Mistoffelees woke with a start, his fur plastered to his body and dripping with sweat. For the fifth night in a row he'd dreamt of that day. The dark scars still stained Victoria's coat and every time he saw them, it reminded him of how he'd hurt her.

He saw her cry when he left, watching her from the secret passage and her expression haunted him in his dreams. But that day was years ago, they had both grown older, and were better friends than ever before. Yet every day Mistoffelees wished he could take back the hurt he had caused his best friend.

Giving up on getting any sleep, he climbed out of his bed and crept onto the roof of the warehouse, where he practised his magic.

He was a master at his art now, never once missing a target and controlling the bolts with ease when he was focused. Focus caused Mistoffelees the most problems. He got distracted easily and could not control his emotions. He was a teenage tom and his moods were constantly changing and unpredictable. Knocking over the tenth can, the black and white tom sat down, exhausted. When he was emotional he could not control his powers well and right now he wanted more than anything, just to sleep.

When Victoria heard the knock on her door she sat up and smiled. She slept lightly and the knock sometimes came at her door, woke her up as always. She gracefully stood up, knocking back on the door. She knew the whole procedure was pointless. He didn't need to knock and she wasn't really able to give him permission but the whole thing made her feel special and Victoria knew that was why her friend humoured her.

As she heard the key turn she inhaled sharply. The noise it made still scared her even now. Their night meetings were secret. No-one knew that Mistoffelees had the 'lost' key or that Victoria didn't really sleep badly because of nightmares.

As Mistoffelees entered the room, the pearly queen assessed him. Raising one eyebrow at his appearance, she opened one of her many trunks and handed him a towel, to which he grunted his thanks and hastily wiped his face and sat down.

The silence between the two of them wasn't awkward, the two cat's just appreciated being together.

Mistoffelees smiled as he felt Victoria's head rest on his shoulder.

'You tired?' he said softly as he wrapped his arm around her, pulling her close.

He felt her head move slightly in an attempt at nodding.

'Well sleep then, don't stay awake for me.'

He felt her head move again, weaker this time. She would be asleep any second.

Sure enough, within a few minutes, Victoria was snoring gently to herself as Mistoffelees sat thinking. He had been with her for the past five nights so it was no surprise that she couldn't stay awake. He just sat thinking, content to be able to feel her next to him.


When Victoria woke, Misto was gone. She ran her paw over the dent in the cushion where her friend had just been lying. It was still warm. She purred happily; he was still in the room. She lazily opened her eyes, searching the room even before her vision had become focused. She stood up to look for him, took one step, wobbled and tumbled backwards. She heard Misto behind her as she fell, smiling as she felt his strong arms catch her.

'Morning twinkle toes. Steady on your feet as always.'

Victoria turned and smiled back at her friend as she regained her balance.

'One of these days, you'll learn to stand up without falling over.'

'I've been practising you know!' Victoria carefully began to dance, wobbling like a jelly and tripping over her own feet. As punishment for their crimes, Mungojerrie and Rmpleteazer had been forced to give the young Victoria dance lessons. They hadn't been very effective. As Victoria entered her teen years, her balance got worse and it seemed she would never improve.

As the teenage queen wobbled precariously on one leg, Mistoffelees scooped her up, smiling as her tinkling laugh trickled around the room. He spun her round before placing her firmly on her feet. She was breathless and smiling, her cheeks flushed from the excitement. They stood for what seemed like an age, Victoria's arms still around Misto's neck, his own paws tightly holding her waist. Both cats looked like they had been caught off guard, their eyes wide. Victoria smiled awkwardly.

'Well I don't know how I'm meant to learn to balance when you keep spinning me round!'

Mistoffelees smiled half-heartedly back, releasing his grip on her and flicking her nose playfully as he turned to leave.

'See ya later Vic.'

'Oh. Bye, will you come this afternoon?'

Mistoffelees shook his head.

'I've got to catch up on my sleep.'

With a quiet click he closed and locked the door behind him, almost walking straight into his father.


Melanic had woken up and noticed his son's disappearance at once, it didn't take all of his detective skills to figure out where he was. He crept along the tunnel, keeping quiet before reaching the spy hole. Peering through he saw his son spin Victoria around, and the look between them. He had seen all he needed to. He turned away from the scene and made his way back down the passage way, dreading what he was about to do.

Mistoffelees and Victoria were in love, whether they knew it yet or not and he was about to try and break them apart. He was about to do to his own son, the same thing the Jellicles had done to him. He knew how much it hurt. As he heard the door to Victoria's room close, Melanic took a breath and prepared to do the worst thing a father could do.

He was going to break his son's heart.


Things are starting to get interesting now! I'll get the next chapter up by the end of the week.. possibly even tomorrow if I can find time.