Chapter Twenty Four: The Change

Hashi yawned lingeringly as he walked across the hall from his own room, pounding on the door with one fist as he used the other to cover his yawns. "Rise and shine, sleepy head!" he called out to his sister, grinning evilly. "It's time to practice!"

"Coming," Haru mumbled while coming out of her room, one hand covering her own yawns as she closed the door behind herself, and started walking down the hall with her brother.

"No ponytail again for today?" Hashi asked, quirking an eyebrow at the taller brunette, who nodded.

"My hair's fine when it's down. All right, today, we're going to work on weights…"

ooOoo

Lune picked up one of the many cream-colored handkerchiefs in front of him, and held it to Yuki for her inspection. "How about this one?" he asked her curiously, making the white cat bite her lip nervously.

"I like this one better," she stated, holding up another one that was more of a silvery gray shade.

Lune looked at it carefully, and grinned while setting his own handkerchief down. "Yes, that one should work just fine. Natori, we'll take the silver eggshell ones for the reception."

The gray cat nodded, and wrote down the choice in his clipboard. "Very good, highness. Now for the china options."

Yuki bit back a groan, looking at the long table covered with different styles of plate and silverware.

Lune sighed, and rubbed her paw lovingly. "Everything will be just fine, love," he consoled while guiding her to the next table. "Three months from now, no one will even remember what we picked."

"It just seems so silly," Yuki confided, giggling a bit. "I mean, a dish is a dish, right?"

Natoru popped through the nearest curtain, clearing his throat importantly. "The Baron von Gikkingen has answered your call, Highness."

"Oh, good. Send him in," Lune urged.

The brown fool nodded enthusiastically while putting his head back through the thick red curtain, and muttering something to the feline on the other side, who came through while tipping his hat at the servant.

"Thank you, Natoru. Well, I'm here, Lune. What was it you wished to speak with me about?"

Lune pushed his bride in front of him a bit. "First off, I wanted to introduce you to my Yuki."

The tawny lord smiled warmly and tipped his hat at the future princess as she nervously curtsied back. "You are happier now, aren't you?" he asked her.

The white feline nodded, carefully studying the cat that she had previously only seen from afar. "Yes, Baron," she said nervously. "Lune says that you're the one to blame for my presence at the ball last week."

"That's correct, at least partially," he admitted. "But I must admit that the feat would have been much harder to do without Haru's help."

"Is she the one who gave me the dress?" Yuki asked earnestly. "I mean, Lune's description of your nanny and the girl I met that night don't exactly match."

"Nevertheless, the two are one and the same. But don't speak about this in front of the king," Baron whispered, covering his mouth with one hand so that Natori, who had gone to the other side of the room out of respect, couldn't tell what the Baron was saying and report back to the king. "The fact that you are engaged to Lune hasn't made him stop looking for her, and I fear the worst if he finds out where Haru is."

Lune shuddered, nodding subtly. "He's been talking about getting married again, and he still randomly launches into exaggerated descriptions of the girl he met that night."

Baron convulsed, and just barely pushed back the urge to vomit. "I'll warn her. Was there anything else you required, Yuki?"

The soon-to-be-princess bit her lip again. "I just want to make sure that she'll be at my wedding," she said finally. "You'll bring her, won't you?"

Baron blinked twice. "If that's what you wish. I was planning on bringing her and her brother anyway."

The white feline relaxed completely, her eyes filled with relief. "Good. I didn't want to take any chances. Could you thank her again for me?"

"Of course."

ooOoo

"Will you hold still, Hashi?" Haru cried out in exasperation, attempting to coax her brother's tie into a correct position as he fidgeted uncontrollably.

"But it's strangling me!" he protested angrily, despite the fact that the bow tie had a good three quarters of an inch give on his neck. He was dressed finer than he had ever been before, in a black tuxedo that was close to what Baron and Thomas would be wearing for the royal wedding.

His sister sighed, and finished tying the bow at her brother's throat. "Be grateful you're not the one wearing a corset, brother dearest." She gestured to the soft blue dress she herself was in. "Or shoes with ridiculous heels. Trust me, you can handle a bowtie."

Hashi grumbled a bit more before following his sister out of his room and down the hall to check on the kittens' progress.

"See what Thomas is doing," Haru murmured softly to Hashi, who nodded and knocked respectfully at the door as his sister knocked at Elly's door, brushing back a rebellious lock of hair with one finger.

'Why do I care so much, what Baron thinks of my hair?' "How's it coming?" the slim brunette called out to the younger von Gikkingen girl, in an effort to convince herself of what should have been the center of her focus. She heard some moving around on the inside of the room, and the door opened a sliver.

"Would you mind buttoning the back?" the white cat asked in a hushed tone, nervously looking at the door Hashi was walking through. "I can't reach it."

"Of course, you silly girl," Haru said fondly, slipping through the door and closing it behind her so that she could assist the kitten with the lavender dress, tying a big bow on the back after the buttons were firmly in place.

"Have you been to a lot of weddings, Haru?" Elly asked curiously as her devoted nanny made one more pass with a brush over the white kitten's fur.

"Only a few," the housekeeper admitted. "My village was pretty small, so every time someone got married or died, everyone came to the wedding or funeral. But I'm guessing Lune and Yuki's wedding will be a bit fancier than the ones I'm used to. Come on, let's go check on your sister," Haru said, setting the brush aside and wrapping a warm blue cloak around her charge, since snow had fallen the night before.

Elly carefully considered her nanny's answer as she took the human's hand and led her out of the fanciful pink room. "Are you ever going to get married, Haru?" the white kitten asked curiously as the nanny raised one fist to knock on Lily's door. The hand became frozen in the air, and the slim brunette's mouth became stricken.

Lily opened her door wide, her eyes panicked. "What?! Are you getting married?!" she asked in a panic.

Haru's mouth moved without sound before the nanny finally gave up and hugged the tawny kitten. "Not for a long time, if it ever even happens. I wouldn't dream of leaving you kittens to fend for yourselves just yet."

Lily sighed heavily with relief as her nanny and sister came inside her pale lavender room, unable to let go of Haru's waist for any reason. "Thank heaven. I don't want you to go away forever."

Haru had to laugh, hugging the girl back while checking to see that all the buttons were in place. They were, but the white sash around the young kitten's waist had been tied slightly crooked, so Haru fixed it as the tawny kitten kept clinging to her.

"You said 'just yet'," Elly said suspiciously, making the nanny twitch slightly.

"Well, no one knows what the future holds, Elly. I'll stay here as long as I can, but I can't promise anything beyond that."

Lily pulled away, staring at her beloved nanny with shock. "Why can't you just promise to stay forever?" she asked with tears in her eyes. Haru sighed and pulled out her handkerchief so that she could dab at Lily's face.

"I can't promise that, Sweetheart, but I'll stay as long as I can. Now come on, cheer up. This is a happy day, remember?"

Lily nodded numbly as she wrapped a creamy outdoor cloak over her blue dress, and clung to her nanny's hand fearfully as the girls trailed out of the hallway and towards the stairs, where Baron was waiting below with the boys.

"I'm tellin' ya, Baron. Tsunami and I are just fine with housesitten'," Muta said in an offhand matter, waving one paw around to help make his point. "We haven't had a lot of time to ourselves, so go ahead and enjoy the wedding."

"Are you absolutely sure?" Baron pressed, making Tsunami laugh as the girls came down the staircase.

"It's better this way, Baron. The less time we stay at the castle, the better. Besides, my husband despises getting dressed up for any reason."

Baron sighed, but his eyes were already on his children and nanny. "If that's the way both of you wish it. Well, come along now. The carriage is ready for us."

Haru smiled outwardly while guiding the children towards the door, but inwardly, she was disappointed that Toto had already left for the Southern Isles for the winter. The house may have been more peaceful without him and Muta picking a fight every three hours, but the human girl still had beautiful dreams about the night she spent sailing the stars with Baron.

'Will you knock that off?!' she inwardly screamed at herself as the children hurriedly stepped into the covered carriage that Baron had hired to take them to the wedding. The tawny lord was on the other side of the opening, gently easing Elly in as the last child.

He looked up at the human girl with those glowing green eyes, and smiled warmly. "May I?" he asked, holding out a hand to her.

Not willing to trust her voice, the slim brunette nodded, and placed her hand in his so that he could help her into the carriage, her heart still thumping wildly.

There were two children on each side of the carriage, Thomas quickly moving to the side so that his nanny could slip in next to him, with his father sitting across from her. The tawny feline waved one hand outside the window, making the driver urge the matching black rabbits pulling the equally dark carriage into a steady trot.

"Haru?" Elly suddenly asked from one of her father's arms, her sister wrapped up in the other one. "Aren't you worried about meeting the king again? Father said he flirted with you."

The nanny gave a sharp laugh, and pushed her thick glasses up her nose for comfort while fighting the urge to gag at the memory. "Not really. Just keep quiet about that night, and he'll never even know I've been around."