Jemima sat next to me staring up at the sky. It was a clear, cloudless night. Every star could be seen, the moon lighting up the empty field we were sitting in. There was no noise but the chirping of crickets and other animal sounds. We sat in the middle of a dandelion field. A pair of glowing eyes were visible in the trees.

When I looked up, I saw a shooting star. "Look, Jemima. Make a wish." I closed my eyes and wished for…everything to go right.

"It's so beautiful." Jemima looked at me with a smile. She never smiled like that, even when she was with Tugger.

"Yeah, it is."

"Hey, Pounce?" she looked back up at the stars. That goofy grin was still plastered on her face. I looked up too.

"Yeah?"

"How far do you think the stars go?" Jemima gave a contented sigh, still smiling.

I thought about the question. "I don't know."

She sighed again. "I bet they go on and on and on."

"Yeah. I bet." I laid back on the grass, so did Jemima.

We both lay there silently. The midnight sounds were lulling me to sleep, but Jemima's happy face kept me awake. My paw itched to hold hers, she was only a few inches away.

If only she knew how I felt about her. But everybody knows she loves someone whos not me. All the queen-kits and even Bombalurina, a full queen, love him. He was the biggest flirt in the tribe, I heard that he even flirts with toms. What does everybody see in him? Hes just another tom who wants all the attention, like Macavity. He thinks hes so cool and sexy, and can do what he wants with the queen-kits' little heads.

Well, he can have everyone except Jemima.

I turned to look at Jemima. Her big eyes were so pretty, and the way she smiled made them look even prettier. I loved how she didn't take anything seriously, but I wanted desperately for her to take this seriously. If she didn't, I would probably die.

"Hey, Jemima?"

She turned on her side to face me, still smiling. "Yeah?"

For a second, I couldn't say anything. Her lips were so close to mine. Bast, she's going to hate me. I closed the gap between our lips. She made small noises of confusion, then she fell silent. I hoped she wouldn't slap me or push me away. She didn't. Slowly, I pulled back for air. She lifted her chin with mine, trying to keep our lips together.

"I love you, Jemima," I finally said.

She looked at me with surprise. I thought for a second she would start laughing, but she didn't. "Oh Pounce, I love you too!"

I could feel my cheeks heat up. "Like how you love Tugger?"

Jemima giggled. Oh no, I thought. She isn't reacting how I hoped she would.

Then she said the worst possible thing, "Of course not!" My heart sank, but then she said something else, "I love you way more than Tugger! How could I not! You're so sweet and way cuute!"

I wanted to jump up and scream. "Really?"

"Of course! Pouncival, I've loved you since we were little kits," she said laughing.

We fell silent again. Jemima stared at the grass, smiling. I took her paw. "Jemima?"

She looked up at me. "Yeah, Pounce?"

"Jemima, will you go to the ball with me?"

I heard a sound from behind us. It sounded like squealing, Tumblebrutus and Electra were watching us the whole time. Electra was squealing like she was electrocuted. They ran away giggling. Jemima stood up and took my paw, pulling me up.

"Yes!" she hugged me and I hugged her back.

She was smiling even wider. I had never seen her so happy, even when she was looking up at the stars.

Take that, Tugger! She's mine now.