Chapter Twenty Five: Horror

Haru shot up in bed with wide eyes. Her mouth moved several times, but no sound came out. Her hands had a white-knuckled grip on her quilt, and her heart was pounding out of control. '… No!'

Baron shifted out of his wooden form to look over at her curiously. "Another nightmare, love?"

Numbly, she nodded.

Looking a little worried, he hopped off the windowsill, and pressed his amulet again to make him grow. "So tell me; what's the latest horror that's been visited on you?"

"… you're never going to believe this," she whispered, her eyes still wide with unthinking terror.

"You'd be surprised at the things I can believe, Haru. Come now; I'm certain that I can handle whatever it is that you dreamed about," he coaxed, sitting next to her bed so that he could take her hands in his own.

She took a deep breath. "You… know how I mentioned yesterday that I was married in the nightmares?"

Baron nodded.

"It was… Neko-sensei," she gagged, hopping out of her bed in order to run for the bathroom, since she didn't want to throw up all over her new boyfriend. She choked and breathed heavily into the toilet seat, but nothing ever came out. "I was married to Neko-sensei!" 'And I was carrying his child! I think I'm going to be sick!'

Baron swiftly wrapped his arms around her waist from behind, and drew her in for a slightly painful embrace. "Please say this is a misguided attempt to make me laugh."

She shook her head, turning around so that she could wrap her arms around his neck again. "I can't believe I didn't see it when he first showed up as a human. It was so obvious!"

He kissed her trembling lips caressingly. "Try to remember that it was only a nightmare, Haru."

Her whole body began to tremble. "I don't know, Baron," she whispered painfully. "I thought that was it at first, but… everything's so vivid when I dream like that. What does it mean?"

Baron sighed, and held her closer. "I'm not quite sure, love. Your sisters' nightmare about you was easily a warning, but this… I can't tell if this is a warning as well."

Haru rubbed her cheek against the inviting softness of his suit jacket. "Well, Neko-sensei had better not try to make those dreams reality, that's all I have to say about it."

"Amen to that," he growled angrily before kissing her hair again.

She wondered if she should bring up her witch of a mother-in-law, but decided against it. Even she didn't know what to make of that. 'Curse? No mortal human? Why does that sound like what Wally was trying to say?'

"Baron?" she suddenly asked, realizing something. "Where's Muta?"

"Shh, don't you fret," he said warmly, kissing her cheek. "He left again before you awoke. He says he found a lead on why your father died."

Haru's head snapped upward like a slingshot. "He did?" she asked in a tiny voice.

"Yes, and he's rather anxious to find out who was responsible for it. As am I," he added in a low growl.

Haru giggled, even as she silenced the small voice within her.

That voice was whispering, 'Should I be grateful, if someone did kill him?'

ooOoo

Baron held her arm tightly for support, and whispered softly into her ear as they walked to the doors of the practice room. "Don't worry, love. I'll protect you from him if he tries anything."

Haru smiled wanly at him, and kissed his cheek as they both opened one of the doors. She braced herself for another embarrassing scene, but then stared in confusion as Baron did the same.

Neko-sensei wasn't anywhere in the room.

Instead, Paulamoni was looking out the large windows. Many of the panes were still broken from the day before, but as least the glass shards had been safely swept away. The empty spaces in the windows were covered with white paper to keep out drafts, making the practice room several shades darker than it usually was.

Baron grinned wickedly, remembering that the woman thought that he was only a doll. He loosened Haru's arm from his own, and gestured for her to speak first.

She grinned back at him, and stealthily approached the expectant woman. "Good morning, Paulamoni-sensei."

"Good morning, dear," she said a little dreamily, staring out one of the panes that wasn't broken. "Neko-sensei called in sick today, so I volunteered to take over his sessions with the students today. It only seemed fair, since he covered for me yesterday."

Haru breathed a loud sigh of relief, and touched the woman's shoulder gently. "I have some good news for you. Do you remember the gentleman I told you about back in Japan?"

The older woman looked at her curiously. "How can I? I didn't meet him, remember?"

"Actually, you did," Haru giggled, turning Paulamoni's shoulders enough so that she could look at the being behind her. "You remember Baron, don't you?"

Paulamoni casually looked over… and her jaw dropped.

Baron smiled warmly at her, and set his top hat over his heart in respect. "It's a pleasure to see you again, Madam. I trust you've been well?"

Paulamoni stared at him incredulously, both of her hands over her heart. Her mouth flapped open and closed several times before her red-brown eyes trailed to Haru, who was grinning wickedly.

"Just think, Sensei; you can't even get angry at me, because you hid the fact that you already knew about me and the Cat Kingdom until after you had me safely on the island."

Her mouth flapped open and shut a few more times, and she was clearly trying to get angry.

But she failed.

Sighing, she walked over to the Cat Creation, and bowed politely. "A pleasure to meet you, Baron. Can you dance ballet?"

Haru suddenly got a very vivid mental image of her feline beau in tights. Her face turned magenta, and her mouth was slightly open in appreciation. 'Oh, hot dang!'

Baron caught her look over Paulamoni's shoulder. He also blushed, although his reaction was more concealed than hers, thanks to his fur. "No, but Haru has offered to teach me, should the opportunity arise," he managed to answer, smiling warmly at the girl in question.

The older woman beamed at him. "Perfect! Haru-chan, didn't you say back in Japan that you wanted to teach ballet?"

The brunette nodded, shaking out that tantalizing image of her boyfriend.

"Excellent. For today, I want to see how you're planning to teach Baron how to dance ballet."

Haru and Baron looked at each other sharply, a blush still on their faces.

"Um, okay," Haru said a little shyly.

"I don't have the right shoes," Baron replied softly, looking down at the pair that had been on his feet since the day he was first given life.

"That's all right," the older woman said with a giggle. "I'll go find a pair for you. Oh, and Haru? Is it all right if I use you as a demonstration for the other classes today? My little passenger here doesn't care much for ballet at this stage." She rubbed her swollen belly with one hand.

Haru nodded, one hand rubbing her shoulder. She really wanted to rub just over her heart, since it was feeling strangely tight today. But she didn't want to worry Baron or her sensei, so she tried to ignore it.

ooOoo

Baron stood on the sidelines of the classroom a few hours later, calmly watching Haru dance for the class just below her. He didn't really notice or care how the other students reacted to him, but he would occasionally gesture with one hand to Haru when they stared at him for too long.

His personal lesson had gone rather well, or so Haru and Paulamoni said. He was just grateful that no one had asked him to wear tights as well. Even if Haru would have been appreciative-

'Stop that,' he mentally scolded himself, even though he was currently appreciating his brunette in the same attire. He sighed, and watched her do that complicated back flip again.

Her eyes had fluttered a few times, but she had managed to keep them open. Her large brown orbs seemed a little glazed over as she twirled around with ease, just like a child's toy ballerina. It was like she was thinking rather seriously about something, and there was a slight sheen of sweat on her brow, but that could only be normal.

Right?

'Haru… you've been unusually quiet for a while now. Is there something bothering you about the dreams still? Or is it your father you're thinking of?'

Baron knew almost nothing of that man, or why someone would kill him and then cover up as many traces of his existence as possible. That he was willing to die for his daughters, Baron could understand, but there was something… off, about the way Haru reacted whenever her father was brought up. She had no problem with talking about her mother, even after her death, so why was her father such a-

Without warning, Haru convulsed violently in the middle of a pirouette. There was a cry of pain on her lips as she fell to the ground, both hands clutching the front of her red uniform, almost like claws.

"Haru!" Baron yelled in a panic, rushing around the horrified girls crowding around her in order to check her pulse.

It was weak, as was her breathing. He felt her temple, shocked at how cold her skin was.

Baron had once heard that the only thing worse than knowing what a terrible thing was, was notknowing. But for the first time, he was forced to disagree with the idea.

He knew exactly what was wrong, and he wished more than anything that he didn't know these symptoms.

"No," he whispered harshly, sweeping the girl into his arms as gently as handling a porcelain doll. "Where's a doctor?!" he demanded of Paulamoni, who looked guiltily terrified.

"The nurse's office is down the hall on the right-"

"We'll need someone more experienced than that," Baron said in a low serious tone, nearly running out of the room with an unconscious Haru in his arms.

"Baron!" a familiar voice called out from over his head. "I've got some bad-"

The Cat Creation looked up with relief, and cut his old friend off. "Toto, go to the castle now! Tell Rue that Haru's sick, and needs help!"

The crow looked at him with horror. "How sick?"

Baron looked down at the girl, and kissed her frozen brow gently. "I think she's inherited what killed her mother, and she's been dancing hard for the past week. Please, my friend. I don't know how much more time she has."