Neko Monogatari

Chapter 2- Broken Heart

"You know, Cloe, before you were born, your mother and one used to travel quite a lot."

Cloe looked up at her father from his lap, taking her gaze off the sun hiding over the horizon, "Did you, daddy?"

"Yep. We went to Al-Mamoon, Hamelin, and various other places. But one must tell you, sweetie, Hamelin is not exactly one's favorite place. The air makes one feel dizzy…" King Tom sighed, remembering the first time he had put a paw inside the mechanical city, how he was almost knocked out cold by the smoke entering his lungs.

"Did you go to Yule?"

King Tom smiled fondly at the memory, "Yule? That was one's favorite place! Even your mother adored it; the snow, the igloos, but the most beautiful thing of all… The boreal auroras. One took your mother for a walk in the forest and we witnessed an spectacle of color lights, high above the sky. Unfortunately, we stayed there for so long that in the morning we got the cat flu."

"Daddy… Would you take me to Yule someday?" Cloe asked as she wrapped her arms around her father's massive body in her standards

The cat king ruffled his daughter's fur playfully and replied, "One will, my little pumpkin… One will…"

Cloe sighed forlornly as she stared at the rising sun, remembering that day. Had it been so long? She felt as though it had been yesterday, instead of ten years. Her father had promised to take her to Yule someday, but by then, she though he had probably forgotten about that promise long ago.

Age had taken its toll on the young cat princess, now sixteen. She had grown in height, reaching her father's chest, and her body had also changed greatly by the pass of time. Her body, her waist and back particularly, had become quite curved, and her tail had grown long, now gracefully curving wherever she flickered it. Even though her fur remained mostly unchanged, her stripes had gained a more brownish tone to it, almost like her father's, but with a more grayish look. Her ears were pointy, and twitched in a gracious way when she moved them. She had already grown breasts, but they were not very big at all, at least compared to other female cats'…

In other words, Cloe had grown into a beautiful young cat, but she was still a long way from being considered an adult.

The princess rested on the grass and felt it tickle her; her eyes stared at the sky endlessly, worried about her father. Since she could remember, they had always been very close, but lately, something was… off with him. He would rest on his throne most of the time (save for breakfast, lunch and dinnertime, but even then he seemed to be tired), take various naps thorough the day, and now he rarely took time to spend with her. Before King Tom became like this, he would often make excuses to avoid going to a meeting or miss his paperwork just to spend time with his daughter. Oh, how she missed those days…

"When did everything go wrong…?" Cloe though sadly, letting out a forlorn sigh.

The sound of footsteps crushing the grass caught her attention; for one moment, Cloe had hoped her father had come to check on her, but she could tell by the weight of the footsteps that it was not her father at all, but her nanny.

The old woman that had taken care of her since she was a baby, Maora, despite having about sixty-eight years old, was still full of life. She was rather short, and was barely a few centimeters shorter than Cloe. Her hair was short and gray, and she always wore a bright red dress, with a contrasting cool blue obi tied around her waist, the skirt of the dress blended into sandy yellow tones.

Maora was a strong woman, sure of herself, and she had the tendency to speak directly, or to go 'straight-to-the-point', and at times she could be very serious when the situations called for it. However, she had a softer side, which she showed to those who were close to her; to Cloe, she was like the mother-like figure she couldn't have. Maora herself had come to see the princess as her own child, and was ready to protect and comfort her when she needed it.

Maora sat down next to Cloe and stared at the sky, as if trying to spot whatever the female cat was looking at, "What are you looking for, dear? There doesn't seem to be any monsters flying around here."

Cloe sighed as she sat up, "No, it's not that, Maora… It's jus that I'm worried about my father…"

The old woman looked down in thought; she had an idea of what was wrong with the king, but she was not sure if telling Cloe would be the best course of action. On the other hand, the princess had every right to know what happened to him.

"Cloe, dear… have you ever heard of people being broken-hearted?"

The princess nodded, "Yes. I have read about it. It's when Shadar steals a person's heart from its virtues, making them act like a soulless body…" Cloe felt shivers going down her spine as soon as she mentioned the Dark Djinn's name. His reputation was very dreadful, no one dared to stand up to him. Those who did… she had heard what happened to the Great Sage Alicia.

Maora remained silent for a few minutes, then spoke, "I believe the cause of your father's sudden change of attitude is because he has been… broken-hearted."

She expected Cloe's reaction.

What she didn't expect was what she did next.

After hearing the word broken-hearted, Cloe's fur bristled in shock; previously graceful tail looked like a mess. The cat princess instantly jumped to her feet

, and firmly but gently started shaking her nanny by the shoulders.

"MY FATHER IS BROKENHEARTED?!"

After seeing the look of surprise in the old woman's face, Cloe regained her calm and sat back on the grass, flattening her ears against her head.

"I'm sorry, Maora… It's just that I've been so worried about daddy that I just don't know what to do anymore… I miss the old him."

"Me too, dear… me too. But I'm afraid we don't have a way to lift the curse placed upon your father's heart, all we can do is wait and pray someone can do lift it. Until then, we must be patient."

Cloe sighed in sadness once again as she looked down, after a while she looked at Maora.

"Maora, can do you me a favor?"

The old woman nodded reassuringly, "Of course, honey. Just say it."

"Could do… come with me to speak with my father?"

The cat king stared at his sleeping baby, cuddled in his arms, shifting every now and then. She was wrapped in a pink blanket, and snuggled deeply into the warm, protective arms of her father, as if looking for something.

King Tom noticed the kitten had a strong resemblance to his beloved Cleopawtri. Her fur, her ears, her face… she had faint tabby marking, like his own, which was rarely visible, but he knew the markings would become darker as she grew. Surprisingly, he still didn't know how he would name her; he had wanted to decide it with Cleopawtri, but she was gone now…

"Your Meowjesty?" Maora's voice caught his attention.

He had told the guards to let no one disturb him; he was not in the mood to receive any visits. But Maora was the exception; he had come to see her as part of his family. She had taken care of him and Cleopawtri since they were kittens, and they came to love her very much. However, this time he did not give her even a single smile, he didn't have the heart right then. He only gave her a glance before setting his eyes on the kitten in his arms.

"Are you alright?" she asked, but she knew the answer already.

King Tom gave her an annoyed stare, "How do you think one is, Maora?" he spoke in irritation, refusing to cry in front of the old woman, "Cleopawtri is gone… One couldn't save her…"

Maora walked closer to the king's bed, a sorrowful look on her face, and put a hand on his shoulder, "Tom, I'm sorry… But coping around miserably is not going to bring Cleopawtri back, you know."

Only a few, privileged people could refer to King Tom by his name, Maora entering that group. Tom closed his eyes shut for a moment, his ears flattened against his head, his tail didn't stop twitching in irritation, for much that he wanted to; wherever he was upset for something, his tail twitched, and it didn't stop.

The cat king opened his eyes when he felt his daughter shifting in his arms. Upon looking down, he noticed the kitten has somehow found his paw, and had started nibbling on it, despite not having her teeth yet. For the first time in days, King Tom smiled at the kitten and started playing with her fingers.

Maora giggled softly when she saw the scene, it seemed the king still had some of his humor inside. Speaking of which, she remembered the baby had not yet a name.

"Have you thought of any name for her yet?"

King Tom's smile slowly faded on realization; he just couldn't refer to his daughter as 'sweetie' all the time, even though he loved it. He would have to name her, but the decision was hard… there were many names he could use, but none of them fitted his daughter, or that was what he thought. He watched as the kitten got a hold of his paw and held it, her ears twitched constantly. She resembled her mother strikingly… and that's when made up his mind.

"…Cloe," King Tom whispered softly as he started tickling the kitten's nose playfully, "… Her name is Cloe."

King Tom opened his eyes slowly, letting out a great yawn in the process. He twitched his tail and looked at the ceiling of his throne room, his eyelids heavy, despite having been sleeping more than anything in the last few days. The dream he just had was actually one of the fondest memories he had, the time he had named his daughter. He had always taken care of his child himself, and when he couldn't, Maora was always available -and eager- to do so in his stead. With time, he and his daughter became inseparable.

However, recently, something was keeping him from standing up and going to check on Cloe, like he usually did. He wanted to go and tell her he loved her, that she was his whole world, his everything, yet something rendered him unable to do so. King Tom felt his heart… heavy, and he was starting to think that was the reason of his state.

"Daddy?"

His mood was enlightened when he heard his little girl's voice resounding in his ears; he shifted around in his throne's giant cushion, and managed to get a look to where he heard Cloe's voice come from. She was standing a few steps away from his throne, giving him a look of… worry?

"Is something wrong, sweetie?" King Tom inquired, scratching his chin with his left leg.

Cloe hesitated for a moment, but eventually gathered the courage to speak, "Daddy, can I talk to you for a moment?"

King Tom nodded, "Of course, honey. What do you want to talk about?" saying this, the cat king let out a big yawn, despite not having intended to do so.

"I was wondering… why don't we… you know, go and do something together? Like we used to do…"

Maora was watching from behind one of the massive pillars, hoping the monarch would agree. But in his state, she knew what he would reply.

Like she predicted, Tom let out another yawn and shifted on his cushion, giving his daughter an apologetic look, "One's sorry, sweetie, but right now one is not on the mood to stand up… One's so comfortable…"

Cloe sighed in disappointment and replied, "I… understand, daddy. Sorry for having interrupted your nap."

Maora shook her head forlornly, and sadly watched as Cloe walked back to her, close to tears. As the cat princess passed by, Maora followed her soon after.

King Tom felt a squirming in his heart when he saw his daughter leave like that, he had never liked when his daughter was sad. It always broke his heart seeing her crying. But yet again, there was something keeping him from standing up and going after her. Before he knew it, he was fast asleep again.

The cat princess twitched her tail slowly as she stared at the tank where her father's favorite fish, a herring of scarlet and crimson scales, was kept. She never understood why her father loved it so much. The red herring was swimming around in front of her, as if wanting to know what was wrong with her. Cloe sighed, at least the fish was actually worried about her. Maora joined her soon after, knowing her princess needed some company, especially after what just happened. She eyed the red herring, who was still swimming in the princess's face.

"Why is my father so fond of that fish, anyway?" Cloe inquired, tapping the glass softly, which startled the fish. Maora giggled as the red herring swam away from the cat princess, hiding behind one of the weeds.

The old woman explained, "When your father and your mother were kittens, they went to one of the lakes nearby to spend the day. I accompanied them to make sure they didn't drown," Maora giggled a bit before continuing, "That's when your mother found the poor fish had washed ashore on the banks of the lake. She took the poor thing and nursed it back to health, but when the fish was back to normal, Cleopawtri found herself attached to it. In the end, Cleopawtri and Tom decided to keep the fish."

Cloe eyed the red herring -which had finally come out of hiding wand was swimming around the tank again- forlornly, "So… it was mom's fish?"

Maora nodded, "Yes. To your father, the red herring is a memento of Cleopawtri, that's why he has kept it all of these years."

Cloe put her paw against the glass of the tank softly, staring at her father's red herring for a while. Maora sighed with the memory; she knew King Tom and Queen Cleopawtri had met young and became friends since childhood-though admittedly they had met outside of any marriage planning, and truthfully the rules were slightly bent and their union allowed since Cleopawtri was a suitable match in class. It was all drawn up to them finding each other before any official appointments could be set up, and of course the matchmaker would've paired them off either way. Maora was brought back from her thoughts when she heard a question leave Cloe's mouth.

"…How was mom like, Maora?"

"Haven't you already asked me that question, dear?" Maora raised an eyebrow, and Cloe blushed.

"Well, it's just that-"

"I understand, dear. You want to hear it again, and I don't object. As for question…" Mao sighed and a small smile was drawn on her face, "She was sweet, friendly and kind; she had the delicacy and grace of her noble lineage, but she was not helpless; she had an independent, courageous side. She stood up for what was right, and she was quick to defend those close to her. Cleopawtri not only was a kind-hearted catwoman, she also had a heavenly beauty. Every men and cat loved and wanted her, but Tom was her first and only love. And your father loved her so much…"

The cat princess stared at the tank, listening to Maora's every word. She had seen her mother's portrait hanging in her father's room, and since she was small she had considered her mother to be more beautiful than any catwoman she had ever seen. There was no wonder why her father had fallen in love with her. Nor for the first time, Cloe wished she had any memories of her mother, but her father and Maora had told her Cleopawtri had died a few hours after she was born; however, they had never disclosed to her how she had died. She guessed it was too painful for the both of them.

Maora spoke once again, "Your father loves that fish very much, dear. I can't imagine what would happen if he were to lose it."

However, the old woman noticed there was something off with the tank… something was missing. However, when she figured out what was wrong, suddenly, before Cloe and the old woman could do something about it, the red herring leaped from its confinement, landing in the water of one of the royal moats that ran through the palace, and swam away.

Cloe's eyes opened wide in horror and she gasped, her ears flattening against her head.

Maora just kept staring at where the fish had jumped, her eyes wide.

King Tom would not like this in the least.