A/N: So, funny, I tend to have quite a talent for spelling the names wrong of CATS characters. Hah! How embarrassing! My autocorrect doesn't quite know what to do with these creative names, so it has a habit of changing "Jemima" to "Jamima" and it went unnoticed by me for so long! I am so very sorry for that! I have gone through ALL my stories and corrected this. Munkustrap was another victim. I apologize; rest assured I am keeping a keen eye out for it!

For any other spelling mistakes, I apologize. I will correct them as I find them :)

ALSO! If anybody has had the pleasure of reading "The Epic Jellicle Snowball War" by SirPrickles you will catch a small Easter egg I've thrown into this chapter :) That is one of my favorite CATS stories on this site, and it inspired my adoration for Misto and Jemima as a pair! Go enjoy it!

Earlier…

Mistoffelees ran frantically through the busy streets, in between cars and buses, ignoring the blaring honking that ensued as he desperately gripped that manila folder within his sharp teeth and searched for a safe spot to gather his sanity. The sun had not come up completely yet, and the relentlessly bright headlights of traffic nearly blinded him; he was honestly lucky he didn't end up flat as a pancake on the road. At one point, a green car had slammed on the breaks so quickly, it caused a bit of mud to splash up against Misto's side-and another truck, going the opposite way, blew by him in a whirl and left him spinning in a cloud of exhaust fumes and smoke.

After making it to a sidewalk, Misto ducked behind a large dumpster that was positioned towards the back of a closed coffee shop. The black and white tom finally released the folder from his grip and inhaled heavily as he tried to settle his nerves and catch his breath; coughing out a bit of smoke that got caught in his throat. His heart was beating so quickly that he could hear it pounding unevenly in his ears, which were still ringing from those loud car horns. His paws rested on top of the folder, leaving dirty prints across it, and he blinked away the green and red spots that danced within his vision.

Mistoffelees shook out his face and flipped open the file; glaring down at the paperwork with raw determination. He didn't know what this dog looked like, but he at least knew how to spell, so he quickly began to sort through all the papers-his eyes scanning every paragraph and line in search of the name the shelter employee had so casually said: Finnegan.

After a few minutes, Misto felt his anxieties beginning to raise as file after file proved fruitless. For the first time in a long while, the magical cat began to doubt his choices-suddenly questioning if he had actually heard the conversation correctly, and wondering if he was wasting more time trying to find some insignificant dog that would end up meaning nothing to Jemima in the end.

You need to calm your nerves, Misto. You're useless otherwise…

Misto tried in vain to listen to the voice in his head; knowing full well how exhausted and hungry he was. His actions became a bit more frantic-his paws hastily throwing aside anything that lacked what he needed. It wasn't long before he found himself in a nest of crinkled and dirty papers, though he barely noticed; his green eyes never lost focus of each new file he brought to his face to scan.

Finnegan, Finnegan, Finnegan….

After a while, the coffee shop had opened to the public, and without warning a back door swung open as an employee lazily threw a bag of garbage into the dumpster by Misto. The breeze that followed from the door slamming open and closed caused all the papers around the cat to fly up into the air-including the ones left in the folder. Mistoffelees let out an agonized hiss as he jumped up and chased the papers around-the hair on his back standing upright in a frazzled manner.

The papers flew about like they had a mind of their own, and after leaping around and trying to catch them all in vain, Misto eventually found himself freezing in place and watching them scatter about with a defeated expression. His heart fell into the pit of his stomach, and he ran his claws through his headfur painfully; biting back any frustrated tears that threatened to spill from the corner of his eyes.

He was failing Jemima, and this was just unacceptable. He needed to regain control of himself.

Mistoffelees relaxed his posture, and slowly sucked in a breath that he held for a few seconds-closing his eyes as he blocked out the sounds of traffic around him. In his mind, he saw Jemima smiling at him, with those caramel colored eyes that always radiated nothing but warmth and sweetness. Misto slowly raised a paw and held it high above his head-his claws reaching out into the air. The papers still danced wildly about him as he stood frozen a moment; his mind and heart focusing only on the missing black and red queen. Misto did not notice that the wind changed, and gradually the papers started to fly in a spiral around his small frame.

Help me find her!

Mistoffelees felt his heart skipping a few beats; he saw Jemima running and playing in the sun, laughing and reaching out to him. He heard her happily calling his name over and over again-as if she was searching for him too.

"Try to catch me, Magically Mister Mistoffelees!"

Jemima's voice was crystal clear and echoed through his thoughts. The papers started to circle faster and faster, yet none graced his outreached paw.

A memory from last winter of the two of them running through the snow played out in his mind; it felt so real he could almost taste the snowflakes on his tongue. Jemima was laughing loudly and turned to throw a snowball at him, and he reached out to try and catch her-

"You call this a snowball fight?" She was laughing. "Winner takes all! Don't go easy on me!"

She had a bit of snow stuck to her nose, and he tried to get closer to kiss it away.

Just then, one of the papers flew into his face and smothered him. The memories came to a screeching halt, and the paw that had just been reaching for Jemima flailed about as he fought to keep his balance. All the other papers suddenly froze and fell to the ground anticlimactically. Mistoffelees stumbled backwards against the wall behind him and ripped the one piece of paper off his face-crumbling it his paw as his wide eyes scanned his surroundings.

The air was still as death, and Misto felt his eyelids grow heavy as he let out a defeated sigh, the magic that had been teasing at his senses now seemingly gone.

He had no choice; he would need to start over. As much as the reality tempted the tom to walk into oncoming traffic, he knew he would still persevere. Mistoffelees was not going to stop until he found her.

With a little crack of his neck, Misto stood up and stretched out his limbs-glaring down at the crumpled paper in his paw as bags formed under his eyes. He went to go throw the paper away, but something made him stop-he could faintly make out the letters "Fi"-and without really holding much hope, he unfolded the paper to examine it.

Misto's jaw dropped slightly as his eyes roamed the name "Finnegan" that was typed in bold, black print. In the top right corner of the paper, a small picture of a friendly looking yellow dog stared back at him.

As Mistoffelees registered what he was seeing, he could almost hear a crack of lightening erupt in his heart. That was all it took for the exhausted cat to find the burst of energy he needed, and suddenly he was lighter than air as he ran from the dumpster and back out onto the sidewalk. He managed to evade the humans around him and darted between their heavy steps with ease; as if it was a game. After a few minutes, he saw a bus stop at the corner and raced towards it-hopping onto the blue bench and peering up at the map of routes that was displayed above him.

A little old woman had been sitting there, and she gaped at Mistoffelees with wide eyes, but he ignored her completely. Misto's head bobbed up and down in between the map of the bus routes, and the paper in his paws, and he leaned up on his toes while pushing his nose against the glass; his eyes scanning the street he needed to find and making a mental note of the ways to get there. The old woman let out a tiny hiccup as Misto, in his newly found triumph, jumped off the bus bench and rubbed his side against her ankles affectionately; leaving a trail of dirt on her socks before running off quickly and vanishing from sight. The old woman blinked slowly, before she awkwardly turned over her thermos and poured out her coffee onto the sidewalk. She was pretty confident that when you start seeing cats using maps, it is time to lay off the caffeine.

The sun was now shining in the cloudless sky, and it seemed that summer intended to go out on a high note as the temperature quickly rose and began to warm the pavement beneath Misto's feet. It didn't matter, not if it was hot or that he had miles and miles to go, or that he hadn't slept or had anything to eat at all since the day before-he finally had a road to follow and knew he would find Jemima at the end of it. He just knew.

Every so often, Mistoffelees would find another bus stop along the way, and he would pause for a moment to make sure he was still going in the right direction. The black and white cat was dripping with sweat and grime, and the bottom of his paws were beginning to turn red and raw, but every mile that brought him closer to Jemima was another mile behind him, and that released enough adrenaline that he didn't even feel the aches and pains after a while. By the time he finally did reach the correct street, it was late afternoon, and everything was basked in a pale-yellow light.

Misto slowed down and panted as his eyes scanned the houses lining both ends of the street; they all looked perfectly delightful and welcoming-as if he had walked into the pages of a storybook. He sucked in heavy breaths while carefully hovering by every fence-his nose itching to evade the heavy floral scents that every yard offered him, while trying to catch any hint of Jemima.

His muscles were starting to tremble, and his tail dragged pathetically behind him, but the tom kept walking-even as he eventually found himself having to limp weakly. At one-point Mistoffelees's eyes caught the sight of a black bat flying above him, and for some reason he paused to watch it for a moment, lifting a paw and rubbing his nose as he swallowed down a sigh. The sun would begin to set soon.

It was then the distant echo of a song tickled at his ears, and Misto's eyes refocused again as he stood upright and listened; alerted.

Jemima.

His heart let out one mighty thump, and then Mistoffelees raced, blind to the bleeding of his paws and throbbing of his bones. The singing became louder as he neared.

"JEMIMA!" His voice was cracked but he felt his mouth forming into a wide grin as he began to laugh breathlessly while he ran. When he finally could smell the delicate undertones of lemons and fresh cut grass, he knew he had found her; that was the scent he had been aching to find ever since the morning of the festival.

And then there she was, sitting so innocently in a tree and singing up to the sky, and Mistoffelees would have sworn he had suddenly sprouted wings, because within seconds he was flying in the air towards her-he couldn't even recall making the leap, but nonetheless he reached for her eagerly; droplets of water falling from the corner of his eyes.

"JEMIMA!"

Then they were together; he grabbed her so tightly and they fell onto the ground beneath the tree-he had just a moment to look into her beautiful eyes and listen to her crying and laughing. Misto pushed his head into her shoulder and rubbed his wet face into her fur-reassuring himself she was really there. Jemima had pulled away just so that she could look at him and she might have said something, but he didn't hear it. Misto held her arms, and he let out another sound that was somewhere between a cry and laugh before he fell backwards and into a blackness.

"Misto!"

Jemima shook the shoulders of her fallen friend; her face twisted in concern as she tried in vain to spur him. Her face was still flushed, and she hadn't quite caught her breath, but nonetheless her excitement immediately soured into concern as she gently began to pat the tom's cheeks. Mistoffelees looked…. horrid, to be honest. Like he had been to hell and back. His fur was damp and oily, and the usual pristine white of his coat was soiled by spots of dark grey and brown. Jemima lifted one of his paws and let out a tiny gasp as she saw dried blood caked on his palms; the sensitive skin having been worn down.

Yet, despite being completely dead to the world, a smile still graced his lips.

"Oh, Mistoffelees…" Jemima carefully combed back some of the headfur away from his eyes; wincing as she noticed the large bags underneath them.

It was then that she heard the sound of tires on gravel, and her head shot up just in time to see a car pulling into the driveway of Darius's home. Before Jemima could process a thought, she heard Finnegan bark from inside and realized Darius's mother must have been returning home from work.

"Oh no."

Jemima gawked down at Mistoffelees quickly before she bit her lip, knowing she couldn't allow him to be found, given what unpredictability would follow. With a tiny whimper, Jemima scooped her arms up under Mistoffelees's shoulders-allowing his head to balance delicately on her shoulder-and she pulled him behind the large tree and out of sight.

Once Jemima felt confident that Misto would remain hidden, she rushed back in through the little door, trying desperately to form some sort of plan. Finnegan and Darius were both awake now, and barely noticed her as she darted back inside. Jemima paced awkwardly in front of the backdoor, and she waited until Darius and his mother started talking about their day before she raced over to Finnegan.

"I need help!" Jemima whispered harshly, grabbing the dog's arm and shaking it hard enough that his whole body jerked awkwardly.

"What?" Finnegan glanced between Jemima and his humans, before carefully peeling her off his arm and taking her shoulders; his eyes searching her expression curiously. "What's wrong?"

Jemima winced and leaned up on her tip toes to whisper into Finnegan's ear; keeping one eye trained on the backdoor. As she hastily explained that there was an unconscious cat outside, Finnegan's mouth turned into a straight line and he stared at her in a dumbfounded way.

"Ah…uh, okay. Let me just…think for a second." Finnegan scratched his head and ignored Jemima as she bounced up and down frantically. After a few seconds, he smiled and winked at her; lifting a paw to stop her anxious movements.

"Stay here."

Jemima most definitely did not want to just stay there, but before she could protest Finnegan started letting out little whines and walked over to the backdoor and began scratching at it pathetically. Jemima realized he was too large to fit into the doggy door himself, and within moments Darius's mother came over and opened the door for Finnegan-her attention never leaving her son.

"It is the last weekend of summer-what do you say we go get some ice cream?"

Jemima ran over to also make it outside, but the door closed before she could, and Darius came over to pick her up nonchalantly as he answered his mother.

"Before dinner?"

Jemima tried desperately to look over her shoulder towards the window, but she could not see Finnegan at all. She bit her lip and wiggled around in Darius's grip-he didn't seem to notice her urgency to get down, and if it had been anyone else, she would have used her claws to get her point across. She just couldn't bring herself to do that to him.

"No, the ice cream will be our dinner." Darius let out a cheer and his mother laughed, and he finally set Jemima down. She twirled around and tried to make a jump for the window ledge, but her leg was still weak enough that it gave out on her, and she clumsily stumbled back onto the floor.

Darius's mother opened the door and whistled for Finn to come back inside, and held it open, but her face was still turned towards Darius-asking him to go get a pair of shoes on. She, nor Jemima, ever saw the sight of a black and white cat being thrown offhandedly up into the air-landing within the unfinished tree house with an unceremonious 'thud'.

Finnegan came trotting back inside as innocent as ever, and he placed a paw over Jemima's mouth before she could assault him with questions. Jemima's tail began to thump against the floor angrily, but Finn still held her in place, shooting her a knowing look and shaking his head-signaling for her to wait a moment.

Jemima could barely register Darius saying goodbye and telling the two animals to be good, before he and his mother vanished out the front door and headed for the car. The moment the door was closed, Jemima spun around and dashed to get outside, but Finnegan grabbed her shoulders and yanked her back quickly.

"Wait a second!" His voice was harsh, and he glared down at the cat impatiently. Jemima bit her lip and returned his glare-shaking her shoulders away from him.

"I need to go to Misto!"

"Mi..who?" Finnegan titled his head, before he turned his face back to the front door and waited for the sounds of the car doors closing.

"We have to wait until they leave."

"What for?"

"Your friend is gonna need some water, among other things. I have to wait until they are both gone before playing doctor here, kitty." His bushy eyebrow raised at Jemima. "Unless you want them to find him out. How do you think that will go over?"

Jemima hissed under her breath but regarded the dog knowingly; running her paws down her face as they both listened for the car to pull out of the driveway. Finnegan walked into the kitchen and pulled open the fridge, reaching in and tossing Jemima a small bottle of water that she barely caught.

When she went to go back outside, Finnegan followed with more water in one paw, and his food bowl in another. "I can't believe I've given up half my meals this weekend to cats."

Jemima would have bounced back a retort to his sass under any other circumstances, but her mind was too preoccupied with thoughts of Mistoffelees. She ran as fast and awkwardly as she could, given her bad leg, and nearly tripped as she skidded to a halt under the tree-her head whipping back and forth heedlessly when she saw Misto was not where she left him.

"WHERE-"

Finnegan hushed Jemima before she could squeak out her concern and used his head to notion up to the tree.

"I wasn't sure how long it would take them to leave, so I had to improvise a…safer hiding spot for him."

Jemima froze and stared up at the tree, before looking Finnegan over cautiously. "….You climbed up a tree?"

"…Let's go with that."

An uncomfortable pause lingered between the two animals, but the sound of a small groan from the cat above them was enough to push Jemima's agitation out of her mind.

"Give me a boost, please." Jemima took two water bottles and balanced them against her chest, her other paw reaching up and clawing into the massive tree trunk. Finnegan placed his food down and carefully lifted the queen up as high as he could-supporting her weight as she haphazardly pulled herself up into the tree.

Misto was laying face first on the wooden planks, his back legs and tail bent up in an unflattering way. Jemima let out a loud gasp and scattered over to her friend, turning him over and laying his head on her lap.

"You good?" Finnegan called from below.

"You threw him up here, didn't you?"

Finnegan waited a moment, before his scratchy little laugh filled the air.

"In my defense I was raised to believe cats always landed on their feet!"

"He is unconscious Finn!"

Finnegan shrugged his shoulders even though Jemima clearly couldn't see his nonchalant response. She instead decided to focus on Misto, and carefully began to clean his face-she took a little water and used it to clear away the dirt and sweat from his brow.

"Misto…" Her voice was a whisper, and she moved to awkwardly support him in a more upright position. "You need something to drink…please wake up."

Jemima held the bottle of water to his lips and allowed the smallest amount to drip out, but the water slipped right down his chin and onto his chest. Jemima started whimpering.

"Stop doing that-" Finnegan called below; he had walked back far enough to see them through the branches. "You'll drown him." Finnegan smiled. "Just throw a little on his face!"

"That is a horrible thing to do!" She blinked back tears and made a face towards the dog.

"It will wake him up."

Finnegan sounded confident, and Jemima realized she wasn't in a position to do much else, other than listen to the retired solider. She let out a small sigh, whispered a quick apology, and quickly squeezed the water bottle as hard she could-water bursting out and splattering against Misto's face. She heard a garbled sound emerge from the tom, before he quickly shook his head and let out a large gasp.

"Misto!" Jemima squeaked, putting the bottle of water down and quickly lifting her paws to his cheeks-trying in vain to rub them dry. "I'm so sorry! I needed to wake you up and-"

Misto blinked a few times and turned to look at Jemima, his eyes gradually getting wider as she rambled on.

"There you are!"

Jemima swallowed as he cut off her stammering, and gasped as he reached for her and pulled her into a tight hug.

"I was so worried about you!" Misto's voice sounded strained, and it was, but there was no way for Jemima to know it was due to his emotions and not physical state.

"…You were looking for me?" Jemima's voice was small; guilt suddenly washing over her features.

Misto pulled back a bit hastily and frowned at her, though it only lasted a few seconds before his wide smile returned and he pushed his forehead into her own; affectionately nuzzling her there.

"Of course I was! When I found your ribbon I-" Mistoffelees paused suddenly, and Jemima saw him staring down at her leg, his expression immediately turning dark.

"Jemima, what happened to you?"

Jemima swallowed uneasily at the abrupt anger she could hear in his voice, and for a split second the anxieties she had that morning returned, but when she met his eyes his posture relaxed a bit, and his frown became gentler. Jemima turned her face away and sighed, closing her eyes as she felt Misto delicately placing a paw on her ankle.

"It is a long and ridiculous kind of story..."

A/N: If it seems like this was an awkward place to end this chapter, that is because it is. I had to though, because the next chapter will be the final one and it is going to be a bit long-I needed to cut this off :) sorry about that.

Also, Misto, if you can read the bus schedule why didn't you just take the bus? (I know, but then his arrival would have been a bit anti-climatic ;D)

I also tend to have a guilty pleasure of imagining what unique scents the cats might have towards one another. Thanks for indulging me on that :) I try to match their personalities...I chose a minty smell for Misto, since peppermint is suppose to energize you, and Misto can literally make energy right from his paws! (Again, Misto, why was it such a struggle to get to the house?...hush LOL) I chose the lemon/grass scent for Jemima because lemon essential oil is a very uplifting mood enhancer, and Jemima is just a bundle of joy! ...Again, thanks for indulging me haha.