A/N: Sorry! I know it's been over a year since I last updated. Not going to make excuses. Don't even know if anyone will read this :P

Thanks to all the reviewers, this update was made possible with your support.

Disclaimer: I do not own CATS.

(Listening to: Hero by Skillet)

Chapter 4: In which Tumblebrutus tries to teach spelling, Jemima gets her rock on, Alonzo fails to catwalk (HA! PUN!) and everyone wants Jemi.

"Listen Jemima", Alonzo sat down in his own den (still in the calico's body), "I know you're angry at me but how about we call it even?"

For some reason the particular question irked Jemima, "I don't play to get even!"

She spun around and advanced on Alonzo (her own body) and poked him in the chest after each syllable emphasizing her message, "I. Play. To. Win."

Alonzo gulped, but just backed himself against the wall hoping to disappear. Jemima leaned forward, in his body she was able to tower over him, in her body.

"Enjoying literally looking down on others for once?" The black and white tom teased lightheartedly earning a low snarl from Jemima.

So lost in their intense staredown, neither of them noticed a certain Abyssinian slinking into the room.

"Hope I'm not interrupting", the familiar cool voice cut through the silence. Alonzo whipped his head towards the voice, a little surprised. Jemima, on the other hand, didn't move at all.

"Sweet little Jemima", Cassandra mocked towards Alonzo (in Jemima's body), "What's with the guilty look in your eyes?"

Alonzo was slightly horrified for two reasons. 1. Cassandra had caught him feeling guilty, which was something he just didn't do. 2. She thought he was a queen. Given the circumstances he was only slightly offended, but still it had dealt his ego a blow.

"Uh...", was all Alonzo managed to stammer out. Jemima (in his body) seemed to snap out of her reverie and turned to look at Cassandra with an unreadable expression on her face.

To Cassandra it was quite clear, Jemima was guilty for whatever reasons and Alonzo wasn't apologizing or making excuses.

"Look Lonze, we weren't exclusive so I get it. I finally understand why you've been acting so weird lately, but you should've said something", the Abyssinian frowned.

"This isn't what you think it is, Cass", Alonzo stumbled over his tongue, momentarily forgetting that he wasn't in his own body.

To his surprise she chuckled lowly, "Since when did you start calling me Cass? And don't worry your little head, Jemi, I don't deal with all that drama. I couldn't care less about your guilty feelings."

Cassandra turned to leave and waved a little goodbye with her tail, "Have fun, kids."

Following Cassandra's departure, the silence in the den overwhelmed both of them. Jemima backed away from Alonzo still with a blank look gracing her features.

"I'm sorry", she said meekly, her softer side coming back into play, "I should've said something."

The black and white tom looked at her with one eyebrow raised and suddenly scowled, "What's with this shy and quiet thing? It doesn't suit you, Jemima."

She looked up and caught his questioning gaze. He grimaced, "Forget it, Cassandra and I will always be friends. It's no big deal."

"Alonzo..."

He sighed heavily.

"The Jellicle Ball is in five days", it might've been just him, but Alonzo could've sworn she had been about to say something else. Jemima expanded on that one statement, "We should start working on teaching each other our parts."

"Ugh, too much effort."

Jemima stalked out of the den making sure she whacked him in the face with her tail mid step.

"Don't hit me with my own tail."

Plato and Tumblebrutus were chilling in the back alleys drinking some high quality milk. Etcetera and Victoria happened to cross paths with them while they were taking a brisk walk.

"Hey there Vickster!" Plato called out to the pure white queen with excitement and waved the two queens over.

Etcetera bounded over to the old cart that they were resting on and exclaimed, "Hey Plato and Tumble!"

In sharp contrast, Victoria stepped delicately towards them lost in thought. Plato waved a paw in front of Victoria's face and sing songed, "Earth to Vic-tor-i-ahhhhh!"

Her head snapped up and she smiled sheepishly, "Sorry guys, hi!"

Tumblebrutus looked at her with concern, "Something wrong?"

But just as Victoria was about to voice her thoughts, Plato cut in, "Vicki! Apparently Jemi and Lonzo are an ITEM now!"

The pure white queen gaped at him as Etcetera squealed, "Ohmygosh! They are sooooo cute!"

Plato grabbed Etcetera's shoulders and gasped, "I know right? They are too cute! C-O-O-T!"

Both Victoria and Tumblebrutus sweat dropped. Tumble was about to correct Plato, "I believe it's spelled c-u-"

"They should have an adorable couple name like Dramione", Etcetera jumped up and down with vigor.

"Dra- what?"

Plato joined Etcetera in her weird hopping dance and whooped, "Totally! They can be Jemonzo or...or Alemi!"

Tumblebrutus face palmed and groaned, "Why me?"

"IMAGINE THEIR BABIES!"

"Oh...em...geeeeee, their babies would be soooooo cute and lovable!"

"They would have Jemima's humungo eyes and Alonzo's black and white fur and-"

Victoria gestured to Tumble with her paw and the two of them left Plato and Etcetera to fangirl over Jemima and Alonzo's babies.

"They certainly do get worked up over nothing" Tumble mused with a small smile.

The white queen laughed, her laughter like the sound of pealing bells, "You don't suppose Jemi and Alonzo are actually together now, do you?"

Tumblebrutus looked thoughtful, "They do have a sort of chemistry, but I kind of doubt they'd get over the fooling around and proceed to an actual relationship."

The two continued to walk back towards the Junkyard in silence, pondering about a variety of issues.

"Isn't that them?" Tumble pointed towards a clearing to their left. Both of them were shocked by the sight that met their eyes.

Jemima and Alonzo been practicing their dance moves and song lyrics for a couple of hours now and were thoroughly exhausted. The calico, still in the black and white tom's body, lay down on the green grass and looked at the bright blue sky. The situation could've passed as peaceful, but the issue at hand was nagging at her head. What exactly was going to happen on the night of the Jellicle Ball? What was this mysterious lesson that they both had to learn? How did Old Deuteronomy become Jellicle Leader with his terrible leadership skills? Why are baby kangaroos called joeys?

Still standing, Alonzo took the chance to look at her. It was a familiar sight, as it used to be his own body, but there was something off that he couldn't quite put his finger on. His eyes never shone the way they were now. He looked towards the sky as well, wondering what she was seeing in the floating clouds. After awhile he couldn't fathom what was so interesting about the expanse of free sky and turned towards her, surprised to see that she was staring right back at him.

"Like what you see?" He grinned irresistibly (at least that was what other queens had told him).

Jemima caught him off guard as she giggled, "That's my own body, you fool."

The black and white tom continued to smile and replied in a girly voice, "Then how about them poses?"

He begin to do a series of poses he dimly recalled seeing in a Catmopolitan magazine. Jemima sat up and started to outright laugh, something she hadn't done in awhile. Alonzo continued posing and puckering his lips before collapsing into hysterical laughter with the calico.

"You looked hilarious", Jemima managed to choke through her snickering.

"I bet those poses really flattered your image", he looked up at her and winked.

"Ugh", she scowled, "How can you go from not bad to absolutely incorrigible within seconds?"

Alonzo looked at her carefully, "It's a talent I have."

He leaned towards her suddenly with an intense look. Jemima's breath caught in her throat, but she was scared of the implications and turned away.

"I just remembered, I have to talk to Tantomile about something", she said and stood up. "See you later."

The black and white tom swiped at the grass in frustration as she left him behind alone in the grassy clearing.

"Interesting", Tumblebrutus commented.

Victoria bit back a laugh, "It seems Jemima really has fallen for Alonzo. If Alonzo hadn't chickened out there, I bet we would've seen some lip action."

At "lip action" the white queen waggled her eyebrows suggestively. Tumble burst out laughing.

Victoria giggled along with him, "Oh dear, I just sounded too much like Plato for my liking."

"And here the gossip was having me think that you were into Plato", Tumble teased.

"Tumblebrutus listens to gossip?" Two could play a game, Victoria pretended to be aghast. Tumblebrutus made a face at her.

They stood still just smiling at each other until she softly said, "I'm not into Plato anymore. He's a great friend but we're not a good match."

"Oh, sorry about that."

The silence became awkward and the two fidgeted, neither knowing what to say. Tumblebrutus' face lit up as he turned to her with a surprisingly bright smile, "I'll race you back to the Junkyard."

Before she could answer he had taken off.

...

"Cheater!"

"I don't give a damn 'bout my bad reputation!"

Jemima jumped around strumming her air guitar and headbanging to the beat.

"Never said I wanted to improve my station!"

She took to air drums and hit the imaginary cymbals hard.

"A girl can do what she wants to do and that's what I'm gonna do!"

The calico yowled at the top of her voice.

"And I don't give a damn 'bout my bad reputation! You're living in the past it's a new-"

Jemima abruptly stopped as she heard a distinct voice join in with the song.

"-generation! Oh no, not me. Oh no, not me. I don't give a damn about my bad reputation!"

The calico gave a genuine smile and without thinking pulled the singer into a tight hug. "Victoria, I've missed you."

Victoria and Jemima weren't exactly the best of friends, but still generally got along. However, it seemed like an eternity had passed since she had seen the white queen.

"Uh, what are you doing, Alonzo?"

Jemima's eyes widened...oh crap...

"Oh, uh, sorry", she stammered, "Got caught up in the heat of the song."

Victoria laughed it off, "Yeah, Bad Reputation, Joan Jett, 1981."

"Nice memory", Jemima answered with a grin.

"What other music do you like, Alonzo?"

"Oh there's too many to list!"

They both laughed. The snow white queen insisted, "Just name a few."

"Well there's The Fray, Three Days Grace, Taylor Swift, Hawthorne Heights, AFI, Joan Jett of course, Lenka, Lady Gaga, Avril Lavigne-"

She stopped to take a breathe and Victoria interrupted, "Whoa slow down there, boy. You have great taste in artists! I absolutely adore The Fray."

Alonzo hadn't moved from his spot in the clearing. He looked up at the night sky, blinking slowly and thinking over the events of the day.

Was I about to kiss her?

What the mushrooms was I thinking when I leaned in?

She didn't want to kiss me.

She ran away.

I disgust her that much.

"Wait", Alonzo voiced his thoughts, sitting up, "Why do I care what she thinks of me? Hey, if she doesn't want a piece of me that's her loss."

You care.

"Shut up. Jemima's never had a thing for me."

But have you ever had a thing for her?

"No. It's always been Cass or Bomba."

Ah, but you never pursued a relationship with either of them.

"Heck no. Don't want to be tied down."

After a moment of silence, Alonzo groaned, "Oh great I'm talking to myself now."

Victoria was having a blast with Alonzo and didn't understand how he could act so differently when in the presence of other cats.

Jemima had trouble just relaxing and having fun with Victoria, as she had to constantly keep her guard up and pretend to be Alonzo.

"Have you ever gone to any music concerts?" Victoria danced around the den to The Ready Set.

The calico laughed, "Nope."

"Didn't you go on that trip to Scotland a few years ago? Seriously no concerts?"

Vaguely recalling that Alonzo had been on a trip to Scotland awhile ago, Jemima hoped she had the right answer, "Not much excitement in Scotland."

"Don't let Rumple or Mungo hear you say that!"

Jemima laughed and tried to think of a comment that would sound suitably like Alonzo, "I don't care what they think of me."

The comment took Victoria off guard, it was nonchalant, a bit arrogant and yet, refreshing. Who was this transformed tom in front of her? Certainly not the immature and flirty tom that pissed Jemi off so much. He spoke with a soft confidence and was able to carry a conversation with her easily. He hadn't made any inappropriate comments and answered her questions with an admirable amount of honesty ("You LIKE Avril Lavigne?" "Yes...yes I do." "Never thought I'd hear any tom say that.").

I miss having someone always there for me.

Noticing that Victoria's face had suddenly become quite sullen, Jemima feared she had said something wrong and put an arm around her shoulder.

"What's wrong?"

Oh my Everlasting Cat, he's sensitive too!

Suddenly the white queen burst into tears shocking the calico. Unsure of what to say, Jemima just reassuringly pat her on the back. Victoria suddenly leaned towards her and hesitated.

Realizing what her friend was debating, Jemima nervously rolled over her side. She stuttered, "Oh it's getting late."

Victoria got up and yelled, "What the chipotle, Alonzo? You're supposed to be the easiest tom since Tugger! First you turn down Jemi and now me. What is wrong with you?"

"I..er...have to go", Jemima backed away and then ran out of the den forgetting it was her own den now.

The white queen kicked a pillow in the den, "ARGH I NEED ICE CREAM!"

Ending A/N: Thanks for reading, please review, don't be shy :D I don't bite, usually. Will try to get another chapter up soonish. blush.