Demeter sighed as she spread out her daughter Electra's favorite blanket on the floor of an empty den. A new den. The den that her now young adult daughters would be sharing, by themselves. She sniffed, fighting back tears.

"You okay, sweetheart?"

She startled at the sound of her mate's voice. She hadn't heard him come in. Well, there was no use in lying. "No," she whimpered.

Munkustrap shuffled in, laying Jemima's favorite blanket on the floor, on the other side of the den. He sat down next to Demeter and pulled her to him.

"When did they grow up?" she asked.

Munkustrap just chuckled and placed a kiss on her cheek.

They were barely more than kittens, themselves, when Demeter gave birth to Electra and Jemima. It had been a roller coaster that neither of them would have traded for the world. Still, they both felt too young to have two grown kittens. The time had gone by far too quickly. It was a bittersweet day.

"I think it's harder with Electra," Munkustrap confessed. "Jemima – she's still a daddy's girl, but..."

"Electra never was," Demeter finished for him. Munkustrap nodded.

Demeter look down, running her paw over Electra's old blanket. That was when Munkustrap noticed her shaking slightly.

"I'm scared, Munkustrap," she whispered.

Her mate sighed, "This is about Electra becoming a protector isn't it?"

"Well, aren't you scared?"

"Me?" he answered with a smirk. "I'm fucking terrified. I know what it takes to be a protector, and the thought of my kitten going through any of it..." He sighed. "I'm terrified for her, but she doesn't need to know that."

He said that last part with a pointed look at Demeter. She nodded knowingly.

The sound of excited laughter signaled their daughters' approach. Demeter quickly wiped away her tears, moments before Jemima, Electra, and their friends, Mistoffelees, Tumblebrutus, and Pouncival. The three toms' were holding stacks of pillows, toys, and a couple small books.

"Remind me why we're carrying everything, again?" asked Tumblebrutus.

Electra giggled. "Because you're toms, so you're stronger."

"You're a protector, now," Pouncival argued. "You can carry your own sh..." He noticed Munkustrap and Demeter, watching the scene in amusement. "...tuff."

"Not yet!" Electra shot back. "I haven't started training, yet."

"Au contraire, my dear," her father purred, "you became a protector, the moment you took the oath."

"Told you." Pouncival dumped the pile he was carrying all over Electra, who laughed, "Hey! I wasn't ready!"

It was calming for Electra's family to see her acting like her usual, playful self. She attacked Pouncival, sending them both crashing to the floor. Pouncival, as always, won the ensuing battle by pinning Electra to the floor. Jemima, Tumblebrutus, and Mistoffelees watched, amused, from the sidelines.

"Just think, Pounce," Tumblebrutus said. "In a couple months, you won't be able to beat her."

"I sure hope not!" Pouncival smirked at the young protector. "I can't have a pansy protecting me and my future kittens."

Electra grinned. "Oh, I'll get you, one day, Pouncival."

Demeter laughed and suggested that they all give the girls some time alone to settle in to their new den. No sooner had they left the den than Electra was jeering at her sister, "Someone has a crush on Pouncy!"

"I do not!" Jemima protested.

"Why are you blushing, them?"

The young queen on the spot blushed even harder. "Okay, I guess he's kind of cute, and he wants his own family, and he's grown up a lot in the past year."

Electra snorted. "Remind me what you're still doing here?"

Jemima opened her mouth to argue, but found she had nothing to say. With an apologetic smile, she left her sister alone in their new den.

Electra sighed contentedly. Peace and quiet. She set about arranging her things the way she liked them, not even pausing to address the knock at the entrance. "Come in," she called, expecting it to be one of her parents or Jemima.

"Hey, Ellie."

"Oh, hi, Plato."

Electra's uncle wandered into the den, looking around as he went. "Nice place."

"Thanks."

They stood in silence, unsure of what to say. Electra paid attention to her hands at her sides, trying to keep her stance open and friendly. She liked Plato. She did. She just didn't know what to say.

Plato kept glancing around, looking anywhere but at Electra. He had known her his whole life. She was his brother's daughter. They were family. Sure, he was never talkative, but they talked. Didn't they?

Electra broke the silence. "Why did you choose me?"

Plato shrugged.

"Oh." Electra nodded. "I see."

Another pause.

"I'm sorry I put you on the spot like that," Plato said softly.

"No, it's...no problem."

"I just want you to know, I'm not gonna put you in danger. I-"

"I don't need you to protect me," Electra snapped.

Her slightly older uncle froze, examining the determined expression on her face. She was not a kitten, anymore. Though she was no longer groomed to the nines, as she had been the night before, she still looked, well, different. Maybe there was a different aura about her, but whatever it was, she looked grown up. She looked like a queen.

"You're right. I'm sorry," he mumbled.

Electra shrugged. The two stood in silence, looking around the den, at everything but each other.

For Electra, that wasn't so hard, because she was mesmerized with her surroundings. Or maybe it was hard, because it was weird. This was her den. Well, hers and her sister's, anyway. She was grown up, but was she really? Was she really any different than she had been, twenty-four hours earlier? Forty-eight? Seventy-two?

"Um, Ellie? Earth to Electra?"

She shook the fog out of her mind and looked back to Plato.

"I asked if you like your new place," he stated.

"Oh." She nodded. "Yes, of course. It's nice."

He'd known her for long enough, though, to know that something was wrong. He decided not to pry. They weren't close.

"Okay," Electra sighed. "Maybe I'm feeling a little overwhelmed."

That made Plato feel bad. Not only was he probably – no, not probably. Definitely – a big part of the problem, but he should have asked. They were friends, weren't they? She was his niece, after all, and no matter what she said, he had an innate, familial desire to protect her.

"I should let you get settled," he suggested. She nodded shyly. It was odd, seeing her act shy. He gave her a kind smile and stepped outside, intent on heading back to his own den.

Just a few steps away from the door, he was startled by a voice.

"Hey. Little brother."

Plato turned around to see Munkustrap, leaning against the outside of his daughters' den.

"Walk with me."

They walked away from the clearing, through familiar piles of discarded materials that suddenly didn't seem so familiar to Plato. It felt different, since he had been named protector. Everything felt different. He was going to be responsible for all of it, and that was quite a culture shock, for a young tom who had felt invisible, just the previous evening. All of a sudden, he noticed everything – every faint smell on the breeze, every cricket's chirp, every cricket's silence, every silvery shadow cast by the moon. He glanced at his older brother and was surprised, when, for the first time, he realized he was taller than Munkustrap. Like, a lot taller.

"First of all," Munkustrap began, breaking Plato out of his thoughts, "I want you to know that I'm proud of you. We're all proud of you."

Are you? Plato thought, but he kept that to himself.

Munkustrap sighed, sat down on an old end table, and gestured for Plato to sit near him on a broken chair. "I need to ask you a favor, as a father," he said.

Plato cringed. "Is this about Electra?"

"Yeah…" Munkustrap sighed again, running a paw through his headfur. "Look, I don't want this to sound like I don't care about you, because I do. You're my brother. Just…look after her. Please."

"Of course."

The older tom nodded softly, looking off into space. He couldn't remember a time in his life when he had felt so conflicted. He was proud of his daughter. He hated to admit it, but when he and Demeter had only queens, he never thought he'd see one of his children become a protector. It scared him more than he would ever admit, especially to Electra.

"We'll start your training in two days," Munkustrap said. "She's a headstrong little thing, so remember that you're in charge, and she's your second-in-command."

Plato laughed, "I'm not sure I want to argue with her."

"Yeah, neither do I."

They laughed, though it was undeniably a little forced.

"Why did you choose her?" Munkustrap asked.

Plato thought about it for a moment, trying to come up with a reason that might put his brother at ease. When he came up with nothing, he just shrugged. "She's tough. She's resilient. I'd trust her in a fight."

"She is all those things," Munkustrap agreed. There was a pause. "What about you? How do you feel about being a protector?"

"Honestly?" Plato nervously shuffled his paws, looking at the ground. He was ashamed to say, so he mumbled, "I'm scared."

"I was scared, too," his older brother confessed. "But I'm ten times more scared, now that it's you and Ellie. Be careful. Promise me."

"Yeah, I promise."

Plato smiled. For the first time in a while, he genuinely smiled. He wasn't invisible anymore.