(A/N: Yay! Jellicle Week time again! Even though it's now silently morphed into "Jellicle Month", but whatevs. Khaos, you have no idea how much I look forward to these – they are so much fun! Anyway, ON WITH THE FIC! Hope you enjoy!)

Summary: Skimble is confused, Jenny is scared, and something bigger than the both of them is resting on their shoulders.

Disclaimer: If I owned "Cats", do you think I would be writing FANfiction about it? ...Don't answer that.

Now of All Times

A Skimbleshanks/Jennyanydots Fanfic

by Jill Diamond

~Chapter One~

[Owner's House]

ZIP!

An orange and brown blur thundered through the living room, giving the older male human reading in the easy chair quite a jump. He straightened his glasses and tried to get back to the paper, but the furry comet came zooming in from the other direction and bolted up the stairs, nearly knocking over his wife as she came down.

Oh, Skimbleshanks was very much distressed. He had to be at the station in less than an hour, and he had completely lost his pocket watch! How in Heavyside's name had he let himself do such a thing?

He hopped in and out of the children's bedrooms on the upper floor, not finding his gold trinket in even the tiniest of crawlspaces, and then skidded back downstairs to once again check around his bed next to the washing machine.

No such luck. He had half a mind to rip open the lining of his cushy pillow-bed to see if his watch had somehow gotten inside, but decided against it, as he didn't want to annoy his humans any more today.

Zippity-dash to the father's study to only be disappointed as he rifled through the contents of his desk drawers. Once more to the kitchen, gaining a bite of breakfast sausage from each of the children, to hop up onto his favorite perch above the cabinets. The only thing they contained was dust.

If he had the time, he would have dusted them himself with his tail, but time literally was of the essence, and he hopped down gracefully to bolt for the master bedroom.

Aha! Victory!

Skimbleshanks spied the glinting loveliness out of the corner of his eye. The missus had laid it on the table of her vanity! He should have expected her to do such a thing. He pounced up to the curtained stool that stood before the vanity, and then snatched up his most prized possession, kissing it soundly on the lid. He hooked the chain carefully to the inside of his pocket, where it belonged, then after checking the two little hands' positions, jauntily trotted towards the front door and slipped through the cat flap.

"I swear, Adeline, that cat gets crazier every week!" he heard the husband exclaim.

After a bit of chuckling, he turned on his heel and started to walk for the station, but there was someone there to intercept.

"Morning, Skimble."

A/N: Sorry first chap is so short! Next one will be much longer! Pinkie swear!