After that unfortunate or as Haru thought fortunate incident she was banished to her attic room for the rest of the day. This gave Haru plenty of time to think about the handsome gentleman she bumped into earlier today. His touch was so gentle, like a butterfly. No one have ever touched me like that before with such concern for my well-being. She walked over to the mirror above her dresser and gazed into it.
"Well nothing out of the ordinary here to have someone like that to pay attention to a girl like me," Haru mused turning this way and that in front of the mirror.
Lucien…will I ever see him again Haru wondered, nah, shaking her head that handsome man will never show his face to me, I'm just a plain cat that's a servant in her own home. He was just taking pity on me because I was clumsy.
"Haru ! Haru get down here!" her stepmother's voice carried up the stairs
I wondered how long my isolation was going to last, not even an hour has gone by. Haru raced down the stairs to see what her stepmother wanted her to do now; she found her tapping her foot impatiently on the floor.
"Well, it took you long enough," her stepmother said her tail lashing behind her.
"So sorry milady it won't happen again," Haru said curtseying and keeping her eyes averted.
"I should hope not. You should just be greatful that I let you stay here. After all I did promise your father on his death bed that I'd keep the whole family together," her stepmother said dramatically putting her elegant hand to her forehead.
"Yes, maam."
After this little bout of theatrics by her stepmother, said person gave Haru a list of chores to do for the next day; mind you this list was three pages long. Then she was sent back to her room without the benefit of even having a scrap to eat.
When she closed the door to her room Haru finally got a look at the "list" she was handed. This is going to take me all day, she groaned.
"I might as well go to bed now so I can get an early start," Haru sighed getting herself ready for bed.
She doused her candle, got into bed, and went to hopefully a dreamless sleep.
X X X X
Hmmm she went to bed early tonite the Baron thought from his hiding spot within the treeline.
"Well I might as well head home."
He walked home with a longer stride than usual, so it wasn't long until he reached the doors of his home. Just as he was handing his cloak to one of the many servants in the household he heard the clattering of heels on the floor announcing the arrival of his mother.
"Humbert Lucien where have you been?" his mother asked
"Well mother…" he began.
"It's that girl again isn't it? Isn't it?!"
"Mother can we talk about this over a cup of tea? In the study perhaps?" Baron suggested ushering his mother into his study.
He closed the doors behind her, summoned a servant to bring a tea tray with that special kind of tea, and took a deep breath. The tea tray showed up not five minutes later, taking the tray he opened the door and prayed that his mother would keep the inquisition short this time.
X X X X
Haru's Dream
She walked into the palace's ballroom gazing at all she saw. There were lots of people dancing in beautiful clothes. Feeling out of place she slowly walked over to the wall. When she got there she sat down on a chair conviently placed next to it. Out of nowhere a handsome orange cat strode through the crowd to stand in front of her.
"May I have this dance?" he asked her, holding out his hand to her
She looked up startled and hesitantly placed her hand in his. He drew her to her feet leading her out on the dance floor. When she looked up at him, he had a mask covering the upper part of his face; the only thing she could see was the emerald green eyes looking at her intently. She reached one hand to take the mask off when…
A rooster crowed in the yard slowly bringing Haru out of her slumber.
"Lucien…Lucien," she moaned in her sleep.
She slowly opened her eyes and instead of the ballroom she saw the meager furnishings of her own bedroom. Just as I thought only a dream, Haru sighed and got up preparing for the long day ahead of her.
X X X X
"Well that worked out wonderfully," the baron's mother sighed with satisfaction.
What her son didn't know was that she sent Haru and her son the same dream so they could meet face-to-face; for a little mystery she added a mask to her son's features. When her son explained what was going on she could see the passion in her son's eyes, realizing that her son was truly in love with this girl. She decided to do something about it, hence the dream.
X X X X
Lugging the basket of laundry Haru went to the river near her home. This was going to take forever, she thought looking down at the basket. Shaking her head she lifted the clothes and started to wash them, not knowing that someone was watching her from the shadows.
The sun beat down on her back as she scrubbed the clothes on the washboard she brought with her. Standing up she stretched and wiped the sweat from her eyes before she bent down once more to gather up the wet clothes.
"If I ever need him…snap my fingers. What a ridiculous notion," Haru mumbled to herself.
Just for the heck of it she did snap her fingers. When nothing happened, oh well she thought and went to pick up the basket. The basket was awkward and heavy, she almost dropped it when a pair of hands took the load from her.
"I told you all you had to do was snap your fingers," the familiar voice chuckled.
"Lucien what in the world are you doing out here?"
"I told you to call me Luc, Miss…"
"Haru, my name is Haru."
"Well pleased to meet you Miss Haru. If you don't mind I'll help you with this and walk you home."
"Thank you very much Lucie..I mean Luc," Haru said smiling.
He offered her his elbow and walked her all the way back to her house. Setting the basket down beside the door he looked almost expectantly at her. She had turned her back so she didn't notice him coming up behind her.
"Can I be of any further assistance milady?" he said
She jumped a few feet in the air "I thought you left."
"No, I thought you could use my company while hanging the wash up."
"Sure," Haru said blushing.
They took their time hanging up the clothes and before long they had everything hung up. She wished that this would last forever, but unfortunately it didn't and he would leave soon. Her head took a sudden droop at this thought and looked away from him.
"Hey what's wrong miss twitchy tail?" Lucien teased lifting her chin looking into her eyes
"Nothing," she said softly still not looking him in the face.
"Okay if its nothing than I had better get home."
She nodded her head afraid to open her eyes for him to see the sheen of tears there. He place a gently hand on her face caressing her. The feel of his furred hand caused Haru to nuzzle into it with such a look of contentment on her face.
"I really have to go now okay. I'll see you again Bright eyes," he said placing a chaste kiss on her cheek before he ran off into the trees.
Haru waved until she could no longer see his figure. He reminds me of someone I met in a dream, she dismissed that thought and went to finish her chores.
Well here's the third chapter. Thanks for all the great reviews. As you can see I've got a lot of time on my hands, I even added the mask from the movie to give it a little bit of flair. Hope you enjoy, and please review.
hana
