A/N: TERRIBLY SORRY about the long wait for this chapter! I had major writers block for the middle of this chapter, and I also had tons happening. I finally came back to the story and said "You know, I have to get to the next chapter and stop worrying about this one." So here it is! I checked it over like Santa would, but I'm only human (and Santa isn't?)! You know what to do! Enjoy!

Chapter 16 – Awakenings

Munkustrap woke up the next morning, barely managing to open his eyes. They felt incredibly heavy. He breathed in, but it became a sharp inhalation as he half sobbed. He sat up and rubbed his eyes, looking around, momentarily wondering where he was: In a flower bed. A bee buzzed by his ear, causing his ear to twitch in an attempt to make the sound stop. A residual sob escaped his mouth as his chest convulsed instinctively.

Did he get any sleep the night before? He didn't even remember how he ended up where he was. His thought process had gone into overload after he talked to Tantomile. And his head was throbbing.

He walked over to the fountain and jumped up, meaning to take a drink to quench his painfully dry throat when he caught sight of his own reflection. His eyes were puffy and red, and his fur was an utter mess. He couldn't even hold his head up in the proud way he usually did. Even his cheeks looked puffy, if that were possible, but that was probably caused by his head fur being so askew. He couldn't go back to the tribe looking like this…

After taking a good long drink, he started to wash his face with the fountain water, as normal means of grooming wouldn't have sufficed. He hated water. But he hated the reminder of what he had learned the day before.

The day before…

"You fell in love with a queen who could never bring herself to love you."

He shook his head of the water, feeling a pain run down his neck at the intensity of his movement.

"You fell in love with a queen who could…"

He flexed his claws, his nails emerging and scratching the surface of the fountain.

"Could never…love you."

Munkustrap slammed his fist into the concrete as he screamed in frustration, forcing the thought out with the shock that now ran through his arm.

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"You don't look so well, dear," Jennyanydots said to the queen.

"What are you…" Demeter said, trying to get up, groggy from lack of sleep.

"No, no, don't get up so quickly." She walked up to the queen. "The cats are saying that Munkustrap didn't come home last night, and I was worried how long you've been alone." She started looking the queen over, Demeter covering her kittens with her tail as she tried to back away from the other.

"He didn't come back to the junkyard at all?" Demeter asked mournfully.

The gumbie cat put a paw on the queen's shoulder. "I don't want you to worry about him, dear. You have to get something to eat. I'll stay here with your kittens." Demeter looked horrified. "Now, I know how frightening it is to leave your kits with someone else, but they say I'm 'the best', and you needn't worry about them one bit."

"No, it's not that," she said, still trying to cover her kittens.

"Come on, get up. I won't take any more of this behavior if your health is in danger. Lift yourself up right now." Demeter felt the matriarchal superiority the queen held over all the other cats take hold of her, and got up, as told. "Oh, well, would you look at the darlings," she cooed instantly. "They're almost two weeks old, right dear?"

"Y-yes," Demeter said, her heart pounding, as she watched the expression on Jennyanydots' face closely.

"Why, they look like they're growing up healthy," she announced happily. "Oh, would you look at them. This one looks a lot like you."

"Porthos, yes," Demeter said absentmindedly. "So they all look okay? Growing up right? Even Raine?"

"Yes, there is no need to worry," Jennyanydots informed her. "They will be fine."

"Oh!" Demeter nearly sobbed when she heard that. It was an odd mixture of emotion she was feeling at the time. "Oh…well…I guess I should be glad! I'm very….yes, I'm very glad!" She sobbed, though she was smiling. "Oh, they're fine. Oh, thank the Everlasting Cat!"

Jennyanydots looked confused. "Was there reason to worry? You know you could have come to me if there was a problem…"

"No, they're fine, developing fine, and everything," Demeter said. "You're sure, right? Well, I guess you would know if they weren't…Oh…oh, this is good news!" Demeter began to cry, as she embraced the older queen tightly, letting go only to adjust the butterfly charm on her collar that was digging into her.

"Oh…" Jennyanydots carefully patted the queen on the back. "It's alright. You should go get something to drink, if you've been investing so much energy into worrying."

"Mmm…yes…I'll do that," Demeter wiped the tears from her eyes and sniffled. She took one last look at her precious kittens, before going out the den entryway.

Demeter did take Jennyanydot's advice. She got something to eat, got some fresh air, tried to be social. She walked about the junkyard. But everything seemed to be slipping away from her. Not as it had before. She couldn't take anymore depression in her life. She had reached a point where it was simply…life. And she had to take it as it came. And there was nothing she could do about it.

Her kittens were normal. They weren't like her. They could live their lives out in the junkyard and be happy. Unlike her. They could stay with their father, and have a relationship without secrets. Not like her. And they wouldn't have to carry the scars she did, or create ones for cats they came across. Unlike her.

Demeter sat down by herself, looking down at the junkyard at a place she had become accustomed to, but suddenly felt like she was intruding on. She didn't know why she felt disconnected from it all. She had never quite felt like this before. She had never given the chance to feel like this before. As though everything were at a standstill, and the thought of 'now what?' came to mind.

Her sister hadn't been back in the junkyard in a while. Demeter tried to brush that thought aside. It wasn't possible Bombalurina would simply leave her, was it? She had been pretty cruel to her lately. And she had been snippy with her, as well. Without their mother to look for anymore, Demeter chose her path, and it involved her kittens and her mate. She didn't realize how much she longed to keep to this path…until her sister didn't come back one day. Now she wondered why she was so adamant about it all to begin with.

Demeter caught sight of Munkustrap in the distance, coming back to the junkyard. For one moment of forgetfulness, she jumped to her feet, ready to run down and greet him like a puppy to her owner. Then she remembered how odd things had been between them. She had given up one family for another, and she didn't seem to benefit from either of them. In fact, she felt that she was drowning in one family. Her sister would never had let her feel like that. But the decision was made and if…Everlasting Cat forbid, if…her sister wasn't coming back anymore…

Just like Mistoffelees wasn't coming back ever again. Her relationship with Munkustrap will never be the same. Not until he knew the truth, and the truth would probably break them apart.

And yet, there was nothing she could do anymore. She played her part, it seemed. She had no one to turn to anymore, and no where to go to, trapped in a tribe, waiting to be exposed. All she could do was surrender to her eminent discovery.

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Cassandra watched for the next few days the relationship between the cats, mostly that between Demeter and Munkustrap. She noticed that Demeter was losing her spirit slowly. She must have felt so lonely…

She watched as Munkustrap spoke to each cat, in whispered conversations, Cassandra could only hope he wasn't giving too much away to the ways of the Jellicle queen. And she hoped he wouldn't come to her and ask questions. She was thankful that her fur was dark, so that she could easily slip into the shadows, avoiding the silver tabby.

But it began to impact on her everyday activities. She couldn't walk past her normal haunts without checking around the corner if the ever vigilant eye of the tribe sentinel was nearby. When she lay down, she had to make sure it was in a quiet, often unoccupied area. Her den was no longer a solitary place, as she was sure the tom would come by at some point and pin her down for questioning. Cassandra didn't have years of lying to depend on, just years of silence. And she knew Munkustrap wouldn't accept that. It was during this constant moving and watching over her shoulder that Cassandra began to realize how difficult it must have been to be the silver tabby's mate.

Her thoughts were interrupted when a black and white tom came behind her. She smiled up to him. "Hello, Alonzo," she said in greeting. She didn't seek him out much lately. But she didn't want to avoid him if he came to her. He knew something was wrong with her, but the loss of Mistoffelees, her good friend, was an easy explanation to her behavior. And it wasn't far from the truth. Seeing the pain he inflicted on the tribe without even trying, she remembered the very reasons for avoiding socialization to begin with. She didn't want Alonzo to be heart-broken over her, too. She didn't want to be missed.

"Hey, there," he smiled warmly, plopping down next to her, and playfully rolling on his back, acting like a playful kitten, pawing up at the dignified queen. She laughed lightly, a rare thing. "Where have you been these past few days."

"Oh," she said, looking out to the tribe. There were no cats in sight. "Just trying to get away from the hectic cats."

"Ah," Alonzo said, bringing himself to a sitting position and leaning against the queen, nearly knocking her over. "Avoiding Munkustrap?"

Cassandra flinched. "…yes," she said, amazed at his insightfulness.

"I know," he said, smiling mischievously. "You're wondering how I knew that!" He stretched his arms out, resting them around the Abyssinian. "Aside from being very psychic…I figured you didn't want to talk about Mistoffelees to him."

"Mistoffelees?" she asked.

"Yeah," he said, looking at his claws as though he never noticed they had dirt under them, then working on grooming them, so that he could once again look as clean as possible with black and white fur. He always felt it was difficult to not look scruffy with his fur color, as proud of it as he was. "He's been asking a lot of questions about him."

"Not about Demeter?" she asked.

"Not to me, no," Alonzo said, beginning to groom his paw. He stopped mid lick, in thought. Finally, he gave Cassandra a bewildered look. "Demeter? Why would he be asking questions about her?"

"I don't know," Cassandra said, trying to play it off, looking off to the side. "He's only interested in her half the time, right?"

"True," Alonzo said. They sat in seemingly contented silence as they lay down next to each other, as normal cats often do, happy to simply have someone to lie next to. But the sleek queen was now thinking of what trouble she herself would be in if he could find anything about Mistoffelees that would lead the tribe protector to her. For a moment, she wished she hadn't gotten so close to the conjurer. She would have been better off like that.

But no. She wouldn't have been better off not knowing him. She missed Mistoffelees dearly, yes. But she wouldn't be who she was or feel a little more comfortable in her skin if it weren't for him. Then she looked to Alonzo, who was drifting off to sleep. 'Some protector…' she thought. But she wondered if he would feel the same when she left.

Cassandra nuzzled Alonzo. "What was that for?" he asked groggily.

"Quiet and go to sleep," she said, pushing his head back down to the sleeping position.

Maybe it wasn't so easy to disconnect, after all.

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Bombalurina woke up on top of a trash can. She had made that her home for the past few days. She felt the presence of another cat nearby. A cat whose scent she was all too familiar with, and did not want to have to meet again. The memories tied to this cat were too painful to bear. And she had done all she could to forget about the impact this particular tribe had on her.

"Where are you," she said lowly, as her voice became a growl. "Leave me alone."

"I see you remember me," said a tom's voice, amused at having gotten the queen so upset so easily. "Just as much as I remember you. Where is your sister?"

Bombalurina looked around, but couldn't find him anywhere. "Leave us alone, Macavity. You have no idea what you're dealing with."

The devilish chuckle from the tom caused Bombalurina's hackles to rise. Her ears flattened against her head as she growled lowly. "What's the matter," growled the voice. "No good without your tribe behind you?"

"I'm not in the mood to speak with anyone, least of all cats, you."

"How terrible for you," said the tom from behind the queen. She spun around just in time to be slapped straight across the face by the tom. When she came to her senses, she saw the satisfied grin on his face. She smiled coyly, ignoring the sharp pain on her cheek.

"You don't change, do you?" she said lowly. "I would have thought you would have at least combed out your whiskers since last time. Then again, I was hoping you would have fried yourself with that death-defying exit you showed us at the Jellicle Ball, and that's why we haven't heard from you."

"No, Bombalurina," he said, with distain in his voice at saying her name. "I've been enjoying this little show you and your sister have been putting on for me. I'm not sure if I should hate you or revel in this secret you have been keeping." Bombalurina flicked her ear in annoyance, causing Macavity to grin broadly. "I see I've hit a nerve. You know…I was very angry, having been made a fool of in front of my entire tribe. But seeing how you two are treating the Jellicles - whom I loathe - well…" His grin became broader as his eyes grew insanely wide. "I could think of no worse torture for them."

"You know nothing, Macavity," Bombalurina said, waving away his implications with her paw.

"Oh, but I know so much, now," he said. "I've asked questions. I've investigated myself, just as that silver tabby has been doing. Yes, he has been asking questions," he said with satisfaction at the widening of the queens' eyes. "He's getting closer to the truth. Now tell me. Which is worse for you? Your sister and her kin being thrown out of her tribe, or her kittens being left to their own devices after I finish with Demeter?"

"Don't you ever lay a paw on my sister," Bombalurina growled, stepping up to Macavity, her face inches away from the ginger tom. She had never been afraid of him, or afraid to stand up to him. Yet at the moment, her heart was pounding, and there was a terrible knot in her stomach. Not fear for herself, but for her sister.

"Does it ever bother you," he said, suddenly changing the expression on his face to one of reveling delight to one of sudden seriousness. "Doing what you do? I have to hand it to you. I never thought anyone would get the best of me, but Demeter…" he shook his head, an ironic smile now gracing his face. "She takes the prize."

"Get over it," Bombalurina said. "You've hurt countless victims,"

"All of them nameless," he corrected. "I've never existed on the level of deceit the two of you have. Over and over again. For years on end. I would find better things to do with my time than fooling tribes time and time again." Bombalurina chewed the inside of her cheek, as not to say anything, not knowing what information Macavity truly had, knowing he was waiting for her to slip up and reveal what they were. "I wonder how Munkustrap will react when he finally knows the truth."

"You know nothing."

"I'm the Napoleon of Crime," he said. "I know more than you would think."

"So, what? You're named after a short human who died alone on an island. Hardly impressive… But anything is better than being named after tooth decay."

"My, aren't you defensive," he said with a refreshed grin. "I suppose living as you do, anyone would get that way." Bombalurina turned and jumped off the trash can, beginning to walk away, fists clenched so tightly, her nails were digging into her own palms. "He will find out," the tom's voice resonated in the alleyway. "And the second Demeter is alone, I will have her. And whatever I choose to do to her, just be sure that she will never see her kittens again, and you will never see your sister again."

Bombalurina turned, ready to attack the ginger tom, but he was gone. She could do nothing but look around for him, as his sinister laughter filled her ears, and left her with a sense of dread.