Chapter Fifteen: A Surprising Turn of Events
Haru was gazing peacefully at the swirling dancers when a familiar torso stood right in front of her view of the dance floor. She looked up in confusion, and smiled warmly.
'Hi, Baron. Fancy meeting you here.'
He bowed politely, and smiled at her. But, there was something… different in the way he was looking at her.
"Would your Majesty honor me with a dance?" he asked politely, a soft smile on his lips as he looked at her.
Haru's jaw dropped.
'Baron, are you insane?! You saw what happens to my dancing partners! Please, I don't want to end up hurting you too!' She started shaking her head like mad, hoping that he would understand. Why wasn't the king being his usual jealous self? But, Baron's smile didn't change in the least. He held his hand out to her invitingly.
"Just trust me," he said softly, his eyes surprisingly calm. This was the same cat that would blush at nothing a lot, wasn't it?
'Trust… no one's asked that of me in years. Should I?' Biting her lip nervously, she placed her hesitantly placed her hand in his. He smiled even more warmly, and helped her out of the chair so that he could lead her to the dance floor.
All the other dancers immediately returned to their seats to stay clear of the queen's path, some even muttering prayers for Baron's soul. As he placed one hand on her waist and held her other hand so gently, the musicians stopped playing. The Cat Creation looked over at them.
"If you would?" he asked politely. The flutist shook his head first, quickly followed by everyone else, since no one wanted a casualty at the banquet that wasn't the king. The orange and cream cat sighed.
"Muta?" he called out, a request in his tone.
"On it!" the fat cat called out, stealing an accordion from one of the older musicians. The large white feline started expertly playing a soft ballad, one not often heard in the Cat Kingdom.
Smoothly, Baron started guiding the queen through a rotating box step, not bothering with any explanations like the others had. Desperate to keep up with his footwork, the slim brunette did her best to follow his lead, still kicking him twice, but they had none of the power she had given to the other dance instructors, since she had a bit of a soft spot for him.
Showing more patience than anyone had in a long time, Baron kept at it, barely even wincing when her feet didn't quite go where they were supposed to.
The aristocrats gasped as the clumsy queen slowly became better and better under the baron's quiet tutelage. Smiling peacefully, Baron led her through a dip and twirled her around expertly like a ballerina.
Haru's mind was in chaos. There really was a guy besides her father that could make her dance! She had almost forgotten what it was like to be held close like this, by someone she respected.
It felt… safe. She hadn't felt this safe since she was a young child.
"Do you know what this song is, your Majesty?" the Cat Creation asked her softly, a soft and tender twinkle in his eye. A little puzzled, she shook her head, although the melody sounded hauntingly familiar.
"It was written about two centuries ago, in Germany. It's called 'Cat's Blood', or more accurately, 'Katzen Blut'."
'Blut?!' Her eyebrows shot up, and a soft gasp escaped her throat. 'Does he know? Who I am? Why did he tell me that?'
Of course. This waltz had been her family's unofficial theme song for over a century. How could she have forgotten it? Her father loved dancing with her mother to this song… the exact same steps that Baron was leading her through right now. But neither she nor her mother had gained the heart to play it again, after his death.
Baron had to know the truth about her! There was no possible way he could have picked this song without knowing.
Baron smiled warmly at her again, knowing that the song would end soon.
"If I were you, Majesty, I would keep my eye out for a yellow box with a red ribbon in the gifts you and the king will receive. There's something much better than fish crackers inside." He smiled once more at her as they separated and twirled once, he to bow and she to curtsy as the last notes rang through the banquet hall.
"Good luck," he whispered as the king regained the ability to breath.
"How the heck did you do that?!" the large longhair demanded as the baron led the queen back to her seat, everyone else in the room too shocked for words. Did little Haruhi realize he was holding a fish halfway to his open mouth, but not eating?
"It's commonly called 'asking', your Majesty," the Cat Creation said calmly, stepping away from the throne to bow politely to the royal couple. "You would be most surprised to see what can happen when you gain someone's personal consent."
'Is he baiting me?' The king glowered at the retreating orange and cream cat before turning away. 'Well, there's no way in heck that I'm going to give him a duchy for dancing with my wife like that!' "That's enough dancing! Bring on the gifts!"
'Gift means poison in German. I wonder if his Majesty knows that.' The queen bit back a quiet giggle, doubting it, since he barely spoke his native tongue. One by one, the attendants would bring forward gifts from individual nobles. The king always grabbed the bigger ones, although the queen would quite willingly open the smaller ones. The gifts were all fairly standard, a new robe or jeweled trinket that might see one use before it gets thrown into the treasury or a bottomless closet.
After un-wrapping a lovely bouquet of red roses, Haru saw it.
An all-too familiar small yellow box, tied shut with a red ribbon. If Baron had kept silent, the Cat Queen would have suspected that the gift was from Lune and Yuki.
'What did he mean by better than fish crackers? Is it from him?' Whatever it was wasn't very big, she could hold the box with one hand.
While the king happily tore wrapping paper off of a brand new mantle clock (decorated with fish, of course), his wife hesitantly took one end of the red bow, and pulled on it, so reminiscent of when Lune proposed to Yuki, all those years ago.
The top fell open to reveal the contents.
Haru stared at it, and began crying. And she hadn't cried in public since her wedding, although she rarely stopped weeping in her heart.
'Dad's watch!' With glee, she pulled it out of the box in order to hold it in her hands. Oh, it felt so good to feel the swirling design of the engraving, and to feel the smoothness of the pearl at the center. The pocket watch clicked at her happily, winding itself as far as it could before beginning its cheerful chant of 'tic, tock, tic, tock'. She held the precious heirloom to her ear, to hear it better.
It was the next best thing to having her father back. As she opened her eyes, she noticed that there was a small note neatly clipped to the other end of the chain, waiting patiently in the box.
Pressing the watch to her heart, the Cat Queen fished out the note, and unclipped it from the end so she could fold it open, and started reading, although tears were still cascading down her cheeks.
Your father gave this to me, shortly before he died. He asked me to keep it safe for you, until we would meet, and when you would be ready to use it. He also asked me to pass on a few messages for him.
He wants you to know that there was a reason for your years of pain, and it will be several more before the full reason is made clear to you. His last thoughts were for you and your mother. He loves you more than anything I have the ability to express, merely being the messenger. I doubt even death could be enough to keep him from loving you. He could be surprisingly stubborn when he set his mind to it, as I'm certain you know all too well.
Also, although I have no idea what he meant by this, he wants you to use the pearl. He said you would understand, and that I was not to interfere, no matter how much I want to.
I trust you, Louise. Knock him dead. Literally. Please.
The brunette half-cat raised her eyes to the stained glass ceiling, her mind swirling around with multiple thoughts.
'Love… pain… Dad… pearl… Louise… USE THE PEARL?! Did Dad lose his mind?!' she thought in a panic. More than a thousand things could go wrong if she tried a stunt that suicidal!
But then again… what did she have to lose? Lune and Yuki? Haruhi and Harumi?
She bit her lip nervously, and stiffened her resolve. If she failed the mission her father had given her through Baron, at least the remaining royal family would have good memories of her. Perhaps that would be enough.
'I'll do it. For Dad, for Mom, Machida, Hiromi, Lune, Yuki… and for me. This will end now, one way or another,' she thought fiercely.
"Wow, Baron must really like you, Nana, if he gave you his watch," Haruhi commented, gazing at the silver contraption. The queen smiled happily, bowing from her seat to the Cat Creation on the other side of the room.
If the tawny feline had chosen any method but this to tell her he could hear what she's been thinking, she would have been mortified beyond comprehension. He clearly had no idea of just what he had given her.
But he would soon enough, as well as the entire kingdom.
"Thank you, Baron. I don't need to see a name at the end of the note to know it's yours," Haru told Baron thankfully, making the orange and cream cat jump again in a manner reminiscent of their older acquaintance. But he smiled warmly while bowing back as Muta smirked evilly.
'You're welcome, Louise. I hope you paid attention to the last line.'
The king snapped out of his private world, his eyes becoming angry as his wife lovingly clipped the end of the chain to her hidden pocket, and gently sent the watch in after it, with the tender note.
"Haru, give me that watch! It's too masculine for you!" he ordered arrogantly, intending to dispose of Baron's gift as soon as his wife's back was turned in the most violent manner possible.
His young queen glared at him, already feeling the change slowly ripple through her body as her father's heritage raced back through her veins, turning her back into her true self.
For once, in their eight years of marriage, the king had been right. This would be their best anniversary ever.
"DROP DEAD, YOU STINKING PERVERT!"