Chapter 7

"You didn't!" Macavity looked at her with an imposing glare. He had been sure she would stay with the tribe. She looked at him and quietly nodded.

"I had to."

"No, you didn't have to! Bombi, I…I…" she could see his anger breaking, "Dammit, Bombalurina! You were supposed to stay with the tribe! Not leave it!"

"This was my choice, Mackey! And I wasn't going to let you make it for me. Besides, there was a reason for it, but I'll tell you later. Right now, I just want to go to our lair." With that, she promptly walked in its direction, leaving the ginger tom standing shock still, not quite believing what she had done. She had sacrificed everything she had just for him! What was she thinking? With a sigh, he reluctantly followed her, and await her reason.

In the junkyard, the shock of Bombalurina's choice was still flowing strong. Jellylorum and Jennyanydots were trying their best to comfort the kittens, but were barely able to control their own emotions. It seemed like every cat was looking for another to comfort each other. Cassandra was with Alonzo, Mistofffelees with Victoria, Tugger holding Etcetera and Jemina. It seemed as though no one could ever be happy again.

"Why did she do this? Why did she 'ave to make that bloody damn choice!" Rumpleteazer sobbed, her brother Mungo holding her.

"It was her choice, I suppose," Cassandra quietly said, her voice close to breaking.

"Even so, it was not the best one, I think," Tugger said broadly, no emotion showing whatsoever, "I just can't believe she would just fall into his arms with reckless abandon. Wouldn't she have interests in a Jellicle tom?"

Mungojerrie glared at him, "She DID 'ave interests in a tom! It was you, ya blind buffoon! Can't ya see? At the ball, she was all ova' ya like an ant on spilled cola!"

"Yes, Tugger! Even a longing bachelor tom like myself could see that! She had interests in you the whole time, and you just flicked her away like a flea!" Alonzo scolded.

The free-swinging tom stood up and glared the cat who called himself, 'The cock of the walk,' "Are you blaming me for what she did? 'Cause if you are, you are about to face a wrath no one ever in their right minds should ever reveal!"

Alonzo looked at him with amusement, "Oh really? This comes from the cat that ran away and hid like a paranoid kitten when Macavity appeared at the ball, while it was I that actually fought off the villain when Munkustrap was knocked senseless!"

"And you think you are a good fighter because of that? You only managed to hurt him when his back was turned! Cat to cat, he'd turn you into Doberman chow!"

The two toms at this point were standing face to face with each other, ready to rumble. Tugger towered over the black and white tom, but Alonzo never wavered.

"Is that a challenge? Because if it is, I'll be glad to accept it!"

"So be it," With that, Tugger swiped him across the face. Two claws had dug in and left two streaks on Alonzo's left cheek, blood soon flowing out. With a roar, Alonzo tackled the bigger tom, and immediately started swishing his own claws at him. Tugger managed to push him off before any real damage was done, but then slammed him into the washing machine. The two toms then tackled each other, and started rolling around the ground, throwing punches at each other. The queens screamed for them to stop, but neither seemed to listen. It seemed that the fight would continue, until a Scottish voice broke in.

"Now you chaps break it up!" With that shout, Skimbleshanks jumped onto the duo, and pulled them apart. Pouncival jumped in as well and pulled Alonzo away, while Skimble pushed Tugger away. The two fighters seemed intent in beating the other into next week, but the two peacemakers wouldn't let them get at each other again.

"Damn it all, you blokes can't be going around blaming each other for what happened! None of you did anything to cause this, it was all her choice, and that's that!" the words of the railway cat seemed enough and the two walked away. The Tugger to his den, Alonzo back to Cassandra, where he quietly sat and let the adrenaline cool down.

Old Deuteronomy had seen all this and stood up on the tire, "Skimble is right. I don't need to think about who might have caused Bombalurina to make her decisions, but none of us need to be blaming each other for it. I know these next few days are going to be hard, but we must do our best to move on and proceed with our lives." Everyone agreed at that, but it was going to be weeks before things could return to normal, even though things were never going to be the same.

Nearby, Munkustrap was walking around, looking for Demeter. After she ran off, he tried to follow her, but lost her within minutes. Now here he was, looking into every nook and cranny in the alley, sniffing for one slight whiff of the gold and black queen, to no avail. Suddenly, he heard a slight sound of crying, coming from the area of the dumpster in the alley. He looked around where he could hear it the most, but saw nothing. Finally, opening the dumpster, he saw her sitting on an old, discarded television set, sobbing without control. Quietly, he went and sat next to her and put his paw on her shoulder, which triggered Demi to put her arms around him and bury her face in his chest.

"She did it. Everlasting Cat, she did it, Munku! She did exactly what I feared she did! Why, oh why!" The sobbing continued with no end, and since he didn't have a response, he simply just held her. After the crying subsided, Demeter went dead silent, not even making a sound, he glanced down to see what was wrong and she was looking at him. Their eyes became locked like a cage, and nothing could separate it. Slowly, the two had another light kiss. The queen's next words caused his heart to stand still, "Munku, do you want to be my mate?" He separated from her and looked at her with amazement. She continued.

"I got no one else, and I know I am deeply in love with you. What do you think?"

The silver, striped tabby looked at her silently, and then turned away a bit to contemplate her question, then nodded and turned back to her, "I love you too Demeter, and I had been thinking of being your mate for a long time. The answer is an obvious yes."

With that, the pair had a long passionate kiss that melted the two together. Soon, Munku laid her back onto a pile of old clothes, and gently eased on top of her, their lips never parting. Their paws gently stroked every part of each other, never stopping. Demeter knew where this was going, but wasn't planning to resist. Even though the pain of Bombi's departure was still there, and wasn't going to leave, she knew that this night of love with her new mate would ease the pain, even if it's only temporary. The new era of the Jellicle tribe was about to begin, and what would transpire in the next few years would change everyone's lives forever.

Epilogue

That night, Bombalurina revealed her pregnancy to Macavity, who received the news with a mixture of shock and happiness. The two became full-blown soul mates, never able to keep their paws off of each other in bed. Demeter and Munkustrap announced their own matrimony the following day, and everyone in the tribe was ecstatic, and happy for them. 9 months later, Bombalurina gave birth to her first kitten, a calico queen, whose fur was mostly red with many other colors spotting her fur. Bombi named her Sophline, after her great aunt whom she dearly admired.

10 days later, Demeter had her own kitten, a queen that was mostly black, except for the lower part of her face and her paws, which she named Catalina. Both sisters had settled into the life of having a family, and were both satisfied.

Unbeknownst to the tribe, nearby a tom that was gray and black, with menacing yellow eyes was watching the tribe. "It will only be a matter of time," he thought to himself, "And that tribe will be under new management."

Well, that's the end of this story, but the sequel will be coming soon, which will be called The Last Redemption. This story will have its first chapter either later this week or in the New Year. I'm also planning a story about Macavity's life called The Macavity Chronicles

This idea of my story by the way came as an idea of mine to bring some more unique romance to CATS. I figured Bombalurina had interests in Macavity when I watched the DVD and noticed the sensual way she sang about him. This gave me the idea that she had the hots for him, and considering the fact she also wants the Rum Tum Tugger, this gives me the thought that she is one that likes the naughty, and free-swinging toms. Besides, Demeter seemed too paranoid about him to have good relations.

You also may notice that I have a lot of Macavity stories coming, but there's a reason. My high school is doing CATS for the musical this year (One of the first high schools in the nation to do it!), and I play the Hidden Paw, so naturally, I like him to be more the center of attention. I have more story ideas coming. Here's a list of what I have coming soon:

The Last Redemption (CATS)

Future Reforms (Star Fox)

The Lylat Renaissance (Star Fox)

The Union Man (Seinfeld)

Navel Nuclear Chaos (the movie Down Periscope)

The New Dynasty (the movie The Replacements)

I can't say when the last 5 stories will be out, but they will come, I guarantee it! Hope you enjoyed Forbidden Romance, and remember, if you enjoyed reading it half as much as I enjoyed writing it, then I enjoyed it twice as much as you. LOL! See ya!