[A/N] And Electra/Jerrie develops further…XD I don't know why these two work. I actually have no excuse for that. I was just editing and I thought "…you know, under these circumstances…they would work!" Oh; and as for Electra and Teazer being "close", I just noticed that they seem to sort of hang out during the Ball…a tiny bit. Mostly I figured it was her personality. I thought they'd get along. *shrugs* Anyway, read on, my friends.

Chapter Five

Jemima was breaking curfew.

This was something she had been doing since she was roughly nine months old, but now it was a very serious offense. She knew it was irresponsible, as well; her kittens needed her. They had grown up so beautifully over the past ten months, especially Etruria. Jemima had been right; she had grown to be just as healthy and strong as her brothers, and twice as talented a troublemaker. Electra fawned over the three of them and taught them all of her favorite pranks whenever her sister wasn't there to stop her, and Victoria was teaching Monty how to dance; he showed a remarkable aptitude for it. They were visiting Skimbleshanks tonight; she would be forever grateful for his fondness for kittens. Still, this was a dangerous thing to do.

But it was the Jellicle Moon tonight, and she simply couldn't resist.

She was tucked in a hidden alcove, humming to herself, when a strong hand covered her mouth and dragged her behind a pile of tires. She tried to scream, but the sound was muffled by the dark paw.

"Shh!" whispered a female voice. "Quiet, Sillabub!"

Jemima's eyes widened. Quite apart from the fact that she recognized that voice, there were only two cats in the world that referred to her by her Jellicle name. She tore the paw from her mouth. "Tantomile?"

"Hush," breathed the mystic. "Yes, it's us."

Jemima couldn't stop the grin from spreading across her face at the sight of her old friends. "What are you doing here? We thought you escaped!"

"We did escape," Coricopat said, sitting down beside his sister. "We've come back."

Jemima blinked rapidly. "Why?"

Tantomile smiled. "To say goodbye," she said simply.

Jemima stared at her. "You're risking your lives…to say goodbye."

"Of course," said Coricopat.

"To me."

"Naturally," said Tantomile.

Jemima stared some more. "Why?"

The mystic twins turned their heads and looked at each other, exchanging a slow smile before turning back to Jemima.

"Sillabub," said Tanomile reproachfully. "You're our friend."

"We couldn't leave without saying goodbye," said Coricopat.

"We knew we would find you here," added Tantomile.

"This is the last time you'll see us…"

"…so we wanted to thank you."

They blinked in leisurely unison, as if that made perfect sense. Trying to insert some sanity into the situation, Jemima asked, "How did you get past the guards without being seen?"

Mysterious smiles were her only answer.

"All right…so if you're leaving, where are you going?"

"Tanto," said Coricopat softly, "She doesn't understand."

Tantomile flicked her ears in sympathy, curling her tail comfortably around her paws. "It's the Jellicle Moon tonight," she said by way of explanation.

Coricopat covered his sister's paw with his own. "We're going home," he said. Seeing that she didn't understand, he told her gently, "To the Heaviside Layer, Sillabub. We're going home tonight."

"What?" Jemima yelped.

"We can sense it," said Tantomile.

"The Everlasting Cat is calling us," Coricopat added.

"She has been for weeks. We just didn't know what she was saying."

"But we understand her now."

Seeing the shock on Jemima's face, Tantomile reached out and placed a paw on her cheek. "Don't mourn us, Sillabub," she murmured. "It's our time. Oh, Cori, she doesn't understand."

"We're mystics," Coricopat told Jemima. "In this life, we're servants of the Everlasting Cat. But we've done our job for Her in this life…and now She's calling us home."

Jemima gave a tiny nod. "We'll miss you," she said weakly.

The twins graced their friend with a fond smile. "Oh, Sillabub," said Tantomile. "It's not such a terrible separation, after all."

"We'll be watching over you," Coricopat assured her.

"And your little ones."

"We'll be back soon enough…"

"…and someday…"

"…when your time comes…"

"…We'll see you again," they finished together. Suddenly, Tantomile looked over her shoulder as if someone had called her name. She smiled and turned back to Jemima. "But for now," she said, "You should go to Jennyanydots' den. Bring Electra, as well. Demeter's kitten is being born."

"It's going to be a tom," Coricopat said.

"A very special tom," Tantomile agreed.

This was all a bit much to take in at one time, but before Jemima had a chance to ask any of her questions, the mystics had vanished into the night without so much as a whisper, and were it not for the ghost of their touch on her cheek she couldn't have sworn that they had ever been there at all.

…

Skimbleshanks loved kittens.

He always had. They were cute, of course, but it was more than that. He thought it might be because kittens shared his passion for life.

The four kits currently in the process of trying to destroy his living room certainly had a passion for life. In fact, they could do with a little less of it. That was another thing Skimbleshanks loved about kittens: the sheer chaos. After making sure everything worked like clockwork on the mail train, it did him good to let a bit of complete anarchy into his life; and with a growing son and his three best friends, he had plenty of that.

He lifted his tail absently as two kits rolled under it. Monty and Skimbleshanks' son Skipper had been inseparable since Skipper's birth. Presto, who was currently attempting to disentangle himself from a ball of yarn while his sister rolled on the ground laughing at him, was much quieter and less of a troublemaker. Etruria was almost as intuitive a mischief-maker as her father was, and the whole tribe had been thrilled to discover that she had inherited her mother's beautiful voice.

"Monty," Skimble said, snapping out of his reverie, "Don't bite your brother's tail!"

"Mmky, mmcle Skmmblmm!" called Monty around a mouthful of Presto's tail, which was Montecristo for "Okay, uncle Skimble!"

Suddenly, Jemima and Electra appeared in the entrance to the den. Barely acknowledging the cries of welcome from the kittens (and ignoring Monty's "Aaw, Mom's here!") they asked Skimble urgently, "How is she?"

Skimble waved them through to the hospital den. "She's still in labor, lassie, but you go on. Jenny will let you in." Jenny's birthing policy was very simple: no toms except the father. A birthing den was a place for queens, she always said.

"Thanks," they said in unison before ducking into the neighboring box.

…

Demeter's family had been terrified when they learned she was pregnant. The golden queen wasn't as young as she once was, nor was she nearly as strong as she could have been. But while the birth had been difficult, their worst fears had failed to come to fruition; with her trademark stubborn courage, Demeter had refused to let anything Macavity did break her. Her newborn kit—a tom, just as the mystics had predicted—was cuddled up against his mother's side. He had Demeter's exact markings; but where she was gold, he was scarlet. It was a painful reminder of his parentage, but Jemima and Electra were more concerned about Demeter.

They padded hesitantly up to her. "Hi, mom," Jemima whispered when Demeter lifted her head weakly to see who they were. "How are you?"

Demeter managed a small smile, letting her head fall back to the sweater. "Tired," she answered obviously. "Now, what are you two doing here?" She flickered a smile at Jemima.

"We came to make sure you were all right," said Electra worriedly. Her own belly was beginning to swell, and just the day before Jenny had confirmed that she was pregnant. This had caused a lot of blushing on her part and even more hysterical laughter on Jemima and Quaxo's ("So you'll leave the breeding to us, will you?"), but by far the most beautiful reaction had been the ecstatic beam on Jerrie's face, and the fact that he had finally begun talking to people.

Demeter brushed a stray strand of fur behind Electra's ear. "How did you know?" she asked softly.

Jemima and Electra looked at each other, deciding not to go into detail about the mystic twins' mysterious reappearance. "It's a long story," said Jemima. Looking down at the little tom, she asked, "Are you going to introduce us?"

Demeter looked down at her only son with a disturbing lack of affection.

"He…he looks like you," Jemima offered, disconcerted.

Demeter shook her head. "He looks like him," she said bitterly.

Jemima waited for her half-sister to jump to the kit's defense, but she was staring at her newborn brother with a very strange look on her face. Seeing that she didn't plan to defend him, Jemima began, "He didn't choose his-"

"He doesn't look like either of you," said Electra suddenly.

"What?" said Jemima and Demeter in unison.

"Look at his face," Electra said urgently. "Ignore his markings and really look at his face."

They complied, and after a few seconds they understood.

"Holy Heaviside," breathed Demeter.

The kitten looked exactly like Plato.

"It's the Jellicle Moon tonight," said Jemima slowly. "You don't think…" She trailed off, unable to voice the incredible thought.

After a time, Demeter spoke again. "If he is," she said, "it's for the Everlasting Cat to know, not us." Jemima hadn't heard that kind of trust in her voice since…well, since Munkustrap. But Demeter licked her youngster lovingly between his miniscule ears, and her daughter couldn't contain a quiet sigh of relief.

"So," she asked. "What are you going to name him?"

Demeter thought for a moment, then smiled and said, as if it were the clearest thing in the world, "Aristotle."

…

"Uncle Skimble?" asked Presto worriedly. "Why was Mom so scared?"

Skimbleshanks looked down at the young tuxedo tom. "Oh, your mother's going through a rough time right now. She'll come through. You just be on your best behavior for her, lad."

Presto nodded determinedly. "I will!"

"Me too!" Etruria piped up.

"Me three!" said Skipper, who had no idea what he was agreeing to but wasn't about to be left out.

"I'm always on my best behavior!" called Monty, poking his head out of the tangled mass that had once been Skimbleshanks' carpet.

The railway cat chuckled. "Aye, lad. I can see that."

Jenny clucked her tongue. "You kits," she said affectionately. "Heaviside Layer! I declare I've never seen such a group of troublemakers. Not even the twins…" she trailed off, Rumpleteazer's fate coming back like a slap in the face.

Trying to break the sudden melancholy silence, Skimble said cheerfully, "Well! It's getting a wee bit late to be roughhousing, kits. What say I tell you young louts a story?"

This was greeted by an enthusiastic cheer. Since Gus had gone to Heaviside, Skimbleshanks had become the unofficial storyteller of the tribe. "So," he said, smiling and taking out his pipe, "Which story shall it be tonight?"

"The terrible tale of Firefrorefiddle," said Monty dramatically, pouncing on Presto's tail. "The Fiend of the Fell!"

"No," said Presto, frowning as he tried to tug his tail out of his brother's grasp. "Firefrorefiddle is scary!"

"Growltiger's last stand!" said Skipper enthusiastically, tripping over his own paws and tumbling to the ground in a heap as he tried to perform an excited jig. "Please, dad?"

"Will you tell us about the mail train, uncle Skimble?" asked Etruria sweetly.

Skimbleshanks smiled at the four kittens crowded around his sweater, but as he met Jenny's eyes, his smile turned sad. "No' tonight, lassie," he said gently, his Scottish accent becoming more pronounced. "Tonight I'm going to tell ye a story you've never heard before."

The kittens looked at each other, blinking wide eyes. This was obviously very special.

"This is a very old tale," began Skimbleshanks. "Back when the world was young…"

"Before the Junkyard was here?" asked Monty in awe.

"Before London was here, lad. Yes, long before. This happened a long, long time ago in a land very far away. There was once a cat named Pandora. She was a fine Jellicle queen, with pure white fur-"

"-like Aunt Vic!"

"Are you going to let me tell the story, lad?"

"Sorry."

"Now. As I was saying, this Jellicle queen had pure white fur and bright green eyes, but she didn't have a mate. She had sworn she would never mate with any tom save one. She had fallen in love with him, and he with her, you see. But he was a sailor's cat—in those days, there were no railways! And one night, as he was out at sea, his hip struck a rock and sank, and he was drowned. The beautiful Pandora was left heartbroken and alone. Many other toms wished to be her mate, but her heart belonged to the tom who had been drowned, and she rejected all others."

"Like Aunt Vic," whispered Etruria sadly. Skipper wiggled over to her, and she purred.

Skimbleshanks smiled to himself to see them, but he tactfully refrained from mentioning it. "Pandora's loyalty to her mate was so strong that it drew the attention of Bast herself, the great servant of the Everlasting Cat. You see, all those many hundreds of years ago, Bast did not guard Jellicle cats as she does today, for the Everlasting Cat had charged her with a great mission. There was a box in Bast's possession that held all the evils of the world, and Bast was sworn to protect this box, for if it were ever opened, all the terrors inside would be unleashed. But Bast's heart was sore from spending so much time around these fearsome things. She longed to take a break, but there was nobody else to watch the box! When she saw the way Pandora stayed true to her mate, Bast said to herself, 'At last! Here is a Jellicle queen whom I can trust to guard my box.' When she approached Pandora and asked her to do this favor, Pandora was awed by the great goddess, and she agreed, swearing not to open the box.

"For an entire moon cycle, Pandora watched the box that Bast had entrusted to her. But one day, Pandora's human came across the box and—as humans are curious creatures—she opened it. Whoosh! Out flew all kinds of horrors. Thunder and lightning, fleas, distemper, even dogs were brought into the world!" The kittens shuddered and pressed closer together, Etruria squeezing Skipper's paw. "Terrified, the human queen slammed the lid of the box shut, but it was too late; the damage was done, and the human fled in panic.

"Pandora wanted to flee too, but something kept her where she was. She heard a faint voice coming from the box. 'Pandora!' it called. 'Let me out!"

"Pandora walked nervously up to the box. 'Who are you?' she asked.

"The box answered, 'I am the light in the darkness. You have never truly known my power, but now that such evil has been released, you need me. I swear I will help you. Only let me out.'"

"Pandora was very scared. She had seen all kinds of horrible things in that box, and she was afraid to open it again. But if the thing still trapped could help the world, she knew she had to be brave. She opened the box." Skimbleshanks paused dramatically, taking in the kittens' spellbound faces. "When Bast saw all the terrors suddenly present in the world, she flew back to Pandora, furious because she thought the queen had broken her promise. But then the Everlasting Cat herself stopped Bast from hurting Pandora, for she had seen her courage, and she told Bast what Pandora had done.

"When Bast heard this, she was no longer angry at Pandora. She took a tiny grain of her own divine magic and gave it to Pandora as a gift. And thus Pandora became the first Jellicle conjurer, for by her courage she had saved the world."

The three toms stared at Etruria in wonder, as if realizing for the first time that her magic was something very different; they had always taken for granted that it was just a part of who she was. Etruria, however, was thinking of something else.

"But uncle Skimble," she asked, frowning, "What was in the box?"

Skimbleshanks smiled down at her.

"Hope, lassie," he said softly. "Hope."