A/N: This is the chapter I wrote the story for. However, like most stories, this has taken a life of its own. So this is not the end.

Many thanks to everyone who has reviewed. And since I still have PC problems, I'll reply to your comments and questions at the start of the coming chapter.

CHAPTER 3: Lament.

Where is she?

The white cat stood on his hind legs, trying to get a better view of the driveway from behind the window. And there was still no sign of her. Lugh saw a squirrel running through the lawn and his tail twitched by reflex, but he felt no desire for hunting that day. It had been three days since Claire had left for work never to return, and by now he was certain that something was terribly wrong.

Why has she left? Was it because of me?

The cat jumped of the dresser and walked to the kitchen where the other human of the house had left a plate of food for him. Aloof, he licked some water, sniffed the food and returned to his seat by the window, feeling the sting of guilt in his little heart.

Had I known that she prized her coffee mug that much, I'd never gone anywhere near that accursed thing, he thought. The night before her disappearance Claire had been furious when she discovered the broken remains of her favorite mug. She had yelled at him and he had handled it the usual feline way; by ignoring her. And now he feared that he had made a terrible mistake.

I swear I'll never break anything again, he pleaded. Please, come back.

I will be a good boy, I promise.

Just come back.

~*~

But Claire never returned. And Lugh spend his days by the window, waiting. From time to time his natural instincts would prevail and he would go out to chase birds and squirrels, but his interest faded fast. He nibbled some food, drunk some water and sat by the window waiting for the one who would never come home again.

Sparkle, the tabby living across the street, told him that he was a fool grieving over a human. She told him that he should move on and find another human to have as a servant. And when she saw that Lugh still held on to Claire's memory, she twitched her tale and left, snorting. This is a dog's way, she spat in disgust.

Lugh knew this, but he couldn't help himself. Claire had found him in a trashcan when he was less than a month old. If it hadn't been for her kind heart, he would have died. She took him in and nursed him back to health, feeding him with a bottle patiently and cleaning him when he unwillingly soiled himself. His early memories were of her soothing voice whispering in his ears and the warmth of her chest as she fed him. His very first memory was the sound of her heart, the one he loved to hear late at nights, when she was fast asleep.

He was confused by the fact that Tina could not remember her friend. Although her clothes and the rest of her belongings had vanished, her scent still lingered on. He could smell her on the empty bed at nights. He could feel her on the towels in the bathroom, still holding a distant scent of her hair. He could feel her presence in a forgotten slipper, one she had forgot to throw away when it broke. This had now become his favorite toy, much to Tina's amusement that had absolutely no clue of what was going on.

For Lugh, Claire's presence was still everywhere; in every room, in every doorway, in every wall.

How could the humans forget?

He could not.

~*~

Weeks became months and months became years. Tina's friends commented on her well-behaved pet, of the cat that never broke anything around the house or used the furniture as a scratching post. Quiet, Lugh stayed by the door, his yellow eyes perking up every time someone's keys turned in the lock. And every night he would sleep with his paws clutching the shredded slipper, trying to listen to a heartbeat that was no longer there.

He thought of going after her, or after that strange man that had come for her belongings that night. But he had no knowledge of the outside world. There were cars and dogs and humans with hard boots and harder hearts. He had no lead to follow and no skills to survive outside. And what if she came back and never found him? So Lugh decided to stay by the door and wait.

Then came the time when his feet could no longer support him, his health having submitted to his ailing heart. Tina would carry him to his favorite seat, where he would stare out of the window with his failing eyes. Until the day he saw Tina for the last time.

Even walls hold the memories of one's loved ones. Those memories, fragments of one's soul still linger on long after the body has withered away. They linger, bound by nothing more than love.

Even the love of a cat.

Lugh felt the darkness falling. Not yet, he pleaded, not yet. She might return tomorrow. Just one more day. He clutched with his paws the back of the chair, trying to hold on to life, but he felt his soul drifting away. And his heart bled thinking that he would never see Claire again.

Through the shadows that were now veiling his eyes, he saw iridescent butterflies dancing. Sparkles broke way from the walls, from the chair, even from the tattered slipper he was lying on and hovered above him, dancing faster and faster. A swarm of fireflies joined in, bursting in colors Lugh had no names for. And they danced faster until they collided, creating one single shape.

He would never know that he witnessed the birth of a ghost. All he knew was that Claire had finally returned. And she smiled.

I missed you, he said, knowing that she could not understand him.

To his surprise, she did. I've missed you too, boy, she said.

Did you leave because of me?

She smiled sadly. I never wanted to leave you, my little one, she said and reached out to stroke his head.

Lugh could not feel her touch, but he purred anyway. And after a few moments of content silence, he purred out his last breath.

~*~

When Tina came home, she found the cat dead on his favorite seat, with the slipper still in his paws. In tears, she carried the lifeless body away to bury it. She never saw the shadow that lurked against the wall. And she never heard the screams of the tortured soul.

Claire's ghost was howling in wrath. Her life had been taken away. The memory of her existence had been erased. And her cat, the only creature that had really loved her had withered away in guilt, loneliness and pain.

Someone would pay for this. Oh, he would pay dearly.

It might take her years to find him, but she would. Time was nothing to her.

She had nothing more to lose.

She was already dead.