Okay, since I gave you a shorter chapter than normal, this one is about two thousand words long. Not including the author's notes at the beginning and end.

With the conversation just barely scratching the surface, I have to resort to other methods if I wanted to get anything out of Cat. I gave the dog in my hand a glance and smirked.

Cat had gone back to play with her little stuffed feline. I pushed the dog a little closer to her and moved it about to and fro where she could plainly see it. As I had hoped, she looked up, dropped her pacifier and beamed at me. It appeared I finally wanted to play with her the way she wanted.

"Beck," I started, smoothing my voice to an almost seductive level I thought sounded very Jade-like, "What're you doing there, honey?"

"Heehee... now you sound wike Mommy..." Cat giggled and shoved her cat's face close to my dog's, "I'm going to make dinner for our girls and us, of course! We're having tuna fish!" she played with the cat's front paws and made them move up and down to probably mimic human hand gestures... I think. She wasn't even bothering with the voice and I didn't blame her. I like to believe she spoke normally for my sake; it didn't matter if she couldn't pull off Beck.

"I hate tuna fish," I said automatically, adding, "Let's order tacos!"

"Tacos sound great!" she cried, dropping the cat once again, "Lemme find one!"

Amused, I sat back and watched as Cat searched through the throng of baby toys and actually came up with a few plush food items, none of them a taco. Among the foods was a large fat strip of bacon, two slices of wheat bread and a few lettuce leaves to name a few. They, along with some other unintelligible things, made up most of the makeshift tacos. Tomcat Beck and... female dog Jade apparently liked it.

God, this game was weird.

Urgently, Cat pulled a little bird from the rest of the animals and threw it to me, "Dat's you!" she laughed, "and dis is me!" Out came a pink unicorn. There was actually something pretty funny about that.

Right now wasn't the time to be funny, however. Right now was another opportunity. I was playing Jade; I get to ask the questions.

"Cat," I said in my Jade-voice, making the dog 'walk' up to the unicorn, "do you remember the rules you and I made?"

"Yep!" she made the unicorn nod, "No using magic in the house and always eat my yucky bush peas! Then someday I'll be able to fly!"

I stifled my laughter, "What? Mommy meant the other rules, Cat!"

"No throwing bush peas at you and Daddy when I don't want them cuz then you'll get mad and put me in time-out. Oh, and no bibble... Mommy says bibble is bad for Cat."

Yes, those answers were normal... and a bit expected with the bibble. Why do I get the feeling that the first one happened not too long ago? "Okay, then what's Tori's rule, sweetie?"

"Um..." Cat trailed off. Her eyes wandered the room, looking at everything but me. The little unicorn doll went on her head where it continuously played see-saw. Please let Cat say the same thing that Jade said. So I can confirm it.

Or, maybe that's not what I want. Maybe she shouldn't say such things. Jade said I was hers and to stay away from Beck... but Cat said not to believe everything she says... but if that's the case, then how can I tell the difference? Who could I believe?

Jade? She was the one who was trying to control me. She took care of just about everything here. She decided when I should be changed, when I could play with Cat, what I ate, who I spent time with... but believing her meant that I might start to really depend on her, and not just because of the surface. If I took her every word for what it was when I first met her, I would surely be a dead girl by now.

Beck? Of course. I had to. He was trying to help me, wasn't he? Or was he trying to get me to think he was on my side by pretending to help me? Why would Jade tell me to stay away from him unless he was really trying to save us? I had to have faith in him, that's all. Beck and Jade, they're done... as much as it hurts them, maybe Cat, and even me a little from knowing how much they're hurting, they don't seem to show any immediate signs of reconciling and getting back together – not that I've seen, anyway.

Cat? Well, let's see.

"Uh..."

She was hesitating, that's for sure. Maybe she didn't want to say anything. Maybe Jade told her not to. After all, Jade has already dominated her from the moment they started this whole affair. Cat practically gave her that power. She gave Jade the authority to be God and now look where she is. She knows all the secrets and can't say a word. Or maybe she doesn't want to.

Cat squinted. "I think..."

I leaned in close to her, "Yeah?"

She gasped and pointed at me accusingly, "No flying inside the house, Tori! You'll bump into things and hit your head and you'll never be able to fly again!"

Damn you, Cat.

That deserved the Jade-eyeroll I gave her. She also deserved me tossing the bird in her face. Cat wasn't taking this seriously! At all! I get that she thought it was a game, but dammit... how did she go from answering normally to something so outlandish with that much time to think of an answer?! She's clever, there's no shock there, but come on!

I shoved everything to the corner with the most toys before flopping down on the cleared space in a huff and faced outside the playpen in a semi-scrunched up ball. This isn't like me – I never got frustrated so quickly, especially when I... you know... and especially at Cat of all people. I might even consider loosening the diaper just a little to let some air in... Maybe that'll take all the extra intensity of my negative emotions out – I don't know! It's damn irritating.

"I'm not going to play this anymore, Cat..." I growled.

Then there was a blanket on my head. I audibly sighed as Cat proceeded to cover me with it and made sure I was completely underneath it before taking it off my head. I wanted to tell her I wasn't going to sleep, that I already took a nap today, that I was just mad at her for... just playing a game.

In retrospect it sounds horrible, and it might even be.

But then she kissed me on the head and told me to have sweet dreams. She put the little kitty and puppy we were just playing with on the side I faced and whispered for 'Mommy Jade' and 'Daddy Beck' to guard me from the scary monsters so I didn't have nightmares. Then she put a little pillow on my head that fell off because I guess she didn't dare to lift my head up to put it under. Just to ice the top of my guilty cake, she whispered to Unicorn-Cat and Bird-Tori not to make any loud noises because her baby sister was feeling bad and needed a nap.

Damn right I feel bad... and the last time I was referred to as 'baby sister' with as good intentions as Cat seemed to have was by Trina when Helen first became principal of Hollywood Arts.

A lump was growing in my throat and my eyes were misty again. I wish Cat wasn't in the room so I could just cry. Goddammit...

"Uh-oh..." I heard her squeak, and not long after there came a little satisfied sigh and I felt a hand on my back. Here, Cat whispered, "Me sowwy, Torwi..." and began to yell for Jade.

"What is it?" Jade asked softly when she came in. I bit my lip as hard as I could and squeezed my eyes shut, hoping she wouldn't look in my direction. There was a little pause before a barely audible "Is Tori asleep?" was heard.

"Mm-hm," Cat answered. The rest of the conversation was in whispers, not that I really needed it. I relaxed my eyes but still kept them closed just in case.

"Did you wet yourself again?"

"Yes, Mommy... Where dada?"

"Daddy's downstairs making dinner, baby. You and Tori will be getting a surprise tonight. Won't that be fun?" Cat must've nodded at that. "Come on, let Mommy change your diaper and then we'll dress you up all pretty, okay?"

"Pwetty wike Mommy?"

Jade chuckled, "Sure, whatever."

I heard the noises of the playpen wall being lowered again and for a little while more there was silence. I daren't look. The door didn't close yet, and if I were to open my eyes, Jade would probably be peering right above me, her hair pulled up so it wouldn't touch my face and alert me of her presence. There was the shuffling sound of moving items around in the area. A few squeaks here from a squeaky toy, a rattle in there somewhere, and then I could feel Jade near me.

Unlike Cat, Jade dared to touch me while I pretended to be asleep. She gently slid the pillow under my head and moved my hair to one side so my neck could enjoy the coolness of the cushion. That felt great.

"Go to Mommy and Daddy's room by yourself, kitten," she urged, turning the other way to talk to Cat, "I'll be there in a second."

"Kaykay!" Cat said from far away.

There came another silence. It was becoming harder and harder to keep my eyes closed. I was so tempted to act like I was waking up from the non-nap they thought I was taking.

The back of Jade's hand was warm and smooth as she rubbed my cheek. She sighed. In the next moment I could feel her breath right on my face as she must've leaned in to whisper in my ear. Now I really had a hard time keeping my eyes closed.

"You're killing me, Vega..." Jade whispered sharply, "You're killing me and you don't even care. I'm glad you can't hear me. Stop making me feel things for you... Soon I won't be able to handle it..."

I couldn't tell if she ran out of things to say or she was done. What's with everyone and making me wait? Why were there so many stops and starts?

Feeling Jade press her lips to my cheek for a quick peck was odd in of itself. A second later, I heard the door click shut and Cat letting out a loud yell on the other side of the wall with Jade yelling back at her to shut up. Heh, sweet ol' Cat.

And Jade? Should I believe her or not? I can't decide. I don't know if I ever did believe a word she said now, thanks to Cat.

I opened my eyes. The tears came back.

For now, I just silently let them fall. I was supposed to be asleep, after all.

For those who are unaware, tori = bird in Japanese. See what I did there? Very lame.