Memory
Darkness. Tannsi swallowed nervously, as she peered into the blackness that had fallen around them. She was not sure exactly what had happened, it had all gone by so fast! She night had been going so well. Munkustrap's story had a few bumps, but the look on his face was worth the trouble they were going to get in later! And when it came time for the mating dance, Victoria chose Plato! PLATO! Plato who was not Mistoffelees! Tannsi had nearly jumped for joy! That all seemed so long ago, days or weeks, and it was only a few hours earlier! Macavity had appeared from no where and ruined everything! Wise old Deuteronomy was missing, Macavity had escaped, and now the Jellicles could not see a foot infront of them to do a thing about it! Suddenly, a familiar voice shouted from nearby. "You ought to ask Magical Mister Mistoffelees, the original conjuring cat, there can be no doubt about that." it chuckled. Someone turned a light into the shadows to reveal the speaker - Rum Tum Tugger. Tannsi crept forward, eager to hear what he had in mind.
Tugger seemed to notice the looks the older cats were sharing amounst themselves. "Please," he sighed. "Listen to me, and don't scoff! All his inventions are off his own bat."
The kittens began gathering round, if nothing else than to oggle at Tugger. Tannsi hung back in the shadows listening to Tugger with interest.
"There's no such cat in the metropolis, he holds all the patent monopolies! For performing suprising illusions, and creating eccentric confusions." Tugger announced as he leapt down to the kittens. Tannsi smiled to herself. He's not THAT good... She thought. But still....if anyone could bring back their leader, it was Misto.
Tugger hated whoever turned on that light. Now that Etcetera could see him, she wouldn't leave him ALONE! Still, that wasn't what they should be worrying about right now. He just wished Mistoffelees would show up! He was making him look like an idiot! Jennyanydots and Munkustrap kept shaking their heads, and by the looks of things, Skimbleshanks wanted his head on a platter. Finally a rope appeared out of no where and Misto decended proudly. "Took you long enough.." Tugger muttered before continuing the praises. Mistoffelees just gave him an annoyingly secret smile, and in a blinding flash, the junkyard was fully lighted again! The cats seemed impressed, even Munkustrap, and those who had caught onto the words began singing along. Tugger heard one voice singing above the rest and turned around to find the owner. It was Tannsi, the shy brown tabbycat. She had been born into the tribe, and lived with them her whole life, but she kept mostly to herself. It was unsual for her to be singing when hardly anyone else was...but the song was about Mistoffelees. The entire junkyard knew she had a thing for him. Well...everyone, apart from Misto. That guy was too modest to notice these things, and he didn't seem to pay much attention to Tannsi anyway. Who cares? Tugger shrugged and kept on singing, giving Tannsi a slight smile. I'll talk to Magicfeatures later. There's something more important at stake right now.
Tannsi felt her face fall into a pout when Mistoffelees chose Cassandra
to be his 'assistant', but she scolded herself silently. Old D's
missing, you idiot! You should be worrying about THAT and not Cassandra!
She crept over to her best friend, Etcetera as the toms pulled the sheet
over the burmese queen. Etcetera grinned at her, and hopped up and
down excitedly. "I DANCED WITH TUUUUUGGGGGGGEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEER!"
she screeched and Tannsi giggled quietly. "Do you think he'll do
it?" she whispered, still staring at Mistoffelees.
"What, marry me?" Etcetera sighed dreamily. Tannsi blinked
and shook her head. "I mean Mistoffelees. Do yo-"
"OOOOOOOOOOOOH!" Etcetera interuppted, a mischeivious glint in her
eyes. "Mistoffelees......"
"Shut up..." Tannsi felt her face go hot and she looked down at her
paws. "I mean, do you think he can bring back Old Deuteronomy?"
Etcetera shrugged. "I hope so..."
Mistoffelees made a motion for silence and an eerie impatient quiet
fell across the Jellicles. Tannsi bit her lip as she watched anxiously,
and even Mistoffelees gave Tugger a worried glance. After what might
have been years or decades, Misto pulled the sheet up quickly, desperate
to see the results. Two pairs of jaws dropped as they stared at their
jellicle leader.
"Either Cassandra's really let herself go, or he actually done it!"
Electra muttered behind them. Tannsi began laughing, but not at the
joke. "He done it! He actually done it!" she cried.
The Jellicles rushed to touch their leader to make sure it was true,
but Mistoffelees broke away from the group. Tugger grinned at Tannsi
again as she began shouting out the words louder than ever. "OH!
WELL I NEVER! WAS THERE EVER A CAT SO CLEVER AS MAGICAL MISTER MISTOFFELEES?!"
She took a breath to sing another chorus but it escaped her lips as a pathetic
"oh..." Etcetera stopped singing as well as she saw what Tannsi was
looking at. "oh...Tannsi....I'm sorry..."
Tannsi shook her head and forced a smile. "It's...it's fine,
really..." she muttered as Mistoffelees and Cassandra continued to dance.
The celebrations of the return of Old D would have went on for longer if Munkustrap hadn't announced dawn was breaking. The Jellicles surrounded their leader, murmering amoung themselves as they tried to guess who would be sent to Heaviside, but Tannsi stayed behind in the shadows, wishing she could leave. But then she wouldn't find out who was chosen, and asking who it was was out of the question! She had been so caught up in feeling sorry for herself that she hadn't noticed they had a visitor. Grizabella stood bravely as the Jellicles ran away from her, or crowded around Old D. She took a breath and began to sing. A smile tugged at Tannsi's lips as the beautiful rich voice filled the air. Grizabella sung with a great passion, explaining her life to the Jellicles as they had never known. The hardships and dangers she had encountered. Everyone seemed affected by her beautiful song, and approached her slowly. Tannsi watched as Old Deuteronomy held her in his arms and escorted her to the centre of the Junkyard. Everyone knew what this meant. Old Deuteronomy had made his decision. Grizabella deserved another chance. Tannsi nodded. "I hope you are happy again.." she whispered as she crept away.
It was mid-afternoon when Mistoffelees had finally managed to get his
human to let him out. There weren't many cats around when he got
to the junkyard, but he caught sight of a familiar silky white tail, and
was making his way over, when someone tugged his tail. Misto turned
to meet two large almond eyes. "What did you DO?" Jemima sobbed,
a look of concern cleary written on her face.
Misto blinked. "Well, hi to you too."
Jemima frowned at him. "Mistoffelees! What did you do to
Tannsi? She hasn't come out of her house since the ball, and I want
to know why!"
Mistoffelees stopped to think. "Tannsi was AT the ball?"
His reply was an exasperated sigh as Jemima stormed away.
Victoria slipped over to her friend. "What was THAT about?"
Mistoffelees shrugged. "Your guess is as good as mine...she said
something about Tannsi not coming out of her house or something."
Victoria looked worried. "She's not come out of her house?
I wonder what's wrong...."
Misto shrugged again. "Jemima thinks it's something to do with
me, but I don't even TALK to Tannsi, so..."
Victoria nodded, a look of understanding dawning on her.
Misto glared. "What? DOES it have something to do with
me?"
Victoria didn't answer. "Why don't you talk to Tannsi?
You guys used to be best friends!"
"When we were KITTENS." Misto sniffed.
Victoria said nothing, and waited for Misto to explain. He sighed
and sat down.
"When we were kittens...it was just when I was first learning magic,
we were playing out in the forest, and, I dunno, I guess I was trying to
show her my powers, and it attracted some pollicles..." he shuddered
at the memory. "I was really young, and I didn't know how to use
my magic against THAT....one of them got me....it was really tearing into
me, you know? It could have snapped me in half, but it dropped me,
I dunno why. Anyway, I managed to magic them away, and Tannsi....Tannsi
just stood there, staring. She had a rip in ehr ear I think, but
she had just ran away, and not tried to help me. I managed to magic
myself back home, and when I woke up, I was at the vet with my human.
I had to have stitches and wear a cone, and I wasn't allowed out for weeks!
But Tannsi never even came over to make sure I was okay. When I was
allowed out again, I pulled her up about it, and she didn't say ANYTHING...I
guess I never really forgave her for it.....we've never spoken since..."
Victoria stood very still, looking at him for a moment. "That
not how she tells it." she muttered, turning to walk away.
"Wait! What do you mean?" Mistoffelees asked suspiciously.
Victoria shrugged, talking to him over her shoulder. "Why don't you
go see her?"
It had been a long time since Misto had been to Tannsi's house, he was amazed he still remembered the way! It had taken him a while to decide whether he should go or not, but he wanted to know what was wrong with Tannsi, and why it was his fault! And he was curious about what Victoria said "That's now how she tells it"...what had Tannsi said to Victoria?
Misto scratched at the door. Tannsi had a cat-flap, but he didn't
want to just walk in, so he waited for a few minutes until a furry white
face peeked out of the cat-flap. "Mistoffelees!" Etcetera squeeked.
"What are you....why are you....who...oh wait...what are you doing here?"
"I wanted to talk to Tannsi...what are you doing here?"
"Why? I mean umm...I'm just trying to cheer her up. I mean like
she IS my friend..."
"Is she....alright?" Misto asked, not sure what to say. Etcetera
shook her head, not meeting Misto's eyes.
"She's completely depressed. she hasn't come out of her house
all week, and she's not eating or sleeping much. The humans who live
with her are thinking of taking her to the vet."
Misto bit his lip. "Jemima said it had something to do with me...?"
Etcetera looked down again. "Uh...do you wanna come in?" She
stepped back. "She's just through there."
Misto walked slowly into the living room, Etcetera trotting behind him.
Tannsi was lying on a small pile of cushions with ehr back to him, facing
the window. There were untouched bowls of catfood and water, and
a few toys lying unwanted around her. Her ears pricked up as he stepped
into the room. "Etcetera? Who was at the door?"
Etcetera didn't answer, but pushed Misto forward. "Talk to her..."
she prompted.
Misto stepped forward nervously. "Umm....Tannsi?"
Tannsi stiffened and turned very slowly. "Mistoffelees?
What...whata er you doing here?" there was slight panic in her voice as
she jumped to her paws.
Misto shifted uncomfortably. "I...I heard you weren't well...I
thought that...maybe...."
A cold look came into Tannsi's eyes, as she put on an air of collected
calm. "Well, I'm fine. There's nothing to think about, so why
don't you go back to the junkyard and live happily ever after with Victoria,
or Cassandra, or whoever you're fucking now."
Mistoffelees glared at her. This wasn't the Tannsi he remembered.
"I'm not 'fucking' anyone! I just came to see if you were alright!"
"Well I'm FINE! LEAVE!" she spat.
"NO!" Etcetera jumped inbetween them. "This wasn't SUPPOSED
to happen!"
Tannsi glared at her. "How COULD you?"
Etcetera sighed. "I'm sorry, Tannie, but I thought..."
Misto turned on her. "Thought WHAT, Etcetera?"
"It's none of your business!" Tannsi yelled. "What are
you even DOING here, Mistoffelees, you hate me, remember? You're
with Cassandra now!"
Mistoffelees stopped and stared at her. What made you think I
was with her?"
Etcetera rolled her eyes. "We ALL saw you dancing with her at
the Ball, Misto, we're not blind."
Misto sighed. "We were only dancing! Alot of cats were
dancing, if you hadn't noticed! And besides, why do you CARE?
It's none of your business who I do or do not date."
Tannsi refused to meet his eye. "It's just....I....I'm...."
Etcetera squirmed uncomfortably. Tannsi and Misto weren't getting
anywhere by fighting like this. Misto needed to know the truth, then
maybe...."SHE LIKES YOU, OKAY?" she screamed a little louder than she had
intended.
Misto's jaw dropped, and Tannsi prayed for the Earth to gobble her
up.
Etcetera covered her mouth. The fighting was better than this
horrible silence. Finally Misto raised an eyebrow at Tannsi.
"You LIKE me?"
Tannsi shook her head. "No, Misto." She looked up at him,
tears streaming down ehr cheeks. "I...I love you. Ever since
we were kittens....I love you."
Etcetera grinned and slipped out the catflap.
Mistoffelees blinked a few times as he tried to process this information.
How could she LOVE him....it didn't make any sense!
Finally Tannsi looked away, wiping the tears off her cheeks, and bottling
the rest inside her. "Look...my humans will be home soon, maybe you
should go." She walked up the stairs, with her head down as if it
was a death walk or a funeral march.
Mistoffelees leapt up after her. "You LOVE me?"
She sighed. "Yes, but I...my owners...."
Misto shook his head. "Tannsi, you can't...we haven't spoken
in about a YEAR...."
Tannsi turned away, talking in a low embarressed voice. "I loved
you before then...ever since we were kittens....I've-"
Mistoffelees interuppted her. "No you didn't! Tannsi, you
left me to DIE when we were kittens!"
Tannsi stared at him. "What?"
He sgihed impatiently. "Remember the pollicles? I tried
to protect you, and they nearly killed me! If I hadn't been able
to magic myself home, I would have DIED!"
Fresh tears began to form in Tannsi's dark eyes. "You really
don't remember, do you?" she whispered.
Suddenly, her ears pricked up, and Misto could hear a door open.
"It's my owners! I TOLD you to get out!" she cried, biting her
lip. "The only cat door in the house is at the front door...they'll
see you if you go down there."
"Well, I need to LEAVE..." he muttered angrily.
The bottom step creaked.
"QUICK!" Tannsi yelped, running into the hall and nudging open a cupboard.
"Hide in here!"
Misto jumped in and ran to the back, waiting for the human to pass.
He could hear a loud voice in the hall. "Oh! Hi Patches!
Are you feeling better, huh?"
Well, anything's better than 'Socks' Misto thought as he waited
for the human to pass. After a few minutes, he heard another creak,
and Tannsi's brown and white face peeked into the cupboard. "Look,
I'll distract them, and you can get out the catflap."
Misto nodded in agreement, but refused to look at her. He followed
her down the stairs, and waited by the stair case as she strolled into
the livingroom to distract her family. She turned to see Misto as
he was inching towards the catflap. "Mistoffelees....I'm...sorry."
she muttered quietly.
He sighed. "Me too."
The fat white flakes floated down lazily onto the wet pavement. Mistoffelees had just noticed it was snowing! He had been pacing around Sheffield Terrence for he didn't know how long, just trying to put the story straight in his mind. He shivered beneath his fur coat, and headed back towards Peel Street.
The streets were nearly pitch black by the time he reached his owners
house, barely illuminated by a handful of streetlights and the pale crescent
moon. Misto shivered again as he scratched and mewed at his humans
door to be let in. A grumpy, grey haired giant opened the door, grumbling
something or other, but the familiar (and overwhelming) scent of perfume,
and the banging of slippers against the old floorboards told him 'mummy'
wasn't too far behind.
"Oh! Socks! Where have you BEEN? Mummy and Daddy
were so WORRIED about you!"
The taller human - 'Daddy' - stomped up the stairs, muttering to himself
about Mary loving the mangy cat more than him, or something, but 'Mummy'
didn't notice, or care, completely engrossed in drying Mistoffelees with
an old towel. "Oh, my poor baby...all lost out in the snow....you
haven't been chasing birds all day have you?"
Misto gave a quiet purr of a thank you, and slunk away. He had
too much on his mind to bother with humans right now.
Mistoffelees hadn't meant to fall asleep, but it had been a long day, and the idea of curling up warm and secure in his bed was too tempting to refuse. He had promised himself he was only going to lie there and think for a while, but the very second he lay down, he drifted into a long, deep sleep. Maybe it was a dream, maybe it was a prophecy, all Mistoffelees knew was that he was somehow remembering the events of that day...somehow going back to....
Tannsi giggled and ran over to him as fast as her chubby kitten legs
could carry her. "MIIIIIISTOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" she squealed as she hurled
herself on top of her friend. "I thought I was NEVER gonna see you
again!" she pouted, batting at his ears. Misto smiled sheepishly.
"Sorry, Tannie, but I've been learning all sorts of neat stuff!"
Tannsi chuckled and jumped off of him, nuzzling him for a few moments
before they began walking towards their favourite play spot. "Oh
yeah? Better than ignoring your bested best friend for YEARS?"
Misto rolled his eyes. "It wasn't YEARS, and I SAID I was sorry!
But you'll love it, I SWEAR! LOOK!" he grinned excitedly. Tannsi
watched in amzement as Mistoffelees slowly began to rise off the ground.
He levitated higher and higher...into a tree branch, and came crashing
to the ground. Tannsi rushed to his side. "ARE YOU OKA-"
She clutched her sides as she began laughing hysterically at Misto, not
able to stop. Mistoffelees pulled leaves out of his fur, and a twig
out of his ear, frowning at her. "It's not THAT funny...besides,
you ruined my concentration..."
"Suuuuure," she giggled, managing to calm down slightly.
"Alright, my next trick'll be better, I promise!"
Misto closed his eyes, blocking out the occassional snigger from Tannsi,
and held his paws out in front of him, as if in a trance. His
fingers began to glow and he could vaguely hear Tannsi gasp as bright colored
balls of light shot out of his paws and danced madly around the wood.
Misto opened his eyes and grinned proudly. "I toldja!" Tannsi
ran over to hug him. "Misto! It's the best thing EVER!
You're absolutely amazing!" Mistoffelees took a breath to say something,
but it escaped his lips in a frightened sigh as they heard a loud growl
behind them. The friends turned slowly to see two large stray mongrels,
at least twice their size, looking angry and worse - hungry.
Tannsi began to shake in Misto's arms, and he pulled her closer, slowly
backing away from the mutts. "Bast! I'm sorry, Tannsi, the
magic must have attracted them...."
She stared at the dogs vacantly. "...pollicles...." was all she
could utter.
Misto lciked her cheek, reassuringly, trying to act brave so Tannsi
wouldn't feel so afraid. "I won't let them hurt you." he vowed,
pushing her behind him.
One of the dogs - the larger of the two, Misto noticed with unease
- stepped towards him, threatingly, but they were trapped in a grove and
Misto was forced to hold his ground. He hissed at the dog, praying,
although he knew as he done it it was hopeless. The pollilce cackled
and took another step forward. "Here kitty, kitty..."
"Get away," Misto warned, his voice trembling. "Or I'll-"
The dog took another step, snapping his large jaws at him, and Misto
barely pulled away in time.
The dog took another step forward, and Misto was aware of someone pushing
him out of the way as he fell to the side, escaping the dog. He seemed
annoyed by this, and began chasing Mistoffelees around the grove, sheer
terror kept Misto moving. "RUN, TANNSI!" he cried, but he knew
it was too late. The other dog was already backing her into a corner.
Suddenly, seathing pain sheered through his body, and Misto screamed in
agony. The dog had him between his sharp drooling jaws, his belly
was in the dogs mouth, and he was slowly injecting his incisors into Misto's
tender flesh, letting the blood run freely down his face. Misto struggled,
but to no avail, the more he moved, the more flesh was torn. The
dog hadn't torn more than flesh, yet, he seemed to be enjoying Misto's
pleas for help, but Misto was loosing alot of blood. He could feel
the comforting warmth trickle down his body, but all he could see were
black dots swirling around him in a crazy Waltz. They were joining
together to weave darkness around him, and he knew he was slipping into
unconciousness as the dog bit deeper. Suddenly, the dog dropped him,
and he fell to the ground. Tannsi had dug her claws, small, yet sharp,
into the dogs chest, and the shock had made him drop Mistoffelees.
Like all dreams, Miso seemed to just KNOW this information, although he
couldn't see it happen. He managed to look up at his Saviour, who
was now missing part of her left ear, the wound dripping with red liquid,
but she was ignoring the pain, knowing it wasn't a third of what Mistoffelees
was feeling. With his last ounce of strength, Misto's paws began
to glow again, and taking careful aim, he managed to transport the beasts
decending on Tannsi to another part of London. Tannsi ran over to
him, licking his wound tenderly. "Misto...Misto, you're gonna be alright..."
she whispered, as wet tears rolled off her cheeks and fell upon his neck.
"Misto...you can't die!" she shouted, grabbing his paws, and kissing them
fiercefully. Her voice sounded further away, and he had closed his
eyes weeks ago. "Misto, no...I love you...." And then, he fell
unconcious.
Mistoffelees could still see the scene play before him, as if he were an actor who wasn't needed for this act, and was watching offstage. Tannsi seemed to know what she had to do, and with determination he had never seen displayed in her before, she set to work. After briefly cleaning his wound, she gingerly lifted the black and white shorthair off the ground, dropped him, and quickly ducked beneath him so she could now carry his body on her back. Mistoffelees could tell from the look in her tear-filled eyes that it was hard for her to carry him, but she began walking as steadily as possible, talking reassuringly to Mistoffelees, and probably to herself too. "It's alright, Misto...I'm just taking you home now, we're gonna get to your owners house, and she's gonna take you to the vet, and you're gonna be juuuuust fine..." She trotted quickly, being careful not to unbalance Mistoffelees, and spoke the entire way out of the forest, and down the winding streets that led to his human's house. Misto could see himself drift in and out of conciousness, wondering what was happening as he listened to Tannsi's soothing voice. After a short while, Tannsi reached Misto's house. She had came the fastest way she knew, and wound up on the wrong side of the road. "We're almost there, Misto!" she exclaimed, dashing across the road to the small island in the middle. Mistoffelees slipped off her back on the jump up and fell back onto the road. "NO!" Tannsi cried, as she watched an on-coming Volvo come ever nearer. Without thinking, she leapt ontop of Mistoffelees protectively, and pulled his arms down to his sides. She ducked her head down, and pressed herself as flat onto Misto as she could, saying a small prayer as she heard it pass above them. She waited a few minutes, then gingerly raised her head, looking around suspicously for any cars. With a nervous giggle, she crept off Mistoffelees, and dragged him onto the Island so she could get him on her back again. She was more careful crossing over to the other side.
Now came the next problem, Misto had no cat-door. She gently slipped
Misto onto the front step, and began scratching at the door, screeching
loudly. She heard a bellow of "I'm coming, Socks!" from inside, and
thought it safe to treat Misto's wounds.
'Mummy' screamed as she opened the door so see her precious baby being
'attacked' by a monsterous stray. Tannsi looked up guiltily, Misto's
blood staining her lips, and she began to tell what happened. "We
were attacked my some pollicles and-" Tannsi wheezed as she flew
through the air and landed on her paws a few feet away. She realised
with shock, that the burning pain in her side was a developing bruise under
her thick fur. Misto's owner had kicked her. "YOU HORRIBLE,
HORRIBLE BEAST! YOU STAY AWAY FROM MY SOCKS!" she wailed, as the
fat blobs of mascara ran down her face in grey streaks. She grabbed
the black bundle and thrust him into a blue Uno. "AND IF I EVER,
EVER CATCH YOU AROUND HERE AGAIN, I'LL CALL THE POUND TO GET YOU PUT DOWN!"
Tannsi gasped. "No! You don't understand, he's my FRIEND!"
But the Uno had already rushed away.
Misto watched the weeping queen with pity. He had never known
that part of the story. As she stood and began to limp away, the
world around him darkened, and the next thing he saw was the Junkyard.
He saw himself, still covered in bandages, and that HORRIBLE cone, sitting
on the Old Ford, scowling and seething to himself. He had gotten
up early, he recalled, and his owner had finally let him out, and the first
thing he had done was march straight to the Junkyard to find Tannsi.
A familiar face walked in slowly, large sad eyes pointed at the ground.
He frowned harder. What did she look so upset about? "TANNSI!"
he yelled, storming over to her with fire flashing in his dark eyes.
Her entire face seemed to light up, and she ran over to him, almost as
if she didn't believe it yet. "Mistoffelees! You're alright!
I was so worried-"
She leaned forward to nuzzle him, but he stopped her, giving her a
cold glare instead.
"Don't LIE, Tannsi! If you were worried you would have at least
come over!"
She bit her lip. "I can explain that, yo-"
He interuppted her, not caring about what she was saying. "Why
didn't you DO anything, Tannsi? That pollicle could have killed me!"
She tried to speak again, but he carried on. "If I hadn't been
able to magic myself home to my owner..."
Tears began forming in her eyes. "Misto-"
"Do you know how she found me, Tannsi? Lying on her front step,
with a HOLE in my side, bleeding everywhere! And what happened to
you? Oh no! You seem to have a rip in your ear!"
He knew at the time it was worse than that, the dog had got a good
bite at it, but he was so angry...
"Why won't you listen to me?" she whispered, her voice trembling with
emotion.
"BEAUSE YOU'RE ONLY GOING TO LIE ABOUT IT!" he yelled. "Look...just
forget it, Tannsi. Forget it happened. Forget we're friends."
and he stomped away, leaving Tannsi sobbing behind him.
Misto woke up with tears in his eyes, the dream still fresh and alive in his mind. If this vision was was true, and Tannsi had really saved him...it changed everything. It meant that she really DID love him....it meant....
After alot of nudging and hissing at his humans, Misto was finally let out. 'Daddy' was too groggy to notice or care that it was 6 am and still snowing. Misto bounded through the cold streets as quickly as he could, leaving tiny delicate footprints in the virgin snow. It seemed like years had passed until a quivering heap of fur fell through Tannsi's cat-flap. He lay there for a moment, trying to catch his breath before he advanced further into the house. He tip-toed around downstairs, occassionally poking into rooms. There had not been a car outside, but it was better to be safe than thrown out of the hosue by angry humans. "Tannsi?" Misto whispered. He waited for a few minutes, but there was no answer. He called for her again, louder this time. An annoyed 'lemme alone, Cety...' came from up stairs, and Misto hopped up quickly, full of excitment, worry, and dread. "Tannsi? uh...It's me....Mistoffelees..." The patch work pile of fur said nothing, but lay extremelly still. Misto could hear her fast panicked breaths over his own. "I know you probably don't want to see me right now...but...umm....." he mumbled quietly. Why hadn't he thought of something to SAY?! "See, I...I had this dream last night...and umm...it was...weird...uh......do you remember the day we were in the woods, and the pollicles came and all that?" Tannsi bit her bottom lip and gave a tiny nod as she turned to see him. Misto looked away. "Well...it...it was about that...only umm.....it was...like umm....I got attacked by the pollicle and....." he sighed. He wasn't getting ANYWHERE. "Look, Tannsi, this is gonna sound weird, but...well....what happened that day?"
Tannsi let out a sigh, and began the story, a light tremor in her voice.
"When...when the dogs came, one of them got you...and....I don't know....I
managed to hit him or something, I guess, and he let go." she shrugged
slightly.
"You saved me..." he muttered softly.
Tannsi blushed and shook her head vigarously. "You magiced them
away, it was YOU who saved ME..."
Misto frowned. "What happened AFTER that?"
Tannsi looked away. "I thought you didn't care. I thought
I was supposed to 'forget it'."
Misto groaned slightly. "Well....Tannsi, how did I get back to
my owner?"
Tannsi gave him a weak smile. "You won't believe it."
He stepped closer. "Please? This is really important to
me."
"I....I helped you back, I guess."
"You carried me."
She nodded. "On my back."
"Across a road..." Misto prompted.
"You...you fell off, and a car was coming and-"
"You saved me. Again." Misto interuppted. "Tannsi,
why didn't you tell me?"
She blushed harder. "You didn't want to know. You wouldn't
have listened to me, no matter WHAT I said..."
Misto looked away. "I...I thought you had left me there...I thought...I'm
sorry..."
Tannsi took a step forward. "Me too."
It was early afternoon when Victoria had finally managed to get her
human to let her out. There weren't many cats around when she got
to the junkyard, but she could see Plato by the old oven, and she was making
her way over, when someone tugged her tail. Vicki turned to meet
a pair of large almond eyes, smiling up at her.
"What did you DO?!" Jemima asked, awe and confusion strewn through
her voice.
"Well, hi to you too!" Victoria teased.
Jemima shook her head. "What did you say to Mistoffelees?
He and Tannsi made back up!"
Victoria smiled. "I didn't say anything, but I had a feeling
they would sooner or later."
A blur of white and brown skidded over to them. "OH MY GOOOOOOD!"
Etcetera cried. "YOU GUYS WON'T BELIEVE THIS!"
Victoria was about to ask what, when she saw a familiar tuxedo tom
and a grinning patchwork queen standing AWFULLY close, laughing and talking
like they were best friends.
Jemima nudged her gently. "See?"
Vicki stared in amazement as Mistoffelees leaned down and kissed Tannsi's
lips passionately.
Etcetera grinned at them. "See?"