So tell me

What is our ending?

Will it be beautiful, so beautiful?

x

Chapter 29: Beautiful Ending

Haru decided she hated the colour neutral white. This was several minutes after returning to consciousness, during which she had been staring up at the noticeably neutral white ceiling with very little source of distraction.

"Well, it looks like one of our sleeping beauties is awake," a voice commented.

Haru flicked her eyes to the side, making herself a little dizzy in the process. There was the doctor at the side of her bed, but there were several other forms across the room blocking the light. "How is Baron?" she asked automatically. Her voice was pitifully hoarse, but she ignored it.

Another voice chuckled from the side. "Told you so. Don't worry, Chicky; Doctor Thomas says he's going to live."

Haru smiled tiredly. "Good."

"Are you going to explain to us what happened back there? I mean, this barrier just sprung up and–"

"Renaldo!" Doctor Thomas snapped. "My patient needs rest; not interrogation."

"Renaldo?" Haru repeated.

Muta's face reddened. "It must have been my parents' idea of a joke when they named me that."

The doctor scowled. "Rest, remember?" He sighed and turned away. "I don't know why I bother; it's never made any difference in the past..."

Haru sat back against the bed board, looking to her other visitors. Toto and Hiromi were the other two main guests, along with the little form of a particular brunette. "Hi, Rosie."

"B-Briar?"

Haru didn't try to correct her. In Rosie's eyes, she probably was still called Briar. Somehow she had a nagging feeling that in years to come she'd still be referred to as Briar by Rosie... in the same way Muta's real name was Renaldo – apparently – but went by Muta. Instead, she just smiled.

Rosie approached her bed and was helped to sit on the sheets by her father.

"Why did you leave, Briar? Didn't you like us anymore?"

"Of course I still like you," Haru replied. "Things just got... complicated."

"But why did you leave?" Rosie repeated, stubbornly stuck on the question. "Why didn't you tell anyone you were going?" After a beat, she added, "Why didn't you tell me?"

"I suppose it was because..." Haru trailed off, thinking. She pretended not to notice that the rest of her visitors were not-so-subtly listening in. "Well, because I was scared. I thought you might be able to talk me out of leaving."

"And would that be bad?"

"I thought so at the time."

"And what do you think now?"

"I think... it was the biggest mistake I could have made," Haru said truthfully. She smiled a little ruefully to Hiromi. "Even if it did bring me back to an old friend."

Hiromi smiled back.

"And what are you going to do now?" Rosie persisted.

"Now?"

"Yeah."

"Well... I suppose I plan on staying."

"Forever?"

Haru grinned, looking at the people she had come to regard as her close friends. "Well, as close to that as I can get."

ooOoo

Baron stared at the metal gates that represented the line between his estate and the outside world. "I'm not so sure about this," he muttered.

Haru hugged him from behind. "It'll be fine, I promise."

"Even after last month's events?"

"Toto said that they had put round a story that that rumour had started up after you turned up to the festival with your... ahem, "cat costume". There have even been a few people to support that story..." Haru grinned. "Someone called Henry Frost has been heard telling people that yes, you had a cat mask, but it wasn't even that good and the whiskers came off halfway through the day."

"I never thought I'd feel like thanking that man."

"He means well, Baron."

"Okay, so dispersing the mob rumours have been dealt with, but how am I meant to explain my sudden reappearance into society?"

"People will come up with reasons. You'll see."

"How am I meant to explain it though?"

"The same way as we did for the festival. Around your fifteenth birthday, you were terribly scarred... pick a reason, any reason, but try to stick to it. Recently you managed to find a healer... or a sorcerer, whatever is more realistic, and they were able to completely rid you of them."

"Yes, but is anyone going to believe that?"

"Sound like you know what you're talking about and no one will question you." Haru hugged him again. "Now, come on, are we going to just stare at those open gates all day or are we going to go for a ride? A long time ago I thought we agreed today's agenda."

"In my defence, I thought I was going to die," Baron said weakly.

"But you didn't. And so here you are, alive and woefully hesitant about entering the town. Should I get off Gideon and lead the horse through the gates?" Haru teased.

"Thank you, Haru," Baron replied flatly.

"Even Gideon's getting impatient though. Come on, what's the worst that could happen?"

"Do you want a real answer to that?"

Haru sighed. "Okay, what's the worst that could happen realistically?"

"That still doesn't make much difference to my answer."

"Okay, so you've got some serious paranoia issues about the outside world; I get that. Heck, I can even understand it after last month. But you've had a series of really bad experiences that's biasing your opinion. Just trust me."

Baron chuckled quietly. "When you put it like that, how can I say no?"

"Please?"

Baron sighed and regarded the gates once again. "Those gates have been the edge of my world for five years," he noted. There was almost a note of sadness. After all, his world had been relatively confined and thus safe and familiar for those five years. He was going to have to learn to adjust.

"Those gates are open," Haru reminded him. "Doesn't that mean something?"

"Well, it either means that the groceries are being delivered today or someone's forgotten to lock it."

Haru poked him in the ribs. "It's funny how your humour picks up when you get nervous, isn't it?"

"Well, it's either that or mild hysteria."

Haru sighed. "Baron, what happened last time you left the estate?"

"Well, I believe I met a faintly irritating man called Duke Henry Frost, I asked you to dance and lost some whiskers in the process."

"See? Nothing bad then? And then you still had the fur." Haru smiled. "If it helps, remember that I'm going to be right behind you all the way. You trust me, right?"

"Up to the point of foolishness sometimes."

Haru's smile widened as she placed her arms around him. "Then let's go."

Gideon was started into an abrupt gallop and suddenly the sights of the town were speeding past them. Haru tightened her hold on Baron to ensure she didn't slip off the horse's back, but she couldn't repress the smile. She buried her head into his back, breathing that all-so-familiar mixture of tea and mint.

"Baron?"

"Yes?"

"I think I may have forgotten to tell you something?"

Baron slowed Gideon to an easy trot. "What?"

She picked her head up. "You know that little girl you once met? The girl when you were seven?"

"Yes?"

"You said you wondered what had happened to her, didn't you?"

"Where is this going, Haru?"

The brunette sighed easily and rested her head back against his back. "Well, let's just say I think she did eventually find her beautiful ending. What goes around comes around and sometimes... sometimes I think life is kind to those who are lucky."

She grinned as she watched them pass by pedestrians; people who paid little attention to the couple upon the stallion. She felt Baron see this too and relax. And why would anyone stare anyway?

They were just two perfectly ordinary humans enjoying a perfectly ordinary day.

x

"I only ask to be free. The butterflies are free."

~ Charles Dickens

ooOoo

A/N: The song lyrics are Beautiful Ending by BarlowGirl. And this chapter was short, but I thought there just needed to be a nice ending, rounding-off chapter.

As guessed, this was originally based off Beauty and the Beast (both the fairytale and the Disney version) with the question of, "What would happen if Beauty was responsible for the Beast's curse?" This seems to be my result, mixed in with some accidental Oliver Twist references and my usual variation. BatB is my favourite fairytale, so chances are I'll give in to writing another adaptation later on.

I have one question: If there was anything you could change in this story, what would it be? It can be anything from a character you wanted to see more (or less) of, a scene you did (or didn't) like, or even a plot twist you felt would have made this better. I've got thick skin, so make your reviews as candid as you like - I'm asking out of curiosity and a genuine desire to improve my writing.

Also, thanks to my amazing reviewers: inulover1993, isara-love, neko girl, The GamerSwordsman, The Count Luca van Andrews, Nanenna, CC21, laurashrub, ChocolateSunshine500, sailor star rainbow, dribnevar, James Birdsong, Delilah Hunter, Raye of the Sunshine, Midnight the Black Fox, LxiaNi, Foxxel, Rowena BaronErikandSnapelover, Elizabeth, SideshowJazz1, A Toxic Detective x, Ebony Mitsu, Akasuki Demon Kiera666, Flame Darkmoon, Lighted Candle, XoXKeii-ChanXoX, Anon, Kaa, inujisan, The-Right-Girl, Solar, wild-filly, Snoozer, XthebutterflyX, Pure Fox, Princess who can't find love (annemarie), TurquoiseShine, pureflowersand2684, sassybutt32, Waterpokemon, GnomesyPokemon, E-man-dy-S, AkatsukiShizu3, phantomoftheknight17, Tear Droplet, Kaomycs, Cecily Mitchell, Baron's Girl, jackswoman, mininaxoxo, Bee's Girl, and last, but certainly not least, dundeegirl21.

Wow, that is quite the list! Thank you, new or old, you all were wonderful and I wouldn't work half as hard at these stories if it weren't for your amazing encouragement! You keep us writers writing!

Next story:

Two young women separated by class find themselves involved in a swap. There was only one rule Haru had been given: under no circumstances was she to agree to any matchmaking schemes...

See you then and God bless.

Catsafari.