Sci Fi Part Two

Before Haru opened her eyes, she could fool herself into thinking that she just had a strange dream about the experiment. The first part of it could definitely be a nightmare, but she wasn't completely sure of what to make of the second half.

Although she didn't really want to, her brown eyes disobediently opened to a lovely room that had more floor space than her house.

She looked over the classic furnishings without rising from the bed, since it was a little before daybreak. Waking up so early had always been a struggle with her, but her university and internship demanded it.

Had demanded it, anyway.

'If you get dressed now, you can avoid cats staring at your body again,' a little thought whispered, making her scowl and reluctantly get up.

Haru wasn't sure if she should feel better or offended by how eager the maids were to see her naked, since it was clear they were looking at her like some exotic animal they knew nothing about but really wanted to prod and play with instead of with any 'interest'.

"Well, I'm essentially an exotic animal," she couldn't resist muttering while trying to decide which of the three dresses hanging inside a wardrobe would be good for today. Her reflector suit had been taken away to who even knew where, and even if she still had access to it, the little girl in her demanded that she at least try on one of the dresses.

She settled for a green one that wasn't far off from Baron's eyes. It needed help lacing up the back, but at least she'd be covered when someone came in. It didn't take her long to switch out of the lacy nightgown she had been provided, and since she couldn't think of anything else to do, she sat at the window to think over her predicament while running a fine wooden comb through her hair, likely intended for longhair cats.

"Okay. I'm on an alien planet or dimension. Thanks to saving a ruler's life before I knew he was a ruler, I'm being taken care of, but for how long?" she mused aloud. "If I was better at languages, there wouldn't be a problem."

She sighed, laid back in her chair and stared at the slowly lightening gardens she could see from her window after pulling aside the long blue curtain a bit. A small smile played on her lips as she stared at the sight that somehow managed to be both alien and familiar. Feeling just a shade whimsical, she couldn't help singing softly. "It's a new world, it's a new start, it's alive with the beating of your heart. It's a new day, it's a new play-"

Without warning, the door flew open, making her jump out of the chair with a surprised cry and drop the comb. "What?!" she asked, just now realizing that someone had been guarding her door.

The tall black cat was staring at her in shock. He said something almost accusingly while pointing at her.

"I did nothing!" Haru protested, holding her hands out while hoping her confused but shocked expression would do the rest.

He gave her an aggravated look but slammed the door shut again just before audibly running down the hall.

"Some guard you are," she couldn't resist muttering under her breath, her heart pounding too much to just sit down again.

For lack of anything else to do, she paced the room and tried not to feel the flaps on the back of her dress move as they pleased.

Before long, one of the cat women that had taken her to this room the day before slammed the door open, looking shocked.

"Hi, Pelia," Haru greeted with a wave, but the woman was already on business mode, marching up to her and firmly turning her by the shoulders in order to lace up the dress's back like she was in a competition. "Did something happen? You're in a strange hurry."

Haru couldn't understand the response, but Pelia's emotions were clearly all over the place since she started pacing the room and sending her a few reproachful stares.

"I'm serious, I have no idea what you and the guard are acting like I committed treason," the human sighed, sinking back into her seat to stare out the window again. 'Then again, I knew a few cats back home that had short nerves, too. I wonder what's getting under their fur.'

After a bit longer, Baron burst through the door, his slanted green eyes wild with disbelief. He demanded a question while looking straight at Haru.

"Good morning, Baron," she greeted him, since she was already tired of this attitude with her. "Did something happen?"

He took in a deep breath, marched right up to her to make her rise to her feet, take her by the shoulders, and repeat the same phrase, but a lot slower. It was identical to how someone new to a language would have been asked a simple question.

"Baron, you know I don't know your tongue," she growled, tapping her temple while shaking her head. "I'm going to need you to find a different way to ask your question."

He growled, much lower and deeper than she did it. He pointed at her, just avoided tapping her lips with his gloved fingers, and held his hands to his large triangular ears.

"Baron, I'm not avoiding your language to be ornery, I genuinely don't know your tongue!" Haru protested, holding her arms out and shaking her head, even if she couldn't understand why he was acting like this was news.

The young king only got more agitated, turning to look at Pelia with something that sounded like asking for help. The beautiful obsidian cat shook her head, but said something very assertively, which he seemed to agree with.

Haru covered her face with both hands in frustration. "I don't know what you want," she stated in a sing-song voice, mostly because she could get away with sounding a little childish.

Their speech immediately cut off, making her look between her fingers.

The two cats were looking at her again with shock before Baron exploded, but it didn't seem to be in a bad way.

He exclaimed something that had the feeling of 'ah ha!' while pointing at her.

"Baron, you're making me want to crawl back into bed and be done with today already. Can you please do a better job at charades?" Haru begged tiredly, flinging her arms out again to signify her confusion.

Filled with renewed determination, he only took her by one shoulder this time. He honestly seemed to be trying harder this time, now directly tapping her lips and throat before his own ear.

Haru sniffed a small laugh, but again, knew she could get away with it. "Baron, if you're trying to tell me you can understand me when I'm singing, I'm going to laugh so hard."

"Thyu!" Baron asserted happily, nodding his head almost hard enough for it to dislodge from his neck.

Haru's lower jaw immediately fell open.

No. No, that made no sense.

"… Can you hear me?" the human girl tried again, just in case-

"Thyu!" Baron confirmed, actually hugging her with a wide smile as Pelia clapped with a big sigh of relief.

Haru tried desperately to think of some logical reason why her vocals had any bearing on the locals, but other than screaming her head off in the strange wormhole she had fallen into, she couldn't come up with anything.

Well, other than her grandmother's annual April Fool's joke she remembered her dad mentioning once, but she brushed the thought off immediately.

After a while, she patted on Baron's shoulder and encouraged him to pull away a bit. "Here's the bare minimum you need to know about me; coming here was an accident. I was part of a team to develop portals to different spots on my world to cut down on traveling time and shipping goods over long distances. Because all the tests were turning out well, I volunteered to be the first living person to go through after protesting against animal testing. I thought I was still on my world until you and your friends found me. I don't have the foggiest clue how to get back to my world, and I really, really doubt that anyone's going to come after me unless they immediately figure out where the experiment went wrong."

Which was doubtful, since she hadn't exactly been a favorite member of the faculty.

Baron visibly relaxed at her summary. Had he been afraid that she was scouting out a new planet for her people? Granted, Haru had no problem seeing some leaders from Earth gleefully doing that, but she would not participate in repeating such an ugly part of history.

"Now you. Sing what's going on in this world," Haru encouraged with her hands and voice, but he shook his head.

He patted his own throat while doing so.

"Well, isn't there someone else that can sing for me?" Haru asked, since that should be easy enough… no?

Both of them were shaking their heads and doing variants of covering mouth and throat while pressing a hand against an ear flat against the skull. Baron even made a wide sweeping gesture, as if to indicate a much broader space than just her guest room.

Haru immediately felt a cold chill in her heart. "Are you trying to say that music doesn't exist here?" she asked, hoping to high heavens she was misinterpreting.

But they unfortunately nodded, looking at her as if she were a puzzle they couldn't decipher.

Haru slunk back into her chair, not caring that it wasn't ladylike. "I knew a place this nice had to have a flaw," she moaned in complete disappointment. She may not have appreciated being shoehorned into playing the piano since she was a small child, but it was still a hard pill to swallow when she already knew there was a fair chance she was going to be stuck in this world the rest of her life.

But at least this meant no one knew what a piano was, let alone try to force it on her again.

Baron took her by the hands, forcing her out of her depression enough to notice that he was kneeling at her feet. He was trying to say something, but was clearly getting agitated by the fact that he couldn't make himself be understood.

Haru forced her disappointment down enough to sing in a melody that wasn't far off from Jack's Lament. "This way of speaking isn't sustainable, it wears the throat out faster than normal speech, and I still can't understand anyone on your end. I don't know if you have any bright ideas on how to bridge the language gap-"

"Thyu!" Baron assured her, clearly relieved that she was somehow thinking along the same vein as him.

Haru blinked. "You know a better way to communicate?"

"Thyu," he repeated, standing up and pulling on her hands to force her to stand as well. As soon as she did, the tawny feline tore off his glove again and threw the curtain wide open to be able to touch the glass.

This time was a lot clearer than when he tried with the bumpy ice at the river's edge. The view seemed to be from a shorter person, possibly a child who had to crane the head back a good bit to look at a cat that was almost identical to Baron, save for blue eyes instead of green.

He had a glowing blue ball in his hand that looked like glass, a lot like Duke's red ball from the day before. While holding it with one hand, the cat was able to make hedges spring up from the ground that would have taken months or even years for her own world's plants to accomplish. Then the scene switched to the same cat, likely Baron's father, sitting next to a bed and holding the glass ball between his forehead and the person sleeping while a man that had the air of a worried husband stood very close by.

"You need that ball?" Haru asked, pointing at it in the memory he called up. "Oh, I mean, you need that ball?"

"Thyu," Baron repeated with relief, but then flinched guiltily as Pelia said something around a laugh. He sent the woman a somewhat annoyed look, but switched the perspective again.

This time, it was very clear that it was from Baron's point of view as a child. It wasn't clear if he had the glass ball for practice or had snuck it out, but he was clearly enjoying tossing it from hand to hand while sometimes making silver roses climb over anything that was convenient; trees, stone, benches for public use.

With almost perfect comedic timing, he tripped once he got close to a lake that had a fence all around it, but the fence inconveniently had just a big enough gap for the ball to roll through and fall into the water with an underrated splash as a child's chagrin was cried out.

"Oh dear," Haru couldn't resist laughing before patting the cat man on the shoulder, since he looked very ashamed of himself. "It was an honest mistake any child would make. How about you show me the exact spot it slipped in, and we'll see if I can get it back?"

Baron gave her a worshipful look and took the liberty of placing her hand on his arm to lead her out of the room, which was quickly postponed since Haru wasn't wearing shoes.

Once that was taken care of, Baron was strangely quiet as he led her down a few hallways, a grand staircase that would have made royalty jealous, all while Pelia followed them with a worried expression.

Haru looked once behind her as one soldier asked something, and Pelia answered like the human was about to do something shameful. She blinked in surprise as the cat acted like he had received the worst sort of news before running away from his post like demons were biting at his tail.

"What was that about?" she couldn't resist asking, feeling a bit uneasy at how Baron increased their pace to just a few rungs below a run. 'Why is he acting like there's now a time limit?'

Her host gave her a worried expression and patted her arm while saying something that sounded comforting as he kept urging for speed until they were running.

Haru was out of breath by the time they were standing next to a tall white gate she could see the same green pool through. "I'd ask questions if I thought you could answer right now," she informed him, forgetting to sing.

She also tried not to laugh that unlike his memory, there were additional boards nailed in around the base of the fence to prevent anything else from rolling into the water.

He pressed a hand against the gate and whispered something that made it shift and open inward before looking at her with a nervous smile. He said something that sounded apologetic before bowing and gesturing for her to enter first.

Haru did so, her heart sinking as she got a better look at the water. The water itself was green, which meant either thick algae or that was just the color of this pool. It was hard to discount anything since this different planet was likely to have all sorts of things different from Earth.

But since his manner was urgent, she knelt by the pool and experimentally stuck her arm in to start patting for clues that her eyes couldn't find.

This was promising. Despite looking like a small and neglected man made pool, the muddy side was sloped in a way that made her think that the bottom was shaped like a sink.

It was such a shame that the water was almost as cold as when she rescued her new friend from drowning.

"Here's hoping for no surprises," she muttered under her breath before giving an apologetic look to Pelia. "Sorry for ruining this nice dress, but Baron's acting like the loss would be well worth it."

The young king nodded urgently while nervously looking over one shoulder, as if expecting to be caught like he was skipping school.

Haru kicked off the nice slippers and gently eased herself into the water, trying not to hiss at the temperature. Her skirt floated upward, but the water was so murky that she had to force herself not to fuss about the possibility of anyone seeing her. Her feet squelched into the thick, muddy bottom, making her wince at the sensation before smirking at Baron a little, since the water was only waist deep on her.

He gaped and slapped himself on the head while exclaiming something in sheer frustration.

"I'll still get it," she promised, using one hand to brace herself against the side of the pool so that she could rip one foot out of the mire and start carefully prodding around. With how thick the mud was, she was sure to find it-

"Ah ha!" Haru exclaimed excitedly as one toe brushed against something covered in slime, but smooth as glass. Taking a step forward, she leaned over enough to completely stain the front of the nice dress with the murky water in order to grab the glass ball.

It slipped out from her fingers thanks to the thick slime, making her growl before taking a deep breath and letting herself sink in as a great rush of feet was heard from the other side of the encircling fence.

She couldn't see anything, but that was because she was keeping her eyes closed against the filthy water while she carefully cupped the glass ball with both hands to keep it from slipping away again.

It hadn't taken more than a few seconds for her to come back up, but she was still baffled at just how many cat women were rushing into the small enclosure as she held the filthy ball against her stomach to keep it steady.

Some of them were even still in night gowns! Baron had run for the farthest side of the small pond from the gate with a look of sheer terror on his face as girls kept crowding in, even though there was maybe a few feet between the fence and the pool on all sides. Some of them were even trying to keep other girls from entering while clearly aching to join the throng surrounding the little pond.

Haru stared at them in complete bafflement as every single hand was extended to her, trying to grab her or the ball was anyone's guess. She tried to squelch her way to the middle of the pond just to keep from finding out how far the mob was willing to go, only for the muck to hold her feet solidly enough to make her trip and splash into the water again.

It didn't help that more than one cat woman was laughing by the time she got back to her feet and spat out the disgusting water. She had dropped the ball in the confusion, but at least they stopped trying to grab her until after the human had to sink under the water to grab the trinket. But she was smart enough to blindly take the steps needed to be in the center of the pool and just out of reach from desperate hands.

They were screaming things she couldn't directly understand, but her imagination automatically filled in the blanks with the demands she'd heard her whole life.

Be a good girl.

Give us what we want.

No, I don't want to make any effort, you do it.

It's the least you owe us.

Why are you just standing there?! Do as you're told!

A shudder racked her body as she tried to glance over at Baron, but with only her top half above ground level, all she could see of him was his top hat and his hands reaching far above him in quick, desperate gestures that she interpreted as 'don't give it to them'.

Hoping she was right, Haru tried to consider what to do. Since they could understand her singing, the idea of chewing them out through verse had a lot of appeal, but the song that came to mind didn't have the right lyrics, and she didn't want to stand in this green pond for much longer. Just calling them out wouldn't be likely to do much good, even if she had any talent for it or knew why they were so desperate to get their hands on Baron's property. Would they even care if she pointed out that they were likely the reasons the young king hadn't introduced her to his lovely wife yet, since his position clearly called for him to have one.

An evil idea emerged. One that she'd technically done before, back when she was young and her parents still cared about her enough to take her to fun places. No one had been caught in it before since she loved how it looked but didn't want to bother anybody, but it was clear the local girls needed to be bothered.

Haru stood up straighter and gave the throng a meaningful glare while slowly twisting the top half of her body as far as it could go. Keeping the glass ball cradled against her stomach, she raised her other hand to show all five of her fingers. Slowly, she let them see that she closed them one by one until all were made a fist.

Then she slammed that fist deep into the water, making a splash before flattening her hand to spin and send as big of a wave as she could manage in as close to a three-sixty as her body would permit.

As petty as it was, the screams of chagrin were quite musical to her ears. Pretending that these, very likely, over-zealous fangirls were her old schoolmates, her old principal, and especially her parents, she sent green, murky water all over their fur and clothes until they fled the pool, acting like she had splattered them in blood as they fought with each other to escape. Pelia must have been swept away in all the chaos, since she was gone as well.

Haru gave a worried look to Baron in case she went too far, but the radiant smile he was giving to her alone made it clear that even if she didn't save his life, he'd treasure her for this alone. There were still a cluster of women around him, almost draping themselves over him while seeming to beg in their language, 'you can't dare to splash us, you'll splash him too!'

Since that was true, she looked at the young king with a raised eyebrow. Still grinning, he nodded his consent, much to the women's chagrin.

Haru decided to be nice and do the countdown with her fingers again while Baron said something that likely confirmed she would absolutely not spare him.

They got the message and cleared out hurriedly, even slamming the gate shut behind them.

Breathing a sigh of relief that she had gotten to act out and not get immediately scolded for acting 'less than perfect', the young woman determinedly stomped through the thick mud to reach Baron, pausing only a little to try cleaning the worst of the slime off the ball before sheepishly staining his gloves with the returned property.

As soon as it touched Baron's hands, a blue glow came from within the orb, instantly drying the muck still on it so that the remaining filth could be brushed off.

Baron gave his heirloom a fond look before making a small bush grow with the perfect indent to place the glass ball, making sure that it couldn't roll again before helping Haru out of the pond.

"Well, there goes your clothes, too," she remembered to giggle nervously as Baron finished pulling her out by holding her in a tight embrace like a dear friend.

It was technically too soon, but Haru just couldn't hold herself back anymore. For the first time since she was a little girl, she wrapped her arms around a person of flesh and blood and let herself squeeze in a way that would have required restuffing for her beloved Muta back home.

Baron squeezed her even tighter, perhaps sensing just how long it's been since someone had given her such affection. Or maybe it had been a while since he felt secure enough around someone to hold them like this? Who knew how long his parents had been gone, if he hadn't introduced her by now.

After a while, he reluctantly released her and grabbed his cheerfully glowing glass ball to grip her by the shoulder and concentrate like Duke had done.

A small heat wave flowed over her, enough to instantly dry the muck and mud she was still covered in. When she immediately started brushing off the thick dry flakes like crumbs, she saw that the green stain was still on her clothes and skin. "Hope that fades with time or washes off," Haru said cheerfully, since any Wicked Witch of the West jokes would go right over his head. There was something strangely satisfying about being able to get rid of the thick mud on her feet just by stamping a bit to make the makeshift boots shatter like dry clay.

His clothes were also stained where she had touched him and been held tight against him, but he didn't seem to worry too much about it as he gently guided her to sit next to the pool and knelt next to her, facing her. Glancing across the water, he gripped the glass ball a little more tightly as he whispered something, making thick vines completely envelope the closed gate. For privacy?

"If I didn't just finish giving you a second solid reason to like me, I'd be terrified right now," Haru informed him cheerfully, not fighting him when he gently guided her gaze to his with a hand on her chin and the glass ball in the other hand.

Although it seemed weird, she didn't fight him when he placed the orb on her forehead and gently rested his own on the other side. His eyes closed as hers did the same.

It was a very strange experience. The closest comparison Haru could think of for the images and suggestions being filtered to her brain was that Baron was installing a 'translation' switch and making sure it would stay switched.

She could feel things getting pulled from her own mind but tried to relax until he finally collapsed on the soft grass next to her.

"That was interesting," he gasped in her tongue while still cradling the glass ball protectively. "It'd be best if we stay seated for a while; Father said one always has shaky footing after sharing minds."

"I won't complain," Haru agreed in his tongue as a dizzy spell crashed against her skull like an ocean wave. Since he was laying down, Haru did the same to look up at the sky, promising a beautiful new day. "Have those girls been bothering you for very long?"

"All my life, practically," he groaned while rubbing his head with one hand. "Could we speak in your tongue? We need to have a private conversation, and I'm sure you don't need to be told that there's an alarming amount of eavesdroppers on the other side of the fence."

Haru blinked and looked around, just seeing that while a lot of the girls had run off, there were definitely plenty of people sticking around close enough to hear. "Well, I told you the summary about me, I'm definitely interested in finding out what I accidentally stumbled into."

He looked at her with a melting smile, though it was growing nervous. "I fear you're going to be angry with me before I'm through, but please understand that all alternatives before your impressive entrance were exhausted."

She gave him a worried look, but turned and propped her head up so that she could have an easier time looking at him. "Considering how nice you've been to me and how nice I try to be when brats don't raise a ruckus, it must be big."

He winced. "Unfortunately so. You see, the reason so many of…" he struggled for the right word for a second before spitting out a term he clearly didn't like. "My admirers were desperate to take my family's Orb from you is… well, because…" He looked even more uncomfortable, like he'd rather jump into the pool than spit out the source of his trouble.

"What?" she couldn't resist teasing him with an impish grin. "You promised to marry whoever gave it back to you?"

He flinched and gave her a guilty look.

Haru blinked once before her face turned hot enough to cook her breakfast on. "I was joking!" she protested while hurriedly getting to her feet, though she soon regretted her decision.

"You really want to sit back down," he informed her worriedly when she started swaying. He managed to catch one elbow and did what he could to ease her back onto the grass. "But for the record, I would have warned you if I had the ability sooner. I swear I created this challenge before you entered this world because I wanted more time. I wasn't trying to trick you, but I really did need my Orb back."

"Oh boy," Haru groaned, laying down again even though she'd much rather start running. "Eighteen years of boys not noticing that I'm a girl, two years dodging creepy men older than my father, and now this."

Baron frowned in confusion. "I find it difficult to believe that no worthy suitors presented themselves to you."

"I could say the same about you," she retorted, since it was clear his people adored him even if they didn't agree with certain decisions.

Like intentionally engaging himself to an alien.

The orange cat laughed once before wincing again from the headache. "Fair enough. I'm hoping to talk you into a small bit of deception, but it would be best if I more thoroughly explain myself. For reasons I still am not aware of, I've never grown 'special feelings' for a specific lady."

"If they all act like the girls I just saw, it's no wonder," she couldn't resist snarking, making him nod in agreement. "Maybe you haven't met the right lady yet? There's bound to be someone."

He shrugged a bit helplessly. "I have no idea how big your planet is compared to mine, but you have my word that I have met and held conversations with every woman within a ten year age range of myself in both directions. I do mean every single one in all of the Four Seasons. I've been pushed my entire life to single out one of them both for the sake of my family line and so that other marriages can happen. I have more than a few cats upset with me for not choosing a mate since so many ladies refuse proposals as long as they think they have even a little chance with me. This has been going on since childhood."

Haru frowned, remembering all the times the piano had been shoved down her throat regardless of what she wanted. "That's counterproductive. Nobody likes to be told what to do, and the more they try to force you, the more you just want to run away."

He gave her a sharp look through his pounding headache. "You too?" he asked sadly.

She nodded. "Since music doesn't exist in this world, it'll be difficult to fully explain. Basically, I'm really good at a popular instrument that makes specific sounds that we arrange and rearrange until it's pleasant to listen to. Singing is something you can do to enhance the sounds and convey your thoughts and feelings."

He nodded for her to continue.

"I wouldn't mind it so much, except people keep acting like I'm little more than an attachment for it," Haru admitted angrily. "They don't want me to talk, they want me to play the piano. They don't want me to play songs I like, I have to play what other people like. When I feel like singing, I'm told to keep my mouth shut because the piano should be the only thing anyone hears out of me. I can't be a normal person, I have to be a perfect lady at all times because that's how people see me, but their idea of a perfect lady is someone that stands around, looks pretty, and only makes sounds when other people give permission. That's why I was with the team on an internship and ended up coming here," she admitted a bit helplessly. "I wanted to prove there's more to me than my music. Not that I was all that appreciated for being a woman trying to get into… my world's brand of magic," she hastily revised so that he could understand her.

Baron shuddered with disgust. "That pathetic description of a lady sounds like what my admirers think will come of being my mate. They fail to realize that it's a difficult job, not to mention dangerous."

Haru blinked. "Mind elaborating on that last part?" she asked pointedly.

Baron coughed uncomfortably. "The Keeper of Winter desperately wanted my mother to choose him over my father. He's still holding a grudge, and one of the reasons I've been trying to slip around choosing a mate is because I wouldn't put it past him to target her to hurt me."

Haru raised her hand to thoughtfully chew on a thumbnail in worry, and just barely remembered in time that she already tasted the green water and wasn't interested in what dried algae tasted like. "Duke had an Orb. Does the Keeper of Winter have one?"

"Every Keeper line has one," he assured her, holding it tight against him as if he was still afraid of losing it. "I've been lucky to be upheld by Duke and Phoebus, but you can understand why having my own back is preferable over depending on those threatening to withdraw support unless you submit to a probably unhappy marriage to some girl, they barely cared who at this point."

Her stomach churned unpleasantly. She took in a deep breath, a habit she'd gained from dealing with a principal that had been bent on using her to enhance his own reputation. "Listen, I know you're a good person and everything, but even if we were the same species, I'd have a few doubts on getting married just because I accidentally fulfilled a requirement you didn't think anyone could do. Especially since an engagement period to get to know each other sounds like even more trouble than you already have."

Instead of being upset with the rejection, he smiled at her with actual affection. "Now to the real reason I wanted to discuss this in your tongue. I would like you to fake a marriage with me."

Haru raised an eyebrow at that. "You can bribe someone into pretending to marry us?"

"No, we'll be married," he swiftly corrected, laughing a bit nervously. "What I meant was, we go through the outward motions of being a couple. We wear each other's collars and I teach you what a Keeper's mate needs to know, but not let people find out that's as far as it goes. The bed in my chamber is big enough for both of us to have plenty of room with an invisible line down the middle that neither one crosses since pillows would be too obvious." He exhaled through his nose. "I suppose I'm asking you to be my best friend and confidante. We communicate better with a language barrier than I ever did without one, you're already more considerate than anyone I've ever met, and I can't remember the last time I spoke to a woman this easily."

Haru didn't stand up again, but she did sit up and kneel in front of him like she would back home. "I don't know a lot about the stories on your world," she told him point blank. "But there's plenty on mine with this kind of setup. Are you sure you want to run the risk of potentially falling in love with me?"

"I've never been in love," he admitted sadly. "Have you? What is it like?"

Haru flinched but nodded. "I liked someone a lot a few years back. But then I found out the one time he gave me attention, he was getting paid to so that an ex-friend could humiliate me on my seventeenth birthday."

"She did not!" Baron gasped, sitting up in outrage, though he soon regretted it as he held a hand to his head while groaning.

"Oh, yes," Haru admitted, though she was still wishing she could take bleach to that memory. "They were all punished afterward, but that doesn't change the fact it happened. Since my parents and a secret friend couldn't be counted on to help me through it, I just… never bothered with relationships again. What's the point if you're just going to end up getting hurt?"

Baron opened his mouth to answer, but then closed it while looking confused and sad for her. "… I don't have an answer for that. I could give assurances, but we did meet yesterday, after all."

Despite how grave their talk was, Haru couldn't resist giggling like a little girl. "A tail from the back of my head? Did you really think that?"

"That's what it looked like!" he defended himself hotly, making her laugh even harder at the poor cat's expense. "Surely you understand, since I didn't have too much trouble helping you understand that!"

"S-sorry," she gasped, trying to get herself back under control. "That's a popular hairstyle back home. It's even called a ponytail."

"What's a pony?" Baron asked curiously.

"Maybe later," Haru answered, shaking her head as the fog within began to clear.

A handful of things were becoming obvious as her ability to think returned. She was very likely stuck here the rest of her life. Becoming Baron's wife would give her a home, and frankly, a more comfortable one than the big, empty house she hadn't moved away from yet only because she wanted to save her funds through college and the internship so that she would never have to return when it came time to leave. If she stayed, she'd have a place, a purpose.

A friend that was completely unashamed to claim her in public. One that could be even brutally honest with her, which was infinitely better than Hiromi's lies or Tsuge ignoring her when other people were around. Not that she'd spoken to him since he left for a different college than her own.

… For the first time since Haru was a child, someone was offering to be her home, her family, her best friend. Literally, everything she'd ever wanted, and no one from her old world could be bothered to give.

Still sitting, she turned herself around on the grass to face her… suitor. "You want me to enter a chaste marriage with you so that people will get off your back and we'll be best friends and family from now on. That's it?" she clarified.

"That's it," Baron assured her, turning his body to hers and doing his world's version of kneeling. "From the sound of things, your home world was hardly a home at all. Let my home be yours."

Haru couldn't resist frowning with worry, even as she tried to ignore the fact that friendship or not, he was going to need at least one kid from her at some point. Still… it felt kind of nice that someone wanted her around. "Will the people even accept me? I mean, I am an alien."

He winced again, but she could tell it wasn't from the headache this time. "While I would love to say everyone is fine with my plan, there was a reason it only took one guard to alert so many of my admirers when I brought you to this pool. Again, my apologies. I was planning on asking you as a friend before you gave me the perfect opening to tell you why returning my Orb would benefit you as well."

Haru shrugged on reflex as she tried to think through the problem. "I guess it says a lot that you would rather have a complete stranger over any girl you've met yet." Her eyes wandered back to the Orb. "Out of curiosity, is it the Orb that's powerful or that it magnifies what you can do?"

"Both, actually," he assured her, rubbing it against one cheek happily. "Technically other people can wield it, but it reacts best to my bloodline. The same is true for the other Seasons' Orbs."

She had to immediately remove her hand from her mouth when her tongue informed her that the dried algae on her thumbnail definitely did not taste better dried. "Do your emotions have an impact on how much you are capable of with it?"

"A great deal, actually," he assured her with a concerned frown. "May I inquire as to why you're worrying about the Orb's abilities at the moment?"

It was stupid. There was no reason that it would do anything.

… Just like it was stupid that residents of this world could understand her just fine as long as it was through music.

That April Fool's joke ran through her head again, whispering more 'stupid' possibilities.

"Would you be interested in an experiment?" she spat out before she lost her nerve.

Baron immediately lit up. "I love experimenting. What do you have in mind?" he asked eagerly.

With a bit of difficulty, she was able to rise to her feet as he did the same. "Let's get out of here where people can see us," the human girl informed him with his tongue instead of hers. "My kind call what I can do the universal language, and… I have certain curiosities. What if I can do more than just make people understand me? What if… I am useful?"

His language was a lot more formal than her own. But that didn't stop her from being grateful for no longer feeling trapped inside an isolating bubble.

His grin became even more pleased. "That would certainly aide my… our argument. What is it you want to try?" Baron asked while staring at the vines covering the exit until they bent and curved around the gate so they could leave. He took her arm in his but placed it in a different way than when they had arrived at his castle the day before.

"I want you to grow a rose bush by yourself, and then try again with me… there isn't a word for it in your language!" she fumed as she let him take her out of the enclosure.

"Just say power or magic," he advised, using the Orb in his free hand to encourage the vines to close the gate after them without assistance. "I think that the ability to bridge language barriers should qualify what you can do."

Haru hummed low in her throat while nodding and trying not to pay attention to how many cats were staring or even glaring at her while Baron guided her to an open spot. "If my suspicions are correct, then I guess it does qualify."

"What suspicions?" one of the cat women asked angrily, her dress spotted with evidence of Baron's rejection.

"The suspicion that if I feel like it, I can make myself an inconvenience to enemies whether I'm close to water or not," Haru answered honestly, but curtly.

"You're already doing that," another girl grumbled, but swiftly backed off when Baron gave her a pointed glare.

"How big of a bush would suffice for the experiment?" he asked, turning his attention back to Haru.

"As big as you can manage. The idea is to find out if I can stretch your limits."

He nodded and somewhat regretfully let go of her so that he could focus on the task at hand.

Haru couldn't resist grinning with fascination as the sprouts appeared, multiplied, and grew to an impressive height that was double of Baron's with tiny silver roses. Was that because he was focusing on the bush over the blooms?

"Just what is going on out here?!" an older longhair cat demanded as he stormed over with Duke, making Haru think that he must be the last ruler of this planet.

"And why is everyone so dirty?!" Duke added, clearly fighting back a laugh at the sight of Haru, who was green from head to toe.

Haru blushed with embarrassment at being reminded of how she looked at the moment. She opened her mouth to explain, but then a lot of the women started speaking over each other to start complaining.

"This was my favorite dress!"

"That thing is a menace!"

"Do you see what she did to my fur?!"

"She wouldn't give up the Orb!"

Baron sighed tiredly and returned his attention to Haru while playing with his heirloom. "If we're going to perform this experiment, I should provide you with the same advantage when I want to be heard." A glass tube snaked out of the Orb, flexible enough for him to gently coil once around her neck.

Haru decided to equate it with a microphone and not worry about it as her mind scrambled to think of a song that would be appropriate for what she wanted to do. It would get on her nerves to hum one of the many classical pieces she'd learned over the years, since most of the intricacies would be lost on this alien world, and as a musician, there was a certain amount of pride in what to make their first impression of music.

"Is something the matter?" Baron asked worriedly.

"I'm trying to remember a… spell that will be appropriate. Most of the ones I prefer are about love or ideals, not about growing plants," Haru explained a bit sheepishly as her voice echoed unusually loud enough to subdue all the angry babble.

He gave her a look of horror. "You know love spells?" he choked.

Haru couldn't resist laughing at his chagrin and everyone else's since the place had turned dead silent other than some gasps. "They don't make anyone fall in love, Baron. They talk about people already in love, or love as an idea. They can inspire infatuation if done correctly, but I severely doubt there's a love spell that exists that can force feelings if there isn't any already present."

Baron let out an explosive sigh of relief. "Please don't scare me like that," he begged her.

"So how would you prefer I scare you?" she couldn't resist asking with an impish smile.

"Haru," he said sternly. "The experiment?"

"Sorry," she giggled, still trying to ransack her brain and wishing people had backed off enough before she quit piano to let her do more exploring in case she missed the perfect song…

Haru suddenly remembered a single line that would suit their purpose. "Let's see how much of this spell I can remember," she informed him, earning a sigh of relief as they both faced left of the bush he just made.

He gripped her hand, though she wasn't sure if it would help make another bush or if he just liked the feel of it in his own.

This song started off as just speech, but it wasn't hard to adapt it to the later beat. Her voice was a bit softer and more hesitant than she would have preferred, but in her defense, she had a lot more practice playing in public than using her vocal chords.

"Every bursted bubble has a glory

"Each abysmal failure makes a point

"Every growing path that goes astray

"Shows you how to find a better way."

How strange. It had been years since she'd seen Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, but the accompanying music for the lyrics was returning to her mind so loudly, she could have sworn that it was playing on stereo around her. She wasn't shocked that everything else had turned silent, since that normally happened whenever she did anything with music. Gaining courage from the song itself, she specifically sang loud and proud to the sprouts that were crawling out of the ground until they nearly shot upward like a geyser.

"So every time you stumble, never grumble

"Next time you'll fumble even less

"For up from the ashes, up from the ashes

"Grow the roses of success!"

Haru didn't know if it was magic or finally being allowed to be as loud as she wanted, but there was an exotic tingle in her veins as the vines enclosed together to form the shape of a large tree trunk before continuing to spread out.

"Grow the roses, grow the roses

"Grow the roses of success, oh yes!

Grow the roses, those rosy roses!

From the ashes of disaster

Grow the roses of success!

For every big mistake you make, be grateful

That mistake you'll never make again," she couldn't resist directing at Baron with a teasing smile, but other than a rueful smile of his own, he was completely focused on the task at hand as the vines became branches with tiny silver buds.

Every shining dream that fades and dies

Generates the scene for two more tries

There's magic in the wake of a fiasco

It gives you that chance to second guess!

Then up from the ashes, up from the ashes

"Grow the roses of success!"

Haru repeated the chorus one more time to encourage those tiny buds to swell and bloom until the resulting flowers were slightly bigger than her fist.

It was glorious. Haru didn't think she'd ever seen a tree in person as big as this one. She blinked, noticing that the flowers were dragging down the branches a bit harder than what looked warranted.

"… That… was incredible," Baron breathed in sheer exhilaration as Haru gently unwrapped the Orb's coil from her neck and stepped forward enough to gently tug one of the roses off the branch.

She was right. This was too heavy to only be a flower. Feeling like she was peeling an onion, Haru pulled back the petals to reveal a… black pod in the center? It was about the same size as a peach pit, but smooth and soft like it was edible.

She sniffed it a bit, but couldn't place the smell as Baron soon joined her, cradling her hands with his own to inspect the rose's fruit.

"Do your roses have this?" he asked curiously, making the girl shake her head in bafflement.

"I was about to ask you that."

Baron shook his head, staring at the pod. "Do you think it's poisonous?"

Haru bit her lip nervously. "Considering the feel of that spell, I find it unlikely."

Stiffening his resolve, Baron plucked the pod and bit into it before he could lose his nerve. He chewed slowly, even as the half-eaten pod revealed soft white fruit under the black skin. "I've never had anything like this before!" he exclaimed, which made the silent crowd also take hesitant steps forward to try a rose.

Haru had to agree when she retrieved her own rose, the taste was unlike anything she'd had before. If she'd had depression before about losing everything she'd ever known until yesterday, the soothing taste was enough to at least deaden the pain.

… It was true. If the grandmother she had been named after hadn't been born a mermaid, Haru's voice never could have helped produce anything like this tree.

She turned to look at Baron, who she just realized had been staring at her like he could hardly believe they were able to accomplish this as one. "Do you know what?" she asked conversationally, accidentally startling everyone around them into looking at her.

"What?" Baron asked like he was slightly afraid of whatever was going to come out of her mouth next.

"I think the Keeper of Winter's going to be in for a bad time."