The Cat
With the day over and the battle behind her, Abayomi sat in her room. Outside in the streets, there were people celebrating and dancing for the defeat of Falcon Eye. However, Abayomi was not happy at all. She just sat quietly on her stool staring absentmindedly at the sunset through her window.
Worried for her chosen one, Tikki flew up to her and asked, "Aba, are you alright?"
"I'm sorry, Tikki," Abayomi unexpectedly said, "Because of my mistake, we were put to sleep."
"It's alright. Everything turned out fine," Tikki said. But not everything was fine. The girl just sat quietly and continued to stare out the window. Tikki was worried. Her chosen one was usually very cheerful, but now, she seemed to be suffering. Tikki flew closer to her and asked, "Are you okay?"
For a minute, Abayomi didn't respond. But seeing that her kwami was so worried, she opened up. "It's just … It's just that … I'm not sure if I'm good enough to be Ladybug," the girl admitted, "You didn't know this. I'm cursed. When I'm nervous, I get really clumsy. I trip and mess up all over the place. Today, I was horrible."
"You did fine," Tikki assured her.
"But first, I got hit by the sleep spell. Then, I tripped during the leap. I mis-shot the catapult," Abayomi went on and on, "I was a mess today."
"It's okay to mess up sometimes. We just have to learn from it," Tikki said.
"But what if I can never get better?" Abayomi reacted, "I'm not really a super girl or a wonder woman. I've never been good at this kind of thing. I'm just a weak, clumsy girl. Wh-what if I would never be good enough? *Sniff* If I go back out there, I-I'm afraid that I'll mess up again."
Abayomi covered her face and sobbed for a while. After she calmed down a little, the girl said, "Tikki, I'm scared."
Then, she felt a pair of tiny hands wrap around her neck. Tikki was on her neck doing her best to give this poor girl a hug with her itty-bitty arms. Was Tikki crying? Abayomi could hear her kwami sob a little. Tikki could have given her some words of wisdom. She certainly had something to say. But sometimes, all you can do is hug, cry, and let it out. Touched by her tiny fairy friend, Abayomi gently placed her hands around Tikki and returned the hug.
Feeling a little better, Abayomi decided it was time to sleep. However, before she got up, a stray cat climbed into her window, which was just a rectangular hole in the wall. At the sight of this, the girl instinctively said in baby talk, "Aww! Aren't you a cute one. Do you need a warm place to stay?" However, the cat just climbed right out of the window and acrobatically hopped down to the street.
Abayomi shut the window. Then, she was just about to lie down on her mat when she heard a tap on her window cover. A familiar voice whispered from outside, "Hello? Are you still awake?"
Opening the window covers, the girl was shocked at who the visitor was and said, "Chat?"
"Hello, my lady. Mind if I come in?" the cat hero said.
As he came through the window, the girl asked this unexpected visitor, "What are you doing here, Chat Blanc?"
"BLANC?! You're in the wrong fanfiction," Chat responded, "I wanted to return your coat."
"You know, it is rude to return a gift," Abayomi said.
Of course, Chat did not mean to be rude or show ingratitude. So, he explained, "Oh! No, no! I really appreciate your gift. I just thought that you would need it more than I do. After all, I'm very strong."
Then, he saw the girl looking at the floor in a depressed mood. She was still gloomy from the battle, but Chat thought he hurt her. Chat scrambled to clarify, "I mean … uh … I was not use to somebody helping me before. I was just always alone, and I had to do things on my own."
"You were always alone?" the girl responded.
"Y-yeah," Chat said realizing his slip-up. Then, he put on his bravest face and continued, "But I can manage fine on my own. I did things on my own my entire life."
As he was talking, the cat hero felt Abayomi wrap her arms around his chest as she gave him a hug, like Tikki did earlier. The cat just stood there confused. Then, Abayomi said, "You can't fool me. You're not the only one who wears a mask."
The young girl explained, "I also put on a brave face when I try to hide something. A few days ago, a mean merchant called me a 'stupid girl' and I smiled in order to hide the fact that I was scared. Don't feel that you have to hide from me. You can tell me what is bothering you."
Tut was touched. For once, somebody cared about him and his feelings. As the prince and future rising sun of Egypt, he was suppose to act more than human. If he was hurt, tired, sad, or weak, he had to hide all of it. But not with her. Now, he did not have to act like an invincible, mighty prince or a strong superhero. She saw him as a human and it was okay. Before he knew it, he returned the hug. Seeing that Chat felt better, Abayomi said, "If you ever need somebody to talk to, I'll be here." All of a sudden, it felt like a heavy weight was lifted off Chat's heart and a new sensation tingled inside him.
Uh, Oh! A tear was emerging from Chat's green eyes. A man should not cry. Got to wipe it away! So, Chat did the first thing that came to mind: rub his face on Abayomi's shoulder. That's not good enough. She'll know you were crying. Then, he had another idea: keep acting as a cat so he can pass off that face rub as part of a playful act. So, he got on all fours and rubbed his face on her leg. His cheeks tingled as it stroked the girl's legs. Abayomi, though surprised, also like how it felt when this cat-costumed man rubbed his face on her. Then, Chat purred.
Purrrrr!
Abayomi thought this was adorable, so she could not help but play along and do what she usually did to cats.
Petting his head, Abayomi said in baby talk, "Aww! Aren't you a cute one. Do you need a warm place to stay?"
WAIT! WHAT AM I SAYING?! she realized in her head.
Pushing the black cat away, the red-faced Abayomi stuttered, "U-Uh! W-What I mean is, W-Well, Not with me, not in this room, of course, that's too weird, I- I- I guess you can stay in my family's living room…"
Chat blushed, and he politely declined, "That's okay. I need to go back on patrol."
He turned towards the window, but he paused before he turned to her and said, "If you are ever in danger, you can count on me to come save you, wherever you are."
Then, he climbed out the window, and before he dashed off, he quickly added, "Besides, I just rubbed my scent all over you."
"WHAT?!" Abayomi cried in embarrassment and disgust.
Back at the palace, Chat arrived at the prince's bedroom and detransformed. As soon as the costume was gone, Plagg came out of the black ring and gave a cry of annoyance, "Yuck! I hate romance. All that touchy, mushy stuff. Eww!"
Prince Tut chuckled and said, "Don't worry. I won't be romancing her as Chat Bast anymore."
"Oh, thank you!" the black kwami replied, "Who needs girls when you have delicious, gooey cheese."
"Actually, I need to get closer to her," the prince clarified.
"Huh?" Plagg said.
"Chat Bast is only a mask. If I want to get close to her, she needs to know the man under the mask: Prince Tut," Tut explained.
"Oh, please! Cheese is way better," Plagg responded.
Tut shook his head and said, "But girls smell much nicer. OH, NO!"
"What is it now, human," the kwami sighed.
"I didn't get her name," Tut cried.
The next day, Abayomi was running her family's clothing booth at the marketplace, with her friend Akila keeping her company. Abayomi was quietly sitting and watching the crowd as her friend commented, "This is crazy!" What happened was the crowd was in a cat hiss-teria. After they saw Chat Bast, the champion of the cat goddess, give his introduction and bravely fought Falcon Eye, everybody was paying homage to cats. People set up cat shrines in their homes, wore Bastet charms, and brought home any stray cat they found. It was a fine day to be a cat. But what bothered Akila was that no homage was paid to Ladybug. You could say that she was fel-ine annoyed.
"I mean, it is not everyday that you see a strong lady," Akila said. But Abayomi did not pay attention. She was still down. She felt that she was ignored because she did a poor job.
A little boy walked by dressed up as Chat Bast. He wore a black sash as a cat tail, held a black stick as Chat Bast's staff, and painted a black mask on his face with ink. It's a nice costume, but it needs a special touch, Abayomi thought.
"Here, take this," the girl said as she held out a black Chat Bast mask. The boy excitedly grabbed the mask and put it on before running off to fight Akhenatens.
"Not you, too," her friend cried at the sight of the hand-stitched mask.
"I had trouble sleeping last night and I needed something to do," Abayomi explained.
"Here's an idea!" Akila said, "How about you make a ladybug costume?"
"What?" Abayomi replied.
"You are very talented," Akila continued, "If you do that, I'll be your first customer. Promise!"
Before Abayomi could say another word, horns sounded as a royal announcer stood in the center of the marketplace. He opened a papyrus scroll and read,
"Attention, everybody! Exciting news! This is the proclamation of your great pharaoh! A festival shall be held at the Nile Mansion! All maidens from the entire land of Egypt near and far are to attend."
Sneak Peek at the Next Chapter
Princess Cleo: Abayomi? More like Aba-yucky.
Walking up to Abayomi, Prince Tut said, "I believe this is yours."
Unbeknownst to the girls, Keyon stood hidden in the shadows with murderous eyes locked onto his target.
Author's Note: I hope you enjoyed it. I'm still new to writing, especially romantic scenes. So, if you would like to give me a writing tip, that would be great.
Here is an idea that I left out of the story:
A town choir was on the steps of the marketplace waving their hands and singing,
"Everybody, Everybody,
Everybody wants to be a cat!
Hallelujah!
Everybody, Everybody,
Everybody wants to be a cat!"
("Everybody Wants to be a Cat" from the movie "Aristocats" © Walt Disney Music Company)
