1907

Glenn sighed in relief as he passed through the secret passage and vanished in the darkness. He finally felt home: the Forgotten Kingdom had always been a safe shelter to the ones of his kind when they needed to hide from the world outside.

"Who's there?" a growl came from the darkness.

"It's Glenn" the rat snarled as dark-furred rat stepped towards him "don't ya recognize me?"

"I do recognize ya, brother" the other rat said, then he noticed the fresh wounds upon his back and shoulders "what happened to ya, pal? You look like you've passed through a meat grinder!"

"I need to talk with him" Glenn snarled "I met a traitor of our kind today."

The other rat growled, foam dripping from his muzzle. "Another fool who thinks he can become one of them, ya mean?"

"This one is different. He's a dangerous fool, Thad. HE did this to me, to protect one of them"

Thad blinked. "He must be a skilled fighter, if he did this to ya."

"He is. We cannot let him live. Bring me to him, Thad. Now."

The other rat nodded. "Follow me."

"Did you want to talk to me, Glenn?" a husky voice asked. A red eye was staring at him from the darkness.

"Yeah, sir" Glenn said "I met a traitor today. We had a fight, 'cause he didn't want me to hurt a mouse" he spat the last word like poison "he reduced me to this state. We cannot let him live."

"You're right" Scarred Jack answered in a growl "we cannot let traitors live. Did he tell you his name?"

"Yeah, it was…" the rat scrunched his brow "Jamie? Jeremiah? It was something close…"

Jack's only eye widened. "Maybe it was…Jeremy?" he suggested in a harsh whisper.

"Yeah!" Glenn exclaimed "I was sure it was something like this…do you know him, sir?" Glen asked uncertainly.

"Maybe so. How does he look like?"

"Well..." Glenn thought for a moment "he has grey fur, with a darker spot on his throat…black nose, yellow eyes and..."

"And black hair" Scarred Jack finished for him "am I right?"

The other rat nodded. "Yeah, sir. Black hair. Have ya already met him?"

"Yes, I did meet him...many years ago, when he was still a cub. A traitor, he's become. Just like his father" he grinned, baring his sharp fangs "looks like I'm gonna have my revenge, after all...the sins of the father fall on the son."

Scarred Jack laughed, a dreadful laughter whom echoed in the darkness.

1919

"Dad?"

"What now?"

"I'm hungry."

"You've already eaten, Howard. Just wait for dinner like any normal…well…"

"Yeah, any normal what? Rat? Mouse? Hybrid?"

"…person. Just wait for dinner like any normal person."

1907

Jeremy bit his lower lip, walking back and forth in front of the coffee house. He looked at his pocket watch for the fifth time in ten minutes. It was ten past five. She was late.

Or maybe she just wasn't going to show up. He ran a paw through his hair with a frustrated sigh, feeling like a fool for thrusting her. Of course she wasn't going to show up, what was he expecting? That she would really want to see him again? Aw, please! He should have known she was lying. Which mouse lady in her right mind would have spent another afternoon with...

"Guess who!" a familiar voice said cheerfully as somebody behind him covered his eyes.

"...uh?"

He turned around to see Olivia standing behind him, her lips curled in a smile as if she was actually pleased to see him.

Oh, well. Looks like miracles can happen.

Olivia had suggested to have a walk in the park, since the sun had bothered to show up in London for the first time in the past two weeks, and Jeremy had been glad to accept: he wasn't exactly dying to confront the coffee houses' costumers again. No one of them would have never dared to insult him on his face, but the fear and the distrust in their eyes hurt him much more than spoken words.

"I'm sorry for the delay" she said as they sat beneath a tree "but I had to make an excuse for my father. He's a little...overprotective."

That was true: Hiram Flaversham had always been protective towards his only daughter, and after the Diamond Jubilee accident he had become even more concerned about her. The whole thing was beginning to bother her: she wasn't a little girl anymore, for the heaven's sake! She was a grown mouse, and she needed her autonomy. She should have to speak with him about this sooner or later.

Jeremy shrugged. That was not a surprise: overprotective or not, he doubted there was any mouse that could be happy know his daughter was dating a rat. He felt somehow flattered by the fact she had lied to her father to meet him. "Nevermind, I do understand" he said, looking at the for-once-blue sky, then he added a little bitterly "you're very lucky to have a father who cares so much about you, you know."

"Well...yes, I guess so" Olivia said uncertainly. The hint of sadness in his voice made her wonder about his family: he had never told her anything about his parents or any other relative. Jeremy seemed to understand what she was thinking.

"My father died when I was eight" he explained before she could ask anything.

Olivia felt terribly guilty for complaining about her father in front of him.

"Oh...I'm really sorry, I…" she said, feeling terribly sorry for him "I didn't mean to…"

He just waved his hand "Hey, no problem. You couldn't know about that" he said "it's my fault…I had no rights to bother you with my past troubles."

"But I shouldn't have spoken without thinking. I'm really sorry for your loss…I know how it feels. I have barely knew my mother, and I have very few memories of her…but still I often found myself mourning for her."

He just nodded, staring blankly at the ground for a moment or two, thinking about his own mother. At least Olivia had some memories of her mother, while he had never got to know his. She had died giving birth to him.

She died because of you – his grandmother had often told him – if it weren't for you, my daughter would be still alive. It's your fault she's dead.

Jeremy shuddered as he felt Olivia's hand resting on his shoulder. Lost in his memories, he had almost forgotten her presence. "Jeremy, did you hear that?"

"Hear what?"

"I'm sure I heard something…like a child crying" she said, standing up. She looked around to see a little boy sobbing beneath another tree.

"Aw, poor little thing…" she said, then she looked at Jeremy "do you mind if I ask him what's wrong?"

He shrugged. "No problem, I've got the whole day. I think I'll wait for you here, I don't want to scare the kid out of his wits" he added with a grin.

Olivia just nodded. "I'll be back in no time" she said as she went to the sobbing kid.

"Hello there" Jeremy heard her say as she approached the kid "what's wrong, little one?"

The rat looked at her thoughtfully as she raised the kid's chin with a hand and gently wiped off his tears.

She's sweet – he thought to himself – and caring. And beautiful. Man, she's wonderful. And she' s dating me. I must be the luckiest rat in the whole Mousedom.

"Jeremy!" her voice calling his name trailed his thoughts off. She was looking towards him, her hand resting on the kid's shoulder "may I ask you a favour?"

Jeremy quickly got on his feet. "Yes, of course. Ask me anything."

"No way" Jeremy said, folding his arms ad pretending to be oblivious of the kid who was looking at him with a mixture of fear, wonder and hope "I'm not going up there. Forget it."

"Aw, c'mon" Olivia repeated for the seventh time, her hand still on the little boy's shoulder "can't you see he's crying? You just have to recover his kite from that tree..."

"JUST to recover the kite?" he said sarcastically, looking towards the tree. The kite was hitched on the tree's highest branch. And that was a really high tree. It made him feel as small as a fly.

Olivia gave him a quizzical look. "Wait...you're not afraid of highs, are you?"

"I'm not!" he exclaimed a little too quickly.

"Yes you are!" she laughed "you're afraid of highs!"

"I'm not afraid!" he repeated, a little childishly.

"You are!"

"I'm not!"

"You a..."

"Alright then!" he exclaimed, approaching the tree "fine! I'll get that blasted kite back. Happy?"

"Yeah!" the little boy exclaimed, looking fascinated as he began to climb upon the tree.

Olivia laughed. "See? You've got a fan, Jeremy.

"Oh, that makes me feel soo much better..." he said sarcastically, hanging on a branch with his claws "at least, if I fall and break my neckbone I'll know who blame for that."

"C'mon, stop being so pessimistic...you're a quite good climber, you know" she said "just don't look down."

She's right, old boy. You're doing well. Just don't...

Jeremy gulped, suddenly aware of what he was doing.

... look down.

Jeremy felt a chill running up his spine as he gazed down. He had never been so high before: from up there, Olivia didn't seem much bigger than an ant.

You shouldn't have told me to not look down!

Jeremy's vision seemed to split in two, and his heart began to beat faster and faster as fear overcame him. He felt his knees weakening as he began to lose his grip on the branch. Out of reflex he buried his claws further into the bark and shut his eyes.

"Jeremy!" Olivia's voice sounded worried now "are you alright?"

No, I think I'm going to die.

"I'm fine" he managed to say in a fairly calm voice, opening his eyes. He felt furious with himself for letting his own fear overcame him. Over the years, he had trained himself to control his fears...but he had never managed to defeat his fear of the highs.

Too many nightmares.

Forget about your nightmares, big idiot – he tough angrily to himself – you're just pathetic! You're not your father, and that's not the Big Ben. It's just a tree. You have just to take a stupid kite from this stupid tree and give it back to that stupid child down there. Nothing difficult. Be careful, and everything will be fine. Now go on and do it!

Olivia bit he lower lip as Jeremy continued to climb on the tree, cursing herself for being a such airhead.

I shouldn't have asked him to climb up there. It's too dangerous. What if he gets hurt? It would be only my fault! I'll never forgive myself if he gets hurt!

The little boy beside her pulled her sleeve to catch her attention. "Do you think you boyfriend will succeed to take my kite back?" he asked.

Olivia gently patted his head. "Yes, I'm sure he will…" she suddenly stopped, blushing "he's not my boyfriend!"

"He's not?" the kid asked innocently "but you acted as if you were…and why are you blushing?"

"I'm not blushing, it's just…it's really hot today, isn't it?" she lied, then she looked back at the three "look, Jeremy has almost reached your kite."

The little boy gazed up and nodded. "I see" he said cheerfully, then he added under his breath "but I still think he's your boyfriend…"

Jeremy took a deep breath as he finally climbed upon the highest branch. He was just a few feet from that blasted kite.

Here you are, big boy.

Jeremy extended his hand, reaching or the kite…

A little closer...just a little closer…

"Gotcha!" he exclaimed as his hand finally grabbed the kite. His smile of triumph quickly vanished as he heard a crackling sound coming from beneath him. The thin branch was breaking under his weight.

Looks like I'm going to have a very easy descent.

"Look on the bright side, Jeremy" Olivia said, trying her hardest to not burst into laughs as Jeremy shook himself dry "at least, that kid got his kite back."

Jeremy just snorted, his fur still dripping with water. He was definitely not amused.

"And besides" she added, trying to cheer him up "it's really hot today…how bad can a nice dive in the fountain be?"

"A nice dive?"

She bit her lower lip, still trying to not laugh. "C'mon, stop sulking…at least you didn't get hurt. What do you think would have happened if you hit the ground instead?"

Jeremy gazed up a the three and shivered at the thought. "I guess I've been very lucky" he admitted.

"You're guessing right" Olivia said, then she chuckled a little "to be afraid of highs is not a shame, you know…"

"I'm not…" he began, but she duct-taped his mouth shut.

"Alright, alright, you're not afraid" she said a little mockingly, then she become more serious "look, I'm sorry I made you climb up there. I made you risk your life without thinking and…well, I acted really stupid. I'm sorry."

Jeremy raised his eyebrow. "Wait a moment…you almost made me break my neckbone, and everything you can say is that you are 'sorry'?"

"Well…yes. What else should I say?" Olivia asked, feeling a little uneasy.

"Hmm…" he scratched his chin, pretending to think, a smirk widening on his face "try with: 'Jeremy, I beg for your forgiveness and I promise I'll bow before you every day for the rest of my life' or something close…"

Olivia laughed. "And I did really think you were serious!" she mocked him, pinching his black nose.

"Ow!" he exclaimed, rubbing his nose.

"This will teach you to not keep me in suspense!"

He winked at her "But I was serious…" he joked, then he shivered as a blow of wind rushed over him.

Olivia looked worried now. "You have to go home and dry yourself off, or you'll get a cold" she said, a little reluctantly to let him go so soon.

Jeremy just nodded, looking unwilling to leave. "I guess you're right…" he said, a bit uncertainly, then he cleared his throat "I was thinking…if you are not busy, this Friday…"

"No, I'm not busy. I have nothing to do Friday" she said quickly, without even letting him finish the sentence "nothing at all. Why?"

He smiled, a little surprised but not displeased of her reaction. "Well…do you like theatre?"