Disclaimer: I do not own Cats, Spring Awakening, or any of the characters in either.

Part 1: The Idea

"What business does she even have, telling me what to do?" Victoria raved, her tail lashing furiously behind her. Mistoffelees watched bemusedly, eyes following the white queen-kitten as she paced back and forth in front of him, an ugly expression marring her pretty face.

"We aren't even related! Not at all! And yet she thinks she can just boss me around like she's my mother! Honestly, who does she think she is?"

"Maybe she thinks she's the queen in charge of all the Junkyard's kittens?" Mistoffelees suggested, smirking as Victoria turned to glare at him. "Right, stupid idea. Silly me to point out her actual position in the Tribe."

Victoria growled at that, stalking across the room to flop down onto the bed next to him. It was a bit of a tight fit, since the two of them were not the tiny kittens they used to be, but Mistoffelees shifted over to the edge of the bed to make room for her anyway.

"She's just trying to look our for your best interests," the tuxedo tom said, watching as Victoria curled up dejectedly. "Defending your honor and all that."

"But it's not fair!" Victoria whined, sniffling slightly. Mistoffelees was quite alarmed to see the beginnings of tears falling from her eyes. "I just want to spend time with him, alone, without having to worry about some queen breathing down my neck every time I get close to him!"

Mistoffelees sighed, reaching out to wrap an arm around his sister and pulling her close. "Just try talking to her. At the very least, try to understand her point of view. Maybe she'll come around."

"Probably not," Victoria grumbled, pouting. "She's never gonna let me and Plato be alone together. Not until our mating dance."

"Are things that serious?" Mistoffelees asked, his ears coming up in surprise. "I mean, are you two already thinking about that?"

Victoria giggled. "I'm a queen, Misto, I'm always thinking about that. I bet Sillabub's thinking about it too," she teased, and Mistoffelees pulled a face.

"Do not let Munkustrap hear you say that. He's already been giving me dirty looks every time I hold paws with her; just imagine what he'd do if he thought his daughter wanted to mate with me."

Victoria giggled again, and Mistoffelees smiled, glad that he could at least cheer her up for a minute.

"But Daddy!"

"Etcetera, please, your father has already made up his mind. Just leave it alone."

"Mom! You can't possibly agree with him!"

"Etcetera, our word is final. That's enough." Skimbleshanks's tone signaled the end of this conversation, and for once, Etcetera fell silent. She knew better than to argue when her father was in that kind of mood; it would only end with her being grounded and losing even more of her privileges. Not that she had that many to begin with.

Jennyanydots and Skimbleshanks shared a look behind their daughter's back. They knew that she was getting to the age where she wanted to date, wanted to spend time with toms without her parents interfering, but they weren't sure she was ready for that kind of responsibility yet.

The tabby kitten started for the door, scowling as she marched. Her parents let her go—she knew better than to leave the Junkyard, after all, and there would always be cats around to keep an eye on her.

Etcetera stormed through the endless piles of junk without seeing where she was going, all her muscles tense with fury. All she wanted to do was hang out with Asparagus, and her parents were flipping out! It wasn't as if she had never hung out with him before, and okay, that was maybe mostly just when she was playing with Electra and he just happened to be around, but still! It was frustrating how controlling and…and…unfair they could be!

It wasn't until she crossed paths with Jemima that her tunnel vision cleared, and the two kittens greeted each other happily. Soon they were strolling together through the Yard, sharing woeful stories of their parents.

"Yeah, my dad's being the same way," Jemima said glumly. "My mom's okay with me going out with Pouncival, but Dad's insisting that we have a chaperone. And he's completely insane about Sillabub going out with Mistoffelees, saying he's too old for her and all. I mean, he's not that much older than her! And it's not like they're doing anything, anyway. Honestly."

"Seriously," Etcetera agreed with a nod. "Parents can be so lame sometimes."

Tumblebrutus smiled shyly at Electra, grasping her paw in his and tugging her a little closer. She fluttered her eyelashes a little at him, enjoying the feeling of their intertwined fingers, their arms brushing against each other.

It didn't last long. A quiet a-hem from behind them, and Tumblebrutus sprang away almost immediately, casting a guilty look back at Jellylorum.

Electra groaned and rolled her eyes. Mothers. Always getting in the way.

After the cheer from joking around with her brother had faded, and the tom himself had drifted off to sleep, Victoria stood and paced her way across the room, slipping silently through the door. She wandered through the enormous, empty house that her family called home, a white shadow against the gleaming floors and priceless decorations.

Once upon a time, her mother and father had lived here with their human family, quite content with their life. Then they'd had Mistoffelees, their first kitten, and Victoria not too long after that. Her mother had died shortly after giving birth to her. Bustopher had been devastated, and although nothing about the immaculate mansion had changed, the once-warm home had turned into nothing more than a cold, empty house.

Still, there were places that Victoria could go when she was upset, where she was sure to receive some comfort. She made her way towards one of those places now, her head spinning with thoughts.

She knew that the other kittens were upset with their lot as well. She, Etcetera, and Electra all had their coming-of-age Ball in just over a year, while Jemima and Sillabub would have theirs the year after. And yet none of them were being treated like the adults they (almost) were. How could she choose a mate and dance with him on the day of her Ball if she couldn't even spend time alone with him before then?

All of the adults had seemed to come together, united for one purpose—to make the lives of the kittens miserable. To keep them young and ignorant forever, not letting them grow up and make their own decisions. They had to do something, if they ever wanted to live their own lives…but what?

She was happy to see one particular door open and made a beeline for it, leaping lightly from hardwood floor onto the soft carpet of this room. Her favorite human was lounging on her bed, humming softly along with the music playing from her laptop.

Victoria meowed for attention from the floor, but the girl was already smiling at her, reaching down to rub the kitten's ears.

"Hey, Snowy, what's up?" she asked cheerfully, grinning when Victoria purred. "Just came in here to hang out with me? Well, come on, you can come up here and listen to music with me." With that, she reached down to lift Victoria gently and place her down on the bed next to the laptop, where the white kitten curled up happily. With the music playing next to her ear, the plush comforter beneath her head, it was easy for her to begin to doze off.

It was a few minutes later, when the music changed suddenly from the upbeat pop CD that had been playing to a slow, almost mournful sound, that Victoria lifted her head curiously. A few moments later, a soft voice began to sing.

"Mama who bore me…"

Victoria mewed softly, her head tilted slightly to one side as she listened to the song, getting lost in the words and the melody. The human girl noticed her listening after a few moments and laughed at the awestruck look on the kitten's face.

"You like that, Snowy? It's one of my favorite musicals. It's called Spring Awakening. It's all about these teens living in Germany…" She went on, babbling excitedly as the song went on, and Victoria felt a small smile slip over her face as she heard more and more about it.

She may have an idea about how to deal with all the Junkyard parents…

A/N: I came up with this idea when I was listening to Glee music and reading Cats fanfiction. I think I was actually listening to Jonathan Groff and Lea Michele singing, which explains why I was thinking about Spring Awakening instead of Glee...anyway. It's not very long, just six parts, so I think I'll just post a new part every day. I'm not really sure how good it is...but, hey, I enjoyed writing it, so hopefully you'll enjoy reading it!

Good? Bad? Very bad? Let me know!