Chapter Six: Heart's Cry

Eventually, Baron found Muta and Natoru, just before the brown cat led them to some comfortable rooms. The foolish guide hadn't even noticed that the Cat Creation had ever left.

Completely stunned, Baron sank into a comfortable chair as his dear fat friend sat on the bed and made the legs of it groan in protest. Muta looked just as stunned as Baron felt.

"All this time… If I had known Chicky had been taken here, I'd have… done something! Anything!"

The Cat Creation looked at him.

"Muta… how did you know this Haru? How come you never mentioned her, if she was so important to you?"

"You asked me not to, remember? You don't like hearing about where I get my other meals." The fat white cat sighed. "About eight years ago, she was my Thursday night meal ticket. She could make the best specialty tuna sandwiches, but that wasn't the only reason why I liked her. Haru was…" He struggled to find the right words.

"Well, she's a sweetheart. I never spoke to her, but she'd talk to me all the time, about anything and everything. She wasn't exactly the happiest girl in the world back then, but compared to what she probably is now, she was ecstatic. Then one day, she disappeared without a trace. No one knew what happened to her." He held his head between his paws as tears of shame actually fled down his furry cheeks.

"We could have helped her, Baron! She didn't have to lose everything and become the Cat Queen!"

Baron held one hand to his chin, and gripped the list with the other. He thought about what the prince had told him.

"I've found three separate plots to kill the king before the queen returns, but after hearing that he had blackmailed a young girl into marrying him, I'm not all that sure that we should protect him. It sounds like this is something that the king had coming for a long time."

"I know I feel like pounding him," the fat cat growled, shredding a blanket between his paws.

But Baron's attention was on the silver watch that he had taken out of his pocket. Wordlessly, he took out a handkerchief and started polishing the cherished gift.

Just who was this queen, really? What kind of girl wouldn't want a husband that bad killed? Why would she make an effort to preserve his life, if he had stolen hers away without a care? The crown prince's behavior had suggested that the queen hadn't fallen in love with her husband since marrying him, so what was her motive?

"In any case, I would dearly like to hear what this young queen has to say. I think we should keep her husband alive for that long, at least."

Muta grumbled a little.

"All right, I won't touch him until then."

Baron nodded and pocketed the watch once more.

"So now we uncover the plots and wait for this Haru to come back from visiting her mother."

A very sad smile crawled upon Muta's furry lips.

"Hey, Baron? I've got news for you."

"Oh? What?"

"She's not visiting her mother."

Baron scoffed.

"You've been out of touch with her for eight years, and you suddenly know where she is?"

"No, but I do know that she's not visiting her mother."

The orange and cream cat sighed.

"And what makes you so certain of that, Muta?"

"Her mother's dead. She committed suicide a week after Haru disappeared."

ooOoo

The night air was nice and cool, exactly what Haru was hoping for. She smiled sadly as she weeded the flowers, ignoring how the needle-like plants pricked her tender hands. She wore gloves all the time anyway, and her husband was too much of a moron to pay attention to her hands specifically.

She suppressed an involuntary shudder as she made the usual trip to the water fountain. The brown half-cat looked up at the imposing structure, and sighed sadly. Shouldering the little bag, the Cat Queen carefully climbed up the thing in order to attempt filling her water bottle while holding down the nozzle, a very tricky process even when she didn't get soaked from head to toe. She managed to quench her thirst while retrieving the water for the flowers.

Suddenly, she heard someone coming. With a fearful heart, she capped the bottle and jumped down before she was seen, hiding in the hollow at the base of the fountain, where the shadows would protect her from curious eyes.

"Did you hear that, Machida?"

Haru bit back a gasp as her old crush walked around the corner… with her old best friend. Hiromi.

The tall young man looked around, his dark eyes defensive at first, but then relaxed. Haru pressed herself into the dark shadows, praying that, as usual, he wouldn't see her as her heart pounded painfully in her chest.

"Don't worry, Hiromi. No one's here, see?"

The light brunette looked around and laughed at herself.

"Well, you have to admit that this place is creepy at night."

"No, not really. For some reason, cemeteries have always been peaceful, at least for me. Besides, I wanted to show you something."

The couple walked past the water fountain and towards the stones protruding from the ground. Although she knew that she was playing with fire, Haru crawled out of her hiding spot and started following them, always at least five tombstones away, grateful that she had chosen dark clothing for her visit.

But… since when has Hiromi been dating Machida? The slim half-cat bit back a sudden sob, since her lingering love for the human boy no longer mattered.

With some amazement on the half-cat's part, they headed straight for her flowers. Hiromi gasped softly at the modest carpet over the glossy grass.

"Machida! Have you been the one doing this?"

"What, the flowers? I was about to ask you the same thing." He sighed, and rubbed the grave marker warmly. "At least someone cared enough about her to do it. Do… you remember the day it was put here?"

"It's not exactly the kind of thing that can be forgotten, Machida. Why did you bring me here?"

"Well, it just seemed like the most appropriate place to be tonight. I mean… this is where I first asked you out, after all."

Hiromi nodded, and gripped his arm harder, rubbing her chin on his broad shoulder as Haru struggled to stifle her sorrowful cries.

"I still feel a little guilty about seeing you like this. I mean… Haru liked you first, and she could still be out there, you know," Hiromi said, brushing away a few tears before they could travel down her cheeks.

"I know, but… I don't think she's coming back." Machida brushed his fingers through her hair lovingly. "Yes, I liked her first, and because I waited too long to say so, I lost her before I could have her."

Haru slapped one hand over her mouth in shock.

'He… he liked me back?'

"But I'm not going to make the same mistake with you, Hiromi. I remember Haru very well. I think she'd want us to be happy, even if she never comes back. I guess… I'm trying to ask you to marry me."

Haru looked away and collapsed against the tombstone that was between her and the couple, and curled up into as tight a ball as she could manage. She could hear Hiromi crying, but unlike herself, her friend's tears were of joy.

"On one condition, Machida. Our first daughter needs to be named Haru."

"I was planning on that anyway." With that, he swept the girl into his arms and kissed her, oh-so-tenderly. Like he was handling the finest china, he slipped a delicate ring onto her finger, with a diamond that sparkled in the moonlight.

Showing an extraordinary amount of willpower, Haru managed to keep quiet just long enough for the couple to leave. As soon as she heard the car drive away from the cemetery, she burst out of her hiding place, and threw herself onto the flowers she had so lovingly planted, sobbing uncontrollably. In her long head fur was a gem that also glittered in the moonlight, but unlike the one that now graced her best friend's finger, this one spoke coldly of wealth, and the shadow of a third eye was within the purple depths. Nothing would have pleased the Cat Queen more than to tear off the gem and to toss it into a river, but unfortunately, she was stuck with the stupid thing until she was happily widowed.

At the head of the little flower garden, was a tombstone reading 'Naoko Yoshioka'.

'Oh, Mom! Why did you have to go and leave me alone?!'