Sleeping Tiger, you mentioned you liked Alonzo/Cassandra, and didn't like writing your own, so here's my gift to you. Fifty themes, each with one sentence, yoinked from the 1sentence challenge community (though I didn't actually join... maybe I should).

Rating: PG? It's not that bad, but there are occasional hints of these cats being adults and also a bit of violence.

I do not own Cats!


The Fifty Themes of Alonzo and Cassandra


#01 – Ring

Cassandra's humans hated their doorbell, but it was just the perfect height for Alonzo to reach in one bound, slapping at it with his paws to let her know he wanted to play.

#02 – Hero

Being a Jellicle guardian meant you protected the junkyard from dangerous foes, but Alonzo never felt more like a hero then when Cassandra hugged him after he retrieved her favorite toy from that icky pipe.

#03 – Memory

When Alonzo heard Grizabella sing, he could only imagine Cassandra in her place in ten years, and he held her close to let her know he wouldn't ever let her fall that far.

#04 – Box

His home was a large Chinese take-out box, and while it wasn't fancy, it was just big enough for two amorous cats.

#05 – Run

Watching her, Alonzo realized that Cassandra never ran, never hurried, but she always moved at her own pace.

#06 – Hurricane

London never had hurricanes, but Cassandra in a temper could almost be classified as one.

#07 – Wings

He caught a dove and brought it home, and tucked the wings behind his angel as she slept.

#08 – Cold

In the winter, her humans kept her inside, and his den was far too cold.

#09 – Red

Too much blood, too much red, too much pain… Alonzo wondered if he'd ever see another color again.

#10 – Drink

The first time she lifted her head to lap the water from his paws after that Pollicle attack was the first time he could breathe correctly.

#11 – Midnight

Overnight, under the watchful eye of the moon, Munkustrap helped Alonzo exact his revenge, not saying a word.

#12 – Temptation

Temptation wasn't a sin, whatever that human word meant, but it was a sleek brown queen with a white face and a long tail.

#13 – View

From his box, Alonzo could see the entrance Cassandra always used, and he knew the moment she arrived.

#14 – Music

After the Jellicle Ball, they continued to dance, swaying to music only they could hear.

#15 – Silk

Silk, Cassandra tried to explain, was the most exquisite human cloth, but Alonzo thought her fur was far more priceless.

#16 – Cover

Cassandra didn't like hiding when she went from her home to the yard, and so Alonzo wasn't entirely surprised when she showed up bleeding again.

#17 – Promise

They held paws and made a solemn vow that they would wait for each other in the Heaviside Layer, no matter what.

#18 – Dream

Cassandra loved kittens, and Alonzo tried to provide her with some, but their dream was ruined by a trip to the vet.

#19 – Candle

She was so named because she would drag a birthday candle after her wherever she went, their little adopted daughter.

#20 – Talent

Alonzo really had a knack for pissing Cassandra off, he discovered, but he also had a talent for calming her back down.

#21 – Silence

Privately, Alonzo thought Cassandra quiet was more disturbing than Cassandra in a rage.

#22 – Journey

After the third attack, Alonzo told Cassandra that he would visit her from now on.

#23 – Fire

When the junkyard burned, Cassandra helped Alonzo move in to her home.

#24 – Strength

It was far harder to live as a civilized cat then it was to be a Jellicle guardian.

#25 – Mask

Cassandra knew something was wrong, but Alonzo hid behind his face patches that made it look like he was always smiling.

#26 – Ice

It was the middle of summer when Alonzo returned to the yard, but in his heart, he could swear he felt ice.

#27 – Fall

Ice was replaced by stone, and the stone dropped to his stomach, when he saw her with Tugger.

#28 – Forgotten

Did she even remember their kitten?

#29 – Dance

Alonzo watched Candle at her Ball, but he could see Cassandra watching him as their daughter danced.

#30 – Body

What did Tugger have that Alonzo didn't… besides Cassandra?

#31 – Sacred

The bond of a mother and her daughter, even if it wasn't her own flesh and blood, was sacred, Alonzo learned, after Macavity swung by.

#32 – Farewells

Burying his kitten, even if she was officially an adult, was the hardest thing Alonzo had ever done.

#33 – World

It meant the world to him that Cassandra was at his side again at the funeral.

#34 – Formal

They were trying again, but Alonzo couldn't stop being so formal with her, unable to relax.

#35 – Fever

There was no cure for the common cold, and the only course of action was to mope around his den, hot and sick.

#36 – Laugh

Cassandra claimed catnip could cure anything, and she laughed about his reactions for years afterward.

#37 – Lies

Alonzo didn't know if he should believe her, but he never turned down free 'nip.

#38 – Forever

"Promises are for forever," Cassandra reminded him, when Munkustrap died, "and I promised I'd be with you forever."

#39 – Overwhelmed

How had Munkus handled running the tribe for so long, and Deuteronomy before him?

#40 – Whisper

Alonzo could hear what the kittens were saying behind his back, but it wasn't true – he hadn't killed Tugger for flirting with Cassandra, only knocked him around a bit.

#41 – Wait

How could the time it took Cassandra to come to the door feel as long as his lifetime?

#42 – Talk

As his paws began to shake with palsy, he began to tell the newest generation about the heroes of his time – Deuteronomy, Munkustrap, Tugger… and the love story of Alonzo and Cassandra (with changed names so they wouldn't laugh).

#43 – Search

Finding a replacement was harder than he thought.

#44 – Hope

Pouncival would make a fine leader, Alonzo decided, if he didn't turn the tribe into a circus.

#45 – Eclipse

Cassandra loved watching eclipses, but Alonzo preferred watching their reflection in her eyes.

#46 – Gravity

No matter how saggy he got, or how big his belly was, Cassandra claimed to ignore the effects of gravity on him; it was only fitting that he returned the favor.

#47 – Highway

She was old and slow, yes, but that was all the more reason for why those stupid humans should have braked.

#48 – Unknown

Every Jellicle ended up in the Heaviside Layer, and eventually got reborn, but as he watched her humans bury Cassandra, Alonzo wondered if that was true.

#49 – Lock

He was too old to enjoy the company of another queen, and even if he wasn't, Cassandra had locked away his heart.

#50 – Breathe

He heard her laughter as he curled up by Etcetera's kittens, baby-sitting them, and when he looked up, he saw Cassandra's smile, and Alonzo forgot how to breathe for good.


Thank you again, Sleeping Tiger, for reviewing!