Author's Notes: Thanks again to JellicleSoul635 for helping me out when I had trouble posting and for STILL being my only reviewer. (Hope this doesn't disappoint you!) Sorry it is taking so long to post, but term is coming up, and preparations are ridiculous for some reason this time. The small bit of used lyrics in this chapter belong to the respective writers of this fine stage show, not to me.

The time period in this is pre-canon. No family tree notes this time. The characters in this chapter have already had their notes.

Chapter Five – Unexpected Guidance

Demeter stumbled again as she tried to complete an elaborate turn that her mother had been trying to teach her for hours. Her mother stood above her as she massaged her leg on the ground. "This is not a difficult step, Demeter! How can you not do it?"

Demeter said nothing, continuing to rub her sore leg. She looked to her sister, who was sprawled on the tire watching her progress.

"Do you want me to teach her, mother?" Bombalurina asked, seeing the begging look in her little sister's eyes.

"No, Bombalurina, dear. It is the mother's duty to train the chosen queen." She looked down at Demeter. "And she will learn this if I have to keep her here away from her human companions to do it."

"Mother," Bombalurina said, getting up from the tire. "That's not fair. She's trying."

Jellylorum seemed to have forgotten that her younger daughter was even there anymore. She was still on the ground, unmoving, but watching as her mother and sister argued about her, slowly growing upset. "You were no trouble to teach the dances to, Bomablurina. You can dance. I knew you would be mated with a fine match. And Tugger treats you well, doesn't he?"

"Mother!" she shouted, avoiding the topic of her mate. "Instead of trying to teach Demeter a dance she may not be able to do, give her something simple but elegant that she can show herself off with!"

"I will not have her humiliate us or your dear father by being the worst queen of these dances!"

Bombalurina advanced on her mother. "Don't you dare bring our father into this. He can't see it, even if he would have wanted to! He's gone. The only one to be embarrassed is you, because I would be proud of my sister no matter how simple her dance!"

Jellylorum glared at her eldest. "Even were she to fall in the middle of it?"

Demeter was starting to breathe fast. This could not be happening. Was she really this much of an embarrassment to her family? Her eyes watered and darted between Bombalurina and her mother as they argued with each other.

"She wouldn't fall if you allowed her to express herself in a dance she could handle!"

Jellylorum's voice grew deadly. "Then, she will have only one mate in this tribe, because she would not impress any other tom, and you know very well who I'm talking about!"

Bombalurina's eyes grew wide in warning. "Don't, mother. Don't you dare!"

Demeter tensed as she listened, dreading what her mother would say. Her body was ready to spring away. And then she heard her own mother pronounce the name she dreaded. "Macavity." Demeter gasped sharply and sprung up faster than even Bombalurina or Jellylorum could catch her. She ran away from them, only looking back quickly to see if they had followed her.

Suddenly, she ran into something solid, sending her to the ground. She screamed in fright as she was helped back up. When she looked up, her terrified mind saw the ginger cat, and she screamed again, bucking frantically out of the tom's grip. When she was free, she ran with all of her strength not caring that she smashed into a heavy box in her flight. She did not even hear the concerned and gentle voice of the tribe's silver tabby call her name as she disappeared, leaving him confused as to how he had frightened her so terribly.

~X~X~X~

Demeter ran and ran until she could run no longer. She found herself somewhere that she did not recognize, and realized that she was lost somewhere in the London streets. It was nearing dark. She was in an alley. She looked around and saw a large dumpster against a building wall, with dirty newspapers blowing in the faint breeze as though they sighed in resignation. There were puddles all about, and bits of food that something had scrounged from the bins. It was a lonely place.

Her fear began to spike. She slowly made her way towards the dumpster, intending to rest behind it. She had heard what happened to cats that wandered through the streets. They were captured by humans, locked in a tiny cage, and sometimes never seen again. She heard that they were cruelly cut into, or had some parts of their bodies removed, or that they were even used in experiments. She shuddered. She was lucky her father had found her a kind human family that cared for her once she was old enough to leave her mother. But now, she had no idea where she was, nor how to even get back home – to the junkyard or her humans. She curled herself behind the dumpster, and stared at her reflection in a puddle. The grey sky was in the puddle, and she suddenly wished she could ask her father for help. But Bombalurina had pointed out that he was gone.

She continued to stare at herself when suddenly she saw another shape in the puddle. It appeared in the sky just over the lip of the dumpster. She began to panic, and she frantically crawled backwards further into the shadows. The creature jumped and landed just next to the puddle, one leg giving out causing it to fall forwards into the grungy water. Then, it looked up behind the dumpster.

All that was visible of Demeter to this intruder were her wide glowing eyes. This creature was a cat, a haggard cat. A female. She was dirty-looking, her fur was matted, stained, and curling almost painfully. Her eyes were weathered and twisted, as though she was haunted by something from long ago. Despite all of this, buried underneath all of the dirt, matting, and fragile figure was the remnants of devastating beauty of a time long ago.

Demeter held her breath, trying to be silent as the older cat crept slowly towards her. Then, she spoke. "Don't be afraid. I won't hurt you." The cat smiled sadly. "It would be difficult for me anyway."

Demeter did not move. She did not breathe. And still this dirty queen came closer to her. Demeter backed up with every step closer the other cat took. "It's alright," she soothed. "I know I am frightening to look at, but I am not as gruesome as I seem to be." Demeter finally stopped retreating and looked hard at the other cat. She came closer, and finally Demeter's fear won. She hissed at the older cat, who immediately scrambled backwards tripping over her own feet and falling to the alley ground.

She lay there unmoving, and for a moment, Demeter thought she had killed her. Demeter took a few cautious steps forward, not daring to get very close. When she got close enough, she heard the other cat was quietly whimpering. Then she looked at her. Demeter froze again. She was struck immobile by the hopeless expression on the other queen's face. "It's been so long since I have had someone to talk to. It's only been running away from dogs, or doors unexpectedly opening, or being shooed by someone's broom from their bins as I looked for something to eat that they did not want anymore."

Demeter suddenly felt sorry for this ragged cat. She moved closer. The other cat looked at her intently. "Such a pretty little thing like you should not be out here on her own. I learned that the hard way."

Demeter found herself speaking before she was even aware she did it. "What's your name?"

The older queen looked straight ahead at nothing. Her eyes turned from sadness, to confusion, and back to sadness, until she finally closed her eyes and lowered her head. "Sometimes, I try to forget it."

"Please?" Demeter asked as she took another step towards her.

The Blue Persian looked directly into her eyes, inhaling unsteadily. "Grizabella."

"Grizabella," Demeter tested the name. "I'm Demeter."

Grizabella tried to smile at Demeter but it turned into a grimace. "That's a lovely name."

~X~X~X~

Grizabella had managed to scrounge some food for the two of them. It was not terribly fresh, but it was not exactly decomposing either. It was the remains of some parts of fish that humans did not eat when they consumed fish. But it sustained the two queens for the time being. Grizabella watched as Demeter viciously tore the fish apart eating ravenously. The older queen smiled maternally at her as she watched.

"How did you end up here, Demeter?"

The question made Demeter stop in mid bite. She looked at the fish and suddenly she lost her appetite. When she looked up, she looked sad. "I don't…I don't want to…go to the Jellicle Ball this year."

Grizabella drew back from her surprised. This young queen was a Jellicle? Memories flooded back to her. Faces that she thought she had forgotten flashed in her mind. A heavyset bicolor British Shorthair, who always showed her the best places to go for gourmet meals. A cheerful peach Australian Mist who always chased after the food connoisseur cat from before. A red British Shorthair tabby, who was always the polite tom, offering his arm to escort the queens everywhere, even herself at one point. A timid, but spirited Kanaani, who told the most wonderful stories from the theatres of the town. Lastly, her former mate, a big Maine Coon, with dark brown tabby markings. As she saw him, she heard three little voices screaming as lights blinded her. She closed her eyes against the memories, willing them to the back of her mind again. "Why don't you want to go?"

Demeter's shoulders sagged. "I have been chosen for the dances this year, and…only…there is no tom interested in me." She ignored the fact that Macavity made no secret of his interest. She shivered at the thought of him.

"How could there be no toms interested in a pretty Maine Coon like you?" Grizabella timidly reached towards Demeter and, when she did not withdraw, took her hand gently. "You will find that one will step forward for you. And you will love him."

Demeter met her eyes. "How can you…know that?"

Grizabella smiled. "You are not the only queen that was nervous before her debut and mating."

Demeter's eyes widened. "You're a Jellicle? Why aren't you with the tribe?"

Grizabella's face fell and her eyes watered. "It's a long story that can wait for another time. You need help more than I right now, dear. It would be a shame if a beauty like you ended up like me." Demeter looked down at the ground. "You have to go back to them."

Demeter shook her head. "I can't."

"Why not?"

"Because…the Ball is tomorrow." Suddenly, Demeter could not restrain herself anymore, and found the words flowing with no way for her to stop herself. "I am not prepared for it. My mother has been trying to teach me a dance, but I can't do the steps, and then she told me that I would embarrass her and that if my father were alive he'd be ashamed, and I have nothing for my dances. How can I go back and be a part of the Ball and not do the dances?" Demeter gasped. "She's right! My mother's right! I am going to embarrass her no matter what I do! If I go back I will not have anything prepared, and if I do not go back then…either way I'll embarrass her." Demeter began crying.

Grizabella let the queen cry for a few moments. Then she took her hands and she stood. "Come on, up." Demeter obeyed without being aware of standing. "If you wish, I will teach you the dance I did. It is very simple, but we can add a few turns or so in it. I was not a very good dancer either. But I was beautiful once. My dance was the simplest dance of nearly any queen before me, but it allowed me to show off my beauty." Grizabella looked at Demeter's figure. "And you are certainly a beauty."

Demeter looked at Grizabella, her face stained with tear streaks. Grizabella gently brushed them off, careful not to scratch her with her long claws that she could no longer keep hidden with their length. "Save your tears for when you really need to shed them. Now, come here and tomorrow we'll give you a dance." She led her to a protected and hidden area of the alley. It was where she slept. She led Demeter to the gathered pieces of fabric and newspapers, urging her to lie down. Demeter closed her eyes and just before she fell asleep she heard the older queen singing a lullaby to her. "Moonlight, turn your face to the moonlight. Let your memory lead you…"

~X~X~X~

The two queens faced each other at the fence that cut off the Jellicles from the streets of London the next evening. Grizabella looked sadly at Demeter, who looked hesitant to cross back into the junkyard. Grizabella had led her back as though she had made the journey many times. Demeter began towards the entrance. Then she turned around to face the older queen. "Why don't you come back? I'm sure someone would be happy to see you."

Grizabella smiled sadly. "No, I can't. I would rather them remember me just as I was."

"Why did you leave?"

It was a long moment before she responded. "I had no choice, though I would give anything to see my kittens again."

Demeter looked hard at her, and took her hands trying to urge her to come with her. "If you come and watch, only if you see the Invitation, you might see them. Please come."

Grizabella pulled her hands away, as though terribly frightened and shaken by the idea. "No, I…I can't…Maybe someday, but…not now…not this year." Quicker than it seemed possible with her injured leg, Grizabella ran from the fence, disappearing from sight. Demeter looked after her as long as she could before looking at the fence, taking a deep breath, and going home just in time for that night's Jellicle Ball.

If you read, please review! I know more people stop by to read this than my one reviewer (whom I appreciate for actually leaving an opinion of my story). Please, hit the little button, and leave some impressions. Thanks!