A couple of days ago, I watched The Cat Returns in Japanese and was slightly disappointed that they didn't put the direct Japanese subtitles in with the other English translation, like they did with Howl's Moving Castle. Pooey! But it's okay; I understood some of the words, for which I'm rather proud of myself!

Speaking of which, this is the chapter where I take the envelope and tear it to shreds like a dog eating your homework!!!! (animal growling sounds) That's right! I'm busting out MORE CHARACTERS!!!!! SOMEBODY STOP ME!!!! (By the way, I think it's pretty obvious which characters I don't own.)

But don't worry; they do sort of pertain to the story…a little. By the way, I'm listening to Christmas music on Playlist! Boo-yah!

"You know, the speck can think anything it wants to about me; it's a speck."—Morton the Mouse, Horton Hears A Who

Chapter 26: Howl's Refugee Camp
"Ahh," sighed the Baron as he sipped his tea, "Thank you, Sophie. It's delightful."

"Would you like another pillow, Baron?" Kairi asked. She and Naminé had run straight to the castle when Ame told them who was sitting at Calcifer's fire, and now they were all but glued to the dashing cat.

"Thank you, Kairi," he smiled at her, "but I'm quite comfortable now."

"O-okay," she blushed. He took another, longer sip of tea.

"Well, now," he said as he set it down, "I suppose you're all curious as to how I came to land in the Hundred-Acre Wood. It's a rather long story, but one worth telling, as there are lives at stake.

"It all started about two days ago, when I was visited at my home in the Cat Bureau by two very lovely young people. One was a boy who looked about twelve years old." He looked up at Howl with his hand around his chin.

"Actually," he said, "he looked very much like you, Howl. He even appeared to possess some magic of his own. He introduced himself to me as Kohaku, and his female companion as Chihiro."

Ame and Kairi choked on their drinks (Ame was drinking lemonade, because she doesn't like tea). Everyone looked weirdly at them.

"Sorry," Ame blushed profusely as she chided herself for such unladylike behavior.

"Yeah," added Kairi, "Go on, Baron. We're fine."

"Hm," he said, "Well, anyway, they looked weary and hungry, so I invited them in. Miss Chihiro fell asleep almost immediately after lunch, so Master Haku—she called him Haku—told me why they sought out my help. It seems the parents of Miss Chihiro have disappeared because of The Heartless. Haku thought we at the Bureau might be able to help find them, since he was only an apprentice-level wizard. I accepted and as soon as they had both recovered, we set out together.

"No sooner did we reach the crossroads than we were set upon by a small squadron of The Heartless. For some reason, they were fixated on Chihiro; Haku and I managed to fight them off, but then we decided it was no longer safe for us there. Haku created a portal and we found ourselves in a dense but beautiful forest.

"We followed a river, guided by these charming creatures that lived in the trees until we saw a small town on a lake. We started to make our way there, but Haku stopped us and said he could sense dark powers. Sure enough, an explosion went off in the center of the town and a torrent of Heartless came raining down toward us. Naturally, we ran for our lives. Unfortunately, The Heartless were faster and gave chase. Even Haku's defensive magic did little to deter them. Our chances of escape were slim indeed." He took his teacup and drank.

"But then," he said dramatically yet calmly, "they appeared." He put his tea back down and continued.

"At first, all I saw was a flash of white on each side of us. Then I heard a loud growl as a large animal sailed over us and scattered The Heartless. It was a white wolf, the largest and most beautiful I'd ever seen…but not quite as beautiful as the woman astride him. She was wearing a cape of white fur and a tiny dagger around her neck. She too had a companion—a young man, a warrior named Ashitaka. The woman introduced herself as San.

"There was no time for further introductions, as there were more Heartless closing in. Quick as a wink, the woman named San scooped up Chihiro and carried her away on her wolf's back with me perched atop San's shoulder. And I must say that for a wild woman, I found her scent rather bewitching. Ashitaka rode close beside with Haku in front of him.

"But even these swift, magnificent creatures could not foresee the trap laid out for us. Before we knew it, we were surrounded by Heartless of every shape and size. Haku had just enough energy left to attempt another portal. As we rode toward it, San removed the dagger charm from her neck and put it on Chihiro. 'It will protect you,' she said, 'as it protects me.' My guess is she suspected we would all be separated. She was right.

"Inside the portal, we were falling, all jumbled and confused. I saw Chihiro jump for Haku and they seized hands and disappeared. Ashitaka disappeared with his wolf before he and San could connect. That is all I remember before tumbling head-over-heels through a peaceful sky and landing in the river bushes."

He took another sip of tea.

"My point to all this, Howl," he finished, "is that I think I know where some of my party have fallen. Haku's portals had hitherto taken us to places of exceeding beauty, peace, and protection. The forest was a bit of a hiccup, but the intent was the same. If I landed in such a safe place as the Hundred-Acre Wood, they would have to have landed in a similarly safe and beautiful place. I'm speaking, of course, of your garden."

"That's what I thought," Howl nodded, "Well, only one way to find out." He walked down the small staircase to the front door, shut it, and turned the color dial to pink. He opened the door to the paradisiacal garden, its warm breeze gently blowing in, its afternoon sunlight streaming in. The three girls looked wide-eyed at the peek of the garden. Howl turned his head back.

"Well, come on!" he smiled, his eyes sparkling and hair shining, "Let's go see if we have any refugees!" Ame and the twin sisters looked at each other with red faces and erupted into a huddle of giggles.

"Are you feeling all right, my dears?" asked the Baron with a knowing smile, "You look a bit feverish." This caused them to giggle even harder as they got up and followed Howl. Riku, who had come in during the story, was leaning his forearm over the Baron's chair.

"Don't encourage them, Baron," he beamed, "Remember, I have to go home with them!"

"Quite right," the cat nodded and drank his tea, "And who might you be, sir?"

"Riku Hakari," he answered as he pulled up a chair, "I'm engaged to Ame."

"My congratulations, sir," said the Baron, "You've found yourself a lovely lady."

"Don't let her hear you say that," Riku laughed, "She'll go right back into fangirl mode!"

Truth be told, Ame and Kairi were having a hard time getting themselves out of fangirl mode. Naminé was a naturally calm person and had managed to reduce herself to smiles and small giggles. Her sister and friend, however, were still freaking out.

"As if our boyfriends weren't enough," said Kairi, "Now we're surrounded by Howl and the Baron—"

"And Haku and Prince Ashitaka!" Ame danced as she grabbed Kairi's hands, "It's a Miyazaki film pile-up! I can't believe this!"

"We're the luckiest girls in the universe!" Kairi nearly shouted as she cried squiggly tears.

"And we're in Howl's garden, too!" Ame sighed dreamily as she spun around, "It's so beautiful!"

"Um, girls?" said Naminé, "Something's coming toward us." They stopped and stood on either side of her; a big, hulking blue figure was slowly lumbering in their direction. It looked hunched over, like it was protecting something. As it got closer, they could see it was covered in blue fur with purple spots. They knew this creature!

"James Sullivan from Monsters, Inc.?" Ame popped.

"I don't believe this!" said Kairi, "It never ends!"

"Come on!" said Naminé, "He looks hurt!" They took off down the little hill toward the one the monster was on.

"Mr. Sullivan!" she called and waved. The other two followed suit. He stopped and half-stepped back, his neck fur raising nervously. The girls halted, mostly because Naminé spread her arms out and stopped Kairi and Ame.

"Mr. Sullivan, it's okay," she said, "We're good guys. We won't hurt you!" Now that they were up close, they could see clumps of his fur were matted with blood! His left leg had a limp, too, and he looked tired and worn. His eyes were haunted and wary of the three strange girls and he was holding something, but they couldn't see what.

"Who are you girls?" he asked, "How do you know me?"

"I'm Naminé," the blonde gently answered, "This is my sister Kairi, and my friend Ame."

"Your story was made into a movie," said Ame, "and we've all seen it."

"Oh," said Sullivan, "Right."

"Are you hurt, sir?" asked Christopher Robin with his adorable English accent, peeking from between Ame and Naminé. Sullivan looked surprised, then humbled at the little boy.

"You have a kid with you," he observed softly.

"Yes," smiled Ame, "This is our friend, Christopher Robin. Christopher, this is Mr. Sullivan. And yes, I think he is hurt. Mr. Sullivan—"

"Please," he smiled, "Please…call me Sulley." The girls and boy smiled.

"What are you holding, Sulley?" asked the boy.

"Oh," said Sulley, looking down at his arms, "These are a couple of my friends." He moved his left arm to reveal a tiny monster with tentacle arms and a mophead…literally! Inside the funny-looking mouth was the face of a beautiful two-year-old girl with shiny black hair in two tiny pigtails on top; she was asleep, but the light go tin her eyes and woke her up. When she saw the others, she cried out in fear.

"Kitty!" she said.

"No, no," said Sulley, "It's okay, Boo. Don't worry; these are the good guys! See?"

The little girl named Boo looked down at the new people; her face lit up when she saw Christopher Robin smiling at her.

"Hello," he greeted, "I'm Christopher Robin! What's your name?"

"Chripto Bobbin," she repeated as Sulley gently put her down on her feet. She toddled over to the young boy and dropped her tentacle-disguised hands in his.

"Boo!" she chirped and pointed at Sulley, "Kitty!"

"Nice to meet you, kid," he smiled, "These are a couple of other friends I picked up."

He opened his right arm, in which another, older little girl was sleeping cozily; she had brown skin, long black hair, and was wearing a red floral-patterned muumuu. She stirred and woke up groaning and rubbed her eyes.

"Is Boo crying again?" she asked groggily, "Where are we?" Sulley stroked her bedraggled hair.

"We're safe," he said gently as he put her down. She looked weirdly at everbody.

"Who are you guys?" she asked. Boo toddled back to her.

"Kip Toboggan!" she gurgled, pointing at Christopher Robin.

"I'm Christopher Robin," he smiled and held out his hand, "Nice to meet you!" The girl looked blankly at him for a moment and accepted his handshake.

"Aloha," she said matter-of-factly, "I'm Lilo."

"Holy crap, I knew it," muttered Ame, sharing a knowing glance with her friends. She noticed then that Sulley was reaching behind him and carefully removing something from his back…or rather, someone. It was a teenage girl that looked like Lilo! (Ame and the girls recognized her, too).

"We're here, Nani," said Sulley. The teen woke up and let him help her down.

"Wow," she said, shielding her eyes, "Where are we?"

"I'm not sure," he said, stretching his back, "but it's a lot safer than Kawai. Uh…" He turned to Naminé. "Can you tell me where we are…Naminé?"

"This is the garden of the wizard Howl," she answered.

"And that's the wizard Howl!" Ame pointed slightly behind her side of the group. They turned to see Howl approaching with yet another little girl in his arms, but she wasn't unconscious. Walking beside them was a young boy who looked twelve with green hair the same length as Howl's.

"Hello there, everyone!" Howl called and waved, "Look who I found!" The little boy ran the rest of the way up the hill and gently grabbed Ame by the wrists (she was closest).

"Master Howl told us you had the Baron here," he said anxiously, "Is he all right? Is he hurt?" Ame blushed pink both from surprise and from meeting Haku. He wasn't too tall for twelve; his head only came up to her bodice. She smiled and held his hands.

"He's just fine," she answered, "We're taking good care of him and we'd like to take care of you, too. Are you two okay?"

"We're all right," he nodded, "My name is Kohaku, but you can call me Haku. This is Chihiro."

"Hi," said the girl in Howl's arms. She was wearing a baggy white shirt with two fat green horizontal stripes and a rough-cut tiny dagger charm on a necklace. Howl let her down and she held hands with Haku.

"Thank you very much for carrying me, Mr. Howl," she bowed low, "Is it all right if we see the Baron?"

"Of course," he answered and looked at Ame and the twins, who were tending to Sulley's injuries. Naminé was running her hand over his outer wounds while Ame was giving him some of her thermos water, enchanting it to heal any inner wounds he may have received. Kairi was taking a comb to his matted fur.

"Hey, listen. Thanks a lot, girls," he smiled gratefully, "I can't tell you how much I appreciate this, after everything that's happened."

"Do you want to tell us about it?" asked Kairi.

"It's a long story," he grinned sheepishly, "I'd like to get Boo and the other girls settled in somewhere before I do any real unwinding."

"Excuse me, ladies," said Howl, "would you please take these two into the castle so they can visit the Baron? I want to make some adjustments to my little cottage so I can accommodate our new guests."

"Sure, Howl," nodded Naminé, "Nani, would you and Lilo like to join us?"

"Can Boo come along, too?" asked Christopher Robin, still playing with the little toddler.

"Why not?" said Sulley as he heaved himself to his feet, "I feel a lot better now! I don't think I'll fit in the door, but I'll stay nearby!"

A minute later Ame ushered in Haku and Chihiro, the latter of whom ran right to the Baron and hugged him.

"Baron, you're okay!" she nearly cried, "I'm so glad we found you!"

"As am I, Ms. Chihiro," said the cat as he touched them both, "Thank heavens you two are all right. But what of San and Ashitaka?"

"We haven't seen them," said Haku, "We thought maybe you had."

"Well, now," said the Baron calmly, "This is curious. I can't imagine where they could be. I landed in an enchanted story book world and you two landed in Howl's private garden. Those places are very close together, apparently. I would assume they landed someplace similarly close and peaceful. But, of course, one should never assume anything."

"If I may, Baron," Sophie spoke, "I think you should all stay here with us. Riku told you what was happening right now and I have a feeling our adventures are connected somehow. So please, stay here in our castle. Let us help you." She had her hand out to him palm-up. The Baron studied her and looked to his companions; at their nod, he stood up with his hat in hand.

"Sophie," he said, "you are one of the bravest young ladies it has ever been my blessing to have met. (He bowed gracefully.) We gratefully accept your offer."

"Thank you, Baron," she curtsied with a smile.

Upon meeting the new additions—particularly the children—Mulan, Pocahontas, and Sally insisted on giving them their sleeping places. They had regular sleeping places to give up, which was uncommon, since most of the others were always on guard duty and mostly slept where they could. The Princesses were privileged with beds and rooms, but once the adult ones met the kids, they decided to do the adult thing and relinquish their beds for the little ones, choosing instead to move into Howl's now improved cottage with Sulley and Nani. Mulan was a soldier, Pocahontas was an Indian, and Sally had slept outside Jack's house plenty of times before, so they didn't care. As a matter of fact, they rather welcomed the change of scenery.

After things had settled a bit, and as the kids played together, (Boo seemed to have taken a shine to Christopher Robin) Sora found Ame and gently pulled her aside.

"There's something I want you to do for me," he said, "Tonight we're going to The World That Never Was to talk to Maleficent." She gasped.

"You don't think she's the killer, do you?" she asked.

"I don't know if she killed the others," he said, "but she is the only one who could have possessed those birds into attacking Alice. I know it's not much to go on, but it's all we've got."

"I understand," she nodded, "but what do you want me to do?"

"I want you to guard Kairi."

Author's Review:
Yeah—probably not the best place for a cliffie, but I needed to get to the next chapter, so there it is. What will Sora ask of Ame? Well, you'll just have to wait and see!

(triumphant mad laughter) Consider the envelope totally shredded beyond recognition!!! I told y'all I was gonna drop the bomb! Feel free to bask in the confetti shreds of the envelope as you digest the fangirl fit I've dragged you all into!

The next chapter's gonna be a little shorter, and it'll explain why The Heartless are after Boo, Lilo, and Chihiro-chan!

By the way, congratulations to everyone who told me they got the new KH game. I hope you'll be very happy together! (bursts into tears and sulks in Tamaki's emo corner)