A Sisters Wisdom 
                                      Or 
                              Tugger Settles Down 

     Bombalurina put on her usual flirtatious smile as she padded across the junkyard. 
As she approached the abandoned VW bug, she heard voices coming from the other side. 
     "Look at 'er, isn'a she gorgeous?" 
     "Oh yeah, she has all the right curves."
     "Her fur is so glossy, it shines like silver." 
     "An' 'er eyes, I could full int'u 'er eyes." 
     As she rounded the corner, she saw the Toms who spoke these words. She then looked 
up and saw the focus of their attention. There, perched on the hood of the car was Ditto, 
Munkustrap's identical twin sister. Bomba sighed and jumped up onto the hood of the car 
landing neatly next to Ditto. Ditto turned and smiled at Bomba and then saw the group of 
Toms. There were six of them, George, Admetus, Augustus, Pouncevil, Tumblebrutus and Bill 
Bailey. 
     "You seem to have collected a crowd of admirers." She said to Bomba. 
     "Me? No honey, they're your admirers." 
     "Mine?" squeaked Ditto. 
     Bomba's eyebrows furrowed. "You mean you haven't noticed them? They have been eyeing
you for the past week," she said as she lay down propped up on one elbow beside Ditto. "I 
was beginning to think I'd lost my touch." 
     "Lost your touch?" said Ditto puzzled. 
     "Yes, I am the number one flirtatious, female Jellicle of them all," she said examining 
her manicured claws. She smiled at Ditto for a moment and then her expression changed to one 
of sadness. Ditto reached out and put her paw on Bomba's shoulder. 
     "What is the matter? Why are you so sad?" 
     Bomba sighed and motioned towards the junkyard. Her paw was directed at a black and
yellow Tom with leopard spots. Ditto looked over at him and sighed. It was her younger brother
Tugger. He was, at the moment, surrounded by his devoted kitten club. She turned back to Bomba
who now sat up starring out at Tugger. 
     "You love him, don't you," said Ditto wrapping her tail around her friend. 
     "Oh yes," said Bomba. "I've loved him for years, probably since we became Jellicles. 
I've tried everything to get him to notice me and to love me." 
     Ditto nuzzled her friend trying to comfort her. 
     "I thought if I flirted with the others it would make him jealous and when that did not work
I started to flirt with him but it never worked. It just gave me the title of 'The flirt that nobody takes
seriously'." She started to sob, and she hid her face and tried to regain her composer. 
     "I'm sorry Ditto, I did not mean to come and cry all over you.' 
     "No apology necessary," said Ditto rubbing her friend's back. "Sometimes you need a
shoulder to cry on and whenever you do, never hesitate to pick mine." 
     Bomba smiled again, "Thanks doll, you are a true friend. I feel much better now." 
     "I am very glad to hear that," said Ditto. "Just be yourself, you don't need to pretend to be
someone your not." 
     Bomba turned and gracefully jumped down from the hood of the car. 
     "Thank you Ditto, I'll see you later." She said. 
     "Bye Bomba, see you soon," said Ditto smiling back at her.  She watched as her friend headed
toward the tunnels. 

     Tugger was getting tired of the affection the kittens were giving him. He had been enjoying
it when they had joined him that morning but now it was suppertime and they hadn't left his side all
day. Etcetera, Electra, Victoria and Jemima continued to surround him and were practically kissing 
his feet. He sighed and looked around the yard. His eyes stopped when he saw the group of Toms
huddled by the VW bug.
     His curiosity peeked Tugger rose from his warm sunny spot and made his way towards them.
The kittens started to follow until they saw he was joining his buddies. As he approached, he heard
them commenting on the beauty of a female Queen. From the description they gave, he knew they
could only be talking about one female. His older sister, Ditto. He joined the group and they all
became quiet. "So," he said, "who are you guys talking about?" he asked innocently. 
     "Well..." 
      "Er..." 
     "We was comentin' on...'ow nice Ditto looks." 
     "Yeah we was, isn'a that right lads?" 
     "Oh Yeah." 
     Tugger looked up to see his beautiful sister sitting on the hood of the car  with a gorgeous red,
white Queen with black markings. He watched the two  embrace and then the red Queen jump down
to leave his sister alone again. He watched and the Queen pad off toward the tunnels and he sighed.
Before the other Toms could catch him staring he straightened, fluffed his mane and then said in a
cool nonchalant way, 
     "Shows over, Disperse!" 
     The six Toms quickly moved off. Bill Baily and Admetus went off together. "Wots eatin'
'im?" 
     " I 'ave no idea." 

     Tugger waited for the Toms to go and then bounced up to sit by his sister. She was now
dozing in the sun and he watched her small form rise and fall as she slept. He leaned over and gave
her a soft nudge and her eyes slowly opened. Ditto saw him and a smile crept across her face.
     "Hey little bro', what brings you here?"
     "Hi kitten, have you noticed the Toms who have been flocking around you? Are you starting
a Tom club of admirers?" 
     "If you mean like your kitten club, no I am not, but, you're the second cat to point them out
to me today," she said as she sat up to meet his gaze. 
     "You wouldn't be interested in knowing who that was would you?" she asked cocking her
head to one side. 
     "Okay, I'll bite kitten, it was Bomba wasn't it?" he said and then sighed and stretched out on
his back with his paws behind his head. Ditto looked down at him and then out over the junkyard.
She saw the kittens looking her way and she smiled at them before settling next to Tugger. 
     "I am getting a feeling there is something your not telling me," she said. 
     Tugger propped himself up on his side and faced her. "I can't believe I am saying this but I
am tired of being single." 
     When Ditto's eyes opened wide he quickly continued. "I'm not saying I don't love the
attention the kittens give me but I don't think any of them see me as a future mate, nor I them." 
     "And," Ditto prompted 
     "Okay, okay, I'll get to the point. I like her a lot, I have for a long time, I just did not want
to admit it. I was having too much fun showing off." 
     Ditto knew he meant Bombelerina when he said her. She hadn't told Bomba but  she had seen
Tugger staring in her direction before. "Why don't you go to her now and tell her how you feel." 
     Tugger sighed and lay back again. "She would probably laugh in my face kitten. Who is
going to believe the Rum Tum Tugger wants to settle down?" 
     Ditto lay down beside him resting her head on her paws. "Well...you won't know the answer
to that unless you try to tell someone. I believe you, not because I am your sister but, because I can
see it in your eyes." 
     "My eyes?" he said raising a brow. 
     "Yes, your eyes. You show a lot of emotion in your eyes and that is where I can see the
feelings you try to mask." 
     "Cut that out! You're getting too psychological on me." 
     "Oh pshaw," said Ditto sitting up again. "I can see now that you are embarrassed and it has
nothing to do with your eyes." She said with a grin. 
     Under his fur Tugger blushed. Thank the Heavyside for fur he thought as he turned to look
towards the kittens, but they had all found something to talk about and weren't paying any attention
to him. Ditto put a paw on his shoulder and he turned to her. She looked him right in the eye and with
a serious expression said, "Tugger, I know how you feel about Bomba and, truth to tell, I know how
she feels about you. Go to her." 
     Tugger looked into his sister's amber eyes and saw the love and sincerity in them. He smiled
and pulled her to him for a hug. "Thanks kitten, you're the best sister a cat could have." 
     She smiled, "You better believe it." 
     They laughed and Tugger bounced down from the car and headed off in the same direction
he had seen Bomba go earlier. 

     Bomba sat on a pile of intertwined pipes that crisscrossed around one end of the junkyard.
The Jellicles referred to these as the tunnels. It was dark now and the moon shone down on her
pooling around her and making her fur shine. She was sitting, gazing up at the stars in the night sky.
This is how Tugger found her and he stopped to admire her. She turned and saw him and then looked
behind him to see if the kittens had followed. 
     "They did not follow me here, I would have told them to leave if they had." Tugger assured
her. 
     "How how did you know that was what I was thinking?" Tugger smiled at her, "Bombie,
honey I know a lot more about you then you think." He said as he joined her on top of the tunnels.
"I know how you lick your forepaws when you are in a rapt contemplation of a thought. I know how
you put on that extra special smile just for me." 
     Bomba bowed her head in embarrassment and if her coat could get any redder it did. Tugger
reached out and lifted her chin up so her eyes met his. 
     "Does it surprise you that I pay so much attention to what you do?" 
     "Actually, it does." She said and she turned away from him. "You spend all your time with
those kittens and seem to have no time for anything else." 
     She said as she wiped moisture from the corner of her eye. She would not cry in front of him. 
  "Bombie, look at me." 
     She turned and he pulled her into his arms. She was surprised but did not pull away. 
     "Honey, I watch you constantly. I have watched you in your sleep only to leave before you
woke up. The kittens are just my selfish reason to show off." He sighed. 
     "What I am trying to say is that I love you. I have for a long time and was to daft to see it
for myself until recently." 
     Bomba's eyes filled with tears. "I don't believe you. The Rum Tum Tugger, the coolest cat
in the clan wants to settle down with Bombalurina the flirt." 
     "Bombie, a wise cat once told me she could see my feelings in my eyes. Look into my eyes
and you tell me if I am sincere." 
     She pulled back in their embrace and looked into his dark eyes. In them she saw no humour
but compassion and sincerity. She smiled up at him. "So you really love the flirt?" 
     Tugger smiled. "Yes I do. You would not have started flirting if it had not been for me
anyway." 
     She smiled at him. "The truth is I turned flirt to get you to notice me." She hugged him close
to her and rested her head on his chest. "I have loved you since we both came here as kittens and
became Jellicles. I never knew how to tell you and then as we grew you became wrapped up in the
kittens. I have never been able to tell you, until now." 
     Suddenly she was suspended in the air and the junkyard was spinning. She laughed, "Put me
down you big silly." 
     He did as she asked and they crossed the Junkyard together. 

     Later he stroked Bomba's head as she lay next to him in the bureau drawer. "Mmmm ." She
purred in her sleep and snuggled closer. Tomorrow they would tell the others of their love and he
would find some way to tell the kittens that he was now a one Queen cat, but all that could wait.
Tonight they would spend together. He looked up at the stars and smiled. Thank the Heavyside for
wise older sisters. 

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				The End
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