WRONG OR RIGHT

He woke to a soft vibration against his skin. Nicolle was lying half on him, her ear pressed against his chest, listening to his heartbeat and purring quietly. He was relieved to realize his scream had been only in his dream. She raised herself on her arms, her paws pressing into his chest, to look down into his face.

"I'm not like them."

"No."

"But I'm not wrong."

"No."

"I'm different."

"Yes. That's all. You're how they all should have been."

She stared at him quietly for a moment, blinking, then her brow furrowed. "You weren't supposed to teach me."

"No. But I had to. Do you understand?"

"Yes. I understand more now."

"More?"

"You're supposed to tell them about me. You're in a lot of trouble. I know that now. I could say I fooled you and you didn't know I was different. They'd believe me, wouldn't they?"

He stared at her for several seconds before the implications of what she said sank in. "Oh, my God.... after the first day with you, I could never let you go. After I learned what might happen to you, to us, it was even more clear that I had to keep you, protect you. I wanted to protect you. It's as if all my life alone, being an outsider, was preparing me for now. For you. I used to hate people, Nicolle, but since you've been here... I'm changing. I can feel it. And you just offered to sacrifice yourself to protect me? You're a better human than all the people I know. And more than I deserve."

A soft tail stroked gently against Edwin’s leg. "You're not like them either, are you? Other humans," she asked.

"I've always felt that way."

"I'm different. You're different. So... we can be different together. We belong together. We’re a tiny family."

"I guess we are, aren't we? But I was afraid I'd lost you last night."

Nicolle tilted her head, ears perked. "Why?"

"The things I had to tell you. I didn't want to. I wish you didn't have to know. I thought you'd hate people. Even me."

"I did. But it's gone. I like me. I like being with you. I like having a world to learn about and you for my teacher. Even the bad things... if they didn't happen, there would be no us, right? Maybe there's a reason?”

He laughed. "Nicolle! You're becoming a philosopher!"

"I learned that word, it means truth lover." She smiled proudly.

"Close enough."

She turned serious again and pressed a paw hard against Edwin’s chest. "Always tell me truth, Edwin. Even when it hurts."

"I thought about a lot last night, too. Things I hadn't considered before."

"Tell me?"

"Well... Like why normal catgirls can be so difficult, as their owners say. Listen... a long time ago, there was a law that a man couldn't bind-up the mouth of an animal that worked to help make his food. It was torment to force a creature to make a man's food while it was hungry. Failing to care about an animal-servant's needs robbed a man of his humanity. Made him less human than even the poor unintelligent animal."

She sat patiently with her head still tilted. She knew this was Edwin in his Sensei mode and he only paused to be sure his audience was still with him.

"Nicolle, humans put a lot of ourselves, our genetics, into your makeup. Our natural curiosity and desire for understanding are inside you. But they stifled catgirl intelligence. I think they left your kind with a hunger to learn but unable to satisfy it. I think it’s that frustration that makes catgirls become difficult. I see that you have the thirst for knowledge and you have the power to satisfy it... and look at how sweet you are. Whether it was deliberate or done in ignorance, it was a cruel thing. Humans have become careless of our powers."

"What happens to us now?"

"We do what families do. We grow. We learn. We look after each other. And no one gets left behind."

"What do you mean, left behind?"

"Nicolle, I think you must have sisters."

Nicolle's eyes widened, her pupils dilated from slits to circles. "Just like me?"

"I’m almost certain. Kawaii-Kits was a small business but it would have used cloning, so there ought to be a small number of kits just like you. That no one has come looking for us yet says a lot. If your batch siblings were sold, they must've landed with people who also fell in love with them. Who wouldn't betray their catgirls no matter how illegal. That means we may have allies. We're going to find them. We're going to get together. And we're going to begin making some changes."

They lay there together quietly for a while, as the enormity of what Edwin said sank into Nicolle. Then Edwin said, "We're going to have to do some traveling to find the others. You'll have to behave like one of the... others... in public. Do you think you can do that?"

Nicolle opened her eyes wide, lifted a paw and licked it with the appearance of complete contentment. “Nyaah!”

"I thought you could, but that's even better than I imagined. It's also frightening. Remind me some time to tell you about my dream last night. You'd better go pack a travel bag for yourself."

She sprang up and bounded across the room but then paused inside the door of her own little room and looked back at him. "Edwin? There was another question I've been thinking about but I hadn't asked before. But now I think I don't have to ask it any more. I think I already know it."

"What was it, though?"

She began slowly closing her door, continuing to peek at him through the shrinking crack. Then, just before it shut, "How to know if someone loves you."

Next: Part 5 / 25, “The Event Horizon”