Fated to Love You

By Dream Painter

Summary: When Coricopat makes an especially hurtful remark to his sister, Tantomile retreats and finds comfort – and more – in another. It was a single moment that set in motion irreversible change. But will things change for the better, or will they get worse? Can she possibly gain all she's ever wanted? Or is it beyond her reach as Cori has always thought?

Notes: Hello again, CATS fandom! I have missed writing CATS fanfiction and have recently decided to remedy that since my Muse is at a virtual standstill with my HP fics. This is a story I've had in the Stewpot since my last bout of CATS stories. Since the Muse seems to be strong for this one, I decided to start working away. I just hope enough CATS fans remain to enjoy this tale and the other I have in the works (but am not posting, just yet).

The title was suggested by my bestie, and is inspired by one of our favorite Kdramas.


Chapter One

0o0

/Cori, don't be like that,/ Tantomile spoke soothingly to her brother. /I wasn't trying to offend you. All I meant is that maybe you should try to interact more with the others./

To many in the Jellicle Junkyard, Coricopat and Tantomile were a package deal. Being twins, they bore identical markings, the only difference between them being that Cori, as a tom, was slightly larger than his sister Tanta. Since kittenhood, they'd done nearly everything together and practice had given them the ability to move and speak with eerie synchronicity.

They had the same appearance, the same mystical abilities, and the same mind – or so many were inclined to believe. The truth of the matter was that the twins were quite different, with their own ideas and opinions and their own likes and dislikes, just like any other siblings. They just usually managed to settle their differences between themselves, their arguments waged in their silent telepathic communication.

/And what good will that do, Tanta?/ Coricopat retorted. /No matter how often you take part in their stupid little skits or join in with fawning over Tugger, you'll never fit in. At the end of the day, we're still just freaks./

Sometimes, however, even they hurt each other's feelings.

Tanta scowled. /Those are father's words and you know it,/ she admonished sharply. They had recently heard word of their father, which always tended to set both of them on edge. /And I happened to notice that you joined in during this year's revel just like the rest of us./

/Because Munkustrap asked me to!/

/And you expect me to believe you didn't enjoy yourself?/ she demanded. /Cori, I know you. Listen... This isn't our old tribe. We can fit in here. There's no reason why we can't have mates and fam-/

/Mates?/ he scoffed. /Mates, Tantomile? Do you really think anyone would take a freakish little queen like you?/

Tantomile was stung. She could understand that her brother was hurt by their father's latest rejection, but now he was going too far.

/Well?/

To his utter surprise, her eyes brimmed over with tears. He only belatedly noticed how deeply his remark had actually cut her. And then, much like a door being forced shut upon him, Coricopat could feel her closing her mind to him, barring him access to her thoughts and feelings for the first time in years.

"Bravo, Cori," Tantomile told him aloud. "Now, you've treated me just as father always has. Well done. I'm sure he'd be proud that you're finally behaving like his son." Without another word, she turned and fled from the den they shared.

"Tanta, wait!" the tom called after her, chasing her as far as the door. Too late did he realize the damage his cruel words had just inflicted upon the only family that mattered to him. It seemed he was always taking his anger towards their father out on her.

Now, he had finally driven even her away.

"I'm sorry, sister," Cori murmured miserably to himself, shoulders slumping and tail curling insecurely around his feet. He hadn't meant it. Of course, he hadn't. To him, his sister was remarkable. She was his confidant and best friend. Features settling resolutely, he made a decision. "I'll make it up to you," he promised the empty air. "I'll do better, Tanta. You'll see."

0o0o0

Freak. Freak. FREAK.

If there was one word Tantomile hated, that she wished never to hear again, it was 'freak.' The other kittens when they were small would call them that, having first heard it from their parents or other cats in their tribe. It didn't help that their own father thought of them the same. His freak offspring, of whom he was so ashamed that he would not even pass on the mantle of leadership to his heir.

Now, her own brother – the only cat who never made her feel inadequate – had turned that same word against her. How could he? He knew better than anyone else how much it hurt her. How could he?!

Tantomile wasn't certain how far she fled through the Junkyard, or even which direction she had gone. She finally had to stop, however, unable to see through the tears distorting her vision and incapable of catching her breath through the hurt sobs shaking her frame.

Do you really think anyone would take a freakish little queen like you?

Was it so much to hope for?!

"Tantomile?"

The queen started, trying unsuccessfully to cease her tears. She hadn't expected anyone else – not even her brother, really. (Apologizing wasn't really Coricopat's strong suit.) It was late, even for a cat. It seemed she must have woken someone.

"I-I'm sorry. I didn't mean to disturb you," she told the tom, not entirely sure who she was addressing, just yet. "I'll go s-somewhere else. I didn't… I'm sorry." She rose to move away, only to be halted by a paw on her shoulder.

"Why are you apologizing?" It was Alonzo, she realized as she heard his voice. "You're already upset – why be sorry to me? I'm fine. More importantly, what has upset you? Why are you crying, Tantomile? I-I've never seen you like this."

"I know. I'm sorry—"

"Stop apologizing," the tom admonished gently. He lifted her chin to get her to look at him and she was finally able to make out the concern on his black and white features. "Now, what's wrong? Is it your brother? Is something wrong with Coricopat?"

Just when she was beginning to think she was getting a handle on her emotions, he had to mention the cause of her upset and set her off all over again with the sobbing.

"Is he all right?" Alonzo asked anxiously, concern heightening. "What happened?!"

Tantomile shook her head, vainly trying to express that the tom's concern for Cori was unmerited. After a moment, she finally found her words. "Coricopat's just fine," she told him, the word coming out bitterly, "fine and miserable and h-hateful."

"Oh," the bi-color said softly. The twins always seemed so in-sync, it was hard for him to imagine that even they had times where they were at odds. "Did you have a fight?"

"You could say so. It's not much of a fight when only one cat is trying to hurt the other," she responded, although she wasn't sure why. This was between her and her brother, after all. Why would she confide in someone she barely knew?

"What did he say?" Alonzo questioned, frowning at the thought of anyone intentionally trying to hurt someone else. He wasn't naïve. He knew that cats said hurtful things to one another all the time. In fact, he'd be remiss to believe that he had never been on the giving end of such an exchange in his life. For someone to cause so much hurt to a queen who was otherwise so calm and composed, however, seemed unconscionable.

"He called me f-freakish," Tantomile admitted miserably. "Just like father's always done. I know it's silly, but Cori has never… He knows how much it hurts!"

That was the most that Alonzo had learned of the twin's past before joining the tribe. He'd heard from Munkustrap that they had been outcasts in their previous tribe, even rejected by their own father, but it just hadn't really occurred to him how much hurt must have come from it all.

He stroked tears from her cheeks with a paw. "It's not silly," he said firmly, "and he's wrong. Your father is wrong. You're not freakish, at all. You're beautiful and special."

"Special's just another way of saying I'm strange," Tantomile accused.

"It's not," Alonzo said. He wrapped his arms around the upset queen and nuzzled her ear comfortingly. "I promise it's not. There's nothing wrong with being different. It makes you special. You're special. Not freakish, at all."

Tantomile was a bit surprised by the contact. She had not received many embraces in her life, and none for a very long time. Nonetheless, she found herself comforted, her tears stemming and sobs ebbing away. Slowly, she realized that the tom had started purring to make her feel better – and it was working. On impulse, she nuzzled his chin.

"Promise?" she asked insecurely.

"I promise," he confirmed, meeting her amber gaze.

For the first time, he found himself in a position to take in her features. Somehow, he had failed to notice how intricate her markings really were. He'd noticed she was pretty – it wasn't something that often escaped his notice with queens – but he failed to realize how much.

"You're special," Alonzo repeated himself, nuzzling his face against those lovely features. "And you're beautiful."

Looking back later, Tantomile would not really be able to say what had been going through her mind. She was vulnerable and she was hurt, and he was gentle and soothing and there. He was there, and in that moment, he was making a lie of the words that had so wounded her.

Perhaps nothing had been going on in her mind, at all. If there had, then surely things would have ended right there. Maybe she just wanted to feel desired and, well, Alonzo certainly proved gifted in that.

How else would she have found herself curled beside the tom in his den the next morning?

0o0

To be continued...


A/N: While I understand that it's not always easy to know what to say, I consider any and all feedback invaluable, no matter how simple. Fanfiction is written primarily for other fans, after all, so even a "Please continue" is of incredible help in feeding the creative Muse. I don't need anything profound, if you don't have it to offer. All I ask is that you let me know you are there.