Disclaimer: Bella, Finn, and Calypso don't belong to me, they belong to contact_typhoon7, Lukas-Circus, and P0ketiger!

"We're all human, aren't we? Every human life is worth the same, and worth saving."

― J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

Chapter 12: Flowers

Back in the starlit city, Connor walked into his usual neighborhood, with the kids listening closely to him in awe. "... and then I jumped into the man, blinding him in one eye and saving my friends from the dirty hands of his men!" Connor finished his story with a little bit of exaggeration.

"Woah, you are so brave!" Finn exclaimed.

Calypso jumped between them. "He did it for his friends, I could do the same! We all could!"

"Maybe it's better for us to stay away." Bella giggled.

Candela looked up at Connor. "Do you have more stories?"

Connor was about to answer until Daniel interrupted him. "Alright kids, you know the deal." The kids protested and Candela pouted, Daniel kneeled down beside her. "You'll meet him again, Candela, it's not the end of the world."

"Meet again?" He looked ahead into his neighborhood, where his house was located, then glanced back at them. "I'm not supposed to go in there?"

Candela with her arms crossed and a sad expression said. "It's not your time yet... you have to go back, we promised Lightning Fur we'll take you to him." She glanced at him, stardust glowing brightly on where the heart is supposed to be. Small white and pink petals started falling from that spot, and to Connor's horror, some of them were covered in blood.

Connor looked at the other kids, who had similar spots glowing with stardust and flowers. Calypso had them flowing from his neck and side of the face, where the supposed scar Candela pointed out was. Bella had them coming from her side, where a long patch of the same flowers, which Connor realized were Oleanders, seemed to grow and started from her ribs and followed down to her hips. But Finn? Instead of the flowers falling from a certain spot, they grew into healthy -but deadly- flowers in his fine skin while stardust shone under his feet.

He slightly pondered what happened to these kids that their lives were taken so early, but just the thought of it shook him up and he decided that the best thing he could do right now was to contain his curiosity. He glanced at Daniel. "Lightning Fur asked you to take me to him? Why? I'm de-"

"DON'T SAY IT!" They yelled in unison.

Connor clenched his lips together and looked bewildered. Daniel stepped closer to him and put a hand on his shoulder. "You are lucky to have the Cat Totem,
Connor. Now say goodbye to them, we already lost a lot of time."

He turned to the kids and quickly said goodbye to Bella, Finn, and Calypso, who then proceed to left and go into their own assigned houses, Connor was slightly surprised to see Finn go into Greg's starlit home. He turned to Candela. "I'm glad we had a chance to meet," He hugged her. "We'll meet again."

Candela hugged him tightly. "Don't let it be soon, silly."

Connor laughed hurt. "I won't," He parted away with a bittersweet feeling. "Now go with our family."

Candela, before heading home, asked. "Is there anything you want me to tell them?"

Connor thought about his grandparents, Harold's parents... were they the same way his son was? Were they disappointed in him? He shook his head. He didn't care anymore about that. "Can you tell our grandparents that I miss them, dearly? Oh! And cousin Luisito, he was the best... We all miss him, especially Aunt Dina... tell him that she loves him."

Candela nodded and hugged him. "I'll tell them, Nor. Don't worry about our grandparents though," Connor looked at her surprised, it seemed as if she had read his mind. "They are mad at dad as you are, they don't judge you, no one does." She smiled and waved. "Good luck, Nor!"

Connor thanked her and watched her go with a small ache in his heart, he hated the fact that such a small and wonderful girl didn't get the chance to open the beautiful gift of life and had to grow up here. Daniel nudged him carefully. "Come on, there's not enough time."

They headed out of the neighborhood, Connor hurriedly walking behind Daniel. On their way to wherever they were heading, Connor got to take a look at Daniel. The man was still the same, buffy, tall, blonde, confident... just like a bigger version of Greg, though Greg was a little bit more nervous. On his back, the man had a spot in which a patch of Oleander flowers grew and petals fell as he walked, the Stardust was thicker as it fell. It wasn't the only spot though, there was another small patch on flowers on the side of his head, right on his temple, and another one on his side, such as Bella's.

Distracted, he bumped into him when Daniel stopped and he had to shook his head. "We're here."

Connor scratched his head and when he looked, his mouth hung open at the sight of the magnificent wooden totem standing in front of him. "It's HQ!"

"Right?" The man sighed. "Sadly, this is where we depart, son."

Connor, fast as lightning, turned his head and glared at him. "What?" With a sadden expression, he asked. "You're not coming?"

"I'm afraid not, sorry." Connor hugged him tightly, taking the man by surprise but didn't complain, instead, he hugged him back tightly and Connor closed his eyes as he buried his face on the man's shoulder. "Connor, you have to go, buddy."

Connor sobbed slightly on his shoulder. "We miss you... We miss you a lot, especially Greg, he's been through a lot after you left." He said, recalling the events that took place three months after the man's death.

Daniel caressed Connor's back. "I know, I've been watching over him." They kept silent for a few moments. "Please take care of him, Connor. There's no one that knows him as much as you do."

"I promise you, I'll take care of him," Connor said, parting away and wiping away a few tears. Before Daniel left, with a quiet tone he asked. "Is there anything you want me to tell him?"

Daniel nodded. "Let him now that he needs to move on, not hold onto the past. He needs to live and experiment, come to a sense with himself... He already lost years of his life grieving, it's time for him to stop and move on, live again. Oh, and one more thing," He smiled sadly. "Tell him that I love him."

Connor nodded and smiled sweetly. "Still the best father, as I remember." He sighed. "Goodbye." He waved at the man as he walked away into the usual path that led to HQ.

"It's not a goodbye, it's a see you later." Daniel said, smiling and walking away from the park, vanishing in a cloud of stardust as soon as he stepped into the streets of Tarabiscoville.

When Connor was half-way onto the bridge that hung over the shimmering waters, he spotted Lightning Fur ahead, but he didn't look good, in fact, the blue tomcat was fading away slowly and across his face, on the same side as his own, ran a long scar with shimmering blood coming from it. He gasped and rushed to help him. "What happened to you?!"

Lightning Fur stood up, with his fur along his spine raised. "About time you got here!" He hissed, but then dropped into the grass. He panted hard and with a huge effort, he stood up. "We need to get inside now..." He said weakly.

Connor helped him and hold him on his arms. "Okay..." He headed inside with the hurt cat on his arms and used the usual elevators to get to his room. When he was there, he was surprised that not everything was the same. The PJ Crystal was there in the middle, the cat section of it was turning black and it was only half-way when Connor entered. Around the PJ Crystal were eight Crystal cats statues sitting gracefully in a circle, all of them looked different, but five of them lacked the shimmer the three remaining ones had as if they were lifeless.

Connor spotted an empty place between a dark blue cat statue and a shimmering one. Lightning Fur jumped from his arms and landed roughly onto the floor, weakly he walked over to that spot and signaled his tail to Connor to come closer. "Come here, my cub. There's one last thing I need to tell you."

"L-Last?" Connor asked bewildered as he sat in front of Lightning Fur. "What do you mean with last?"

As soon as Lightning Fur sat in the same position as the other cats, his dark blue paws started to turn into crystal, the same blue crystal as the other cats.
"I reached my end, Connor. This is the last time you'll ever see me."

Connor horrified reached a hand and put it behind Lightning Fur's ear. "What?! No! You can't leave me!"

Lightning Fur closed his eyes as Connor scratched his ear and let out a purr of affection. "I'm sorry, but this is part of the Cat Totem, Connor. There isn't only one Cat Totem, there's nine." When Connor only looked at him, Lightning Fur's tail twitched. An amused, yet sad expression adorned his furry face. "You are losing a life, just like a cat with nine lives would."

"B-But if you go, who's gonna hunt with me on my dreams?" Connor asked in anguish.

"You'll meet them soon, Connor. For now, you gotta let me go, okay?" He asked for quietly. Lightning Fur let his fur lay still as half of his body was consumed by the crystal. For the first time, Lightning Fur looked at him with the most amazing blue eyes Connor had ever seen, on a cat or a person, the familiar empty white eyes he had faded. Stars adorned the blue and he seemed to hold a night sky inside them. Lightning Fur purred. "I'll miss you, for all the years and lives I lived for, you were the best cub someone could ever ask for, and whoever comes after me will be lucky enough to have you as their kin."

Connor put his hand under Lightning Fur's chin and scratched it, relaxing the tom-cat. "I'll miss you too, Lightning Fur."

Lightning Fur, as the crystal reaches his neck, said. "My last advice for you is for you to live your life as if you just were reborn. There are many wonderful things you haven't experienced yet, there are many things you need to tell others, especially Greg. Love yourself and gift every one of these things to yourself, reward yourself for all the good you've done, you deserve it. You've been protecting everybody else all this time, keeping your pain and grief bottled inside you to take on others' pain... it's time for you to protect yourself."

Small tears streamed down Connor's cheeks as the cat was engulfed by the crystal. He nodded and sobbed slightly. Lightning Fur nudged him as he could and Connor drew closer to him. "Put your forehead over my nose." Lightning Fur instructed and Connor did as told. Lightning Fur closed his eyes.

"I gifted you the life of Care. You protected those around you for years, fighting and caring for them as if they were your own kin, even at the cost of your own soul. Sometimes this care led to bad choices, but nevertheless, you always did it for the right thing. You knew they cared for you, so you put your heart on their hands, trusting them with it with your life, and while some of them injured it on the way, that led you to those who were always there with you, to those who loved and remained true to you. It's time for you to stop putting everyone's problem above your own. It's time you start taking care of yourself." Lightning Fur's head was covered with crystal except for his mouth. "Goodbye, Connor. Have good hunting until the day you join the City of Stars."

Lightning Fur let out the last sigh he breathed, it echoed around the place before completely turning into crystal. His light slightly became dim and dim until it held no more brightness and the cat stood there like a cold and lifeless statue. Connor put his hand behind the ears and felt a great pain in the chest when he did. The thought that he was never gonna see the tabby blue cat again was incredibly unbelievable and weight like a heavy stone.

He was clueless of what to do now, so still feeling sad, he sat near the PJ Crystal and waited for something to happen, slightly reciting words for Lightning Fur as the echoed of his last sigh faded away.

"I can't believe I'm doing this."

Greg walked through the dark forest effortly. The rain now barely fell and a little bit of moonlit peered through cracks on the clouds. Greg had no idea of what he was doing, but he knew it was the right thing to do; the animals said so. Over his back, Connor's body hung lifelessly while the flower crown slowly disarmed itself, petals of different colors falling on the ground. Connor's body was twice his size and as he walked, the other boy's feet dragged on the ground, getting full of mud.

He wasn't sure of where he was going, but he knew he had to take Connor's body away from the others to prevent them from burying him. It was a matter of time before they found out and went on a killing hunt for him. Where can I hide him?

He heard the water roar ahead and realized he got as far into the forest as to reach the gorge. Greg hated the sound of the rushing water, it reminded him of everything that went wrong that night. Far ahead he spotted the bridge that crossed the gorge to the other side of the forest and he decided to cross it; the last place the others would think of looking would be the damned gorge that killed their best friend in the first place.

When he crossed, he let out an exaggerated sigh. "Okay, I can't do this anymore." He put Connor's body on the ground carefully and, taking his sweater and shirt off, he used the shirt that had the Gekko symbol -which he had been dragging with him all along and was full of mud- on it and used it to transform back into Gekko. He used his Super Strenght to lift Connor and walked away into the other forest ahead. He wasn't so far inside when he heard loud booms far away and noticed how flashes of color illuminated the sky.

They have noticed.

It was a matter of time before his teammates found Greg and made him disappear from existence. He got a stronger grip on the taller boy's body and ran away, looking around for a place where they could hide. He needed to be sure Owlette wouldn't find him with her Owl Eyes. He quickly stopped for a second; Foxwolf would scent them with his Super Scent.

He spotted a dead squirrel ahead and with a pang of disgust, picked it. An Owl probably left it or someone killed it. He opened the injury on the squirrel's belly then rubbed it all over his body and Connor's, staining both of them with its blood and covering them with its deadly smell. He gagged for a few moments before keeping it together and lifting Connor's body again to run away.

While he ran, the ground underneath him became unstable and he fell inside a hole alongside Connor. When he regained consciousness, he looked around in the darkness. His suit lighted up and he found himself in a rocky cave with stone peaks on the sides. A train trail followed ahead and Greg walked over it, Connor's body hanging on his arms again. When he entered a small cave, crystals of different colors decorated and illuminated the place. There was a hole on the roof from which moonlight now peered in as the rain had stopped and the Moon positioned herself on the sky.

He drew closer to a few of the crystals and decided to stay in the dark so the others wouldn't find him in there. Connor's head rested peacefully on his shoulder as if he was sleeping. "I'll bring you back, just you wait..." Gekko yawned. "We'll be... together again..." Yawn. "Soon..."

Gekko didn't know when was the moment he fell asleep.

Connor was sick of waiting, he felt as if it's been hours. He laid his head on the PJ Crystal and looked at the open roof of HQ; the night sky was full of stars and the Moon was high on the sky.

He wondered what his friends were doing, what were they feeling. Did the miss him? Did they care? Did Greg care about him? Was he sad, or felt relieved to finally have gotten rid of him? He shook his head. Greg surely didn't felt that way about him leaving them, right? He surely was feeling as sad as the others, but... were the others feeling sad for him?

He couldn't give it more thought as a shimmering blue light illuminated the whole room brightly. He watched one of the cat statues light up and he slowly stood up and walked over to it. What is happening? The statue started to tremble and after a few more seconds, it exploded; the shattered crystal fell onto the ground and dissolved itself.

In its place, a sleek, tall and long-furred tabby blue molly cat stood there, slightly shaken up. She had white in her paws, chest and on the tuft on the tip of her ears. She had stripes in her legs and flanks, but from her forehead stretched a dark blue stripe that ran along her spine and ended right where the white of the tip of the tail started. A heart-shaped white mark adorned her furry chest and when she glanced up at Connor, Connor saw for a moment the same blue eyes that Lightning Fur had before they turned completely white.

She gave her pelt a shake and sat on the ground, rounding her paws with her tail. "Greetings, Alexander. I'm Foudre Strike, the third live out of the nine the Cat Totem has."

"The name's Connor, not Alexander..." Connor said stranged.

She purred in amusement. "That you don't like your name doesn't mean it isn't."

"I prefer Sacha..." He said. He felt stranged at her presence, she seemed to know things about him, but he didn't know a thing about her. "So... you're going to be my Totem from now on?"

She nodded and purred. "I'm gonna be Lightning Fur's replacement, I'll be your guide, your spiritual counselor. If there's anything you need to ask me, or if you just want time alone, come to me and I'll fix that for you." She gracefully walked over to him. "So now, are you ready to go back?"

"I... don't know..." Connor didn't know how to react.

Foudre Strike tilted her head confused. "I thought that's what you wanted."

"It is, don't get me wrong but... all of this," He said, showing her around. "It's all so... wild and- and confusing." He looked at his feet. "How do I even now my friends want me back...?"

Foudre Strike approached him and jumped on his arms. She looked at him right in the eyes. "Your lizard friend," An image of Gekko standing over his body in a cave surrounded of what seemed to be his friends, but angry, showed up in the sky. "He stole your body from your other friends because the Sacred Totems told him you were going back to them."

Connor could only stare at Greg's determined face while he defended his body from the others. Foudre Strike nuzzled him. "He cares for you, and he wants you back as much as the others."

"I thought he hated me..." Connor said, not taking his eyes away when both Snowfox and Foxwolf used their powers against Gekko, who used his Gekko Shields to protect himself from them.

"He doesn't, none of them do, they were just hurt... now all of that is in the past." Foudre Strike licked one of her paws and passed it over her face. "When you go back, tell them everything you ever wanted to tell them. Especially, tell your lizard friend the whole truth." Gekko was sent flying on the image Foudre Strike was showing him. Badgerclaw held him tightly into the ground, but Gekko frowned and used his Strenght to pull him out of him. "Say thanks to him as well, if it wasn't for him, your body would be deep in the ground alongside the roots of trees."

Connor nodded. "Okay." He agreed quietly.

He sat on the floor, watching now Black Ear and Foxwolf use their Roars to stop Gekko from hurting Badgerclaw, but to no success as Gekko used the other boy as a shield from their blasts of sound. Foudre Strike spoke up. "Are you ready then?" Foudre Strike asked.

He smiled warmly at how determined Gekko was to fight for him. He kneeled down and put Foudre Strike on the ground. She purred and put her paw on his cheek, and before he could say 'yes', she spoke up.

"One last thing." She looked intensely into his eyes. "Once you wake up, your powers won't work the same as they did with your old suit, they might have slight changes or be completely new, but don't worry," She nuzzled him, her soft and long fur under his jaw. "Like the first time, you'll figure them out eventually, and it will seem as if you never changed at all."

Connor nodded. "Okay." He closed his eyes and bent his head down. "I'm ready to go back."

Foudre Strike took a step back and let out a purr of affection. "Lightning Fur was right. So far you're being the best kitten he's ever had, and I hope you'll be mine." Pressing her nose against his forehead, she said. "This is the life of Love. There's nothing as fierce as the love of a mother for her kittens. Love your beloved ones as if they were your own litter, and fight for them the same way a mother would defend her kits, but do not misunderstand me, love yourself above everybody else but not so far ahead. Do not let your old mistakes get in the way of your new life, Connor." She traced her paw down over to his heart and said. "From now on you should never be known as Catboy, that's a past life. Be known as someone else, made your name ring in the ears of others, let the hope flow through them when they hear your name."

She nuzzled his cheek once more time and when she spoke, her voice sounded distant this time. "Farewell, my kitten, we shall meet in dreams."

A flash of white light blinded him and everything went black, but he didn't felt unconscious, in fact, he was pretty aware of everything. He looked around,
and voices echoing around caught his attention. Keeping still, he listened to them.

So, what do you say? Will you marry me?

Yes!

Who was this man? Why was Connor listening to him?

Aren't they wonderful?

They are perfect... what should we name them?

Name them?

What about... Daniel for him... and Katrina for her?

I think they are amazing...

Daniel and Katrina? His mother and Greg's father? What was happening?

Kids! Be careful with your little siblings!

It was the same voice again.

I think we should take some time apart...

The voice of the man sounded so sad and distant, full of grief, and Connor didn't know why he was listening to him say all of these things but, besides that...
why was he feeling it as if it was him going through whatever the man was going through?

I'm sorry! We should've never done this! Forgive me!

Why was the man apologizing for?

We'll get through this, together, like we always did...

Connor heard the last sentence faintly as he slowly drifted into sleep.

I love you, I'll do it until the day I die.

Gekko panted hard on the ground as Badgerclaw, Snowfox, and Foxwolf stood over him. He had fallen asleep for a few hours and was shaken awake when he heard the others coming closer to him. He wasn't able to hold them back. "I can't believe you had the guts to do this!" Foxwolf exclaimed, anger showing in his eyes.

"I'll do anything to bring Connor back!" Gekko spat.

"BUT HE'S NOT COMING BACK!" Snowfox yelled angrily, a spark of sadness in her cyan blue eyes. "Don't you get it? This is all nonsense! When somebody dies, there's no way of bringing them back..."

Gekko sat up and looked at her, her silhouette against the moonlight, which was fading as the moon descended and gave way for the upcoming dawn. He was not giving up on Connor, he just wasn't, at least not yet. Something inside him kept him believing that Connor was coming back, even though it has never happened before. "I believe he's coming back, Snowfox, and I'm not gonna change my opinion on that..." He replied with a low and menacing tone.

Snowfox snarled and her suit light up. She was about to give him a good scratch with her Ice Claws when everything around them started to glow. They all looked confused and looked back at Owlette, who was near Connor's body. She seemed as confused as them and none of them knew how to react.

Deep from the shadows of the caves, hundreds and hundreds of white, ghostly cats ran towards them, most of them hissing. They started to chant something, but none of them could understand them. When the moon moved and didn't illuminate the cave anymore, they disappeared in a poof! and everything went quiet. "W-What just happened?" Badgerclaw asked, terrified and confused.

Gekko pushed them aside and ran towards Connor body, none of them tried to stop him this time. Owlette hovered in the air and the kids stood near the other three members of the team as Gekko put his hand on Connor's cheek and waited. Come on... come back to us...

The stripes on Connor's Catboy suit started to glow, the flowers on the broken flower crown started to grow. His skin slightly went back to its normal color, his cheeks warm as they used to be. The horrible scar that ran along his face started to heal itself, leaving only a remarkable scar but wasn't as deep as it used to be. In a flash, Connor's suit went back to his original clothes and the Crystal Cat that was around his neck glowed brightly for a few seconds then went dark again.

Nothing happened for a few moments, and Gekko risked a glance with the other before turning back to Catboy. "C-Connor...?"

Connor took a deep breath, shocking everyone in the cave. He shifted awake slowly, blinking as he tried to make out where they were. When he looked at his friends, he smiled. "Take's more... than a- than a stupid river... to kill me..." He said weakly.

Gekko smiled and he removed his mask, tears streamed down his cheeks. "CONNOR!" He hugged the brunette boy tightly, causing the other to flinch in pain. Greg held Connor on his arms as the taller boy had trouble moving and getting up. Greg kept hugging him tightly. "I'm sorry, for everything! I've been a jerk to you when I should've just moved on!"

"It's okay..." Connor replied in a raspy voice. "That doesn't matter anymore..." Greg noticed Connor looking at the others with a smile. "You look as if you just saw a zombie..."

The others laughed and sat around Connor, hugging him as well. Owlette looked at Greg. "I'm sorry, Greg..."

"We should've believed you... We've seen craziest things than this..." Snowfox added in a shocking state, though the joy decorated her face.

Greg only nodded, acknowledging their apologies, but he only kept focused on Connor. The joy he felt right now... he couldn't compare it with anything. His eyes were witnessing the impossible, his best friend was alive! He was given another chance to hear him laugh, to see his vivid blue eyes again, to do everything he always wanted with him... Greg smiled and hugged him closer, his faces almost an inch apart.

"Connor!"

Greg and Connor parted away when the three little kids ran up to him with the biggest smiles Greg had ever seen. The almost jumped on him as soon as they stood close enough and they hugged him too. Connor laughed and hugged them back, they sure had missed him dearly. "You came back!" They exclaimed. Greg found the moment heartwarming, though on the back of his mind he wondered why the kids didn't find any of this shocking... was it all the troubles they had gone through? Or was it because of all the craziest thing they had lived this two last weeks?

Greg stood up, wiping away a few tears. "Maybe we should go back to HQ... it's kinda freezing in here." He said wrapping his arms. The others laughed at his remark and standing up, he lifted Connor and hold him on his arms. With the moon still lighting their way, they all headed back to HQ, together, as it should be.