Right, I have a couple of things to say =)

First Thank you sooooooo much top all my reviewers! =D

Second, I am so sorry for taking so long to update on both this and Electra. I am aiming to have them both finished by the end of august which I think is very possible for Electra but perhaps not with the hidden paw. However I will try my best to get as many chapters up as possible.

And one last thing. You may or may not be pleased to find out that I have decided to do a sequel to "When I grow up". It will be my next project once I have finished "The hidden paw" and "Electra". Just a random announcement but I felt I had to tell someone =D

Tugger rushed across the junkyard, tripping over his feet in his haste to get to Bomba's den. He wasn't concentrating, his mind focused on reaching his destination. He reached the den and hissed as he saw Demeter leaving. She simply smiled back and Tugger felt his blood run cold as he realised Demeter's happiness could only be caused by someone else's suffering and that someone was probably him.

He entered the den, expecting the scolding he knew he would receive for being late and began to babble out excuses. He was not prepared for the sight that hit him when he finally noticed Bomba's silence and took in his surroundings. The scarlet queen, his scarlet queen was looking at him with an expression of pure suffering.

She didn't speak, just watched him silently as a single tear trickled down her cheek.

"Bomba? Babes, what's wrong?" Tugger walked towards her, reaching out hesitantly to the distraught queen.

She lashed out at him, her attempt at a hiss coming out as nothing more then a sorry squeak. Tugger jumped back, puzzled at her hostility. He approached her again, judging her too weak for her hits to have any impact.

She tried to strike him again but Tugger caught her paw, continuing towards her until he was less then a step away from the queens trembling form. He knelt in front of her, wrapping his arms tightly round her. She tensed at first, beating his back weakly with her fists. Tugger bore it, her blows causing him little pain.

After a few minutes, the violence subsided and Bomba collapsed weeping into Tuggers strong arms. He didn't ask her what was wrong, he wasn't sure he wanted to know what Demeter had been saying for Bomba to be crying and reject him in this way. He just sat there, his arms tightly wrapped around her, desperately hoping that actions really did speak louder then words.

Bomba looked up at the Maine coon, he still had his arms tightly around her. She carefully released herself and Tugger glanced up at her worriedly, tripping over his speech.

"Whatever she said, Bomba, it's not true. You know what she's like, she just wants to get at me, At both of us." Bomba sighed.

"I know. I didn't believe her, well I didn't want to but she made it seem so true. She said that you and Jemima… you and Jemima…" Bomba broke into floods of tears again.

Tugger stepped back and looked at her in alarm.

"Me and Jemima? Bomba, she's a kitten! It's just wrong!"

"I know but…"

"But nothing Bomba. I love you and I hoped you trusted me more then that. Yet at the first hurdle you doubted me. How do you think that makes me feel? Demeter is going to try her best to break us up and the things she will do don't bear thinking about. If we are going to stay together through all this, I need to know you trust me."

Bomba nodded her head. "Yes Tugger, I trust you."

4 weeks later

Macavity surveyed his work proudly. The kitten grinned back, a cheeky sparkle in his eye. He looked like a completely new cat. He was clean for a start and most of his cuts had healed, few of them leaving visible scars. He wasn't as scrawny, eating regularly had built him up. He looked as a kitten ought to look, full of fun. Macavity knew he would be sad to see him go.

Over the past month he had cared for the timid kitten, feeding him and training him. He was now a talented hunter and could jump huge distances. Macavity had never spoken of his past life or what was going to happen once he felt Pouncival was ready.

Macavity decided that Pouncival was ready and gestured for him to sit down. He sighed before he began. He had grown attached to the playful tom and he knew he would miss his constant chatter and games. Many times he had somehow managed to talk Pouncival out of a sticky situation with another tom and once with a rather nasty looking Pollicle.

"Pouncival, I've got something to tell you."

The young tom sat down, watching his adopted father for signs of what he was about to reveal. He had never questioned Macavity's reasons for hiding his past, it was private and Pouncival didn't think it mattered. He had told Macavity his life story but he was only young so not much had happened in his short life.

His mother had been killed by some humans when he was barely a few days old. They had been big, bored and ruthless, laughing sadistically as his mother desperately tried to protect him. She had hissed at them and without mercy they had flown at her, killing her in a frenzy of kicking, laughing and slurred words. By the time they had finished with her, Pouncival was shaking so much he could barely walk.

He had pawed at her, willing her to be alive but knowing in the pit of his stomach it was impossible. She was a wreck, her legs pointing ways no leg should be able to go, her fur stained red, the beautiful patterns barely visible. Pouncival mewed quietly, then more loudly as the silence hit him and he knew he was alone, the mother he had known for so few days, torn away from him by some bored youths.

Things had gone from bad to worse. Pouncival had wandered the streets, delirious from the cold and lack of food. He had collapsed by the roadside unconscious, ready to die when he had unwillingly found himself alive. A strange human family had picked him up, fed him and presented him as a gift to their five-year-old daughter.

She had been great at first, playing with him and feeding him regularly. She gave him the name 'Snuggles' which Pouncival hated but he found it pleased her when he responded, resulting in a treat and pet. However it wasn't meant to last and the meals became less frequent and the humans regularly forgot about him, shutting him out of the house.

He had searched for a place to stay, finding the warehouse and using it as a place of refuge when he had nowhere else to go. The night he met Macavity had been the night he decided he wasn't going back. He seemed to have worn out his welcome with that human family so he made his decision and left.

As he crossed the lawn outside his humans house, he tumbled down the steps, landing in a pile of smashed glass. One piece dug deeply into his side and he ran, ignoring the trail of blood he was leaving, to the ware house, only half seeing Macavity before he passed out from the blood he had lost.

Now the ginger tom who had saved him was looking at him with a sorrowful expression.

"Pouncival, I come from a tribe of cats called the Jellicles. Through reasons I cannot explain, I was exiled from this tribe." Macavity smiled at the Kitten's shocked expression.

"I don't think it would be right for you to stay with me so I am taking you to the Jellicles. I know they will accept you but there are a couple of things I must warn you about. I am going to take you to two cats you can trust. If you ask them, they will explain, better then I, the reasons for my exile and the story behind it. However, not all the cats can be trusted. One queen in particular you must not underestimate. Her name is Demeter and I will point her out to us when we go."

Pouncival sighed.

"When do we go?"

Macavity took the kitten by the shoulders and smiled sadly.

"As soon as I can make arrangements."

Pouncival nodded sadly and sat back on his heels, looking around the room that had been his home for the past few weeks.