Secrets
Part Two

Snarf couldn't believe his eyes. Cheetara had her arms around a man that wasn't her husband and kissing him! How could she do this to him? He loved her so much! Lion-O was so patient with her in taking their relationship slow, in dealing with her hesitation to begin a relationship and she does this to him! Tears stung in Snarf's eyes at Cheetara's betrayal. His heart ached as he remembered how Lion-O would surprise Cheetara with flowers or gifts and never holding back from being affectionate. He was proud Cheetara was his and never mind showing off.

The man in Cheetara's arms moved one of his hand down and placed it on Cheetara's rear. Snarf growled at that action. 'Get your hands off that! That's property of the Lord of the ThunderCats!' Oh, he wanted to say that out loud but he couldn't find the voice to. Snarf clenched his fists determined. There must be something he could do. Something that would put an end to this.

Tell!

"Panthro!" Snarf wailed as he ran through the halls of Cat's Lair and into the Control Room where Panthro was still on duty.
"Panthro!"

The Control Room doors opened and Snarf bumped into Panthro's powerful legs so hard he fell back and rolled over twice before making a complete stop.

Panthro looked down sternly at the Snarf. "Snarf, what is it? You'd better not have run away from a hopping roach and want me to get it!"

"No! No! It's nothing like that. Something terrible has happened!"

"Oh?" Panthro crossed his arms. "What?"

Snarf paused. How should he say this? This was a very important matter that could repercussions all over Thundera. It had to be dealt with in a delicate fashion.

"Cheetara's having an affair!"

"What?!"

"Cheetara's having an affair!" Snarf repeated.

Panthro stood stunned. He opened his mouth to speak but nothing came out as if it were a delayed reaction. It took a moment before he found his voice. "Where did you get a stupid idea like that?"

"It's not stupid! I saw Cheetara tonight on Reina Island with another man and she was kissing and hugging him. He was even touching her butt!"

Panthro shook his head in denial. This couldn't be true. Not Cheetara. Snarf was known for delusions of grandeur or making a big deal out of nothing but this was the biggest one yet. The only way to stop him was go along until there was proof Cheetara wasn't having an affair, and since he knew Cheetara would never cheat on Lion-O, this would be easy. "To make an accusation like that, you need proof, Snarf."

"I do! I do! Oh, it's all making sense now!" He blabbered as he waved his arms wildly.

"What's making sense now?" Panthro asked and inwardly wishing someone else was dealing with this. Why me he thought to himself.

"Lately, I've caught Cheetara leaving the lair at night like she didn't want anyone to notice. When I asked her about it, she said she was running at night! She's running to her boyfriend is what she's doing!"

Panthro frowned. "Cheetara running at night?" That was strange. "Lion-O doesn't like Cheetara going out at night without an escort. It's unlike her to disobey him." Panthro shrugged his shoulders. "Then again, she is a woman, but her running at night could be just that--running."

"Oh, yeah? Then how come she took the black hovercar and she was wearing a short, black dress! You don't need those for running! We both saw Lion-O leaving in the red hovercar!" Snarf yelled, leaving Panthro to wonder if he would alert anyone to this room. The less to know about Snarf's crazy delusions, the better.

Panthro went to a monitor and checked on the hanger. Using the camera, he scanned around the room to see the black hovercar missing. Snarf was right. It was gone. Panthro felt a huge knot tie in his stomach. This was looking very bad, but Panthro still had his doubts about what Snarf saw.

"I admit this is strange," Panthro said as he pulled his eyes from the monitor to look at the furry nursemaid, "but you need more proof than this. What did the guy look like?"

"I couldn't tell. The male bimbo was wearing a cloak. He was tall, kind of big and he had his hand on Cheetara's butt!"

Panthro rolled his eyes. He didn't need to hear that. "Here's what we'll do. We'll investigate and gather proof before we tell Lion-O this. All we have is speculation." Snarf opened his mouth to protest but Panthro raised a hand to silence him. "I know what you saw, but you didn't take a picture. Cheetara could easily deny what you saw."

"Okay," Snarf agreed. "I'll tell the twins and you--"

"No," Panthro cut him off. "This is between you and me. The less people know the better and less chance Cheetara gets wind of this."

Snarf nodded. "Okay. I just can't believe Cheetara would do this. How could she?"

Panthro felt bad for Snarf. He really believed what he saw and Panthro was slowly beginning to think Snarf was telling the truth. No, it can't be an inner voice told Panthro. Cheetara wouldn't do this. "Snarf, there's no sense beating yourself up on what you saw or what you thought you saw. For all we know, this is a big misunderstanding, but you can't let Cheetara or Lion-O pick up on any strange behavior."

"I won't," Snarf promised. "I'll do it for Lion-O."

It wasn't long after Panthro and Snarf talked about their plans of finding out what Cheetara was up to when the doors opened and Lion-O stepped inside, smiling. "I'm back!" He noticed Snarf. "I'm surprised you're still up, Snarf. Don't tell me you were waiting up for me?"

Panthro and Snarf turned their heads at Lion-O's entrance. He looked so cheerful, so on top of the world, not knowing his marriage maybe in trouble. Snarf held back a tear as he fought his emotions unable to say anything.

Thankfully, Panthro spoke. "Oh, you know, Snarf and how protective he is of you."

Lion-O laughed as he looked down at his nursemaid. "I suspected as much, but you have to realize, I don't need you anymore."

"Yes, you do!" Snarf sniffed holding back a tear.

"Nah!" he denied and chuckled to himself. "Ha! I guess I'll be like this when my own kids are too old for me."

Snarf couldn't hold back the tears anymore and cried. "Oh, it's not fair!" he wailed. It was too much, just too much for the Snarf.

Lion-O knelt to Snarf's level and hugged him. "Hey, it's okay. It's okay, Snarf." Lion-O looked at Panthro, surprised. "I didn't know he was so sensitive over it."

Snarf pulled away and wiped his tears. "I'll be fine," Snarf said feeling foolish for cracking so soon. He had to be strong for Lion-O. "How... how was your meeting?"

Lion-O rolled his eyes. "Same old. Same old. No one wants to agree," Lion-O said rising to full height. "I think my youth hinders their trust in me and my ideas, but I'll go into the details about it tomorrow," Lion-O said as he yawned. "I'm going to bed. Good night."

"No, you can't!" Snarf yelled. If Lion-O goes to his bed, he'll see Cheetara missing and she wasn't back from her tryst yet. He couldn't find out about his wife until the time was right.

Lion-O's eyebrows wrinkled in confusion. "Why not, Snarf?"

"B-be-because..." Snarf quickly tried to think of something to stall Lion-O. "I want you to try my new pie. It's, uh, apple peanut butter pie." Panthro looked at Snarf slightly disgusted and Snarf shrugged his shoulders.

Lion-O didn't noticed the exchanged glances Panthro and Snarf shared. "Sounds tempting but no. I just want to sleep. Good night."

Panthro and Snarf followed and tried to think of something that would stop Lion-O from going to his bedroom. Everything came to a screeching halt when Cheetara showed up coming around a corner, heading to her and Lion-O's bedroom. Her eyes were as wide as a deer in headlights. Even Panthro had to admit Cheetara looked as if she was sneaking and she was wearing a short, curvaceous black dress! The same dress Snarf said he saw. Was he right? What will Lion-O say?

"Cheetara," Lion-O said slowly as he looked her over. "Wow. I didn't know you were waiting up for me and that dress..." he leaned closer to Cheetara to whisper but it was loud enough for Panthro and Snarf to hear, "You have some plans for me tonight?"

Cheetara embraced Lion-O. "I did miss you."

Lion-O kissed her. "I did, too." He put his arm around her and looked at Panthro and Snarf. "Good night. We'll see you tomorrow."

"Did you see that?" Snarf said accusingly once Lion-O and Cheetara's bedroom door closed. "She lied to Lion-O! She wasn't waiting up for him. She just left her male bimbo!"

"Yeah," Panthro began grimly. "Cheetara's dress....and her hair was a bit disheveled, too. She was sleeping with another man."

Snarf looked at Panthro confused. "How can you tell she slept with someone with disheveled hair?

"I'll explain it to you later," Panthro said and raised a speculative eyebrow at Snarf. "Maybe not."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

For the past week, Panthro and Snarf kept tabs on Cheetara, watching her carefully and talking to her. So, far Cheetara revealed nothing that would lead anyone to think she was straying from her marriage or their were any problems in her marriage. It sadden Snarf to see Cheetara act like a happy wife with Lion-O when he knew that wasn't the case. He pondered over the week what made Cheetara go to another man. Where did she find this no-good, son-of-a-cat who vainly thought he had the right to touch what wasn't his? Lion-O was the model good husband and she does this to him? It wasn't right.

Was it the time spent apart Snarf wondered. Lion-O does leave the lair a lot whether it's discussing negotiations with the Panthers and Tigers in Delgore, checking on reconstruction in cities or attending the Interstellar Council meetings but that was all for the good of New Thundera. He didn't deserve Cheetara's betrayal. Snarf was determined to get to the why in this mess and tell Lion-O the truth even if it will break his heart.

Snarf saw Cheetara and Tygra leaving his lab, looking serious about something he wasn't sure of, but that wasn't important. It was evening and Lion-O had left an hour ago. Snarf knew Cheetara was going to sneak away to be with her home wrecker and he had to stop her or stall her enough until Lion-O returned.

"Um, Cheetara, can I talk to you for a moment?"

"I'll see you later," Tygra said and left.

Cheetara nodded and looked at Snarf. "Sure, Snarf, but I'm in a hurry."

"Hurry?" Snarf feigned surprise. "Where are you going?"

Cheetara smiled sneakily at Snarf. "Oh, you know what I do."

'Yeah, lie on your back,' Snarf thought nastily. 'Or are you in control?' Snarf shook his head getting the nasty thought out of his mind.

"Are you all right, Snarf?" Cheetara was concern now.

"Uh, yeah. Why don't you stay in tonight? You don't have to go running."

"Oh, but I do," Cheetara said sweetly. "Running at night is so exciting, invigorating, so very good."

From the way Cheetara was talking, Snarf thought it was sneaking behind her husband's back and sleeping with someone else she thought was so good. It made him so mad he snapped. "Oh, you are so sick! How could you do this to Lion-O?!"

Cheetara looked at Snarf puzzled. "What are you talking about? It's just running."

Running, yeah right, but for the moment Snarf had to play along. "It may be but you're doing this behind Lion-O's back. How could you?"

Cheetara patted Snarf's head. "Oh, it's nothing to be stressed about. If Lion-O finds out, I'll just talk to him. It's that simple. Now I have to go." She stood and briskly walk away from him.

It was too late. She was gone again. Snarf only hoped Panthro was doing much better with his part of the investigation.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Don't worry, Snarf. With my technology, we'll have all the proof we need."

"How's that?" Snarf asked tilting his head slightly. He raised himself on his tail to see Panthro typing on the large panel in the Control Room puzzled at what he was doing.

"Today, I asked Cheetara to let me check her staff, you know, routine check. I put a tiny bug in her staff which tells me where she is at all times," Panthro said while continuously typing.

"So, we know where she is?" Snarf asked. "I already know where she is going--Reina Island."

"I'm not finished," Panthro curtly said. "The bug will trigger a signal to the satellite outside New Thundera and will easily pinpoint her location and give us a visual." Just as Panthro finished speaking, Cheetara appeared on the monitor. Panthro leaned back in his seat and smiled smugly. "As you can see, she's not on Reina Island."

"No," Snarf said as he raised his tail and got a closer look at the monitor. "She's at the Gardens of Thundera," he noted seeing the large, beautifully sculpted water fountain surrounded by the various, beautifully colored and fresh smelling flowers of New Thundera.

"The satellite is also taping everything and we'll get audio. So, if Cheetara is cheating, we'll get a good look of the punk and I'll personally deal with him before handing his sorry cat butt to Lion-O."

"Oh! Oh!" Snarf interrupted. "Here he comes!"

On the screen a figure in a blue cloak appeared behind Cheetara and wrapped his arms hidden in the cloak around her.

"Miss me?" the deep voice purred.

Cheetara laughed. "You know I did."

Snarf scratched his head. "That voice sounds familiar."

"Yeah, it does," Panthro said worriedly. "But it's so low and deep." He typed on the keys again. "Something's wrong with the audio. Ugh, it's not working right. How dare my inventions don't work on me," Panthro growled.

"Quiet!" Snarf hushed Panthro. "They'll still talking."

Cheetara smiled at her mysterious stranger. "You don't need to wear that cloak." She raised her hands on hood. "Take it off so I can see that handsome face."

"Here it is," Snarf said anxiously. Finally, he would know the slime that came between Lion-O and Cheetara.

The hood of the cloak fell off the Thunderian's head. Panthro and Snarf froze at the visual before them. It wasn't true. It wasn't possible. This man couldn't be the one Cheetara was having an affair with. It's just couldn't be.

"No. It can't be," Snarf told himself in denial as he shook his head. "It can't be him."

"I can't believe it either," Panthro said also in utter shock. Of all the people Cheetara would secretly see, Panthro didn't expect him. "But it's true. Cheetara is cheating on Lion-O and it's him."

Cheetara's eyes widen for a moment before she quickly recovered with a quirky smile. "You little sneak," she laughed and threw her arms around him. "What is this?"

"What do you think it is?" the voice responded. "I'm using the invisible whip. Since we are sneaking around, don't you think it's appropriate?"

Cheetara laughed. "I suppose but only you are hidden. What about me?"

"Well, you can become invisible with me," the man offered.

Cheetara laughed again. "I think you know what happened last time that happened." Cheetara pouted. "This isn't fair. You can see me but I can't see you. I can't see your moves..." Cheetara blushed. "But I can feel you. Your hand's on my butt again."

"I like it."

"Too much it seems," Cheetara said and kissed her secret love.

Panthro shut the audio off. He couldn't bear to listen to anymore of it. He was too horrified and shaken by what he saw. Cheetara was having an affair with Tygra. Panthro saw Snarf and the poor nursemaid was terribly grief stricken and on the verge of tears.

"What...what are we going to do?" Snarf asked.

Panthro shook his head. He didn't know. He just didn't know.