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A LEOPARD'S TAIL

1. Part Ten

Early the next morning Kristy stood in front of the couch, watching her brother sleep. I was a strange sensation, looking down at the large cat sleeping there, sides rising and falling as it breathed, and knowing that it was her brother.

This is just too weird... She thought to herself. I mean, I knew something was wrong, but I NEVER suspected anything even remotely like this! But still, this isn't really all that bad. Just.. Strange...

After Kristy had managed to accept what had happened to her brother, Peter had gone back into his room to change back and assure her that he was fine. Kristy had wanted him to tell her everything that had happened then and there, but Peter had been far too tired after not getting enough sleep the night before, and all anxiety he'd just been through. Kristy had watched, amazed, as he went back into his room, came out as a leopard, curled up on the sofa, and promptly fell asleep.

Kristy just stood there for several minutes, watching her brother, and letting the whole thing sink in. Then she slowly shook her head in amazement, and grinned. That's my brother... She laughed softly to herself, and walked into the kitchen.

Peter was fast asleep when he suddenly became aware of something poking him in the side. His mind quickly decided it was nothing important, and attempted to ignore it. Unfortunately, the poking persisted, threatening to wake him from his well deserved rest.

With a low growl-like sound, Peter rolled over onto his other side in an attempt to evade the incessant poking. The ploy worked or a moment, as the poking ceased. But a few seconds later it began again, accompanied by a vaguely familiar voice.

"That'll be just about enough of THAT" The voice said in an amused tone. "Now come on Peter, you've cat napped long enough!" Peter slowly opened his eyes and blinked at the sound of laughter, and found himself looking up at his sister, who was grinning down at him.

Peter tried to say something, forgetting for a moment that he was still a leopard. All that came out was a low growling sound. He shook his head, rolled over off the couch, and quickly headed for the bedroom. He paused for a moment to sniff his nose, smelling something good, then continued into the room and closed the door behind him.

A few minutes later Peter walked back out, dressed in jeans and a shirt, and looking a bit groggy. He wandered into the kitchen, where Kristy was already waiting.

Kristy laughed at his appearance. "You know, it used to be that I was the one who always got up late..." She said in amusement. Peter smiled back at her.

"Good morning Sis."

"Good morning Peter." Kristy replied. "I figured that as long as I'm staying here, I might as well make some breakfast, so here we are." She said, indicating the microwaved bacon and bowls of cold cereal on the table.

"Well, looks like your cooking skill haven't changed.." Peter said with a grin, sitting down at the table. The two ate in silence for a few minutes, Peter not really looking his sister in the eyes.

"Sooo.. Are you okay?" Kristy finally asked. Peter laughed a bit nervously."I was about to ask YOU the same question."

"Me? Oh, I'm okay I guess. A bit surprised, but okay..."

"So you're not..." Peter asked a bit hesitantly before stopping.

"Not what?"

"Not... Scared of me..." Peter continued slowly, not looking directly at his sister. Kristy paused for a moment before speaking.

"Well, I have to admit, you sure did surprise me at first... But you're my brother, and I know you'd never do anything to hurt me." She shook her head. "Nope. Not scared." She grinned. "Ticked off you didn't tell me sooner, yeah, but not scared. Actually, I think it's a bit neat." She laughed. "Of course, everyone knows us artistic types can be a bit unusual..."

Peter laughed and nodded his head, looking up at his sister and smiling a bit. Then he fidgeted slightly. "I know I probably should have told you sooner, but.. Well, it's not exactly something you can bring up over dinner, and.. I was a bit afraid you'd.. Well.."

"Run out the door screaming?" She asked with a chuckle. Peter nodded his head seriously. Kristy shook her head. "I'd never do something like that to you Peter.. Though I DO feel like bopping you on the head for keeping this a secret! I mean, sure, I can see how you might think telling someone you're changing into a cat is a bad thing, but with the way you were acting you had me worrying you had a terminal illness of were selling government secrets to foreign nations!

"Sorry.." Peter said simply. "I didn't know you were that worried about me..."

"Well, what's past is past" Kristy said with a smile. "And since we're on the subject of the past, why don't you start telling me this story from the beginning?"

Peter nodded and took a deep breath before speaking. "It all began about two months ago..."

"And that was why I started acting so strangely when I saw that sculpture you'd made." Peter said, finishing up his story, taking a drink of water when he was done..

"Wow..." Kristy said "That is.. Unbelievable..."

Peter nodded his head in agreement. "Tell me about it. I'm starting to feel like I should put a sign on the door to my apartment 'Welcome to the Twilight Zone.'"

"And you still have no idea how or why this is happening?"

Peter shook his head. "Absolutely no clue."

"Doesn't that worry you?" Kristy asked, raising an eyebrow.

Peter snorted slightly. "EVERYTHING about this worry's me... But Karen ran those few tests she could do, like I told you, and nothing much showed up on them. And it's not like I can walk into a doctors office and ask him to do a DNA test and tell me if he finds anything weird." Peter shrugged. "I don't know why it happens, but I'm getting a grip on it, and nothing terrible has happened..." Besides almost having a nervous breakdown. Peter shrugged again. "I'm just trying to get on with my life"

Peter was just taking another drink of water when the phone rang.

"I'll get it..." Kristy said, getting up out of her chair and heading for the phone in the living room.

"Hello?" She asked, picking up the phone.

"Oh, hi Kristy..." Karen said, sounding a little uncertain. "Um... How are you and Peter doing?"

"Oh, I'm fine..." Kristy replied. "And as for my brother, the bundle of fur, he seems to be doing okay too." She said with a laugh.

"So you're not surprised?" Karen asked, sounding surprised herself.

"Of course I'm surprised!" Kristy replied in good humor. "Finding out your little brother turns into a big feline can do that. But I'm not about to go running out into the street screaming." Karen laughed at the other end of the line, and Kristy looked over at Peter. "Well, judging by the nervous look on Peter's face, I'd have to guess he wants me off the phone so he can talk to you..." She said, amusement still in her voice.

Karen laughed again before responding. "You know, you can tell he's REALLY nervous when he starts to grow fur.."

"Oh really?" Kristy responded, grin growing. "And when would this happen?"

"Well, I did notice he seemed to need a bit of a shave when we went out to the movies a few days ago..."

"Ohhh, the movies..." Kristy replied, grinning hugely at Peter. "How interesting..." Karen laughed at the other end of the line, imagining the look on Peter's face as he heard Kristy's end of the conversation.

"All right, that's enough of that..." Peter said a bit gruffly, taking the phone from his sister's hands, who was having a laughing fit at the moment.

"Um.. Hi Karen.." He said, smiling. "Sorry about my sister there.. She can act a bit CHILDISH sometimes.." Peter said loudly, looking at his sister, who just laughed a bit harder.

"Oh, that's okay Peter." Karen said in a cheerful tone of voice. "So, how are you feeling?"

"I'm doing pretty well. And my sister has taken this whole thing amazingly well..." He laughed. "I guess I deserve an 'I told you so' right about now..."

"How could you even think I'd say anything like that?" Karen asked in a mock strict voice. "I'll wait until we're face to face to say I told you so!" She laughed, and Peter smiled.

"Well, I guess you'll just have to come over soon. After all, a good 'I told you so' doesn't wait to long... That is, if my sister doesn't have anything planned for today." Peter grinned, then looked over at Kristy. Kristy shrugged and laughed.

"I'm going to be heading out to the gallery in a little while, so I don't have anything planned for today. Last night was the main event, so I'll be making sure all my work is ready to be shipped out to the next stop." She chuckled. "Seems like an awful lot of work for one show. Anyway, I'll be back later this afternoon, and I wouldn't mind a little time to chat with Karen before I leave tomorrow." She said with a mischievous grin. Peter groaned and rolled his eyes, causing Kristy's grin to expand.

"And then he ran out of the pizzeria, bumping into half a dozen people as he headed for the door!" Karen said, and both her and Kristy chortled merrily while Peter tried his best to keep a straight face.

"Well I was a bit surprised, that's all!" Peter replied in his defense as the two females laughed. The three were sitting in Peter's living room, eating dinner off a collapsible table since his kitchen was a bit too small to fit all three of them comfortably.

"Ah, that's my brother.. " Kristy said, grinning. "He always had a way with women. "He thought girls were still 'icky' until he was 20." She grinned and continued laughing.

"Well what do you expect? After all, the only model for the opposite sex I had was you... My loving sister, who once painted a huge pink line down my back..."

"Hey, I was just expressing my artistic talents!" Kristy retorted. Peter just laughed and rolls his eyes. "Now be nice Peter, or I'll get my Anti-Fur friends to come over here and spray paint you while you're asleep!" Peter almost choked on a piece of meat, and Kristy smirked victoriously while her brother recovered, chuckling.

Karen laughed and shook her head. "Well, you two certainly seemed to have had an.. interesting childhood..." She said with a grin.

"Oh, you don't know the half of it!" Peter said, raising his eyes to the heavens.

"And it seems your life has only got more 'interesting', my fuzzy Little Bro." Kristy said, grinning at him.Peter looked a bit uncomfortable. "Yeah, I guess so..." He said, forcing a bit of a grin.

"You know, I never did get such a great look at you when you were running around as a leopard last night..." Kristy said, and smiled. "Why don't you change now?"

"What, you mean change into a leopard? Now?" Peter asked, a bit surprised. "But it's not even time to go to sleep yet..."

"What, you only change into a leopard when you're going to go to sleep?" Kristy asked in amusement. Peter slowly nodded his head.

"I really don't change unless I'm sleeping..."

"Why not?" Kristy asked, smiling. "If I could do something like that, I probably would.. I mean, it must be pretty neat being able to see the world from a different perspective like that..." Karen nodded her head in agreement with Kristy's words. "Yeah, well, I guess I never really looked at that way..." Peter said uncomfortably. "But still..."

"Awww, come on Peter..." Kristy urged. She looked over at Karen and grinned. She nodded her head and gave her a look that said 'help me out here'. Karen smiled and nodded back.

"I have to side with your sister on this one, Peter..." She smiled at him. "Besides, if you change, I'll scratch behind your ears..." She said with a laugh.

"Scratch behind his hears?" Kristy asked with a grin, raising an eyebrow. Karen laughed while Peter's face turned a bit red.

"When I was running some tests on him, I found that be tends to fall asleep when you scratch behind his ears..."

"Like a big house cat!" Kristy exclaimed.

"Exactly!" Karen replied, and they both laughed at Peter started to blush in embarrassment.

"This I have to see... Please Peter?" Kristy said as sweetly as she could. Karen laughed and joined in.

"Yeah Peter, please?" She said, batting her eyes.

"Ohhh.. All right, all right!" He said with a sigh "I give in, I'll do it!" He grumbled slightly at the two women grinned. "No fair double teaming me..."

Karen and Kristy simply grinned more as he wandered over to his bedroom to change.

A few minutes later Karen and Kristy had the remains of dinner in the garbage, and were waiting for Peter to come out of his room. Karen was sitting in a chair, and Kristy raised an eyebrow at her from on the sofa where she was sitting.

"Scratching him between the ears?" She asked with an amused grin. Karen blushed slightly and was about to reply when the door to the bedroom opened, and Peter walked into the room.

Peter first stuck his head out for a moment to look around, and seemed a bit hesitant. Then he did the equivalent of a shoulder shrug and walked out into the living room. Karen just smiled reassuringly, a bit more used to this sort of thing than Kristy. Kristy just watched her brother in semi-awe, still more than a little amazed by his transformation.

Peter walked over to the sofa by his sister, looked up for a moment, then gracefully leapt up onto the couch, startling Kristy back to reality. Peter seemed to sigh and roll his eyes before laying down on the sofa, head resting on his two front paws.

Karen laughed. "When most people say they're going to change, it just means they're putting on a new set of clothes.." She said with a grin. Kristy laughed with her, and poked her brother in the side with a finger.

"Yep, that's my big fuzzy brother. He always WAS a bit weird..." She said, grinning. Peter snorted slightly and moved over a bit to avoid her poking."You know, I think I like you better this way..." She continued. Peter looked up at her, and she laughed. "You can't talk!"

Peter did his best to roll his eyes again, and lightly whapped Kristy with his paw, what appeared to be a slight grin on his face.

"Now don't you get fresh with me!" Kristy said, wagging a finger at him and grinning. Without much through she moved her hand to his head and began scratching. Peter quickly lowered his head and half closed his eyes, making a low purring sound

Kristy laughed loudly and looked over at Karen. "You were right! He IS just like a big house cat!"

Karen laughed in return. "Didn't I tell you?"

Peter continued to purr while Kristy and Karen spoke, embarrassed but feeling too relaxed and happy from getting his head scratched to move.

"Look! Even his tail is wagging!" Kristy pointed out, increasing her scratching.

Peter tried to pay attention to what the two were saying, but his eyes slowly began to close bit by bit. Within a few minutes he was fast asleep, much to the amusement of Kristy and Karen, who noted that he continued purring, with his tail swaying back and forth, long after he had nodded off.

Peter was running. Running away from something. No, he was chasing something. He was running through something. Through grass. Tall grass. He could see it blurring by out of the corner of his eyes. He was really moving, much faster than he seemed to remember being able to run. And he seemed to be awfully close to the ground as he ran too...

It suddenly occurred to him that there was a yellow muzzle in front of his view. The realization that something was wrong had just hit him when he suddenly stopped running, leaping high into the air at his target as a voice filled his head...

"You sure do sleep a lot." Kristy noted in amusement as Peter began to wake up. The sudden transition from dreaming to her voice jolted him awake, causing him to jump off the sofa where he'd fallen asleep the previous night, and land on the floor. He blinked and quickly stood up, shaking his head and looking around.

He looked up to find Kristy standing above him, her hand locked over her mouth to keep from breaking down laughing. Peter stared at her for a moment, and then headed towards his bedroom, trying to retain as much dignity as possible under the circumstances.

"Some people change in pajamas before they go to sleep. My brother turns into a leopard." Kristy laughed quietly for a few seconds and shook her head in a combination of amusement and disbelief. This whole thing is so surreal. Kristy thought to herself. But it's all happening, it's all real. Who would have even imagined... Kristy shrugged her shoulders, an amused grin still on her face even as she was deep in thought. Well, at least I finally know what's been going on around here. I'd really have preferred to stay around a bit longer, but my little tour isn't over just yet...

Kristy's thoughts were interrupted as the door to the bedroom opened as a somewhat disgruntled Peter stepped out, trying to comb his hair into some semblance of order with his hand. Kristy had to suppress the urge to laugh again at the scene, and Peter looked over at her and glared. He just grumbled slightly at his rude awakening as he walked past her towards the kitchen.

Unable to resist, Kristy spoke. "I know cats are high strung, but..." She said with a chuckle. The look Peter gave her just made it worse, and she started to laugh in earnest as Peter raised his eyes to the sky.

"You just surprised me, that's all." Peter said, making a bowl of cereal for breakfast. "I'm not used to having people around when I wake up..."

"Not even Karen?" Kristy asked in an innocent tone of voice, raising an eyebrow. Peter's face turned a bit red as he replied.

"No, not even Karen." He replied firmly, rolling his eyes to the heavens once more. Kristy smirked.

"And how did YOU sleep last night?" She asked. "You seemed to fall asleep pretty easily..." Peter turned a bit redder, recalls how he nodded off while having his head scratched, purring like a normal cat.

"I slept.. Fine..." Peter said, an odd note in his voice. Kristy gave him a curious look.

"Is something wrong?" She asked in mild concern.

"No, nothing..." Peter said, shaking his head. "Just had an... Unusual dream last night, that's all."

"What kind of 'Unusual'?" Kristy asked in a level tone of voice. Peter shrugged his shoulders.

"Oh, nothing much. I just have weird dreams every now and then. Nothing to worry about." Peter said, trying to drop the matter. The truth was he'd been having dreams at least every other night since this whole mess began. But at the beginning they were less dreams and more nightmares. Being found out. Being locked in a cage. Being turned into a fur coat. That sort of thing. Thankfully they'd toned down to weird leopard dreams which weren't so bad, so he didn't exactly feel like complaining.

"So, what time is your flight out?" Peter asked, trying to change the subject.

"It's early this afternoon." She laughed lightly. "In about an hour now, actually." Peter felt slightly embarrassed about sleeping so late. "Anyway, I'm already all packed up, and all of my art work is set to be shipped, so I'm all set. But don't you have work today?" Kristy asked. Peter just shrugged.

"I asked my boss for today off when you first told me how long you'd be staying." Peter replied, taking a sip of orange juice.

"You must have a lot of vacation time..." Kristy said.

"Yeah. I get a pretty good vacation package, and I've been saving most of my days off for a while now, so I've got plenty of vacation time left over."

"And a good thing too!" Kristy said with a grin. "A week here, a few days there. I always thought you worked too hard and didn't get out enough anyway."

Peter was about to reply when the doorbell rang. He got up from the table, already finished with his quick breakfast, and walked over to see who was knocking.

"Oh, hi Karen!" Peter said, a bit surprised when he opened the door. Not that he should have been too surprised, since not many people dropped by his apartment that often.

"Hi Peter." Karen said with a smile, stepping inside. "I just thought I'd drop by to see you for a little while, and say good bye to your sister." Peter nodded and smiled back, closing the door behind her.

"Hi Karen." Kristy said when she spotted her. Karen returned the greeting and the three sat down in the living room to talk for a little while before Kristy had to leave to catch her flight.

"I'm sorry about nodding off last night..." Peter said to Karen, clearing his throat in embarrassment. Both Karen and Kristy tried their best not to giggle at him, grinning hugely instead.

"Oh, that's okay Peter." Karen said, still grinning. Kristy and I had a few interesting conversations while you were out."

"Yeah. We would have woken you up to join in, but you seemed to be enjoying your little cat nap so much, and all that purring was quite relaxing..." Kristy said, finally breaking down and laughing. Karen managed not to laugh, but had a huge grin plastered across her face.

Peter's face turned a bit more red in embarrassment as he cleared his throat. This is turning into one embarrassing morning... Maybe I should have just stayed in bed.. Peter thought to himself with a slight mental chuckle. "So... What did you two talk about anyway?" He asked, trying to change the subject from his vulnerability to head rubs.

"Oh, a whole bunch of things.." Karen said, looking over at Kristy. The two women grinned at each other, and Peter groaned mentally.

Well, if this isn't trouble, I don't know what is... He thought to himself in a mixture of amusement and defeat. The two women quickly began conversing. Peter mostly sat on the sidelines, trying to keep up with the continually shifting topics.

Kristy looked down at her watch. "Well, I think I'd better get going if I want to catch my flight." She said with a smile. "That is, if my loving little brother will be kind enough to help me with my bags..." She said, grinning at Peter and giving him her best sweet innocent little female look. Peter closed his eyes and shook his head in amusement.

"Sister, you may be many things, but subtle isn't one of them." Peter deadpanned. Kristy just grinned at her brother as he walked into his bedroom to grab her bags. Karen looked over at her and smiled.

"You just love to pick on him, don't you?" She said humorously.

"Why of course!" Kristy replied, trying to sound shocked. "He's my little brother! It's my job to torment him!"

Karen simply shook her head in amusement as Peter walked back out carrying his sister's baggage. Within a few minutes they were all in Peter's car, driving down to the airport. Karen had decided to accompany them and see Kristy off as well. Soon they were at the airport terminal, saying their good-byes.

"Bye sis. It was good having you over. A bit nerve wracking, but nice." Peter said with a grin, and gave Kristy a hug.

Kristy returned the hug and grinned. "Well, I'm glad you think so, since I'll probably be dropping by again in a few weeks on my return trip at the end of my tour..." She said.

"Oh? And when will that be?" Peter asked.

"I'm not sure just yet... Probably sometime around your Birthday though." Kristy responded, grin growing.

"Birthday?" Karen asked, looking at Peter and raising an eyebrow.

"Oh, my birthday is in a few weeks.. Nothing important..." Peter said.

Karen smiled at Peter for a moment before looking back over at Kristy. "Well, it's been a pleasure to meet you, Kristy..." Karen said earnestly.

"Same here." Kristy responded. "Now you be sure to take good care of my brother, you hear?" She said with a smile. Karen nodded.

"Don't worry, I'll keep him out of trouble." Karen said with a grin.

"That's not what I said." Kristy responded with a smirk. "I just said to take care of him." She gave the two of them a knowing grin and waved. "Well, I'd better aboard before my plane leaves without me... I'll be seeing the two of you again soon. Bye!" Both Peter and Karen blushed slightly at Kristy's comment as they waved and returned her good-bye.

"Oh, one more thing.." Kristy said, turning around as she handed over her ticket at the gate. "I left you a little present on your bed before I left Peter. I'm sure you'll love it." She grinned hugely before heading through the gate.

Peter groaned at Kristy's parting comment wondering what terrible fate awaited him at home. Karen just chuckled at the look on his face.

"Here was are..." Peter said, carrying a cardboard box into the living room where Karen was waiting.

"Well then, let's see what inside." Karen replied.

Peter shook his head in amusement. "Knowing my sister, I'm not sure if I WANT to open it..." He said, a crooked grin on his face.

"Oh, come on. She's not that bad!" Karen ginned. "Besides, aren't you curious?"You're not going to make me pull out that old 'Curiosity and the cat' line, are you?" Peter asked with a grin. Karen laughed slightly as Peter opened the box. There was a note on top of a folded up sheet of paper, both of which Peter picked up. He glanced at the note and read it out loud.

"To my big, fuzzy, little brother. Just a few things I thought you'd appreciate. Love, Kristy." Peter shook his head slightly at the 'fuzzy' part and unfolded the second piece of paper.

"Well, what is it?" Karen asked, smiling, as Peter groaned humorously. Peter turned the paper around to give Karen a good look. It was a rough but fairly detailed sketch of a leopard, asleep on a sofa, one paw hanging off the edge of the cushions. Karen laughed at the drawing.

"She must have drawn that after I left.." she said, still laughing a bit.

"What else have we got..." Peter asked aloud, reaching into the box and pulling out a large object covered in newspaper. He quickly removed the paper, and blinked in surprise.

"Wow..." Karen said, looking down at the statuette from Kristy's exhibit, a detailed sculpture of a leopard. "It looks even more impressive when you get a close up look..." Peter nodded his head in agreement, turning it in his hands to examine it. He smiled slightly and stood up, carrying the sculpture to the counter that separated he living room from the kitchen. He carefully placed the leopard on the table top, facing out into the living room.

"Thanks sis... For everything..." He said quietly to himself. Then he turned around and walked back to Karen, smiling. "Well the day is young, and I'd hate to waste a day off, so how would you like to go out for some lunch?" He asked, offering his arm. Karen smiled and took it.

"I'd be delighted." she said.

As a certain 747 took off from the airport, one particular passenger leaned back in her seat, smiling.