AN: I have had the idea for this fic since I saw the two beautifully done fanarts The Morning Session and The Evening Session by Piku-chan. When I finally started writing this it was after reading the amazing story Lean on Me by Anzu Fan. Her interpretations of the characters melded perfectly with what I wanted out of the show but haven't seen a lot of since the pilot. *cries inwardly for want* So some of the details mentioned in this fic are direct references to chapter two of Lean on Me because they are now a permanent part of my head canon.

This fic takes place after the Tower of Omens, and after my fic Saving Face but before the Drifter and the Duelist. This is actually what I wish would have happened in place of the Duelist and the Drifter, but we can just say that this is how Lion-O got so quick on his feet.

Again, beta-read by ArcaneLegacy. Blame her for the blatent lack of shipping in this fic. She's trying to teach me restraint. *sad face*

Unity

Yumiko Kaze

The sun was just barely peeking over the horizon, but the promise of a new day had filled WilyKit with the sort of boundless energy that only small children seem to have. She squirmed the entire time Cheetara braided her hair, unable to sit still even though she wouldn't have given up the time with the older girl for anything. It had become a routine for the cheetah to comb through Kit's tangles and braid her hair every morning and it had become Kit's favorite part of the day. It was almost like having a mother again. Or an older sister.

Once her hair was done, Kit bounded off to find her brother, leaving Cheetara to finish fixing her own hair into a single plait.

WilyKat was crouching near Tygra, chin resting on his knees and eyes keenly focused on everything the older cat did.

Kit felt a satisfied expression creep across her face. He'd never see it coming.

With a stealth born of years of thieving, Kit crept up on her brother and gave him a firm shove. He screeched and wind-mill his arms to avoid falling face-first into the river. Once he had righted himself again he turned on his sister in a huff, tail puffed to twice its normal size.

"What'd you do that for?"

Kit held her paws up in the universal 'I dunno' expression. "Felt like it."

Kat hissed, "Don't bother me! I'm trying to learn how to catch a fish!" He glared pointedly at her. "When I catch one Cheetara can teach you how to cook it."

Kit's eyes narrowed. "What? You think I can't catch a fish?" She stepped closer to the river and eyed Tygra as he effortlessly caught a fish, paw flashing into the water and coming back out with a fat silver trout. She made a face. "It doesn't look that hard."

WilyKat stuck his nose in the air importantly. "It's a man's job to do the hunting. Girls are just better cut out for doing the easy stuff."

Now Kit's tail was as round as a bottlebrush. "Are you saying boys are better than girls?"

Kat cocked his head. "Well, yeah."

"What?" Kit snarled, but the sound came out sounding more like an extremely violent sneeze. "WilyKat you are so dead."

With that, she pounced on her brother, rolling into the pile of trout and nearly knocking it back into the river. Tygra, who until this point had seemed to be ignoring them completely, suddenly pounced closer to shore, pinning the fish to the ground with an irritated growl of "Hey!"

The two kittens tousled for a moment, hissing and spitting, before Lion-O, who had been shooed away from attempting to assist Panthro with the Thundertank, broke it up. He grabbed each kit by the back of their shirts and dragged them apart. He frowned, a sight that made Kit's heart sink just a tiny bit, and admonished, "Fighting like that's not very lady-like, Kit."

The comment sent a wave of fury through Kit's small frame strong enough that she forgot she had a tiny bit of a crush on the older boy and blurted out, "Cheetara's a lady and she's a better fighter than you or Tygra." The moment it was out her eyes widened, her cheeks went red and she slapped her hands over her mouth.

Lion-O, looked slightly taken aback but didn't disagree, instead saying, "Cheetara's a Cleric. Of course she's a good fighter. She just knows better than to start a meaningless fight."

Kit was about to grudgingly admit that maybe, just maybe, she'd been a little bit rash. Perhaps even childish to start the fight with WilyKat and almost lose them their breakfast.

And then Kat opened his mouth again, "But not better than you. She's a girl."

Kit exploded again. "You're just afraid she'll kick his tail." She whirled around to face the cheetah imploringly. "Cheetara! Show 'em!"

Cheetara, who had been sitting quietly on her rock throughout the entire argument, looked up with a deer in the headlights expression. She glanced from Kit to Kat to Lion-O.

Kit clasped her hands and mewed, "Puh-leaaase?"

Cheetara blinked, as though the idea of actually laying hands on Lion-O in any way shape or form was a completely foreign concept. "I can't fight Lion-O. He's the King."

Kat crossed his arms and leaned forward, taunting, "See? She knows better than to challenge the Lord of the ThunderCats."

Kit felt her ears, covered by her neatly braided hair, droop a little at the older girl's refusal. Lion-O, for his part, looked rather relieved – until Tygra's deep laugh cut through the air. "You look a little scared there, my King."

Kit watched Tygra out of the corner of her eye. He had finally retrieved the fish that had nearly gotten away and moved the entire haul to safety near their campfire. He straightened and swaggered over in a way that made Kit's heart give an odd thump—even though she knew the tiger was way too old for her. "Really, Cheetara it'd just be a sparring match. It's not like you're actually attacking his littlest majesty."

Lion-O's eyes narrowed just a bit at the barb and Kit wasn't sure whether she found their exchange humorous or not. She suddenly felt a bit bad about pushing them to fight. Lion-O obviously really didn't want to fight Cheetara, but now Tygra had gone and called his honor into it.

With a sigh, Lion-O relented. "Well… it is just a friendly game."

"Lion-O and I used to do it all the time," Tygra added, settling himself on a fallen log and crossing his arms smugly. "I always won, of course."

A small, angry growl erupted from Lion-O's throat and Kit realized with a flinch that Tygra had hit a button. She hadn't wanted to start a real fight between the adults. She just wanted someone to agree with her and tell WilyKat that girls could do anything boys could do.

Lion-O scowled at Tygra, harrumphed to himself, and idly unsheathed the Sword of Omens. WilyKit flinched a little at the suddenly palpable tension in the air. "We really should start doing that again. It's a good workout, and with the lizards following us so closely we'll need to keep in tip top shape." When he looked at Cheetara though, all traces of annoyance melted away. "How about it? Feel like a little exercise?"

Cheetara's brow furrowed and she shifted as though she were warming to the idea, but she still gripped her staff a little uncertainly. Now that the tension from earlier had passed, Kit felt that egging on a friendly fight wasn't such a bad thing and resumed her insistent meowing. "Come on, Cheetara. Please?"

Cheetara's eyes flicked over Kit, Kat, and Tygra, who gave her a wink and a nod. Finally, Cheetara blinked and all uncertainty had disappeared, replaced by a confident grin as she stood in one fluid motion. "Well… all right." She extended her staff and smirked at Lion-O. "Just don't be upset when I beat you, My Lord."

Tygra glanced from side to side as the kitten's seated themselves on either side of him on the log while Cheetara and Lion-O prepared for their impromptu sparring match. If this turned out to be as entertaining as he thought it would, he would have to find a way to thank them for instigating the fight.

He looked up as Panthro lumbered over, wiping his hands on a towel. "What's this all about?" he asked gruffly, nodding in their general direction.

Kit piped up, "Cheetara's gonna beat Lion-O!"

Panthro raised an eyebrow and Kat scoffed, "You wish! Lion-O's not gonna let a dumb girl get the best of him. Just you watch. Right, Panthro?" The youngster looked up at the general for confirmation but Panthro merely shook his head.

"I'm staying out of this," he rumbled, casting a knowing glance at Tygra. "You wouldn't have anything to do with this, would you?"

Tygra laughed, not even bothering to put on his offended face. "I have absolutely no idea what you're talking about." His eyes glittered with barely restrained glee. Of course he had, it wasn't as though he had tried to hide it when he egged his brother on. Lion-O just made it so easy it was impossible for Tygra to resist.

"Just make sure no one gets hurt," Panthro directed, turning away from the clearing and heading over to inspect the fish Tygra had caught that morning. Tygra vaguely wondered why Panthro wasn't sticking around to assess the pair's battle skills but was distracted when Lion-O and Cheetara finished their stretching exercises and squared off; politely nodding at one another in acknowledgement of their readiness to do battle.

Both opponents crouched slightly, their expressions serious. The Sword of Omens extended with a flash of magic. Tygra found himself leaning forward as the magic seemed to send a charge throughout the clearing. The kitten's tensed up on either side of him in anticipation. His keen eyes watched for even the barest sign of movement to tell him which opponent would attack first.

Of course, he already knew who would make the first move. No matter how many times Tygra had told Lion-O to think before he acted, to not rush into battle with his ass showing, the lesson had just never seemed to sink in. The twitch in Lion-O's right leg as he recklessly threw himself into motion was as much a giveaway as his yell. Tygra held back a sigh.

He was even worse about it now. After their father's death, Lion-O seemed to be obsessed with becoming the man their father had been, even if it meant repeating Claudus' mistakes. Impatience was one of the less desirable qualities that Lion-O had inherited from Claudus. Also, subtly had never been one of his strong suits. The boy's face was an open book. It was one of the reasons Lion-O had never won one of their sparring matches.

Cheetara's face, on the other hand, was normally quite difficult to read. Her expression barely changed when Lion-O charged her. She just stood there as the lion took a swing at her, the sword arcing towards her in a shining flash of metal.

And then she was gone.

Tygra quirked an eyebrow when the cheetah reappeared behind his brother, gently thwacking him on the back of his thighs with her staff. How did she do that? Was it because she was a cheetah? Or was speed an ability all Clerics possessed?

He had pretty much tuned out the kitten's increasingly rabid cheering at this point. He could already see how this fight was going to end. Eyes narrowed, he mentally catalogued every trick, every move that he could and began thinking up possible counterattacks. As cocky as he was, Tygra was also very practical; he would not be caught unawares by anything if he could help it.

Lion-O growled and turned, trying to face Cheetara head on, sword to staff, but she wouldn't stand still long enough for him to do so. Tygra chuckled. Every time Lion-O thought he had her, Cheetara vanished and reappear elsewhere, giving him a whack with her staff.

While Lion-O wore himself out trying to catch Cheetara and strike a strong blow, she was slowly but surely tiring her opponent out. Tygra was sure that if Lion-O could get in a few good blows he would no doubt be able to overpower Cheetara with size and muscle, but it was clearer every second that making that happen was going to be difficult.

"Stand still!" Lion-O grunted. "Fight like a cat!"

Cheetara laughed, "Not all cats are created equal in that regard. I know better than to rely on brute strength alone, Lion-O." She swept her staff skillfully in an arc, catching the sword and twisting it out of Lion-O's grasp so that it clattered away into the grass harmlessly. She continued the motion, catching Lion-O behind the knees and following through, sweeping the young Lord onto his back. She ended the battle crouched on his midsection with the end of her staff pressed into his collarbone. Kit cheered, leaping up to stand on the log with her fists in the air and Kat covered his eyes in shame.

Cheetara smirked a little and Tygra dismissed the odd flutter in his chest as excitement from the fight when she added, "And that is how you bring down your opponent."

Lion-O blinked, first at her and then at the weapon at his throat. Then he seemed to notice her close proximity and somewhat precarious position on his hips. A rosy flush invaded his cheeks and he gulped a little. Tygra found himself scowling as Lion-O nodded. "Right. Got it."

Kat pouted as Kit danced around him in circles chanting, "I told you so." Tygra waved her wildly excitable tail out of his face irritably.

Cheetara pulled back a little and allowed Lion-O to rise to his elbows. "Any questions?"

Lion-O shook his head. Cheetara made a move to rise at the same time Lion-O attempted to slide out from underneath her. His knee came up and knocked her off balance, causing her to sprawl backwards with an 'oof."

Eyes wide, Lion-O apologized. He started to scramble to his feet to offer Cheetara a hand up, but before he had the chance Tygra had made his way across the clearing, deftly and quickly beating Lion-O to the punch. As he helped Cheetara to her feet, he slipped himself in between her and Lion-O, saying, "I think that's quite enough excitement for this morning."

"Yes. Quite enough." The gruff voice startled everyone. They had almost forgotten about Panthro in all the excitement.

They were even more startled at his next words, "Breakfast is ready!"

WilyKat looked shocked and intrigued all at the same time. "You cooked?"

"Indeed I did. Someone had to get things moving around here while you kids messed around." He smiled to show that he wasn't actually angry with them and started divvying up the trout and fruit that they had picked the night before.

WilyKit stuck her tongue out at her brother and placed her hands on her hips. "See Kat? Panthro's not too manly to cook."

Kat looked like he wanted to argue, but Panthro cut him off, "It's very manly to cook. Who else was going to feed me when I was searching for the Book of Omens? Cooking is a necessity and everyone should know how to do it."

It was difficult to see, but Tygra noted the way the top of Kat's hair seemed to shrink a little as his ears flattened at the gentle admonishment. Panthro had noticed it too, because he followed up with, "I could teach you."

This caused both kittens to perk up with interest and ask in perfect unison, "Really?"

Panthro nodded and the kittens excitedly began to argue quietly which one of them would be the better cook.

Everyone spent the next several moments devouring their food and making small talk. Everyone but Lion-O, that is. The young lord ate in silence.

Tygra thought for a moment that his brother was just gloomy because he'd lost the fight to Cheetara in front of everyone. However his expression was more thoughtful than anything else. Finally, Cheetara noticed as well and nudged him with her shoulder. "Cat got your tongue?" she teased.

Lion-O shook himself, eyes refocusing as he came back to the real world. "I think… I think we should spar again."

Tygra raised an eyebrow. "What, you want a rematch already?"

Lion-O glared at him. "No!" He composed himself again. "What I mean is that we could all learn a lot from each other if we tried." When the others all fell silent and looked at him he colored slightly at the attention but continued, "I mean, we really should all learn how to cook. It's not fair for one or two people to be doing it all the time." He glanced at Cheetara. "But Cheetara beat me without needing to be stronger and it made me realize that we all have talents that the others don't."

Tygra caught on to his brother's train of thought. "Like in the Tower."

"Exactly!" Now Lion-O looked rather excited, like when he used to prattle on about technology. "We would have died if Kit and Kat weren't such great lock pickers. We'd still be in that tunnel if Cheetara wasn't so fast and agile." He looked from face to face individually before continuing, "I think it would be a good idea if we made sparring a regular thing. Teach each other how to compensate for others strengths and our own weaknesses." He dropped his gaze a little, "My father was a great King, and a strong warrior, but I'm not him. I have to figure out how to become the best Lord I can be," His eyes flicked back up, almost shyly. "But I'm going to need everyone's help."

Cheetara was the first to speak up. "Of course we'll help you."

The kittens went from looking shell shocked to excited in a split second and answered with twin "Yeah's!" that nearly burst Tygra's ear drums. Panthro silently nodded his assent, but pride was apparent in his dark eyes.

Then Lion-O was looking Tygra in the eye in a way he hadn't in years. It had been a long time since Lion-O had really needed him for anything. Since before their sibling rivalry had been propelled to new heights and they spent more time arguing than anything else. Tygra, for the first time in a long while, felt like the big brother again. Of course he was going to help. However, instead of simply agreeing like everyone else, he couldn't help but smirk and say, "The gods know someone needs to."

Lion-O smiled crookedly back at him, for once realizing that his brother's statement held no real ill will. The other's laughed lightly at the comment, a new sort of camaraderie filling the camp that hadn't been there earlier that morning.

Caught up in the moment, WilyKit pumped her fist into the air with a shout of, "ThunderCats, ho!"

The light chuckles that had filled the tiny camp suddenly broke into all out laughter at the little girl's exuberance. Realizing what she'd done, Kit shrank a little, looking rather embarrassed. Lion-O, however, was quick to remedy that, pumping his own fist into the air with his own shout that, despite himself, Tygra found himself echoing along with the rest of them.

"ThunderCats, ho!"

AN: Yes. I went with a cheesy eighties version ending. So sue me. This was waaay different than I originally planned to end this and it seemed fitting to me because I want to see the cats grow together as the kind of inseparable group we got with the Gaang in Avatar the Last Airbender. I couldn't resist throwing the sort of ending the eighties version would have gone for. Please review with thoughts and opinions. Concrit is also welcome. This will be followed by a sequel with Tygra and Cheetara sparring, thought I don't know if it will be a second chapter to this or simply another stand alone fic.