"Bomba?"

The scarlet queen grunted and rolled over.

"Bomba wake up."

She rolled over again, expecting there to be more bed to catch her. Instead she fell to the ground with a yelp. Oh, right. She was at Demeter's. In fact, that was the source of her annoyance at the moment. Bombalurina grumbled and stood, rubbing her back.

"Sorry. Jenny wants to see you."

Bomba eyed her suspiciously. The gold queen looked uneasy and a little worried. She didn't have a good feeling about this.

"Over what?"

"She wants to talk to you."

"About what?" Her eyes narrowed and Demeter shifted her weight from foot to foot.

"Well, I-"

"I know what this is about. She's going to convince me not to go back to Tugger, isn't she? Wasted words. I never want to look at that thick bastard again." Bomba sat down moodily on the makeshift bed she had claimed and crossed her arms. Demeter didn't quite look at her.

"She also wants to. . . check you out. . ." She said softly, wringing her hands. Bombalurina stared at her in disbelief.

"Friends don't go around telling about my sex life."

"But I'm worried."

"Worry about yourself." Bombalurina said with a low growl, standing and staring down the shorter queen. Demeter looked frightened, and Bomba's gaze softened. Demeter was very fragile as far as queens went, she wouldn't hurt her friend.

"I'm sorry. I just want to govern my own life. Okay? I'm not worried, you shouldn't be either." The gold queen looked at her friend, unsure.

"All right Bomba. I'm going to go out; I've got a prior engagement,"

"Bye Deme." She grinned at her friend as she left. Maybe this 'prior engagement' was with a tom. Chances were slim, but you never know. A tom in her life would do her some good. . . and keep her out of other cats' lives. Chances were she was meeting up with Coricopat and Tantomile, though. For advice or something. She needed to stop spending her time mulling over words and start trying to sort herself out. Sighing, the red queen sat back down and laid back on her makeshift bed. She put her paws on her stomach and stared up at the ceiling, her mind straying.

Was Tugger thinking about her?

Oh damn, no. . .

That wasn't her business anymore. But still, if he was. . .

Was he truly sorry? Maybe he honestly, truly, wanted a real relationship. The thought made her uneasy, because that's what she had wanted.

Well, if he had he realized it too late, she told herself. Tragedy shouldn't be the only thing that brought cats together. That's not what she wanted. She didn't want a tom that only loved her when she threatened to leave.

So why was she crying?

-----On the other side of the junkyard-----

"I haven't slept the past couple nights." Tugger said with a grunt, eyeing Munkustrap who was busy trying to sort out some papers.

"Uh huh. . . wait, what?" The gray tabby looked up from his work, causing Tugger to narrow his eyes in frustration.

"I thought I was supposed to be the one who never listened."

"Yeah, well, I'm busy. Things like this happen when you actually work."

Tugger shook his head as Munkus went back to sorting the papers.

"What's all that about?" He asked, mildly curious.

"Some stuff from over at Macavity's, Mungojerrie filched it for me. It's actually very interesting."

"My life is more interesting than that raggedy furball." Tugger said with a snort, crossing his arms over his chest.

Munkustrap looked over at his brother. He was obviously not in a good mood, and wouldn't leave him alone until he got the chance to unload. Setting the papers down, he caved.

"Okay, what is it?"

"She left me."

"And that's a surprise to me why?" Munkus arched a questioning brow, which only made Tugger frown at him. He wasn't supposed to be on her side, he was supposed to listen and help without question!

"I thought I could win her back."

"You thought she was an idiot."

"I thought she loved me."

"Did you love her?"

Tugger opened his mouth and closed it. Unable to form a proper thought, he just sat there and glared at his brother in frustration. Munkus shook his head with a sigh.

"Look, you can't expect love from someone if you don't return it."

"But I would have!" Tugger replied defensively, his ears folded back against his skull.

"When? When you realized you wouldn't have someone to adore you constantly?"

Tugger's eyes widened and he paused, leaning back on his perch. Well, he wasn't sure. He missed even the idea of her. He had nothing to wait for in his den. He was a free tom now, that's all he ever wanted. . . right? That lifestyle seemed to suit him better.

See how many times you score before you're too old to do anything anymore.

That bugged him. He wasn't really like that, was he? Yes, yes he was. Wham-bam, thank-you-ma'am. He'd been like that for quite some time. He hadn't really thought there was anything wrong with it (ignoring the amount of older cats frustrated with him, and the immorality of it all) until Bomba pointed it out. He opened his mouth to say something to Munkus, but his brother was gone with all of his papers. Tugger snorted and adjusted his mane.

He was getting mouthfuls of his own medicine lately.

No wonder everyone was getting to hate him.

A defeated sigh and he stood, moving out of the little area Munkus always worked in. That tom really needed a queen in his life; he was too busy with trifles. All for the tribe. Maybe if Tugger made himself useful? Blah, he wasn't supposed to be useful. He was supposed to be pretty to look at.

What happened when he got older?

Tugger was troubled.

This was trouble only queens could cause.

Cassandra was actually a little ashamed of herself, sitting there watching her current obsession. Why couldn't she get Bombalurina out of her mind? She'd never been of interest to her before. The scarlet queen was having a heated argument with Jenny over. . . wait, what? She closed her eyes and perked her ears to get some of the conversation.

"Jenny, why the sudden interest?"

"Because if you get pregnant now you won't have a tom to help you care for it."

"So if I do have a kitten you'll leave me to raise it alone? That's cold."

"No! Dear, I want you to be happy."

"I am happy, Jenny. The chances of me being pregnant-"

"Are probably better than you think."

Cassandra heard Bomba storm off and her eyes fluttered open. Oh, dear. She completely ignored the troubled Jenny wringing her paws as her mind wandered to her own thoughts. Somehow it had never quite crossed her mind. Of course Bombalurina had been intimate with Tugger; any queen in a relationship with him would be at some time or another. She quickly doused the jealousy that rose inside of her. Now wasn't the time.

"Cassandra, this isn't healthy." The soft voice behind her made her eyes widen as she turned. Alonzo had always been talented at startling her, but now he wasn't trying to startle her. His face was worried. Cassandra lowered her eyes downward, embarrassed.

"Just talk to her."

"I can't." No one knew Cassandra was shy. In fact, they just thought she was snobby. She didn't like the assumption, but what was she supposed to do?

"Look, you've been sitting there watching the sunset every day with her for the past few days. Just say something this time, it isn't that hard."

He had a point. Every day Bombalurina had come to watch the sunset. In her own mind Cassandra would pretend the scarlet queen was there to see her, but she knew why she was there.

'I always said the sunset was for hopeless romantics and lovers.'

Cassandra had pondered that. So, Bombalurina was a hopeless romantic. She wanted romance in her life but never seemed to achieve it. Cassandra knew she could fix that. Given the chance, she could make Bomba the happiest queen alive. She'd never get that chance if she didn't change her ways. Struggling a little with herself, her brow furrowed before she looked back up to the patched tom, a slight smile on her face.

"All right, I'll talk to her tonight."

Alonzo seemed satisfied, so he excused himself to go talk to his new queen-friend. Cassandra wondered who it was, but didn't think to ask him until he was gone. Oh well, she could ask him tomorrow. Her friend had been in good spirits lately, so she knew this queen had to be worthwhile. Certainly she had re-exposed Alonzo's sweet side. Climbing out of her hiding place, she began walking to her own den. She never did mind being alone, but maybe that would change sometime soon. Though she was surprised when she passed Bombalurina, and when the queen didn't notice her.

Sometimes she wondered if she was invisible.

Bombalurina sauntered over to the car hood, somewhat surprised when she saw Cassandra was already there, out in the open.

"Coming out of your shell?" The sultry cat asked with a smirk, chuckling softly as she climbed up. A look of surprise and fear seemed to flash across Cassandra's face, but Bomba dismissed it as a trick of the light.

"Oh," Cassandra sat up and pulled her knees to her chest, wrapping her arms around them as she looked up to the sky. Bomba gave her a sideways glance, raising an eyebrow. That hadn't been much of an answer. Shrugging, she reclined, not noticing Cassandra's quick glance over.

"Pretty tonight."

"Oh? What is?" Bombalurina looked down at her paw.

". . .The sky."

"Always is."

Cassandra just couldn't get up the guts to say anything else. She wished she could have just replied "You, you're the most gorgeous thing I've ever seen." But, as soon as she thought she could, her cowardice took over. She was just too shy. And this company was better than none at all, right? If she revealed she found the other queen attractive, she may never come back to watch the sunset again.

Bomba got up to leave, and Cassandra winced. She was invisible. She wasn't even going to acknowledge her before-

"Goodnight, Cass. I'll talk to you later."

Now she was happy.

A/N: Hey guys, thanks for the reviews. -grin- I've been writing a lot lately, very inspired. Plus this is my favorite kind of story... the tragic heartbreak kind. -evil cackle- No better motivation!