"What a touching reunion," Macavity sneered as Vail entered his room. "I didn't think I would say this, but you are a pretty good actress. Though saying that one of the Jellicles is your brother was going a bit far, don't you think?"

Vail scowled at him. "I did what I had to. But do you honestly think I would forgive her that easily?"

Macavity chuckled, shaking his head. "Not at all. But I am curious; if the whole 'Pike is my brother' bit was just an act, why did Kroova go along with it?"

Vail froze, and Macavity knew he'd caught her. He smiled. "You really do have a twin brother, don't you?"

"If you even touch him," Vail warned dangerously. She unsheathed her claws, but kept herself in check; she'd lost her temper enough for one day.

"You'll what?" Macavity spread his arms wide. "You'll kill me? Come on, Poisonpaw, we both know you aren't strong enough to do that."

Vail pressed her ears back. "He's got nothing to do with this. You have no reason to bring him here other than the fact that he's your son."

"I believe he inherited certain qualities from me," Macavity smiled. "Am I right? The powers, the incredible intellect. He couldn't have possible gotten that from your mother."

"He has a kind heart," Vail said quietly. "He can't even bring himself to say the word 'kill'."

Macavity snorted. "That can be fixed soon enough. Face it," he hopped down from the chair, striding over to Vail. "The only thing you two got from your mother is your coat pattern. Even then, yours is affected by me." He touched Vail's left ear, and she flicked away his paw.

"It's a shame you won't be able to be a family," Macavity said, returning to the chair. Vail glared at him. She glanced down at her gloved paw, wishing she could take a shot at him.

"I'm going now." She said finally. "I'll come back when I'm done."

She turned on her heel and strutted out the door, hissing at any cats who even moved near her.

=^..^=

I was lying on my back, staring up at the stars. There were so many… sure, I couldn't see as many as I could in the Irish countryside, but still there were a lot. Pike was off with his friends, who had demanded an explanation about his behavior; it was swiftly becoming common knowledge among the Jellicle tribe that I was his mother. I heard paw-steps approaching, but I stayed where I was.

"Kroova?" Mistoffelees sounded nervous; I wondered if I was about to learn what had been on his mind when we'd gotten back to the junkyard. I sat up, gazing at him. He hesitated. "Is it alright if I talk to you about something?"

"Sure," I said. I patted the space next to me, and Mistoffelees sat down slowly.

"This has been bothering me for a while," he said quietly. "Something that's been on my mind…"

"Well, go on," I urged.

"Memory is a fickle thing," he muttered. I couldn't tell if the comment was directed at me or himself. "Deuteronomy placed a mental block in your mind, along with everyone else who was there that night,"

I frowned at him. "What night?"

"But it had no effect on me, Coricopat or Tantomile," he continued as if he hadn't heard me. "I know the truth… Cori and Tanto gave themselves mental blocks because they didn't like what we'd done. I kept my mind free, knowing I could restore your memories if you wanted."

"My… memories?"

"Your life before you came to us," Misto was staring at his paws, so I couldn't read the expression on his face.

"Are you saying Deuteronomy is the reason I have no memories from over a year ago?"

"Exactly."

What kind of memories? I wondered. Misto was offering to remove the block; I wondered what kind of life I'd lived… who my parents were, how many kits were in my family, where we lived… Maybe I would finally know why I didn't know my name until Macavity got to me. But… what if the memories I found were painful? That is a risk I will have to take, I thought, steeling myself. I took a deep breath. "Show them to me."

Misto stood, pulling me up as well. Then he placed one paw on my shoulder and the other on my forehead and closed his eyes. At first I saw nothing; just the black behind my closed eyelids. Then a flicker of color and light came to the front of my mind. Before I could make out any sort of image, pain ripped through my body, paralyzing me. I collapsed to the ground, my eyes wide open though I didn't see the stars as I had before.

=^..^=

Mistoffelees watched Kroova nervously as she lay on the ground, twitching occasionally. Her eyes were glazed over, and Misto could only guess what she was seeing. All he could do was wait until all her previous memories filtered through her mind—then and only then would she regain control of her body.

=^..^=

I sat in a hospital chair, leaning on my mom. Everything looked so huge… but then, I was very small. I couldn't feel my throat, but I guessed that it was going to hurt later. I saw my Grandms walking towards me, holding an orange popcicle in her hand. I smiled and stretched out my arm to the treat. My favorite, I thought. I began sucking on the frozen treat, listening to my Grandma as she talked to my mom.

"She was so brave to do that," Grandma said. My mom nodded.

"The doctors said they've never had a two-year-old behave so well for an operation." I wanted to smile at the pride in mom's voice, but my cheeks were still numb.

The doctor who'd put the funny mask on my face came out, holding a small container. "Here are your tonsils, Cassie." He smiled at me as I stared at the container. They looked like little hairy balls, the kind Allie would play with…

…

I sat bouncing in my chair as my family sang happy birthday to me. My cake was lemon flavored, and my mom had done wonders and drawn a picture of Flounder on it in blue and yellow frosting. Five candles were glowing brightly. When they got done singing, I sucked in a huge breath and blew with all my might. The candles extinguished, only to relight themselves. I grinned; my mom had used trick candles! I blew again and again, each time laughing and clapping my hands as they relit themselves…

…

"Mom, come on! The show's about to start, and you can just get a water bottle!" I tapped my foot impatiently as my mother stood in line for the drinking fountain. I could hear the orchestra warming up in the auditorium where two of my brothers and my sister were already seated. I didn't even know why I was out in the hall. I glanced back at the line; there were still three other people in front of my mother, and they didn't seem to care that Wicked was beginning. I pulled a sharpie out of my pocket and began twirling it restlessly through my fingers.

"Mo-om!"

My mom rolled her eyes, but she left the line and followed me into the auditorium…

…

"Jen, wait up!" I sprinted after my friend, feeling my braided-yarn tail swinging behind me. Halloween was my favorite time of year, and this year, I and my friend Jennifer were dressed up as mice. It was funny; one lady thought it would be hilarious to give us cheese sticks in our bags instead of candy…

…

"You look beautiful."

I felt my face flood with color as Mike smiled at me. It was my high school homecoming dance, and I had practically jumped for joy when Mike—my most recent and currently strongest crush—asked me to go with him. I stepped onto the porch, closing the door behind me so that my family wouldn't see us holding hands. I wondered if the night would end with a kiss…

…

I choked back tears as I lay in bed that night, wishing with all my heart for my parent's words not to be true. We would be leaving everything; all we were taking was a suitcase full of clothes. We would be buying new things in London, they said. But I wasn't torn because we'd be leaving my favorite spot in the willow tree, the one with the branches situated just right for someone to sit in… I was sobbing because I'd be leaving all my friends to start over new in another country—a whole ocean away from everything I knew and loved…

…

Getting off the plane, I held tight to my older sister's hand. She was just as nervous as I was, and behind me, I knew my four brothers were trying to hide the fact that they were scared stiff. My little sister gripped my other arm, and together the seven of us walked slowly into a whole new world…

…

I frowned into my pillow, trying to get back to sleep, but it was no use. It was about three in the morning, and my mind was suddenly active. I tried to remember my dream, but it was gone.

"Whatever," I muttered. I reached up to turn on my lamp, blinking in the sudden light and felt around for my glasses. I jammed them onto my face and flipped onto my back. I stared up at the posters on my ceiling, smiling at the signatures in silver Sharpie on my Wicked, Beauty and the Beast, and Into the Woods posters, and the pictures taped onto my Pirate's poster of me and Kiera Knightly, Orlando Bloom and Johnny Depp. My favorite one was where Johnny had dared Orlando to kiss my cheek right when the picture was taken. Of course, I didn't know about it, so my mouth and eyes were wide open with shock.

A scratching at my window distracted me, and I stood on my bed to peer out into the darkness. I saw nothing, but that didn't mean anything. I turned the flash from my phone on, pointing it out the window. I jumped when the light caught a large pair of eyes.

"Sam!" I whispered. He stared at me, and I left my room to let him in. I dropped my phone into my scrubs pajama's pocket, wrapping my thick alumni blanket around me. I slid open the back door, dancing in the cold while I waited for our stubborn cat to come inside. He was sitting about ten feet away from the door, his tail flicking back and forth.

"Oh come on," I whined. "You already do this when you're inside, do you really have to when you're coming in?" I stood there a bit longer, wishing I'd put socks on. Finally, Sam stood and waded through the snow, glancing up at me as he passed. I sighed gratefully and shut the door, and began making my way back down to my room. Sam walked ahead of me, his head down low. At the top of the stairs, he stopped and turned around, looking up at me.

I sighed again, and reached down to pick him up. "Down we go, Beaver." I had my hands securely under his floppy stomach when he suddenly took off towards the door. I watched him, rubbing my neck with confusion. I followed after him, opening the door once again. He turned away like he was leaving, but came up behind me and butted my ankles with his head. He obviously wanted me to go outside.

"Let me get my shoes then."

I slipped them on, still wishing for socks, and followed the overweight cat outside into the early morning. He led me along seldom used streets, and I hugged my blanket tighter. Winter here was so much colder than Utah. My phone bounced against my thigh, and I was alerted of a text message. I kept walking, but I pulled it out to look at the screen. I smiled to see it was from Mike.

-I think you're asleep right now, but I wanted to let you know that we're saving up to spring you from prison!-

I laughed, knowing he was completely serious.

-Ok then :) See you in twenty years!-

-Ha! I'll have you know that we are already halfway there for a one-way ticket-

-Only one-way? You don't want me living with my fam anymore?-

-That's what webcams are for. Speaking of which, why haven't you been using yours?-

-It's broken-

-Well, get a new one! Aren't they cheaper there?-

-I haven't found a Wal-mart yet… I'll look in the morning. Right now my cat is leading me on a wild-goose-chase-

-Well, don't let Beaver lead you too far. I've seen too many horror movies about young girls following their cats…-

-:P Well, it's a good thing those all happened in AMERICA-

-…right…-

-Well, I'll talk to you in the morning… Sam just led me into a junkyard, though I have no idea why…-

-Why are you even following him?-

-I have no idea…-

-Oh well. Good knight!-

-Haha :) good knight!-

I dropped my phone back into my pocket, returning my main focus to where I was walking. Piles of junk towered over me, and I was nervous that the stuff could fall any second. Suddenly I was in a large clearing, and a good two-or-three dozen cats were staring at me. Definitely not in Utah anymore… I thought, gazing around at the felines. There were several kittens, though they were being held back by the older cats. Suddenly a black and white one sprang at my face and knocked off my glasses. I jumped back and began feeling around on the ground for them. Once they were on my face, I looked at the silver tabby that was on the tire, meowing loudly to rest of the cats.

"Munkustrap…" They all looked at me. "I think you're mad at me for some reason, but could you somehow let me know why?"

The silver tabby turned to a small tuxedo, and the little black cat was gone. After a few minutes, I sat down inside of a door-less oven, pulling my blanket tighter around me. An older cat entered the clearing, and I could tell they all respected him. I shivered violently. I didn't like the look on the cat's faces, especially the two sitting on the tire. I felt something touch my leg, and I looked down to see a white kitten at my feet. Instinctively I stretched my hand down to let her sniff it. She pressed her soft head against my palm, and I smiled. I rested my chin on my knees. "Can I pick you up?" I whispered.

They tiny kitten meowed at me, and I scooped her up, scratching the back of her head. Suddenly I had five other kittens clustered around me, rubbing against my legs and trying to get me to scratch them too. I laughed and picked them up, alternating between whose head I scratched. Samuel sat at my feet, the smug look on his face saying, 'yes, that's my human.'

One of the kittens leapt up on my shoulder, and the feel of its fur made me go cross-eyed. I realized how tired I was as I all but lost control of where I was looking… It had been a while since I'd stayed up this late.

"Human girl," it was the silver tabby speaking.

Ok, I thought. Now I know I'm tired. I'm hallucinating talking cats… Oh well. Might as well play along. "Cassie."

"What?"

"My name is Cassie."

The silver tabby chuckled. "You hear us talking and your first reaction is to tell us your name?"

I shrugged. "Well, it's about five in the morning, so I'm pretty sure I'm hallucinating right now. Why shouldn't cats start talking?"

The cats in the clearing chuckled. Munkustrap continued. "Yesterday, you saw one of our tribe and called out a name," he stated. "I am here to tell you that you accurately guessed his dignified name, a carefully guarded secret from any being aside from cats. You also guessed mine, and from what he tells us," he nodded at Samuel. "You have known his since you were a little girl."

"I was five," I said simply. "It was like a dream come true when my dad came home with a kitten, and he's been a member of the family ever since.

"But the fact of the matter is that you know how to discover our names," Munkustrap said patiently. "This is unacceptable."

"What are you going to do about it?" I demanded. I was tempted to stand up, but I didn't want to dump the kittens off my lap.

"I must apologize, Cassie," Samuel said, looking up at me. "But they will not allow you to return home. You know too much."

I laughed. "OK, I'm having one of those dreams that feels so real that I can't tell that I'm dreaming…" I rubbed my eyes. "Holy trap, I'm even going cross-eyed."

Deuteronomy glanced at Munkustrap, who yelled out, "Surround her!"

I leapt to her feet, the kittens on my lap scattering as the rest of the cats in the tribe began pulling at my blanket and pulling me down. One even jumped on my shoulders and stuffed my mouth with some cloth to keep me silent. Soon they were all piled on top of me, holding me under the blanket while Deuteronomy and a select few did their work.

…

I gasped, sucking in as much breath as I could. My sight returned to me, and I was shaking badly. I was human! I thought. The shock of the realization was almost too much for me. Macavity was right! Damn, why does he have to be right? My mind reeled as seventeen years' worth of memories filled my consciousness. Suddenly my feline body felt alien to me, and I was compelled to find my family and learn what had become of them. NO! My mind screamed at me, keeping my body where it was. THIS is your life now! Pike and Vail! You promised them!! I fought to gain control of my body, and slowly sat up. Mistoffelees was sitting in front of me, worry lining his face.

"Put it back," I said slowly. "I would rather not know…" My voice trembled, and I was glad I was sitting down. Mistoffelees placed his paws on my forehead and shoulder as before, and I closed my eyes. The pain came back, but ten times as strong. Everything went black.

[A/N] Woo! Long chapter! Haha I feel so accomplished!

Ok, so Insanemistosingsmore has written a cross-over fic of Cats and Les Miserables. You should check it out!

Anyway, I have a new rule: If you review, tell me why you liked it. If you subscribe to story alert or add this to your favorites, TELL ME WHY!!! Please? I love feedback and hearing what parts people liked…