“Get away from her!”

“Put him down!”

“Will somebody restrain them?”

“Mommy!”

“Dad; help!”

“Get your grubby hands off them!”

“Put them in the carrier!”

Mungojerrie felt an arm around his stomach as he was picked up and tossed into the carrier along with Rumpelteazer. There was a definite clink as the cage was locked, sealing them inside. Rumpel ran to the door, struggling with it, trying to open it, “No! Let me out of here and put my children down you stupid humans!”

Mungojerrie tried to pull Rumpelteazer away from the door, watching helplessly as two strange humans carried off Wynne and Tynan – both whom were crying for their parents. “Teazer, we have to let them go, we knew that this day was coming. They have new families now.”

“No they don’t! I’m their family; we are. Now help me open this door... Why aren’t you helping,” she asked, falling against the door, tears rolling down her face.

“Because it’s hopeless, Love, they’re gone.”

“They need me... I can’t just stay here when they’re calling for me, Jer... They’re crying,” she sobbed, pawing fruitlessly at the door.

Mungojerrie picked her up, hugging her tightly, “So are you, Teazer. Have some faith, our humans wouldn’t give them to bad people, and the Everlasting Cat will protect them.” Rumpelteazer’s body shook as she continued to cry, “Let it all out, you’ll feel better.”

“No, I won’t, I’m a horrible mother... I can’t even keep my kittens with me.”

Mungo began to rub her back, “We knew that it was going to happen. It happens with all mothers... Jennyanydots, Jellylorum, Demeter, and Cassandra; they all had their kittens taken away. It’s a part of them growing up, just be proud that you raised them to be such wonderful kits.” He nuzzled her cheek, emitting a purr and wiped away her tears, “Teazer, you are a wonderful mother, the kittens love you. They’ll be at the Ball; we’ll see them again... I promise.”

“Really,” she sniffed, looking up at him.

“We told them about it, Teazer; they’ll be there.” The humans unlatched the door and opened it, leaving the two of them there. “Do you want to come out?”

“No,” she said, shaking her head furiously. “I want to stay here... I don’t want to move.”

Mungojerrie stood up, licking her forehead, “I’ll be back soon, Tea; I’m just going outside for a minute.” He padded out of the cage and hopped up the stairs; his head hung low as he walked through the kitchen, not even daring to snatch some scraps. The humans were busy cleaning the wound that the male was given while trying to separate the kittens from their parents. They didn’t notice him walk by; he did hear the master mumble something about ‘that horrible cat,’ although he wasn’t sure which one gave him the scratch. He crawled through the kitty-door and flopped down on the porch, covering his eyes with his paws.

“Mungo... are you alright?” His heart skipped a beat, he knew that voice – but it couldn’t be... could it? He lifted a paw and looked up, seeing Olav a few feet away, sitting in the yard, “Is something wrong?”

“Olav... what are you doing here,” he asked, completely disregarding her question.

She trotted up the walk and onto the step below him, “I wanted to see how you were doing; from the looks of it – not too good.”

“They’re gone,” he whispered, “My kittens, they’re gone...”

“Gone,” she blinked, “What do you mean by gone? Did they run away or did they die or... what?”

“I mean that they’re gone. They were taken away – to a different house by strangers.”

“What! That’s inhumane, what kind of lowlifes would do that?”

“That’s right,” he mused, “You stayed with your mom. Didn’t you?” She nodded; mouth still agape. “Well, generally once cats reach a certain age they’re given away to another house; my kits were given away today.”

“That’s awful,” she croaked, “How did Rumpel take it?”

“She’s pretty torn up over it,” he confessed, “she’s really down.”

“I’d imagine,” she nodded, “So, what are you doing here? Why aren’t you beside her? I mean – you love her, right?”

“Yeah”

“Then go comfort her; keep her company. The way that I see it is that after loosing her children she won’t want to be alone,” She said pensively, “Stupid.”

Mungo laughed, “You’re still such a kitten.” He stood up, went halfway inside before turning back around, “You’re going to find a great tom someday – one that’s better then me. And when that happens... you’re going to be one hell of a mother.”

“Thanks,” Olav smiled, “Now get going you.”

Mungo jumped inside, the family had since left the room, and made his way downstairs; seeing that Rumpelteazer had left the cage and had fallen asleep in their basket. Mungojerrie sat down next to her, resting his head on her shoulder; curled up and fell asleep beside her.

\//\\//\\//\ 

Rumpelteazer had woken up some hours later, the basement was submerged in darkness – not that it bothered her, she could still see. And she could see Mungo next to her. She let out a small purr, glad to see that he came back from... wherever it was that he went. His ears twitched, hearing her rumble; he slowly woke up – bringing his face up to hers, “You doing alright?”

“Yeah, thanks,” she purred, placing a small kiss on his lips. Mungo, still half asleep, held the kiss and pulled her close to him, emitting a deep purr.

“No problem,” he growled playfully, “Anything for the queen I love.”

“What?”

“I said ‘anything for the queen I love’,” he said obliviously, nuzzling her neck. “I love you”

She sat up, gently pushing him off of her, “no.”

“No; why not?”

“We can’t do this.”

“Why? Tell me why!”

“Because,” she bit her lip, obviously at a loss for words.

“Because why? Teazer – I want to know ‘why not’,” he pressed, gripping her shoulders.

“Because I don’t want to love you,” she said, her voice broke and tears rolling down her cheeks. Her body shook as she took a shuddering breath, trying to keep herself from weeping but failing miserably.

“You don’t want to love me?” He loosened up on his grip, but kept on holding her close, not really registering that she was crying uncontrollably. “Why is that – am I some kind of a... a... monster to you; one who’s incapable of love?”

“No,” she sobbed, “Jerrie, you’re the best thing in my life... And that’s why I don’t want to love you. Every other tom left after we slept together... I don’t want that to happen. I don’t want to wake up without you there. I don’t want you to leave me.”

Mungojerrie looked at her harshly and sighed, wiping away her tears even thought they were quickly replaced with fresh ones, “Don’t be foolish, Teazer.” She looked up at him, her eyes glazed with the water from her tears. “I’m not going to leave you,” he said, giving her a small kiss. “I didn’t leave you the first time,” another kiss, “And I don’t plan on it anytime soon.” He nuzzled her neck; she emitted a soft purr in return; still choking on her tears. “Teazer, I love you.”

“I want to love you,” she admitted, leaning into him. “I don’t want to loose you more though. I mean, first the kittens... I don’t want you to go, too.”

“Tea, you know that saying ‘if you love something set it free, if it doesn’t come back it wasn’t meant to be?’” She nodded. “If it comes back to you it’s yours. You can let me go right now and I’ll be back by your side in a second – even less. I will always come back,” he promised. She looked up at him, her tears has since stopped falling, leaving their salty trail on her cheeks. She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him soundly on the lips. Mungo purred deeply, pulling her closer to her. He broke the kiss, moving down to her neck; easing the two of them on to the pillow. “I’ll see you in the morning,” he whispered, kissing her collar as she nipped his ear.