The rain was starting to subside, Bombalurina noted. She looked down at the top of the orange and white queen's head before nuzzling her gently. The smaller cat only curled in closer, obviously not wanting to wake up. Bombalurina smiled and returned her gaze to what was beyond the tiny den the two queens had spent the day in, sleeping, crying, and talking.

Outside, the rain abruptly came to a halt and she could hear the sound of the young toms' dormitory bursting into cheers. Their night, this Celebration of the Full Moon, might just be a dry one. Gradually, the junkyard began to grow noisier and Megan finally opened her pale blue eyes. She slid away from Bombalurina awkwardly and sat down under the doorway's awning. Bombalurina stretched liquidly, followed the smaller queen outside, and sat down silently next to her. Megan ruffled the fur on her head with her, though Bombalurina knew that she had no idea what a mess she was making, trying to stoke her fur flat.

"Megan, let me do it," she finally said and the younger queen nodded gratefully.

"So how come you look fabulous and I think that I just look like a drowned rat" she asked. Bombalurina laughed softly.

"It's because your fur isn't meant to lie flat on your head or any place else," she replied. "It's the smoothing down that makes your fur look like you've been dunked in a bucket of water."

Megan laughed, but didn't say anything, so Bombalurina groomed the little cat silently. She untangled knots in Megan's fur with her claws and used them like scissors to cut away any of the too long, too unruly locks of fur. It took her nearly an hour to finish making the little queen look like the real beauty she was.

"Come into the den next door," she recommended. "There's a mirror in there where you can just how gorgeous you are."

Megan giggled and flushed with the compliment. She wasn't used to being called pretty or gorgeous, but it felt insanely nice. She was positively giddy inside to see how she looked. She followed after Bombalurina like a puppy eagerly following its master. Bombalurina pushed aside the blanket which provided a door to the den, clasped onto Megan's front left paw, and pulled the little queen in after her. The other queens in the den stopped their conversation abruptly and just stared at the newcomer.

"Come on," Bombalurina said and gave Megan's paw a gentle squeeze. Megan followed her to the mirror that the Jellicles had found in the junkyard. She swallowed roughly and glanced up at Bombalurina, who smiled gently down at her. "It's only a mirror, sweetie."

The tiny queen stepped in front of Bombalurina and, for the very first time, saw what she looked like. Her mouth dropped open.

"Wow," she breathed. "This..."

She trailed off as she turned her head from side to side to see how Bombalurina had groomed her. She then started to turn her body to examine her new Jellicle body. She wasn't surprised so much by her new eyes; they were just several shades lighter than her human eyes had been. What made her giggle softly with sheer giddy happiness was the beautiful pattern of her coat: a light orange covering most of her body, with a white bib and white on all four paws. Bombalurina set a paw on the little queen¡¦s shoulder.

"So, what do you think?" she asked.

"It's amazing!" Megan exclaimed and the rest of the queen in the dormitory laughed. She glanced around at the other queens, eager to make friends. "I'm Megan."

One of the queens smiled widely. "I'm Jasmine," she said, setting her knitting down to nuzzle Megan in greeting. Megan felt a little less pretty as she studied the older queen. Jasmine was a solid blue-gray all over her body with the exception of white highlights on her face. She was beautiful. Jasmine nuzzled Megan a second time, snapping her out of her thoughts. "What are you thinking about?"

"Everyone is so gorgeous," she breathed. "I feel like a plain, ordinary thing."

Cassandra smiled. "No, you're not. You are just as beautiful as any of us. Jellicle cats are much better looking than normal cats. Don't know why, but rest assured that you are just as beautiful as any of us."

"Really?" Megan asked. "It's just that I've never felt truly pretty before."

"Well, you are, dear," Tantomile said softly.

Megan looked around at the supportive faces of the older queens. It felt almost too good to be true that she was a genuine beauty. Suddenly, a wide, giddy smile burst onto her face and the other Jellicles began to laugh, each knowing how startling it was to discover that she was beautiful.

Megan was amazed at how clearly she could see in the dark. She smiled, knowing that only night vision goggles and animals could see this clearly. That meant that she really was a Jellicle, or rather a special breed of cat since she wasn't officially a member of the Tribe yet.

"Yet means soon," she whispered to herself as she began to walk around, looking at the junkyard with new admiration.

There was a clearing, almost perfectly circular in shape, that some of the younger toms were practicing their back flips and other complicated, but amazing dance steps. Megan wanted to sit down to watch them, watch the beauty with which they moved, but decided that might make them nervous. She looked away reluctantly.

If someone looked hard enough, she thought, they could see where all of the Jellicle dens, their homes, were.

Each Jellicle den was visible by the fabric or wood covering the entrance. Most of the dens' doors were covered with fabric, but she could see at least one or two pieces of heavy wood blocking out the world. She knew that at least some of the Jellicles made homes from discarded refrigerators or coolers. What she was most interested in was what was behind the wooden doors and how each den looked from the inside. Her little temporary den only had rags and scraps of towels and blankets. Having seen the nice, full blankets and pillows in the older queens' den, she knew that the other dens had to be much nicer than where she slept.

"Whoa!"

A moment later, Megan was sprawled on the ground, on her belly. She immediately began to try and fight off her attacker, who was off of her several moments after they had both toppled to the ground. She rolled over and saw a face with an apologetic smile on its lips. The Jellicle standing over her reached down.

"Up you go," the Jellicle said and quickly helped the small queen to her feet again. "Are you all right?"

Megan thought it over before nodding. "I'm fine."

"That's good," he said. Megan stared at him silently and he suddenly looked embarrassed. "I'm Pouncival."

"I'm Megan."

The mostly white tom smiled. "Hello, Megan," he said, making an over exaggerated bow. Megan giggled. "Sorry I crashed into you. I was practicing my somersaults for the Full Moon Ceremony."

"There's going to be dancing?" she asked, abruptly nervous and excited all at once. Pouncival nodded.

"Not as much as we do during the Jellicle Ball, but enough that we do need to practice a bit before each Moon Ceremony," he told her. "But, you don't have to dance if you don't want to."

"That's a relief," she quietly.

"Well, I'd better go back to practicing. Skimble is going to be upset if I mess up the younger toms' dance," he said. She nodded.

"I won't hold you back,¡¨ she assured him.

She watched him spring back to where the other young toms were and step into the dance perfectly. She shook her head. There was no way that she was going to be able to dance as perfectly as they did.

She walked a ways before her eyes realized that she was standing in front of another den. This one was closed with a wooden door, so she knocked gently at the door, figuring that she ought to meet as many Jellicles as possible. These cats were her new family now. She had to make a good impression on them.

"Coming!" a teenager's voice called back and after a little bit of grunting behind the door, it slid open to reveal a small queen, similar to her in stature, but almost her opposite in coloring. She was mostly a dark red and black with a white bib. Kind of like Demeter and Bombalurina.

Megan suddenly realized that the other queen had been talking and she felt her skin turning a red under the white fur on her face.

"I'm sorry," she whispered. "What did you say?"

"I was just asking what your name is," the smaller queen asked, an amused smile on her lips.

Megan nodded. "Right, I mean, of course. You've never really seen me before." She paused. "My human name is Megan. I don't have a Jellicle name yet."

"Well, Megan, don't worry about that. I've seen you plenty of times."

"But, how? I've been in that den nearly every day. I haven't come out except to... well, you know."

The black and white cross hatched queen smiled. "I came in every day. I'd wait until you were asleep and the straighten things up in your den and give you fresh linens," she said.

"Wow. I mean, everybody seems to be so nice..." Megan trailed off and Jemima winced at the look Victoria shot at her.

"It might help to tell you my name. I'm Jemima." She reached forward and as Megan started to extend her hand, but Jemima caught her wrist and pulled it over, nuzzling her arm. Megan tolerated this for a few seconds before pulling her arm away.

"What are you doing?" she asked quickly.

"That how Jellicles say hello to one another," Jemima said before gesturing inside. "Come on in; the rest of the girls are inside. You can meet them."

"No problem."¨ Megan breathed. "Just so long as they are as nice as you are."

"What?" Jemima asked.

"Oh, sorry. I was thinking aloud."

"Inside," Jemima murmured.

The first thing Megan saw were the narrowed, hateful eyes staring at her. Those eyes belonged to a beautiful, all white Jellicle with the faintest of yellow and pink highlights. She was standing just beyond the doorway, arms crossed over her small chest, tail switched dangerously. Jemima wrapped an arm around Megan's waist and smiled. She then looked around the den to introduce the new cat to the other Jellicles.

"Everyone, this is Megan," she called.

The white Jellicle only narrowed her eyes more and let out a huff of disproval. Megan wanted to shrink back and run to the older queens' den. Luckily, a second young queen hopped up off the box she had been sitting on. She approached Megan quickly then stopped in front of her. Megan stood in uneasy silence as the little queen sniffed around her quickly. Her head finally snapped up to look Megan in the eye.

"Hello, Megan," she said, her voice lower than Megan expected it to be. "My name's Etcetera. Welcome to our den."

"Hello, Megan," another voice echoed from the darkness of the back of the den. A red and black young queen appeared. She had a grace about her that reminded her faintly of Bombalurina. The queen smiled gently. "I'm Electra."

Jemima glanced at the white queen, but the white queen simply turned her head aside. Jemima narrowed her eyes and shook her head.

"This is Victoria," she said quietly. Megan noticed that the other two queens were staring at her with expressions ranging from anger to confusion. "She's the oldest out of all of us and gets to dance her Mating Dance at the next Jellicle Ball."

"Maybe not," Victoria sniffed. "I don't want to settle on whoever decides to return the Dance."

Megan abruptly knew that this was the queen her Michael had warned her about. The queen who had fallen in love with him and was now angry beyond reason at the human girl who had snatched him away. Megan swallowed roughly and forced a smile.

Jemima looked around then looped her arm with Megan's.

"We should probably get going," Jemima said. She tugged Megan's arm towards the door. "We have to start working on learning the Dances of the Full Moon and for the Ball."

"Good luck with that," Victoria sniffed. "I don't think that she'll be able to catch up enough to even dance the simplest dances."

Jemima shook her head in angry, but only responded by leading Megan through the door and out of the den. The wooden door slammed shut behind them. Megan took a shaky breath and looked quickly at Jemima. The smaller queen reached around and wrapped Megan in a hug.

"Don't worry about Victoria," she whispered. "She'll warm up to you eventually. She'll have to."

"Why?"

"Because the only thing that holds the Jellicles together is harmony," Jemima said softly.

Megan followed Jemima closely as the younger queen pointed out different parts of the yard. On ground level and protected with both a wooden door and a tarp was the Healers' hospital. Close by was a den which Jemima said housed a Skimbleshanks and Jennyanydots. Immediately next door was Jellylorum's den. Since Jellylorum and Jennyanydots were both healers, their doors were thick blankets to keep out the elements as well as allow the two Healers to move from their dens quickly to the hospital.

Nearby was a nursery where most of the kittens of the Tribe stayed during the night (and were watched over by a designated baby-sitter). They were taken home with their parents when daylight started to spread out over the sky. Megan found herself grinning widely when they went inside to see the kittens.

"They are adorable," she breathed. Jemima smiled.

"Aren't all babies?"

Megan shook her head. "I've seen a couple ugly babies before in my life and I was embarrassed when I told their parents how beautiful they were."

Jemima giggled. "All right, so we also have the occasional ugly kitten, but they usually grow up all right."

"That's comforting," Megan said, tickling one of the toddlers under the chin. The baby-sitter, a mated queen named Tantomile smiled and tilted her head towards the door. Jemima returned the smile and pulled Megan out of the nursery.

The next den Jemima showed was the den of Munkustrap, Demeter, and Bombalurina. Since Munkustrap had become the Leader of the tribe, Jemima told Megan that should she have any real problems, she should go to this den. Jemima knocked gently on the door.

It was opened by Demeter. The gold and black queen smiled warmly at Megan and Megan felt comfortable and safe with that smile washing over her.

"Megan!" Demeter said instantly and wrapped the orange and white queen in a tight hug. "It's good to see that you're up and around. We were just getting ready to come out."

"Is Bombalurina here?" Megan asked as Demeter let her go and Jemima shot her a funny look. Demeter smiled.

"Bomba, you have a visitor," Demeter called back into the den. The scarlet queen appeared quickly at the door, pushed aside Demeter to cradle close to her chest the little queen she had been watching over during the day.

"Everything all right?" she whispered into the younger queen's ear. Megan nodded tightly.

"I'm fine, I think."

"Good enough for me," Bombalurina replied louder and broke the hug to hold Megan out at arms' length. "You'll make sure to find me if trouble does pop up?"

Megan nodded. "I promise."

As Jemima walked Megan back to her den, the orange and white queen visibly tired, an older, much bigger tom cat approached them. He smiled slyly at Megan who backed up a little. Jemima noticed her movement instantly and spoke up.

"Tugger, this is Megan. I'm just taking her back to her den," she said. Megan could tell by the way Jemima was looking at him, that he must be 'the big man on campus' sort of tom. Tugger's eyes roamed over Megan and she felt her skin crawl with unease.

"Pretty little thing Mistoffelees brought to the yard?" he asked, reaching out to grab her chin. He tilted Megan's face up to his. "He sure knows how to pick them, huh?"

Jemima shook her head and brushed his hand off of Megan. The orange and white cat dropped her gaze to the ground.

"We have to go, Tugger," she said primly. Tugger spread out his arms.

"I wouldn't dream of stopping you," he said.

As they passed him, Megan was shocked to feel his hand graze down her back, squeeze her buttock before giving her a quick slap on the rear. Megan picked up the pace immediately and Jemima almost had to run to keep up. When they reached the den, Megan stood under the overhang, shivering and almost in tears. Jemima reached out and held her hand.

"What's wrong?" she asked, worry clear in her eyes.

"He... touched me," Megan managed.

"That's what he does to everyone," Jemima said. "Just tell him no next time."

Megan nodded and pretended to be relieved, for Jemima's sake. After the tiny queen left, Megan rushed into the deepest point of her den and covered herself in blankets.

She had never been touched like that before and shame began to fill her head. What would her Michael think of her now? That she was just some easy girl who let everyone have a turn with her?

Megan covered her face with her hands and began to cry once again. She never remembered crying so much as a human, but she couldn't stop crying as a Jellicle.

It has to get better, she thought desperately. Otherwise, I¡¦m going back home, where I know what¡¦s happening to me.


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