Chapter Text
Haru woke up with a start.
"I knew this was just a dream..." She placed her hand on the same spot where she had been impaled. She noticed something when she looked; there was a huge scar in the same place. It wasn't just a dream; it was real, and she went back in time once again.
She looked outside at the cat parade... everything repeated itself several times.
Haru couldn't stand seeing that ancient flea-ridden mess anymore. She had lived many lives, all short, some worse than others.
In her third life, she was forced to marry Lune. He and Yuki never officially married; they had made an agreement to maintain the image of a perfect couple only in public, but behind the scenes, he could be with Yuki without the king knowing doing it till she died by poisoned food, someone hated her and decided to get rid of her.
In her fourth life, she didn't call the Bureau so they wouldn't get involved in this mess, but that led to her having the worst life, being forced to marry the king. He locked her in her room and wouldn't let her out for anything until the day he ended her own life by drowning in the bathtub.
In her fifth life, Haru managed to reach the top of the tower alone. In this life, she also hadn't asked the Bureau for help, regaining her humanity, but she fell freely. There were no crows to save her, causing her to die from the fall.
In her sixth life, she tried not to answer the door for several days, until the king lost patience and forcibly kidnapped her once again, not even giving her a chance to ask the Bureau for help. In this life, she died executed for being ungrateful for the king's favors.
Each life brought a new scar. Her beauty could be said to have been tarnished by each of them, but little did Haru know that these were proofs of everything she had endured, and that each one made her even more attractive.
She'd lost count of so many lives; now she doesn't even feel the pain anymore. But in the lives where she asks the Bureau for help, she learns a little more about each member, especially Baron. With each passing life, she was certain that Baron seemed more desperate. She couldn't confess in any of those lives because she always ended up dying, and Baron mostly witnessed her deaths.
In one of her lives, Baron appeared there without her asking for his help, and after a certain point, he appeared in all her subsequent lives, seemingly wanting to save her from her cruel fate. Muta and Toto were also always there, but she always died in a horrible way. None of these lives had a happy ending; the only happy moments are the dances she has with Baron.
Until one day in one of her lives, she had lost all hope; soon the cats would come for her once more. She felt like she was in the old Japanese tale of Princess Kayuga. She didn't want to return to the moon, but she was forced to. She no longer had the willpower; she just wanted it to end. She was tired of dying until a past life, Baron, said something even more different to her.
"Haru! We're trying everything we can, trying to find a solution so that this eternal blood cycle ends once and for all!" were Baron's words before she died in her last life. He knew about this cycle that she couldn't bear anymore, until she saw another shooting star in the sky.
"The wish..." The pieces finally fell into place; it was the wish she had made.
"I wish I can dance with Baron one more time or forever."
It was all her fault; she wished for it. So, quickly, she made another wish before the star was gone.
"I wish..."
The star shone brighter once more, and this new life began. Everything happened as in the second life; the king impaled her once again. This time, Toto wasn't hit by an arrow.
"Haru! Haru! Hold on tight, don't close your eyes! Please!"
-"Chicky, DON'T YOU DARE DIE AGAIN!"
-"Haru! Please, who else is going to tease Muta with me? Don't die again, please!"
Did they say it again? So they remember, they've always been there... from some life they must have gotten rid of the trick of this loop, because of me they're trapped too, I'm a horrible person.
-"Baron... I'm so sorry, because of me you're trapped in this eternal loop." Haru started to cry, she no longer cared about being impaled by a sword.
-"What do you mean by that, Chicky?!" Muta and Toto were confused.
When she was about to speak, Baron didn't let her, placing a finger between the woman's lips to keep her quiet.
-"Shh... Don't speak, don't waste your strength, Haru." - It doesn't matter if this is your fault or not, I can't stand you anymore, To see you die again and again, it breaks my heart seeing your body with so many scars, your eyes used to be so full of life and now they seem dull and lost"
"I'm so sorry I can't help you one more time, Haru..." Baron started to cry; it was the first time she'd seen him cry.
"It was never your fault..."
Once again, she felt her life slipping away, but this time something was different...
Baron once again saw Haru's body disappear, turning into dust.
"Ugh... four hundred and twenty-two failed attempts... again, when are we going to be able to save Chicky? I can't stand living the same thing and watching her die every time..."
"I agree with the pig here; for the first time, I can't stand watching her die multiple times."
"Pig!? You called me a PIG?! YOU BIG VULTURE?!"
"Yes, I did. What are you going to do? You bottomless pit!"
"Come here, you bird brain!"
-"ENOUGH!" both the cat and the crow stoped mid fight, Baron never talked like that.
-"Toto please... Just get us home, we will probably live this once again later i need to rest..."
-"O-Of course Baron" Toto took Baron and Muta back to the Bureau.
When they arrived, Baron could sense something different in the Bureau; something had happened there.
"Wait here... something happened while we were gone." Baron wanted to be sure it was safe.
"Like what? Nothing here changes since we've been stuck in this infinite loop that only we seem to notice."
Baron slowly entered his residence; something seemed strange, and whatever it was, it was inside.
"Stay here, I'll check the rest of the house."
"Okay, boss, and I'm going to devour the angel food cake." Muta went straight to the office.
"Always the glutton!" - The crow joked
"YOU BURNT CHICKEN!"
Baron left the living room and went to each room of the house; there was nothing in any of them, until only one room remained, his bedroom, which he rarely uses since he usually sleeps in front of the window.
He slowly opened the door, and when he did, there resided a statue lying on his bed. What frightened him most was that it was an exact copy of Haru from the cat world, only in a vintage light green dress, just like Baron's eyes, with a white satin ribbon around her waist embracing her slender figure, a white bow with an emerald around her neck, white lace gloves covering her hands and half of her arms, and a delicate hat resting on her head decorated with white roses, and small shoes with white heels, an parasol with a light green bow decorating it rested beside the bed.
The fur was light brown with some patches in a darker brown, she still had hair just like the one she had when she was human, those long brown locks.
Eyes closed as if in an eternal sleep, so innocent, but Baron could see the marks that this was no simple statue, all the scars, all the deaths. Baron couldn't believe what he was seeing.
"It can't be... Haru?" He touched the figure's hands, but it didn't even move. Even if it was just a statue, Baron was saddened to know that he never managed to confess his feelings. It took him so long to realize his own emotions.
"Haru, I'm so sorry... I'm so sorry I never had the chance to say what I feel... I love you, Haru. I can't see myself living without you. Every death I witnessed broke my heart more and more. I wanted to save you, but I failed every time... and I'm so sorry. I don't even know if you share my feelings. I just wanted you to be here with me... with the others, please don't leave me like Louise did..." He had never cried so much as he did seeing this version of Haru frozen in time.
He squeezed one of the statue's hands, but why were they so soft? When Baron stopped to look at the statue it had a a faint glow that gradually spread across the entire statue. it slowly seemed to come to life, and when he realized it, it seemed alive, just like him, a creation. It was breathing, its chest rising and falling.
"Haru?..." Slowly, the now-living statue opened its eyes, the same chocolate color as Haru's.
"Baron? Is that you?" the voice asked, sounding hopeful.
"Haru!? I-it is Haru, it's me, Baron!" Baron didn't want this to be just another dream.
"Please tell me this isn't a dream... the loop is finally over? Tell me it's over... I can't take it anymore." Baron's heart broke at these words. He couldn't bear it and took Haru in his arms. This time she wasn't dying, but there with him, alive and calling for him.
"Yes, I think so, finally you're home Haru, home with me, Muta and Toto."
Haru felt safe once again in her beloved's arms.
"Haru, I don't know if it's the best time, but I need to say it in case you haven't heard before." He stroked Haru's fur.
"I love you, Haru Yoshioka, and I don't care if you don't feel the same. I will always love and protect you."
Haru must have been dreaming. Baron was finally saying what she had always wanted to hear.
"Baron Humbet Von Gikkingen... I have always loved you since the first time we danced," Haru confessed, tears streaming down her jewel-like eyes.
But then a question mark apeared on her mind, so she looked at baron direct in the eyes.
-''Somethings wrong dear?'' - Baron tried to understand that look she was giving him.
-''Wait, Baron how did you guys break free from the loop?
"I feel like I don't have an answer... I only remember us dancing in the ballroom, and you being different, you've changed so much since the last time we saw each other...but I think that... your eyes showed me the way back to you" - Baron gently touched her cheek.
"Well, time passes and I've grown up, I'm not that high school girl anymore"
"I can see that you've bloomed into a lovely woman, I'm so sorry it took me so long to finally get you out of that suffering."
"Well... it was worth the wait, waiting for my knight in shining armor or should I say my gentleman with the top hat?" - Baroneven harder now, not even his fur could hide the pink color.
Baron suddenly remembered he had to warn his friends, but he didn't want to leave Haru there alone for fear she might disappear again, so he decided to pick Haru up in his arms and take her to the living room.
"Hey! Baron, I have legs, you know?" Haru was confused when Baron lifted her from the bed and started marching out of the room.
"So what?" the cat lord asked happily.
Muta and Toto were still arguing in the kitchen when they heard the familiar voices coming from the hallway, so they fell silent.
"So what if I can walk!" Haru tried to get out of the lord's arms.
"You'll only walk when I say you can walk, and I'll carry you wherever I want," Baron joked.
-''Baron whos that?!'' - both the bird and the cats asked in doubt.
-''hey guys!'' - Haru greeted them happily.
"Chicky?"
"Haru?"
-''Hey Toto, Hey Moo-ta!'' - Haru Joked trying to break the tension in the room.
-''NOT YOU TOO!" - The cat got pissed.
-''HA! ITS HARU, MY PARTNER TO BULLY THE FATSO'' - the crow got closer to hug both creations.
Tears and laughter of happiness spread throughout the Bureau. Finally, they were free from that endless loop.
Haru didn't miss her life as a human; she was happy as a creature. Every day she stayed with Baron at the Bureau window, waiting for dawn, going on adventures calm and both dangerous, being happy with Baron until one day Baron took her to a beautiful location by a lake, and that's when he knelt down, haru automatcly understood what he was going to do.
Opening the box, revealing a pair of sparkling rings. both ringd matching.
"Would I, Baron Humbet Von Gikkingen, have the honor of having you, Haru Yoshioka, as my wife and Baroness Haru Von Gikkingen?" The cat lord asked his beloved
-"YES YES YES! IN THIS LIFE AND FOREVER" jumping for joy as Baron placed the ring on her finger, and pulling his fiance into a passionate kiss, the two were finally in each other's arms.
And at the end of the kiss, Baron released her from the embrace and extended his hand to her.
-"May I have this dance?" He asked softly.
-"Why, of course." Haru took his hand happily, and the two danced the waltz until sunset, their music was the beats and whispers of their hearts.