Meanwhile, in the world of Tom and Jerry...
Jerry sat on the small bed inside his cozy mouse hole, his tiny hands wrapped around his knees, looking utterly dejected.
Not far away lay a broken Doraemon toy, clearly a victim of some chaotic incident.
"Hey," Cousin Jerry sighed, his face full of pity as he glanced at the downtrodden mouse. "It's just one timid cat. So what if it's gone? Is it worth being this upset?"
Unlike Lynch's world, time in the Tom and Jerry universe flowed differently.
The eldest cousin's thoughts drifted back to events from a year ago.
According to Jerry, it had started on an ordinary sunny morning—no different from any other day.
As always, Jerry's quick reflexes had kept him out of Tom's clutches. The cat, despite his best efforts, ended up slamming headfirst into the wall, little stars circling his head.
Jerry was doubled over in laughter when something unexpected happened.
Tom's owner, fed up with the cat's consistent failure to catch the mouse, made a drastic decision. He ordered a mouse-catching robot online and, without hesitation, kicked Tom out of the house.
And just like that, everything changed.
For an entire year after that, Jerry never saw Tom again. It felt like... Tom was gone forever.
Without Tom, Jerry stood no chance against the high-tech robot cat and was often beaten badly.
Unable to take it anymore, Jerry decided to ask for help.
His eldest cousin arrived on the scene, swiftly smashing the robot to pieces with just a few punches and kicks.
After taking care of the situation, the eldest cousin noticed Jerry's sadness and decided to stay for a while to help him get back on his feet.
And that's how the care continued, lasting all the way to today.
With a soft pat on Jerry's shoulder, the eldest cousin tried to cheer him up.
Jerry lifted his rat head, his stubble-covered face showing a wry smile. His eyes were filled with regret and pain.
Maybe, if he had let Tom catch him that day, Tom wouldn't have been kicked out of the house.
The bond he shared with Tom wasn't just that of natural enemies or predator and prey—it was more like family.
But no one, not even his eldest cousin, could truly understand how Jerry felt. They didn't know what he had been through with Tom.
They went to the zoo together, fished together, traveled to space together, had big meals together, and fought enemies side by side...
There were so many memories with Tom.
It felt like Tom had been a part of every moment of Jerry's life.
Jerry couldn't bring himself to sleep. Every time he closed his eyes, memories of his time with Tom flooded back. He could almost hear Tom asking himself, Why? Why did this happen?
No matter how many owners Tom had or how many times they moved, the two of them always stuck together.
But now... it was different.
Jerry had lost Tom forever.
Suddenly, his stomach growled. "Gululu~" He sat there numbly on the bed, lost in his thoughts.
For the past year, his eldest cousin had tried to comfort him, but nothing helped. So today, the cousin decided to go out and find food for Jerry.
Seeing his dear cousin like this, the eldest cousin felt uneasy. He planned to find the black cat and a dog named Spike, hoping to beat them up a little to cheer Jerry up.
As soon as the eldest cousin left the room, Jerry heard a strange sound in his mind.
[Are you willing to go to another world? 1. Yes, 2. Very willing.]
Jerry, still numb from the past year, didn't react. He had heard similar voices in his head before—auditory hallucinations caused by his longing for Tom.
But this time, something felt different.
[In exchange, you can make your request.]
Suddenly, a piece of parchment appeared in Jerry's hand.
His eyes slowly focused on it, and a spark of realization hit him.
The fur on Jerry's body suddenly stood on end. With a startled yelp, he leapt two meters into the air, landing with a soft thud. He briefly turned into a puddle of rat flakes before slowly returning to his normal form.
'No, it's not a hallucination!?'
[Please make your choice as soon as possible.]
The voice echoed again, sending Jerry into a panic. He dropped the parchment and scrambled into the corner, his heart racing. What is that!?
After a long moment of silence, Jerry seemed to come to a decision.
He slowly picked up the parchment again. Words began to appear:
Please return Tom to Jerry. Jerry will be with Tom forever.
To Jerry, home was wherever Tom was. Without Tom, it was just an empty shell.
He couldn't lose Tom, just like the West can't lose Jerusalem.
The parchment turned to ashes and vanished into the air. Suddenly, a black hole appeared and sucked Jerry in.
Just as this happened, the eldest cousin returned with a bag of cheese and saw the event unfold.
"Rui!!!"
The black hole closed, and the eldest cousin fell to his knees, roaring in despair.
Meanwhile, Lynch stood in front of the newly appeared, flowery rat, lost in thought. The dark brown and light brown colors reminded him of the Jerry he knew as a child.
But Jerry wasn't focused on Lynch at that moment.
Tom the cat and Jerry the mouse locked eyes, a deep connection between them.
"Tom!"
"Jerry!"
"Tom!!!"
"Jerry!!!"
Jerry jumped into Tom's arms, and the cat and mouse embraced, tears streaming down their faces as they reunited after so many years apart.
For Jerry, it had been a year since he saw Tom, but for Tom, it had been seven or eight years.
"Hey, hey, is this real?" Mark stood there in disbelief, watching the tears flowing like a river.
The amount of tears could fill a swimming pool and still have enough left to drown a hundred Tom cats.
What kind of extraordinary creatures were these two? How could they shed so many tears?
Despite their emotional reunion, both Jerry and Tom had bright personalities. The sadness quickly faded, replaced by the joy of being together again.
They didn't need words to express how much they missed each other; everything was understood in the silence between them.
They understood each other perfectly, without needing words. It was as if, as long as the other person was by their side, they were the happiest cat and mouse in the world.
Lynch smiled as he watched Tom and Jerry hold hands and spin around with excitement.
Over the years, Tom had become like family to him, so seeing him happy brought Lynch joy as well.
After a while, Tom nervously held up his big teeth in his hands and introduced Jerry, who looked a little shy. On the cardboard, it read: [Master, this is my best friend Jerry. Can you adopt him?]
Tom shifted his little feet uneasily, worried that Lynch might dislike Jerry because he was a mouse, just like the previous owners.
To Tom, Lynch was the only owner he truly recognized, and he wanted Jerry to be accepted as well.
Meanwhile, Jerry had processed the information in his mind. He realized that the person in front of him was the one who summoned him, and that he was now his master.
.
.
TO BE CONTINUED
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