Heart for Heart

Ch. 1

Everyone said and completely believed that Plato and I were the perfect couple. When someone wanted to give an example of the perfect relationship, one they themselves would desire, they would immediately use us. Jemima revealed to me one day that she wished to be as close to a tom as I was, supposedly, to Plato.

Everyone was wrong, however. We were not the "perfect couple." I did not even wish him to be mine. We would argue constantly and he kept trying to exercise control over me. I wanted to be free of him. It's not that he was bad or that I hated him, it is just that he was not the one for me. He asked me to dance with him at the Jellicle Ball and then I couldn't be rid of him. I was hopping another, certain tom would ask, but he never did. I began to fear that I would have no partner and I immediately acquiesced when Plato asked me to be his. I did not realize he wanted me to be his queenfriend. After I became his queenfriend, I began to wish that I belonged to someone else. I wished that I belonged to Mr. Mistoffelees. The only thing in the entirety of the World I wanted was his heart, in exchange for mine. I knew I would give him my heart, if he asked for it, without a single care, as long as he returned the favor with his own.

I know I am desperately in love with the Conjuring Cat. I have actually known this for some time. At the Jellicle Ball, I thought that he returned that love. He was constantly showing off in front of me, getting my attention and he even made me disappear and reappear with electricity. It was amazing! But after that, a distance seemed to grow between us.

A few days after the Ball, he seemed upset about Plato's public announcement (which was completely unnecessary), that I was his queenfriend and we were to be mates soon. Plato can be a little selfish and overdramatic sometimes. But the look on Mistoffelees face, once Plato said that I was his, was the most heart-wrenching, miserable face I have ever seen. It broke my heart. I knew that I had hurt him and I felt ashamed. I ran away from the junkyard, sobbing as I went. I faintly heard Plato's explanation of how happy I was and that I was crying tears of joy. How little he knew!

Once outside the junkyard, I found a bed of moss underneath an oak tree and spilled the sorrow of my heart into the soothing green growth. I must have cried for hours, constantly pinning after the magical cat. When I finally looked up into the sky, the sun was receding westerly over the horizon. I knew I should return home to my humans, but I was too grieved to go back to the comforts of home. I knew I couldn't erase the image of Mr. Mistoffelees' heartbroken face.

I returned into the junkyard. Everyone had left, or so I thought. Lost in thought, I slunk over to the drainage pipe; the den of Mr. Mistoffelees. I do not completely know why. I wanted to be near him and that was the only place I knew I could be close to him, even though he wasn't there. Slowly, but surely, I fell into a deep, but troubled, sleep.

I woke up to the sound of thunder. I realized that my refuge of choice was not a wise decision. I was soaked. Of course a drainage pipe would contain water once it rained! Stupid, stupid cat! I thought. I crawled out of the drainage pipe, rather pathetically, and began to seek refuge.

"Idiot! You should have gone home!" I said to myself, amidst the thunder and lightning.

I jumped at a rather loud crack of thunder and jumped again as a streak of lightning flashed overhead. I almost laughed at how pitiful I was acting. I was also quite upset with myself.

"In fact," I continued, even louder this time, kicking a puddle and drenching myself further, "You shouldn't have let yourself get into this situation with Plato! Now that you are engaged, he'll never understand if you tell him it's not working out! He will be even angrier if you tell him another tom is always on your mind!"

"Perhaps, you should tell him anyway. He deserves to know," A melancholy voice whispered in my ear.

I jumped and turned around. There standing in front of me in the pouring rain, was Mr. Mistoffelees. He smiled at me, but I could see the hurt in his eyes. I began to ask him why he was in the junkyard and not with his owners, but he silenced me with a finger.

"Perhaps, we should get you somewhere dry," he said.

I only nodded in reply. He quickly led me to the underneath of the hood of the TSE 1 car, which was JennyAnyDots den. I no longer jumped at the thunder or lightning, I felt safe with him. I curled underneath the hood and began to lick myself dry.

"What are you doing here, Victoria? Shouldn't you be inside, at home?" he asked me gently, after he had dried himself off.

"I suppose I could ask you the same thing. I will tell you the truth, though. I couldn't. I'm far… to… upset," I answered, my voice cracking towards the end of my last sentence.

I covered my face with my hands and began to sob, again. I couldn't believe how ridiculous it was, my crying. I knew it couldn't solve anything, but I didn't know what else to do. I wanted to tell him everything, but I just couldn't.

"Hey, hey. Easy," he chided, bringing me into an embrace.

I buried my head in his shoulder, sobbing harder. I wanted to be his. I felt it more than ever. He nuzzled his cheek against mine. I knew this could be wrong, being in his arms instead of my future mate's, but I didn't care. I wanted him, wanted to be his. But I wasn't. I broke away, unable to stand my thoughts of longing, my crying ceasing.

"It doesn't matter, that won't help. Nothing can comfort me now," I said, turning away.

I didn't want to see his look of dejection, but I knew it was there. Trying to distract myself from him, from wanting to kiss him, I began to groom myself once more.

"A-allow me," He said, beginning to lick my fur.

"No, we mustn't," I said, backing away slightly.

"But you're soaked," he said, smiling sadly at me.

I shook my head. My desire for him burned even stronger. I couldn't stand it. This was making everything more difficult to bear. I had to suppress my feelings, but they began to suffocate. They wanted to be set free.

"I can't take it, I just can't," I said, my emotions beginning to engulf me.

He looked confused.

"Can't take what?" he asked, looking around as if to find an answer.

"My love for you. My want to be around you, to be near you. My want to kiss you and be held in your arms. My want to be yours. My want for your heart, in exchange for mine," I choked out and ended in sobs.

He stared at me, slightly startled and dumbfounded.

"Your love for me?" he asked, blinking hard.

I looked at him and nodded.

"You… love me?" He asked, touching his paw to his chest as he said "me."

"Yes, yes I love you. I always have and always will," I confirmed with a sniff, looking away from his surprised face.

"I thought you loved Plato. You are to be mates soon," he said, his voice trailing.

I watched the rain pitter-patter across the ground and realized the thunder and lightning had stopped. The pitter-patter of rain was soothing to see, even through my turmoil. I had a choice, either hurt Plato or hurt Mistoffelees. I wiped my tears, but more ran down my cheeks.

"I don't want to be his mate. Ever since we danced at the Jellicle ball, he seems to believe I am the one for him. I didn't even want to dance with him actually, I-I wanted to dance… with… you," I said looking back into his eyes, his beautiful blue-green eyes.

"But he is so much taller, so much stronger and… better than me," Mistoffelees said, shaking his head.

I placed a paw on his knee involuntarily. Realizing this, I pulled away. Perhaps it would be best to express my feelings for him in words, not actions.

"You are so sweet and kind, self-sacrificing, caring, generous, and loving. Even your mischievousness is wonderful,"

He looked down and blushed at that. I put my paw on his paw. He looked back up into my eyes. Actions do speak louder than words, though.

"You have magical powers. How could you say that Plato is better than you? You could use those powers for any number of evils, like… Macavity," I said, looking to make sure the evil fiend wasn't there. He winced at the name. I continued, "All you use them for is entertainment, dazzlement and some practical jokes."

"You know about those, huh?" he asked, looking slightly guilty.

"Of course. I wish I was a part of them. I love the jokes you and Tugger pull; you wouldn't be you without them."

He looked away from me and sighed. He seemed to be struggling with something. There was something he wanted to tell me, but he couldn't. He would try to say something, but instead fiddled with his tail. I longed to know what it was that was on his mind.

"I love you, Misto," I whispered.

He turned back to me.

"But you can't, you mustn't. You'll only be hurt," He said, concern showing in his eyes.

I was confused. How could I possibly be hurt if I loved him? I knew he would never hurt me. It had to be something else. Did he love someone else? That must be the reason! It was probably Electra. Yes! That had to be it. He was in love with Electra!

"You love another queen, don't you?" I asked.

He looked down.

"No," He said, slowly.

"You love Electra, don't you?!" I cried, tears streaking down my face… again.

"No, no, no, no, no, nothing like that," he said, bringing me sideways into his lap. He stroked my shoulder.

I sniffed, leaning my head against his shoulder. He wiped my unnecessary tears away.

"What, then?" I asked, after my crying ceased.

He sighed, and then quickly said, "You don't want to know,"

"Of course I want to know why the love of my life says I can't be his," I replied, passing my fingers through his ruffles.

"Don't say that," He said, shaking his head and gently removing my paw.

"Say what?" I asked, confused once again.

"Love of my life. It will only make it harder to tell you-"

"Tell me what?" I asked, getting slightly agitated.

He sighed and batted his ear. He usually does that when he is embarrassed or upset about something. I had to assume it was the latter.

"That Macavity… is my… he is…" He struggled.

"He is what?" I coaxed.

"My father," he whispered, almost inaudibly.

I scrambled out of his lap and stared at him. I blinked and tried to speak.

"It's not true, tell me it's not true," I said shaking my head.

He closed his eyes and nodded his head.

"Munkustrap told me this morning. After Plato made your engagement announcement I couldn't take another piece of shocking news,"

He looked back at me. His eyes begged me to come back to him.

"Please, don't be afraid," he pleaded.

"I-I'm n-not a-f-fraid," I said, trying, unsuccessfully, to hid my stammers and my fear.

"Then why are you backing away from me?" He asked, trying to come towards me.

I realized then that I was, indeed, backing away from him. I was afraid. My mother, Griddlebone, worked for Macavity. She told me quite a few horrible things about him. She also told me never to have any connections with him. Mr. Mistoffelees apparently had a connection to Macavity, by blood. He stopped trying to advance.

"Victoria, please, I-I would never hurt you," Mistoffelees said, his voice breaking.

"How-how do I know that?" I asked, frightened that I had come up to the wall of the car.

"Because," he answered, a sparkling tear running down his cheek, "I love you. Don't judge me by the sins of my father."

More tears began to run down his cheeks. He looked down at the floor, unable to meet my eyes. He closed his eyes and said, in a choking out voice, "I want your heart, i-in exchange for mine."

I sat where I was for a moment in shock. He had given me his heart. He returned my love. If he was anything like his father, he wouldn't have returned my love and he certainly wouldn't be crying. I looked up at him. He still sat there crying with his eyes closed. I advanced towards him, put my paws to his cheeks and kissed him, fully on the lips. I brought my arms around his neck as my tongue begged for passage into his mouth. He accepted and I could feel our two hearts become one. Though I knew it was unlikely, I thought they had the same beat. He wrapped his arms around my waist and kissed me back. I could feel electricity spark out of his paws. Our tongues intertwined. I could almost taste the electricity. Suddenly, he broke away.

"We shouldn't," he said, looking away from me, guiltily, "You're engaged."

I shook my head defiantly. Plato never confessed he loved me. The way I saw it, the engagement had no basis.

"No, Plato never gave me his heart," I said, smiling and resting my forehead against his.

"But I never-" he said, brow furrowing.

"Yes, you did," I interrupted him, "You said you wanted my heart, in exchange for yours. A true engagement of love."

"Oh, Vicky," he said, hugging me and bringing me as close to him as possible, "My Vicky."

"My Misto," I sighed, looking into his eyes.

Love. I saw love in his eyes. And happiness, I saw a life full of happiness in his eyes. He was it, he was the one. The only one that could truly love me, and I him.

He leaned his forehead against mine.

"Will you be my mate?" He whispered.

"Yes, forever and always, yes," I answered.

His mouth took mine again. I could taste electricity once more. We kissed so passionately, but so tenderly, I never wanted it to end. He kissed me as though he thought I might break, as if I could easily fade away. I never wanted it to end, but we eventually had to breathe. We sat back, breathing heavily and gazing into each others eyes.

"You know, you must tell Plato. He does deserve to know how you feel," Misto commented, breaking the silence.

I sighed. Plato would hurt Mistoffelees if I told him how I felt, but if I didn't I would become his mate. He will try to harm Misto, I just know it! How will he react when I tell him? He won't be forgiving, that's certain, I thought uncomfortably.

"He can't harm me; I'm the Magical, Marvelous Mr. Mistoffelees. I'll send Jennyanydot's mice after him! And if his reaction is detrimental to you, I will shock him to the Heaviside Layer!" He answered, with a smart nod.

I stared at him dumbfounded. How did he know what I thought?

"But, how did you-" I began.

"Know what you were thinking? Telepathy," he answered, as aloof as if telepathy was an everyday thing. Though, to him, it is.

"And did I give you permission?" I asked, raising an eyebrow in mock annoyance and crossing my arms.

He looked surprised, as if he had never thought about that. He covered his mouth with his paws. Little did he realize I was only teasing.

I'm sorry, he apologized, talking with his mind, still covering his mouth.

Apparently, I embarrassed speech out of him. I felt slightly ashamed of myself. I was only joking. I didn't mind if he read my thoughts or not. He was bound to know all of my secrets anyway.

"I was just teasing," I said, batting a paw at him.

His tail twitched in annoyance.

Not amusing, he replied peevishly, though I saw the amused smirk on his face.

He crawled over to my right side and sat down. He yawned and stretched.

I'm exhausted, aren't you?

I thought for a moment. Suddenly I realized how exhausted I actually was. I stretched forward and lay down on my right side. He lay down beside me, on his left side, so that we were facing. I wasn't ready for sleep however badly I wanted it.

"Are you not talking aloud because I offended you?" I asked, trying to keep my eyes open.

No. It just takes an effort to talk aloud, he replied.

I smirked at that.

"Lazy," I whispered with a grin.

I'm too exhausted to talk, he whined, folding his arms and pouting.

"Stop being irresistible. That's not fair," I whined, also pouting.

He leaned in close and whispered in my ear, with a devious smile:

"Oh, you think that's irresistible?"

I rolled my eyes, with an amused grin, and replied:

"I thought I said 'stop.' I've played this game before, Tugger,"

He was quite offended at that. He shot up into a sitting position. Brilliant, my plan was working. I was afraid this could all be a dream. I thought I could still be asleep under that oak tree. If it was a dream, I wanted it to last as long as possible. I had had so many dreams like this before, only to be awoken from them. I dearly hoped I was not dreaming or I would never wake up.

"You think that I am like Tugger? He is my best friend, but me like him? And what game? Who have you played it with?" He demanded.

I remained lying down. I rolled onto my back, looking into his face. Perhaps he would not know all of my secrets. I didn't bother to answer. Another thought distracted me.

"Touch me," I begged him.

One of his eyebrows shot up in confusion. It was an odd request. I admit it. I just didn't want this to end, like all of my dreams had.

"Like you did, at the Jellicle Ball," I explained, then continued in a whisper, "I know you remember that,"

"I'd be mad to forget," he whispered.

But he shook his head.

"I can't. You are still betrothed," he answered, though not looking at my face.

I rolled my eyes. I just could not help it. We had previously had this discussion. This had to be a dream. He always did this in my dreams.

"Touching you, like I did, can lead to undesired… consequences," he said, sliding his paw from my knee to my ankle.

"We are both too timid. We will never get far enough to be into deep undesired circumstances," I replied.

"Now your being irresistible," he grumbled.

I just shrugged. If he was going to resist, I could not persuade him. I just did not want to loose him. I was not necessarily trying to nag or be bossy. I was afraid that this happiness would fade. What would I do then?

Finally, he gave into his will. His paws went over my shoulders and down my sides. I purred with pleasure. He purred as well and nuzzled his head into my stomach. He then nuzzled my cheek with his. Afterwards he lay down.

"Satisfied?" He asked with a smile.

"For now, yes," I replied, still purring.

"Now, I have a question for you. Don't you think the junkyard will go ballistic if they see us exit the same den in the morning?" he questioned.

I had not thought as far as the morning. Perhaps, this was no dream? I had no idea how to answer his question. All I replied was:

"Yes,"

"Perhaps I should sleep elsewhere," he thought aloud.

I thought hastily. I did not want him to leave. Think, think!

"Couldn't you just teleport somewhere else in the morning? They would never know," I replied hastily.

He smiled. He, apparently, didn't want to leave either.

"Good thinking. I like that idea," he said, touching his nose to mine, "Goodnight, love."

"Goodnight darling," I sighed, closing my eyes.

We snuggled together. I heard him hum a familiar tune, but could not name it at the time. His warmth and melodic hum quickly put me to sleep. Neither of us was prepared for what the morrow would bring.