Chapter 25: The Two Bluebirds

Haru lay on her back, staring up at the sky as Baron pointed out shapes in the clouds. He lay beside her, but reversed, so that his head was beside hers, but the rest of their bodies were unaligned. The sky was a marbled pattern of pure blue and hazy white as clouds lazily strolled across the afternoon sky. She pointed to a couple of sets of thin clouds.

"Okay, what does that one look like?"

Baron peered at the cloud the brunette was motioning to. "Easy. A fish."

Haru squinted up at it. "I guess I can see that."

"Okay, choose another cloud."

The princess pointed to another one. "That should be harder."

Baron took several moments, but eventually said, "Dragon."

Haru giggled. "That looks nothing like a dragon!"

"When was the last time you saw one?"

"Still looks nothing like a dragon."

"That's because you're looking at it upside down," he told her.

"Okay then, show me it."

Baron took her hand and traced the shape in the sky. "There's the head..." he said slowly, moving her hand around the clump of cloud. "And here's the body... and the wings... can you see it now?"

Haru moved closer so that their heads were only inches apart. "Almost," she whispered. "Carry on."

Baron looked at her, and couldn't help being startled at the reduced distance between their faces. They were close enough that if he just leaned forward ever so gently he could even kiss her... He shook the thought away quickly. He didn't even know if she thought of him in that way. And even if she did, it would be taking advantage of her feelings to steal a kiss. Even if the setting was just so perfect...

Haru's deep brown eyes blinked innocently. "Baron?" she asked lightly.

He snapped out of his thoughts, but couldn't resist one last reflection about how intoxicating her eyes were at this distance. "Sorry." He took her hand again and returned to tracing the clouds. "Where was I?"

"I believe you were up to the wings."

"Ah yes. Well there's the wings... and curving round that way is the tail..." His hand gently gripped hers as he guided it to the tail, trying to ignore the thought about how soft and perfect her hand felt in his. "There's his claws... and here's where the spines on his back are..."

"Is there a knight there somewhere?"

Baron gazed down to her. "Sorry?"

"A knight. There's always a knight to defeat the dragon."

He chuckled. "There's always a damsel in distress as well, remember?"

"Yes, but maybe she's gone on strike because her knight is off duty."

"No... they're both there. You just need to know where to look. Look, there's the knight."

"That's a splodge of cloud."

Baron mock-grimaced. "They're all just a 'splodge of cloud' when it comes down to it. Stop being pedantic."

"Okay, so where's the damsel?"

"Erm... there... I think. Yes, there."

"Between the dragon's paws?"

"That's where they usually are in these stories."

"Why is it always the girls who kept kidnapped?"

"Probably because they're prettier than the knights," Baron suggested.

Haru looked over at him, then started laughing. "Yeah, maybe."

"Plus the knights would be out of a job."

"They should take a turn at being the one in distress and leave the damsels to save them then," said Haru.

"I think most men would dislike the idea of being rescued by women."

"Do they dislike it more than the idea of getting eaten?"

Baron paused. "Okay, point made."

"Do you dislike the idea of being rescued by women?"

"I think you're forgetting I've been on plenty of adventures with Lune. Of course I've been rescued by women before. If I had anything against it I probably wouldn't be here now."

"What about Lune?"

Baron chuckled. "Oh, I don't know. He generally likes to be the one in control, but to say he's sexist would be too harsh. He'll be a good ruler when he gains the throne, you can count on that."

"But you'll be the one giving him advice, won't you?"

"I suppose so."

"Why aren't you so sure?"

"Well, Lune wants me to be his personal advisor, since he's partially worried that he might have inherited the madness from his father–"

"His father's officially mad?"

"Verging on it. But we're hoping it might have skipped a generation."

"So why are you unsure about being his advisor?"

"I... don't know. I suppose I was hoping one day to settle down..."

"You can settle down and still be his advisor, can you not?"

"That's the thing. I don't know. He's always rushing from one thing to the other. Always leaving the palace for another 'adventure'."

"I thought you said he was doing that to avoid his father about the whole marriage issue?"

"He is pretty much."

"Well then, when he marries he should stop rushing around."

"Yes, but I don't think he–" Baron stopped himself. "Of course. Yuki."

Haru grinned. "You can see what's happening between them as well then?"

Baron chuckled. "Even if they can't. Right, shall we do another cloud?"

Haru returned her gaze to the sky. "What about that one?" she asked, pointing up to different set of clouds. "What does that one look like?"

Baron tilted his head. "Two birds," he said after a moment.

"What type of birds?"

He grinned. "Bluebirds. Two bluebirds," he said decisively.

Haru laughed. "How can they be bluebirds? They're white!"

"No, they're bluebirds."

"Okay then, why?"

"Because that's how the story goes."

Haru turned to look at Baron's emerald eyes which were still scanning the sky. "What story?"

He turned to her. "Why, Princess Florine's story. Have you not heard of it?"

She shook her head.

"Well, one isn't really a bluebird in the story, she's the princess Florine who's been imprisoned by her stepmother."

"And the other?"

"Really is a bluebird. He's teaching her to fly so she can escape from her stepmother. He used to be a suitor who fell in love with her, but Florine's stepmother, enraged that he had fallen for Florine and not for her own daughter turned him into a bluebird and locked the princess away in a tower. The princess sat by her window every night just to listen to his song."

Haru lay her head against his shoulder. "That is so sweet. What happens in the end?"

"I don't know. I think the ending was lost. What would you like to happen?"

"The bluebird teaches Florine to fly and they escape together, of course. And the suitor returns to human."

"Well, when you retell the story you can tell that ending."

"What do you think happens?"

Baron thought for a moment. "I think... he teaches the princess to fly."

"Just that?" Haru sounded disappointed.

"In flying she finds her own escape," Baron replied. He shifted so his hand held hers. "You know, maybe the story was trying to teach us something. Maybe the princess wasn't physically locked away in a tower, maybe she was tied down to the ground by her own fear. Maybe the bluebird taught her not to actually fly, but to let go of her fear, and in doing so she was freed. And freedom can be as powerful as flight if tasted for the first time."

"Oh." Haru looked up to the sapphire sky with new eyes. "You really think that?"

"Yes." 'And one of these days, Haru, I'll teach you to fly,' he added mentally.

Haru paused and turned her head to Baron. "Why did you want me to dress for summer?" she asked suddenly, voicing a question that had been on her mind for some time now, but hadn't picked up the courage to ask until now.

Baron moved his head to look into her chocolate eyes. "Because you were still in winter," he said matter-of-factly. "Or autumn," he added. "Whichever is more appropriate."

"What's wrong with that?"

"You were failing to move on," he told her. He looked back up to the sky and motioned to it with his right hand. "Everything has a season, Haru. Even we do. A time to laugh, a time to cry, a time to... mourn. They're our personal seasons. And just like the bitterest winter cannot last forever, neither can the deepest grief. Both must give way eventually to the next season. And that season will give way to the next, and that to the next, and so forth. We, as people, must always move on. It is built within us; it is a part of us. To remain stagnant is poisonous to the brain; it infects the mind. And you were stuck in a relentless winter – a season of mourning. You were refusing to move on, and that was hurting you."

Haru took in his words, watching his hand motion to the sky.

"You're full of wisdom today, Baron," she chuckled.

"Well, I am the prince's advisor."

"Hm... true." She moved closer so that the top of her head touched his shoulder. "Baron..."

"Yes?"

"You know you mentioned about settling down?"

Baron moved up and a little away so that he could see her eyes. She did the same so that they were now sitting up opposite each other. "Yes?" he repeated.

"Why haven't you yet?"

A light frown crossed his face. "Just haven't found the right girl yet, I suppose."

"How do you know the right girl is out there?"

He chuckled. "Oh, I know she's out there somewhere. I've seen her in my dreams." He looked over at Haru with a twinkling gaze, his emerald eyes actually looking like the gem for a few breathtaking seconds. Haru smiled and looked away shyly.

"Besides," he added, "settling down with someone is a lifelong commitment. It's not something to be taken lightly. Right, do you want to try finding shapes in the clouds now?"

If Haru was surprised by the casual drift to and from the subject of marriage, she didn't show it. She just lay back upon the grass, staring up at the sky. "I shan't be as good as you," she said firmly.

"You won't know if you never try. Have a go at... that one."

Haru concentrated on the cloud Baron had picked out, as if frowning could change its shape into something recognisable. She shook her head. "No. Can't see anything."

"Try harder."

"I can't see anything there."

"You're just not looking at it in the right way."

"Show me what you see," said Haru.

Baron took her wrist and trailed it around the cloud. "Okay, start here. Come down this way, along here, and what do you see? If that's an arm and that's the head?"

The princess's pretty features suddenly picked up in a smile. "A dancer," she replied, looking to Baron for confirmation. He nodded.

"That's right. Can you find her partner?"

Haru's eyes skimmed the sky, and after a couple of seconds she tentatively pointed to another set of clouds. "There?"

"You're getting good at this."

"I had a good teacher."

He chuckled. "Evidently." He looked to the north where storm clouds were gathering. "Uh-oh, looks like we're in for another storm."

Haru followed his gaze. "It'll be here by the evening," she said simply.

"How do you- oh, never mind."Baron got up and offered a hand to the brunette. "We should probably head inside."

Haru took his hand and allowed herself to be helped to her feet. "Probably. That storm is likely to set the floods off again. We may not be able to return to the palace tomorrow."

"Most probably," agreed Baron. "You won't be able to get back until Monday evening, by the very earliest." They grinned conspiringly at each other at the thought, and Haru had to admit she wasn't saddened by the prospect of being stuck with Baron for another day. Although she was missing her mother and Hiromi. And Rei.

"So what do you want to do this evening?" Baron asked.

Haru sighed and stretched. "I'm feeling particularly lazy today. What say you to an idle evening spent in the library?"

"Sounds just perfect."

ooOoo

A/N: This chapter came out pretty much perfectly to the way I'd planned it, but I'm interested to hear what you think of it. I've been dying to write this kind of scene between Haru and Baron for ages, but every time until now has somehow ended up with Haru storming off (this is what I get for letting my characters run wild) and I'm so glad to finally get round to it. The cloud scene is – I'm sure – used in many other stories, but I just loved this idea and had to use it. I didn't intentionally take it from anything. The bluebird and Princess Florine story is an actual story; I believe it's included in the Sleeping Beauty ballet, which is pretty convenient.

And on another note...

Happy Easter everyone!

~ Catsafari. =^^=