Chapter 19
When Kitty made her way back from Delbert's cabin again, she saw Jim on deck still mopping the already pristine deck. She sighed, knowing that what she was about to do would not most likely be welcomed by Amelia. She straigthened up, tugged her jacket down, and walked over toward the working Jim.
"Ah, good morning, Jim," she said politely.
He looked up at the sound of her voice. "Hello. What is that you want...er, Ma'am?" he asked, adding the honorific a bit after-the-fact.
Kitty didn't mind. "I thought I´d help you out, if you'd like me to, that is," Kitty said.
Jim scoffed at that. "Yeah, right. You're an officer," he said and looked her right in her eyes. "Why shoud you want to help me out?"
"Because, Mr. Hawkins, even if I am an officer, that doesn't mean I have necessarily sit around all day watching everyone work while taking credit for it. Heavens no! The Captain would have none of that."
Jim smiled, leaning on his mop. "Is that right? Well well...you learn something new everyday. Say, you're loads better than the cops on Montressor," he told the blond felinid girl.
"Thanks," Kitty said, feeling a sense of satisfaction in his seeming acceptance. "Now, do step back," she said.
Jim did so, but with a look of obvious confusion, before Kitty simply snapped her fingers. A sheet of luminescent white-gold light rushed down the length and breadth of the Legacy from bowsprit to sternpost, leaving the ship ship-shape, sparkling, and spotless in its wake.
"Whoa!" Jim said, impressed, dropping his mop to clatter on the deck..
"Hey, what can I say? I...er, know a little magic, let's say," Kitty said humbly. "I wasn't always this way...I used to be human, just like you," she told him confidentally. No one else aboard, with the obvious exclusion of both Amelia and Arrow, knew about that particular fact.
"No way! Really?" Jim asked in apparent disbelief.
"Yes, really," Kitty assured him. She then told him her whole story.
"Whoa. And, I think I have it bad sometimes," Jim said after a while.
"I know," Kitty said. "But...please, don´t tell anyone, all right? Not even Doctor Doppler, you understand?"
"I promise, Kitty," Jim pledged.
"Good," Kitty said and stood up from where she had been leaning against the ship's rail. "One last thing for you to ponder before I head back inside, Jim," she said, turning back around. "I know your father left you and your mother. But, think this over when you find the time: did you think you´d get more attention from your folks as you got older? Because I always thought that way of my family. I remember one time I thought tomorow when I'm ten then maybe they´ll let me sleep in longer and let me have a day off for myself. Well, I was wrong. The older I became the more they continued to yell at me. I soon figured out---after I ran off and left them---it was better to be free and without them, than it was to stay and be a virtual slave." Having said her piece, Kitty nodded her farewell, and headed toward the main mast's shrouds, then scrambling to the crow's nest to settle in before she began softly:
I can't stand to fly,
I'm not that naive,
I'm just out to find,
The better part of me.
I'm more than a bird,
I'm more than a plane,
More than some pretty face beside a train,
It's not easy to be me.
Wish that I could cry,
Fall upon my knees,
Find a way to lie,
About a home I'll never see.
It may sound absurd,
but don't be naive,
Even heroes have the right to bleed.
I may be disturbed,
but won't you concede,
Even heroes have the right to dream.
It's not easy to be me.
Up, up and away,
away from me.
It's all right,
You can all sleep sound tonight.
I'm not crazy
Or anything...
I can't stand to fly,
I'm not that naive,
Men weren't meant to ride,
With clouds between their knees.
I'm only a man in a silly red sheet,
Digging for kryptonite on this one way street.
Only a man in a funny red sheet,
Looking for special things inside of me,
Inside of me.
Inside me.
Yeah, inside me,
Inside of me.
I'm only a man,
In a funny red sheet,
I'm only a man,
Looking for a dream.
I'm only a man,
In a funny red sheet,
And it's not easy, hmmm, hmmm, hmmm...
Its not easy to be me...
Kitty sighed after completing her song before she once again made her way down to the deck again, and headed into Amelia's quarters. There, she found her friend, the Captain, scowling at her. Kitty knew what was coming---from her expression at least---and leaned back against the edge of the table as Amelia got to her feet and began her lecture. She started by asking her just what she was up to, singing for a crew---this particular crew!---like some tavern wench. Then where did she get off helping the cabin boy, Hawkins---by using her magic, no less!---to perform his chores for the day. And then finall, getting to the real crux of the matter, by telling her just what she thought of her attempts at matchmaking between the Doctor and herself.
"Finished?" Kitty asked, politely yet yawning. "I'm sorry, Amelia, but I'm beat. I did´nt hear a word you just said, really." As Amelia blinked, and made near unintelligibe word of protest, Kitty continued, around yet another yawn. "I´m way too tired to care, so please move aside, as I intend to get some much-needed sleep. Night." And, leaving the speechless and fuming Amelia in her wake, she made her way sleepily to her bed.
AN: The song is dedicated to Christopher Reeves who died a few days ago. R.I.P.