This fan fiction is an example of what happens when a Cat Returns fan watches a Tim Burton film. Extra points to the one that can guess which movie.

Chapter One: Spider's Web

Haru Yoshioka rose to her feet and clapped, cheering for her beloved Machida's performance. She had managed to snag a table with his parents, her future in-laws. They grinned as Machida kissed his glove, making a red rose appear in his hand so he could throw it to his fiancé. She giggled as she caught it and tucked it behind one ear. He always showed off horribly whenever she was near. She bowed low to his parents, having to leave early for a meeting with her producer, to talk about her schedule.

She whistled happily as she jogged out of the building and towards the nearest bus stop. She rubbed the engagement ring Machida gave her with one finger, ecstatic that she would be a married woman within a month.

It was a match made in heaven. With him as a world-famous magician and her as a world-famous pianist, they provided balance for each other, and had been named by many magazines as the fairy tale couple of the year.

Haru's heart swelled with joy. And why shouldn't it? She was young, healthy, wealthy, beautiful, and engaged to one of the most eligible bachelors on the planet. She knew many would kill to be in her shoes.

And yet… something was off. She struggled to think of what could be wrong as she climbed onto the bus and took the route downtown, still unafraid of acting like a regular person in her celebrity status.

'Let's see… caterers are prepared, flowers, dress, cathedral, priest, reception... Yep, it's all planned down to the last detail. So why does something feel wrong?'

ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Haru stretched lazily, glad that the meeting was over with. Out of respect for her love life, her producer hadn't organized any other performances until the end of the month, to leave her time for the wedding and honeymoon. She and Machida still hadn't decided which of their houses they were going to live in after the romantic trip to Hawaii.

Yes, that must be what's wrong. She needed to close that discussion once and for all. It would be silly to keep two houses when they could live comfortably in one of them, despite their huge separate paychecks.

The brunette nodded at the security guard as she passed through the doors again, knowing that he knew better than to try and stop her from going backstage. She looked around, and knocked on his dressing door.

"Machida? It's me." She opened it a crack, surprised to find it deserted. Puzzled, she started for the curtained stage. The caged animal roared at her as she passed. She smiled at him, and leaned down to be at eye level.

"Yeah, those flashing lights hurt my eyes too."

He growled again, with more control. The musician giggled.

"I'll be sure to tell him that. Don't worry; you were the center of attention. Nothing pleases an audience like an albino tiger."

He grinned at her, and purred as she reached through the bars to scratch his ears. It was her strange ways with cats that first got Machida interested in her, although he still wasn't fully aware that she wasn't pretending to talk to his feline props. She figured that was a conversation that could wait a little longer.

A few of the stage hands panicked, but calmed down when they saw the brunette literally had the tiger in the palm of her hand. She scratched his ears once more before the stage hands took the tiger away; now peacefully mellow thanks to her gentle ways. She grinned once more at him, and then turned to pull back the big red curtain surrounding the walls of the stage.

She pulled back the curtain, and her unborn call died in her throat. She blinked once, and then twice, not believing her own eyes. Not wanting to believe her own eyes.

Machida had his arms wrapped firmly around his blonde assistant, her sparkling red dress now easy to look at without all the flashing lights. And her arms were around his neck as she kissed him passionately and noisily, neither noticing the fiancée's intrusion.

A red rose was tucked behind one ear when one hadn't been during the show.