A friendship formed. (Fin)

Having been giving up for adoption as a baby, Breeya had never been in her true and natural family. The people who had taken the were normal enough, for the time they were in they had a decent house and a decent amount of money. It was a rarity to find nice houses around here during these times. As she grew, something seemed odd about the young child. She was different. Her eyes were yellow, and her tails and ears were already beginning to form. Or such people, things could get quite scary coming across these kinds of things. They were scared of her from an early age.

The people owning the Opera house at the time were just coming into the business. They were still making restoration efforts of the ancient, bit beautiful building. It was rundown, but beginning to thrive again as people held great importance to music. They were an elderly couple, not suited to take on a child of their own. But they had anyways, and for that she was greatful. From an early age, she had a special affinity with the classical an opera style of music. Had it been fate which led her here? As she grew older, they taught her many things, and she perfected te genre at the early age of eight. Around that time, both her adopted parents fell ill, and died soon after.

The young cat girl was crushed, tears streaming down her face. She had always been in hiding so no one knew of her existence. It was not her 'parents' fault, they had only wished to save her, not hurt her. She lived alone for many years in the opera house, as it once again began losing its luster. Rumors soon began of a ghostly apparition, or perhaps two, taking hold of the opera house. The ghosts of te former owners. But in reality, it was simply a scared, Breeya protecting herself from te outside world, and using her powers to her best advantage. She could sing and belt out a good opera chorus like none other.

Like on many other days, she sat in one of the viewing boxes above, looking down into the rows of seats that fille the room looking off into the stage. She had to admit... Things could get lonely at times...

It was a dark and stormy day, plagued by tragedy, all she could do was run. Run as far as she could think to run. Tears streaming down her face, blind to her surrounding, she ran until she couldn't any longer. When she finally stopped running she noticed she was in the shadow of a humongous building. It was the old Opera house. There was something familiar about the building. Suddenly a huge bolt of lightning struck right behind her. Screaming she ran into the Opera house.

Once inside, she started to explore the ruins of the once glorious building. Then she remembered how she knew of the building. It was on the news. Her father had been watching it and she was listening while she was playing with her guitar. The owners of the Opera house had recently passed. With the thought of the owners fate, her own sadness welled back up from her memory. Trying not to breakdown crying again, Zoey walked through the corridors of the building until she came upon the auditorium. She walked down the middle aisle up to the stage and stepped on it. She stood and faced the many rows of chairs before her and started to play the air guitar, but it was no use. Nothing could take her mind off what had happened.

Zoey fell to her knees, then to her side, curled up into a ball and cried uncontrollably till she fell asleep.

"Neh?" Breeya heard movement and she poked her head over to look down into her surroundings. It was not the normal cheerful squeaks and brave chirps she heard from the children seeking an adventure. In all the eleven years she had been here all by herself, she had never had a girl come in crying before. She hopped up onto the guardrail of the watch box and squatted. She had much practice over the years and her tails gave her balance most humans didn't possess.

Examining the girl, she felt sympathy. 'I wonder if she has lost someone to?' Silently, she leapt down to the floor, landing nimbly on both feet. Cats always landed on their feet after all. Cautiously, she approached the sleeping girl, her tail twitching curiously at the ground. At some points not realizing she was thumping the girl with it. That was one part of her body she had little control of. Her tail. It moved with her emotions as did here ears, which were also flippe off to one side. Kneeling down, she crawled closer. This girl was soaking wet. The catgirl scurrie off and soon came out with a blanket, putting it over Zoey carefully.

A feeling of warmth came over Zoey and she slowly opened her eyes to see a cat-girl kneeling before her. She slowly sat up and glanced at her. "Hello, my name is Zoey. I've never seen you before, what is your name? How long have you been here?"

Breeya smiled, sitting with her legs crossed underneath her as she wondered what brought Zoey out here herself. "You probably haven't seen me before because I only go out to get my food and other necessities. My name is Breeya. And as for how long I've been here...." She paused for a minute, and than sighed. "I have been here for 18 years and live here alone for 11....You have heard about hauntings in this place, yes?" A smile came to her face. "But enough about me.. Why are you here crying?" She was worried for this girl she had just met..

"Well I was outside crying, but it was raining and I was running, and I ended up here. As for what i was crying about.." Zoey sat up completely and crossed her legs in front of her and lowered her head. Feeling the tears starting to well up again. "I'm sorry, it happened so recently, I haven't had anyone to talk to about it. It must seem sad for a 19 year old to be sobbing like a baby, but my parents. They recently passed away. It was horrible. They.." Zoey sniffed trying to hold herself together, "They got in a horrible car accident. I tried to stop it, but i couldn't." Zoey couldn't hold the tears back any longer, not knowing what to do but knowing she wanted someone to comfort her, she laid her head in Breeya's lap and cried till she could no more.

"Why on Earth would you apologize for such a thing?" Breeya murdered, stroking the girls back with her tails. She waited until Zoey was completely done crying and smiled. "You can stay here withe of you have no where else to go...my parents died eleven years ago... So no one else stays here anymore. I always liked the solitude but... I admit it does get lonely sometimes."

"That means a lot to me. I can't stay in my old house anymore, but I do need to get somethings. Clothes, my blades, my guitar." Zoey looked up at Breeya and softly smiled. "Thank you." Zoey glomped Breeya to the stage and passed out on top of her.

"I normally only go out for food and necessities but if you need...." She was thrown off guard as Zoey three herself on top of Breeya. The cat girl giggled and smiled sweetly. Zoey had already drifted off back to sleep like that. "you're welcome..." She murmured gently, swishing her tail to rest on the other girls back. Luckily not many people visited the opera house at this time of day or someone would think they were two lovers looking for a place to hide. Of course they weren't, but it was suspicious all the same.

When Zoey woke up it was daylight out once again. It was evening time now and Zoey knew she didn't have much time to grab her things if she wanted to get back by dark. Zoey stood up and looked at Breeya. You don't need to come with me if you don't want too. I can make it on my own, and I promise I'll be back before the sun goes down completely."

"I can't let you do that," Breeya said, rising to her feet with a smile. "Let me keep you company." It was growing dark. There was no way that she could let this girl go out on her own. "Besides, I should probably go get some things for our dinner anyways... I ran out of matches... Just let me..." The girl disappeared for only a moment, and came back wearing a long hooded coat that covered her tail and ears. Stuffed between her breasts, she held a small amount of money. Her adopted parents had left her with a small safe with enough money to get her by when needed.

Zoey watched as she came back to the stage. She walked up to her new host and linked her arm and started walking towards the exit. "You're right, I shouldn't be let out alone. You never know what mischief I could get into." Zoey winked at Breeya.

Zoey had taken a liking to this new friend of hers. She could see that Breeya was shy and was trying hard to be sociable. Zoey had a good feeling about her though. She knew there was something special about her, and she wasn't just thinking about the tails and the ears.

"Mischief..." Breeya thought aloud, beginning to exit her home alongside her new companion in wonder. She tried hard not to let her tail sway back and forth in intrigue to avoid onlookers attention, though it was difficult. Having little contact with others had handicapped her somewhat around people. But she was always sure to make an effort.

She didn't let just anyone into her home to stay. This girl had a good feeling and aura about her. Of course, she wouldn't really know if a person was out to get to know her for the wrong reasons. She was quite trusting despite her lack of contact.

Zoey looked at Breeya and seen that she was deep in thought. Zoey thought back at what she had said and looked ahead saying, "I was kidding about the mischief thing. I don't try to find trouble, but sometimes it just finds me. It's just something I've learned to deal with over the years."

Zoey lead Breeya an abandoned apartment building and walked up the steps and in the front door. Right inside the door were Zoey's roller blades and her favorite boots. Zoey lead Breeya up that stairs and into her room, which was covered wall to wall with old rock posters and CD cases. Zoey motioned for Breeya to take a seat on her bed, which for once was neatly made. Zoey walked to her closet and pulled out her duffle bag and started to grab the clothes hanging in her closet. She grabbed her favorite dresses and skirts and pants and blouses. Zoey was never really much of a girly girl, but she enjoyed the breeze she felt as she sped down the sidewalk on her blades. Zoey then walked to her dresser and gathered up some undergarments and shoved then into her duffle. Zoey then took the bag and slung it over her shoulders and wore it like a backpack. She walked across the room and grabbed a case containing her favorite guitar, and started to walk out of the room motioning to Breeya to follow her back out. They walked back down stairs and Zoey stopped suddenly and looked down at her clothes. They were still wet from when she was running through the rain. She wasn't worried about those clothes, so she dropped her bag and set down her guitar and ran back up stairs. "Be right back, gonna change outta these wet things."

"Oh..okay..."" Breeya said with a slight smile. Did she mention she wasn't quite able to fully understand when someone was being playful. She followed Zoey obediently, her head slunk down looking around her at unfamilar territory, sub conciously sniffing at the air for new scents.

Zoey had plenty of things to carry, although it was all able to fit in one duffle bag. She picked up the dropped bag and smiled. "I will be waiting." Breeya began looking around at the apartment and noted how different it was to what she was used to. They obviously enjoyed music of a different genre. But this girl seemed to be decked out... could this be one of her own kind?

Zoey raced up the steps and back into her room. She looked in the closet to find what was left. All there was a pair of torn blue skinny jeans and an old band tee. 'Perfect' Zoey thought and stripped almost naked and changed quickly. She looked up on the shelf in her closet and found a pair of dry chucks and slipped them on her feet.

Zoey went to race down the stairs back to Breeya, when she noticed that her parents door was open. She cautiously walked into it to get one last look before she left. She went straight for the closet. She remember hiding in there when she was younger after doing something wrong. She opened the door and seen her mother's clothes hanging so nicely. She reached in and touched them. She found her mother's black suede trench coat and took it off the hanger and put it on. The coat went down to the back of her knees. She felt safe when she wore the coat. She looked around the closet more and found her father's black fedora and put it on. She walked over to her mother's make up table and looked at her reflection. She smiled as tears started to well up again. She was going to miss her parents, but she knew she had to be strong. She wiped away the tears and looked in the closet once again. She seen a stack of photo albums. She pulled them down and sat on the bed. She found one that she hadn't looked in before. She opened it up and looked at the first photo. It was of a baby girl, with deep red hair and little cat like ears sticking out from the flowing red locks. She recognized the yellow eyes immediately.

"BREEYA!!!!" Zoey screamed down the stairs. "Breeya, come up here fast!!"

"What is it?!!!" Breeya yelled back up the stairs, slightly freaked out by Zoey's yelling. Was something wrong? Surely not since they were the only ones in the apartment at the moment. The girl dashed up the stairs, the duffle bag hitting her hip as she moved quickly to go into Zoey's parents room. She found Zoey up there okay, and she tilted her head some, dropping her hood in the safe quarters of the apartment. Her ears flew forward, and her eyes looked intently at the photo album Zoey held in her had from a distance. "What is it Zoey? Is something the matter?"

"This photo. The baby. She looks exactly like." Zoey looked up at Breeya and motioned for Breeya to sit with her on the bed. "This baby looks exactly like you."

"No...that couldn't possibly be.." Breeya said skeptically, sitting down next to Zoey and looking down at the photo. She couldn't help but be excited. That was definitely her. It had to be her. But why would Zoey's parents have one of her baby pictures? She had figured her real parents had long forgotten her, or were all but a memory, she couldn't even remember. One year old was far to young to lose your parents, and far to young to recollect anything. "Why would you have a picture of me....here?"

Zoey turned the page in the album. "I'm not sure but there are more of them. Look my parents wrote underneath it."

'Our sweet Breeya, we hope that you do not think that us giving you away was cause we were frightened of you. We always thought you were the cutest little girl, and being part cat made you even cuter. But alas we cannot support both you and your sister Zoey. We wish that we could have you two meet later on, but I fear that the burden we feel now will be to much later on in the future.'

"Oh my gosh." Zoey looked at Breeya. "Do you realize what this means? It makes so much sense of why mother and father never wanted me to go to the Opera house. Breeya. We must be sisters."

"You mean...they did want me than...?" Breeya said slowly, beginning to sniffle. Her eyes grew watery as she thought about all those years where she thought he real parents didn't want her. They hadn't been scared of her.. But why hadn't they tried to make their family work? Surely...

She looked to Zoey and gave her a big hug. "I've always wanted a sister!" The catgirl said at last, an uncontrollable purr welling up in her throat.

Zoey wrapped her arms around her new found sister. "I knew there was something about you that was important." Suddenly feeling complete again Zoey too started to cry.

'I have a sister. Wow this is amazing, and she is so nice and pretty.'

Zoey grabbed all the albums and shoved them in a book bag. "We need to get back to the Opera house, before the sun goes down." Zoey tore through her father's night stand and found his wallet and took out what cash it had in it, and she looked in her mom's purse, and found what money was in there. She then walked back into her room and grabbed all of her saving that she had forgot till that moment. She scoured the house looking for anything else she could think that they needed.

"Grab anything you want. Help yourself, what's mine is yours and since everything here is mine, it is also yours." Zoey smiled a wide smile to her sister.

"Hmm, fate seems to have brought us together when we need each other most.." Breeya smiled, thoroughly enjoying the thought of having a sister.

What had started as a sad day for this girl, had turned out to have quite the upside to it.

Now she wasn't really sure she wanted to leave her real, biological parents house. But she knew they couldn't stay, and she already missed her Opera House. Looking around, she took in everything, taking a couple small things here and there from their parents rooms. At least she would have something to remember them by.

"Thank you... I didn't think this would ever happen..." Still awe, she grinned at Zoey and took in one last look at the apartment building. "I think we should get going, come on Zoey.."

Breeya grabbed a hold of her sisters hand with everything in tote, and they walked on back to the Opera House. Of course, Breeya did have a short stop to make first. Something for their dinner. "Do you like fish?" The catgirl inquired, asking for a fresh filet of salmon and handing the shopkeepr the money. She also made another stop to get matches. And finally... she saw a young boy. His eyes were downcast to the ground as he was scolded by a nearby vendor. Breeya looked at the boy sadly. All he had wanted was an apple or two. He looked to be skinny, and with a bruise or two on his face. 'I don't understand...' Things had gotten bad in town lately. With no real police system running the city, it was a wonder how most survived.

Silently, she walked to the shopkeeper, her eyes held tightly on him. She handed him the money, much more than the boy owed. She could also understand this businessman's point of view. It was a struggle for most to make a living.. She walked to Zoey just as the sun was about to set, and smiled. "Come on sis, we're almost home."

"I'm not a big fan of fish, but I'll eat it." Zoey smiled at her sister.

Zoey then watched her sister pay for another boy's food. Seeing the boy and how things were she knew that it was even more important for her and Breeya to stick together now more then ever. They had just found each other, and she knew she didn't want to lose her new found family.

Zoey and Breeya made it back to the Opera house just as the sun was going down.

"I might has something else when we get there you can eat." Breeya smiled as they walked back into the opera house. It was dark in the building now. With no electricity in the years her adopted parents had been gone, she relied mainly on her eyes and on candles. She lit one of the candles at the entrance and shone it down the aisles and rows of seats.

"Come on, I'll show you where you can put your things." they walked back behind the stage. Though it looked weak and old, it would probably hold another one hundred years. They walked into a large room behind the stage. Inside it held racks of costumes and wigs. Extravagant dresses and such that she had taken care of even with her parents long absence. There was a blanket laying on the ground there in the center of the room and also a cot and another set of blankets. "I usually sleep here..You can take the cot. Just put things where you see places. There were also big mirrors on the side walls, as well as copious amounts of make up. When she was lonely,she often liked to play dress up.