Lin was shocked that she hadn't noticed it before. She couldn't see it until Haku lay dying in the boiler room, a bloody, unconscious dragon who had finally paid the price for his loyalty to Yubaba. As much as Lin pitied the joyless Haku, she was not particularly sad at seeing him go. To her, the boy was something of a traitor. He had willingly become Yubaba's apprentice so many years ago, and he had submitted to her evilest of whims ever since. He was simply not worth her energy.
Yet, as Haku gasped his dying breaths, little Chihiro had a fire about her. She was rushing about, trying to revive her fallen friend in any way possible. She had a light in her eyes, a determination that echoed in her words. Lin could finally see what she had been missing all of this time. Chihiro loved Haku. She loved him in a way that only a child can love, with all of her heart and all of her mind, without doubt and without condition. Watching Chihiro, Lin was astonished that this little girl could love so tremendously. The feeling filled the corners of the room like the warmth of the raging flames that powered the bathhouse.
Lin found herself surprisingly affected by their love. She had always been somewhat stolid when it came to matters of the heart, but this was different. She suddenly began to remember her own forgotten love, images flashing through her mind like a rushing train. It was as if all of her life before the bathhouse had been pinned behind a river dam, and seeing Chihiro's love for Haku had poked an unexpected hole in it. Lin stumbled backward as memories began to flood through her...
Reina was having a beautiful dream. She was soaring through the clouds, her arms outspread like wings and the cool wind whipping through her hair. A beautiful landscape flew by beneath her, a water world that was speckled with extravagant buildings and neat little cottages. Following a train, she allowed the winding tracks to lead her through this fairy world. She felt happy and carefree.
Feeling something pressing against her hand, Reina noticed that she was grasping a bit of paper. She slowed her flight to examine out the slightly tattered item, unfolding it delicately and smoothing it against her palm.
"Train tickets?" Reina said aloud in confusion. Why would she need train tickets if she could fly?
Just then, she noticed that there were two figures flying in the distance. It was a girl, maybe two years younger than Reina was, clinging to the back of a flowing blue dragon. Reina could see that the dragon's mouth was moving, perhaps trying to speak to her.
"Reina!" it said in a high-pitched, nasal voice. "REINA!"
Reina suddenly jerked awake, thrashing in her desk and sending several of her books flying. She turned red at the laughter of her classmates, and she slowly raised her eyes to meet the piercing gaze of Professor Sato, who had been calling her name. Reina had apparently dozed off during a painfully boring lecture on irregular verb tenses. Again. She braced herself for the wrath of Professor Sato, the school's disciplinarian grammar Nazi.
"Sleeping in class again, Miss Miyake. This is unacceptable…" Professor Sato began, but Reina didn't hear the rest.
She was too distracted with a piece of paper that was pressing against her hand.