That sentence made Kat's heart skip a beat. She knew she misheard it, but listening to the girl she liked saying something like that brought all kind of emotions. Her name was Katherine, after all. Kat, their friends called her. Not that she had many.

I really love Kat, is what she wanted to hear from the girl's lips. But that was an unreachable dream.

Lucille Barker, with her s.h.i.+ny and long black hair, her eyes like dark gems and her always lively smile. They had cla.s.ses together almost every day. Not by coincidence, since Kat arranged to study on the same cla.s.s in the max number of days possible.

Since the very first time she saw Lucille, on the first day of her college, she was instantly attracted to her. But Lucille was so talkative and so popular that she was hard to approach. Kat decided to wait for the best chance. An opportunity to talk with her, or courage to do it. Neither ever came.

"Why don't you get a cat, then? A little kitten, for example", one of the girls around Lucille asked.

"I can't," she answered with a sad face. "My apartment won't allow it."

Kat played with her brown hair, twisting it in curls, while her eyes couldn't stay away from Lucille. She gazed at the girl's lips forming a smile, at her eyes, at her body. She admired the way her colleague scratched her cheek with her short nails while smiling, and how her chest moved as she laughed, and how her eyes turned in Kat's direction.

Kat turned her head away in a hurry.

She was sure their field of vision crossed there. Lucille probably saw Kat looking straight at her. She could end up thinking Kat was a creep.

"If I had a cat…", listening to Lucille talking with the same tone, like nothing had happened, Kat breathed relieved. "I think I would hold him… or her… everyday. I would hug her tightly all the time..."

Kat imagined Lucille arms wrapping around her body.

"...I would kiss her a lot…"

Kat imagined Lucille lips kissing her skin.

"... I would sleep with her everyday…"

Kat imagined… she felt her face burning and hid her face in her arms so no one would find out.

Luckily the teacher entered the cla.s.sroom and the conversation was interrupted. Kat thought the best to do was to ignore her silly fantasies and concentrate on cla.s.s. She couldn't even hold a proper conversation with Lucille, so romance was a distant dream. Also, for that, Lucille would need to actually like girls. Even though she never got a boyfriend even with her good popularity, Kat didn't want to indulge herself in wishful thinking. That was a recipe for disappointment.

Cla.s.ses ended. Kat took her bag and hurried out of the cla.s.sroom. Lucille, as always, stood there, talking with other girls, and some boys.

As always, Kat wanted to stay. She wanted to be called by the girl she loves before pa.s.sing through the door and be asked to join them. Of course, that didn't happen and she left the lively group behind her. As she looked through the window, she thought Lucille's eyes were staring at her. Of course, just another wishful thinking. She was just looking outside, after all.

Kat was lucky to live close to the college. She didn't need to wait for transport and could go home by foot. She knew Lucille also lived close, although she never found out where, since her colleague never went home at the same time as Kat, always making company to the girls who needed to wait for the transport.

She likes cats, huh… Kat thought, walking on the sidewalk, her head down. Being petted by her hands… Being held by her… Being loved by her… feeling her warm and her perfume. All that sounds so good. Being a cat sounds so good…

The street was desert. That wasn't unusual that time of the night. Still, the loneliness in the dark made Kat more melancholic than the normal.

Ahhh, I wanted to be a cat… And that was the last thing she remembered before waking up again.

***

There was something definitely wrong as Kat woke up. She was on the ground. Or at least, her eyes were close to the ground. The world suddenly looked bigger, like she had shrunk to a kid size. Or maybe a baby size. She tried to stand up, but fell again on her… hands? There was something wrong with her eyes, either. Like shades of red disappear from the world. She could see better, too, as if it wasn't as dark as before even though it was still nighttime.

Maybe she fell and hit the head.

She tried to walk… crawl, like on four legs… There was a puddle of rainwater in front of her. She looked inside and saw…

A cat…

There was a cat looking back at her. A kitty with brown fur.

Startled, she ran. She ran on her four legs. Four furry legs. She tried to talk. But the thing that came out of her mouth wasn't a word at all, although she recognized that sound well enough.

Meow.

She was a cat. No point in denying it. Even though that was really absurd, she was a cat. A feline. A little kitten, to be exact. She remembered wis.h.i.+ng: I wish I were a cat. So that was it. It was absurd, but that was the truth.

Kat looked around. Her clothes and her bag should be there. Still, there was no sign of it anywhere. Although, if she was asleep for a long time, someone probably stole her things. Or at least brought it to the lost and found in the college.

But that was not her problem. Her problem was: she was a cat.

Desperate, she tried to think of some way to transform back. Hopefully, her mind wasn't affected by her new body and she could think clearly. It was useless, though. She didn't know how the h.e.l.l she became an animal, how would she know the way to turn back?

And there was a more urgent issue. She was a cat. A little kitty. Alone, vulnerable to anything that could hurt her. And there was no one who could defend her.

There was a dog at the end of the road. She felt her fur on her whole body creeping out. She didn't have the natural instinct of a cat to survive that, so she just stood there, as the dog approached. Soon it would be in front of her. Soon it would jump on her and bite her. And she didn't even know how to run away.

But as she was alert about her front, something soft held her from behind. Something warm and giving out a good smell. But something big.

She started to move her legs desperately. She didn't know yet how to take her claws out, and that would be really useful.

"So cute…" She heard a voice and warm lips touched her back. It was a sweet voice. And a voice she knew well and played every time inside her head. "Let me see your face…"

Lucille turned Kat, or rather, the cat, in her hand to face her. Her face, big, so close to Kat. She looked like a G.o.ddess. And her lips were so close. Those lips who kissed Kat's… back?... Fur?

"You're really, really cute! " Lucille said again, with a giant smile on her face.

No, you're cute. Was what Kat thought. But when she tried to voice her thought, the same sound from before came out of her mouth.

"Meow"

"Cuuuuuute!", Lucile repeated herself, holding Kat higher. "So...are you a boy or a girl?" She asked, bringing the little animal closer to examine.

Kat was embarra.s.sed while Lucille examined her private parts. Although, it wasn't really hers. At least, not how it usually looked. But having Lucille's face so close there was unnerving. If she still had her body, she would probably pa.s.s out.

Of course, if she still had her body, that scene would have a whole different meaning.

"It's a girl then, huh?" Lucille finally said and held Kat close to her chest. Actually feeling Lucille's chest on her body was good. Her warmth was pleasant. "Do you have an owner? Are you lost?"

Kat made a meow and looked at Lucille's face. She really couldn't do anything more.

"Were you abandoned, maybe? I'm sorry, but I can't have animals at home. I would love to bring you with me, but…"

Lucille put Kat on the ground. Her eyes, though, followed the dog still wandering at the street.

"You...you can take care of yourself, right?"

She walked past Kat, who kept mewling where she was left. But five slow steps ahead and a car crossed at high speed on the street. Lucille looked back fast, to the cat so close to the road.

"If...if I come tomorrow and she is…" She started and looked at the dog who seemed like it was just waiting for her to move away. "Okay, then!"

She walked again to where Kat was and held her up. Kat thought about how her warm and soft hands were nice.

"If I bring you home, you will stay quiet, right? Won't make a single sound, right?"

Kat wanted to nod, but she knew that any movement wouldn't be perceived as a rational action. In fact, for the first time, she realized how silly it was to talk with animals, since you're not expecting an answer and will ignore it even if the animal tries to give one.

But Lucille seemed firm on her decision. She nodded and murmured a low okay as she tried to hide Kat inside her bag. Luckily, it was a large bag and it didn't feel too uncomfortable. But better than that, Kat became excited thinking how she was going to Lucille's house. To the house of the girl who she had a crush on for a long time. She felt like meowing from happiness but made an extra effort to control her instincts. Animals instincts were strong.

***

Lucille's apartment was just like Kat imagined. Tidy, clean and warm. It wasn't big, being composed of a kitchen, a living room, a sleeping room and a bathroom. It was enough, though. To someone who lived with her family like Kat, it was hard to imagine how living alone feels.

She thought about her family. They would be worried about her not coming back that night. And who knows how long it would be until she gets her body back if she ever gets it back. She didn't want to worry her parents like that, but there weren't much she could do.

And she wanted not to feel happy about that development. But at that time, she couldn't help it. She was just too excited about the prospect of living under the same roof as the girl she loved, even if the girl herself didn't recognize her.

"We need to give you a name for now", Lucille said, putting Kat on her lap while sitting on the couch in the living room. "If I had a kitty, I always wanted to call her Bubby, is that okay?"

If Kat could talk, she would surely complain about it but she didn't have much choice, so she just caressed Lucille's hand using her head. That was a bad name, too cheeky, but Lucille gave it to her, so she was kinda happy.

"So Bubby it is", Lucille smiled and rose up from the couch. "So let's see, for food I don't have any cat food with me…"

Fortunately, Kat thought.

Lucille walked to the kitchen, got a clean dish and placed on the table. She opened the refrigerator and took a box of milk, putting some on the dish. Holding Kat who was wandering close to her feet, Lucille put her in front of the milk.

Kat was relieved as Lucille looked the kind of owner who treated her pets like they were people.

"I need to prepare a sandbox, too."

She wasn't excited for that, though. Kat thought on that moment how dehumanizing her situation was. But then again, she wasn't really human anymore.

After she drank the milk, Kat was put on Lucille's lap again, as the girl caressed her body. Kat felt so good that she couldn't help but to fall asleep. When she woke up, she realized it was daytime already. Since it was weekend, though, Lucille should still be around.

The apartment wasn't big at all, so Kat soon found her new owner in her room, looking at a computer. On that moment Kat remembered how they had an a.s.signment to next week, and how she would probably miss it.

"Oh Bubby, good morning", Lucille said, and her voice was always sweet on Kat's ears. Even on those cat's ears.

Kat jumped on the bed. It wasn't hard since the height wasn't too far, and she was getting used to the motor coordination of that body. The bed smelled like Lucille, and that really calmed Kat down. She stood there, looking at Lucille's serious face as she looked at the computer screen. Sometimes, Lucille would look at Kat and smile, and her little kitty's heart would bounce every time.

After hours studying, Lucille stretched her arms on the chair.

"That's enough for now. A little break should be good…", she said and started to browse sites on the internet.

Being curious about what the girl she liked would read on the internet, Kat jumped on the computer's desk, being careful to not get in her way, so she wouldn't be put away. At first, Lucille browsed on a lot of news sites, then sites about movies and books. Somehow, it was like Kat imagined.

But then Lucille stopped. She gazed at the screen where just the wallpaper with a big sundown was shown. She opened the browser again and googled something. The curiosity made Kat look at the screen again, hoping to see more about Lucille's hobbies. But what was displayed there were lots of photos of women, either in their underwear or completely nude. Kat looked at Lucille to see the girl biting her lower lip as she googled something more, and now on the screen, there were a lot of images of women being intimate together. As she stared at the screen, Lucille unb.u.t.toned her jeans.

But as she remembered Kat was there, she hesitated and blushed. Giving a gentle smile, she took Kat in her arms.

"I know you probably don't know about these things, but it's a little…"

And like that, she put Kat outside and closed the door.

Wait, Kat thought. Inside this room right now, Lucille is… and to lesbian erotic photos…

Her body at that moment was that of a kitty, so she couldn't feel s.e.xual pleasure but the thought of what Lucille was doing was still exciting to her human mind. Kat ran through the apartment anxious, but then remembered she wasn't supposed to make noise and lied on the couch. She didn't know if she should be happy about it or disappointed by her lack of courage when she had a human body.

If I just could go back to normal…

And like that, she slept again.

She woke up with the sound of the bathroom's door opening up. As she went to see what was up, Lucille was just going out of a bath. She was wearing a skirt this time and Kat admired the girl's long and beautiful legs but wanted to respect her and not looked up.

"I'm sorry about before, Bubby. As an apology, want to sleep with me tonight?"

Again, Kat started to brush all her body in Lucille's legs. She also realized she was purring.

"Ok, ok, then. But first, let's make dinner."

After they eat, Lucille went to browse the internet again, this time going back to her a.s.signment and reading the news or watching videos again. But nothing like before. Late at night, she gave out a yawn and started to strip out of her clothes, staying on her underwears.

"So, time to sleep, Bubby", she said, grabbing Kat against her body and lying with her on the bed. "You don't need to worry, I don't move much at night."

Kat was a little worried about the whole situation. She had no right to keep contact with Lucille's naked body like that. But as she was so close to Lucille's lips, she didn't resist and licked them. It wasn't much of a kiss, it didn't feel much like anything on that animal body, but she was still excited. Lucille just smiled, even though her rough kitty's tongue should be really unpleased.

Kat lied her body close to Lucille's chest and slept hearing the girl's heartbeats.

***

Kat still was worried about her situation, but she didn't know what to do. Even worse, being with Lucille made her happier than she was supposed to be. Her family was probably worried about her, and still, she was there, spending time with the girl she loved.

Still, next Monday as Lucille came back from college, something looked wrong. She looked really disheartened, and instead of eating dinner and browsing the internet, she went right to the bed. As Kat got close to her, Lucille just hugged her without saying anything and fell asleep.

The same happened through the whole week until on the last day, Lucille sat on the bed as soon as she got home and started to cry. Worried, Kat jumped on her lap and gave a small meow. She was avoiding making any noise, but she wanted the girl's attention. Lucille looked down at her and caressed her fur.

"I'm sorry Bubby. I haven't played with you lately, right? Truth is, I felt awful this whole week", she went silent, dried the tears on her eyes with the back of her hand and looked warmly at Kat again. "You see, there's this girl I have cla.s.ses together on college. Her name is Katherine…"

Hearing that, Kat felt her heart jump. She didn't even know Lucille knew her name.

"Since the first day I saw her, you see, I really wanted to talk with her. I… don't know why. I felt some connection with her, I think? I can't explain, but I really wanted to be her friend. And I felt like she felt the same. But even though I'm always approached by all kinds of people, I don't know how to start a conversation with someone myself. So I just waited. I think I wanted her to make the first move, or maybe I wanted to find courage…"

Lucille looked at Kat in silence for some seconds.

"She didn't show up at college this whole week. I heard her family is looking for her, too. She disappeared completely. Maybe she had a problem, and I think that maybe if I had become her friend... Maybe I could help her then… Maybe she would still be around. I don't know… I feel awful about it. My friends keep saying I couldn't guess it, and I know it's true, but still… I wanted to talk with her."

Kat wanted to yell: "I'm here! It's me!", but from her mouth, the same meowing as always came out. Instead, she licked Lucille's hands.

"Maybe I'll go to her family tomorrow. See if I can help. It might be too late, but… I'm sorry, Bubby, I think I'll sleep now."

And saying that, Lucille lied on the bed, with her college's clothes still on. Kat jumped on top of her, looking at the girl's sleeping face, with tears in the corner of her eyes.

I want my body back. I want to transform back. Please, please, please. She thought. And just like that, she fell asleep.

When she woke up, Kat saw Lucille's face still close to her. Somehow she didn't look as big as before. Kat opened her mouth, expecting the same sound as all the other times to come out.

"Lucille…", she said.

She was startled. It was a human voice coming out of her. She raised her p.a.w.ns to look at her own body, but they weren't p.a.w.ns at all, but human hands. She had her body back. Still amazed, she looked back at the bed to see Lucille's eyes fixed on her.

Kat jumped back. She fell with her a.s.s on the ground and realized she was completely naked. She tried to run, but Lucille yelled "Wait!", and jumped to grab her. Both girls fell to the ground. Lucille was on top of a naked Kat, her black hair on Kat's face.

"Katherine?", she said.

"I'm…I'm sorry...I wanted to say it was me, but, but…"

But before Katherine could explain herself, Lucille hugged her.

"You're okay. Thank G.o.d, you're okay!", she said as she hugged the girl on the floor.

***

The two girls had calmed down and now faced each other in the room. Lucille was standing up while Kat, wearing some clothes Lucille handed to her, was sitting on the bed.

"So you were Bubby?", Lucille asked, and looked around the room as if to make sure the cat wasn't there anymore. Kat nodded. "It makes no sense…"

"I know, but it's true. I don't know why, but when I realized, I was a cat alone on that street. Then you saved me."

"You remember everything that happened since then?"

"Y-Yeah", Kat said, lowering her head. Lucille blushed and tried to face the other side. "B-But you see, I am the same as you! Since the first day I saw you, I wanted to talk with you. I really wanted to be...with you…"

Lucille suddenly faced Kat with a serious face.

"So, were all your actions...conscious?"

"Y-Yeah…"

Lucille's eyes seemed like they were looking inside Kat's soul, and she dreaded the silence her answer brought.

"I see...", Lucille said finally. "So when you licked my mouth, what you wanted to do?"

"T-That was…"

"A kiss?"

Kat nodded slowly, trying not to face Lucille.

"Hum… That didn't feel good at all, you know? Want to try again?"

Kat looked at Lucille, trying to figure out how serious the other girl was. Lucille just smiled nervously and scratched her cheek.

"Well, you see… Since you saw everything, there's no point in hiding it anymore, right? And my interest in you was always… a little more than just friends.h.i.+p."

"Is it really okay?"

"If your tongue isn't as rough as a cat, at least…"

"Well, I can't promise anything. But let's find out...", and saying that, Kat pulled Lucille in her direction and gave a kiss on her lips.

***

At first, the news that Katherine and Lucille were dating made noise at the college. Kat was sure Lucille would want to keep it secret, but the girl insisted that they should tell everyone. She said that would make up for her cowardice, after all. Of course, the girls' families also knew about it. Katherine's family, in particular, was pretty supportive, probably because Lucille was the one who brought their daughter back home.

Even though things didn't change much for Lucille at the college, though, for Kat, things were different. She wasn't used to the kind of attention she was getting, by dating a girl as popular as Lucille.

"Bubby, here, come here!", Lucille called on the cla.s.ses break, sitting with a group of girls in the college's coffee shop.

As Kat approached, with shy steps, she managed to listen to her other colleagues talking.

"Bubby? Isn't that the name you said you wanted to give if you had a cat?"

"That's right. Cute, huh?"

"You do know your girlfriend is human, right?"

As Kat got close, Lucille pulled her close and made her sit on her lap.

"Lu...wait…", Kat said, but Lucille didn't let her finish, planting a kiss on her lips. Embarra.s.sed by being done that in front of other people, Kat blushed and hid her face on Lucille's shoulders.

"You see, she's my girlfriend and also my kitty", Lucille said, giggling. "Be careful though. She might be cute, but she's a little shy."