This is more like the second part to chapter 3. Enjoy!

Victoria sat on the tyre, sunning in the warm afternoon. She heard pawsteps but that was nothing new, it was probably Misto or one of her friends. She opened her eyes with a smile on her face and opened her mouth to say hello until she saw the cat that was actually approaching; her mother.

Griddlebone smiled widely, "Hello my dear!" She said.

Victoria's smiled vanished, "Oh." She said curtly, "It's you." She jumped down from the tyre and made her way around to the back of it; if her mother wanted to talk Victoria didn't want anyone to see her.

Griddlebone frowned and followed her. "Now is that any way to speak to the queen who gave birth to you?"

"You gave me up mother. You left me behind because you couldn't even be bothered to raise me." Victoria walked forward into an alley of trash heaps.

Griddlebone's smirked returned. "Well I did you a favor didn't I? You wouldn't have met that tom cat if you lived with me at Macavity's or on board Growltiger's ship. And then there is also what Macavity himself would have done to such a lovely kit like yourself so you should thank me."

Victoria spun around causing her to skid to a halt.

"Thank you? I should thank you? You gave me up as quickly as you possibly could. Did you even look at me in the twenty four hours that you had me? I grew up knowing that Jellyorum wasn't my mother because you made it known to everyone that I was your kit."

Griddlebone crossed her arms and waited for Victoria to finish.

"Did you ever love me at all? I went through my entire kittenhood wondering what true happiness was as I watched my friends grow up with mothers and fathers, and love. I loved Jellyorum like the mother you never were but sometimes it just wasn't enough compared to how much it hurt to know that you never loved me enough to be around, or-or leave Macavity and Growltiger, or raise me yourself! Not until Grizabella showed me what happiness really means. Touching her paw at the Ball last month changed everything for me and-"

Griddlebone cut her off, "You actually touched paws with that hag?!" She was repulsed by the very thought, "Not even we at Macavity's lair would ever have accepted that, that traitor. Do you even know what she did to your precious Jellicles? How much pain and suffering she caused them? Her own daughters?"

Victoria stood up to her mother, "I do. But she came back and that's what mattered to me. She learned her lesson in the outside world and in her heart I know she understood her mistake. And in that mistake she came to understand what happiness was. What it's like to be loved by family, by true friends. She showed me that. I learned that I didn't need you because there was no love." Griddlebone felt her face grow hot, "That all the love I needed was right here. I didn't need to reach out to those who didn't offer anything. And don't talk to me of what she did to her daughters, because what you did to yours was much, much worse. You never came back." She spat out the last four words and glared at Griddle.

When her mother had nothing to say she turned around and disappeared around a corner of trash. For the first time in her life Griddlebone felt rejected, which was something she had never felt before so she couldn't name the feeling inside of her. She left the junkyard just as quietly as she had come. As soon as she was out of view from her mother Victoria put her back to a wall of trash and slid down to the ground. She put her head in her paws and wept. Standing up to her mother was the hardest thing she ever had to do but she knew she had to do it. She didn't know how long she was there but a paw suddenly made her jumped and she looked up. It was Electra, the last cat Victoria ever expected to see.

The other queen sat down and looked at her teary eyed friend. "Rough day?" She asked.

Victoria nodded.

"Would you like to talk about it? Mum said talking about things always helps because it makes you feel like you're not so alone."

Victoria sniffed, "Not now at least."

Electra nodded. "Mind if I talk then?" Victoria shrugged. Electra went on then, "Well I just found out that I'm adopted." Victoria looked at her with wide open eyes, "Yes that was my reaction too. Last night I ran into an old tom who said he knew me as a newborn. He said I wasn't born a Jellicle but a pirate. Said my father was Growltiger, and we all thought he was just a story. Turns out he's so real that he's my father. They didn't say it but I'm pretty sure he never really died. That part was the story. I think he's alive somewhere." Electra tilted her head and looked at the ground. "I spoke to mum and da," she shook her head as she quickly corrected herself, "I mean Jennyanydots and Skimbleshanks."

Victoria had always wondered why everyone told them Grolwtiger was a story when her own mother was his mate. Only the elders and the snowy queen herself knew the truth. Now it all made sense.

In her mind Electra felt that they were still her parents and it was strange to call them anything else, "They aren't sure if he is my real father and they're talking to Munkustrap and Deuteronomy about it. Plato said that Tugger told him that Alonzo heard that when Munkustrap was talking to Old D, he said he might go out looking for information, but you know what?" She looked left and right and behind her before she leaned in close to her friend. "I'm going to look for answers by myself."

Victoria shook her head, "What are you talking about? Leaving the junkyard?"

Electra nodded, "Absolutely. It's the only way I'll be sure to get the answers I want. Who knows what the older cats would tell me if they found out the truth. I don't want some story about how they couldn't find anything when actually they do know something and are just waiting until I'm older to know about it. I want to know now. Want to come with me?"

The snowy white queen looked at her friend. "Would anyone know where we've gone?"

The darker queen shook her head. "I'll be going either way. But if you don't go please don't tell anyone where I went. Unless, of course, you don't hear from me in a week or so." She stood up and walked passed her friend.

She had just approached the fence and was about to scale it when she heard a voice behind her.

"Wait! Electra!" She turned and saw her snowy white friend, "I'll go too."

Victoria smiled as she approached and they scaled the fence together.