Chapter Five

Bombalurina stirred slightly as the rain increased in strength. Demi turned to watch her sister, as she had seen a flicker of movement from her in the corner of her eye. She smiled at her pretty, red sister, and curled up to keep herself warm in the chilly rain.

Bomba sat up wearily, and stretched her forepaws elegantly, spreading the pads on her toes wide. Her lips parted in a huge yawn, and she shook out her head. "Hi, Demi," she greeted her sister, noting that she was awake. "Cold?" she asked, raising an eyebrow at her sister's position. Demi nodded vaguely.

"Can we go somewhere out of the rain?" Bomba grinned at her sister.

"Sure." She was relieved that her sister seemed to be okay after her ordeal with Macavity, but said nothing to Demi. She didn't want to make Demi remember anything, if she didn't want to. The two queens got up, and retreated under the Old Ford.

It was much drier under the abandoned car, and the two queens settled down, watching the rain fall around them. It wasn't too much longer before they were joined by Munkustrap. He was still soaking wet, even though they were not. He smiled at bit at the queens, and seemed quite relieved that Demi was okay.

Demi felt herself blushing at his smile, and soon found herself avoiding his gaze. "I wonder where Lonzo is," she voiced a question that was still plaguing her mind. He hadn't returned to see if they were okay after the previous evening. Bomba and Munku both shrugged. Neither of them had seen him since the previous evening either.

"I haven't seen him," Munku replied. At this, Demi grew worried. Where was he? Why hadn't he come back? "He's probably with Cassandra," Munku said, trying to calm the fears that were playing across the golden queen's face.

"I didn't know he was in to Cassandra," Bomba commented, gracefully grooming her white forepaw. She stretched out her fingers (would they be fingers?), and carefully cleaned between them. She yawned a bit, and laid her head back down on her paws.

"I didn't know for certain that he was," Munku admitted with a slight shrug, "But I figured he was. He always paid special attention to her. I'm not sure he even realized he was doing it before now." The two queens seemed to have realized this as soon as it was pointed out.

There was an awkward silence amongst them for quite some time. "Rain sucks," Bomba muttered, staring out from under the old Ford, at the rain-drenched world around them. Demi nodded vaguely at her sister.

Bomba looked from Munku to Demi, back to Munku, and then back to her sister. "I'm in the way," she stated. Demi looked taken aback, and Munku somewhat confused. Bomba smiled at them. "You know what I mean. Both of you. I'm going to find some other shelter, and let you work out your feelings." Saying nothing more, Bomba darted out through the rain, and under another pile of junk that had a sort of cave hollowed out of it.

Demi watched Bomba leave, ready to die of embarrassment.

Munkustrap came up near Demeter. She shied away from him. She wasn't comfortable with him yet. "The nerve of her," she muttered after her sister, trying to hide the fact that she didn't want to be alone with any toms at the time. She felt her muscles tense, and wondered why she felt so insecure.

"Demi?" Munku ventured. Demi felt herself blushing deeply as he addressed her, and she found herself trying to avoid his gaze as a chill ran up her spine. "Is something bothing you?" Demi closed her eyes, and had the urge to say Yes, there are tons of things bothering me right now. I don't know why Macavity did what he did. Should I still be happy with myself? Do I have feelings for you, Munku? Do you have feelings for me? What did Bomba mean just now? But instead, she said nothing for a while.

"Yes," she replied softly, after what seemed almost like an eternity of silence. "A lot of things are on my mind." And she hoped he would leave it at that and question her no further. She didn't think she was ready to talk to him about anything, and it bothered her that he was asking her to talk to him.

"Like what?" he inquired, irritating her further. Munku had a feeling he was bothering her, but he also felt that in the long run it would help her to talk about what was bothering her.

Demi bristled and turned her back to him. "I don't want to talk about it. Not to you. Not to anyone." She closed her eyes, wondering if what she said were really true or not. She wanted to tell someone, but she wasn't sure if she should talk to Munku.

"I didn't mean to pry," Munku told her. He sounded honest to her. "I thought I might be able to help." A crack of thunder resounded through the junkyard, and Demi visibly jumped. Munku smiled, and almost laughed at her; he had to force himself not to. He thought it was very cute that she was still afraid of storms.

"It's okay," Demi murmured after a time. She didn't know how to tell him that she appreciated his worry over her. Then, there was an awkward silence between the two of them. What is happening? Demi wondered, Why do I feel bad about not telling him what I feel about him? Why do I want to confide in him in the first place?

"Demi?" Munku's voice broke her concentration. "Are you okay? You were zoning out or something." Demi shook her head to clear her thoughts, and to help her think of something to say to him.

"I'm fine," she replied, her voice cold as ice, even though she hadn't intended for it to be. More quiet and subdued, she added, "At least, I think I'm okay." Munku could see past her facade, and she knew it too. She just hoped he would leave her alone so she wouldn't have to deal with her feelings.

"You're lying," he pressed her. "You're not okay." Demi gritted her teeth. She fought back the urge to tell him he was right, that she was very insecure, that she hated herself for what Macavity had tried to do to her, that she loved him for caring about her, that she was mad at her sister for putting her in this awkward situation. But she didn't. She didn't think he would understand what she felt and what she was going through.

"You wouldn't understand," Demi hissed, anger flaring in her voice, despite her efforts to hide her emotions. She suddenly felt as though she were losing control of the situation.

"You don't know that," Munku said. "Macavity is my brother. I know some things about him too." That had never occurred to Demi. The two toms were so different, she thought that they had always hated each other, and that neither knew much about how the other worked. "Assuming, of course, that he is one of the things on your mind."

"Yes, he was," Demi responded hesitantly. "Why would he have done that to me?" She was interested to see if Munku would have an answer.

"I think he did it because he either likes you or he just wants to feel he has a measure of power over the tribe," Munku answered, after giving her question a moment or two of thought.

"And another thing," Demi continued as soon as he had answered her first question, "Why are you always around when something bad has happened to me? Is there some reason you care about me enough to do that?"

For that, Munku didn't know what to say. Should he tell her the truth, that he was attracted to her? Should he tell her he thought he owed it to Lonzo, which wasn't true? Or should he tell her something else?

"You don't have an answer, do you?" she asked, after there had been an eerie silence between them for at least two minutes, by her estimate.

Munku decided to be honest with her. After all, why should he lie to her in the first place? "No. I don't have an answer for you." His answer came out rather quietly, and he found himself for once avoiding her gaze, instead of the other way around.

Demi smiled, which came as a relief to Munku. Perhaps she wasn't mad at him after all. He'd been afraid that she might be angry with him, which was something he really didn't want. "Then you do understand, to some extent, what I'm going through," she told him. "I'm very confused, and I guess you know what that feels like." Demi appeared to have relaxed quite a bit.

"Yes," Munku said, trying to sound confident with his answer, although he wasn't entirely sure what he had been supposed to tell her.

The rain that had been falling hard outside was quickly becoming a mere drizzle, and the clouds overhead were vanishing, allowing the sun's rays to fill the junkyard, sparkling off puddles, and warming the air. "The rain has almost stopped," Demi observed.

"Yes," Munku noted, looking out from under the old Ford and observing the sky for a moment. "So it has."

"Then I'd better go," Demi said, with a sly grin. Munku looked at her strangely, and before he knew it, she'd kissed him lightly and vanished into the sunlight beyond. He stared after her.

Cassandra awoke sleepily sometime later. She yawned and stretched, then looked outside. It was no longer raining, and the sun was shining from the west. It must have rained most of the day. She found that Alonzo was still sleeping next to where she had been. She kissed him on the cheek, and entered the main area of the junkyard.

She noticed Bomba a short distance away, across the Junkyard's center. She approached her red-furred friend. "Hey, Bombs," she greeted her with a smile. "What's up?" she inquired, noting the somewhat worried expression Bomba wore on her face.

"Where's Lonzo?" asked Bomba right away. That question had been bugging her since dawn, when she had woken. "Munku said he was probably with you." Cassie smiled again, showing off her perfect, white teeth.

"He's still sleeping," she said, letting her fondness of him show on her low voice. "He's very cute when he's asleep," she continued, almost as an afterthought.

"That was something I didn't expect," Bomba said with a giggle. "Usually, he's in the thick of things by now."

"I know," Cassie agreed. "It's odd. But, Lonzo never likes to be considered normal at all. I think he just does what ever he wants, and doesn't care about predictability."

The two queens continued their conversation for quite some time, and they were joined by the Rum Tum Tugger. "I wonder how long it'll be before his fan club joins us," Bomba muttered to Cassie, more than a hint of annoyance on her voice. Cassie shrugged in mute reply.

Tugger was always followed about by a troupe of young, female kittens, who were always hoping to win Tugger's heart. None of them ever could, and it was the goal of most of the Jellicle queens to do so.

It was at about that time that Lonzo woke up, back in the oven. He yawned, stretched his stiff limbs, and left the warmth of the oven. He blinked as he entered the bright sunlight that filled the junkyard.

Right away, he noticed Bomba, Cassie and Tugger talking across the junkyard from where he was. He sauntered over to them, and laced his arms around Cassie. "Hey, love," he murmured in her ear. She giggled, and leaned her head back against him. Bomba raised an eyebrow at the pair.

"Let's go, shall we, Bombs, and leave these two in peace?" inquired Tugger, and Bomba gratefully agreed. She thought anyone who showed love like that in public was sickening. Bomba had never liked it when anyone did it, not even if it was her brother.

Bomba wasn't too eager to be alone with someone like the Tugger, but she figured it was better than watching Lonzo and Cassie. Besides, she knew Tugger could be okay sometimes.

"They're weird, aren't they?" Bomba said, trying to strike up a conversation with Tugger to break the mounting tension. "Cassie and Lonzo, I mean."

Tugger nodded. "Certainly are. Why do you hang out with them, then, if you think they're weird?" Bomba's brow furrowed. She'd never thought of it that way.

"I never really thought about it," Bomba told him, deciding to be honest. After all, what harm could talking about that do? Besides, she'd be the envy of all the queens if Tugger talked to her for more than a fleeting moment. She smiled at him. "But I suppose if they keep doing that, I won't hang out with them much longer."

"Care to join me for dinner?" Tugger asked suddenly, surprising both Bomba and himself with the question.

"What?!" Bomba was very surprised, and stunned. "I'm sorry..." she apologized for her immediate reaction to his offer, "But yes, I'd love to!"

"Really?!" Tugger was ecstatic. He'd had his eyes on Bomba for months, but never known how to approach a queen he'd really liked.

Bomba grinned happily. "Yes!" Why would I turn down a date with the Tugger? she thought. It had always been her goal to impress all the other queens. This would make sure of it! Besides, how many queens did the Tugger ask out anyway? There had to be something special about her for him to ask her.

"Thank you, Bombs!" Tugger said, looking like an overjoyed kitten, which he certainly wasn't, age-wise. Tugger was almost a year older than her, and she was no longer a kitten.

"IT'S TUGGER!" came the cries of many of the younger kittens of the tribe. Bomba groaned, and wondered why they had chosen now to notice Tugger. Tugger rolled his eyes at the running kittens, and indicated that Bomba should leave. Bomba smiled at him, and did so. She didn't feel like watching the kits fawn over him any more than he had anticipated she would.

Instead, she found a somewhat dry spot to lay down, and laid down to bask in the warm rays of the sun before it set.