7

Chapter Six: Lune's Decision

Just as she rounded the corner, the portal appeared. Lune stepped out first, followed by his soldiers. He looked around wildly, and relaxed a little as she approached him.

"Where's my father?"

"I don't know; I contacted you as soon as I helped Miss Haru and the Cat Bureau out of-" she was cut off by several explosions. Lune looked past the stone wall to see the top of the portal tower start to sink to the ground.

Without thinking twice, the prince grabbed his friend and pressed her against the side of the wall, covering her with his own body to protect her, the guards also pressing themselves against the wall to escape the black cloud that covered the area.

The servant girl prayed that her love wouldn't notice how wildly her heart was beating against his chest, and she buried her face into his shoulder in fear. But what disturbed her was a different sound than the crashing sound. It was distant, but clear.

It was a scream from the top of the tower, as it crashed downward. One she had heard before. Yuki gasped.

"She's at the top of the tower!"

Lune's widened in horror, but blinked as the dust began to settle. He nodded at his captain, who sent the platoon down the cave-like tunnel that led close to the tower. Oh, if only Yuki had thought about this tunnel when she was with her rescuer. The prince gripped her paw as they ran down the hall, towards the light. By the time the prince crawled out first, having finally released Yuki's paw in order to see what remained of the tower. The white cat watched him gasp with astonishment.

"What in the world has Father done now? Father!" The prince started running for the tower, swiftly followed by his soldiers. Yuki trailed behind them, not caring what the king would think for once. Haru would have to have all the luck in the world to have survived the explosion.

Lune reached the base of the tower first, and nearly demanded an explanation from his father as his soldiers lined up behind him. Yuki was the last of his company to enter the enclosure. She smiled with relief; glad that her old friend was safe and whole, with Baron and Muta, all three sitting down calmly, like they were used to having buildings blown up from underneath them.

"Miss Haru."

The schoolgirl looked over, and beamed.

"Yuki!"

The white cat sat next to her, still smiling.

"I'm glad Lune made it in time."

"I just wanted to repay the girl that rescued you." Lune's father started, playing with his paws like a timid child. "I thought that, maybe, you'd be happy to have a good-looking girl like Haru for a bride."

"I have already chosen my bride," the Cat Prince said firmly. "I have decided, in fact, to marry Yuki." He extended one paw to her, as the white cat gasped with surprise; barely noting everyone else's reaction.

She was the one he loved?! The one he wanted to marry? She fought the urge to scratch herself, hoping not to wake up, if this truly was a dream. Lune took a small yellow box tied with a red ribbon from one of his soldiers, and walked up to her. She recognized the box as the one he nearly got killed over.

"This is for you. I traveled to your old home to get these."

Feeling unusually shy, Yuki took the box, and pulled one end of the ribbon in order to place it aside and open the box. Her breath caught in her throat, seeing the familiar crackers.

"I haven't had these in years," she said, reverently holding up a single fish-shaped snack. Haru stared at it.

"Wow, I used to love those when I was a kid."

Yuki turned to her, feeling it was time to drop the girl a hint.

"I know. You once fed me a whole box of these when I was just a stray."

A cloud seemed to lift from those brown eyes, which widened further.

"That filthy little kitten… that was you?" She grinned widely and laughed a little, finally recognizing the white cat. "You're so beautiful now that I never would have recognized you!"

"Yuki," Lune said softly, stealing the white cat's attention once more. "Will you accept these crackers, as a symbol of my love for you, for as long as our nine lives shall last?"

She nodded, not bothering to hide the love in her eyes anymore.

"So, these crackers mean that… you can marry the prince instead of me!"

The prince and his chosen bride blushed at Haru's words as she nearly jumped up and down in her excitement.

"I'm so happy for you!" She jump-hugged Yuki, who was thrilled at her reaction.

"Thank you, Haru." She pulled away to look at the girl who had saved her life, all those years ago. "And thank you for feeding me when I was a kitten. Without you, I might not be alive today."

Lune looked at the girl with interest.

"So you're the fish girl Yuki had told me about, and you're also the one who saved me when I nearly got myself killed by a truck. We both owe you our lives, Haru. What can we do to repay you?"

The brunette shook her head happily.

"You don't have to repay me, I'm just glad that things turned out so well. I guess I did the right thing after all."

The sweet moment was broken when the sobbing Cat King walked up behind his son and placed his paws on Lune's shoulders.

"This is all very moving. I had no idea you already had a bride in mind; you should have told me." He looked at the ex-human. "Poor Haru; you must feel like such a loser."

She shrugged.

"Not really."

"No, I'm sure you do, so I have a great idea. You should marry me instead!"

Considering the fact that he had disregarded her opinion ever since deciding she would marry Lune, it wasn't too surprising to Yuki that Haru turned him down flat on his face. Muta laughed heartily, and revealed himself as the infamous Renaldo Moon in order to distract everyone from her as she made a final try at reaching her home world. Lune made sure that Yuki was out of harm's way before trying to talk his father out of climbing the tower.

Reaching the palace, Yuki didn't hesitate to grab the remote, and home the crystal ball into Haru, who had now reached the top of the portal tower, and was clinging to the brim in order to avoid plummeting to her death.

Lune soon joined her, and everyone watched in amazement as she slowly changed back into a human. She fell off the tower, but Muta managed to grab her long enough to stall her fall for about a minute. As they began to soar back to earth, Baron reached the top of the tower and jumped off, his eyes locked on the human girl.

Yuki didn't understand how, but a flock of crows appeared out of nowhere, and softened the trio's speed before catching them so they could walk on the small birds. Everyone watching cheered wildly, glad that the hero of the Cat Kingdom would live to remember what had happened because of her.

"We won't forget you, Haru," Yuki said softly.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Several months later, in the bright morning light, two cats came once more to the residence of Haru Yoshioka. In the mouth of each, there was a tiny kitten with mismatched eyes.

"Are we really going to meet the Haru, Mama?"

Yuki couldn't answer, her mouth being full, but gave a nod as her husband led the way to the window they knew was Haru's. Approaching the window, they could see an elegant young woman, looking through several letters; her back towards the window. Although the hair was shorter than they remembered, the Cat King and Queen knew who she was.

"Haru!" Lune said, finally letting his daughter down. The young woman turned, her loving brown eyes suddenly glowing with pleasure. She quickly got out of the chair and walked over to the window to let her old friends in. There were many hugs and purrs on both sides, as the royal couple proudly showed her the fruit of their union.

Haru giggled as little Luki and Haruka licked her face.

"Would you guys like to come downstairs for some milk and crackers? Mom's out fabric-shopping, so we won't be disturbed for a few hours."

The twin girls giggled as Haru led the way downstairs, the parents treading behind the human.

"So, anything new with you, Haru?"

She sighed.

"Just trying to figure out what college I'm going to attend. I want to be a vet, since, you know. The thing with cats."

They nodded understandingly as Haru poured some milk for the royal family, and set out some familiar crackers.

"What about a boy?"

Haru's hand froze, returning the milk to the refrigerator. Her eyes went strangely sad, and lonely.

"I haven't found one worth keeping yet. Don't worry; one's bound to show up sooner or later."

Yuki tilted her head, detecting the slightest hint of a lie. Did she also mean she hadn't found one that she could keep, as well as would? Lune's eyes trailed over to a picture on the wall, and his mouth dropped open.

"Haru, who's that?"

The brunette looked over, and grinned as she took the portrait down.

"This is my mom and her sister when they were in high school. The redhead's my mom, and the one with black hair's my aunt, Haruka. I never knew her; she went missing about a month after this picture was taken."

Yuki gasped, recognizing the eyes in the photograph, which matched her sister's. And Haru's.

"Was her last name Iyumi?"

Haru's eyes shot open.

"Lune, why do you know that?"

He stared at her, hardly believing all the twists of fate in his life.

"That was my mother's name. We're cousins, Haru!"

She stared at him, and at his children. Her kin.

"You better warn your father if I ever see him again, I will tear him apart for every tear he made my mom cry, and doubtlessly made yours cry." Smiling and shaking her head disbelievingly, she pulled her family closer, and squeezed them gently; hoping to never let go.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Lots of love to; Drifting One, Watersoul the Head Star Walker, and Rebel of my Destiny for their reviews. I'm not really a Lune/Yuki fan, but I had fun writing this.

And once again, a special thanks to Rebel of my Destiny, for asking me to write this story. It was a great idea, and long live Cat Returns!