A/N: I've had this for a while, but told myself, "Nope, you're gonna finish Chapter 6 of your main fic before posting any more themes," to motivate myself in a way. Still took longer than it should've. Anyways, this one's pretty much a direct sequel to Theme #6 (Apologies). Funny story behind this one: I had originally intended to do something on Bring-Your-Cat-To-Work-Day. But my brain refused to do anything on that, and then finally another idea popped into my head and boom, seven pages in three hours (about 30-45 minutes of actual writing - I can't hold a pencil for very long so it's never in one sitting).

12. Kitten

Summary: Three years after Wheatley's death, Chell meets a new friend.

Genre: Friendship

Characters: Chell, Space Sphere, Wheatley

Warnings: None

"Is space-friend Wheatie coming home from space soon?" asked the yellow-eyed sphere as soon as Chell walked in the door.

She shook her head. "No, Kevin," she said, using the name her former friend-turned-betrayer had given him. "He isn't coming back. Ever."

But how could she explain to him that Wheatley, a seemingly immortal AI just like him, had been gone for three years? She had already tried, again and again, and whenever it seemed that the space-loving core was finally about to comprehend it, he'd ask again when his space-friend was returning.

Later that night, the skies cleared the Chell took him out to stargaze. The air was slightly balmy from a rainshower earlier that day, and the air was still slightly balmy. Damp tendrils of grass poked into the denim of her jeans, soaking it through, but she didn't notice.

"Look, lady. There's a star. There's another one. There's Jupiter. The Big Dipper. Orion. Nebulas. Betelguese. Another star. Oh, there's a meteor. And another. And another. Look, lady, it's a meteor shower. Oh boy, a meteor shower."

Chell looked up at the sky, laid back in the grass, and smiled.

The next day, instead of immediately walking the mile-and-a-half home from work, she took a detour, headed up a steep, narrow, winding dirt road and entered the graveyard adjoining the local church.

Although Chell didn't consider herself particularly religious - at least, not compared to some others she'd met - she liked coming to church. It gave her a peace of mind that sometimes seemed hard-pressed to find after her experiences with There.

The minister had been slightly confused and alarmed when Chell had asked if she could bury a lump of metal in the graveyard, but after some bumbling, maladroit explanations (she still had trouble remembering what exactly she had told him), he had realized that this was important to her and consented.

She hadn't the money for a gravestone, but she managed to scrape up enough to buy a tree sapling from a local nursery. Three years later, it was still small and spindly, but thriving in a way that mirrored Chell's own situation.

For a while, she just sat on the soft lawn, feeling the sun shining down on her, a small breeze lifting a tendril of hair - no longer the dark, luscious brown it had once been, but more of a salt-and-pepper color - from her forehead. She inhaled deeply, the fresh air (definitely not stale, sterile, chemical-laced air) - and then exhaled.

"Miow?"

Her eyes shot open, looking around. She felt something small and soft batting her leg. Slowly shifting to a sitting position (strange, she didn't remember laying down), she looked at it.

"Miow?"

It was a kitten. Although Chell didn't know much about felines, she could tell that he was rather young, perhaps too young to be away from his mother. He clambered up onto her leg, butting his head against her stomach.

"Miow?"

The kitten was almost small enough to fit into the palm of her hand. His silky coat was the color of ripe wheat, darkening to black on its face, paws, and the tip of his tail. But it was not that which surprised her. It was the color of his eyes.

When she got a good look at them, all she saw was a bright, stratosphere blue.

"Miow," he said, butting his head against her again.

No. It had to be a coincidence. But still, she couldn't shake off the feeling that there was more than a coincidence behind a talkative, blue-eyed, wheat-colored kitten appearing out of what seemed to be thin air.

Scooping him up and tucking him into the folds of her jacket, she headed for home. She already knew the kitten's name