Chapter Seven: The Cat Queen

Baron idly played with the fine silver chain on his pocket watch as the king periodically sat in his impressive throne (which had a notable vacancy in the slightly smaller throne next to it) and paced the throne room impatiently, his eyes wide and nervous.

"She'll be here, she promised. She'll come back, she never breaks her word," he kept muttering to himself, longing desperately for his beautiful wife's companionship. Muta, usually grumpy, was now almost volcanic at being forced to stay in the same room as the ruler, just so he could see his old friend as soon as possible.

The prince and princess were waiting nearby in some less ornate chairs, a kitten on each of their laps.

"Mommy, has Nana ever been on time for anything?" Princess Harumi asked, hugging a pink stuffed cat doll close. Her mother laughed softly.

"She's on time when there's a life on the line, but I don't know about any other event."

"Then she should have been here three hours ago," the king grumbled angrily, sitting in his throne again, pouting like a spoiled child. There was no telling just how long he had to live, even without the death threat.

Baron cocked his head, a little surprised to hear the princess state her step-mother-in-law's tardiness like she saved lives every day. Well, he was certainly looking forward to meeting this mysterious queen.

That is, if she ever showed her face.

After ten more minutes, a blue circle of light appeared next to the throne, and grew until it was taller than either of the fancy chairs. The king stood up from his throne with relief.

"It's about time, Haru!"

Baron reached into his pocket to start winding the watch, but found the knob at the top to be already turning without his help, at a faster pace than he had ever done with it. He stole a look down at his pocket, more than a little confused since it had never done that before, and he had owned the watch for years.

Deciding that it was a mystery that could wait until later, he looked up at the portal again, just in time to see a figure step through it.

His eyes widened.

His jaw dropped shamelessly.

The fact that the Cat Queen had human features, he had been warned about. The fact that her head fur was longer than the rest of it was, hardly seemed to matter when he was first told of it. And finally, he was completely expecting the girl to be beautiful, if a king thrice her age was willing to blackmail her into marrying him, and then again to unwittingly convince no less than five noblemen to literally kill for the chance to be with her.

And yet… for some strange reason, he was still caught completely off-guard by the young queen.

She was slim, almost not there at all. Every part of her looked like it had been specially carved by a master, right down to her delicate wrists and fingers. Her face was covered with light tan fur that might have mimicked her skin color as a human or fine toffee. Her long head fur, which was pulled back into a high pony tail and still reached past her tiny waist, was a deep rich milk chocolate color. Natoru had said that her eyes were the same shade, but the large and rounded orbs were more of a rich caramel that almost seemed to swirl around with color.

Her eyes… he had never seen that look up close before. Like she wanted nothing more than to just disappear, and never be heard from again by anyone.

Even her face was strange. Yes, even that was lost between the boundaries of cat and human, but her beauty was simpler than he was expecting. It wasn't a bad thing, but he had been expecting something like a… a girl that knew that she was very attractive, and wasn't afraid to use her beauty to get what she wanted. The queen didn't seem like the type to even care if she was pretty.

But the queen was dressed a bit plainer than one would have expected of someone in her status, in a very simple black dress that covered her from throat to wrists to neatly shod feet. Even her slim hands were covered by dark gloves. On her brow was a smaller version of the Cat King's crown, a simple purple gem that contained a sort of third eye that looked just as sad as her real ones.

His watch finally stopped winding itself and began ticking as the delicate girl stepped out of the portal while it closed behind her.

All right, you old creep. Get it over with.

The Cat King swept her into his arms, and kissed her soundly, making the Bureau agents (and everyone else in the room) want to start gagging. Somehow, the Cat Creation managed to keep his eyes on the queen. Even from over here, he could tell that although the king was kissing her with everything he had, her arms stayed at her side and her lips didn't budge a hair on their own.

The kiss was completely one-sided.

Baron blinked a few times, trying to make the fact register in his mind that the two were a married couple. But they were such an odd pair, the king was almost twice his wife's height, and looked on the scruffy crazy side. But the young brunette he could easily believe to be a royal, since she was small, neat, and beautiful.

Seeing the two together strongly reminded the Cat Creation of Beauty and the Beast, except that the beauty clearly had no feelings for her beast.

Come on, already. Finish up so I can go hug Lune and Yuki, you stinking child molester.

The king, however, took his sweet time ending the strange kiss and held her close when it was finally over, smiling happily.

"I missed you so much, Sweetie Pie!"

Really? Because I didn't miss you in the least. Now let go so I can greet what's left of my real family.

With a blank face, the queen pointedly pinched her husband's paw just enough so that he would loosen his hold so she could slip out of his arms. She firmly turned her back on her husband and held out her arms toward her 'step-grandkittens'.

Haruhi and Harumi hopped out of their parents' laps so that they could pounce on their 'grandmother' as she walked toward them.

"NANA!" they sang in unison, purring happily as the cat-woman calmly eased one kitten onto each of her hips and nuzzled their foreheads before kissing them softly, oh so softly.

How are my favorite trouble-makers? She mentally asked them fondly, her glorious sad eyes taking on a warm glow. Now you two, I did miss. The Cat Queen squeezed them happily as her husband pouted behind the throne.

After she had hugged the kittens for a full moment, she walked forward enough to embrace the crown prince and his wife, as they still sat.

"We sure missed you, Haru," Lune said softly.

Both of you, too. I missed you guys so much.

"Did you enjoy your trip?" Yuki asked, taking back her son from around Haru's neck.

With a flash, Baron saw a human couple, kissing tenderly in the moonlight as a stone sparkled on the girl's finger. His heart felt like a raging beast was tearing it apart sinew by sinew, although he somehow knew that it wasn't his pain. Blinking, he realized that he had been the only one to see the flash, since everyone else in the room was still looking at the delicate brunette. The queen smiled stiffly, and nodded.

Actually, it made me want to scream my head off in frustration and cut out my heart with a dull spoon just to make the pain stop. But if I told them that, the king might go back on the contract I tricked him into signing and not let me visit Mom's grave anymore. And I couldn't bear losing that precious alone time.

Baron cocked his head. So that was what she did on these visits. But why wouldn't she talk to anyone? Surely the girl could speak.

That flash. It must have been one of her memories. But why would a kissing human couple make her feel such sorrow? Were they close to her or something? The watch had never before allowed him to see into the thoughts of others, only to hear. Was it broken?

He could just barely see Lune whisper something in her ear.

Good news, huh? It better be, after what I saw back in my world. I sure could use some good news right about now.

Smiling sadly, the Cat Queen straightened as the prince got to his feet and made to walk out of the room. Without warning, her husband grabbed her around the waist, and pulled her close.

Come on. Let go already. I want to be with Lune and Yuki. The queen grimaced, since she was still cradling Princess Harumi in her arms as the king purred like a broken lawnmower while taking out the black ribbon that held her long chocolate brown hair in place.

"I thought I told you that I like your hair down." He finished pulling the ribbon out, making the soft strands fall over her shoulders and down her back, quite nearly to her knees in a manner reminiscent of a gentle waterfall. The queen closed her eyes, and did some breathing exercises.

And of course, it's all about what YOU want, isn't it? Just because I like my hair up doesn't mean that I get to pull it up. It's only attached to my head, why should I have a say in how it gets styled?

Am I dead yet?

Baron's heart pained again, but this time he was certain that the ache was his own. The beaten tone to her mental voice that had such a tired resignation to it… no husband should ever make his wife sound like that.

Next to him, Muta started growling angrily as the king kept hugging his wife, blissfully oblivious to the obvious disdain that she held for him. A small flicker came into the queen's eyes at the strange sound, and she looked over at the two Cat Bureau agents curiously. Muta stopped growling, terrified that she would, or wouldn't, recognize him.

Her caramel eyes slowly came to life as her strange eyebrows shot up into her bangs.

Her mouth fell open a little.

No… way! It's that fat cat I used to feed! Was this the good news Lune was talking about? Is he here to visit me? He recognizes me. I can see it in his eyes. I bet this was the last place he'd ever expect to find me. I guess this means I'll finally know what name he goes by.

Baron stiffened slightly as her brown gaze trailed over to him. Her eyebrows came down a little, and her eyes narrowed a bit, like she recognized him from somewhere. She looked so confused.

Who on earth is that guy? Why… why does he have a body like mine? Why does he look so much like…