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It is almost exactly ten years to the day after the Cat Kingdom adventure when Haru finds a worrying familiar scroll on her doorstep. After several false starts, some rather unladylike cussing, and an ungainly fall over an iron fence, she finds her way back to the Cat Bureau and slaps the scroll down before them.
"For what it's worth," she says, "no, I haven't rescued any cats, and no, I haven't accidentally agreed to another marriage proposal."
Muta closes his mouth against whatever he had been about to say.
"It's a pleasure to see you again, Miss Haru," Baron says. Haru isn't sure if it is testament to her own hurried greeting, or just that Baron's dramatics have mellowed in the intervening years, but this time around there is no dramatic light show to announce his arrival. He moves round to get a better look at the scroll. "Well, I can put your heart at ease, Miss Haru, for this is simply an invitation to a party at the Cat Kingdom."
"No wedding bells involved?" Haru asks, for although she can't read cat hieroglyphics (something the sender hadn't thought to consider), several of the characters look suspiciously marriage-related.
"The party in question is a wedding anniversary, so there may be a few, but nothing for you to worry about."
"Oh." If there had been an easy chair to collapse into, Haru would have taken it. As things stand, she instead gently sways from relief. "I thought – you know, for a moment..." She laughs. "It must be for Yuki and Lune then."
"It would explain why the Cat Bureau has also been invited along," Baron says, and he collects up from inside the Sanctuary a duplicate scroll, albeit more of a size befitting a Creation. "If you want, you may travel with us."
"That was going to be my next question." Haru briefly has images of another cascade of cats arriving at her doorstep, come to ferry her to the Cat Kingdom again, and decides that is one headache she doesn't want to relive. She glances down at her jacket. "I'm not sure I own any clothes suitable for a royal wedding anniversary though."
"That we can also help with."
She raises an eyebrow. The other one joins the first when Baron actually delivers on that promise.
"Dare I ask why the Bureau has a closet full of ladies' clothes?" she says, the name Bluebeard rising, good-humouredly, to mind.
"My sister, rare as her visits may be, likes to make use of the Sanctuary for her own needs. Such as wardrobe space."
"You have a sister?" She lowers her voice as Baron deposits an array of beautiful but tiny gowns into her hand. "And I hate to break the news to you, Baron, but these might be a few sizes too small for me."
He meets her gaze with open surprise, as if her mismatch of stature is something that's only just occurred to him. "Oh, but that's nothing that a little magic can't mend." There's a flair of light, although she doesn't see him make any movements, and suddenly Haru is at his eye level.
She staggers, drops the dresses that now laden her arms. "Geez, Baron; you gotta warn a lady before you shrink her down." When she reclaims her balance (although not all the dresses), she notes the hand on her arm, steadying her. She looks up to its owner, to those emerald eyes that she had looked up to during their last meeting, now level with her own, and remembers all too clearly the teenage crush she'd harboured upon their parting.
"Seems you're still catching me, even now," she says with a grin.
x
The dresses fit perfectly. Naturally. Haru puts that down to magic and moves on.
x
Despite the handover of power, the Cat Kingdom is still much the same as Haru remembers it. Staff included.
Natoru almost squeaks when he sees them approach. He hurries them past the cats crowding the entrance (Haru is not surprised to learn that queuing is not exercised here, even at the palace), shaking their hands with what seems to be his default level of enthusiasm. "How exciting!" he gushes. "We're so glad you could make it. You are, after all, our guests of honour!"
When Natoru released them in order to usher them through into the ballroom, Haru and Bureau exchange glances. "Guests of honour?" Haru whispers.
"Well, you did save both Lune and Yuki," Baron reminds her.
"And we saved you," Muta adds, "so that makes us all heroes."
"Hm," Haru says, not entirely convinced. The suspicion doesn't linger long, however, for as they are prompted forward to greet the royal couple, Haru spots a strange array of gifts stacked high to one side.
They are mostly metallic grey, with the odd dash of colour in the form of a daffodil and, in some cases, the two had been merged to create metal daffodil ornaments. Haru vaguely recalls both tin and daffodils being linked to traditional anniversary gifts – albeit more in English-speaking countries – and belatedly realises she is staring at the many, many presents the other guests have brought for the happy couple.
She is still staring when they come to a halt before aforementioned happy couple.
Yuki takes Haru's hands in her own paws. "Haru. Cat Bureau. It's such a pleasure to see you again. We're so happy you could make it."
"It's great to see you too," Haru says. "Only – well – I'm only sorry we forgot to bring a gift." She glances back at the Bureau, just in case Baron is about to prove her wrong and reveal a present beneath his top hat, but is only met with mirrored sheepish expressions.
Yuki and Lune both blink. Then Lune smiles. "But these gifts are for you."
"What?" the Bureau choruses.
Haru leans forward. "Please do not tell me I somehow married your father last time. I thought I made it quite clear I was not interested in–"
"Oh, there appears to have been a miscommunication," Yuki says hurriedly, sparing a look to her husband that roughly translates to 'next time, leave me to do the explaining.' "This celebration isn't for you and the previous king. It's for you two." And she gestures, unmistakably, to Haru and Baron.
"Him?"
"Her?"
"Them?" Toto and Muta chorus.
"But we're not a couple," Baron says.
"We haven't even talked since he rescued me from the Cat Kingdom," Haru adds.
"Oh," Lune says.
"Oh dear," Yuki echoes.
"Not a couple?" Natoru repeats. He has, evidently, had enough of ushering guests in and has come to see what the ensuing drama is about. He looks accusingly up at Baron. "But you proposed to her!"
"I did? When?"
"At the ball," Yuki says. "Didn't you – didn't you know what the costume you were wearing was?"
"Dashingly handsome?" Baron offers hopefully.
"It was the outfit of the Matchmaker!" Natoru cries.
"I'm sorry," says Toto. "The what?"
"It's a fairytale," Lune says. "He's meant to be a spirit who can see the red strings of fate that connects soulmates. That costume is often used to officiate weddings in the Kingdom."
"But it was said that he could never untangle his own red string," Natoru adds excitedly, "so he roamed the world, uniting happy couples but forever alone himself. But when he does finally meet his soulmate, he will dance with her all the way to the stars!"
"It's a fairly popular way of proposing," Lune finishes. "A cat will hire out a Matchmaker costume and ask their hopeful partner to dance." He looks apologetically at the not-couple. "We assumed you knew."
"Human, Creation, crow Creation," Haru says, gesturing to each individual in turn. She pauses as she reaches Muta.
Muta makes a sound not too unlike a seagull choking on a too-large chip, which almost masks his mutter of "ohshitIforgotabouthat." Almost.
"Muta?" Baron asks in dangerously pleasant tones. "Did you know about this?"
Muta straightens and does his best to look as innocent as possible with a half-empty cake platter in paw. "It might've crossed my mind."
"And it didn't occur to you to tell me?"
"Hey, I was a little caught up in a catnip jelly fiasco of my own at the time. I wasn't exactly in any place to give yer fashion advice. Anyway," he adds, appealing to Haru, "it's not like he would've listened to me. You know what he's like when he gets his hands on a cape."
"You do get rather attached," Haru says, shrugging apologetically.
"It's the swooshing," Toto says sagely. "He can't resist."
"I don't – I don't swoosh," Baron protests.
The rest of the Bureau give a range of sounds that roughly translates to some degree of "the hell you don't."
"So… does this mean that you're not married?" Natoru asks.
"We're very definitely not married," Haru says.
"That does explain why no kittens have come along," Lune says, completely missing the aghast expressions of the allegedly married couple. "I mean, we did wonder, but we just figured that, well," and he glances meaningfully to Baron, "with you being a Creation–"
"And I'm going to stop you right there," Haru say, "before this conversation gets… weird."
"Weirder, you mean," Toto mutters.
There is a laborious pause as all let the conversation sink in to its fullest, most awkward potential, which is finally broken by Natoru's, "I don't suppose you could fake it for the evening?"
The collective gaze turns to the tan cat. "Fake what?" Baron asks, although there is a note to his voice that suggests he already has an inkling.
"Why, being married! It's just – well – we did go to all the trouble of organising this, and a lot of influential cats have travelled far to see the hero of the Cat Kingdom and her husband!"
"Certainly not."
"I hate to say it, but he may have a point."
"Oh Yuki, not you too," Haru says.
"This is the world of politics, Haru. If we were to disrupt the celebrations, many cats would take insult – cats with power and influence in their parts of the Kingdom." When the not-couple don't look any more enamoured with the idea, she continues with, "It shouldn't involve anything more than sticking together and not correcting every cat who congratulates you on your matrimony."
"And possibly a dance," Lune adds.
Haru and Baron exchange glances.
"If you call me babe, I'm filing for divorce," Haru says.
x
An hour passes, and Haru is thoroughly enjoying herself.
"I can see why you like playing the hero," she whispers to her 'husband' during a brief interlude between greetings. "It's very good for the ego." She pauses to smile prettily as another couple come to congratulate her on her bravery in rescuing Lune, and Baron in snagging such a renowned hero for a wife.
"But you'd think," Baron whispers back once the couple have moved on, "that being married to a hero would put the ladies off flirting quite so much."
"You're married to me. That automatically makes you a catch."
"Even so, did you see how that last lady was winking at me?"
Haru giggles, and has to cover her mouth to hide it. "She looked like she had an eyelash stuck."
"That, or she was trying to communicate in Morse code."
"You should have put her out of her misery and winked back. She'd probably have fainted."
"And garner a reputation as having a wandering eye? I'd rather not." Baron leans in to whisper, "If any of these cats start to think I'm being disloyal to the hero of the Cat Kingdom, I'd probably have a bounty on my head by the end of the day."
"Having a bounty isn't too bad," Muta says, rejoining them from wherever he had been scrounging food from. The cake platter has been replaced with a bowl of something that looks like chips and smells like raw fish. "Take it from someone who was on a wanted list for nearly twenty years. Fishstick?"
Haru declines the offer.
"Anyway, how is the happily married couple doing?" He grins. "Congratulations on accidentally getting yourself engaged, Baron. Again."
"Again?" Haru echoes. She looks over to Baron. "Just how many times have you been married?"
"I have never been married."
"Nah. Just engaged," Muta supplies. He ducks down to Haru's height, unfortunately bringing the fishstick aroma ever closer, and whispers conspiringly, "Turns out, if you're a dramatic show-off with a flair for sweeping people off their feet, sometimes folks get the wrong idea."
"For what it's worth, other worlds often have their own traditions," Baron protests. "How am I meant to know that wearing a particular suit or asking someone to dance is the equivalent of a proposal?"
"I'm jus' saying, neither me nor the birdbrain have ever gotten accidentally hitched."
"So how many times have you been engaged?" Haru asks.
Even beneath the ginger fur, Haru is sure she spots a blush. "I haven't been keeping count."
"Is that because it's happened too many times or…?"
"Nine," Muta says. "Wait, no – ten times, if we count you." He winks at Haru. "You've officially bumped him up into the double digits."
"Given my lifespan, ten isn't really that many–"
"You know what the average number of accidental proposals are for a human lifetime? None. You should be getting accidentally hitched none times." He glances to Haru. "Present company excluded."
Haru shrugs. "I do rather bring the average up."
x
Regardless of how she has tried otherwise, time had dulled her memory of her previous dance with Baron. It is only to be expected; it has been a decade and things such as growing up and figuring out the whole adulthood thing have rather preoccupied her mind since. Still, as the first song of the celebration starts and she and Baron are ushered onto centre stage, she is struck by how close their eyes are.
It seems some things have changed in the years since.
Her waltzing skills, unfortunately, have not.
He doesn't seem to mind.
x
And that really should have been the end of that, had yet another scroll not arrived on Haru's doorstep a month later. She presents it to the Bureau and isn't surprised when Baron reveals a duplicate one. An invitation to a performance in the Cat Kingdom, he assures her, for the two of them.
"Rather you than me," Muta chortles from the sidelines. "It's all a load of boring, self-congratulatory twaddle."
"Then it's just as well you're not invited," Haru replies. She watches as Baron compares the two scrolls. "A show in the Cat Kingdom sounds kinda fascinating – I mean, it's culture from another world."
"Cat Kingdom culture," Muta says.
"Still, it'll be different."
Muta reads over Baron's shoulder. "It says here they're putting on a performance of Cats."
"Well, yes. They are ca–"
"The human musical."
Haru falters. "Oh." She brightens. "It'll still be unique – cats putting on their own version of Cats." She glances to Baron. "If you can set up the portal, I'm happy to go alone–"
"And have the entire Cat Kingdom think I'm neglecting my wife?" Baron rolls up the scroll. "I think not. Anyway, I've never seen a production in the Cat Kingdom; it'll be an experience."
x
Halfway through the first act, Haru leans across to Baron to whisper, "Muta was right. This is a load of self-congratulatory twaddle."
"And out-of-tune at that."
Haru flicks through the programme, which while still in cat hieroglyphics, still doesn't seem to have anything numbered – such as the songs or runtime. "You were correct about one thing at least – this is certainly an experience."
"Some things are best done in moderation."
"I think they've done all the songs from Cats already," Haru continues, flipping further through the programme in hope of explanation. "I don't even know what they can have planned for the second half."
"Maybe they'll put back in all the plot they've missed."
"Oh, Baron; there's no plot to Cats."
"There's not? Then what is this all about?"
"Right now? Self-congratulatory twaddle." She hesitates and then, lowering her voice yet further, adds, "What say you we skip this joint?"
The smile that Baron gives is one that Haru can only describe as Cheshire. "Miss Haru, are you suggesting we lie to the royal court?"
"Only a little bit." She grins. "And, remember, it's Mrs Haru to you."
x
During the interval, Haru and Baron plead curiosity in the hedged maze that has been grown in place of the stone one, citing a desire to revisit a place that meant so much in their first meeting.
They don't make it back in time for Act Two.
"Ah, to be so in love, after all this time," more than one cat sighs.
x
"Wait, wait, wait – so you got hitched to the sea?"
"To a spiritual embodiment of the sea," Baron corrects.
"Same difference."
"I assure you, Miss Haru, the two are very different things."
Haru pauses as she balances atop a cascade of rubble. It appears the cats tasked with converting the ruined stone maze to a hedged one had admitted defeat with clearing up all the mess, and had reassembled some of the stone to 'works of art'. The one she is currently balancing along is long and thin and has been vaguely shaped into a fish. "When it's just the two of us, I think simply Haru will be fine," she tells him. "Miss Haru makes me feel like I'm a governess."
Baron nods. "Very well."
"Okay, but have you ever gotten hitched – for real?"
Baron holds out a hand for Haru to balance on as she traverses round the fish's back fin. She takes it without hesitation. "I have certainly courted in my lifetime," he says, "but matrimony… that is one experience that has escaped me."
"So I'm not about to have any jealous lovers spring out of the woodwork?"
"I… don't think so."
"I don't like the fact you had to think about that."
"Nothing in life is ever certain."
Haru wrinkles her nose. She finishes stepping around the awkward part of the fish's fin, but she doesn't release Baron's hand – or maybe it's him who doesn't release hers.
"How about yourself?" Baron asks. "I see no ring, but nowadays that isn't always a given."
"Oh, I've dated – you do know what dating is, right?"
"Please, Haru, I'm immortal, not archaic."
"Says the Creation who had to ask me what LMAO meant." Her teasing is soft though, fondly spoken. "And, sure, I've dated, but none of them worked out. I mean, one guy was throwing up so many red flags, it didn't last more than a week, and there was a waitress who was sweet, but we both wanted different things out of the relationship, and my last relationship ended when it became a long-distance thing and we just sort of drifted apart."
She reaches the head of the stone fish, and lingers at the sudden drop. Baron shifts his hold on her, cautiously at first, but surer once she leans into the contact, and gently helps her back onto the ground.
"And of course," she says, "someone in my younger years unfairly set the bar so very high when it came to standards."
x
They keep meaning to make a divorce official – Baron's in favour of something dramatic, but neither can agree on exactly the right method that will leave them both blameless.
And the invitations keep coming.
And they keep playing the part.
x
"Do you think," Haru asks as Baron helps her to her feet, "that maybe this whole married thing has rather escaped us?"
"I think we have this all under control," Baron replies. "What makes you ask?"
Haru steps around the henchcats who are lying prone across the throne room and sporting cane-related injuries. "Oh, I don't know. Call it getting kidnapped by one of your nemeses."
"Being my wife does come with some hazards."
"When you get married, I'll be sure to warn your spouse." Haru brushes the dust off her coat. Baron's hand appears in her periphery, offering a handkerchief which she gratefully takes.
A moment passes.
"How about amnesia?"
"What about it?" Haru asks.
"For a divorce option. We could claim you were hit with a curse that removed all memories of your time with the Bureau, thus rendering our marriage void."
"Then I would have the whole Cat Kingdom trying to break it to reunite us," Haru points out.
"True."
"And you would have to act the part of heartbroken husband."
"I am a Creation of many talents."
"And we would have to cancel my birthday party."
Baron pauses. "I did find the perfect gift for you."
"Of course you did," Haru says. She returns the handkerchief and kisses him on the cheek. "After all, you are my husband."
x
After one too many close encounters with someone who has a bone to pick with Baron, he begins to teach her magic. "Only a little," he tells her, "for that is all most people can do, but it should be sufficient to give you the edge to defend yourself, should the need arise."
Haru doesn't point out that if she truly wanted to be safe, the surest way would be to end their fake marriage.
She suspects he knows that already.
But she doesn't complain.
x
"Maybe you should elope," Baron suggests. "That'll end the marriage."
Haru snorts. "Why me?"
"Because if I elope, I'll have half the Cat Kingdom chasing my tail in ire."
Haru rolls her eyes and flicks her book shut to properly appraise Baron. "Even if that does work, all it means is I'm stuck in another fake marriage." She rolls her eyes again for good measure and returns to her book. "Anyway, it'll never work. To make it even slightly convincing, I'll have to find someone half as good as you, and unlike some people, I don't have the immortal lifespan to wait that long."
She's not looking, so she doesn't see Baron falter, just for a second, at the offhanded compliment.
x
Haru has always tried to keep her human life and her Creation life separate, but these things have a way of bleeding into one another. A Bureau case leads Baron to don on a human illusion to attend and Haru accompanies him, for while he may not be archaic, he also thinks that CD players are still cutting edge technology. They attend the opening of the new museum exhibit, where Baron suspects a dormant Creation might be hiding in plain sight.
Standing at Baron's side, she forgets, if only for a moment, that she's still in her home town, so when an old school friend bumps into them and asks her who her companion is, she instinctively replies, "My husband."
She manages to take back her words, but only partly – demoting Baron from husband to fiancé, and from fiancé to boyfriend – and by the time the case is over, she has a dozen messages on her phone from friends and family demanding to know about the new flame.
"Having a fake boyfriend would at least stop family asking about my love life," Haru admits later. "And it's not as if we're not already committed to the fake marriage."
"Boyfriend, husband," Baron muses, "I'll have to start keeping notes so I know who I am to you at any given time." He finishes making the tea and passes it over to Haru, who is occupying the armchair sideways and with her legs hanging over the armrest.
"Probably for the best. I don't think I'll be able to recover the situation if you introduce yourself to my mother as my husband."
"I'm going to be meeting your mother?"
"It's all part of the fake boyfriend duties, I'm afraid." Her hand curls around his, and holds him fast. "As long as you're okay with that, of course." She smiles that smile which unmoors and roots him all in the same moment.
He kisses her cheek.
"As you wish, Haru."
He does not add that, for several heartbeats back there, he had forgotten that they aren't married at all – and that it had only been at Haru's school friend's shock that he recalled their deceit.
Married, dating, single… What does it really matter when she is right there beside him anyway?
x
Haru waves a card at Baron as she enters the Bureau. "We've been invited to a dinner."
He smiles and continues to flick through his notes. "Human or Cat?"
"Cat."
"Ah. I shall be playing the role of dutiful husband, then."
She drops the invitation onto his desk and collapses down into the chair beside him. (The chair hasn't always been there, but it has snuck into place over time, now becoming a permanent fixture.) She leans against him, close and comfortable, and says, "I wouldn't worry, Baron. You're a natural."
x
Somewhere along the years – and it has been years – Haru is aware they've stopped looking for divorce ideas. But as the days pass – as Baron twirls her to the music of the latest vinyl he's acquired, or she spins a joke that makes him laugh mid-drink until tea comes out his nose, or her hand slips into his without thinking – the line between how they act in public and how they act in private begins to blur. And she can't help but wonder: Would they act any different if they were indeed married?
x
Haru doesn't realise just how many years have passed until an uncannily familiar scroll arrives on her doorstep. She reads the invitation which, at least this time around, makes it quite clear what the event is, and has to double check the date to assure herself it is indeed the correct anniversary since her and Baron's alleged marriage.
They're going, of course. They can hardly miss their own (fake) anniversary.
Still, there's some things to be arranged before she attends such a thing.
x
"And you're sure Haru doesn't suspect a thing?"
Louise laughs and readjusts the hat perched between Baron's ears. "I'm very sure."
"Only, I worry she might think it rather odd that I suggested we arrive at this celebration separately."
"Trust me, she's completely oblivious."
Baron frowns. "That doesn't sound like Haru." He straightens the hat which Louise has set to an angle that can only be described as 'jaunty'.
Louise resets it anyway. "What?" she asks at Baron's indignant expression. "You give off a pirate air like that, and what lady can resist a pirate? Anyway," she continues, "I wouldn't stress about Haru. She's got a few things on her mind. Is there anything else?"
"Mask."
"Right." Out of the many folds of her dress, Louise procures the mask of the Matchmaker, simple and silver. She stands back to admire the finished effect. "Oh, look at my brother, all dressed up and ready to sweep his true love off her feet."
Baron attaches the mask, pausing only to raise an eyebrow at his sister. "Why did I get you involved with this?"
"You got me involved with this because I'm the only person you can ask to track down a Matchmaker costume without raising questions. Which, by the way, you still haven't thanked me for."
His eyeroll is obvious and also a clear indicator of how much time he has spent around Haru. "Thank you, Louise."
"You're welcome. It was no bother anyway – you're not the first person to ask for one recently, so I was already on the lookout." She pats him on the shoulders before he can ask more, and steers him towards the curtain. "Right, now it's time for you to go strut your stuff."
And, before he knows it, he's standing in the Cat Kingdom ballroom.
Eyes turn at his appearance. Of course they do – he's a (allegedly) happily married Creation, and here he is, doing the equivalent of carrying an engagement ring for all to see. It occurs to him, a smidgen belatedly, that perhaps he should have planned this for another event but – then again – it felt so right.
Ignoring the whispers, he strides over to where he can see Muta and Toto, their heads above the rest, and rehearses in his head the lines he spoke so long ago, now this time to be said with an entirely different purpose. The crowds part, his friends stand before him and–
And Haru is nowhere to be see.
He falters then, and finally takes note of the hammering of his heart. He is just on the verge of asking what's going on when he senses the muttering shift to a different kind of tenor. He turns, following the crowd's gaze, and there – behind him and wearing a nigh-identical costume – stands Haru.
True, the cloak is more of a cape, coming only to her elbows, and the black gown is speckled with stars, but it is undeniably, undoubtedly the Matchmaker's identity she has donned for this evening.
She grins behind the mask and offers him a white-gloved hand. "Would you care to dance?"
In the pause between her question and his taking her hand, he is sure not a cat breathed. But take her hand he does, his other coming to rest on her waist with comfortable familiarity, and he leans in. "You stole my line," he whispers.
"I just made the better entrance," she replies. The music begins and she sets a hand on his shoulder, bringing her just that little closer. "Someone taught me all about that."
He laughs then, loud and sure and when he next dips her, he closes in to whisper, "Excuse me, Miss Haru, but I think I'm about to kiss you."
"It's about time," she whispers back.