A/N; When I uploaded Ties that Bind, I got a lot of complaints about the language barrier and a little bit of muttering about how Baron was acting just a shade like a villain by keeping Haru's options in her second home world slightly limited. I laughed off those objections because the readers didn't know about the first half-written draft I wrote of how Baron and Haru met in that story. Here's how it almost went down…
Birthday Bash 2019 Prompt One
11. Outer Space
Baron could hardly believe it. The plan he had been agonizing for over six months had actually worked. The girl was… she was right in front of him! For once, they were actually in the same room, the same place.
Another moan of pain came from her covered lips as her gloved hands came up to rub her face. Oh, even that small sound rang sweetly in his ears!
Feeling strangely hesitant, Baron used the table he was leaning against to help him to his feet, and slowly make his way to the girl. His mouth felt dry and constricted, and his limbs were still shaking with exertion, but he wanted a few questions answered on this first meeting, if she happened to be well enough for it.
The tawny Keeper stood right next to her containment box, trying to think of what he wanted to say for a first impression. His left ear twitched with nerves, but he still took a deep breath for courage…
ooOoo
Every inch of Haru ached, more so than she could ever remember before. But at least she could feel again. A moan of pain worked through her mouth as her trembling hands slowly covered her face, not understanding why it felt like there was a sheet over it. Her eyelids were too heavy to open, but at least she could tell that she was alive.
But… something was wrong. She could feel the pressure from her hands, but she couldn't actually feel her face through the fabric covering her face. All her hands could feel was… fur?
No. That was impossible. Her mind was fuzzy and misinterpreting things, that was it!
But her hands kept going over her face, not recognizing the strange shape or even stranger texture of the hair that shouldn't have been there. There was some covering over her face, and it took a few tries for her trembling hands to find the bottom of the mask so that she could rip it off. But as she did so, her hand harshly collided with the side of something very hard and cold, making her give a weak yelp of pain. Her other hand worked harder to rub her reluctant eyes into opening.
Then she heard a voice that she had never heard before. It used a language that she didn't know existed, but as he spoke, there almost seemed to be a switch in her mind that had been flipped so that she could understand him.
"Please allow me to help you out of there. I am certain you are feeling too weak to do it yourself just now."
Haru's large brown eyes snapped open at the sound.
ooOoo
Baron was not completely sure what he was expecting, but the earth-shattering scream that rang from his beloved's lips definitely had not been something he was prepared for. He instinctively pounced backward, feeling every hair on his body stand on end from the terrible sound. "I have no desire to hurt you," he informed her in a panic as she struggled to sit up inside the glass box that had been keeping her new body fresh for this important night.
It was only when she started gaping at the box in horror that he realized how much it resembled a coffin.
"You are not dead," Baron added, wishing that he had thought to place her body on the table, at least. "At least, not anymore. I am terribly sorry that there was no way to warn you in advance, but this was the only way to save your life."
The Keeper of his heart must have been struck dumb, because all she could do was stare at him, and then at his private study at the top of his favorite tower. She suddenly flinched and looked down at her body.
The suit that covered her fair form was more suited for a man, but he needed to make sure that the electricity that would help bind her soul to the waiting body wouldn't singe her new fur. Thankfully Pelia had been more than willing to dress the waiting flesh to his specifications.
Baron took in another breath as the love of his life began hyperventilating as she stared at a frantically waving tail. "I swear I will not hurt you. Just… allow me to help you out of the containment box. I will set you on my reading chair-" he indicated the chair closest to the empty fireplace, "-and we can talk. You have my word that you are no longer in danger, and I would gladly defend you if I am mistaken."
The poor girl was still terrified enough to try getting out by herself, but the muscles in her arms were freshly made and until tonight, unused. She simply did not have the strength to get herself out.
Sighing a little helplessly, she gave Baron a still-fearful look and forced herself to nod.
The tall feline had to keep a fierce grip on both his emotions and his impulses when he carefully came forward to lift the girl out of the glass case. It felt so right to finally be able to hold her in his arms, but there was no chance of her allowing him to embrace her.
Not tonight, at least.
He gently set her onto the promised chair before pointing at the fireplace. "Burn."
A fire immediately roared to life, making the girl jump again with a surprised cry.
"My apologies," Baron told her a little helplessly, scooting the footstool enough away from her so that he could use it as his own seat. If it were not for the fact that this was the first time since the study was completed that there was ever more than one cat to stay in it long enough to rest, he would have asked himself why he had not thought to outfit his study with more than one chair. "I am certain that part of your trembling is from the current lack of heat of your new body. That will pass in time."
She tried to ask him a question but stopped when he held up his hand to silence her.
"Please," he begged with a tired smile. "All of my attempts to learn your language have been met with failure. If you wish me to understand you as you understand me, you will need to use my tongue instead of yours. I made certain you could."
She blinked before closing her eyes. Taking in a deep breath, the center of his existence tried again. "W-hoo… are… you?" she asked slowly, trying out each word individually before offering them to him, like a child learning to talk.
The tawny lord gave her a beaming smile before offering a deep bow from his low seat. "I am Baron, the Apprentice Keeper of Spring on the planet of Althea. And you are?" he asked eagerly.
The love of his life gave him a baffled look but took in her breath. "Yo…shi..oka… Haru."
He cocked his head, remembering both of those sounds frequently from when he watched her on her own planet. They could have been common phrases for all he knew, but he weighed the sound of each word in his head before trying another question. "Do I have your permission to address you as Haru?"
Thankfully she nodded, but still looked very confused. Some of her fear was starting to fade, which he saw as a good sign. "W-hat… is… going on?"
"Ah, that is a bit of a long story," Baron told her with a nervous laugh and rubbing one ear a little harshly. "But here are the bare bones you need to know. I've known for the past eight years of your life that you were going to die an early death you never deserved." He couldn't repress a shudder from literally being forced to watch her die before managing a shaky smile for her benefit. "I had been afraid that there was nothing to be done about it, but when you took up with Frankenstein's story, well…" He spread his hands out to her and his study to indicate where that line of thought had led him.
Haru stared at him in open-mouthed horror. "F-Frankenstein?" she managed to choke out.
He cocked his head in worry. "It was a sound theory, although quite unorthodox, and I didn't exactly have a number of options to choose from. What are you doing?" he asked as she yanked one sleeve past her elbow in order to look at her arm.
Light tan fur was covering it, and the soft strands were undisturbed. She hurriedly checked her other arm to be on the safe side, as well as her neck and face.
"What in Althea are you looking for?" Baron asked, completely bewildered as he stared at the love of his life.
"Stitches," she whispered, her large eyes widening further as if struck by an idea. She huddled in the chair with her arms wrapped around her front, staring at him fearfully.
"Why would you have stitches?" he asked patiently. "I only finished that body ten minutes before your death began." 'What is so terrible about using her story for inspiration?'
Haru took in a deep breath to try to calm herself. "Frankenstein… sewed parts of… bodies together… to make his."
Baron gaped, even leaning back on his little seat in horror. "Bodies? As in… that's barbaric! No, no; I assure you that I did not need a single corpse to make that body." He waved his hand in a negative gesture to further his point. "The donors are alive, in perfect health, and gave their willing consent."
His creation breathed a deep sigh of relief. "Then… how?"
He smiled gently, and his hands were still up in a soothing gesture. "I deconstructed and blended the genetics in their fur and blood samples to create everything from your bone structure to the color and texture of your fur. It is a good thing I already perfected the art before you took up with Frankenstein, or I would not have been able to save your life. As things stood, it is still a bit of a miracle that you're here. Constructing an entire body was far more intricate than the usual replacement organs, not to mention it took far longer." He made a gesture to the glass box she had woken up in. "It is a good thing I was able to procure a larger sealant container, or the body would not have stayed fresh for you."
Haru looked over at the glass box, her large brown eyes still troubled. They had not changed from the shape he was used to seeing on her, even though he had constructed her new body to match a typical cat's body from this world. There were other minute changes from his original design to mark her as different from any other woman, but Baron was willing to admit to himself that he had never needed confirmation on that score.
"Why… am I… here?" Haru managed to say after a long moment of thinking.
Baron coughed nervously. With her mind still shaken from the journey, it would not be wise to give her any more information at this point. "Perhaps I will tell you in the morning. Your nerves-"
"Are snapped," she interrupted, her gaze turning stubborn. "I died. I soared through outer space. I am a cat. This place is strange. You know me. I do not know you. Why am I here?!" she nearly demanded as her body continued to shake.
Her volume would have been louder if her lungs had been strong enough for it.
'Well, short sentences are better than broken ones, I suppose.' "I do not think you are quite ready to learn the reason why I brought you here," he told her honestly.
That endearing stubborn streak of hers made the girl glare at him with defiance. "Try me."
"… Very well," the feline lord sighed, knowing he was going to regret telling her so soon. "I arranged for you to come here after your first death because I have loved you for years and I wish to make you my wife."
She gaped soundlessly.
"Not immediately, of course," he added hastily. "I am a stranger to you after all, and-" Baron cut off the sentence to leap forward.
Even then, he almost was not fast enough to catch the girl when she fell over the side of the chair in a dead faint.
"Just for the record, I truly did try to spare you from the added stress," he informed her while easing the girl into his arms in a bridal style. "But I do hope you will be more open to the idea after a bit of well-earned rest."
He knew he should restrain his impulses, but it was impossible to resist the urge to nuzzle her head fur a little.
Haru still smelled like magic, with a slightly burnt smell that was likely due to the lightning from earlier that evening. It would probably take a few weeks for the body he had made for her to develop its own unique scent. He could hardly wait.
Cradling her proudly in his arms, Baron carefully made his way to the door of his study and undid the magic lock he had placed there before his great experiment could start its final phase. It was a winding staircase to the bottom, but even in the dark of this night, he knew each step almost by its first name. There was absolutely no chance of a misstep even if his eyes had been gouged out, which thankfully had not been required.
Even before undoing the latch on the door at the bottom of the stairs, he could hear the panicked voices of his parents, now tired with the effort of trying to get his attention through the stone and magic barriers.
Grinning like an idiot, he held himself to his full height and slightly adjusted his hold on Haru so that her cheek was resting against his heart.
How could she be so enchanting, even like this? He could not wait to tell her so for himself.
As soon as he undid the magic lock on this entrance as well, his own dear father threw open the door with a loud cry.
That cry cut itself off as his green eyes immediately trailed down to the occupant of his son's arms, and a feminine gasp could be heard from behind him.
"Mother, Father," Baron saluted them with a wild smile. "Proper introductions will need to wait a little longer, but this is Haru. I'm afraid her first name is a bit on the unpronounceable side."
"Son, surely you do not mean…" his father tried to say, gesturing to the young lady in his arms when words failed him.
Baron's grin grew even happier. "I do. Do not forget your promise; you said you would accept her if she was one of us."
His mother stared at the comatose girl in horror. "What have you done?"
Baron couldn't resist sneaking a tighter hold on his future wife, the best he could manage for a hug while carefully maneuvering around his father. "I have given both of us a new lease on life. Mind you, I have not stopped her death entirely, but I have calculated that she'll live for another thirty-nine years."
"Why thirty-nine?" his father dared to whisper.
Baron grinned happily, even though he knew they would not like the answer. "Because I had to sacrifice half of my remaining lifespan in order for her soul and new body to permanently merge. Oh, do not look at me like that, Mother," he laughed, giving her a kiss on the cheek as he walked past her as well to pick out a room for the center of his existence.
"We both know the years would have been wasted anyway if I had allowed her to die."
xxXxx
A/N; From here, the story would have almost turned into a Looney Tune short with Haru trying elaborate ruses to escape Baron, but failing miserably every time since even though no one really approves of Baron courting her, they know better than to cross him by helping her escape or even turning a blind eye to her attempts to leave. I was struggling through why on earth Haru should give a chance to someone that was basically holding her prisoner like a damsel in a classic fairy tale. I'm pretty sure I came up with the idea of Muta and Pelia acting as her new parents after giving up this approach because Haru doesn't need pressure at this point, she needs love and support. I slightly referenced this first draft when Haru flat out said that if Baron had been able to tell her what was going on from the beginning, she would have fought him tooth and claw.