Chapter 6 – Music and Bittersweet Moments

Demeter looked longingly to the junkyard, wanting to run over to her den, where she knew she'd be safe, and hide behind her mate, who would keep her protected. There, she could rest, and not have to think about anything until the next morning. Maybe she could even convince Munkustrap to stay in for the day and they could just rest together, as cats were meant to do.

Then she turned to the scene before, where Mistoffelees was holding Bombalurina back as he was between the red queen and the Abyssinian. Bombalurina was trying to push Mistoffelees aside, and Cassandra was hissing at the red queen. She knew her sister was holding herself back. While she could easily physically overtake Mistoffelees, she was no match for his magical powers.

Things had erupted after Cassandra asked her question. Of course, the amount of hostility in her voice at the question made Bombalurina go on the defensive immediately. What was worse was the suggestion there was something wrong with her sister's kittens. But Mistoffelees tried to smooth things over with an adamant, "She didn't mean anything by it!" He went on to explain that a true Jellicle cat shouldn't be able to get pregnant by a non-Jellicle.

Bombalurina screamed, "Don't you think we know that?" and continued to tell them off by giving examples of their lives, and saying that they didn't just make things like that up. While Demeter didn't like the implication that they were just using the name for some sick reason, she also didn't like the suggestion that they weren't Jellicles. They had suffered for that title, and a title they didn't even want! No one should even question them if they knew what it entailed. And while Demeter wasn't in a mood to fight, she also didn't deem Cassandra too highly at the moment.

This squabbling back and forth eventually broke down into the angry posturing Bombalurina was demonstrating, and no intelligible argument could be heard after that. Though, there were words slung back and forth that a queen should never utter…

Mistoffelees looked helplessly to Demeter. "Would you please help?"

"Bomba," Demeter said calmly. "We don't have time for this. We need to find out what's going on." The words seemed to have their effect, as the red queen finally groaned and pushed away from the black and white, walking over to her sister and stepping in front of her protectively. The gold queen then turned her attentions to Mistoffelees. "You know, Munkustrap wouldn't be too happy knowing you're upsetting his mate, what's more in my condition, and frankly, I don't know if I'm in a mood to keep this from him."

"There's no need to threaten us, Demeter," Mistoffelees sighed. "We just all…have a lot of history we need to sort out about one another."

"I'll say," Cassandra said darkly, staring at Demeter.

"Come on…" Mistoffelees tried to keep between the queens as he pointed out places for them to sit. They were in a small circle, made larger only by the deliberate distance the tuxedoed tom put between them, and then he went to the middle. Out of nothing, a fire began, making Demeter start, and Bombalurina gasp in surprise. Cassandra seemed used to it. "We have a lot of ground to cover, and not a lot of night left. And since we're all on such great terms here, I think I should do the talking." He gave Cassandra a look. She shrugged, leaning back and looking up to the stars, ready to completely tune out everything that was about to be said.

"Dem," he began. Demeter hardly knew when he got on familiar enough terms with her to refer to her as simply 'Dem', but she tried not to react too upset. "Now I'm not sure if it's happened before, but as far as I know, there's never been a Jellicle, non-Jellicle fertilization take place. And as far as I know…"

"We know, we know," Demeter said, waving her paw in dismissal. "Munkustrap is not Jellicle. Does that really make me so unique and special? Or the kittens? I mean, Bomba and I don't even know who our father is! Who's to say he was a Jellicle? How long could you two possibly have lived to make this assessment by?"

The two cats looked sideways to each other. Bombalurina chuckled. "What, don't tell me what you said during the ball was true! The Sphinx?"

"Well, that was a bit of an exaggeration," Cassandra assured them, turning her attention back onto them and smiling mysteriously. "But we Abby's are an ancient breed." Mistoffelees nudged Cassandra to make her be quiet. He then turned to the two queens and told them just how old he was. Older than Cassandra, and still he looked incredibly young.

Demeter and Bombalurina looked at each other. Then back at the Jellicles before them. The gold queen had the sudden feeling she had no right to complain about their own hardships. Everyone was silent. Finally, Bombalurina got up the nerve. "How are you older than us, and look so young?"

"How is she with kittens right now?" Cassandra countered.

"Who knows anything anymore?" Mistoffelees finished, running his paws through his fur. "Look, I'm really glad to be speaking to you now. You two were so distant from the others before, I didn't know what to do with you. It was hard enough tracking Cassandra down. I thought you would leave before I got up the nerve to talk to you."

"How did you know?" Demeter asked.

"I can't explain it," he said, smiling. "Just call it part of my magic, I guess." He flickered the fire for effect. "And when I get that feeling, I start trying to get closer to the cats, hearing how they speak, seeing how they lie. Yes, I see how they lie. There are so many signs there that other cats don't realize. We aren't usually creatures that need to lie, so when one does, it can be obvious if you know what you're looking for. But it's the refined lying, I suppose, that is another flag."

"I must be really tired," Bombalurina muttered. "Because that made sense."

"When it all comes down to it," Mistoffelees continued, "it's nice to have someone in the same predicament you are. You can help each other."

"Well," Cassandra shrugged. "We're not necessarily in the same predicament. They're different from us somehow."

"He's different from you," Bombalurina said defensively as she pointed to Mistoffelees. "So get off it."

"Look," Demeter intervened. "I'm really am tired, and I just got in a fight with Munkustrap a few days ago because of all this. I'd really like to avoid another day of thinking up another lie to explain my absence tonight."

Mistoffelees smiled gently. "I'd like to talk to you guys again. There's so much we don't know about each other. I think we can really help each other. IF we get along!" He looked to Cassandra, who raised her eyebrows to the tom. But instead of picking a fight, she bowed her head in defeat.

That night, Demeter wearily crawled back into her den, where she was happy to see Munkustrap still asleep. She curled up next to him, to which he opened his eyes momentarily and took note of her sudden movement. He gave her a questioning look, but she assuaged his fears by giving him a quick lick on the nose, and cuddling up closer to him, purring. The two fell straight to sleep.

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Bombalurina looked Munkustrap over like he was insane. "What are you doing?" The silver tom was rushing about, playing with the tom kittens, jumping up to the highest heights, and making a show of jumping effortlessly back down. He then frowned when Tumblebrutus descended the same length with a back flip.

Demeter smiled as she sat next to her sister. "He's excited that Jenny gave him the okay to get back to his normal activities."

"He's going to re-injure himself," Bombalurina laughed. The silver tom was now crouched down in stalking mode, as an unsuspecting Rum Tum Tugger came into the area. "Do you think I should warn him?"

"AH!"

"Whoops, too late!" Demeter giggled along with her sister as they watched the two toms now getting into a scuffle. It was even more amusing, considering how Tugger almost never got into scuffles. As the Maine Coon yelled at the other tom about acting more grown up now that he was going to have kittens, instead of less grown up, Demeter nudged her sister. The two queens turned their attention to a black and white cat in the distance, all by himself, working on something. Demeter nodded her head towards that cat, and the sisters got up and slipped away just as Munkustrap grabbed the Maine Coon's tail and pulled him down to the ground, where Tumblebrutus, Plato, and Pouncival dog piled on him. Or cat piled…

Demeter looked down to the cat she hadn't seen in a few days. He was completely engrossed in his task. "Mistoffelees?" The cat jumped, and the item in his hand began to crumble to pieces. The tom groaned, then put down the item, and looked up to the two sisters. "Sorry," Demeter apologized.

"It's alright," he sighed, dusting off his fur. "How may I help you two lovely queens?"

"We haven't seen you in a while," Bombalurina explained. "We decided we shouldn't be awkward with you and instead be worried about you. We do, after all, know what it's like to be…what we are. Even if you guys don't think so."

Mistoffelees smiled an uneasy smile as the two queens sat down next to him. "I'm sorry about Cassandra. She's just upset, and very confused. I talked with her about the other night, and she'll act better once she becomes accustomed to the idea. That is, if you two will be easy on her, as well." When he said the 'you two,' he was mainly looking to Bombalurina.

"Yeah, yeah," said the queen. "What were you working on, anyways?"

"It's something I found in the junkyard," he explained, picking up the item. "I know it doesn't look like it now, but it's a music box." He was right. The item looked like a bunch of objects slapped together in haste, held together by nothing but its own will. "I'm fixing it for Victoria," he explained.

"Why work your paws to the bone for it?" Demeter asked, gingerly taking the so-called music box in her paws and looking it over. "You can conjure things, can't you?"

"Well, yes. But I want this to last."

"Magic doesn't last?" Bombalurina asked.

"No," Mistoffelees said sadly. "It needs its conjurer there to keep it living. Otherwise, it quickly fades into nothing. Really, magic isn't some great thing as everyone else thinks it is. It can't fix anything. It can't solve anything. It just is what it is for as long as it exists, which is never very long. So you have to cherish it while you can."

All three cats went silent. For once, Demeter saw Mistoffelees look truly saddened. "I see," she said softly. "You're making it for Victoria to remember you when you leave."

"It's something tangible," Mistoffelees reasoned. "This bond we have…it isn't like the one she has with Plato. I'm not her mate. It isn't like the bond she has with Jemima, her best friend. Or even for her sister, Etcetera. What we have…is something that's unbreakable. I think…when I leave…she just might come undone."

"Then don't leave!" Demeter found herself saying. Both cats looked at her. "We can make it here! Look at how many Jellicles we have here! And what with everything happening.." she absentmindedly put her paw on her stomach. "Who says we can't have a real Jellicle Tribe?"

"Demeter…" Bombalurina began, but upon seeing the hopeful look on her sister's face, fell silent.

"If it was only so simple, Dem." Then the black and white went quiet. Both queens turned to see Pouncival running towards them, followed by Plato and Tumblebrutus.

"He's insane!" Pouncival said with delight. The cats raced past the three. Then a flash of silver and black flew by, before stopping, turning, and rushing towards Bombalurina. Before anyone could react, Munkustrap had completely knocked the red queen over, and was now sitting on her stomach.

"Munkustrap!" Demeter squeaked.

But the tom grinned kittenishly. "That's what she gets for calling me all those nick names." Mistoffelees tried to stifle his laughter. Demeter watched her sister with a crooked smile, and the red queen…well, she didn't like to be made a fool of in front of her sister.

Munkustrap feigned a pained limp after Bombalurina was done with him.

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That night, Munkustrap went back to his nightly patrols. But he didn't take to them like normal. Leaving Demeter suddenly became harder for him. He stood in front of their den, with his arms wrapped around her, holding her close, and purring just for her, every once in a while kissing Demeter on the top of her head, since he was generally a little more than a head taller than her.

Demeter kept her face buried in his fur, trying not to think what a last goodbye would be like with him. He was so dead set on making sure she knew he loved her before he left on his first patrol for the first time after finding out he was going to be a father, that it was already breaking her heart.

"I should go," he said, smiling down to his mate.

"No," she said, pulling him close for once. "Just a while longer." She knew that must have confused him. The only cat she was ever clingy with was her sister. But he didn't protest. In fact, his purring deepened, making her smile.

"Are you doing anything tonight?" he asked, as she listened the rumblings of his voice through his chest. With the purring combined, Demeter thought she would be lulled to sleep right there.

"I'm going to do some things with Bomba," she said.

"Like always."

"You shouldn't mind so much," she said, yawning. "She's always kept me safe. She's the one thing that's remained constant in my life."

"Well," Munkustrap said, pushing her away just enough that he could lift up her chin and make her look him in the eye. "Now you have me, and I'll be just as constant." Demeter looked down, not able to answer. "Ah, corny, I know." he chuckled.

"Yeah," she said absentmindedly, which sparked a playful nudge and a 'you didn't have to agree with me' look from the silver tabby. Eventually, the two separated, and Demeter watched him as he ran off to go perform sentinel duties for the tribe.

"Ugh," came a voice from behind her. Demeter turned to see Bombalurina come up. "I told you that nausea came from somewhere else."

Demeter rolled her eyes. "I don't care," she said defiantly. "I think it's sweet, and I need a few sweet moments." Though she knew she wasn't savoring the sweet; she was grimacing from the bittersweet.

"Come on. They're waiting for us." Bombalurina led the way to the back fence that would now become all too familiar, and through the field that they would soon be able to navigate with their eyes closed. They met the two cats they would become very close with, and sat around a fire that no longer surprised them upon its birth.

For now, they were just excited. They had never met another Jellicle before, aside from their mother. Years of keeping to themselves, and now to maybe figure out something about what they would otherwise consider a curse upon them. Even the thought of fighting for the idea of being a Jellicle was joyfully anticipated.

Mistoffelees stood up, smiling at the three queens before him. "Now," he said, happy they were all at least pretending to get along. "We have a lot of years to go through, and a lot of questions to answer. But now maybe this can be a little more tolerable for us, even if just for the short while that we're together…"

A/N: So, who would like a cookie? Yes? You would? I just thought I'd take a moment and ask for reviews. They're nice to get, as long as they're not flames. Constructive criticism is always welcome... Nerve-wracking, but welcomed. -lays out a plate of cookies for those who review, and give extra special ones to those who have already reviewed, and leaves the giant cake in the corner for Puddycat, a constant reviewer- And I never knew 'kittenishly' was an actual word until I used it for this chapter...