I Saved You (Animal Version/AU)
(Cat Katarina / Lovebird Ashe)

Despite hearing the sound of a vehicle parking in the house's garage, the red cat comfortably curled in its pet bed near the fireplace didn't move an inch from its position.

The cat's name was Katarina. She was taken in named by a little girl name Annie when she was found in the streets with her siblings. While she and her sister, who was named Cassiopeia, or Cassie, as Annie's sister, Daisy, usually called her, were taken in with the family of the two girls, their other sibling ended up being adopted by a family friend.

During their time in the streets, Katarina became used to clawing at other cats to get a decent meal for herself and her remaining family. None of their parents were there to raise them. All she knew was that she and her two siblings lived in a box in an alley between a small restaurant and a movie theater.

She and her brother were fighting with three other stray cats for a half-eaten fish once. It was where she got the scar on her left eye. Regardless of such cost, she and her brother emerged victorious from the scuffle and had brought back the fish to their youngest sister, who was meowing and crying in the box they called home.

The sound of the door clicking as it became unlocked made one of the red cat's ears twitch. It was soon followed by a bunch of hurried footsteps and an excited call of a little girl.

"Cassie!" Daisy called out as she dashed into the living room.

"Meow~" Cassiopeia responded back as she briskly walked out of the kitchen and joined the blonde girl in the same room.

Daisy giggled when Cassiopeia walked around her, fur brushing against her in an affectionate manner. The cat was soon picked up and hugged, and the furry creature responded back with a purr.

Katarina watched her younger sister with distaste. Despite being part of the human family that adopted them for five years, Katarina never got used to all the love, but she kept her claws out of sight as much as possible. Last time she tried clawing at Annie for pulling on her tail, she got slapped by a rolled newspaper by the girl's mother.

Annie was scolded for doing such thing, yes, but Katarina was quick to learn from the experience. As long as she avoids being physically violent to her pet owners, then she and her sister will remain having a proper roof over their heads, high class cat food, soft and plush pet bed and pleasant-smelling cat litter for them to do their business on.

"Kata!" Came Annie's voice.

If Katarina were human, she would have groaned the moment she heard her little owner's voice. She rolled around her pet bed, intending to stretch for a few times before she makes many effort in standing up and greeting the caller. She was in the middle of her second stretch when Annie abruptly collected her from her resting place and into those delicate arms.

Due to the pattern of the fur on her face, Katarina didn't need to scowl to show how irritated she was. No, her face's fur pattern was enough to do such thing for her. Nonetheless, she was irked that her stretching was interrupted, but she made no aggressive reaction to the unwanted action.

"Did you miss us?" Annie asked, hugging her tightly.

'No.' She thought to herself, which she voiced out by blandly saying, "Meow."

"Daisy and I missed you and Cass, too!"

This was one of the things that irritated Katarina. Since she's an animal and was unable to speak any words, then there's always this miscommunication that transpires between her owners. There's always a communication breakdown.

"Don't worry, you and Cass will be getting another play date!"

Oh, how Katarina wanted to groan. Behind Annie and in Daisy's arms, Cassiopeia perked up and looked up to the girl that held her, hoping for some explanation at what she heard.

"Mm-hm!" Daisy nodded, excited. "Auntie Lissandra will be visiting today!"

"Aunt Lissandra will be bringing Gnar." Came the voice of the father from the outside the living room. Obviously, he heard his daughters breaking the news to their pets.

"Yay!" The two girls cheered, clearly just discovering that they'll be able to play with their favorite 'puppy'.

"Anyone wants to help with dinner?" Their mother asked them, peeking inside the living room.

"Ooh, ooh! We do!"

While Cassiopeia let Daisy put her down, Katarina was quick to jump out of Annie's hold before the girl could fully release her. The pair immediately ran out of the living room, which was a satisfactory turn of events for a particular cat.

The younger cat may have trailed after their owners, but its older sibling walked back to her pet bed. Katarina lied back down on her sleeping cushion, eyes blinking lazily and body waiting to be lost and returned to its slumbering state.

Not a moment later, she fell asleep.

xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx

"They're here!"

Katarina opened her eyes and lifted her head off her paws, eyes filled with annoyance landing at the archway entrance of the living room. She spotted Annie and Daisy giving Lissandra hugs, while the latter's dog shamelessly barreled into the living room. It was holding a blue ball in its mouth, only letting it go when it skidded to a halt in front of Cassiopeia, who was boredly playing with a green yarn.

"Arf! Arf!" The ball dropped and bounced in the polished wooden floor, immediately capturing Cassiopeia's interest. A minute later, Gnar and Cassiopeia were messily playing 'pass the ball' with each other.

"Auntie Lissandra," Annie started, curiously eyeing one of the older woman's hands, which was hidden behind her back. "What's that behind you?"

"I see you noticed." Lissandra chuckled before pulling her hand away from her back and lifting up a small, square-shaped, silver bird cage. "Your Aunt Avarosa has been giving some of her lovebirds away. This little bird here is for you and Daisy."

"We get to have our own bird?" Daisy asked, eyes widening and sparkling with giddiness.

Lissandra hummed. "Her name is Ashe. I'm quite confident that you two will take care of her."

Annie and Daisy turned and looked towards their parents, waiting for their approval. The couple exchanged looks before sighing and nodding, small smiles on their faces. Once the go signal was given, Daisy quickly grabbed the cage from Lissandra, startling the bird inside, which was actually asleep.

"Careful!" Annie told her sister before the two of them left the adults and went straight into the living room to introduce the new addition to their family.

The cage was placed on the coffee table at the center of the living room before its little door was unlocked and opened. Daisy offered one of her fingers for Ashe to perch on, while Annie watched eagerly from the side.

The bird, whose feathers were were white and had light blue streaks at the lower part, audited the finger for a brief moment before those thin legs got off its swing and onto the digit. Daisy tried her hardest not to squeal as she and Annie left their crouched stance, eyes focused on the creature on her finger.

"Meow!"

The two girls fell back and on their butts, while Ashe frantically flew off her new perch and began flying around the room in a high height.

Katarina, who had lunged at the bird in the first place, curled up in her hunting stance, ready to make a parkour like climb to be able to jump in the air and snap her teeth on the flying animal she called her meal.

"No, Katarina!" Annie grabbed one of the sofa pillows and gave the red cat a harmless but nonetheless firm, whack.

"Meow!" Katarina reacted, hissing at the dark-haired girl, fur standing up as she recovered and began to put some distance between her and her young owners.

"No! She's not your food. She's family!"

Katarina meowed in irritation, making her way to her sister, who was now watching Ashe fly with curiosity. She meowed again, telling her sister to lend her some assistance in capturing her prey.

"Arf!" Gnar barked, calling for the bird.

Surprisingly, the white lovebird flew down and towards the direction of the dog. Gnar stood at attention, and as if they've been doing such thing for a long time, pointed his snout upward. Ashe landed on his nose before carefully walking until she reached the top his head. The dog barked once before approaching the two cats, the bird still on his head.

Katarina decided to bide her time and wait until her food would lower her guard, since her sibling seem to have ignored her call for a bit of help. Cassiopeia though, when Gnar lowered himself until he was lying on his paws, approached and reached a claw-less paw at the bird. Ashe examined the outstretched paw attempting to touch her and when she deemed it harmless, she took a step forward and let it brush her feathers.

"Awww!" Annie watched the happening with her sister, keeping to themselves as they did. "They look so cute!"

"Cassie likes her!"

And that was the beginning of it all.

Ever since that very day, Katarina was denied of one of her greatest desires. After being sprayed water at, slapped by a magazine and thrown by a pillow, she eventually came to terms that she could never be able to succeed in killing the flying creature that had joined their family.

To make things worse, it's as if the lovebird was rubbing that fact in her face.

Whenever the top of the cage was open, which was extremely often, Ashe would fly out and join Katarina at her pet bed, snuggling her feather-covered body against the cat's soft fur. She usually did it whenever the cat herself was sleeping, which lessens the possibility of any claws being swung at her.

One time, Katarina woke up with the bird comfortably snug against her neck. She had meowed and hissed angrily, furious that her personal space was invaded. Of course Ashe flew away in an instant and returned to her open cage. The vexed feline threateningly narrowed her eyes at the bird, ignoring the stray cats idling at the other side of the window behind the bird cage.

Ashe's cage was placed at the wooden table attached to the wall directly in front of a window, which garnered the attention of some stray cats around the neighborhood. Katarina knew those cats wanted the same thing. To devour the bird. She also knew that they must be mocking her, for she can't even take down the said creature herself. She convinced herself that their opinions did not matter. What truly mattered was that she and her sister have a home.

For the first few times, Katarina was absolutely enraged every single time that she found Ashe all cooped up and against her, but as time passed, she eventually got used to it. If she can come to terms that can't eat the bird, then she can surely get used to it sleeping alongside her.

Annie and Daisy rarely closed the cage ever since they were reassured that Ashe would never fly out of the house, which granted the winged animal nearly all the freedom it can receive.

Katarina stirred out of her slumber, lazily checking what was touching her rear legs. When she caught the sight of Ashe pecking at them, she was well-prepared to hiss at the lovebird and tell it to beat it. She stopped herself though, especially when she noticed that Ashe did not mean to disturb her nap. Ashe was merely removing the bits of litter that had stuck to her fur piece by piece with her delicate beak.

In short, the lovebird was grooming her.

Somehow seeing that it was her that was getting a benefit from the act, Katarina decided to let the disturbance go and return to her dreamland.

Ashe, who had took notice of how Katarina silently permitted her to groom her peacefully, somewhat perked up and eagerly began to finish her cleaning. Once all the traces of litter was gone, she went to the red-furred cat and snuggled against her like always.

And this time, Katarina didn't shoo her away.

The more time Katarina allowed Ashe to spend time with her, the more she noticed all the things the bird did for her.

Ashe would groom her whenever she's asleep. She would even wake her whenever it was mealtime, something that Katarina's immensely thankful for, since Cassiopeia had a habit of eating from her pet bowl whenever she wasn't there yet. Not only that, but Ashe would also wake her up whenever their owners came home from work and school.

Katarina would sometimes enjoy the comfort of the couches in the living room, which admittedly possess soft cushions that's practically Heaven for a cat like her to lie on. The mother of the family didn't approve of having pets on the sofas though, so again, Katarina was thankful Ashe always saved her from being scolded.

The most memorable thing Ashe had done for her was when LeBlanc, the family friend that adopted her brother, came to visit and brought her mentioned sibling. Katarina was asleep when they arrived and Ashe had tried her hardest to wake her, but it was one of those trying times that she refused and swung her paws at the bird for disturbing her wonderful slumber.

In the end, she found out that her brother had ended up eating all the cat food in her bowl, which was supposed to be her dinner. When she woke up in the middle of the night to eat her late dinner, she found her bowl food-less. With a grumbling stomach, she walked towards her pet bed and curled up in annoyance and hunger. Even though she had not expected it, she was silently prepared to suffer through a couple of hours with an empty stomach.

The memorable thing Ashe had done was that the bird flew towards her with a piece of cat food between her beak. Katarina watched as Ashe placed it on her pet bed and right in front of her, one of those scrawny feet pushing it to her.

Utterly hungry, Katarina stretched her neck forward and took the piece of cat food into her mouth, chewing it thoughtfully and hoping the taste would last longer in her mouth. Ashe had flown into the kitchen, while Katarina attempted to savour her tiny meal to the fullest.

By the time she swallowed, Ashe was back with another piece of cat food. Not at all questioning where the bird got it from, Katarina did the same thing with it and once it was in her mouth, Ashe flew back to the kitchen. Another piece of cat food was brought from the kitchen and eaten.

More than just a dozen of times, Ashe performed her back and forth delivery in order to feed her. It continued until Katarina could honestly say that her hunger was well-satisfied. When Katarina laid on her back and patted her paw on her full stomach, the lovebird that fed her was awfully depleted of energy. The little creature was tired, yes, but still gave one last ditch effort to fly and return to the pet bed.

Ashe snuggled against Katarina, but this time, the feline swung an arm around the bird and held it closer than it was, even adjusting her tail's positioning until it acted as an additional blanket of warmth for the feathered animal.

"Tweet, tweet!" Ashe chirped happily, nuzzling its head affectionately against Katarina's cheek. Normally, Katarina would be annoyed at the gesture, but the cat made an exception for that night.

It was no ordinary feat to feed her like that. Katarina knew that the cat food was stored at the tippy-top shelf in the kitchen, yet Ashe made a great deal of effort just to bring those food pellets one by one to her. If Katarina had touched the bag of food herself, their owners would instantly know, especially if its positioning on its place was shifted greatly. She decided to show her gratitude by giving the lovebird the warmest slumber she could ever offer, and the lovebird herself was truly greatful and comfortable within her soft, furry embrace.

If she was so comfortable though, why was she gone when Katarina woke up in the morning?

It was ten o'clock and the humans in the house had already gone off to work and school, which left the animals to care for themselves until they returned. Their bowls of food and water were filled enough to satisfy their thirst and hunger. Katarina would not have chosen to wake up had she not heard the distant chirping of a certain bird.

Standing up, all she found worth mentioning in the living room was that only a long and white feather with a blue streak was left on her pet bed and that the bird cage was empty. Katarina thought for a moment before she came into a decision to eat her meal first and take a little drink of water before she tracks down Ashe.

"Tweet! Tweet! Tweet! Tweet!" Came those urgent chirps that made Katarina's head snap towards the window.

Her slit-like eyes widened when she saw the small open gap of the window. The frantic tweeting, it was coming from outside. Panic rose through from within her, especially when the images of those stray cats came into mind. Oh, how they eyed Ashe through the window as if she was the only bird left to be consumed.

Katarina ran towards the table where the cage was on, jumping onto it oncebit was within her range. She immediately approached the window and looked out to audit the front yard. Her heart thudded in her chest once she saw where Ashe was.

A stray cat was on one of the branches of the tree where Annie and Daisy's tire swing was tied to, its teeth clamped around Ashe's tail to prevent her from flying away from its reach. Ashe flapped her wings in panic, wanting to put as much distance between her and the hungry creature. Those little eyes of hers were closed tightly as she tried her best not to give in to the jaws of death behind her. She tweeted and chirped, hoping to be helped by someone.

"Meow!" Katarina hissed and practically shoved herself through the tiny gap. She cursed her body for being bigger than a lovebird, for it gave her difficulty in slipping through the opening. The window was rarely oiled, so it didn't budge immediately as much as Katarina wanted it to.

A few seconds of struggling, the window creaked and lifted up until it allowed Katarina to exit the house. The red cat ran as fast she can towards the panicking bird, her green eyes never leaving the bird as she did.

"Meow!" She called out, telling her friend to hold on a little bit longer. She lunged towards the tree, claws clamping against the wood as she climbed it with all her strength.

"Tweet! Tweet! Tweet! Tweet! Twee...-!"

Snap!

"..."

When Katarina finally got onto the branch, she froze.

"..."

She stared at the lovebird bitten between the stray cat's teeth...

"MEOW!"

Katarina tackled the stray cat off the branch, the two of them falling off the tree and back onto the grass. Body filling with rage, she dug her teeth into the stray's neck. The outsider released the bird in its grasp, hissing as it quickly ran off. The red cat hissed as well and had all of its fur standing at attention, only calming down when the other cat was nowhere in sight.

Slowly, Katarina approached her bird companion. She crouched and bumped her nose against the back of the bird.

There was no movement.

She bumped one of those delicate wings.

Nothing.

"Meow..." Katarina called out quietly, eyes, which were completely focused on her house companion, turning glassy. 'Ashe...?'

"..."

"Meow..."

'Wake up...'

"Meow..."

'I saved you...'

"Meow...?"

'...didn't I?'

When not a sign of life were given, Katarina stood up and lightly bit on Ashe, enough for her to carry the bird but not enough for her teeth to harmfully sink in. As Katarina made her way back to house, she can taste the small amount of blood that trickled out of the bite the stray had given the lovebird.

Once she got back inside, she went straight to her pet bed. She gently laid Ashe on the very spot she so dearly loved lying on before rushing off towards the kitchen. Not a minute later, she returned with the bag of bird food Annie usually obtained Ashe's meals. She dragged it towards her bed, not at all caring that she was leaving a trail of bird food.

She pulled on the bag until it was in on her bed. She pawed on it until some of little seeds spilled on the cushion. She crouched again, her right paw pushing some of the seeds close to Ashe's mildly parted beak.

"Meow..."

'I brought you some food...'

There was not a single chirp.

"Meow..."

'...just like what you did for me...'

Katarina pulled her paws back and covered her eyes with them, her entire body tensed and curled up. She can hear her sibling walking behind her, approaching her.

"Meow?"

'Kata...?'

Katarina didn't remove her paws from her eyes, but a choked meow left her. Cassiopeia joined her on her pet bed, quietly snuggling against her right as an offer of comfort to her sibling.

"Meow..."

'Ashe...'

She never thought she'd feel such pain. She always thought she would feel those if she had lost a sibling or if she had just gotten out of a large fight with the strays outside the house.

Annie and Daisy came home and had immediately bursted into tears, especially once they saw Ashe's state. Their father placed the lovebird in one of the shoe boxes he found in the attic before he buried their newest pet at the backyard. After a few moments of weeping to their parents, the two children were led back inside the house.

Cassiopeia worriedly stared at her sibling from her place at the back door of the house. Katarina was seated right in front of the grave. She didn't move from that spot, even when it rained that night. Annie was too depressed to play with her, or even look for her in the first place.

It was nearing midnight when Katarina came inside the house, fur completely matted with dirt and muck. When she did come through the pet door and into the kitchen, she found her bowl of food full and Cassiopeia seated beside it...

With a white feather between her mouth.

It was the same feather Ashe had left on her bed.

Katarina approached her sister, who then placed the feather down the floor. She stared at it for the longest time, eyes looking like they were about to shatter into tears. Silently, Katarina picked the feather up and without a single meow, turned back to the pet door, exiting the house once again. Cassiopeia bowed her head and curled up, eyes remaining on the little panel her sister walked through.

Outside, the sky was still crying. Katarina didn't care though. She was a cat, yet she didn't even flinch when hundreds of droplets of coldness showered her from above. She stopped when she was directly above Ashe's grave. Paws and her entire rain-doused body sinking into the mud, Katarina curled up and closed her eyes, feather still between her mouth.

"Meow..."

'Ashe...'

"Meow..."

'I saved you...'

Soft sniffles began to come from the drenched feline.

"Meow...?"

'...didn't I?'

xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx

Author's Note: I think my heart just died. T_T

And yes! I cried while writing the ending! I KNOW it's my story! I know I shouldn't be crying! But, God! T_T

This piece was inspired by a short comic about a Frog and a Puppy. It was IMMENSELY saddening. I found it when I was going through Facebook. I'm not sure, but I think it was titled "If Only". But like I said, I'm not sure! :/

Anyway... I just had to write this one and share it to you, readers. I hope you guys felt the emotion I had put into it as much as I did.

(My tear and snot-stained shirt and piles of crumpled tissue was my proof that this got to me, even though this is my story -_-")

Until my next (and hopefully, happier) update. T_T