Special Note: I know my stories aren't usually this morbid or intense, and I really don't mean for it to offend anyone. I wrote this because I understand that sometimes, when something beyond your control happens to you, your mind tends to take over and you can't help what you're doing.

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Thunder rolled gently across the endless stretch of charcoal sky, shouting at the cotton candy clouds to make themselves scarce. The fluffy moisture evaporated instantly when metallic lightning ripped viciously past the sanguinity of the setting sun. The evening sky was dying again, just as it always did around this time each day. The rain was hammering so violently that she wondered why it wasn't enough to put out the flaming mass of sunlight. It vanished quickly enough on its own, however, and she slinked past the window.

The noises outside were distant and the flashes of lightning were too dull to disturb anyone who was resting peacefully inside. The chimes of the grandfather clock in the corner hummed, signalling that it was now nine o'clock. The spinning hands on its weary face and the churning of the ancient brass pendulums caught a hint of light and threw gold reflections onto the cold wood floor.

She slipped stealthily past the hundred-year-old time piece. The dreary room of white plaster walls and icy marble table tops always had an unfriendly presense to it, even during the glowing afternoon hours. It was ten times as haunting throughout the night. Chilling paintings of ghastly old faces hung blankly on the wall above the mantle of the fireplace, the rigged and cruel expressions captured in elusive oily brush strokes. The hollow eyes of these dead men seemed to follow her wherever she went. She could sneak past the singing clock, but those unhappy portraits always caused her to stop dead in her tracks.

Where are you going? their ghostly voices seemed to ask. Their eyes... Their mean, dead eyes... They glistened disturbingly with life, even though there were no flames to lace their frames because a fire had not been lit tonight. She tried to move, but still she stood, frozen in fear. What do you think you're doing? "I need out of here," she murmered, feeling her breath running short as though these mere pictures were drawing the very life from her. The room was spinning very fast now. She was too nauseated to move and fell to her stomach. She was screaming internally, but her throat was too dry to produce any actual noises. Dizziness was taking its toll. Outside, a cloud blanketed the new moon. She remained oblivious to this midnight eclipse. The chimes of the clock were coming faster and louder, racing through her mind and laughing evilly. She screamed again, but still she couldn't produce a noise. Instead, she painfully coughed up blood, and her stomach did flip-flops from the whirring array of colors. The oil glistened on the paintings in laughter.

Victoria collapsed with the next crack of thunder.

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Munkustrap emerged from the pipe in the junkyard. Dawn was breaking. The air was still thick with cold humidity. Traces of last night's storm were evident everywhere. Dew glistened on discarded trash and droplets of rain splashed into scattered puddles. As always, the curious kittens were the first to investiage the childishly delightful substance known as mud. This was the reason the adults hated rain. It was always difficult to get the young ones to settle down long enough for a bath.

A ball of mud whizzed past Munkustrap's head. He ducked just in time, which was very unfortunate for Demeter, who had crawled out of the pipe right after her mate. The gooey, wet dirt struck her smack-dab in the face. She screeched something unpleasant and fumed at the rising giggles. Demeter didn't have a very good sense of humor, especially this early. She growled severely as she wiped the mud from her dirty face and hair, leaving messy streaks. Her furious eyes scanned the crowd of kittens, trying to pin-point the culprit, then instantly darted to Munkustrap, who was giggling as well. He wasn't very good at concealing his amusement.

"You think that's funny?" she hissed. He did his best to bottle up his laughter, but it broke loose in record-breaking time. The kittens laughed even harder, right along with him. That was enough to send Demeter over the edge. She was already dirty, so why not go for it?

She scooped up a pawful of mud and clumped it into a ball. Munkustrap was too busy chuckling to notice where she was aiming the sticky weapon. Of course, his laughter was immediately replaced with a cry of surprise when he found himself sprawled out on the ground, having been hit by the immense force of her throw.

The kittens howled with joy! Even Demeter smirked a bit as she walked over to him. Munkustrap spit out a mouthful of soggy dirt before looking up at her through muddied eyes. All he could mutter was an indistinctive "Gah!" before rubbing his sore face. "Where'd you learn to do that?!"

Pouncival, who had been the start of this mess, bounced over to where the broken car lay and peered up to the top of the maimed vehicle. A long black arm with a yellow-spotted wrist hung lazily over the edge. Rum Tum Tugger was snoring noisily away. Pouncival's impish grin widened. He's missing out on all the action. As quietly as he could, Pouncival prepared another mud ball, then carefully took aim. Heh, heh, he's gonna kill me. Just as a baseball pitcher would, he threw the muddy spherical thing with all his strength. But it never hit. Instead, just as it was centimeters away from poor Tugger's face, it exploded with a small but colorful burst of light. "What the..."

Pouncival's eyes traveled even further up. There, on an old post, sat a grinning Mistoffelees. He would have laughed at Pouncival's tribulation, but the look of horror on the young cat's face was more than enough to satisfy him. The odd thing, though, was the way Rum Tum Tugger continued to sleep. The left-over sparkles of the quick magic frenzy drifted harmlessly to his face and clung to his mane. Still he dozed. Although, maybe those tiny sparks weren't so harmless after all, for the next thing everyone knew, Tugger's mane had caught fire!

Mistoffelees panicked and prepared a counter-act spell to reverse the mistake, but he was in too much of a hurry and slipped clumsily off the post. Pouncival didn't have to time to move away from the hurting body. "OOF! Ack!" he yelled, feeling his entire circulatory system flatten under the feather weight of the ex-graceful conjuring cat. "Ugh, glad I could be here to break your fall!"

The panic spread through the junkyard as Rum Tum's fur blazed a little brighter. The kittens screamed and ran to the car. They hopped anxiously around, yelling for the lazy tom to wake up. Even over this commotion his snoring was audible.

"You idiot!" shouted identical cats, leaping up to where he lay. Coricopat and Tantomile quickly rolled his body off the car. He landed in the mud puddle just below, splattering anyone who was within a five-foot range. Upon contact with the cool, moist ground his eyes sprang open. Coricopat and Tantomile were frantically squishing mud into his fur, extinguishing the miniature fire.

"Ow! Hey! Stop it! What do you think you're doing! Oooh! Not there, not there!" Rum Tum squealed at the feel of the icy mud on his body and pushed everyone away. He wasn't very pleased for several reasons; mostly because he had been awakened from an exotic dream, and not in the most dignified way.

Mistoffelees was in the process of rapidly explaining the whole Pouncival-Mud-Magic-Fire deal, sputtering out apologies here and there, but was interrupted by Jemima. She looked fretfully about, finally noticing that somebody was missing. The pearly white presense of Victoria hadn't yet graced the scene.

"She's probably still with her owners or something," Pouncival reassured, still a bit ticked over Mistoffelees ruining his juvenile plan. On the other hand, seeing Rum Tum being made a fool of cheered him up considerably. The lion cat was now grooming the burnt ends of his mane, pushing away the ever-persistent and apologizing Mistoffelees now and again.

"Yeah, I guess," Jemima said with a sigh. It was natural for the cats to stray back to their families daily so the stupid humans wouldn't worry about them, but they always returned to the junkyard as quickly as they could to be with the tribe again. She's just been disappearing off and on for a while now... she wanted to add out loud, but didn't.

Alonzo nuzzled Jemima. "Don't worry, Jemima. You know how humans over-react sometimes when we stay away too long. They insist on keeping us locked up in the house, but we always find a way back out, don't we?"

Jemima nodded. She'd just have to be satisfied with his answer. No point in worrying over something when she didn't even know what that something was. Still, an uneasy feeling wrenched at her gut. The white kitten had been gone longer than usual.

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Victoria was extremely dehydrated when she finally drifted back into a semi-conscious state. Though her body felt numb, she could tell she was still on the same scratchy wooden floor. Sunlight eavesdropped nosily through the single un-curtained window of the room, silently framing the sheet of glass. It was mild, but her eyes still watered from the sudden brightness. She hadn't seen pure light in nearly two days and she wasn't glad to return its happy greeting now.

The storm must be over, she thought. She thought... but she didn't feel. Anything. She didn't know what to feel or how to feel it at this moment. Her head was throbbing and her frail body was seething with mind-numbing pain. Her adreneline was pulsing quickly, and this worried her because she was too tired to even get up. So why was her heart beating so fast? She wasn't scared. That couldn't be the reason. It was as if she had been heavily sedecated with some mild drug and her organs were battling to fight it.

Where...? Peering cautiously around, she tried to make out her current living environment. There was no movement or sound of life other than the annoying repetitious ticking of the clock in the corner. The same ugly paintings of the same ugly old people still hung above the fireplace. Probably some long forgotten rich snobs, she concluded silently. Rich? Perhaps she was in a single small room of some vast mansion. A china vase glowed dully on a marble coffee table in the center of the room. In the opposite corner of the clock a large marble vase was home to a few tall cattails whose cotton substance was leaking out. Marble... wood... what a miserable room. She waited for several long minutes before attempting to move. Only the deafening hour chimes were there to keep her company. Tick... Tock... Tick... Tock... Her ears were far beyond aching. Every little noise seemed greatly magnified. Her hearing was extra sensitive. This didn't keep her from crying out when she tried to push herself up. Her legs immediately stiffened and buckled. She wanted to scream from the pain, but relatively close footsteps caused her to bite her lip instead. Once again, she froze. She tried to hold all her breath in, hoping whoever it was wouldn't hear her, but her eyes were wide and her chest was heaving furiously.

Her heart nearly burst from anticipation when the door slowly opened, squeaking on its hinges in an unecessary manner. In stepped a foot. A human man's foot. She swallowed hard, almost crying again from her sore throat, and watched as the other foot directly followed. He was in the room now - this... monster... of a man. She wasn't one to judge human apperances, but he was rather ugly. He was dressed fancily, but the scowl upon his sneering face was vile. His thin lips twisted into a knowing smirk at the defenseless white cat. As frightened as she was, she couldn't help but take special notice of his unkept red hair. It was long and very tangled. If he was so rich, why couldn't he afford to be groomed every now and then?

She set aside these pointless thoughts when he opened his mouth to speak. His voice was as calm and eerie as his pale skin. "You've awakened, then," he muttered, stepping slowly toward her. "Ah, yes, you're quite the jewel. I can see why your owners keep you in such good condition." He stopped about a foot away from her and dug through a pocket in his vest. He produced a thin strap studded with pearls. Victoria realized then that her collar wasn't around her neck. Give that back, she said. To his human ears her words were merely a helpless meow.

"Silly cat," he chuckled, bending down to scratch her chin. His thin, bony fingers felt like spears protruding her weak jaw. "Ah, yes..." he repated sullenly. "Yes... You'll be perfect. With my beautiful persian as a mate, you shall produce perfect off-spring."

Mate...?

"I will breed you as soon as you are strong again. I think you need to meet your partner first." The queer human called for his pet to come. A large, furry shadow crept through the doorway. The cat would be just as hideous as his human, she expected. Who she didn't expect caused an iron hand to clench her already-suffocating heart. Macavity grinned at her.

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"Okay, okay, hold it..." Munkustrap was trying his best to calm down the rambumctious kittens, at the same time doing his best to avoid all the mud balls being hurtled back and forth across the junkyard scape. No matter how loud he yelled they wouldn't listen. "That's enough! That's en-OOF!" He stumbled to the ground as a pact of mud knocked him clean side the head. Growling, he stood up, still keeping low to the ground. "All right, which one of you kittens did that?!"

A snicker came from behind him. Munkustrap turned around, ready to fess out the kitten. Expecting Mungojerrie or Plato (since the overly-zesty Pouncival and Tumblebrutus were waging war on the other side of the junkyard) he was quite taken back to find Tugger laughing at him.

"You did this? Argh! Tugger! When are you going to grow up?! I'm trying to get them to settle down! I don't need you to encourage them anymore!"

"What's 'a matter, Mr. Jellicle Leader? Can't keep a clan of innocent kittens under control? Why, if I was the leader, I'd-"

"-but you're not and you don't deserve to be!" Munkustrap cut him off mid-sentence. This infurated Tugger. To release his egotistical anger, he sent another mud ball flying after his hot shot brother. Munkustrap remembered to duck this time. Unfortunately, the cat behind him took the blow. Rum Tum Tugger burst out into more laughter. Munkustrap gulped, daring to turn back around to see who he allowed the mud to strike... He smiled weakly.

Demeter was not happy at all.

In a somewhat quieter part of the junkyard, Mistoffelees sat gazing up at the morning sky. A few stars were still in sight, waiting to fade. He felt tense for some reason, but whenever he was tense it was due to one of three reasons: To sense an on-coming storm; to sense an approaching Jellicle; or to sense something gravely wrong. He was almost one-hundred percent sure that there would be no more storms today, and he had no reason to be aware of other Jellicles right now, so something must have been wrong.

Mistoffelees took a good look around the junkyard from where he sat on top of the handlebars of one of the discarded bicycles. Nothing looked wrong with anyone below... They were all having fun, aside from Demeter who was angrily chasing Munkustrap around, but that was nothing new. So if nobody here was in trouble, then obviously somebody not here was. He took a quick head count, but the kittens were all moving around too fast to keep track of.

Pouncival whizzed by. There goes Etcetera and Electra... Jemima's red-tinted hair flew by. But... where was the familiar streak of white? Victoria, he suddenly realized. Oh, no, where's Victoria? Surely it was she he was sensing. If it wasn't her, there was only one other cat left to worry about.

But nobody ever particularly worried about Macavity.

I need to tell Munkustrap right away. Mistoffelees hopped down to the ground, not caring anymore whether he got hit with mud or not, and ran over to Munkustrap who was trying to break up the war amongst the kittens and trying to dodge the mud which Tugger and Demeter were both pelting him with.

"It's a conspriacy, I tell ya!" cried Munkustrap. Mistoffelees sighed and tried to keep up with his leader's quick pace, but this was obviously more important to him...

"Just listen to me! I'm sensing-"

"-trouble!" finished Munkustrap, running ahead. Tugger and Demeter were right on his tail! Mistoffelees sighed again. This was pointless. By the time and if he ever got around to warning somebody, it might have been too late. He'd have to go find her on his own. So, allowing his sixth sense to take over and letting his rigged whiskers lead the way, Mistoffelees fled the junkyard.

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The resemblance was almost uncanny. It was even funny, really, the way Macavity's owner took after him. But she wasn't in the mood to laugh at anything. The creepy man left the two alone, locking the door to the small room behind him.

Victoria began to hyperventilate again. She wasn't sure whether it was due to claustrophobia or to the thought of what Macavity was going to do her, but she figured it was a combination of both. The ginger red cat approached her casually, his crazy hair flying every which way.

"Calm down," he commanded her, grinning that horrid fanged-grin of his. She was more frightened of the fact that he could do whatever he wanted to her because she was too weak to fight back than the fact that she couldn't breathe at all now. "You mustn't let my human worry you. He gets a little mixed up at times. He enjoys me... He simply wants more of me around. I failed with Demeter, so he's brought me you as a replacement. He could have scrounged up something better, but I suppose you'll have to do."

She was shaking from ear to tail. His warm breath was so close to her cold ear... His wicked voice deadened her stomach and brain, but at the same time sent the blood coursing through her frozen veins once more. He reached a fore-paw to her, his long claws extended. She knew what he was going to do... She knew what was coming... Victoria remained powerless to the monster of depravity. He'd be depriving her now, all right...

He gently ran his hand over her chest, causing her to arch into an awkward position. "Don't be afraid of me," he said soothingly, "it's not as if you haven't done anything like this before. It's naturual... You're a cat. Just let nature take its course."

"Th-This isn't the J-Jellicle Ball!" she stammered. "I've n-never been hurt b-before!" He wasn't listening to her hapless pleas. His hands were roaming her delicate body, preparing to shatter what innocence she had left. She stifled a cry, feeling incredibly sick from his monstrous touch.

"It's a good kind of pain," he murmered.

God, help me... Tears streamed from her dry eyes. She bit her lip again, determined not to cry. He was making it too hard for her. Her mind was swirling from the disturbing images he was creating. Stop it... An innocent touch here. Don't... An innocent touch there. Please... A fire roared, but the fireplace was empty. Somebody... The cattails blossomed, but there were no flowers. Anybody... The portraits were laughing at her all over again. ...help...

Victoria could have sworn she heard the very soul within her shattering, but she was too blinded by the pain Macavity was bestowing upon her body to realize it was the sound of glass breaking. Something sleek and sparkly flew through the pulverized window and landed squarely on Macavity's shoulders, sinking its retractable claws into his red fur.

Macavity shrieked and got off Victoria, battling the creature who took him by surprise. After many futile and bloody attempts he was able to sling it from his shoulder.

Mistoffelees rolled across the wood.

Victoria forced her weary eyes open just in time to see the black hero fly past her. She was sprawled out in what looked to be a very uncomfortable position, battered and bleeding from Macavity's unmerciful actions. That was it... In the blink of an eye it had been all over with. She was no longer Innocent, Pure, Unsinful Victoria. She was... She didn't know what she was now. She was in severe pain, that's what. Especially the lower portions of her body.

She was too distracted and confused to even care that the little body of Mistoffelees was defending her with everything he could throw at the Napoleon of Crime. The clock went off. Hissing and growling mingled with the ear-splitting chimes, but they never ceased. And there Victoria lay, in the middle of it all, half-conscious... no more will to try to do anything.

Tufts of black fur and red fur drifted by her shallow face. A few feet away, something on the floor glistened. Glass, was all she could think of. Thousands of miniscule little shards lay scattered about, just waiting for something to be done to them. Why waste a perfectly good broken window if it meant no more pain? No more suffering? No more... living...

That lost thought intrigued her so much that she actually managed to crawl very slowly, inch by inch, to the sharp little daggers. A thousand reflective eyes stared back at her. No, she told herself. No... Although she wasn't quite sure why.

Victoria weakly licked a few salty tears from her chin, concentrating as hard as she could on the morbid taste. She needed something to distract her mind from the glass her tiny paws were now stepping on. She hissed inwardly and clenched her eyes shut, feeling her own thick blood trickling from between her toes.

It wasn't enough.

Her mind fuzzed a bit when she picked up the biggest piece of glass she could get a hold of. She squeezed it unconsciously, feeling it break into a hundred smaller pieces. They pierced her white hand like a shower of spears and were no longer visible, nor was her white, when the blood sputtered forth from her palm and quickly cleansed her entire hand red. She giggled quietly at the tingling sensation.

It wasn't enough.

Victoria brought the crimson paw to her lips and lapped softly at the taste of her sweet blood. If she could have more... See more... If she could only drain her body of the wretched substance... She wouldn't have to worry anymore. With her good hand, she picked up another of the larger shards of glass and held the point to her head met her body. No, she didn't slice her neck, but rather trailed the glass from her throat to her chest, leaving a nice bloody line to follow.

Stop it, her drunken brain was crying. Her heart was telling her otherwise. God, it hurts, it hurts... A little knick here. Make yourself bleed... A little knick there. Oh, God, God... Keep going. More blood. End the pain. Draw more blood. Come on. Forget about the one creature you love, the one fighting to save your life right now... the life you're throwing away. Just forget about him. Concentrate on what the monster did to you. That's it, more blood. Good, good... Concentrate. Harder. He touched you. He did things to you. You weren't ready. Now your priceless value is gone. Come on...

More blood.

Blame yourself. This is all your fault, you ugly girl. Come on, do something about it. How can anyone possibly love you now? They're going to leave you. They don't need you anymore. Did they ever? Stop it...

More blood...

There's no more blood...

Victoria closed her eyes and dropped the tender piece of glass. Macavity slammed Mistoffelees into the wall for a final time. The little black cat was just no match. If he could use his magic, he would have a long time ago. He just wasn't meant to fight. Too weak... Always too weak. Always too late. If only he'd arrived at least a few minutes earlier. Victoria wouldn't have been...

Victoria, he quickly remembered why he had come. He needed to find her! It wasn't too difficult. Once he stood up, his feet collided with something slippery on the floor, and then he found himself lying in a pool of blood. Victoria's blood. Victoria!!!!! There she was, about three feet away from him, lying in a bloody, unconscious heap.

"DAMN IT!!" Mistoffelees couldn't react quickly enough. Luckily, neither could Macavity. The door to the room burst open and in came the lunatic of a master. He eyed the scene with disbelief.

"What's going on?!" he shouted. He picked his precious Macavity up and stared angrily at Mistoffelees. "You! Look at this mess you've made, you stupid creature! Get out of my house!" The man's foot came into harsh contact with Mistoffelees' side. He whimpered and fell over, positive at least one of his ribs had cracked. It didn't matter. He had to get out of here, dead or alive, with Victoria. He struggled over to her body, lifted her onto his back, and leapt from the window before either the monster or the monster's human could catch him.

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What seemed like an eternity had finally passed before Victoria's eyes finally fluttered open. Something wet was dripping onto her face. She licked her dry lips, catching a small taste of the moisture on her tongue. She swallowed bitterly. Salt. Tears. Not her own. Her vision was blurry. She couldn't make out the snowy shadows towering over her. Her hearing was blurry. She couldn't understand the broken fragments of sentences everyone was speaking. "...just in time... poor dear... could have been worse... don't understand why she'd..." She couldn't even feel the numerous pairs of paws trying to shake her out of her dream world. She could scarcely feel her own heart beating, much less make out the tears which were dripping from Mistoffelees' saddened eyes.

"Come on," she thought she heard someone say, "just leave her alone, everyone. Back off. And leave him alone, too. We can only imagine what in the Heaviside Layer's name they've been through." And at that, she thought she heard their depressed footsteps leave. She was alone now.

No... he was still with her.

"Misto..." she murmered, her throat stinging incredibly.

"I'm here," came his ever-gentle voice. She could almost feel his warm body pressing up against hers. Instinctively she screamed, despite the blood clotting her throat. Everyone flooded back into the room where they lay.

"What's going on?" chorused the adults. Mistoffelees backed away from Victoria, utterly scared at her reaction to him. He had only been trying to warm up to her. Why was she so afraid of a little snuggling? He hit himself directly after that. Stupid question, you idiot!

Victoria was crying.

Mistoffelees swallowed hard. He had made her cry... God! Couldn't he do any,thing right for her? He couldn't save her life... He couldn't stop her from attempting suicide... Now he couldn't even touch her without messing up. Get a hold of yourself.

"Macavity," she was crying, sobbing helplessly.

"Damn him! Munkustrap, if you'd just let me go kill the ba-"

"-that's enough already, Tugger! Can't you see things are messed up enough as it is? We don't need to have any more blood on our hands, all right?"

"You're a coward, Munkustrap. That's the difference between us! Why, if I was the leader, I'd-"

"For the last time, you're not the leader! And even if you were, is that how you'd really handle things? I realize I messed up today... Stop rubbing it in my face."

The adults didn't know what to do. Everyone was visibly shaken and it was creating too much tension. How could they possibly provide comfort to the young kitten? She was too young to fully understand what happened to her, but old enough to think she should kill herself over it. One cat stepped forth. She understood every last of Victoria's tears. She'd been down that road herself, after all...

"Shh, darling, don't you worry," soothed Demeter. She caressed Victoria's bloody bangs, trying to ignore the growing whimpering coming from the pale girl. "I know how much it hurts right now... There's absolutely nothing I can do or say to help you at this moment, but I can promise you one thing and one thing alone..." She seemed hesitent to reveal her secret, but it had to be said. Something simple, but something honest. "...life goes on."

For some odd reason, those three meager words seemed to visibly calm her, and her whimpering ceased. The pain would never fully disappear, and the memory would remain with her forever, but the scars would heal if left to Time. It wasn't much much of a standard to live by, but it was all Victoria had left.

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Thunder rolled gently across the endless stretch of charcoal sky, shouting at the cotton candy clouds to make themselves scarce. The fluffy moisture evaporated instantly when metallic lightning ripped viciously past the sanguinity of the setting sun. The evening sky was dying again, just as it always did around this time each day. The rain was hammering so violently that she wondered why it wasn't enough to put out the flaming mass of sunlight.

Day by day... she told herself. You've got to live day by day, otherwise you won't live at all. The sound of rain surrounded her. It bounced heavily off the pipe, causing thunderous echoing from where she lay inside. Somebody limped over to her from behind. He paused and cocked his head at her, wondering if now would be a good time.

"Go ahead, Mistoffelees." He nodded and carefully laid down beside her, mindful of both of their injuries. There was so much he wanted to tell her, so many things he wanted to apologize for...

As though she could read minds, Victoria said, very quietly, "I'm sorry, Mistoffelees. Let's... just drop it for now. I... I think we both... I mean, we just... We... I..."

Mistoffelees nuzzled her gently, wishing he could keep her tears from falling. He could provide her with comfort. That was the least he could do. And for now, that was the only thing anyone could do. "Sometimes... things don't work out the way you planned," he lamely began, "but then, sometimes... because of that... a million more wonderful things happen." He didn't really know where he was going with this speech. Victoria was more than likely wondering how something good could come from the trauma she just survived through. Mistoffelees scratched at his ear, trying to think of more things to say. "I was wrong about the weather."

"Hm?"

"I was almost a hundred percent sure that it wouldn't rain again today." He paused, letting this information sink in. Then he grinned. "It doesn't matter, you know. I mean, look at this way... Nobody here really enjoys the rain, right? But think of all the happy times they have after, the rain! The clouds disappearing, the sun coming back... the mud waiting to be rolled in..."

From the pipe, together they watched the rest of the young cats splash around in the fresh puddles. Two wars in one day! This made the kittens happy, but the adults were dreading another round-up for bath time. Not too far away, Tugger laughed when Munkustrap accidentally fell face-first into a forming puddle. Demeter glared at Tugger as she formed a mud ball, and for the first time in a long time, she really smiled. Tugger stopped laughing, finding himself in the puddle next to his brother, complaining about how tough his girlfriend was. Mistoffelees and Victoria giggled softly.

"The rainbow," Victoria added quietly. "Don't forget the rainbow."