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[STORY]
It all happened so suddenly. No one at the party ever saw it coming. Not even Kathy...

One day, the Freedom Fliers music group, consisting of (Teen) Ruby, her boyfriend (Teen) Kilo, and their friends Kathy the Cat, Kai the Wolf, and Dimaza the Echidna, had gotten a special invitation to the Mobafornia Grand Ball, the biggest party in all of Mobafornia City! Everyone was excited to go, especially Kathy, who thought this would've been the best chance she would've had to tell her crush, Kai, how she really felt about him.

A few days later and days before the ball, Kathy overhears Kai speaking with the head of the boarding house they were all living in, Old Man Shaggy the Tortoise. It had seemed as though they were talking about the party that night, but it didn't seem like a good conversation. Hiding behind a wall, she eavesdrops on them...

"I just can't do it," Kai said in a firm voice. "I know that it would make her happy, but I can't risk either of us getting hurt."

Old Man Shaggy calmly replied, "I understand how you feel, son. But you know as well as I that Kathy really likes you and I still think you should give it a try tonight."

"I'm fully aware of how Kathy feels for me," Kai spoke back, "but that's exactly why I can't have her ever be my girl." Kathy was shocked to hear this, but didn't say a word and continued to listen as Kai continued. "The last time I had a girlfriend was not long after meeting Kathy in that alley. She was pretty and liked the things I liked. We were inseparable. ...But, as I've told you before..."

"I know," Shaggy said. "You told her that you couldn't reproduce due to an accident as a child and that it would've been impossible to start an actual family together."

"Right," Kai confirmed, looking down. "After that, she slapped me hard and told me that I was a horrible boyfriend from the start, then left me. ...I treated her with respect, like I do with Kathy now...but I could tell that my ex-girlfriend was really hurt by what I revealed, and I was hurt from her dumping me like that. And since that was the third girlfriend I had lost, I had decided to never have a girlfriend again. Love just wasn't going to work for me anymore."

"But, what about Kathy? Do you really think that she'd leave you because of something you can't control? Surely she loves you enough to see past that."

"Doesn't matter anymore, old man. Even if she does love me...I just don't feel the same for her. She's a good friend, yes, but I just don't love her..."

Kathy's eyes began to water upon hearing Kai's story. He had never told her about any of this during the time they spent together. Without making a sound, she goes up to her room, lies down on her bed, and begins to cry into her pillow.

Shortly after, Ruby and Dimaza enter the room to change bed and quickly notice Kathy crying. They quickly go to her side and ask if she's okay. Kathy explains to them what she heard and how broken she felt. This shocked them both and they did their best to comfort their friend and co-singer, especially Dimaza, who gave Kathy the most comforting hug she could give.

Later, they decided to give her a little more alone time and walk out into the hall. They discussed what they would do to help her, but kept coming up with no good ideas. But, then, Dimaza had a plan! Ruby had a hunch, but decided to hear her plan...

On the evening of the Grand Ball, the Freedom Fliers had gotten all dressed up and were heading towards their tour bus to drive there. Kathy had gotten better, but was still sad about what Kai had said. In her prettiest dress shirt and best dress pants, she decided to sit in the back alone while everyone else was chatting about how exciting the ball was going to be. Moments later, they had arrived.

...A little time had passed since they arrived. Kai was hanging around the snack table chatting with a few other guys, Ruby and Kilo had gone backstage to prepare for the performance, and Kathy and Dimaza were just sitting in their chairs talking to each other. Kathy kept asking why they weren't backstage with Ruby and Kilo to help prepare for their performance, but Dimaza kept assuring her that they didn't need their help this time and that they should just relax for now.

Soon, the curtains for the main stage began to open. Only Ruby and Kilo were on stage, with Ruby in front of a mic stand and Kilo sitting down with his father's guitar. The guests all turned their attention to the stage as Ruby began thanking everyone for having her troupe perform. But to Kathy's surprise, Ruby stated that before starting the main event, she wanted to sing a special solo in dedication to her co-singers and how grateful she was for their contributions to the team. With that, Kilo started playing and Ruby started to sing a lovely song.

Lots of guests started to gather with their partners and softly dance to the song. Kathy watched as they danced, but she still seemed down. But then Dimaza stood up and faced her.

"...Kathy-girl?" she asked. "Have y'all ever danced before?"

Kathy shook her head and replied, "No, not like they're doing."

Dimaza smiled and asked, "Would y'all like to try?"

Kathy looked confused. "With who?" she asked. "There's no one here I know that'd want to dance with me."

"...Yeah, there is, sugah," Dimaza softly replied. "Y'all could always try it with me, if y'all wanted to."

Kathy blushed. "...With you?? B-But, Dimaza, I don't think that'd work. I mean, we're both girls, and--"

Before she could finish, Dimaza took her hand and pulled her out of her chair. "Aw, come on," she happily exclaimed. "Ya never know until ya try, honey. An' don't worry, Ah'll help ya."

Kathy was thrown off guard, but she didn't fight back. She decided to let Dimaza help her dance with someone else. They slowly but smoothly began to actually dance to Ruby's song and slowly started to join the crowd. Kathy was a little flustered at first, but it didn't seem so bad after a while.

As the song went on, Dimaza softly spoke to Kathy. "Y'know, sugah, y'all are probably one of the bravest people Ah know. Ah'm glad that y'all chose to dance with lil' ol' me."

Kathy replied, "Eh, there are others braver than me, D. Plenty of others. I'm nothing like them."

"Ah don't think so, honey," Dimaza softly answered. "Ah think y'all are just the bravest, funniest, and..." She began to blush as she turned her eyes away. "...And the prettiest girl Ah've met. An', honestly, if it weren't for y'all, Ruby, Kilo, an' Ah wouldn't have gotten as far as we have now. We all owe you so much, Kathy-girl. We couldn't have done it without y'all, sugah."

Kathy's heart began to beat a little harder upon hearing Dimaza's words.

Dimaza looked into her eyes and continued on. "...Ah know that y'all have been wantin' to be loved ever since y'all were just a kitten, and that y'all had the rottenest of luck. But...y'know...y'all really don't have to look much farther now than y'all did back then." She slowly closed in on Kathy, then gave her a big hug and whispered in her ear, "...Because Ah love y'all, Kathy-girl."

Kathy's eyes had widened as she started to blush. She gently pushed Dimaza back and asked, "D, I know that you and Ruby love me as a friend and co-singer, but why tell me now--?" She stopped herself when she saw Dimaza blushing too and had her eyes half open. Things came together at that moment. "...Wait a minute. Y-you mean that you really...? I mean, that you actually...?"

Dimaza nodded as she smiled.

Tears rolled down Kathy's face as she started to cry again. "B-but, how can you?" she cried. "How can you actually love ME? I'm not a boy while you're a girl, and YOU'RE not a boy while I'M a girl, either. How can you love me knowing that?"

Dimaza picked Kathy's head up, wiped the tears from her eyes, and softly replied, "...Because there is no one in the whole world who can tell you who to fall in love with, honey."

Looking into the crying cat's eyes, Dimaza got closer, hugged her, and...she kissed her. Kathy was shocked as her heart started racing. And yet, she didn't want to fight it. Soon, as Ruby passed the bridge of her song, Kathy closed her eyes and hugged Dimaza close. Tears continued to roll down her face, but she wasn't sad anymore.

"...This is for real," she thought. "...Yes. This is very real. I don't have to keep looking anymore. ...In fact, I didn't have to for so long and I didn't realize it until now. I didn't have to look for love...because it already found me..."

The guests on the dance floor spread themselves out as they witnessed their embrace. Some of them felt uneasy, but most felt happy that the girls found love with each other. On the stage, Ruby signaled the backstage people to point the spotlights on them as she finished her song. When it finished, she and Kilo started applauding for their friends. Soon, the guests joined in and everyone was clapping for the new happy lovers.

Back at the snack table, Kai just stared and smiled. "...Kathy," he thought. "I'm sorry that I couldn't be the love of your dreams. But, now, you've found the love that you truly deserve. I'm proud of you, my friend."

Fin

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[AUTHOR'S NOTES]
Holy smoke, am I proud of this piece! Basically, I felt like I didn't have much going to Kai the Wolf since he was nothing more than a cliche love interest for Kathy. So I thought of shipping Kathy with Dimaza instead and either redo or just write off Kai. Ultimately, I'm keeping Kai and gonna try to rework him a little bit. And, yes, I'm also making Kathy and Dimaza a thing now. If that bothers anyone, then I am sorry to disappoint. These are my FCs, after all, so I can chose what to do with them. Thank you very much. ^^

Any comments and/or constructive criticism would be greatly appreciated.

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Inspired by this song: https://youtu.be/KjgWWjkNbhU