(sigh) Just when you thought (probably) I couldn't push the envelope any further, I somehow get my hands on a letter opener! (…) I'm not sure how much sense that makes, but basically, I'm about to have a total fangirl fit in this story. It'll appear near the end of this chapter and I hope you'll bear with me for it! Hee-hee!

But we're also back to investigating at the same time…sort of. Kudos points for Merlin this time, 'cause he busts a cool move! And we receive a surprise visit from the previous games that was overlooked in this story before! Who could it be?

And obviously, the chapter title is from the cute little "Hello, Kitty" fad...thing.

"Tempt not the desperate man."—William Shakespeare, as quoted by Gary Sinise on CSI: NY

Chapter 25: Hello, Kitty
Riku could always feel the presence or absence of his guardian angel and when he felt him leave him, he wondered what it was for.

'Hey, Ricky!' Nik greeted when he'd returned, 'What did I miss?'

'Riku,' he corrected, 'You didn't miss anything. The king and the others are still in their meeting with Leonidas.'

'Not anymore!' chimed Nik, 'Leo went off. He didn't want to have to say goodbye.'

'What?' asked Riku, 'Where is he?'

'By this time?' he said, 'Probably with Mother in the spirit world.' (Mother = Granda)

'But how?' Riku gaped softly, 'What did you do?'

'Not me,' he shook his head, 'Ame. See, Ricky, when she paid Hades for Leonidas' soul, she put a claim on him. Even though she thought she was only paying for a reprieve, her spirit powers awakened the tradition of our spirit world. She paid for his soul, so she has a claim on him, in a sense. And you know that anyone who is a friend to or whose soul is claimed by a spirit, even a half-spirit like Ame, is taken to their spirit world. And I daresay Leonidas will have a much more comfortable afterlife in our world.'

"All right!" said Mickey as he climbed onto the table and paced it up and down with his hands behind him. "Let's think about this. Jiminy!" The cricket hopped up on his shoulder. "Review your notes on the princesses and read aloud how each one was killed."

"Yes, sire," he bowed and hopped down in front of Leon.

"Well, for starters," he reported, "Snow White ate a poisoned apple."

"Poison," said Mickey.

"Aurora was placed under a hypnotic trance and forced to touch a poisonous needle," he continued.

"Subliminal suggestion," the king nodded, "and poison."

"Jasmine fell into the sand, which purposely gave under her."

"Suffocation." Leon and Aerith were starting to see where he was going with this.

"Cinderella was trampled by horses."

"Battery."

"Belle was skewered by Sephiroth's katana."

"Stabbing." Mickey stopped. "Now, what about the failed attempts on Kairi and Alice?"

"According to Kairi and her friends," Jiminy read as he spoke, "she too was under hypnosis and was nearly forced to walk into a watery grave."

"Drowning," Mickey narrowed his eyes, "And Alice was assaulted by the birds of Wonderland."

"Animal attack," murmured Leon, "I think I see what's going on here: Drowning, stabbing, poison? These are all different ways for a person to die. The killer used a different method every time."

"Except they used poison and hypnosis twice," said Aerith, "like secondary tools or something."

"There's one thing we've all overlooked," Merlin spoke up, tapping his fingertips together, "Alice did not escape the birds on her own." They all looked at the wise wizard except Jiminy, who was turning back to the page with his notes on Alice.

"He's right," he declared, "According to my notes, she was assisted by a creature, an inhabitant of Wonderland she knew as The Cheshire Cat."

"Exactly," Merlin pointed upward, "The question is why."

"I'll go ahead and point out the obvious," said Aerith, "She was being attacked by vicious birds and couldn't protect herself. Who wouldn't try to help a defenseless young girl?"

"In my past experience of Wonderland," Jiminy volunteered, "I've found the Cheshire Cat to be very cryptic, very mysterious, and predictably unpredictable. He's helpful in a pinch, but because of his frequent disappearances and the way he makes people feel, he's not very trustworthy."

"Do you suppose he would know anything about the killer or the attempt on her life?" she asked.

"I wouldn't put anything past him," he answered, "but neither would I send anyone to Wonderland. That world is fraught with the dangers of the dark realm!"

"That won't even be necessary, Master Cricket," said Merlin with anticipation as he withdrew his magic cane, "I'll simply summon him to us!" He rolled up his sleeves and tapped his cane on the table.

"Pickelus Indestructicus!" he cried. A round crystal ball appeared that looked like plastic.

"There we are," he smiled pleasantly, "This jarlike ball will keep him contained. He'll never get out! Now, then…" He held his cane and his open hand over the crystal ball. The activity of his magic made a breeze.

"From the dark trees of the world through the looking glass," Merlin chanted, "whose smile we see but once a month, I summon—The Cheshire Cat!"

A bolt of lightning struck inside the ball and made a fuchsia cloud that swirled inside it. A small white square appeared, then another and another until a full set of teeth was smiling widely at everyone, bouncing and humming as the cloud formed into a fat cat's body. A purple line streaked around it and made stripes all the way down to the tail. Four paws appeared, comfortably tucked under the body and two yellow and red lights blinked and became eyes over the teeth.

"If you're looking for a white rabbit," he said with his ears looking like rabbit ears, "you're a little too late."

"We're not looking for a white rabbit," said Leon, "We're looking for a killer."

"We know you helped Alice escape from Wonderland," said King Mickey, "We need to know why."

"Why what?" asked the cat.

"Why did you save Alice?" Mickey clarified.

"Alice who?" the cat purred.

"Don't play games with us, cat," Leon warned, "That cute little gimmick of yours may work in Wonderland, but you're in Radiant Garden now." The Cheshire Cat circled around and looked at him.

"Oh, pooh," he purred again, "I adore playing games." He sighed in a way children do when their parents call them inside and curled his tail around himself. "All right. I'll cooperate. Ask me all the questions you can think of."

"Why did you rescue Alice from the birds?" Mickey asked.

"Oh, that's easy," the cat answered as he stretched against the ball, "She's always been so much fun, such nice company. I'd have been bored to death without her." He started licking his left front paw.

"Were the birds that attacked her Heartless or were they under the command of some villain of darkness?" Aerith asked.

"Hmm," he cocked his head, "Hard to say, really. Wonderland's never been very safe, to tell the truth. Bad people go there all the time."

"Like who?" asked the king.

"I see them," smiled the Cheshire Cat, "but they're afraid to see me. They're afraid I might tell on them to the good guys." He swept the tip of his tail across his nose. "You see, they don't trust me anymore than you do."

"Did you see anyone put a spell on those birds?" Merlin asked.

"Oh, I've no doubt someone did," the cat turned his head upside down, "Nothing else could have enticed them to attack a human being. Normally they avoid people; if you happened upon their territory, the worst they'd do is chase you off. But to allow themselves to be enchanted, well…you'd have to be an expert bird handler for that…and a bad guy to boot." His head snapped back around with a clicking noise.

"Now who do we know," he smiled deliciously, "that handles birds and bad magic?"

A brain-racking silence followed. Leon was staring at his hands on the table with intense concentration. His eyes slowly widened with revelation. He quickly stood up.

"I need to talk to Sora," he said and left the room.

"Sophie?" he called as he came downstairs, "Do you know where Sora is?"

"Yes, sir," she answered, "He said something about visiting Pooh and his friends in the Hundred-Acre Wood."

"Right." Leon went straight into the cottage, opened the book, and skadooed right into the pages. The sound of happy laughter and chatter guided him to Rabbit's House. There he saw Sora, Ame, and Christopher Robin playing Pooh Sticks with Pooh, Piglet, and Eeyore. Riku was helping Rabbit haul pumpkins in a wheelbarrow. Every now and then Ame stole a glance at him—working in the sun, getting his hands dirty—and every time someone tugged on her skirt and she snapped back to red-faced reality.

"Really, Ms. Ame," Leon smiled behind her on the other side of the bridge, "In front of the children?" Ame spun around.

"Oh, Leon!" she said, surprised, "Hi! Is your meeting over already?"

"Not quite," he said, "I need Sora for a minute. Sora?"

"Huh?" he looked up from leaning over the bridge. Leon walked by, casually taking Sora by the collar as he went. The others watched them go, then Christopher Robin climbed up on the bottom beam of the wooden rail.

"You know, Miss Water," he said, "I feel really happy here. I'm not sure why, but this place makes me feel so…so…"

"Peaceful?" she supplied.

"Yes," he smiled, "Peaceful! This place feels like a home, and these people—er, animals—all feel like a family. I really like it here."

Ame leaned back on the rail and watched him; now that she thought about it, she'd rather hoped he would want to live in the Megami mansion as Granda's ward. She'd send him to the best schools in the Islands and bring him up like a gentleman. He and Ame could see each other whenever they wanted, so she could always be there for him. Maybe he'd even find his true love there and avoid Hades' curse.

She'd never even considered he might want to stay here…well, not here in the Hundred-Acre Wood…no one can live in a story world forever…but here in Radiant Garden, with kind people who could teach him anything and everything, who would be there for him the way…she wanted to be.

'Bleh,' she thought, shaking her head, 'I can't think about that right now.'

"Miss Water, look," Christopher Robin pointed down in the river. Floating toward them was a small white object. When Ame used her bending to fetch it, they discovered it was a small hat!

"It's a little hat!" he chimed.

"Well, what do you know," said Ame as she looked at it. She had this nagging feeling it looked familiar somehow.

"Where did it come from?" asked Christopher Robin.

"I don't know," she shook her head, "Let's go upstream and find out."

Now let's go back to Leon and Sora, who were standing a ways off from the small river, having their private conference.

"And he said it would have to have been someone the birds would allow to handle them," Leon finished, "His exact words were 'bird handler.' Sora…is it possible that Maleficent cast a spell on those birds and sicced them on Alice?"

Sora stared at him for a minute, remembering that not only did Maleficent command powerful dark magic, but owned a pet bird as well.

"It's possible," he answered vaguely, "Wait—why are you asking me?"

"Because you have the most experience with her," said Leon.

"Oh," said Sora, "Gosh, I don't know. It could be, I just don't know."

"Sora," Leon asked, making eye contact, "do you know where she lives now?"

Sora ran down the halls of his memory to the last time he encountered the elegant witch.

A great battle…a swarm of Heartless…a locked door…a faraway castle.

'Why, Pete! This castle is perfect! Perhaps we should…acquire it.'

He swallowed.

"I know where she was planning to live," he said, "The last place I spoke to her was the castle of The World That Never Was."

Ame and Christopher Robin walked upstream until Ame saw a tiny white shoe sticking out from the bushes, attached to a tiny white-panted leg. Ame moved the shrubbery aside and gasped.

"It's a cat!" said Christopher Robin and indeed it was: A very handsome-looking tomcat with pale orange fur was lying on his stomach, slightly floating because only his top half was anchored on the bank. He was wearing a very snappy white suit, except it didn't look so snappy right now. He was half-shrugged out of the jacket, his tie was undone, and all over he was waterlogged. Just above him up the bank was a beautiful silver cane. His eyes were pinched shut and his mouth was barely open.

"Oh, my gosh," said Ame as she bent over on her knees and gathered him into her arms. Quickly, she drew her finger up his stomach and chest; the water inside him followed it out of his mouth and she tossed it away.

"Why is he wearing clothes?" asked Christopher Robin curiously.

"This won't make any sense to you," she answered as she drew the outside water off him to dry him off, "but this cat was created by an artist. He's a statue with a soul."

The cat began to breathe normally now and he made a sound that usually started "H" words. "H…h…h…"

"He's trying to talk to us," said Ame.

"What's he saying?" whispered the boy. Ame put her ear close to the cat's mouth. He finally managed to croak a sort of meow, that came out like, "Hreow…heow…ho…how…"

"What?" Ame exhaled. The cat strained and this time it came out clear as a bell.

"Howl." Ame and Christopher Robin looked shocked at each other.

"He wants to see Howl-san," she said quickly as she stood, cradling the cat in her arms, "Grab his hat and his cane for me!" He did and they ran back across the bridge, past Leon and Sora, and exited the book.

"I wonder what that's all about," said Leon. Sora shrugged. Riku's voice called from across the bridge.

"Hey! Where'd everybody go?"

"Howl-san!" Ame cried out when they burst into the castle. He came trotting downstairs and she went right to him.

"Howl-san, are you acquainted with this cat?" she asked. Howl stopped mid-step near the bottom stairs with a look of surprise. He leaned in and looked closely at him, making Ame blush.

"Baron?" he said, "Is that you?" He gently took him from Ame as the cat himself stirred and awoke. He looked right up at Howl with his glass green eyes and smiled.

"Hello there, Howl old boy," he greeted tiredly yet charmingly. Howl laughed.

"Haven't lost your touch, I see," he said as he carried him over to Calcifer, where Sophie had set up a cushy chair with a comfy blanket for him.

"I suppose so," said the cat as Sophie helped him out of his coat, "though I do seem to have lost my hat and cane. Thank you, Sophie."

"I have them, sir!" chimed Christopher Robin, "Your hat floated to us on the river. That's how Miss Water found you."

"Miss Water?" the cat cocked his head and twitched his ears.

"Oh, that's me, sir," Ame smiled and blushed with a hand up, "He just likes to call me that. My real name is Ame. Pleased to meet you!"

"Ah," smiled the cat, "So you are the angel who has delivered me from a watery grave. Pleased to make your acquaintance, Ms. Ame! I am Baron Humbert von Gikkingen, at your service." He bowed his head to her, since he was bundled up. Ame turned cherry red; his accent was even more gorgeous than the movie (though she chose not to mention it).

"Oh, no," she bowed at the waist, "Pleasure's all mine, I'm sure! If there's ever anything you need, please don't hesitate to ask!"

"Thank you very much, Ms. Ame," said the Baron, "You're very kind." Ame fought down a giggle she felt bubbling inside.

'Kyah!' she thought giddily, 'Wait 'til Kairi and Naminé see this!'

"Ame," Sophie sweetly asked, "would you please help me make tea for the Baron?"

"Of course!" she nodded.

"And perhaps," Howl joked to the Baron, "you'll tell us how you came to us in such an unseemly state!" He smiled back.

"It'll be my pleasure, Howl."

Author's Review:
Another surprisingly short chapter; yikes!

That's right; I went there! I'm busting out another iconic Miyazaki character: Baron Humbert von Gikkingen from The Cat Returns! (Maniacal laughter) What story will he bring to Calcifer's fireside? Heh, heh--wouldn't YOU like to know!

About Merlin's crystal ball spell: I made that up myself. I called it "pickelus indestructicus" to remind us of the image of an unbreakable, impossible-to-get-into pickle jar! 'Cause, c'mon! Those things are ridiculously hard to open, so I knew the Cheshire Cat couldn't get out of that, not even if he tried to disappear like he does. HA!

(Ayame Sohma mode) Feel free to shower me with your generous praise for my fine craftsmanship! LOL

Trust me; he does have purpose in this story—not much, but it will be semi-important to the story.

So I've busted out two kitties! One good, one questionable. The Baron and The Cheshire Cat! Boo-yah!

And trust me: This is only the beginning of my fangirl fit! Be afraid. Be very afraid.