(No time, writer's block, better things to do, blah blah blah. Here's chapter six. Thanks for being so patient with me.)

Although she had been up late, Arlene roused herself before anyone else. She was still in the same position she had been in when she fell asleep—nuzzled next to Garfield, with one paw over his back tenderly.

She sighed to herself. Why did she do this to herself—to him? Garfield had treated her like carpet—useful, nice to cuddle up in, but not something to get too worked up over, and something that could easily be replaced. Arlene knew that finding a cat more committed than Garfield would be an easy task.

Why, then, did she still come to him and take care of him? Why, then had she refused every other tomcat's advances on her, even after she and Garfield had unofficially split?

She took another look at Garfield, still sleeping soundly. Of course, it was not much of a difference from when he was awake. Arlene sniffed to herself, remembering some of their "dates"—they'd meet up, say hi, and just sit there. For minutes… many minutes… maybe even a half an hour on some days, Garfield would just look at her in his blank way. No matter how she tried to rile him, Garfield wouldn't be awoken from this "daze" until he himself seemed to decide that he had looked at her enough.

As the years wore on, Arlene had given up trying to talk to him when he pulled this stunt. She had just returned the same blank look, hard as she found it to control her rage at his placid silence… and her marvel. Yes… her marvel at how different Garfield was. She knew that she'd never be able to find another cat like Garfield… she wouldn't even be able to come close. No other cat was as funny as Garfield was, or was as much as a ham when it came to attention… Garfield was just an individual, he didn't usually care too much what others thought of him. He seemed happy with himself, and that was enough for him…

Arlene looked at Garfield again, this time glowing with affection. As much as she had to swallow her pride to do it, she finally admitted to herself that she was in love with him. It almost made her sick to think it—is that the effect love is supposed to have?—and she knew Garfield would probably never feel that way towards her. Still, Arlene thought to herself, I think he needs somebody to love him. I can get along alright without love, but Garfield…

Garfield finally opened one lazy eye and peered up at her. "Any special reason why you're cleaning my ears, my dear?"

Arlene blinked. She hadn't even realized that, during her contemplating, she had started gently licking Garfield's ears.

"Because they stink," she said automatically.

He gave her that look again—that same blank look! If Arlene hadn't have had so much experience in giving him the same look back, she probably wouldn't have managed it. After everything she'd done for him, he still gave her the same look that he would give a documentary! And yet she still had to admit that she loved him!

Garfield's look might have been blank, but his mind wasn't. It never had been. Sometimes it just took him awhile to take her all in. And there were still unanswered questions… like why did this one cat make Garfield feel so worthwhile? No one else made Garfield feel the way that she made him feel. Garfield didn't even know what it was about her… but when he was with her, he felt like he could take on the world.

Arlene stopped licking his ears.

Garfield's blank stare continued. "Smile," he said suddenly.

Nonplused, Arlene asked, "Why do you want me to do that?"

"Because I want to see the gap between your teeth."

"Why?" hissed Arlene. "So you can make fun of it?"

Normally, Garfield would have answered "yes" to that question, but he surprised himself by saying unexpectedly, "No, because I think it's cute." His blank look faded away, and he gave her a disarming smile.

Arlene sniffed. "I'm not about to give you that satisfaction." Still, she couldn't hide the smile that was threatening to tug up her lips.

Their stares weren't blank anymore. They were gazes, filled with love and affection.

Garfield suddenly pulled away, blinking. Stupid, he thought to himself suddenly. As charming as I might be, Arlene's deeper than that. I've never really given her any real reason to care about me…

"What's the matter?" Arlene asked.

"Nothing," said Garfield quickly.

"No, I think I know," said Arlene, sounding a little harsh. "You're wondering why I'm wasting my time with you, because you've never done anything to make me show any real compassion to you, right?"

Garfield blinked again. "Well… yes…"

Arlene sighed. "I've been wondering that myself." Abruptly, she started licking his face. "One of the mysteries of the universe, I guess."

Garfield grinned and licked her face in return. "My dear, it's no mystery. You just know a perfect cat when you see him."

Arlene fumed. "Why you… you… conceited pig!"

Her outburst woke Odie, who whimpered, "Not so loud!"

"Nice going," said Garfield, grinning at Arlene. "You woke up the idiot."

"Hey!" whined Odie.

Winnie woke as well. "Oh, whatever. We'd probably better get out of here anyway, and catch a truck to the airport."

"If we're lucky enough to find one," mumbled Schwartzkoff, kicking Clay, Gizmo, and Nermal awake.

Winnie examined the puppies. "How are we going to do this… Everyone grab a puppy."

Her seven companions grabbed one puppy each, and Winnie did likewise.

"But Winnie, there's three left!" cried Clay.

"I know," snapped Winnie. "I'm trying to figure that out!" She thought for a moment. "I'll take another one, because I'm the biggest. Garfield, you take another one too."

"I'm insulted," grumbled Garfield.

"Odie, you grab one too… you're the next biggest." Holding two puppies gently between her teeth, Winnie moved towards the cave entrance. "Follow me."

Garfield hoisted a puppy on his back, which clinged to him tightly. Feeling rather silly, he picked up his other puppy in his mouth and followed Winnie.

The snow had piled pretty high last night, but there was still room to get out of the cave. And when the animals got out, they were pleasantly surprised to find that the day was sunny and clear, and they could see—

"Look! A truck! And it's got the airport symbol on it!" cried Nermal.

"Great!" said Winnie, sounding relieved. "Let's get on it!"

Garfield shook his head. "I don't know, it seems just too easy."

"Nonsense!" said Schwartzkoff. "We'll be back there in no time."

…………

Seven hours later…

"Just our luck that the van would run out of gas," mumbled Arlene.

"Miles from anything," added Gizmo.

"And another storm might come up soon," said Winnie.

"And it's cold in here!" whimpered Odie.

"Told you it was too easy," said Garfield, sounding almost triumphant.

"Wow, the house cat is right, for once in his life!" said Schwartzkoff with a sneer.

"What's wrong with being a house cat?" demanded Nermal.

"Hey!" cried Clay. "Let's stop arguing! It could be a lot worse. They'll probably be back with gas soon, and it's a lot warmer in here than it would be outside."

"Shh!" said Winnie suddenly. "I think I hear the driver coming back."

All eight travelers pressed their ears against the side of the van and listened to the man talk.

"Too bad I don't understand… whatever language he's speaking," sighed Garfield.

"Let's hope he's saying, 'Well, I've got some gas, so let's get going!'" said Gizmo hopefully.

They became quiet again, hearing the car start up again.

"Thank goodness," said Winnie. "Let's just hope we can get Louisa's puppies back to her in time… they'll probably be leaving next morning…"

Garfield groaned to himself. "I'm guessing that it'll be an annoyingly close call, and very dramatic."

(AN: And there we go. I have writer's block… again… so sorry to leave you hanging like this. However, I should (hopefully) be able to update very soon, as I finally graduated from high school and have, for a least a few months, actually some time to update. I think that the next chapter will be the last one, but there's another Garfield fanfic I want to write, so… stay tuned, and eat lots of cake. :) )