Chapter Eight: The Sadness

Baron patiently listened first to Lord Yani's side of the argument, which mostly contained denunciations of Lord Mani, and then listened to Lord Mani's side of the story with white knuckles, as the two felines started arguing with each other again.

"Enough!" he yelled, brushing away the mice that were trying to climb up his pant legs. "Why hasn't a fence been erected between your lands?!"

"Because Yani's border is over by that tree-"

"Don't you mean that your border is all the way over there by that rock?!"

Baron slapped one hand to his forehead as the two lords began brawling once more, and a groan escaped his throat. "Toto, can you ask Natori for a copy of this area's boundaries? It may be the quickest way to deal with this mess."

The huge crow nodded once, and took off into the sky, leaving the poor Baron to deal with the childish landowners.

'I hope my children are all right. I still don't know all that much about Miss Haru. Please, please let them be getting along fine…'

ooOoo

"Easy… nice and slow," Haru urged as she slowly took her hands off of Elly's, so that the white kitten could finish the last touches of the decorative whipping cream on the angel food cake on her own. The last few sprays out of the icing bag were a little shaky, but were still a significant improvement over what the nanny had caught her charge attempting.

Elly's face broke out in a beautiful smile, and she hugged Haru's legs again, getting flour and traces of buttery sugar on the human's bleached apron. "Thank you, Haru! Lily, Thomas, come see the pretty job I did!"

Thomas looked up from his alchemy homework to grin at his little sister as his older one finished tying the ribbons of her pastel yellow ballet slippers up her legs. Hashi was doing human and cat history book comparisons in the Baron's library, and had made clear his wish for little to no distraction.

Thomas grinned, and looked at his book again. "Much better. Now you can tell that it's a cake, and not a pile of marshmallow cream."

Elly stuck her tongue out at him.

"Hey," Haru said sternly, as she returned to polishing silverware. "Real ladies don't stick their tongues out at people, Elly."

The white kitten slapped both hands to her mouth as a rosy blush crossed her cheeks.

The tawny sister bit her lip nervously. "Haru?"

The brunette turned towards the speaker. "Yes, Lily?"

The eldest kitten took a deep breath for courage, still feeling a bit nervous around the tall human. "Could you watch me dance? Please?"

The human smiled, and set aside the spoon. "Sure. Show me what you can do."

Lily beamed, and clapped her hands in a rhythm. The beat was two long, and three short. "Can you keep this beat?" she asked, since the musical instruments were in the opposite side of the manor, and she had no idea if her beloved nanny knew how to play any of them.

Haru grinned, and started clapping. But on the three short, she slapped her lap instead to get a slightly different sound. Lily laughed, and rose to her tiptoes. Carefully, with all the grace of a swan on a smooth lake, she twirled around the kitchen, the polished wood floor providing the perfect stage for her.

After a while, Elly giggled, and also started dancing ballet. She wasn't quite as graceful as her sister, but she had an enthusiastic attitude that caught at the brunette's heart.

Unlike the children Haru knew back at her village, Lily didn't seem to mind her sister's intrusion, even taking the pale kitten by the hand for a lovely pas de deux.

"Come, Thomas," the tawny sister sang out. "Dancing is a family pastime, and you're part of the family."

"Yeah, dance with us!" the whiter sister giggled.

Sighing overdramatically, the tiger-like brother placed a bookmark within the pages to save his place, and walked around the island in the middle of the kitchen to sweep Lily off her feet, expertly balancing her on his hip as her legs curled upward and their smaller sister twirled around them.

As Haru watched them dance a strange pas de trios, if such a dance existed, the beat became softer as her mind flew away into beautiful memories, from her own childhood.

She saw a woman at a cauldron, stirring that night's dinner while a younger version of herself read a worn book in the corner, warm and safe. The woman's belly was noticeably swollen, and she had to be careful about how close she was putting the lump in her stomach to the fire.

The door to the house opened softly enough not to catch the woman's attention, but the tiny brunette could see a tall brunette slip through and carefully shut the door behind him. His shoes were in his hands, so that his socked feet wouldn't make a sound on the wooden floor.

Haru had to bite back a giggle, remembering her father's slightly roguish smile as he raised a finger to his lips, so that the child wouldn't alert the woman at the cauldron. He set the shoes aside so that he could come up right behind the woman, and suddenly slip his arms around her.

She screamed as he laughed, and twirled her around so that he could guide her around the kitchen. "Hasho, if I've told you once, I've told you a million times. Don't sneak up on me! It's bad for the baby!" the maternal woman scolded the man, making the girl in the corner giggle.

"No. It's good for the baby, and for us," he said while laughing, sneaking a kiss from his beloved wife.

Despite herself, the woman melted into his embrace, and hummed softly as he continued to dance with her to a melody no mere ear could ever hope to hear.

Little Haru set her book into her lap, and watched the couple dance. She dreamed about the day when it would be her turn to dance.

No… never. It would never be her turn.

"Haru, are you okay?" Lily seemed to ask from nowhere.

The brunette suddenly snapped back to the present, a little stunned that the three had stopped dancing, and were staring at her with concern. "What? Of course I am," she assured them, despite her heartache.

Elly walked forward, and touched on of her nanny's cheeks in a loving gesture, making the brunette realize how wet her face was. "Then why are you crying?" she asked in a small voice.

Haru managed to smile softly, making an effort to stop the twin rivers flowing down her face as she swept the kitten into her arms, and squeezed softly, firmly ordering the howling in her heart to be still. "Because your dance was so lovely. I bet your father's really proud of you three." There was no need to worry the kittens over her problems. She'll be just fine.

Eventually.

Good thing Hashi wasn't here to see her tears again. He couldn't handle them very well.