Author's Note: Cripes. I thought I had gotten rid of that huge AN in the previous chapter. Sorry.
shadowkeepre, if you're referring to the 'bittersweet' quote, it's the opening of Zerbinetta's aria to Ariadne from the Richard Strauss opera Ariadne auf Naxos. Zerbinetta was about to upbraid Ariadne for her view on men, and boast about how many lovers she herself had. And Louise, as far as I know, is both the name of Baron's fiancée and Nishi's girlfriend.
Alea Ishikawa, I have to thank you. You've given me a great idea for the ending. I was going to leave this mess open-ended until the Chirstmas Party, but now I can see how I can finish it. It personally has me laughing.
Ellenlome, what was unclear in Baron's talk? If there was anything unclear, that was my fault; Baron almost never speaks in the Whisper of the Heart manga. It's also because it's my extrapolation of his character. To me Aoi Hiiragi and Ghibli never fully explored Baron as much as they could have. Nishi Shirou may have brought him to Japan, but the Cat presumably brings with him a viewpoint that should enable one to include stuff normally inaccessible to the characters in your usual manga/anime (You'll probably never find Kiki quoting Shakespeare, for example, or Chihiro knowing about Kenneth Grahame and his The Reluctant Dragon, or Rikako from Umi Ga Kikoeru knowing about Philip Glass, unless you're willing to create an unusual set of circumstances for them explaining those away). The same goes for Seiji, since he's been abroad, and Shizuku, who is (or was) a bookworm. That's why I always said I needed a beta, to give me a reality check, and thank you for your offer. You should find a little courier cat knocking on your e-mail door later. Meow.
CAMERON THE MAGIC CAT
The next morning, after breakfast, Shizuku found herself entertaining Cameron the servant, who insisted that he had to talk to her. Which she allowed him to, in the room, with Seiji at her side.
At first the servant seemed disconcerted at Seiji's presence, but he went ahead and began his spiel.
"You're the first magician to come through here, Lady Shizuku," he said as he stood in the middle of the small living space. He had refused the offer of a chair. "I'd like to ask you a few things, if I may be so bold."
Shizuku nodded curtly. She was getting tired of all the fawning obsequiousness Windamary and all the servants displayed. She felt sorry for them, and decided that if Cameron was going to remain standing, she would too. "Go on, Master Cameron."
"Do you like having your powers?"
"Well, yes, of course."
"Have you met anyone else who has anything like them?"
"No."
"Do you know how you got them?"
"I told you before, I don't."
"Would you like to learn more?"
"Sure! And I suppose you're the one to teach me."
"Yes. Not a lot, just some things I think will work for you."
"And what do you want in return?"
"Nothing much. Just the pleasure of a fellow magician's company. It's been years since I've cast spells with one, and even longer since I passed on what I knew."
"When can we start?"
"Right now, if you wish. I'm free this entire day."
"Okay, let's begin."
Cameron hesitated. "Er," he stuttered, "we need to practice this outside, preferably away from the fort."
"Why?"
"It's pretty powerful."
"Alright, but let me get dressed first."
"I'm coming with you," Seiji said.
"Why?"
"I'm not going to let you go who-knows-where with a cat you met only yesterday."
"Sir Seiji," Cameron said apologetically, "only your wife must hear what I have to say. Your life may be put in jeopardy if you hear it."
"If it's dangerous, then all the more I have to be with her."
"If you insist. Come, then, follow me."
------oOo------
They went to the beach again, using toriuma. Not to where Shizuku had taken a swim with Haru, but nearer to the massive fortification, in a wide, more level space with a sandier surface, with clumps of blue-green grass interspersed here and there. They dismounted, and instead of hitching their rides up to some post or tree, the servant spoke a few commands. They removed the bridles and cast them on the sand, and the horseclaws remained where they were, either sitting down on the rocks or digging into the feed bags Cameron had brought for them.
"All it takes is a friendly word," he said as Shizuku and Seiji marveled at the mounts' apparent docility. "Don't ever frighten them, for their kicks can prove fatal. Now, let's begin."
He started out by saying how there were so many different types of magic one could never truly impart everything he or she knew, since a lot of it was peculiar to that particular person. He hoped Shizuku's powers were what he thought they were, and gave her a small, dark-blue rock to hold in her hand.
As she looked at it lying in the flat of her palm it fluoresced, tiny points of bluish light crawling through spidery paths in the stone like ghostly insects.
"Yes, you're what I've been looking for!" Cameron exclaimed involuntarily. Shizuku looked into his greenish-yellow eyes and was surprised to see him on the verge of tears.
"Please, allow me to explain," he said, he tentatively reached out and grasped her hand. Seiji raised an eyebrow at the gesture. "I'm not really a cat. I used to be a human like you. I was a little boy who went out to play with his friends one summer morning, then got lost in a sudden storm and wound up here in the Cat Kingdom. I couldn't get out, and within the space of a day I turned into what you see now. I somehow found myself in the Cat King's employ, and tried to escape so many times, but this body of mine always held me back. There were occasions when I was able to gain access to a portal back to my own country, but I thought of what my family would think when they saw me like this and never worked up the courage to step across. I even tried saving up all my money to buy that expensive drink that turns one back into a human, but when I tried it, it worked only temporarily on me, since I had been in the Cat Kingdom so long. So basically I'm stuck here."
Shizuku put a sympathetic hand on the tom's shoulder. "Go on."
"I belong to a family that used to be very powerful and capable of magical feats," he continued. "We were descended from a race of people who abandoned their palace in the sky to live with men on earth. The most powerful among us are able to use these stones to focus their powers. You appear to be one of them."
Shizuku looked at him in disbelief. "Are you saying I'm a sort of relative to you? Because I can trace my lineage back two hundred years, and there's no mention at all of foreign blood coming into my family. And I've never experienced any magic like this at all in my world. None, until we got here and I saved Baron's life."
Cameron signaled incomprehension. "No, it just means that your power is similar to mine, and therefore I can teach you a few things. I wish to pass my magic on to someone who can learn it, and now I know that someone is you."
"Why me, Cameron? Surely there must be someone else you can teach this to."
"As I said, you're the first magician to pass by the fort, and you're human like I am. Or used to be. The Cat Magician's magic is a little different than ours. It relies more on spells and dried seahorse and that stuff, while ours is a function of mind and emotion. Would you like to learn what I have to teach?"
"Of course!"
------oOo------
An hour later, Seiji sat on a tree stump some distance away from the pair, watching as they practiced magic. Cameron was right, it was a potentially dangerous business. Shizuku was lifting boulders and hurling them through the air to land in the water with tremendous splashes, all with the power of her mind. She raised the scrawny dead trees near the shore up in the air and twirled them like giant toothpicks, then set them back down. She made pebbles twirl in a vertical circle in the air in front of her, then blow up, showering her and Cameron with a rain of dust. The air formed mini-tornadoes at her command. Even the water didn't escape her attentions. She made an upward-slashing gesture with a hand, and it erupted in a towering wall of white that stretched for hundreds of meters, then crashed back with a thunderous boom that hurt his ears.
He sighed. His dear Shizuku, who looked so appealing and full of joie de vivre, barefoot on the pebbly sand in her waist-length sleeveless red shirt and lace-ended Capri pants, that stopped just below her knees and showed off her calves just right and hugged the gentle swell of her bottom oh-so-tantalizingly, was now toothed and clawed, a sweet kitten with razor-sharp implements, like Haru was. He didn't know if he wanted to accept the change. For all he knew, the next time he taunted her she might fling him into the sea, or hurl a table or chair at him. He was nothing as special as she was now; he was still just an itinerant musician, violin-maker and painter who happened to love her.
For the last part Cameron was adamant in having him stay away. He watched them move further towards the water, then sit down and talk for a few minutes. Partway through the affair Shizuku seemed to grow agitated and shook her head. She continued to listen, though, and when Cameron got up from the sand around fifteen minutes later, she followed him and they walked back to Seiji.
That's it? he thought. That's the 'things I mustn't hear' lesson?
"Are you through? That was quick."
"Yes, Sir Seiji. You can have your wife back. I thank you both for putting up with me."
"It was no problem. We were happy to oblige." Seiji bowed to the cat. He expected Shizuku to share his sentiment, so when he looked at her for confirmation, the way her face remained troubled surprised him.
"Shizuku?"
"Hmm? Oh, thank you very much, Cameron." Shizuku bowed deeply.
"Could we do anything for you?" Seiji solicited.
The servant shook his head. "Well, someday I'd like to go back to my family, or at least see them once more, but you couldn't do that for me. I shall return to the fort now."
Seiji was about to stand up and join him, when Shizuku spoke.
"We'll, um, stay here for a while. I'm tired and I'd like to rest before heading back."
Cameron bowed. "As you wish, milady." He put fingers to his lips and blew a piercing whistle. The three grazing horseclaws in the distance shot their heads up and ran to him.
"Whoa!" he commanded. The three creatures slowed to a stop in front of him and eyed him expectantly.
"Kii," he said, "let's go home. Mikai, you get the bridles when these people are ready to go, okay?" The horseclaw gave a trilling caw. "Mai, behave yourself, or I won't let you out on an excursion like this any more." The last avian gave him such a sad look Shizuku wanted to gape in amazement. "Oh, dear, just be a good girl, okay? I'll see you back at the stables."
With an agile leap Cameron mounted the horseclaw named Kii and galloped off under the sun, which was already high in the sky. As he rode away, he leaned over the side and expertly snatched up one of the bridles and reins from where they'd previously left them.
"What's bothering you?" Seiji asked pensively, turning to Shizuku, who had occupied the stump he had vacated.
"Anata, he taught me a few things. I'm not sure I want to use them." When her husband gave her a silent request to explain further, she said, "I like my own powers better. They may be weak, they may make me disappear and probably put my life in danger, but they're not destructive like his are."
"That last lesson?" Seiji guessed.
Nodding, Shizuku sighed. "He taught me what he called were 'power words.' He told me never to use them unless in great need, and never to reveal them to anyone else, even you. Seiji, I don't want to use them at all! They're terrible! I can't even forget them!"
"How are they terrible?" asked Seiji, but she never answered him. Instead she put her head in her hands and looked out into the blue horizon. Her husband waited patiently until she announced she was ready to go back, then helped her stand.
"I wish I knew how to ride sidesaddle," she said. "I didn't want to tell you this, but I'm still sore." She smiled guiltily at him.
"You can ride on my lap if you want to," Seiji offered, kissing her cheek. "I won't let you fall."
"Could I? Thanks so much. Mikai, can you understand me? Please fetch the bridles."
As they began the trip back a thought happened to cross Seiji's mind. "Shizuku-chan, didn't Cameron say that your power is based on your mind and your emotion?"
"Uh-huh."
"What does that mean, exactly?"
"Well, it's hard to explain. It varies depending on my mood. The more clear my head is, the more focused the effect will be and the easier it is to cast. If I'm rattled or not thinking straight, there's no telling what'll happen to it. I find it usually works better if I think happy thoughts, though. Iya da, Mai, naughty bird! Remember what Cameron said! You have to be a good girl or he'll never bring you out again!"
Seiji held the reins firmly in his right hand until the fractious beast had stopped trying to go her own way. "Oh? And what do you think about to make you happy?"
Shizuku, arms around his neck, paused. That caused Seiji to look at her, in time to catch the tiniest curl of mouth upwards. They had known each other a long time. In that brief instant, with that miniscule movement, and the hidden twinkle in Shizuku's dark eyes, he knew. He knew what—whom—she thought about at those moments.
The recalcitrant toriuma had to bear the weight of two humans, one sitting on the other's lap, with a thoroughly kissed look on her face, all the way back to the fort. Mikai simply followed them home. Shizuku thought he was laughing, in a way, clucking at his mate's discomfiture and the silly, mushy humans riding her.
------oOo------
Some minutes before the couple's return, there was a spring in Cameron's step as he reported to Windamary and announced he was giving up the rest of his day off. The Russian Blue looked at him in amazement, then instantly felt his forehead for a temperature. Though he was older than she was, he let her treat him like a son.
"Mom," he complained, using the nickname all the household staff called her by, "I'm fine. I just had so good a time today, I don't want too much of it."
"Well, okay. If you really want to get back to work, go and help in the kitchen. And I don't mean by eating up all the food and calling it 'taste testing'!"
Cameron went to do as she suggested. He was happier than he had ever been in a long time. Passing by a window on his way down to the main kitchen and larder in the basement, he looked out at the blue sky with its drifting white clouds and fervently hoped Grand-Dame Lucita—wherever she was now, bless her soul—and Grand-Patriarch Pazu would approve of his actions. He was old; death might take him at its whim, despite his eternal youth, but at least now a part of their unique legacy to the clan would live on, even if he could never return to it any more.
------oOo------
"Ey, look, isn't that Miss Haru across the street?"
"Yeah! Hey, Miss Haru!
"Hey, Sergeant Jarashi! Private Fisher! How are you?"
"All great and dandy. And you're looking mighty fine yourself, Miss Haru!" the younger soldier commented. "And by the way," he continued in a lower voice as they reached her, "it's Corporal Fisher now, ma'am."
"Really?" Haru looked at the orange-furred sergeant and innocently asked, "Is that a higher or lower rank?"
Jarashi roared with laughter. "It's a higher one," he said, casting an aspersive glance at his comrade.
Fisher hung his head and seemed to turn a darker shade of bluish-gray as Haru congratulated him. "How'd you get promoted?"
"By default," he admitted sheepishly. "Our platoon corporal got a broken leg two days ago and is out of action. We just visited him in the hospital."
"Ah, that's too bad."
"What're you doing out here, Miss Haru?"
"I was, uh, shopping." Indeed she was: until a few minutes earlier she was with Seiji and Shizuku (who had, by way of apologizing for her earlier suspiciousness, removed Haru's hangover with her powers), then had separated from them and was looking for a haberdashery or a clothes shop where she could purchase or have tailored a shirt to replace the one of Baron's she ruined.
"I'm surprised the King doesn't keep a tighter rein on you folks," Jarashi remarked.
"Why?"
"Well, look, everyone knows who you are by now, and the easiest way to get him to stop all this is by kidnapping one of you. Queen Yuki's too inaccessible with all that security around her."
"They won't do that," Haru reassured him. She told him of Captain Loriel.
"Sure, I know all about her, but what's to stop them from breaking their word? Phaecis might be an honorable guy, but I'm sure not all of them are."
"You're so considerate that way, Sergeant," Haru chided him, causing his whiskers to stick straight out. "Thanks, but I can take care of myself."
"Of course. You have a good day, Miss Haru." The two cats bid her farewell and walked back across the street. As a parting shot Fisher shouted, "Marry me, Miss Haru! I'm a much more handsome cat than Baron von Jikkingen is!"
Haru froze and red crept up from her neck all the way to her forehead and even down her bare forearms. Was knowledge of their relationship that widespread now? She'd have to persuade Baron to meet in more private settings, or see him less often. The first was a much more palatable prospect than the second.
"Sorry!" Sergeant Jarashi shouted. She saw his foot treading firmly on the twitching Fisher's tail. "My friend here doesn't know what he's saying! Don't mind him!" He let go of the newly-minted corporal and pushed him roughly into the gentleman's club behind them.
------oOo------
Jarashi wasn't that far off in his guess; as Haru composed herself and went on her way, a figure watching her from one of the nearby shops stood up and went to the lavatory to get on his walkie-talkie and report on her doings.