Strawberry, Phillipe, and Quasimodo sat quietly while Terra and Timothy cleaned up the mess their love making had left behind. As they sat there, Terra came up with a question.
"So... Phillipe... you said you'd take part in the wedding?" Terra asked.
"Yes, I married many a couple in the past," Phillipe answered, "and I would agree with the idea that it would give me something else to focus on... considering everything."
Terra looked to Timothy as shi cleaned. Brent, Elise, and Kathy had relayed the story they had heard, and to the Tyrannosaur based Dinokat, something seemed off.
"And you're a Catholic Priest?" Terra asked.
Phillipe nodded, "Yes. Ordained and everything..."
"But you had a mate?" Terra asked.
"Terra! Don't hurt hir!" Kathy gasped.
"It's okay... I take it you are referring to the vows of chastity when I joined the Church?" Phillipe asked.
"Yes," Terra answered, "My family has been Catholic for centuries... Catholic Priests are supposed to be celibate."
"And until I became a Kat, I was," Phillipe explained, "I was caught up in the Rome outbreak... as was my "mate." We ended up mating under the lust phase of the virus. Once we were vaccinated, that bond seemed to remain. Did I marry hir, no, no, I did not..."
"But why?" Elise wondered, "you loved hir!"
Phillipe nodded, "I did. But the vows to the Church are supposed to supersede that. I was granted forgiveness as that the lust phase of the virus took over my mind... but once that was no longer an issue and I could control myself, I am to follow the vows I took. That does not mean that I stopped loving hir, and while we couldn't mate or marry in the way you may think... we were still good friends and saw each other frequently... and in a way that allowed me to live within my vows and still be with hir. Shi was my "mate" but our relationship was more like a cross between siblings and best friends... and I will miss hir, but if I might be allowed to participate in your wedding... I can see you off into a happy future and we may become friends as well."
Phillipe soon found both Terra and Timothy offering hir their hands.
"We would be glad to have friendsssssssssss," Timothy said with a smile.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
While the others went about their tour of Paris, or with falling in love, Talia was on her way to London. It was a lengthy one in terms of distance, but thanks to the running of the new bullet train lines which were rapidly beginning to spread beyond the lines that were already in existence, the journey was a rapid one. Talia watched as cities and farmland simply blurred by. Things had been fairly peaceful as shi rode along on the way to London, and shi was headed there to check for a supposed power source.
Charlie getting an idea of finding one of the Ark's old power cores being added as a component to the hydro-electric power facilities at the Hoover Dam had gotten hir thinking. Nemo and the NASA engineers had been mulling over basic engine designs and fuel sources, but that would take time on their own, and if the fuel and energy sources survived the energy ideas could play into the second ship NASA wanted to build for their own exploration of the galaxy and their ship wouldn't have to fight for energy sources. Of course, she couldn't be sure as to how much these things had changed. Nemo had made a comment that the part of the Ark that had come from the Eiffel Tower looked different from the way shi remembered it. It could very well be possible that these energy sources and power supplies were damaged or destroyed in the crash... or by human actions by accident. And that was the reasoning for the present trip.
Talia remembered Nemo once telling hir that the Ark had a series of panels that worked much like the solar panels humans had developed. They collected light energy and converted into power for various parts of the ship, but when the Ark fell apart and crashed to Earth, Talia didn't know entirely what happened to many of the components. Spending many of hir years assisting the people of Ancient Egypt, shi hadn't had the time before to really look, and before the Chakat Virus outbreaks began, shi and the relative handful of "Kats" that had been on board the Ark had been the only "Kats" on Earth. Shi didn't have reason to worry, but now things were changed. True the Retrovirus Vaccine would restore most Kats back to Humans, the fact that there were now many Kats around the world and all, even with full control of themselves, being highly sexual creatures that also loved being parents meant that they would need a new home... and that meant the Ark, and Talia had begun looking.
"Hopefully he's still alive," Talia thought to hirself slowly, “and that he remembers me.”
The “he” was a man who had worked for the British government many years ago. He wasn't an ambassador, but he did serve as part of the British Embassy’s staff in Cairo. He’d had a great personal interest in ancient cultures and stumbled onto Talia by accident, much like Midnight would years later. This lead to some friendship between the two and he had offered Talia to come visit him in the UK if shi ever left Egypt. Now with the search for the pieces of the Ark in full swing, shi had decided to seek his help, especially after some off hand comments he had told hir once.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Years Before the First Outbreak...
Talia and hir British government friend sat quietly in a secluded part of the desert looking out over the western horizon as the sun set over the dunes.
"It's beautiful, isn't it?" Talia asked, "Reginald?"
"It is, in a way," the British diplomat answered, "though not the thing that that has always filled me with the most pride."
Talia turned and lowered an ear in puzzlement. Reginald only gave a friendly smile.
"It's Big Ben, Talia," Reginald smiled, "a clock tower in London and attached to the Palace of Westminster. It's a neogothic building... and I can remember walking by it as a boy..."
"I've never been outside of Egypt," Talia said to him, "How does Big Ben compare to the Pyramids?"
"The Pyramids are a marvel of what man can do with no modern equipment, but to me... Big Ben represents home," Reginald answered looked off into the horizon again, a wistful look coming in his eyes, "You know... sometimes... just after dusk... it seemed as if some of the roof tiles were glowing..."
Talia blinked for a moment.
"But then the tower does have some interior lighting so... maybe it was only light coming from inside the tower," Reginald finished.
++++++++++++++++++++++
In the present, Talia sat quietly on the train and thought back to that day. By what Reginald had said, shi now guessed that part of the tower's roof tiles included parts of the Ark's original energy panels. Shi would need a closer look and then permission from the British government to collect them. Justin and Francine had told hir that the Eiffel Tower had been closed as crews began work to rebuild what had essentially flew away. Talia didn't think the vacationers in Paris knew that yet, but on some level seeing these sorts of monuments, even if from a distance, was always good to see. And now Talia would get a shot to see another of these monuments, even if it was on business.
Shi paused from hir thoughts for a moment and looked out to see the train pulling into a London station.
"Hopefully he remembers me," Talia said to hirself and stood back up on hir four feet.
Shi was greeted by a host of people going about their business and making their way into London or moving about on the platform. No one ran into hir, but shi could tell that the platform was busy as shi tried to find Reginald's face. Hir search ended when shi heard an raspy voice call to hir.
"Talia... it is you! After nearly forty years... you haven't aged a day."
Talia turned to see an elderly man, with thinning white hair, wrinkles, sagging and tired eyes, and yet a warm and friendly smile that Talia did remember.
"Reginald..." Talia gasped.
"Not as young as I used to be, eh?" Reginald gave a laugh before giving a cough, "Glad to see you haven't been as alone as you these past few years."
Talia got the sense that that was a reference to all the outbreaks and the Kats that had come to be thanks to Maurice and Snowy's desire to end war and hatred in their own misguided way.And with that, Talia did have to agree. Shi wasn't alone, shi had a wonderful mate in Midnight and together they had beautiful children. A part of hir, actually wanted to rush home and be with them.
"Yes," Talia nodded and hugged him, "The Kats have joined me... and for the moment, we have much to talk about."