A/N; I had big plans for the story I was originally going to write after C+C. It was going to be a long epic, my magnum opus. And then C+C took so much out of me that I just wasn't interested in spending four years on just one story again. My original plan was for this story to span from early childhood to early adulthood, but there was a lot of angsty material to cover before getting to the part of the story that was going to have relevance. On top of that, there was going to be a lot of repeating myself since you were going to watch Haru go through some painful things, and then talk about them years later. So this is a part of the story I was going to gloss over, but it helps set the tone as well as make you question who is playing what role.

Also, I might not be posting this as a Cat Returns fic. I might just let it be an original story and sell it as a legit author.

Birthday Bash 2019 Prompt 3

13. Angels and Demons

That wasn't her reflection in the water.

This wasn't some idle crisis of identity, but the simple fact that the face that was looking sadly up at her wasn't her own.

Haru ran a hand over the skin of her milky-white cheek, grateful for the airy tent that the Dead had set up for her. If not for this protection against the sun, her delicate new skin would be burnt to a crisp before noon.

It only stood to reason. She was all but a vampire at the moment. She looked up at her charge, bobbing without course or purpose across the lake in front of her.

Even as a swan, she was breath-taking. Her feathers almost seemed to be whiter than snow, and her long neck was elegantly resting against itself as the princess fought off sleep.

It was only her second day in captivity.

Haru mulled that over in her mind, even as a desperate yearning filled her chest. It had been many years since her mother's death, and he had only appeared to her twice since that time, one of which was two days ago when he brought the princess home and let Haru know exactly what he'd do to her if his intended mate was harmed, met a young man, or managed an escape while he slept the day away.

Wait, of course! Even Haru knew that he only came out at night, which meant that the princess probably hadn't slept a wink the past two nights out of sheer terror, even with her fairy godmother's blessing protecting her virtue.

No wonder the pale blonde's been nothing but grumpy towards her 'bodyguard'.

Haru stood up from her comfortable little collection of pillows to let the princess know she could have them but remembered at the last second that the princess' swan body would have a bit of trouble navigating a nest that didn't really have anything holding it together. She smiled while realizing how she could fix this.

Her pale feet entered the water of the lake, the edge of her black silk dress turning soaked even as they turned into pitch-black feathers. Her arms automatically folded themselves to make turning into wings less awkward, and she had changed forms enough times through her lonely childhood not to be disoriented when her neck grew so long, she could inspect her own back without even a lick of trouble.

The princess awoke from her half-doze to glare at her keeper, but Haru didn't bother approaching her yet. Now a black swan, she used her paddle-like feet to swim like an arrow through the water, grabbing small branches and reeds with her beak and dragging them to the edge of the water that she thought her charge would be able to best navigate with her unfamiliar webbed feet.

Haru was glad that when she changed forms, she didn't just get the appearance and abilities, she also got their basic instincts. It was hard on her when she needed to be a fly and literally couldn't see spider webs, but at least she knew without looking stupid in front of the princess how to build a nest.

It took maybe an hour for the black swan to be satisfied with her work. Nodding her head and neck in approval, she then swiveled to look at the princess.

She had swum a little closer in curiosity, but almost frantically waved her wings to help herself glide backward to put more distance between them.

"This is for you," Haru told her in the language of birds. She swam a little to the side and gestured with her head. "Your swan body won't have trouble sleeping here during the day. You know full well that I'm not really the one you're afraid of, and I can wake you up if he comes out."

Haru was careful never to call that man by name. After all, he had never bothered to tell her how he wanted to be addressed, at least by her.

If he hadn't brought this princess home to mate with, he'd still be ignoring her very existence. Haru swam backward again to give the pale swan a bigger radius of space for her to accept this gift.

Still glaring at the black swan suspiciously, the white one nonetheless took hesitant steps toward that nest until she was resting on top of the mound that looked a little bit like a mattress without its fabric case to hold it together. She seemed surprised at how comfortable her swan body found the nest, but sure enough was asleep within a minute.

Haru again nodded her approval, heading back to her own nest of pillows. But just as her black feet touched the gravel at the water's edge, she stopped at a new thought, carefully looking at the differences between her nest and the one she made for the princess.

Even a village idiot would think that her little shelter and collection of pillows was more suited to a princess than herself. Using her long neck to her advantage, Haru looked over her own swan body carefully.

Maybe that was why the princess was being so hostile. Denied her own human form during the daytime was bad enough, but being guarded by a human girl? Being forced to see a body that shouldn't be all that different from her own but having to paddle away on this lake like a duck since she wasn't comfortable with how to maneuver her swan body?

Haru made up her mind right then and there. As soon as a Dead came back with food for her and the princess, she'd have it take down her tent and bring her pillows back into the dark castle beside the lake.

A second nest some distance from the white swan's. That would put them on more even footing, especially if she stayed a swan when the princess had to.

Her beak didn't have the flexibility to smile, but she had to resist the impulse to fly from excitement. It went without saying that he didn't want the princess to even consider literal flight an option, and Haru would have been forced to chase her down anyway.

If she were careful about this captive's feelings and behaved herself… she might just earn her first friend.