Tygra looked out the window of his bedroom in Cat’s Lair. It had only been a little more than 24 hours since he had left to be with Celeste, and so much had happened in that time. How was it that she had fooled him so completely? Why had he been such an easy target for her? What character flaw was inherent within him that had allowed Celeste to manipulate him with such ease? He didn’t understand how it could have happened, and it frightened him.

There was a light knock at his door. "Tygra! It’s Cheetara. Are you in there?"

"Come in." he answered quietly.

Cheetara walked in, her face filled with concern. "You barely said two words at dinner, and ever since you’ve been back. Are you all right?"

"I’m just feeling guilty for putting you all in such danger for something so selfish. You all came and saved me, but I didn’t deserve to be rescued. It would have served me right to spend eternity with her for being so stupid."

"Everyone makes mistakes."

"Not like I do. This one even tops out the keystone incident for dumb decisions."

"Oh stop it! Like I never did anything stupid? How about the time Vultureman used his telepathy beam on me and I decided to not tell Lion-O I had a feeling Panthro was in trouble, and Panthro got kidnapped by the lunatacs as a direct result of it, just because I was afraid to look like I was crazy? That was pretty stupid."

Tygra smiled in spite of himself. "Hmm. I remember that. Oh, and speaking of the lunatacs, I wonder whatever happened to Chilla? She got enchanted by Damien the same way I did by Celeste. I wonder if she’s feeling the same way I am."

"I think it’s a wonder she even has feelings." Cheetara joked. "You certainly couldn’t tell from any of the stunts she’s pulled in the past."

"She was certainly feeling something when she lit into Damien when she figured out what was going on." Tygra mused. "And I’d have to say she was feeling something pretty strong to make her angry enough to kill Alluro."

"Yeah well, I can identify with wanting to kill him." Cheetara said with a laugh. "But seriously, I don’t think we have to worry about her. I’m more worried about you. Don’t be so hard on yourself. You don’t deserve it. Remember, I wouldn’t be here talking to you if it wasn’t for you meeting Celeste in the first place." Cheetara gave him a hug.

"Thanks Cheetara. You always know how to cheer me up."

Chilla, back in her usual style of dress of a cape, boots, and tight white dress, opened the hatch and tossed the red toga and sandals into Skytomb’s industrial-sized furnace. "Good riddance to bad memories." she muttered to herself as she watched them be consumed in the blaze.

"Re-enacting Damien’s dramatic exit are you?" Alluro asked her with smirk as he joined her in the basement.

She turned, glanced at him, then returned her attention to the fire. "Just getting rid of some junk that holds absolutely no value to me." she answered evenly.

"Luna is concerned about you." Alluro stated abruptly. Chilla faced him with an inquisitive look on her face. "She thinks you’re acting strangely. She’s afraid you might leave again or do something equally stupid."

"She told you this?" Chilla raised an eyebrow. It wasn’t like Luna to talk about her feelings. She had once remembered Luna saying she’d rather spend a week locked in a room with Slythe and Mumm-Ra together than discuss anything of a personal nature. "What exactly did Luna say?" Chilla asked. She had a feeling he was trying to find something out, and it didn’t have much to do with Luna at all.

"Like I said, she expressed some concern that you might not be completely over your feelings for Damien." Alluro answered. After a pause, he added "are you?"

"I just burned everything that could possibly remind me of the creep, so what do you think? I couldn’t care less about him. He was just some loser who tricked me long enough to put me under a mind control spell so he could use me for his own purposes. I never could have tolerated him for more than five seconds if he hadn’t done something to my mind with those powers of his. Actually I’m surprised he was able to sucker me in as well as he did. His type holds absolutely no appeal to me. Anyway, who cares? He’s dead, and it’s no great loss. Besides, falling for him made me irrational and weak, and I don’t intend to let that ever happen again. Love is for the insecure losers of the world anyway. You can tell Luna that it’ll be a cold day in hell before I give any guy a chance to get to me that way ever again. That should make her feel better."

"Right. I’ll be sure to inform her." Alluro answered. Something in his tone of voice hinted that he was a bit offended, but relieved at the same time. She wasn’t sure what to make of it, and decided to just let it be. Chilla heard the basement door slam as he left. She returned her attention to the fire and continued to watch it burn. "Never again." she mumbled.