(A/N: This was originally meant to be a one-shot, but the more I thought about it, the more it bloomed into a full-fledged "what's really going on in this scene?" story. WITH CHAPTERS! *squee* Not just a one-shot like practically everthing else I write. In short, it's hardcore MistoXVicky, and hopefully, it explains why I dislike Plato so much. Enjoy! P.S. I changed the title of this story like three times, so you people better be happy.)

Summary: Mistoffelees and Victoria always attempt, but there are always obstacles. And some seem like there's no way around them. What really happened during the Jellicle Ball.

Disclaimer: If I owned CATS, they would still be on Broadway. Even if they only played to an audience of one every night. Plus, I would be a gazillionaire, which I am obviously not. *pout*

Smile in the Morning, Cry at Night

A Mistoffelees/Victoria Fanfic

by Jill Diamond

~Chapter One~

It was merely a week before the Jellicle Ball, and no one was more excited than Victoria. The invitation dance had been given to her instead of Cassandra this year. And Victoria was beyond thrilled. She wanted to show all of the cats that she was more than a pretty white face. She had been practicing, and practicing, and practicing her dance, making every centimeter of movement just perfect. She would not disappoint her fellow Jellicles.

But this morning, when she woke just as the sun was peeking over the mounds of random trash that had accumulated over the years, she found her body incredibly stiff. And not just stiff for Victoria, stiff for a normal cat! As she begun to practice, she could barely move without sending a wave of pain through her body! She tried stretching, and easing into the stances more gently, but she still felt like she was tied to a board! At one point, she almost got her leg to its desired height, but she lost her footing tumbled to the ground in a white heap.

"Oof!" She rubbed her sore rear end with her paw. "What's the matter with me today?" she wondered out loud.

"Perhaps you just had a bad night's sleep," a melodic voice answered.

Victoria whipped her head around, still sitting, to see her favorite tuxedo tom peeking out from his drainage pipe den, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes.

"Oh, Misto!" she exclaimed quietly. "You startled me!"

Mistoffelees flicked away another gummy fleck of sleep. "Well, I can say the same for you! You woke me up from a wonderful dream when you fell."

"Oh," she said. Now she was slightly embarrassed. "Sorry."

"It's alright," he soothed. He now crawled out of his pipe and sat next to Victoria.

"What was your dream about?" she asked innocently.

Misto felt his cheeks get warm, and he turned away slightly. He wanted to tell her the truth, that he was dreaming of her, but he knew it would sound to forward. They were just friends, at least to him they were. No matter how much he wanted to expand their friendship, he knew Victoria would never see him that way.

"Something beautiful," he said before he could stop himself. Victoria slightly raised her eyebrow and gave him a look. She could see he was being vague on purpose this time.

"And anyway, what we were talking about was your sleep!" he stated, trying to change the subject.

"I know, and I did have a rough night last night, but I can't help it! I'm just so excited for the Ball!" the white queen exclaimed.

"We all are." Mistoffelees leaned a little closer to Victoria. "But some of us are excited a little too much."

"Oh, hush," she retorted. She poked a white paw on his chest and pushed him back. They both smiled.

"Alright, come on," Misto continued. Before she could protest, he'd pulled her up on her hind legs and, like a mannequin, positioned her so she could start her dance. He rested one paw on her hip, and the other on her bicep. Victoria didn't really know what he had in mind, but she was very much enjoying his touch.

She began her dance.

(A/N: Okay, the next part may or may not be rated higher depending on how you look at things. I wouldn't go as far as calling it M, but if you have a dirty mind, read at your own risk.)

Reaching behind her, she could see her leg coming upward. But as she grabbed it and tried to pull it further, she hit another snag, and moaned at the pain.

"Shh..." Misto soothed. He released the paw on her bicep and placed it on top of the one that grabbed her leg, and helped her straighten it. Victoria shuddered inside at their paws touching, and she begged herself to buckle and collapse again. But she stood strong and continued.

She released her paw, but Misto didn't release his. She pivoted around on one foot, keeping the extended one perpendicular to her body and trying not to kick Mistoffelees in the face. As she caressed her leg, he slid his paw up from hers onto her shoulder. Victoria could feel his breath get heavy, so hers did too. She dropped her leg a little too fast, and lost her balance for a second, but Misto, like a reflex, grabbed his other paw around her waist and steadied her.

Now, came the big moment, where she held her leg up next to her body, and then eased gracefully into the splits. Victoria started to pull her leg up, but at about the one hundred degree position, she felt the pain and stopped.

"Mhmm...!" she exclaimed quietly.

Misto shushed her again, and brought his right paw from her waist to the inside of her thigh, and helped her bring it upright. Victoria felt her heavy breathing catch in her throat. Her pretty blue eyes fluttered closed in pleasure. This was almost too good to be true. The tom she'd longed after for so long holding her close to him. She wanted the moment to last forever. But she knew it wouldn't. She was brought out of her fantasy when her foot touched her ear. She grinned at her accomplishment.

After Misto had removed his paw, Victoria brought down her leg and began to ease into the splits. When her legs stopped moving, she felt scared, for her pelvis was still above ground.

Before either of them had time to think, Victoria felt her hip pop, and she plunked to the ground harder than she had expected. She let out a shrill yelp. Her initial thought was "pain".

Misto had retracted his paws from Victoria's waist, and he rushed around to the other side of her to push her two legs back together.

"Easy, easy, easy!" Victoria repeated as she shifted her weight to her hip. She now lay on her side, her eyes wide with the astonishment of the pain. She could tell Misto was truly sorry, as he was now lying behind her and softly stroking her head fur. All of the pain seemed to melt away at his guesture, Victoria's moans turning into purrs. She let out an especially loud one as she felt Misto smooth his paw over the dip in her waist.

Come on, Misto! Just be a tom and tell her!

"V-Victoria?" he asked almost inaudibly, half-expecting her not to answer.

She craned her neck upward so that their noses were almost touching, looking at him with glazed eyes. "Yes?" she breathed.

"I...I-"

"Misto? Vicky?"

The perfect moment is ruined. Both of them cringed at the new voice, and scrambled to at least three feet away from each other. Cheeks burning, they dare not look at each other.

He sauntered down from the piles of trash, leaving his curtain swinging behind him. His paws hung loosely from his belt, as usual.

(A/N: You all knew this was coming, didn't you? Teehee. *evil face*)

"What're you guys up to this early?" he asked, though he already knew the answer.

"Nothing," they replied in a monotone unison. They refused to meet his eyes as well.

"Ri-ight," Tugger drawled, his eyes giving the obvious clue that he wasn't buying it. Before they had scrambled away, he had seen the little tuxedo tom was lying next to Victoria, caressing her hip and it looked like he was preparing for a kiss.

"The question is," Misto piped up, "what are you doing up this early? It's not even noon yet!" Victoria let out a small giggle at his joke.

Tugger's face went immediately from smug to worry, his head whipping left and right, as if looking for someone. "Actually, believe it or not, I'm hiding from-"

Cutting him off, a loud "OH, TUGSIE!" sounded from somewhere in the Junkyard, in a high-pitched voice that was clearly Etcetera's.

"She's relentless!" he continued, now dropping his voice to a whipser. "Ever since she found out about the mating dance, she's been following me around like she's my tail!" And with that, he pounced into hiding again.

(A/N: Oh, Cettie. You always make me laugh. Don't worry. We'll get to the actual Ball in about Chapter 3.)