeping close by, was snuggled up next to her. Upon feeling her stir, he opened his eyes, gazing sleepily at the lovely cheetah.

He quickly noticed that she was breathing rapidly and that her body was trembling. "Did you have another bad dream Cheetara?" he asked sleepily. Gently he rubbed his hand up and down her arm, trying to soothe and comfort her.

After a moment of thought, she replied, "This dream wasn't that bad, just seemed very real, that's all." For the very first time, she was thankful that she had recently been having night-terrors. "I'm sorry Tygra, I didn't mean to wake you. I just need a few minutes to settle myself down. Go ahead and go back to sleep"

"Okay, are you sure?" he responded with a groggy voice.

"Yes, I'm sure. I'll be fine in a few minutes. Goodnight."

"'Night" he whispered back, sleep already overtaking him.

Carefully, so as not to wake him, Cheetara rolled back over to her side facing away from the tiger. Her vivid dream was still in the forefront of her mind as she took a deep breath trying to calm herself. Yes, her pulse was still racing, and she was still feverish. Her body was continuing to shiver slightly and her stomach felt all jumbled inside, but it definitely was NOT from fear. She could still feel the powerful arms of her dream lover as they cradled her gently, lovingly, protectively. Her skin still tingled where his hands had teasingly caressed her, and her body quivered at the memory of those little love bites he placed on her shoulders and how they had inflamed her passion. A chill ran down her spine as she imagined his heavy, masculine scent surrounding her, enveloping her, something she never experienced with… anyone, before. She still craved the addictive taste of his lips as he repeatedly captured hers in one searing kiss after another. Cheetara's body convulsed as she thought of the way his tongue felt on that secret, sensitive spot on the back of her neck; but what she remembered the most, what she couldn't get out of her mind, was that look of unadulterated love he had for her. A love that was so true and so pure that its intensity took her breath away was held in the eyes of the deepest Cerulean Blue….

to be continued...

A/N: please take the time to review, good or bad. your comments help me to improve my writing skills so I can bring you a better story. Thanks!