Title: "Loving Family"
Author: Pirate Turner
Rating: G
Summary: There's nothing like a loving family and home.
Warnings: Drabble, Het
Word Count: 500
Date Written: 2 May, 2012
Challenge: For a FurryFicdom LJ comm's monthly competition
Award: FurryFicdom's Drabble Winner for May 2012
Disclaimer: Madame, Thomas O'Malley, Duchess, her kittens, all other characters mentioned within, and The Aristocats are ﾩ & TM Disney, not the author, and are used without permission. Everything else is ﾩ & TM the author. The author makes absolutely no profit off of this work of fan fiction, and no copyright infringement is intended.
She closed the door with shaking hands, and then closed her eyes to try to forget the horrors she had seen. The city was such a frightening place, full of danger, hatred, pollution, disaster, and ugliness. She hated going there, but sometimes a trip was sadly inevitable.
She concentrated on calming her breathing for a moment, as her lawyer friend had taught her, and then she focused all of her energies on one, wonderful thought: She was home! Finally, she was home, back with her family where she belonged!
Hearing a mew, the old woman opened her eyes. She smiled, for the first time since she'd left, upon the sight of the little, furry bodies running to her. She knelt to join them and petted five bobbing, purring heads repeatedly two at a time. They were all there: her precious Duchess, her beloved Thomas, and all three sweet and wonderful kittens. Her family was whole again, and Madame wept joyful tears for she was in paradise once more!
Hearing scuffling, Madame's eyes turned toward the hallway. The Aristocats worried when she spotted Scat Cat's gang and even more so when she stood. Duchess meowed and curled around her legs, but Madame would not be deterred. "Not so fast," she spoke. "I think it's time I met your husband's friends, don't you, Duchess?"
Duchess' pretty, blue eyes rounded with shock. Her kittens started mewing, worried that their friends would be banned from visiting them. Thomas shook his head first and then gave a hanged expression. "This is all my fault," he mewed, his tail tucking.
"Oh, honestly," Madame cajoled, rubbing his head, "there's no reason to fret so, my dears. I'm not going to run off your friends."
The kittens glanced up hopefully. "Really?" Berloiz mewed.
Madame looked up, startled, as a large, gray cat sauntered proudly into the room. He strode boldly up to her. He took her hand, put his trumpet on the floor, removed his hat, bowed, and kissed her hand. Then he raised his trumpet again and, despite Thomas and Duchess both meowing frantically to him not to, began to play.
Madame clasped her hands in delight. Scat Cat's band followed suit, following in behind him and playing their own instruments, and to the Aristocats' amazement, Madame began to dance. They watched her for a while, barely able to believe their eyes, until the kittens started boogying down also. Then Thomas turned to Duchess and took her lovely, white paws in his orange ones. He bowed gallantly, his green eyes gazing up into her baby blues. "May I have this dance?"
"Always," she purred. The soul mates rubbed noses in a sweet kiss before joining the rest of their family in dancing. They danced all night long, and from that day to this, Scat Cat and his gang have always had a loving home whenever they want it, which they've found, to their great surprise, has been quite often for nothing makes the world go round like family.
The End