Fall Of The Empire

Rating: T-17+

Disclaimer: I don't own this. . . or do I? Nah, I don't. So don't sue me. I'm already in enough debt with my student loans.

Author's Notes: As always, when I say a "few days" of course I mean a few weeks/months.

I won't bore you with a mile-long A/N. I'm sorry it took this long - drama and some family issues cropped up, and I lost a lot of drive to do a lot of things.

But it is here, and it is the end. Finally.

Will I do an epilogue?

Honestly, probably not. I used to think I would, but when I went back and reread through everything, I don't think there's a need to. Primarily just because I think I explored all of the characters well enough.

Thank you to everyone who has been along with me on this ride, for all of your reviews, critiques, compliments - all of it. Thank you so much. I cherished every single one. And I'm so proud to finally be able to mark this as "complete."

It's been a wild ride. c:

I will be addressing some final points at the end!

Warnings: Nothing, except for stylistic things FF loves to om nom. If you see anything with the first-person in it, it should be italicized. That is all. There might be a few tense whoopsies. I tried to catch them all but it was surprisingly hard!

. . . this text is here for a mysterious reason.

Ten years had passed in the blink of an eye.

Lion-O stood on the lower levels of the palace and felt his heart swelling with pride. Thundera was slowly, brick by brick, being restored to its former glory, and the past ten years had given all of animalkind plenty of time to rebuilt. There were still many sections of the city that needed attention, but it would all be done in time.

He encouraged open boarders and gates for all animals. Planning their city had been equal parts challenging and fun - food gardens to source resources that suited every animal, placement for those farms, and ensuring that no one section of the city was dedicated to only one species. Cats mixed with all walks of animals along the streets. The beginning of such an integration had been a little difficult, and there had been more than a few clashes, but they had simmered down with time. Lion-O was no fool - he knew that there would be plenty of rough times ahead of them, but with the animal council, he felt they would be able to discuss their differences civilly.

"Lion-O. There you are."

Tygra drew flush alongside him, and Lion-O greeted his brother with a warm smile.

"Tygra."

"Reminiscing on your kingdom again? Don't tell me you've gone back to daydreaming like when you were a prince!" Tygra chuckled, and Lion-O joined him.

"No, brother, just admiring how far we've come. It seems like just last year Thundera was nothing more than rubble in the dirt."

"She's not. She's so much more now. Under your rule, she's come a long way. Father would be proud."

His heart warmed. I hope he is.

For a moment, Lion-O let the happy quiet settle between them. Once, such a moment would have made him fidget uncontrollably, but he had long since grown out of being an impatient and rash cub. When one had stared down eternity, after all, a handful of moments were nothing.

Tygra leaned against the railing, and Lion-O flicked his eyes over to him.

"What guidance do you seek from me today, brother? I, ever wise and virtuous, am at your disposal."

Tygra batted at him, rolling his eyes. "Please. If anything, Cheetara is far wiser than the both of us. It wouldn't surprise me if she were someday King."

Cheetara had reopened the school for the clerics, and under her watchful eye, a new generation of magic users had risen. There were still precious few clerics roaming Thundera, but in time, their numbers would swell. Naturally, clerics were something of a rare breed - not every animal was predisposed to working with magic. But perhaps with more than just Cats joining their ranks, they would be able to grow in a shorter amount of time.

Much of their city was still rebuilding its trade and economy, but that, too, would be ready in time. There wasn't much Lion-O could do for Thundera but nurture it and allow the citizens to bolster and strengthen her.

"But," Tygra continued, "I did have something I needed to talk to you about. It came up again during the council meeting, and the rest of them keep bugging me about it, so now I get to pester my beloved brother, the King."

Lion-O sighed - he already knew where this was going. They'd had this conversation a thousand times over.

"I will talk to them again. I will tell them no, as I have every time before that. I will tell them no until I'm blue in the face."

Tygra frowned. "Lion-O, it's been ten years. You need to take a queen."

"I will not-"

"Do you still miss her?" Tygra asked softly, interrupting him.

Lion-O looked at his brother, watching his features, gauging his expression.

Tygra had grown, too. No longer did his brother attempt to goad him into mindless fights. It had all been a bitter resentment from Lion-O having the crown, depriving Tygra of his adopted birthright. Lion-O knew this. But Tygra had long since come to terms with it. If his sibling did make a jab, it lacked the cruelty and intention behind it.

It took a lot to rattle Lion-O these days. . . he knew, because Tygra had tried. Some habits died hard, he guessed.

"No." Lion-O answered truthfully, "I don't. There was love, there, and I thank her every day for allowing me to experience it. But not all relationships are meant to last. Even broken, they are something to be treasured. Something to teach you about yourself."

Tygra idly traced patterns onto the stone railing.

"I understand, Lion-O. I truly do. But the masses are clamoring for it. They have loved you for the king you are, but they would also like a queen. You don't remember it, but they doted upon mother every day they saw her. Gifting her with treasures and trinkets alike." Tygra paused, cracking a wry smile, "The people did it so much, it made father quite jealous. He got so incensed one time, he personally went to the gardens to pick her a bouquet of flowers."

Lion-O stared at Tygra, just for a moment.

Then the two burst into laughter.

Lion-O had difficulties imagining the strong, imposing Cat of their father angrily grumbling as he picked flowers to give to his wife. He could only imagine their mother had fallen into a fit of giggles upon seeing the gift.

"Oh, that must have been a day." He said, letting out a happy sigh as the laughter faded.

"It was. It happened, too. I was there for it. . . Cute stories aside, however, would there be a chance of you entertaining a queen?"

"I honestly don't know." Lion-O replied. He'd had his head buried in the rebuilding of Thundera that even the idea was a little odd to him. His life had consisted of work, study, sleeping, council meetings (so many council meetings), and personally implementing policies.

"What about Kit?"

"What?" Lion-O asked, whipping his head to Tygra.

"You anointed her and her brother royal titles when they moved in. So they are of noble blood. And it's been ten years - she's no longer a kitten. I've heard there are suitors trying to catch her attention. Her dances and her troupe are incredibly popular."

He knew, because he'd seen them.

There were no words to describe the beauty of her craft. It only amplified when she was surrounded by her students. Tygra spoke truth - when the world had been righted, Lion-O had invited Kit and Kat into the destroyed throne room and held a ceremony, congratulating them on their loyalty and service. One of many ceremonies he'd given to those who had helped him win the final fight. Kit and Kat had bowed, and when he'd given them royal names and tithed them land, they had asked for an additional gift.

Their request had been money. Enough to open a home to all animals who had no family or hearth to call their own.

He had agreed, and before long, Kit and Kat had turned from orphanage managers to guild masters.

Upon taking in a child, Kit and Kat gave them two options: joining a dance troupe, or joining a trade of the hand, which Kat managed. The two buildings were housed side by side, though Lion-O had had to allocate funds to build additional workshops for each - practice rooms for Kit, and workshops for Kat. Though Lion-O knew their guilds intersected on more than just one front. Rumors had been flying that the orphanages taught their charges the basics of thievery and trickery, but those were simply rumors.

Although. . . Lion-O thought, maybe it wasn't as far-fetched as it seemed? Every time Lion-O visited the orphanage to check on the twins, he was beginning to suspect their lesson for the day was to successfully pickpocket the king. It wasn't uncommon to bump into several children, and he'd lost rings and pocket change.

It's probably going to be an assassin guild, for all I know. Teaching them a trade to survive but also giving them lessons in combat. . .

He pinned it for a later discussion.

Such a guild might be interesting.

"I. . . don't know." Lion-O finally admitted. "I hadn't thought about her that way."

Tygra smiled, "Always one skill you lack - hiding how you feel."

Lion-O felt his cheeks burn. Kit was beautiful - there was no doubt about it. She dressed herself in gauzy, free-flowing fabrics, acrobatic and dancer-like in nature. And Tygra had a point. He had given the pair royal titles. But the subject of a queen. . .

"One day. Maybe. I won't deny that my heart is still healing, even after all this time. But I will not take a queen until I know she is ready to lead my people. They are still learning to be kind to one another, and treat them as brothers and sisters."

For a moment, Tygra was quiet.

"Lion-O, one day, you will become old. And in the ancient ways of kings and queens before you, you will need an heir."

"I know. I trust you will give me one."

Lion-O watched as Tygra stiffened, one muscle at a time, and his brother turned to face him, as slow as molasses.

"What?" Tygra asked. Confusion and alarm were very present in his voice, front and center. He could already see the assumptions forming behind his brother's eyes.

"Sit, brother. You and I need to have a talk."

For once in his life, Tygra did, obeying Lion-O's words without question. Robotically, his brother moved, sitting on the sparse table and chair set that lined the balcony. When Lion-O had settled in, he thought carefully on the next words he would say, and how he would say them. Tygra, to his credit, sat patiently as he waited for Lion-O to get his thoughts together.

"I know much of the resentment you harbored towards me was due to my being born. I understand-"

"Lion-O, I was a child. I was stupid and immature-"

Lion-O shook his head. "Wait until I am finished, although I do appreciate your insight."

Lion-O paused a moment before he continued. "And you are the older son. Had I not been born, you would have rightfully worn the crown. I will be honest, Tygra. You would make a good king. But I was given father's mantle instead. I cannot change the past, and to give the crown to you would present political upheaval. We both don't want to deal with that."

Understanding dawned in Tygra's eyes. The tiger's jaw dropped, and the surprise was so comical Lion-O had to stifle a laugh.

"You. . . don't mean. . ."

"I do. Should you and Cheetara have an heir, they will be named successor to the crown and inherit my title. I was drafting the decree today, actually. I needed to meet with you and get yours and Cheetara's signature-"

Lion-O almost toppled out of his chair when Tygra rushed him, throwing his arms around him and crushing him in a vice-like grip of a hug. Lion-O sat awkwardly for a moment - he'd expected Tygra to rant and to rave, or lecture him on how such a thing wasn't an option. . . but not this. Lion-O wrapped his arms around his brother, though it was a tad inelegant, given that he was sitting and Tygra was standing. Tygra released him after a while (Lion-O didn't bother counting, the times Tygra had hugged him like this he could count on one hand), and Lion-O stood.

"But. . . but why?" Tygra asked.

His brother, above all people, deserved the truth. But the question was: how much could Tygra understand? How could Lion-O put what had happened to him into words?

"None of you remember. I made sure it would never happen. I did the impossible, Tygra. I turned back time. I stopped the greatest evil from happening."

"Are you talking about Mumm-Ra?"

Lion-O nodded. "I am."

Ever the tactician and military strategist, Lion-O could see his words and their implications buzzing through Tygra's head.

"If you stopped it - why. . . why are you doing this, then? Lion-O. . . did you hide the Stones? Ten years ago, you said you'd destroyed them."

"I did. No Stones exist. Not anymore. But doing this - it changed me. It warped me to my very core. I prevented it, Tygra, because I had already seen it happen. Alone, in that void, I took time to make my choice. And instead of undoing, I rewound. I will never bear a child, Tygra. Not as long as I live. Doing so would invite. . . possibilities. Leo used the Stones, and his descendants had gifts. I had used the Stones - all of them - what would my descendants have?"

For a long moment, Tygra was silent.

Lion-O was alright to join him in it. Silence didn't scare him any more. The sun began to set, edging towards the horizon.

"I understand." Tygra finally said. "I feel this is, uh. . . an appropriate time to say. . . Cheetara-" Tygra coughed into his fist, "-we have. . . a baby."

Lion-O grinned as he looked at his brother again, wrapping him in another hug. "I'm happy. For both of you. How far along is she?"

"Not very." Tygra replied, "She just gave me the news a few days ago - I was looking for the right time to tell you."

"You're going to have a handful."

"With the baby? I think I can handle a baby."

"I meant with your pregnant wife."

Under his fur, Lion-O watched Tygra pale.

"What. . . what to Cats need when they're pregnant?"

Lion-O snickered, unable to help himself, "You should ask the clerisy, they're bound to have books penned by midwives. I've heard they tend to enjoy odd pairings of food." Lion-O squeezed Tygra's shoulder. "Go and tell Cheetara. Take some time to think on it. Your decision can wait until after the baby is born."

Tygra, at the reminder of his pregnant wife, paled again. "I have to go." He said, dashing off. As he left, Lion-O heard him muttering about Cheetara, and the strange food she had been requesting lately. Still, Lion-O's heart filled with happiness and pride.

Tygra and Cheetara were pregnant.

His plan on passing on the kingdom would work.

Could work.

Had to work.

The sun was dipping lower onto the horizon behind him, and when he turned back to the railing, he found he wasn't alone. A decidedly human girl sat there, kicking her legs, relaxed as she stared at the city.

"Sunsets were always my favorite."

Lion-O leaned against the stone again, staring at the glimmering stone and glass of the city. "I don't blame you."

Blonde hair shifted as she lazily rolled her head back, and then eyed him.

"You said you weren't going to lie to your brother, but you didn't tell him the whole truth, either."

Lion-O's smile faded. "No. I didn't. How could I? If I told anyone what I had done, nobody would have trusted me. Or my decision. It would have put Thundera's resurrection in jeopardy."

His human friend let out a thoughtful hum. "I suppose. But you're not him, no matter how much you think parts of you are. You never will be."

Lion-O pressed a hand to his chest, feeling his heart beating. Before, ten years ago, he had felt the pulse of another under his palm, more powerful and stronger than he had ever dared imagine. And under that, there had been a miasma, a swirl of malevolence and good intent that had rotted to something much more perverse and egotistical. A miasma that was now inside him.

He still had dreams about the mountains of corpses and rolling delicate Stones between his fingers.

Thankfully, they were few and far between.

He had solved the Stone problem. He had destroyed them. He had broken them down and absorbed them into himself, threading them through his very being. It had taken him a while, to sort through the different facets of the Stones and what they represented, but he had. When he had reset everything, Mumm-Ra had stood no chance. He had his newly-forged Soul Stone, true, but Lion-O had had the Stone.

It was a simple, rather anticlimactic act, to slay him.

Mumm-Ra was . . . lesser when cosmic power beyond imagining was at his disposal.

No one could get any of the Stone's power if it was hidden inside of him. But he had spoken the truth to Tygra - if his daughter or son inherited this power, uncontrolled and chaotic, his work would simply be undone. And if his heir inherited the dark inside of him. . .

Absorbing the Stones had been easy, but he had had to absorb everything.

Even Markata.

Balance, he had learned, was not merely a concept - it was one of the foundations for the universe.

He had his good, his noble intentions and his morals.

But the dark still swirled inside of him. It was a chained, caged beast that prowled relentlessly, testing its bindings at every moment.

Erica flicked him on the nose, and Lion-O startled, shooting her a moody stare. "Don't do that."

"Then don't think you're always at the whim of the Stone's evil. We all carry it inside of us, you know. The sickness. Some of us just. . . choose not to do it."

Lion-O had let her die a second time.

She'd already been dead when he'd snapped back to that moment. She had murdered innocents. She had taken lives with her blades, and had tried to end his on more than one occasion.

"Ayup," She said, looking out at the city again, "I did. If that's you tentatively asking if I resent you for not saving me, that's a no. I'm pretty sure I wanted to die."

Lion-O sighed. A gentle, furless hand covered his own. When he looked up, she was smiling at him.

". . . you have to let me go, you know. You've kept a shred of me. Or maybe I stuck to you, back then. . ."

Lion-O stared down at their hands, and then at the stone railing. "I know. . . But I don't want to. After everything that happened. We're friends."

Erica smiled, looking back at the sun. It was almost gone. "Yeah, we are, aren't we? I'm sorry I was a shitty friend. You didn't deserve half of what I did to you. I can blame it on the war, sure, but the truth is, I'm a pretty fucked up person. Being a human is messy business."

"We're all messy." Lion-O protested. "I did some bad things too. That's the crux of being alive."

This time, the human ghost laughed. "So wise now, huh?" She paused, and then squeezed his hand. "You're a great king, you know."

"Think so?" Lion-O mused. "I still hardly know what I'm doing half the time."

"That means you're doing a good job. . . or at least, that's what you're supposed to say when somebody says that."

Lion-O stared at her hand. Transparent. Fragile. So different than his own.

She flicked him on the nose again.

"Hey, it's time to say goodbye."

"I don't want to." Lion-O whispered.

In the impossibility of it all, Erica stood on the other side of the railing and hugged him. She felt real. She felt physically present, but she also felt light as air.

"I don't want to either, but I'm also curious to see what's on the other side. Huge debate on that, y'know."

"You'll be reincarnated." Lion-O said, hugging her tight. "Everyone knows that."

She laughed. "Maybe. Tell the twins I love them, would you? And all the rest of you lot. Give them a kiss or something, I don't know."

His eyes were wet. His throat was tight. "Even Panthro?" He asked, his voice watery.

She scrunched up her nose. "Uhm okay no. Maybe give him a fistbump or something. But everyone else, sure."

Lion-O breathed out a shaky breath, staring at the ghostly visage. Was she truly there? Or was he wrestling with phantoms of his guilt and remorse? Was this ghost just saying what he wanted her to say, to assuage his regret?

"This isn't a very good goodbye if you're just moping about whether or not I'm real."

"Should I have stopped him from killing you?" Lion-O blurted, his heart wrenching in his chest, "I told you I would give you a chance to atone."

Erica stared at him, green eyes flickering with a myriad of emotions. After a few heartbeats, she smiled, as wry as he remembered.

"Any person - or animal - who says they don't want a second chance at life is a liar. They do. But. . . I got my second chance. I don't need a third. The age of man is gone, Lion-O. It's been gone for a long, long time. We had our chance. And we fucked it up."

She paused, turning to the setting sun. Slivers of it remained, the sky darkening with every second. "I did awful things. I killed animals and Terrans alike. For just a second - just a sliver of a moment - ask yourself: if I had gone on trial, would any animal alive forgive my circumstances?"

No.

It would be a pretty damning sentence, from all of the animal council.

He shook his head.

"Exactly. I made my choices. You made yours. I don't regret a second of where it led me. After all, we learn from our mistakes, don't we?"

Yeah, he most certainly had. And look where he was. 10 years, and he'd breathed life into Thundera. He'd become the King he'd always dreamed of being. And when Tygra's child came of age, he would pass on the crown.

"So let go of this. Let go of me. Learn from your mistakes and keep forging forward."

Lion-O looked at her, and though it was painful, he smiled. She grinned back, and for just a brief moment in time, Lion-O was transported back into the past. Just the pair of them, lost in their lives, searching for a friend to help the other. But he nodded his head, and closed his eyes, breathing in slowly.

"Thank you. For everything. And you're right."

If she was still there, he didn't see her as he turned around, striding through the palace. His moved with purpose, spurred on by Tygra and Erica's words. he had a place to be, and it was time to stop living in the past. He'd been telling the truth when he told Tygra that he still loved Pumyra.

Some part of him would always love her.

But Pumyra wasn't there anymore.

People were shocked as they found him walking into Thundera, forgoing a personal escort. Animals of all walks of life stiffened in shock, blurting out a formal greeting. He didn't have to bear it for long - his walk wasn't far. With a shove, he burst through a set of double doors, and walked into an open courtyard. it was decorated sparsely, but filled with delicate greenery.

Animals, young and old alike, paused their drills as they looked at him, shocked by his entrance.

On in particular, however, was not.

She tapped her fingers against her arm, brow cocking as she stared at her students.

"I do not recall giving a reprieve?"

The gauzy fabrics quickly took back to their dizzying dances as the animals resumed their practice, dancing to a gentle flute - or a stringed instrument, Lion-O didn't really know.

He strode up to Kit, and before she could say anything, he spoke.

"Kit, I want to ask you to dinner."

Her eyes widened, and for once, Lion-O saw her lose her composure. Her tail stiffened in the air behind her, and she blinked, completely shocked.

After a few tense, gut-wrenching moments, she relaxed, a lazy smile on her face.

"Oh, Lion-O. I was wondering how long it would be before you asked."

Kit made a beautiful queen - she always had been. Lion-O was proud to have her by his side. She radiated grace as he watched her walk across the opulent stage set before them, thousands of animals crowding every visible spot his eyes could land on.

The silence, however, was so absolute, Lion-O could hear the delicate fabrics she wore rustle as she gently grabbed a crown.

Tygra stood next to Lion-O, and Panthro just beyond him. The men in attendance all watched with rapt attention, although Lion-O could see the poor general shifting in his stuffy dress attire.

But today was an important day.

Young Tygas deserved it.

For years, he had been learning diligently, with the perseverance of his father and the gentleness of his mother.

Kit lifted the crown and settled it on his head. She cupped his face in his hands and kissed each of his cheeks before she stepped away.

Lion-O stepped forward, holding out a hilt.

"Let this be known. Should you choose to take the Sword of Omens, you inherit the broken. You inherit despair and ruin and fear and hate. You inherit the mire of animalkind, and you shall hold it in your chest until the day you pass from this world.

"But you also inherit hope. You inherit love. You inherit the knowledge that though we have been broken, we may yet one day be reforged. I, Lion-O, have broken us. And I seek to find the one that will recast our legacy into something beautiful. Will that be you? Are you worthy?"

Tygas was nervous, that much was plain to see, but his eyes were set in determination as he reached up to hold Omens.

"I will do that and more. I will let the people just my worthiness. I do not seek to merely reforge us, but to rebind all of animalkind."

Lion-O smiled as he released Omens.

"Well said. Go now, and greet your people."

Tygas did, holding high the shattered blade of Omens. The Eye of Thundera was gone from its pommel, and the blade itself was dull and worthless - it had served Lion-O well. And he hoped that Tygas would truly do something even greater with it.

A hand slipped into his, fingers threading through his own.

Kit pressed against his side, and Lion-O gripped her hand, squeezing it in turn.

Lion-O watched as his nephew was greeted with the cheers of thousands of animals, Omens glinting in the light.

A/N Redux

And finally, it ends. Thank you for coming with me!

So a little bit of info - apparently, somehow, I managed to guess a little bit of Season 2 before it was cancelled. While Season 1 was airing all those years ago, little me stared at the screen and wondered about the history of the show. I never watched the 80's show growing up, but I am an avid anime fan and I adore 4 degrees. They are a beautiful animation studio and you can tell they put their all to breathing life into it.

One day, while watching, I thought, "where are the humans?" And then my idea for the Soul Stone was born. It was actually pretty funny when the show got cancelled to read the interview and go, "HA! I was A LITTLE right!"

Because apparently the human Safari Joe was still running around, and that would have poked a lot of holes into my whole "humanity was Thanos'd"

Also, watching anything Avengers related always made me chuckle. TC was a tad ahead of its time.

If - IF - there is any desire, I could maybe do something detailing a little bit of Erica's life, but it wouldn't be the final companion piece I originally intended. Primarily because you all deserve an author who actually uploads content, instead of putting you through awful droughts.

It would be something of an informational piece, really. That's all.

Also, I am so sorry for those who send me PMs. My notifications weren't working on my phone for a while. I got it fixed, though! c:

As always, I lurk hardcore, so if you want to contact me, even just to chat, please feel free.

I love every one of you, and I hope you enjoyed this. Thank you so, so much.