AN: Sorry this took so long! Thanks to all my reviewers who've been waiting! This chapter mainly features the beginnings of the subplot, and Kel picked a hell of a time to break her collar bone. She can only type with one hand, and she's been spaced out on painkillers…
Kel: Actually, I just felt really crappy so I took my own sweet time doing this. Hope you enjoy!
Munkustrap sighed as he listened to the ruckus from the other side of the bathroom door. How on earth could a kitten who had been knocking on death's door less than twenty-four hours ago now be fighting off a human tooth and claw?
In an attempt to get the dried blood out of Deuteronomy's fur, the queen human had grabbed him while he was sleeping and had proceeded to put him in the bath. She had obviously thought that he'd be so tired that he'd sleep through it. She had obviously thought wrong.
Finally, a sea green towel bolted out of the bathroom, leaving a trail of water behind it. It ran straight into a wall.
The tabby sighed again, trotting over to the Jellicle leader and tugging the towel away from his face.
Deuteronomy's grey fur was in soggy spikes, and there was a scar on his throat that hadn't been there before. He wasn't too worried about that, however.
"It's freezing!" he shivered.
"You should have let the human dry you off properly," the tabby advised. "Just don't…"
The kitten shook himself violently, spraying soapy water everywhere within a six-foot radius.
"…shake…" Munkustrap finished weakly. "It seems like you're feeling better."
He gave a small shrug and the a smile.
"Misto! Mistoffelees! Magical Mister Mistoffelees, get your sparkly little butt out here!"
There was a scratching from the other side of the door, and the sound of footsteps.
"Alright, Judas, alright. No need to destroy the door!"
The door opened, and the tuxedo hurried out before it closed. "Hey, Tugger."
The Rum Tum Tugger raised an eyebrow. "Judas…"
"Aw, shut up. She had eleven cats before me, and every one of them was named after a disciple. One of those religious nuts, you know. Just my luck, I got stuck with the name of the bastard of the universe."
"Kind of a coincidence, isn't it?" the larger tom mused as both headed to the junkyard.
"What do you mean by that?"
"Well, Macavity called Bustopher Jones a Judas among the disciples, didn't he? Just that he's your uncle and everything… Kind of weird."
Mistoffelees swallowed dryly. "Yeah… Weird…"
Dr. Tom sighed as she walked past the examination room to lock up the front desk. It had been a week since that kitten had been brought it, and her daughter had given up her wild "theories" soon enough. But something still didn't feel right.
She put her ear close to the door, and what she heard troubled her. Silence. She couldn't remember a time when Amber hadn't had the radio on or was singing while she took care of the animals. It was possible that she was angry about her marks or that her mother didn't believe her about the kitten.
It was also quite possible that she was depressed. Amber didn't have many friends for very long, she had no siblings or cousins, and Dr. Tom herself was always so busy…
The vet sighed again, walking into the room. "Okay, what's up?"
Amber looked up from the sink where she'd been scrubbing her hands. "What do you mean?"
"You know perfectly well what I mean. You've been moping around for the past week now! I'm sorry if I shot down your reincarnation thing, but you've got to get over it!"
She gave a sigh. "It's not that. Now that I think it over, it was actually pretty stupid. It's just that… I keep thinking that I'm missing something. Something important."
"A social life, perhaps?"
"Look, I can't help it if those girls were complete…"
"You could try to be a little more cooperative, you know," the vet interrupted. "Friendship is and always has been a two way street. I'll admit, those future hookers weren't worth it. But you need to talk to people besides that older guy and his gothic Chia pet!"
Amber shut the water off rather violently and stormed out of the office. She planted herself on the front step, and made it her goal to glare at every single person who happened to pass by.
Mungojerrie and Rumpelteazer were walking along the street, not on their way to the junkyard but simply trying to kill time. Jennyanydots was still mad with Jerrie, and Teazer was purposely avoiding her mother because the Gumbie Cat knew that she knew Munkustrap's little secret, and the younger queen didn't want to talk about it.
"Hey," the tom said, nodding towards a girl slowly making her way around the corner. "Isn't that Granddad's old human? Weird Girl?"
She looked in the direction shown, choosing to ignore the weird comment. "Yep, that's her. Her school gets out later than the public ones. Must of missed the bus or something."
"Doesn't look very happy, does she?"
"Hasn't for a while," Rumpelteazer remarked. "I've been keeping an eye on her. I don't think she has any real friends. She must be lonely."
"Couldn't we do something to help her? I mean, she did help Granddad get to the junkyard."
A plan started to form in his sister's head. "We passed by the clinic, and that daughter of the vet's was sitting there. She doesn't seem to hang around anybody most of the time."
Mungojerrie shook his head. "Probably not, she's there a lot. What are you suggesting?"
A mischievous grin spread across her face. "Standard 'duck and hawk' strategy, and then bolt for the clinic."
"Brilliant!"
"I claim hawk!" she hollered, racing towards the girl.
"No fair!" he protested, following her. "I'm always the duck!"
Christine plodded along the sidewalk, kicking at rocks. She didn't care that she was scuffing her shoes, either. She had been in a bit of a daze all day and had missed her bus call, so she was walking home.
Out of an alley, a striped tom bounded out and rubbed against her legs. His coat was so orange that it almost looked calico.
The girl bent down to run a hand along its back and smiled a bit at its purr. It was odd, a cat coming right up to a human… But it had a collar, so it obviously wasn't a stray, and she recognized it as a cat she had often seen at her house.
Rumpelteazer snuck up behind the human as she petted the decoy duck, her brother. She carefully reached out for the girl's dangling silver bracelet. She delicately lifted up the simple circle and hoop clasp with a claw, and pulled it off and down. She caught it in her mouth before it landed.
Mungojerrie gave her a pointed look, and she nodded in return.
The queen gave a loud meow, causing Christine to look behind her.
"Hey, there… Hey! That's my bracelet!"
Teazer and Mungojerrie bolted between her legs and down the street, nearly knocking her off of her feet.
"Nice work," winked Jerrie.
His sister, holding the bracelet in her mouth, gave a muffled reply.
"You take it from here, I'd better disappear." He crossed the street and slipped into a back alley to follow the chase from another street.
"You stupid cat! Come back here!" Christine ran after the cat, gaining on it as it rounded a corner. She gritted her teeth and made a grab for it, missing and nearly landing on her face. She stumbled but managed to remain standing.
Rumpelteazer felt herself be lifted up and wriggled in its grasp.
Amber kept a tight grip. She instantly recognized the cat, both by her fur pattern and the chaos that followed the queen. "Hey, Cinderella, what have you got in your mouth?" She took the bracelet without a struggle. "God, not again. Who's could this be?"
"Mine!" Christine gasped, out of breath. It wasn't all that easy to run in dress shoes and a pleated skirt. "There was another cat, a tom, looked just like her…"
"Ah, that would be Aladdin," she smiled, handing the bracelet over to her. "The two are twin demons, trust me. After the first time I treated them, I was short a watch and I never even noticed it was gone until an hour later when I went to take it off."
The dark haired girl gave a small smile, scratching the queen behind the ears gently. "I think I've seen them around, now that I've got a good look at them. They were around my cat a lot."
A look of understanding dawned on her. "Oh, you're… Catherine, isn't it?"
"Christine," she corrected. "Langille. And you are…"
"Amber Tom. Dr. Tom's daughter. You're the owner of that old grey tom she treated a few years ago, aren't you?"
She nodded. "If one can actually own a cat. Deu… Norrington. His name was Norrington."
"I knew it was from Pirates of the Caribbean!"
"… I haven't seen it."
"It kicks ass. Sorry about your cat, I kind of liked him. Wasn't to fond of me, though. Tried to take a chunk out of my hand."
Christine gave a sympathetic wince. "He didn't like strangers, I think I warned your mother about it."
"Hey, the Johnson's have a kitten that they need a home for, looks a lot like Norrington did. If you're looking for a new cat, I could give you their number."
"I… I'm not really looking for one right now. This is going to sound crazy, but I'd feel like I was replacing him."
"I don't think it's stupid," Amber insisted. "You can't replace a best friend just by going out and getting another one."
Rumpelteazer gave a long meow, and the redhead released her. The queen ran as fast as she could into the alley where her brother was waiting.
"Mission accomplished," she winked. "There's our good deed for the week, let's go check out that security system on that new mansion."
"Hey, umm…" started the redhead awkwardly. "You… want to come up to the flat and grab a soda or something? If you're not doing something else, anyway…"
"… I'm not doing anything else. I'd love to," Christine replied, smiling shyly.
The two girls hurried upstairs, Amber thankful that they didn't meet her mother. The doctor was a bit nosy when it came to her daughter's social life.
A paper with red markings on the kitchen table caught Christie's eye. It was an English test, and a poor one at that.
Amber followed her gaze, and gave a sheepish grin. "Ibsen's Enemy of the People. I hate stuff like that, it's so boring."
"Ibsen's my favourite author, actually," was the soft reply as she picked up the test, scanning it. "What were your final impressions of the play? … Don't go to bathhouses in Norway… I really think you missed the point entirely."
"My mind drew a blank, okay? What was I supposed to put?"
"The influence and power of the media, maybe? The truth about the freedom of the press? The cover-ups of politicians? Something about mob psychology or the errors of the democratic process?"
"God, are you a genius or something?"
"No, I just read a lot. I don't have much of a life outside books, really…"
"Know what that's like…" she admitted. "Only I throw myself into the clinic. I really love animals. Even if some of them don't exactly like me. Besides, Mum needs the help. There's three other assistants, but two of them are trust fund brats and complete slackers, and the other's only an intern."
"Really? I thought… I thought someone like you would have plenty of friends."
"Yeah, well, I don't really play well with others."
"Meaning…"
"Er, forget about it. Want to watch a movie or something?"
Christine smiled. "Sure!"
"Monty Python and the Holy Grail okay?"
"Who?"
Amber raised an auburn eyebrow. "You've never seen Monty Python?"
The other girl shook her head.
She gestured towards the TV. "Come on, then. I've lots to teach you about the miracle that is Python."
The next day, Dr. Tom walked by the examination room and smiled when she heard something that usually made her cringe.
"In this quiet night, I'm waiting for you
Forgetting the past and dreaming of you
Time passes by and memories fade
But time can't erase this love that we've made"
The veterinarian shook her head. She'd probably never figure that kid out…
"And the stars in the sky that I wish upon
Can't bring you back to my side
Though you're not here with me
I dream of the day when we'll meet again…"
That night was just like every other night for Amber and Christine. Both were at home, up late with a new book. Both were reading with amazed interest. The only difference was that Amber was reading Shakespeare's Macbeth, and Christine was reading Douglas Adam's Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.
"hold me close, look deep in your heart
I will find you, no matter where I am
So go and dream of me, for I will be there
Follow the stars that lead
Into the quiet night…"