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There is something in the unselfish and self-sacrificing love of a brute, which goes directly to the heart of him who has had frequent occasion to test the paltry friendship and gossamer fidelity of mere Man.

--Edgar Allan Poe, "The Black Cat"

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Authors like cats because they are such quiet, lovable, wise creatures, and cats like authors for the same reasons.

--Robertson Davies, "Mehitabel"

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Chapter Three: The Cat

Serena sat on a stool by the counter, watching the cat greedily lap up the milk she had poured for it. Immediately after finishing, the cat began to daintily wash its face and paws, not paying any attention to Serena. She studied it on eye level. It was covered in glossy black fur, like soft velvet. The only patch of light on its whole body was a small bit of fur growing right in the middle of its forehead.

The cat finally finished grooming itself and studied Serena with solemn blue eyes.

"Are you a boy or a girl?" she asked it, feeling silly and knowing perfectly well that she should just look and see, instead of asking like she expected an answer.

The cat seemed to give her a look that said quite clearly, "Must you ask?"

Serena chuckled to herself. Definitely a girl, she thought. Reaching out with one finger, she rubbed the little spot on the cat's forehead, drawing forth a small purr. The fur seemed faintly yellow somehow, an unnatural color for cat hair. And the more she looked at it, the more it seemed shaped like a crescent moon turned on its side…Or like the letter 'u', she thought sarcastically, but all the same, she whispered out loud, "Luna."

"Oh! My goodness! Serena, what in the world is that…animal doing in here?" the startled voice of Mrs. Tsukino came loud and sudden behind Serena. She turned in surprise at the disgust in the woman's voice.

"Well, she was outside the glass door, asking to come in. I suppose she's a stray, since she doesn't have a collar," she explained genially, trying to wipe the look of horror off Irene's face. Disgust was immediately replaced with stern-ness, something that the motherly woman had not yet exhibited in Serena's direction.

"If she's a stray, we'll have to take her to the pound. We are not having an animal in this house. I have way too much good furniture to have it all destroyed by a furry little monster."

Serena was shocked. She had only seen kind and loving tendencies from this woman so far, and this preference of furniture over the well-being of a living thing seemed completely out-of-character.

"But, Irene, if she's brought to the pound, she'll most likely be put down before she's adopted…" Serena started to implore.

The sharp shaking of Mrs. Tsukino's head interrupted her. The woman's mouth was set in a thin, hard line. "No, Serena, I'm sorry, but I simply cannot allow my home to be torn apart for the sake of a monster in feline form."

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Luna was purring inside the box, for some odd reason. Well, at least one of us is happy, Serena thought bitterly. Sammy walked alongside her, looking as dejected as she felt. He had always wanted a pet, but even when one practically fell into their laps, his mother still refused to let him keep it.

After much cajoling from first Serena, then both her and Sammy after he woke up, Mrs. Tsukino had been talked out of condemning Luna to a certain death in the pound. However, no amount of pleading could convince her that Luna's charms were extensive enough to qualify her as a member of the Tsukino household.

Thus, the box. Serena and Sammy had been told that they could either find Luna a new home somewhere in the neighborhood, or Irene would be happy to drop 'the monster' off at the local animal control office. So far, they were having absolute zero luck with the door-to-door approach, and Mrs. Tsukino had made it perfectly clear that one way or another, the cat would be gone by tomorrow morning.

"I'm tired, Serena. Can't we stop and rest for a minute?" the little boy pleaded. She consented, and they sat down on the curb, Luna's box beside them. Reaching in for the umpteenth time, Sammy pulled her out and cuddled her on his lap. Her black fur was hot from absorbed summer sun, but the boy didn't seem to mind the heat. Serena sighed and reached out to rub the little crescent moon on the cat's forehead, causing the perpetual purr to rise in volume. She loved cats, and it distressed her to see such a nice one wasted like this. Suddenly, Sammy looked at her, as if reading her mind.

"Oh, please, Serena, can't we keep her?" he pleaded softly.

"You know your mother said we couldn't."

"Well…" the boy chewed his lip, as though he knew she wouldn't like what he was about to say. "Well, she wouldn't have to know. We could keep her in your room, you know she said she would respect your privacy and not go in there, and we could sneak in food for her, and then we could have her to play with all the time, and she wouldn't destroy any of the furniture, she's a good kitty, really!" he got out in a rush, clutching the cat to his chest. She squeaked in protest, and he loosened his grip, but didn't lessen the intensity of his begging eyes on Serena.

She battled with herself, wanting to give in, but also wanting to uphold his mother's wishes. Luna chose this critical moment to let out a soft, crystalline meow and bump her head on Serena's arm.

"See, she wants to stay with us, too!" Sammy pleaded.

Serena looked into his wide green eyes, then at the serene blue ones of the cat, and knew that she was lost.

Luna thereafter became a resident of the Tsukino home, if only beknownst to two other members of the family.

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Serena crept silently around the corner, into the dark room. She held up her wishstone, and a pale, silver light was cast from it as she cautiously advanced on the dark form before her. A little voice sang softly in her head, over and over, "When you need me, I will come. When you need me, I will come." The dark form whirled suddenly, and a pain like none that she had ever experienced shot through her whole body. She screamed, and fell, and was caught in a pair of strong arms. Looking up into the handsome face of a man with raven black hair and deep midnight blue eyes, she was struck with an odd sense of familiarity, though she was sure she had never seen him before. He grinned rakishly at her, causing her stomach to flip, and then, abruptly, he frowned. "You should've known," he said, before disappearing. The support of his arms gone, Serena fell and fell in black nothingness…

Sitting up with a start and stifling the shriek rising in her throat, Serena fought to regain control of her heavy breathing and racing heart. For a few confused seconds, she had no idea where she was, until she finally realized that she was in her own bed, at the Tsukino's house. She pressed a trembling hand to her sweaty forehead, then pushed it back into her loose, wavy, blond hair. She glanced at the clock. 1:42am. Luna stirred and rose from her place at the foot of the pink bedspread, nestling herself back down against Serena's side. She lay back down again and ran a hand lightly over the cat's back. That dream again… Pushing the image of the startlingly handsome face of the man with midnight blue eyes out of her mind, she concentrated on the rhythmic vibration of Luna's purring through the covers until she drifted back into an uneasy sleep.

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AN: wonder who that is? ^_~