A/N: Now let's see how well you remember the first chapter...

Chapter 26 - Of Warmth and Love

Bombalurina laid her head against her sister's bed. It seemed that Demeter just didn't want to wake up again. But the red queen stayed by the gold queen's bed, for fear of her sister waking up and finding herself alone. She barely left her side, and if she were alone, she would have starved to death by now. But Jennyanydots was being very forceful in giving Bombalurina mouse cakes to eat. Slowly, she was starting to get meat back on her bones. Now that her sister was there, she felt like things would get better.

Demeter shook and panted as she seemed to be running away from something in her dream. Bombalurina quickly took up her sister's paw and delicately stroked her cheek. "It's okay, Demeter. He can't hurt you anymore! You're here with us! Just open your eyes." Munkustrap had come in without the red queen realizing it, and was standing next to her, staring down at the queen who was having yet another nightmare. Bombalurina thought they had switched roles in this past week. Now he was looking particularly thin, as though he hadn't been eating. His eyes looked so tired, as well.

Not that he didn't look this way when Demeter was missing. But Munkustrap took to the streets every free moment he had, and the other cats were often scared he would never return. But now that Demeter was here, it seemed he found nothing to occupy his time but to sit and worry about the gold and black queen. She didn't know what was bothering him more: seeing her in this state, or knowing that when she woke up, she would probably still hate him.

He held out his paw, and gently brought it to Demeter's face. But even the gentlest touch made her spasm in her sleep, making Munkustrap pull back quickly, looking distraught. "It's not just you," Bombalurina assured him. "She usually does that when someone touches her."

"Well," a voice behind them said. The two turned to see Rumpleteazer sitting on the floor, leaning her back against her brother's bed. Mungojerrie was asleep himself at the moment. "What would you do if every touch you felt for the past few months were violent ones?" Bombalurina hissed at the little orange tabby, but Munkustrap put a paw on the red queen's shoulder, who let out a frustrated sigh. Every time Rumpleteazer looked at them, it seemed she didn't deem them trustworthy.

"Why is she here again?" Bombalurina asked. Rumpleteazer smiled to Jennyanydots when she came over to her, quickly getting out of the way as the Gumby Cat changed Mungojerrie's dressings.

"We owe Demeter's life to them," Munkustrap said softly so only Bombalurina could hear.

"Why does she hate us?" The red queen muttered under her breath as she glared at the foreign queen, who was too busy helping Jennyanydots to pay any attention.

Munkustrap seemed to shudder slightly, his face blank, his eyes listless. "Because I'm sure Demeter hated us for a while," he admitted, his voice cracking. Bombalurina gave a look of surprise to Munkustrap, but he wasn't looking back. Then she thought of the prospect of what he said. Her own sister hating her? Why would she do that? Surely Munkustrap was just angry at what happened when Demeter finally came out from behind the trashcans, because her sister would NEVER hate her.

The tension between the three cats was broken when Old Deuteronomy gracefully entered the room. Mistoffelees looked up from his bed, getting up very carefully, as his injuries still weighed him down. Rumpleteazer smiled shyly, and ducked behind Jennyanydots, who was smiling over to the Tribe Leader. He had been there often, but he had such intensity about him lately, that the only way the other cats knew how to react was with more respect and awe towards him.

Munkustrap looked over at his grandfather, who came over to him and put an arm around his shoulder. The silver tabby let out a tired sigh, before the Tribe Leader let go, walking over to Bombalurina. She moved out of the way, gently placing her sister's paw back down. Then, Old Deuteronomy placed a paw on Demeter's forehead, and her nightmares seemed to stop, as her breathing went back to normal. Amazed, Munkustrap and Bombalurina stood next to each other, and Jenny scurried over, as though something amazing had just happened. "Come home, Demeter," the old cat said very softly, solemnly, in a voice that reflected his years.

Night…what a lonesome time. Everything was dark. The world seemed to have abandoned her, the gold and black queen, who now stood alone. Her attackers had disappeared, and she was back in good health. But the dark that should have been the night engulfed her, and Demeter was aware that this cold that surrounded her was not of the familiar darkness of the midnight sky. She knew the only escape was to wake up. But she couldn't bring herself to. She couldn't will herself awake. But she had so much to do…She had so much to tell her loved ones.

Everything was so cold around her, she realized. And she couldn't really move or speak. She watched helplessly as big blue eyes looked down on her, before turning and leaving. 'Wait!' she wanted to cry. 'Why are you leaving? I'm so cold!' But even when she was there, she felt it too. Her mother was cold. She could never warm Demeter up. The only thing that could was the little red fluff-ball that curled up around her.

Glass green eyes. A flick of the tail, and he was gone. What was that? For the longest time, all she knew was her sister and her mother, and now so many new senses. But mostly the chill of the night.

Though they were soon surrounded, only her sister would dare touch her, and she hardly had enough heat to spare for the both of them. A fake, deceiving warmth picked her up, and Demeter realized it was like a dying flame…

She felt herself falling asleep in a fit of shivers. But then, when things were getting particularly dark, there was something familiar. A soothing voice…surrounded by her sister on one side and something else on the other. She knew it to be love. And she wasn't cold anymore.

'I'm home,' she said in her dream.

Slowly, she opened her eyes. For a moment, she tried to orient herself. Always surrounded by eyes! But recently, this was not a positive thing. They were there to attack her again! Not again! No, not again! She jumped up, hissing, taking swipes and growling softly. There were voices and figures trying to take shape before her eyes, but they wouldn't show up to her terrified eyes. They just wouldn't come into view. "Get away, please!" she pleaded weakly.

Warmth…

And for one moment, everything seemed clear. She saw Old Deuteronomy in front of her, and a sob broke from her voice. "Deuteronomy!" she cried, tears falling down her cheeks. The old cat smiled warmly to the waking queen, who hugged him tightly, not wanting to let go. She felt like she could finally find some solemn in the fatherly love of the cat who had doted over her while she was refusing to wake up. In his ear, she whispered, "I never thought I'd find my way home…"

Demeter lay in her bed, not wanting to look at anyone, talk to anyone, eat anything, or much less do anything. Everything felt so strange now that she was back. When Jennyanydots would give her food, she would reluctantly eat it (though it felt so comforting to eat food she had grown up with.) When said cat would try and comfort her or put a paw on her shoulder, Demeter would instinctually back away. She was trying to remind herself that she was safe, but it would take some work…and she tried to ignore the heartbroken looks on the faces of those who she backed away from, to the point she just didn't want to talk to them at all.

One part of her thought that they deserved to be hurt. She was, after all, abandoned by them. But her sister was the one least daunted by her sister's change in heart, seeming determined to act like everything was normal for Demeter's sake. But there were moments Bombalurina excused herself with a chocked up voice and raced out of the car.

It was even worse when Munkustrap came in. He looked as awful as she felt, though she couldn't bear to look at him at times. She turned her face away, and scooted into a corner, feeling like she wanted to scream at him to leave her in peace. But she had enough control over her otherwise erratic emotions to be quiet about it.

In general, she just felt off about all the attention. All that brought her lately was negative results, in many ways. So she kept very quiet, not wanting to talk to anyone, for fear of what she might say, and the consequences of her words.

"Everyone's name here is so difficult…Mico, was your name?" Rumpleteazer caught the attention of the four cats that were left in the car. Mistoffelees seemed to be healing nicely, but Jennyanydots was refusing to let him go. About a week had passed since Demeter had awoken, and they were all slowly healing.

"Misto, they call me," said the cat, getting up on his bed and smiling over to the tabby. "You're…" he thought about this for a moment. "Um….Teazer!" The queen nodded, and Mistoffelees was quite proud of himself for having gotten this right. "I've been meaning to talk to you, but I didn't think you really wanted to talk to…well…any of us."

Demeter sat up in her bed and looked over at the two. The twins had been very quiet since they had gotten here, very unlike their nature, but she's sure it was because they felt out of place here. Rumpleteazer seemed to be beaming at the attention, though. "Ah, that's so sweet! Whatcha wanna talk about!" The queen crawled over to the black and white's bed and sat, looking up intently. Mistoffelees seemed a little put off by her eagerness, glancing over to Demeter for help. But Demeter turned her head and pretended to be interested in something on the wall.

"Uh…well…you came with Demeter, right?" he asked. The queen nodded. "Are you going to….become part of the tribe?"

"Well," she began, looking back to her brother, who was watching the entire conversation from his own bed. "You're Munki-type-cat seemed okay with us, but 'e's not the leadah, is 'e?" Mistoffelees shook his head, but before he could say anything, the queen continued. "That big fluffy fellow said we should go talk to 'im after we're all bettah! But I don't know where to find 'im. What do ya think, Jerrie? Think you're up to going to see 'im?"

Mungojerrie propped himself up. He held his stomach where his worst wounds were, but there was a gleam in his eye. "I 'ave to get outta 'ere, Teazah! Smell some fresh air again! It would do me some good, dontcha know?" Rumpleteazer giggled at her brother's eagerness before turning to Demeter.

"Do you wanna take us?" she asked brightly. Mistoffelees looked between the two queens. The thought of leaving the junkyard was a little daunting to Demeter. She was torn between the need to get away from all the crowds and the hub-bub over her, but she hardly wanted to feel so unprotected again. But it WAS Old Deuteronomy's…and she felt like she needed to talk with him, if no one else. So she nodded, and then shakily rose to her feet as Rumpleteazer clapped her paws before helping Mungojerrie up.

"Hey, wait a minute!" Mistoffelees said. He went to get up, but after a fiasco with Jennyanydots telling him to sit his little tail back down on the bed, he feared the wrath of the Gumby Cat and stayed where he was. "Demeter shouldn't go out alone! You're not even healed yet!" Rumpleteazer looked out the door to see if anyone was nearby, before waving her brother and adoptive sister over to her. "You shouldn't be leaving! What will Jenny say! Stop! At least wait for someone to take you!" A wave of Mungojerrie's tail, and the three were gone.

Mistoffelees sighed and leaned back against the wall. "No one ever listens to me."

Walking down the streets, the two healing cats took to a slow promenade. Rumpleteazer, however, was racing around down the streets, before stopping on a dime, spinning around in circles that were bound to make her dizzy, stopping, teetering slightly with a silly grin on her face, then racing back to her brother and Demeter at full speed, her ears back, eyes wide, with an expression on her face that said, 'Look what I can do!'

There was a bit of arguing with her brother after this about "Showing off" when he couldn't even lift his paw over his head, and before Demeter knew it, they were at the Vicarage Wall, where Old Deuteronomy rested his tired, weary body. "Huh," Demeter marveled, causing the other two to look at her in surprise. (She hadn't really talked to them, either.) "We're here."

"That we are!" Mungojerrie said cheerfully. (It was good to have a jovial Mungojerrie back.) "And…uh… 'e's that one cat who…you know…decides our fate, right?" The two looked up at the old cat that was now before them.

Demeter nodded to the two. Then she looked up to the old cat with a delicate smile on her face. She was glad to see him. He made everything feel better. "Old Deuteronomy!" At this, the Tribe leader looked down upon the three and smiled.

"Oh, I see you brought some friends," he said with a warm smile on his face.

"'Ello, gov'nah!" Rumpleteazer said brightly, waving up to him. Mungojerrie whacked her on the shoulder, to which Rumpleteazer made a face and covered her mouth, as though trying to take back what she said.

But Old Deuteronomy laughed heartily at this. "I'm glad to see you all up and about. You are looking well." Mungojerrie had taken to standing behind Demeter, but Rumpleteazer was more obvious in her need to hide from Old Deuteronomy, as she crouched down behind her brother. "Will you tell me about your friends, my dear? I have barely had a chance to talk with them when I came to visit."

Demeter spoke softly when she introduced the two. "Mungojerrie got his wounds trying to help me get away from Macavity's tribe," she explained, pointing her paw to the cat, who smiled awkwardly. "And Rumpleteazer was like a sister to me when we were all in Macavity's…If it weren't for these two, I don't know what would have happened to me." Rumpleteazer and Mungojerrie looked at each other with a shocked expression. "They gave me shelter, food, care, and strength. I am very grateful to them for everything they have done for me."

"Aww," Rumpleteazer breathed, as the two seemed embarrassed. "Thanks, love. That means a lot!" Mungojerrie nodded in agreement, but seemed too chocked up to say anything. He turned away, mumbling about having something in his eyes.

"Then we owe the return of our sweet Demeter to these two," Old Deuteronomy concluded. The two cats didn't seem to realize they were being heralded as heroes. "You two are welcome in this tribe as long as you wish to be part of it."

Mungojerrie and Rumpleteazer looked at each other, before the latter walked forward, clearing her throat. "Um…If you don' like Macavity…why would you trust us?"

"Even that Mondo…Mumphi…Munchy…that one cat didn't trust us when we first came in," Mungojerrie said. "An' you're the leadah! We didn't think…well…" He trailed off.

"Old Deuteronomy took me and my sister in when we were kittens," Demeter said softly. "He has always opened his tribe to those who have a good heart, and been like a father to all of us." She looked up at the old cat, who was beaming down at her.

"Thank you, Demeter," He said, before turning to the two. "I'm sure you two are used to a leader such as Macavity, and companions to the same accord, but if you will give the tribe a chance, I'm sure you will find many friends among them." The twins looked at each other, then to Demeter, who nodded. They then smiled up at Old Deuteronomy. "Now, if you will give me a moment, I would like to speak with Demeter. But please stay close. I'm sure she would enjoy your accompaniment back to the junkyard." The two nodded, Rumpleteazer playfully punching Demeter in the shoulder (which Demeter restrained a hiss at) before taking off down the street, in complete view of the wall.

Demeter jumped up the path to the top of the vicarage wall, sitting down beside Old Deuteronomy. She hugged him, much to his surprise. But he gave her a hug back. "If you want to tell me, I'm here to listen."

Demeter hardly needed any prompting and she began to cry and tell the old cat of some of the less descriptive things of her treatment when she was kit-napped. She couldn't bear to tell him the worse details, as it hurt too much to replay them in her own head, let alone try and describe them. "I never thought I'd get out of there. And I hated everyone for abandoning me, even though I knew I shouldn't. I felt so alone! Why didn't they come find me? I don't think they did ANYTHING!" she finished, feeling like a child who was throwing a tantrum. She took a moment to breath, pulling herself together, not wanting to look at the cat she just told most of her ordeal to. Then she tried to ebb her own tears by burying her face in the old cat's coat.

He stayed silent until the queen was done sobbing. She then sheepishly apologized before drawing herself away, sniffling.

"Demeter," he said with a voice that seemed to be preparing itself to deal a great blow. The queen looked up, shocked at the tone of voice he was using. Old Deuteronomy looked very serious. (She didn't like where this was going.) "I know you must have felt very alone," he began. "But the others did everything they could to find you. But we are a small tribe. While Macavity is good at hiding his tracks, we have alliances we can count on." He let that linger in the air for a moment as Demeter tried to comprehend it.

"So…" she said, trying to sort out her reasoning. "So, you're saying that…your alliances with other tribes could have...come to find me?" The old cat nodded. "Then…if you have so many friends, then why couldn't they come after me? Macavity may be a criminal mastermind, but there are so many others in his tribe that are…well…not."

Old Deuteronomy looked grimly to the queen before him. "Munkustrap used the alliances to the best of his ability," he began. Demeter's frowned at the sound of the name before she realized what he had said. She stared back at the cat, still not comprehending. "But…if he had gotten any closer to finding you, I'm afraid, he would have himself been killed."

"What are you saying?" Demeter asked. But Old Deuteronomy stayed quiet, as though he couldn't find the words. It took a few moments before it hit her. "You…led his search efforts astray?" She stood up, not knowing what to do with herself. That couldn't be true...

"Demeter," he said with a calm and patience that made her sit back down. "You have to understand. You know the size of Macavity's tribe. My grandson would not listen to me when I told him I would have others looking for you. Even if he wasn't killed in his search, he would have surely been killed by Macavity's tribe. Though we were all looking for you, all worried about you, I thought to have someone in Macavity's tribe look after you."

"You mean THOSE TWO?" Demeter said, pointing across the street at the giggling twins.

"No. Let me continue," he said patiently. Demeter bit back her words and tried to hear what he was saying, though she had to stop herself from biting her paw. "Every time I thought I could employ the help of someone, they would back out. They were frightened of Macavity's punishment for betrayers. Demeter, please do not hate the others. They did not know what I was doing in my efforts to keep all in the tribe safe."

"Except for me," she said bitterly.

"Especially you," he said patiently. "I did not believe that Macavity intended to hurt you."

"Why not?" Demeter asked, shocked.

"Because he was not fond of many things, but he always seemed to enjoy your company." Baffled, Demeter sat there. "I'll understand whatever you may think of my actions. But you must know, Demeter, that I always had your best interest at hand." Demeter thought she saw tears begin to form in the old cat's eyes. "And I'm sorry for what they did to you." She would have loved to shift her hate onto him, but she couldn't. She couldn't hate Old Deuteronomy. (She wasn't even sure she was allowed to!) And what was worse, she understood why he did what he did. But that didn't necessarily mean she had to forgive him just then.

"Demeter!" the two turned as Bombalurina came running down the street towards the wall. Rumpleteazer and Mungojerrie followed closely behind the oblivious queen. "Everlasting Cat, we have been worried sick about you! Mistoffelees said you went out with those newbies, and we were looking all over the junkyard for you!" Demeter looked over to Old Deuteronomy, who nodded his head over to Bombalurina, telling the gold queen to go. Seeing the heartbreak on his face made her hesitate momentarily. She then gave the old cat a hug, before jumping down to join her sister.

"Well, 'ello!" Mungojerrie said, looking Bombalurina over. She gave a start when she realized the two twins were behind her. "I don' think we 'ave been propahly introduced!" He puffed out his chest and said in his best posh voice, "My name is Mungojerrie!"

Rumpleteazer rolled her eyes. "Toms…" she said under her breath, looking at Bombalurina with a hint of annoyance.

"An' this is my sistah," he said dryly, pointing his paw to her.

"Demi…" Bombalurina called cautiously to her sister, as there was suddenly a drooling tom at her side. "Can you hurry up a bit?" Demeter smiled softly as she walked gingerly over to the three.

Mungojerrie had pulled out some jewelry out of nowhere. "This is fo' a lovely queen such as yourself."

Rumpleteazer, who had decided on helping her brother, pointed at the necklace and said, "Now, those are QUALITY Woolworth pearls."

"Demi…" Bombalurina said warily, two matching tabbies on either side of her. Demeter laughed lightly as she caught up to them. Bombalurina looked up with some shock at the queen before her.

"I wouldn't take them if I were you, Bombie," she said softly. "You're beautiful enough as it is. You don't have to wear something like that. Ack!" Bombalurina had raced up and hugged her sister, smiling as she nearly crushed her. Though Demeter wasn't too fond of this attention, she patted her sister on the back.

"I missed you so much," Bombalurina said, her voice quavering. She let go, stroking her sisters cheek. "And you smiled!"

"I…" Demeter said, caught a little off guard. "I missed you, too."

"Well," Mungojerrie said in some disappointment, looking at the pearls in his paws. "Well, then you'll need them Teazah." He handed them to his sister, who huffed up.

"What is THAT supposed to mean?" she said, hitting him on his arm.

The four of them walked back to the junkyard, Demeter looking back at Old Deuteronomy, who was smiling to her. He was too old to be mad at...She had to forgive him. She had to understand. And she had to heal.

While they walked off, Bombalurina was hugging her sister. And Demeter was glad to be with her family again.

A/N : I had trouble with this chapter, cause I had to combine two of them, so it's...extra long. So sorry for making it a longer read than usual! But it might be a bad habit during the last few chapters, so seven/eight page quota out the window from here on out! I'll try not to make it five million pages.

Tigerlily: Like I said, it will be about 33 chapters. Didn't mean for it to be that long...And yay! Chocolate!
Demo: Me? Desert a story? But I can't just leave it hanging like that! The characters need a finished story, whether it be now or (Everlasting Cat forbid) ten years from now! Anyways, lol, I can't wait to finish this story so i can work on my others. This one was initially meant for practice, and it has served me really well. Now I have to see how my endings fair, lol.
Lozzypop: Apparently I have a knack of making people feel sorry for the characters, lol! And Munk IS very huggable, isn't he? So easy to just wanna pick him up and go "I WUV YOU" and crush the little kitty to death, but quite...

Now, I just wanna ask a moment. My bird, Rocio, went to Emergency recently, and is now being treated for infection. I know it's weird to ask in a fic about cats to pray for my bird, but she could use your prayers. Thank you!