Friendship in Sorrow

By Yours Truly, Kalliroscope

Quick little note: If you'd like to comment on my work, feel free, but please don't be mean...also, Aspasia's mother's name (Metheanoreley) is pronounced: METH-ee-uh-nor-EL-ee. Thanks, --Kalli

That night the Jellicles began to re-enter the junkyard, sniffing cautiously, searching for intruders, whether they be feline or human. One cat picked up a scent, and stood in the middle of the 'yard. "Hey! I found something!" the graceful white kitten called. The other cats came rushing over, and the Jellicles soon had discovered the unconcious gray kitten. They were of different minds in the matter of what to do with her. Jennyanydots and Jellylorum were sympathetic, saying the poor thing looked half-starved, and that they should let her stay, and give her some food. The kittens were curious; they'd never seen a stray before, unless you counted Macavity at last year's Jellicle Ball, or perhaps Grizabella, who hadn't always been a stray. Munkustrap and Alonzo, as well as some of the other toms, were of the firm belief that she was a spy, sent from Macavity to learn their secrets. Only Victoria, the pure white queen that had discovered the strange kitten did not discuss the matter. She watched the young stray curiously, sympathetically, and sadly, though she did not know quite what she felt about this little stranger. The cats' arguement was put to an end, however, as the little gray queen groaned, and opened her amber eyes. The words came to an abrupt halt, and there was a moment of silence, shortly interrupted by Victoria's sympathetic "Hello." The gray kitten looked frightened, and managed to whisper "H'lo." Victoria nudged the little stray with her pink nose, and said "What's your name?" The other kitten swallowed, and looked around fearfully at the circle of Jellicles standing around her, their faces, for the most part, impassively blank, and devoid of emotion, though there were a few friendly faces in the bunch. Turning back to Victoria, the kitten muttered her name. "'Spasia." "Sorry? I couldn't quite hear you," Victoria said, leaning one small white ear towards the other kitten. "Aspasia," the gray kitten said, louder. Victoria smiled. "That's a nice name. It's very pretty." The kitten looked down at her front paws. "T'anks. My ma worked hard to think of it." "What's your ma's name? And where is she, that she'd let a kitten of your age wander alone to strange junkyards?" Jellylorum asked. Aspasia swallowed, and blinked back a tear. "She's dead. Her name was Metheanorely." Jelly gave a comforting rub to the saddened Aspasia, and Jenny asked "How about your father?" Aspasia looked away. "I...I don't know. I don't know if mama did, either, but she might have." There was a moment of silence, as though in sorrow for the poor kitten. Aspasia broke the silence with a pleading cry "Please, let me stay! I have nowhere else to go...mama said something about a junkyard when she died, and this was the first I found..." Jelly and Jenny had by now made up their minds as to what THEY wanted done with the kitten. Jelly continued stroking Aspasia comfortingly, as Jennyanydots whispered in Munkustrap's ear. Munkustrap must have been feeling sorry for the poor kitten also, bcause it didn't take long before he said "All right--we'll let you stay. But you're not to be alone here, ever, do you understand? You must always be with someone." Aspasia nodded. "I understand." Munkustrap then turned to Jemima, still watching curiously, and said "Jemima, go to the vicarage, and find Old Deuteronmy. Bring him back here." The little brown kitten nodded, and dashed off towards the vicarage, where Old Deuteronomy spent his days and nights. Munkustrap looked back to Aspasia. "Can you walk?" he asked. The gray kitten struggled to her feet, barely managing to stay up for a few seconds, before collapsing again. Munkustrap picked the kitten up, and the Jellicles made their way back to the main part of the 'yard, where they had a pile of ragged blankets. Munkustrap placed Aspasia in the pile of rags, and Jenny & Jelly found a couple of mice, which they gave to Aspasia to eat. The little kitten positively devoured the food, and then Old Deuteronomy had arrived, with Jemima close in tow. Jemima quickly went to her friends, and the Jellicles stepped back respectively as the elderly tom gazed calmly into Aspasia's amber eyes. Somehow, Aspasia felt a little...a little more peaceful, as he looked at her. "So," Old Deuteronomy said, "you want to become a Jellicle?" Aspasia struggled to sit up, and she managed this time. "Yes...if it's all right." "Of course it's all right, my dear," Old Deuteronomy smiled. "Anyone who wishes to become a Jellicle may. There are no tests," he added, noting Aspasia's forlorn appearence, "for how could we, in consience, turn down a kitten who has lost her home, her family, everything, so shortly in her life?" Aspasia looked down, a single tear glimmering on her cheek. She glanced back up. "But...but I thought Jellicles were born..." Old Deuteronomy brushed the tear away from the gray kitten's face, and said "Not all, my dear, not all. Many Jellicles here were found as kittens, or even as adults, and allowed to stay and become one of us. Even I was discovered, a shivering, helpless newborn, my mother having been killed by a truck, and I was taken in by the previous Jellicle Leader, and eventually I took his place. We will not turn you away because of your birth." Aspasia finally smiled, and, looking up into his comforting brown eyes, hugged him, and said "Thank you!"

Two Years Later...

Victoria and Aspasia remained close, that first day having tied them together somehow. Jemima, who had been Victoria's best friend before Aspasia came along, seemed a little jealous, for though Victoria still played with her and the other kittens, she told her secrets to Aspasia, and joked with Aspasia, and talked for long hours with ASPASIA. Jemima had no one to turn to, for Etcetera and Electra, though a little older than she, were less mature, and somewhat foolish when it came to things like toms, especially the Rum Tum Tugger. Jemima had for a long time hoped that Victoria would eventually forget Aspasia, and return to being Jemima's best friend, but that didn't happen. And as the time passed, Jemima grew more and more jealous, until finally she snapped. She was playing Hide-and-Seek with the other kittens (including Vicki and Aspasia) at the time, and she was It. She had counted to twenty five, and now began searching around the junkyard, looking for the other players. She shortly discovered Etcetera and Electera, and Pouncival wasn't hard to find, but Aspasia and Victoria were posing some difficulties. She had looked everywhere that she could think of, in the old red car, in the concrete pipe, beneath the Tire even! But still she couldn't find those two. Then, as she was searching beneath a pile of rags, she heard muffled giggles from above, and looked up to discover Aspasia and Victoria, precariously perched high atop a wobbling pile of rusty metallic trash. Jemima's eyes narrowed at this scene, and in a fit of rage, she yanked a bicycle wheel from the base of the pile. This wheel had been holding most of the pile up, and when Jemima pulled it out, the heap came crashing down on all three. Jemima struggled to find her way out of the swamp of sharp metal trash, and popped her head out between a battered trash can and the bicycle wheel. She watched as Aspasia's head emerged. But no Victoria. "What happened?" Aspasia asked, her voice shaking. Jemima didn't deign to answer; instead, she began digging about in the trash, looking for Vicki. Aspasia realized what she was doing, and also began searching. Jemima gasped, as, feeling around beneath the garbage, she unearthed a white paw. Aspasia struggled over. "Did you find Victoria?" she asked. Jemima decided to forget her anger for a moment, and silently nodded. Aspasia pushed her way past Jemy, and uncovered Victoria's head, which had a large gash in it, apparently inflicted from the sharp broken bottle lying near her, which had fresh blood staining it's slicing edge. Jemima helped her pull away pieces of trash, and soon the two had dug the white queen out of the trash heap all the way. She lay still, not breathing, and Jemima and Aspasia looked at each other in fright, all enmity laid aside in the face of this greater danger. They struggled to free themselves from the garbage, and dragged Victoria out of the way of the trash, and to the center of the yard. Of course, other Jellicles had heard the crash, and came immedeitly. "Oh! What happened? Is she all right?" Jennyanydots asked, running over. She knelt, and felt Victoria's neck. With a little sob, she turned her head away. Munkustrap leaned over, feeling Victoria's throat also, and then looked at Aspasia and Jemima, standing silent as statues. "What happened?" he asked sternly. Jemima didn't speak. Aspasia explained. "We were playing Hide-and-Seek, and Jemima was It, so Vicki and I hid on top of a big pile of trash. We were giggling, and talking, and all of a sudden, the pile came crashing down, and we were stuck under the trash. Jemima must have been right under the pile, looking for us, because she got caught too. Jemmy and I managed to get out, but Victoria..." She swallowed. "Victoria stayed under the trash. We looked around for her, and finally found her. A big piece of broken glass had her blood on it." Aspasia sniffed, and bent her head in her paws, sobbing. Jemima ignored the tears streaming down her cheeks. Still staring at Victoria's body, she whispered "I did it." Munkustrap looked at her. "What did you say?" Jemmy spoke louder. "I did it. I saw them sitting up there, and I pulled the wheel out. The pile fell down, and Victoria got killed. Because of me. Because I killed her." Munkustrap narrowed his eyes, and drew a deep breath. Jennyanydots left Victoria's side to put her arm around Jemima. "Oh, my dear, you can't possibly mean to say that you--" "I do! I did it!" Jemima ignored Jenny's paw on her shoulder. "I killed Victoria."

The next day, Jemima was at her human's house, staring into the distance, not crying, thinking about Victoria, when she heard a knock on the little cat door that her humans had installed in the regular, human door. She sighed, and pushed the door open, to reveal...Aspasia. Aspasia's eyes were wet, as though she had just stopped crying. Jemima didn't speak. She didn't know what to say. She had hated Aspasia for two years; she didn't know how to stop. Aspasia gave a weak smile, and said "Jemima...I just want you to know, that I apologize." "For what?" Jemima said, finding her tounge. Aspasia looked down. "For stealing your best friend. I knew she was your best friend when I first came. I just...I wanted a friend so badly, and she was willing to be my friend...so I'm really sorry, and I wish that you'd forgive me." Jemima hung her head. "I'm the one who should be forgiven. I killed her. I let jealousy get the better of me, and I deliberately killed her." Aspasia shook her head violently. "No! No, you did NOT kill her deliberately...you weren't TRYING to kill her, were you?" As Jemima shook her head, eyes still on the ground, Aspasia continued. "You only meant to make us fall. And it's not your fault. It's mine." Jemima looked up, but before she could speak, Aspasia did. "It is my fault! Vicki and I both knew that old pile of junk was too rickety to be safe, and yet I suggested that we hide there. If we hadn't hid up there, she wouldn't be dead. And if I hadn't taken your best friend in the first place, you wouldn't have been so enraged." Jemima managed a small grin. "It may not be my fault, but then it's not yours either. You just wanted a friend. I just wanted my friend back. And it's neither of our faults." Aspasia smiled. "All right then. Are you over feeling that you killed her?" Jemima's smile faded. "No," she said, her voice catching. Aspasia sighed, and put her arm around Jemima's shoulder. "Jemima, Victoria is dead. It's a horrible tragedy, and both of us have reason to think we caused it. Neither one of us did. Do you think that Victoria would have liked it if you spent your life mourning for her? Do you think she'd like it if I did? When my mother died, I mourned for her, certaintly, but she wanted me to live, and so I did. I didn't try to NOT be sad, but I was sad in my free time. I continued living; I came here, I became a Jellicle, I became Vicki's friend. Now I want to be your friend. And I think Victoria would like that." Jemima let her tears flow freely now, and leaned her head on Aspasia's shoulder. Aspasia let her cry, and when the sobs stopped, she patted the younger kitten's head, and said "Now come with me. The Jellicles are going to hold a a small ceremony for her, at the tire. None of them blame you either. They're sad, but they're going to keep living; so are you." Jemima followed Aspasia out the door, and towards the junkyard. Towards the junkyard, where Victoria was being sent to the Heaviside Layer. After the ceremony, all the cats had gone back to their respective homes, in muted sorrow. Only Aspasia and Jemima remained. They both stared at the sky, where Victoria now resided. As they gazed at the stars, Jemima slipped her paw into Aspasia's. Aspasia glanced down at the teary face of her companion, and smiled, then she turned back to the stars. Both Jemima and Aspasia felt instinctively that Victoria would like it if they turned aside their differences, and their old feud, and became friends, mourning together, in sorrow for their lost companion.