Chapter Four: The Rose
"I said don't wear her out, Muta!" Baron angrily called up to the fat feline, who was giving the panting girl a run for her money as he finally jumped out of a window close to a door that led to the feline lord's gardens.
Haru came to the door, and grabbed the handle. But instead of opening it, her tiny body colliding with the door as she gasped loudly from having to run down two corridors, a long flight of stairs, and across the ground floor of the manor at a fast pace. It was probably the closest thing Muta was going to get for revenge.
"I think… I liked him better… when he was stuffed!" the little girl managed to say through her gasps, which only sent Toto into another fit of laughter.
"Are you sure we can't just keep her, Baron?" the crow begged through his mirthful tears.
The tawny feline nodded firmly, looking out the window to Muta with disapproval. "Positive. If you want help insulting Muta, it will have to wait until she grows up."
"Spoilsport," Toto accused as the girl finally straightened, and opened the door to the gardens.
The tiny brunette gasped, slowly coming out of the von Gikkingen manor. With appreciative eyes, she came close to a stone wall covered with climbing vines and roses. She leaned her face close to a pink bud, and inhaled the scent happily as Muta reappeared from around a small pond covered with water lilies.
"Meow?" he asked in an exasperated manner.
Haru gave a single glance at him, and pointedly turned her back. "I'm not gonna follow you anymore," she informed him firmly. "You're mean, and at least the pretty flowers don't run away from me."
Baron didn't bother keeping his laughter in this time, softly closing the door with one hand so that the little girl wouldn't notice. His laughter had a deep tenor tone that probably could be heard from at least a mile around. "I told you not to run her too hard," the tawny feline reminded his fat friend, one gloved hand covering his mouth in an attempt to regain control of himself. "I trust you have a backup plan for your little lapse in manners?"
The large white cat's face became contorted with thought, as the little girl happily moved from bush to bush, almost like a bumblebee, to sample all the different scents.
"Quickly now," Baron urged nervously. "If she picks the wrong flower, it will be disastrous."
"Take the spell off me!" Toto said suddenly. "I'll get her to the rose."
Baron didn't even think about arguing. The crow had already begun his flight when the last of the invisibility spell was cast off of him.
So, it was a huge surprise for Haru to have a crow to suddenly come at her from behind and attack her hair.
She screamed, putting up her hands to bat the crow away, but the bird was already a few feet away, with a bit of blue fabric in his beak.
Haru felt the back of her head, realizing with horror that her blue treasure was gone. "My ribbon!" the girl said in a panic, running after the crow who started drifting gracefully down neatly trimmed paths between the flowers. But unlike his fat feline friend, the dark bird was keeping the pace reasonable, even weaving around a bit so that it would look like a random flight, but it was really so that the little girl could keep up with him.
"Please give it back!" the tiny brunette sobbed, running desperately after the crow as an invisible Baron followed close behind her, his guilt beginning to grow from the little girl's tears.
"Mama gave that to me before she died! Please give it back!" Haru begged through her sobs as the crow mercifully let the ribbon fall out of his beak like it was an accident.
The long piece of ribbon floated gracefully to the ground, making the tiny brunette race forward enough to grab the blue trinket, and rub it tearfully against her cheek.
Baron's heart heaved painfully at the pain on the poor girl's face. It began to heave even worse, at remembering just what she was there for.
Haru kissed the ribbon once before pulling her hair back, but then decided instead to stuff the ribbon into a pocket of the dress he had given her, probably so that Toto wouldn't be able to take it away again. She patted the pocket lovingly before her eyes were drawn to the spectacular rosebush directly in front of her.
A soft gasp escaped her throat as her already-large eyes widened further. In Baron's line of vision, it seemed like the reflection of the blue rose was within those brown orbs.
"Wow," Haru whispered as she slowly got to her feet and approached the rose that had consumed over two centuries' worth of Baron's time.
The periwinkle petals had opened to their full glory, almost inviting the girl closer as she leaned over to sniff its scent lingeringly.
"Pretty," she whispered reverently, straightening after a moment.
"I'm thrilled that you think so," Baron told her, a soft smile on his lips. "But I would be even more thrilled if you would break its stem."
Almost at the Baron's invitation, one of the girl's tiny hands rose up a bit, and came forward to touch the petals softly. Slowly, oh so slowly, her fingers trailed away from the bud and towards the stem-
"Haru!"
The tiny brunette jumped about a foot into the air, a loud gasp of surprise on her lips as she quickly turned, both hands firmly behind her back.
"Drat it," Baron growled angrily as the girl's father came panting into the little clearing in the middle of the garden.
Like his little girl, the fairly young man had also been given a bath, food, and new clothes. The Cat Lord should have known that it would have taken more than that to keep the father from looking for Haru.
"Haru, why haven't you been answering me?!" he demanded of his tiny daughter, who had taken a step back from the rosebush.
"I'm sorry, Papa," the little girl apologized, looking down in shame. "I just got so excited over all the pretty flowers. See this blue one?" she asked him, gesturing to the rose she had come so close to picking.
Her father stared at her, and knocked the side of his head. "Speak up, Honey. I can't hear a word you're saying."
With a start, Baron realized that his spell over the father was still in force.
Haru cocked her head in confusion. "What do you mean, Papa? I'm talking the way I always do. But do you see this rose?"
The man groaned in frustration. "It's a lovely bush, sweetheart, but what does it have to do with anything?"
The girl's mouth dropped open. "The blue rose, Papa! Have you ever seen a blue rose before?" the tiny brunette demanded, putting her hand around the periwinkle petals again to help her father look at it.
He did, but his eyes became a little panicked. "Don't you dare pick that white rose, young lady. I still haven't found whoever's in charge of this place, and I don't know how we're going to pay for the food and-"
"It's a blue rose, Papa!" Haru insisted, her hand tightening around the stem. "See?!"
And with that, she gave the stem a good yank, breaking it off of the bush with a loud snap.
'Finally!' Baron thought as the stem writhed like a snake and wrapped around the girl's tiny wrist tight.
Haru screamed a high soprano as the blue rosebud in her hand glowed a deep sapphire, and radiated its warmth outward until it brushed past Baron and the girl's father, who immediately collapsed on the ground unconscious.
"Papa!" she screamed, running to his side, and nudging him hard on the shoulder with one hand. "Papa?! Wake up! I'm sorry!"
Baron stared at the fallen man, more than a little surprised that the wave of magic had affected him so. "How remarkable," he said softly.
At the soft remark, the tiny brunette stiffened over her father's body, and looked in the feline lord's direction.
Her large brown eyes locked with his slitted green ones, and Baron could see his own despised reflection within those shimmering orbs.
'She can see me!' he thought with a panic, despite the fact that he had been bracing himself for this moment since last night.
Her little mouth dropped open with fear and astonishment, and her tiny body began to quake from underneath the sturdy cloak on her shoulders.
They stared at each other for what felt like an eternity, but could have quite possibly been only a few minutes.
"Say something to her, Baron!" Muta whispered angrily from his place behind a rather thick rosebush.
Baron gripped his cane a little harder, and took a steady breath through his nostrils for courage, so that she wouldn't notice his nerves. "Hello, young lady," he said softly.
Haru stiffened at the sound of his voice, and she bit her lip nervously before answering him. "Hello, sir," she stammered, unable to take her terrified eyes off of his face.
Despite her obvious fear of him, Baron had no choice but to smile at the girl's courage. "If you don't mind my asking, why did you pick my favorite rose?" he asked her.
The tiny brunette blinked twice, and started shaking a little in fear. "I… I…" she stammered fearfully. She suddenly bowed to him from her father's side, her gaze to the ground.
"I'm sorry," she whispered softly as tears threatened to fall down her cheeks. "I just wanted to show Papa, because he thought it was white, and… here, I'll give it back!" She extended her hand to him, but the rose wasn't in her hand anymore. She stared at her empty fingers with horror, and began a frantic search for the glorious blossom. "Where'd it go?!" she asked in a panic.
Baron couldn't fight a soft chuckle that escaped his throat. "It's right there on your hand," he gently told her, making the girl look at her hand again, but no, it was just as empty as before.
Wait.
The stem was still wrapped around her wrist, but it was also on! Horrified, Haru turned over her palm to study the blue blossom engraved on her palm and wrist like a strange birthmark or tattoo. She desperately tried to rub the image off of her skin, but it remained the same as her pale flesh turned red from irritation.
"I'm afraid that rose will be on your skin for the rest of your life, Miss Haru," Baron told her gently, a sad smile on his face and in his heart.
The tiny brunette looked up at him again, her mouth a little open once more. "How did you know my name?" she whispered.
"That is what your father called you, is it not?" Purposefully, Baron stepped closer to the comatose man, and slowly moved a glowing hand over the father's back, using his magic to see what was wrong with the man. "He'll be fine when he wakes up, Miss Haru. The magic was perhaps too much for his body to handle." He looked at her again from across her father's body, causing the girl to lean back from the tawny feline. She was still staring at him fearfully, but she hadn't bolted yet.
Perhaps that was a good sign.
"That rose was a very special one, Miss Haru," the orange and cream cat said softly, locking eyes with her so that she wouldn't look away. "There will never be another one like it, and I had plans for that particular flower. I don't suppose you can pay for it?"
As if he didn't know the answer.
