Author: Pirate Turner
Rating: G
Summary: Thomas and the kittens rush to their safe haven.
Warning: Het
Disclaimer: Thomas O'Malley, Duchess, Marie, Toulouse, Berlioz, Madame, and The Aristocats are & TM Disney, not the author, and are used without permission. Everything else is & TM the author. The author makes absolutely no profit off of this work of fan fiction, and no copyright infringement is intended.
Their frantic mews reached her ears a split second before she heard their nails scattering across the hard floors. She turned just in time to see her terrified kittens come rushing into the room. "Mama! Mama!" the trio cried in unison as they rushed to hide underneath her.
"My darlings," Duchess queried soothingly, reaching down and giving each a tender lick in turn, "what on Earth is wrong?"
"S-S-Som-Somebody's shooting at us, Mama!"
Duchess' eyes flicked to the windows where the sparkly and shiny things Madame had called fireworks were exploding high in the night sky. She gave an understanding sigh, then started to try to calm her babies. "Oh, my - "
She had barely started to speak when Thomas came running into the room, bellowing in a rather purple language. "DUCHESS! DUCHESS! WE GOTTA FIND THE KITTENS AND GET OUTTA HERE!" His eyes were so huge they seemed to be ready to pop out of his very head, and she could hear the pounding of his heartbeat before he reached her. It sounded like thunder inside his heaving chest, and she leaned over and softly swept her nose across his furry cheek. "Oh, sweethearts, it's nothing of the sort that you fear. It's only fireworks." She paused a second, then reprimanded gently, "And, Thomas, I'll not have such offensive language around our children."
Thomas had had his mouth open to exclaim that they must escape from the humans who had clearly gone rabid as they were enjoying such dangerous things as these fireworks, but it shut abruptly upon hearing Duchess' gentle scolding. He barely noticed that she was reprimanding him; he was far too fixated on the one particular word she had used, the one word he had ached to hear her use in conjunction with the sweet, but petrified, kittens who huddled beneath their beautiful mother. "Our." The word left him in a breath that was barely audible by his own pointed ears. His eyes grew sparkly with daze, and all his worries left him. She had finally completely accepted him as their father.
Shaking off the daze that threatened to consume him, Thomas leaned forward and kissed Duchess gently. He then lowered his head to smile down at their kittens. "Hey now, tigers, ya ain't scared of a little bit of boom, are ya? They just boom like thunder and make pretty lights. That's all. Ain't nothing to be afraid of."
"That's not what you said a minute ago!" Berlioz reminded him, his face scrunched up.
"Yeah!" Toulouse joined in.
Marie fluffed out her chest and held her tiny head high. "A lady is never scared," she said loudly, thinking to herself the rest of her mother's rule. A lady might be scared, but she never professed to be so. "She may be disoriented or - "
Her words were silenced by an especially loud boom, and Thomas scooted closer to Duchess. He peered hopefully at the kittens. "Any room down there for me?"
"Oh, Thomas!" Duchess exclaimed, laughter bubbling from her throat. "There's always room for you!" She wrapped her furry arms around him and drew him close, and the kittens settled down, with their ears laid back against their heads, to wait out the awful noise in the protected haven of their parents' presence.
The End