I do not own Cats or any of its characters

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I stared down at the small bundle of snow white joy in my paws.

My daughter. She was my daughter. And she was beautiful. Crisp white fur with not a single blemish of colour, a tiny pink nose that couldn't seem to sit still and, when she finally opened them, crystal blue eyes, so bright they looked like stars. Just like her mother.

The thought brought tears into my eyes, and for once I didn't stop them. My beautiful mate. She had been my life and soul. Her smile, her laugh, her kindness, her temper, all of it had been my life and now she was gone. And all that was left was my daughter, the very kitten she had given her life to, so that she could live in this world instead of her.

Tears dripped down my cheeks in heavy drops and I sobbed into the white fluff, leaking out my despair and sorrow. Why her? Every other Queen gave birth without trouble. Yet mine hadn't. She had struggled throughout the entire birth. Jellylorum had told me her body wasn't ready for it, that she was too weak, and yet she had lived through the birth and had seen her kit. However the small kitten arrived still and silent. The sight of my daughter was almost surreal as I watched my mate give a sad smile to our little girl, eyes weary and tear streaked, and took the unmoving bundle from Jelly's arms.

"Victoria" I remembered the way she had breathed it, almost as if breathing life into the kit. And then suddenly the white form was mewling, begging for her mother's milk. My heart almost broke with happiness at the sight.

I thought everything would be alright.

However as the days progressed my mate's strength lessened. She became weak and easily tired and before I knew it, she couldn't even find the energy to breath anymore.

I woke out of my sad reverie as I felt the gentlest of touches against my cheek. I glanced down at my little Victoria to see her tiny paw resting against my face, almost as if she was brushing away my tears. Her wide eyes looked at me, questioning and curious. I gave a choked laugh, reaching up to hold the little paw in my own large one and nuzzled it. The tears that escaped this time were tears of joy.

My mate would not want me to live in sorrow. And to prove it she had given me the most beautiful daughter I could ever ask for. And Victoria soon turned into my sole pillar of my life.

As the weeks progressed Victoria's fur grew short and fluffy, always sticking out in odd directions making her look like a puff ball. The sight always brought a smile to my face. She was a quick learner, curious and eager to know and discover the ways of the world. However to say she caused me hardly any trouble would be an understatement, but apart from those moments she was perfect. As I slowly introduced her to the yard all those who met her fell in love immediately. She soon became another pride and joy of the clan, especially to me and my father, Old Deuteronomy. Even Tugger had an undeniable soft spot for her and took time out of his *ahem* busy schedule to visit and play with her. And that was rare for even him.

She quickly became friends with Jellylorum and Jennyanydot's youngest kittens, Tumblebrutus and Pouncival, all of them being the same age.

Over time I half expected her unblemished coat to show signs of faint black stripes or markings. However her coat stayed as pure as freshly fallen snow. The sight made me both prideful and worried. I knew in the future I would be scaring away quite a few toms seeking after my Victoria's heart.

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One of my worst memories was when Victoria ran off, upset and didn't return home till nightfall, refusing to tell me where she was or how she got home...

The sun hung low in the sky making the afternoon shadows draw out long and dark. The sound of birds could be heard above, joined with the occasional rare chatter of humans somewhere in the distance.

A small white kitten huddled in the depression of a tree root. Tear streaks lined her fur and the slow decrease in the temperature around her made her shiver.

Only moments before she has been sitting in the safety of her Clan territory, watching as her friends jumped and twisted, showing off their talents. It was Talent Night, a night for all the cats to show off their talents, ready for the upcoming Jellicle Ball. It was also a special night for all the kittens, unable to participate in the exciting ball, to demonstrate their growing talents, letting their parents watch with pride at their blossoming kits, jumping, singing and laughing.

All kittens except one.

An ivory kitten sat next to the tall silver protector of the Jellicle Cats, watching her friends show off their skills.

"Daddy" she mumbled. The tom pricked his ears up, dragging his attention away from the two small tom-kits.

"Yes darling?"

"Why don't I have a talent?" She looked up at him with her huge sapphire eyes, confusion and sadness clouding their clearness.

"Of course you do, you can sing and jump and dance an-" he stopped as his daughter furiously shook her head.

"No! I mean, why don't I have a big talent! Like Pounce or Jemmie?" she glanced at the youngest of the kittens as she said her name.

"Tory, sweetheart, you have your beautiful coat. That's certainly a talent" Munkustrap said, trying to reassure the slowly panicking kitten.

"That's not a talent, Daddy!" the kit cried out, tears springing to her eyes "I mean a talent like Pounce, or Tumble and Etcy! They can all do stuff! Why can't I?" the white kitten, burst into tears, sprinting off leaving a shocked father and quiet audience to watch her leave. Jenny approached the silver tom, placing a paw on his arm, as the sad tom watched where his daughter disappeared.

"She'll be fine Munkustrap. She won't have gone far" She gave him a warm, reassuring smile. Munkustrap turned his gaze towards her, hope edging into his eyes.

"You think so?" The Queen nodded and Munkustrap sighed.

He certainly hoped so.

The ivory kitten had rushed out of the yard, running until her little feet could run no more, the scenery invisible to her streaming eyes. Eventually she stopped, tears still falling and sat near the base of an oak tree.

"I want a talent too" she mumbled. The kitten stayed there for a while, until she stopped crying. When she finally decided to take in her surroundings she realized she didn't recognise anything of the junkyard around her which brought her back to the current time, tucked up in a ball, hoping someone would soon find her. She thought of her dad and her friends singing, playing and laughing, enjoying themselves, despite the cool winter night, and whimpered. The image tugged at the innocent kitten's heart. Eventually she closed her eyes, wishing, hoping for her father to find her soon.

A peke's loud call woke the kitten, making her open her tired eyes to see the bright half-moon above her and the countless stars around it. She glanced around trying to peer into the dark with no success. An owl hooted above making the kitten jump. She huddled closer to the oak roots as the harsh winter wind blew against her, causing her to shiver and wrap her tiny arms around her in attempt to keep warm.

"And what have we here?" Victoria jumped again, this time at an empty voice. Gazing around her surroundings she spotted not too far away a dark silhouette. The white of the cat's stomach glowed in the night but the rest of him was invisible.

"A kitten? Oh! A Jellicle kitten. And what are you doing so far from home?" the cat asked, his deep voice becoming a raspy purr. The sound comforted the small kitten and she uncurled herself from her ball, facing the stranger.

"I got lost" she whimpered.

"Oh you poor thing, come here" The cat stalked towards the snowy kitten, and pulled the shivering bundle of fur towards him. All memory of her father's warnings of cat strangers disappeared as the kitten snuggled up towards the comforting warmth, nuzzling his arm.

"And what's your name, sweetie?" The queen-kit opened her mouth but stopped.

"Daddy said I shouldn't tell my name to strangers" She mumbled. The paw stroking her head stiffened slightly but relaxed before the kitten could notice.

"Your daddy's right but you can trust me, I won't hurt you" The kitten thought for a moment. This tom had been nice to her and there was no harm in telling him.

"Victoria" she eventually answered. The tom purred at this.

"Victoria? What a pretty name. And who might your daddy be, hmm?"

"Munkustrap" The tom's entire body stiffened. The young Victoria looked up at the huge tabby.

"Is something wrong, sir?" she asked politely, worry showing in her large eyes. This seemed to shake the tom out of his frozen state.

"Of course not, but I imagine your father is very worried" The kitten nodded, "Want to tell me what happened?" Victoria was silent before she spoke.

"I got upset and ran off and now I'm lost" The tom knelt down so that he was sitting and leaned over to get a better look at her.

"And what made a brave kitten like you so upset?" His voice sprinkled with disbelief.

"I asked Daddy why I didn't have some special talent. All the other kittens do! Pounce can do flip and acrobats! So can Tumble. Etcetera is really fast, Jemmie can sing and Teazer is good at being sneaky and stuff. But I can't do anything! Daddy said I have my beautiful coat but that's not a talent. I just wish I could do something cool like everyone else" Victoria sniffled but refused to cry. She was going to be strong. The stranger seemed to approve of this.

"Well how about I teach you something cool, hmm?" he purred to naïve kit. Her eyes widened in surprise.

"Really? You would teach me something cool?" Victoria managed to see the outline of his head nod.

"Of course. In fact I promise" he stated smugly. Victoria narrowed her eyes.

"Cross your heart hope to die?"

"Cross my heart hope to die" the tom sighed. Victoria's eyes lit up and she looked up at her new friend in admiration.

"What'll you teach me?" She asked curiously. But the tom only chuckled and placed a paw over her mouth.

"Ah ah! Good things to those who wait. But I promise I would and I will. Now you father must be getting frantic about now so..." Gently, the tom picked the kitten up and swung her around until she was faced in the direction opposite the oak tree, "If you head in this direction and keeping straight you'll end up home again" Victoria nodded enthusiastically before hugging the toms legs.

"Thank-you, Mr Sir. I won't forget you" The tom gave a half chuckle and patted the young cat's head.

"However" His voice turned a shade colder, "You must not tell a single cat about our meeting" Victoria nodded once again.

"I promise, cross my heart hope to die" she made a crisscross motion over her chest, and beamed up at the tom. He nodded, satisfied.

"Good, now off you run before your daddy gets too frantic" Victoria took one step then stopped and gasped.

"I never asked your name, Mister" she stated worriedly. The tom gave a slight growl.

"You can call me whatever you like" The young cat cocked her head in confusion before beaming with pride.

"Mr Nightshade!" she remembered the name from one of her very old bedtime stories, of a cat who walked amongst the night invisible, just like her new friend. The tom must've agreed to it for he gave a humoured laugh.

"Then Mr Nightshade I will be. Now, run along" The alabaster kitten scooted off, fur puffed out and tail straight as she left the strange cat in the dark.

"Till next time, dear Victoria"

To say Munkustrap was frantic was an understatement. When the poor tom found his daughter he grabbed her and hugged, nuzzling her and covering her with licks and questions, refusing to let go. Then he scolded the kitten to tears before hugging her once again, tears in his own eyes.

"Don't ever do that too me again, Victoria. Promise me you won't ever do that again" His voice broke and Victoria silently nodded, not fully understanding the weight of his words.

Just like how she underestimated the importance of the promise she made with a single unknown tom who she soon forgot over time.

However she continued to grow and learn and before Munkustrap knew it his daughter was almost a full grown kitten and would soon be becoming a full-fledged Queen.

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I shouldn't. I know I shouldn't

But I did anyway. I thought that before I would start this I would at least finish one of my other stories but I am currently in England, and my poor broken laptop lies halfway across the world with 3 half-finished chapters for my other 3 stories. Simply to say I don't really want to start a new chapter when 3 perfectly good almost ready ones are waiting for me at home.

And my dad just bought me the Cats DVD... I remember seeing it live when I was little but it was nice to rewatch the video version.

I absolutely adore Mistoffelees and Victoria. And I found myself a new favourite. Pouncival!

I swoon every time I see him. I think my dad's starting to get worried.

All well. Anyway I hope you enjoy. I got shocked at the lack of Cats stories and thought I should contribute. CATS LUFF FOREVARS!

I'm tired. It's too cold in England and there's too much pork :S

Anyway, I've got like 20 pages ready to be turned into actual chapter ready for this story so guarantee some actual postings

Xx A.S