The soft noise of a feline body sliding across silk had Dongwa turning his attention away from the fireworks. Sagwa ignored him, attempting to appear immersed in the display; but she looked more troubled than before.

And he had noticed when she left. Her pretense wasn't fooling him. But he knew the look on her face. He was more familiar with her expressions than his own; and she didn't want to talk to him. She was trying to shut out the whole world. So he turned his eyes back to the fireworks and tried to focus on the bright colors. It was like a calling from his youth; reminding him of the night he had earned a place on the rooftop to watch the fireflies. Odd, how he hadn't been seeing them lately; and it made him sad. For a reason he couldn't explain, he wanted his daughters to see the fireflies, earning them the same way he did. Even more odd was that in the palace, he had worked for the display of light; and out here it was free.

The fireworks shot into the air with one last burst of brilliance, reflecting over the water and illuminating the pier before the night collapsed into unremitting darkness. As cheers floated around the campfires, Dongwa rubbed his ears and saw other cats doing the same.

"Just in time. I think I was about to go deaf," Dongwa chortled, and stopped talking when he realized Sagwa had lay down and closed her eyes. He knew she was still awake, but he also knew that nothing would come of a conversation. Certainly not of idle chatter.

Hun-Hun was speaking to their kittens; Yuri and Ying-Hua sharing a pillow and An-Lin on Dongwa's, in an effort to protect her injury. Hun-Hun was either giving a very long answer or telling them a bedtime story, and Dongwa really didn't want to hear it...he already felt old. He left the cozy campfire and his sister's pretense behind, looking for his other sister. He had seen them conversing by the tree, and they hadn't looked happy. Sheegwa had not left alone, and Dongwa's eyes searched the suddenly quiet night for his childhood friend as well. It didn't take him long to locate them by the bamboo structure. Sheegwa responded to her mate, making sudden eye contact with Dongwa. And as though she was speaking of her brother, Siao-Po turned to spare him a brief look over his shoulder. He nodded and walked away, and she began to approach Dongwa.

Dongwa had seen how dissatisfied his sisters had both looked when Sheegwa decided to walk away. Now, as she walked towards him, he tensed.

She stopped before him. "Is something wrong?" she asked edgily. Her eyes were narrow and her tail was still; clearly Sagwa had crossed some kind of line.

"No. Everything's fine."

"I don't believe you," she told him, "You've got more tension than a dragon boat drum."

His chuckle was obviously forced, only seeming to anger her more. "I'm fine, Sheegwa. I swear."

"Fine," she muttered, and began to walk past. Then she swiveled. "I have to ask you something."

"Oh?" Dongwa tensed again.

"Will you take me to Nai-Nai tomorrow?"

"Sure." He relaxed, clandestinely relieved it was all she wanted from him.

She started to leave, but his voice made her halt.

"You know, I'm proud of you. I thought growing up in a palace would've spoiled you for sure."

"I didn't grow up there."

Dongwa considered the truth in her words. "Still. You've done good for yourself." And, thinking nothing of it, he reached up and ruffled the fur on her head before walking away. Sheegwa hesitantly lifted her head, her eyes roaming over the shocked faces of her ever-watching clowder. Feeling incredibly diminished, she tried not to let it show as she sauntered past with her head held high.

"It's not like I'm asking her to abandon her kittens. I love all my family."

Walking defiantly through the forest, Sagwa spoke her thoughts aloud as she skirted around blankets of painful pine needles and dragged fallen branches to one area. "I'm just trying to keep my word," she grumbled. "She depended on me. She wanted to escape with me. And she didn't even consider it. Maybe I should leave, go to the dowager's house after all. It'd be nice to have a human again."

She paused in the middle of stacking another small branch, then dropped it with finality on the pile. Turning around, she locked eyes with the startled young mouse peering at her from his home; built to completion under the raised roots of an elderly tree. And, gravely missing her old life, she began directing her comments to him. "But maybe that's a bad idea. I'm only angry at one relative, not all of them. Maybe I should stay...What do you think?"

A mature mouse appeared, shooing the child inside. "You're not getting us that way. Naughty cat," he scolded, and shut the door.

"Oh, whatever," Sagwa muttered, and looked down at the dirt. "It's not like you're the only ones out there."

She began to draw on the forest floor, unaware of the hundreds of mousy little eyes that began peeping at her from the windows. As she drew, she eventually became aware of the gradually cooling night air; and the loneliness that gnawed at her like fleas. An entire forest, and the only sound she heard was the hoot of a lone owl.

"Maybe you are," Sagwa whispered. She turned her eyes to the sparkling lake and let her thoughts turn to her catfish uncle. Not for the first time in her life, she felt the temptation to leave her life on land.

A crackle in the nearby foliage diverted her attention away from a frightening choice - and into a terrifying reality. She was face to face with five pairs of glowing eyes.

She was up on all fours in a flash, her pounding heart drowning out all noise. What had she been thinking, coming out here alone! She was a semi-domesticated ball of fluff. Her nails and fangs were more cute than intimidating. She should have listened to her parents...she knew the dangers of wandering off...she was going to die.

"Danger! Help! Help!" she screamed.

"No, take it easy! No danger."

The soothing tone quieted her, vocally; but her nerves were still screaming. She peered into the dark, ashamed at how badly she trembled.

"Sorry for scaring you. We just, we need your help."

Sagwa had to give her panic-addled brain enough time to remember how to speak; and when she felt fit enough to respond, she still ended up stuttering. "What can I do for you?"

"Well, we saw the fireworks, and we were wondering if you could tell us if the humans are still there."

"No humans. Just cats. Reunion party."

One of the arrivals appeared hopeful at the news. "By any chance, would one of those cats be named Sheegwa?"

Intrigued, Sagwa managed to take them to camp, walking on rubber legs. The fire had been extinguished and most of the cats had climbed up to safety. Sagwa peered up at their wide, frightened eyes.

"Is it safe now?" a child's voice called down.

Still envisioning a bull-like beast charging at her, Sagwa looked at the little girl in remorse and forced herself to utter two small words that made her detest herself.

"False alarm."

"I scouted the perimeter," Sheegwa's voice startled Mama. "It's perfectly safe."

"Good."

"Not really. It means someone here cried wolf. Siao-Po will be furious."

"We'll cross that bridge when we get there. In the meantime, I believe you have some visitors."

Sheegwa looked to where her mother pointed, and at the blank look on her daughter's face, Mama hesitated.

"Do you recognize them?"

"No." Sheegwa moved forward, quite certain that the members of the clowder she had become fond of were mocking her behind her back. Training her focus on the unfamiliar newcomers, she stopped before them and looked from one arrival to the next. "I hear you came to see me? My name is Sheegwa."

She jolted back as they surged forward; luckily they had the sense to recognize her antisocial reserve, as well as the maturity to accept it. Their maturity, however, did not divert a flood of questions and comments.

"Did you go missing, or did you run for it?"

"Is this a shelter?"

"Did your family ever find you?"

"Everyone's talking about you. Even dogs!"

"We saw the signs!"

"What have you been up to all this time?"

Sheegwa looked from one face to the next, wondering why their words bothered her so much. Sagwa had told her what they did to find her. She should have just felt grateful, and loved. Forcing away her annoyance, she made herself say, "I'll be glad to answer you one at a time."

She could tell they didn't believe her.

They sat, and continued asking questions; one at a time.

"How did you get separated from them in the first place?"

Sheegwa took a slow, deep breath; forcing herself to revisit her least favorite day of her life. "At the time, I answered to humans; but their rules were harsh. Disobeying was punishable by sleeping outside, missing meals, and being kept in a cage. Different violations, different punishments. My sister was in a cage the night I got thrown outside; and instead of looking for another way in...I ran."

"Why?"

"Because I panicked. And I knew my sister's friend would help me." Sheegwa shrugged. "I'd seen him hanging around all day," she suppressed a smile at the irony. "I figured I could catch up to him."

"You didn't, did you?"

"No. I haven't seen him since."

"What did you do next?"

Sheegwa didn't have to turn around to know that her family and her entire clan was listening; anxious for an insight into their leader's love. She took another slow breath, feeling the weight of her importance to them like an anvil around her legs. She'd already had her fur mussed; how much less did they already think of her?

Her family was aimless. They had come to camp and settled in without any debate; they had nowhere else to go. At least if she stayed with Siao-Po, she wasn't aimless, too. She could not tell them what she had done. She couldn't let herself go out like that. Her kittens needed her.

She lifted her head, making her decision.

"I found this place, and the rest of my life."

High above the crowd, hidden in the shadows, Sagwa withdrew into the treehouse.

"So you're happy here?" a newcomer was asking.

"Yes. You can be, too. Stay as long as you like," Sheegwa finished, still sounding insincere. She turned and weaved into a crowd that parted to let her through.