A/N: OK, so it's one in the morning where I am, but after another livestream (with Phantomtype/Kris again) I finally came around to finishing it. That's right folks, welcome to part 2. It became a thing, in the end. This part of the story was in fact, also talked about in the first stream, but I lost joint until recently and I just finished it. I plan on polishing this/reposting the chapter after I get some sleep, but I really wanted to post this first right now. This one's for you, Vox (because it was you who gave me this idea and the one who said, and I quote, "kill our hearts"), as well as everyone else I saw in both streams. I've never had the chance to talk with other people about fandoms of mine, and I'm glad I've been able to with you guys.

Also, on the matter of this fic; I regret nothing whatsoever.

Minor Warnings for Injury, Death, and powerful Kitty Love and fluff.

Disclaimer: So not mine. I'm pretty content with fanfiction like this, to be honest.

"Happy anniversary, my little darling."

Vlad smiled as Maddie rubbed against his legs in thanks, holding the little feather tipped toy in her mouth. It had been exactly one year since he'd taken her in, a little bit more since he'd discovered her lying in an alleyway, left for dead. Naturally, such a special event required celebration, but he hadn't been the only one to remember; the small dead rodent on the carpet said as much, though Vlad didn't mind the little corpse. Another subject for experiments, after all. And besides, it was a gift from his dear Maddie; how could he not be pleased with it?

Kneeling down, he picked her up, his smile growing as she tapped his nose as she always did with her little white paw and meowed back. Yes, he was content.

"Maddie, dear, can you bring me my goggles?"

Obediently, the white cat padded over to the table, grabbing the elastic strap in her mouth and hopping over the tables to bring it to Vlad, who was carefully prodding a strange concoction.

"Thank you, my dear." He said somewhat absently, rubbing her head with his free hand before taking the goggles from her mouth. Maddie meowed in response before moving away, jumping off the table and retreating to the small section of the lab Vlad had set up for her for when either of them were down here, to make sure she didn't accidentally get into anything in the lab.

Vlad muttered under his breath as he poked the flames beneath the vials of ectoplasm and various other substances, carefully pulling his goggles over his eyes. While he was confident in his abilities as a scientist of sort, the mixes he was working with were volatile, and he knew one mistake ran many, many risks. Carefully, he took a vial and slowly poured it into the one currently over the flames, focusing intently on his actions. He quickly and delicately set it down and cautiously stepped back, watching the concoction bubble and steam over the low flames, before seeming to settle. He breathed a sigh of relief, about to resume his experiment now that the most dangerous part was over, when he noticed the mix rapidly bubbling, the chemical leaking over the edge of the glass and dripping down, into the flames.

"...Oh dear sweet swiss fudge cookies."

The explosion rocked the house foundation.

Vlad coughed, transforming into his ghost form and pushing the broken tables off him as he stood. Blinking, he took in the glass shards and wooden remains of his lab, huffing tiredly as he did. Moving made his body ache more than it did, even with his ghost half dulling the pain, but as he looked around his blood chilled and his fatigue was pushed aside as he spotted the pile of toys and blankets that marked Maddie's special lab area.

"MADDIE!"

Vlad stumbled forward, panic filling his veins as he dashed towards her space. He fell with an oomph, transforming back as his body screamed at him, his hard landing ripping a frustrated and pained grunt from him as he lay. He managed to force his arms underneath himself before he stopped, his strength returning too slowly for him to move too much and he coughed harshly as dust filled his lungs. Frantically, Vlad looked up, jerking his head left and right despite his protesting muscles, scanning for the familiar white fur.

There!

Forcing his body to comply, Vlad pulled up onto his knees and half scrambled half dragged himself forwards, towards the still ruffled fur and his only companion that had given him any comfort in nearly twenty years. Collapsing onto one arm in exhaustion and pain, he carefully reached out, delicately rubbing the top of her head.

"Maddie..? Come now darling, say something, move, anything. You're alright, aren't you?"

Tears came unbidden at the thought of anything less, and he struggled upright, carefully scooping her up into his arms. She barely moved in response, a single twitch.

"Maddie, come now. Open your eyes for Vladdie now, please?"

Holding her like this, Vlad knew she was hurt, somehow. He could feel her energy, the spark of life inside of her wavering. Despite that, his heart ached when he heard her mewl, shifting to look up at him. She saw the tears slowly streaming down his face, felt the tender way he held her, this scene reminding them both of the day they'd met. Slowly, despite her own pain and fading strength, Maddie stretched, placing her front paws on Vlad's chest.

She rubbed the top her head against his chin weakly, giving it one last lick before settling into his arms and leaning into his chest. Vlad simply held her close in response, resting his forehead on her back. It was a time before he could even entertain the thought of leaving, and even then it was hours before he moved again.

It had started with a thought. A simple idea, a wish for the one companion in his life since his accident twenty-one years ago in college. He'd seen the glowing green creatures, felled in the explosion, their green blood filling the air with an acrid smell and immediately his mind latched onto the idea born from seeing his experiments.

He could bring her back.

Vlad worked tirelessly after he cleaned his lab, carefully laying Maddie on her bed before he returned to his work. He locked himself in, working with minimal sleep and food. He took old clippings of her fur, extracted dozens of samples of ectoplasm from both his creations and the ghost zone, worked endlessly using the fur and his old cloning technology to slowly craft a new form. A body.

The ghost was still in development when it melted in his arms, its soft meows twisted by its ectoplasmic form and staring at him with its empty eyes as he was forced to watch it decompose in the way only unstable ghosts could. For a moment, Vlad thought of trying again, of stabilizing it the way he stabilized his other clones, but he decided against it in the end.

It wasn't right. It just wasn't the same.

It was difficult for Vlad to decide what to do with her body, but in the end he cremated her, keeping her ashes in a small cat-shaped container. He placed the urn with her belongings in her little space in his living room, all of them carefully arranged. He brushed his fingers over a pair of balls, the soft sound of bells reaching his ears as he remembered her playing with her favourite toys.

Vlad closed his eyes and for the first time in his life, he mourned.

Vlad began to spend less and less time in his Amity mansion as time passed. The reason was innocent and simple at first; he had so much work in other places, not to mention it had been a long time since he'd been to his Colorado cabin, he needed to clean it up. That was before they began.

It was quiet at first, little things and tricks of the light he could dismiss as his imagination, sounds that he assumed were nonexistent, created by exhaustion. A quiet pitter of claws, streaks of white and green at the edges of his vision, a whisper of a meow in the still air. But as time went along, his little hallucinations began to escalate. He'd feel a shade of pressure on his back, a puff of air on his neck, and sometimes before he slept he'd feel something next to him, just before he faded into sleep. Even a jingle of bells would follow him, echoing through the halls. But no matter how hard he investigated, how hard he tried, never did he find any evidence of anything amiss in the mansion.

Slowly, his work turned into excuses, and it took all of Vlad's own willpower to not simply abandon his Amity mansion. But this was too much for him, and he didn't want to have to deal with truly crushing the hope and other emotions that so stubbornly wanted to grow inside of him.

His nightmares, the nights he woke up trembling and wishing in a way stronger than he ever had before, reminded him why he could never really have any of that back in the first place. Death was truly on his hands, and it was wrong for him to wish her back to him when it was his actions that tore her away.

Vlad was, in a word, exhausted. Mayoral events, a meeting with the heads of his numerous companies, a fight with Daniel that was only interrupted by the bumbling oaf Jack, and a flight from Colorado to Amity Park ensured he was fully prepared to drop asleep instantly as he floated through his mansion when he heard something strange. A jingle jangle of bells, followed by the sounds of claws on the floors. He paused for a moment, recalling a better time full of soft white fur and soft meowing, before he shook himself. It was all in his head.

He continued onwards, floating through the floor into his library and through the hallway when Vlad felt it. His ghost sense, pointing him towards the living room. Vlad blinked tiredly, suddenly realizing that the sound of bells and claws wasn't in his head and yes, he was in fact hearing something in his house. Then the implications settled in and Vlad felt a burning rage build inside of him, wiping away his previous exhaustion.

Snarling, he surged forwards, wrenching the door open to see who dared defile his precious darling's grave, except what he saw made the pink ecto-energy in his hand fade as numb shock overwhelmed him.

Floating peacefully, white fur enshrouded in a neon green glow was Maddie, padding back and forth with her toys in her paws as though nothing was wrong, as though she hadn't been absent from his mansion and his life for nearly a year, as though she wasn't-

As though she wasn't dead.

Vlad, still somewhat overwhelmed with shock, slowly entered the room, his footsteps quiet. It was like he was afraid any noise would dispel the image in front of him, and he would be alone again without companionship or love. Slowly he approached, and as though sensing him, Maddie stopped her playing and sat on her haunches, gazing up at him.

He lowered himself carefully down to his knees in front of her, not daring to move his eyes from her as she patiently watched. Shaking fingers delicately brushed her whiskers, shock building and giving way to an overwhelming flood of emotion as tears filled his impossibly wide eyes. A whisper escaped his lips, barely audible to the ears of those in the room.

"...Maddie..?"

She smiled, standing and rubbing her face into his hand, body rumbling with an echoing purr. Still Vlad remained frozen, but only for a moment longer before lunging forwards and embracing her. He didn't notice when he changed back into human form, nor when his tears began to fall and Maddie ran her tongue over his face, returning his love to him tenfold.

All that mattered right now was that his Maddie had returned to him, and never again was he going to let her go.

A/N: Yes, I just did that. It's not exactly a totally sad ending, at least, right? Any feedback (excluding blatant flaming and insults without rhyme or reason) is much appreciated. With the publishing of this chapter, this story is now about 95% complete, since I still technically have to read it over and fix it up a bit. Meanwhile, it's officially about 1:30 here, so I'm going to sleep. Good night to you all, and enjoy. ;)

Edit: So I looked back and fixed the few things I could see and fix, maybe added a line or two or tweaked some things. Have I mentioned how much I hate going on the desktop site on my phone? I end up having to work so hard so that I don't accidentally destroy the whole thing. If there's anything I missed, please don't hesitate to tell me (via either review or pm). Reviews are always welcome, and please give me your honest opinion about my stories. Love it? Hate it? Indifferent towards it? Tell me why, because any constructive feedback (even if only barely so) is good feedback.