Faith
A heart was such a strange, strange thing to possess, and though the boiler-man had often believed that many of his associates had long ago lost theirs, he knew that it was certainly not the case. Every creature that lived in the bath-house, every spirit that came by as a visitor to rest their weary souls had one, and even though they had never quite beat in the same way, it did nothing to change the fact that yes, their hearts did still thump, no exceptions.
A time of peace had quietly reigned over the bath-house, until the owner at that time quietly passed away.
But soon after, Yubaba had come into power and had decided that those who worked within the bath-house were far too lazy and work-shy and yes, even rebellious. She had taken their names as a result, had left them with names that were meaningless instead. The people he had loved and known soon changed; Lin, Haku, all of them, they had all changed so much that he could barely recognize their true spirits anymore, and it had been much to his abject horror.
A physical heart, sure, everyone had one of those. If they hadn't, they would have been dead. Oh, they were spirits, but they could still die. He supposed that the word "heart" was entirely the wrong word he had in mind. Mind. Could that possibly be the word he was looking for? Perhaps, yet it seemed somehow too cold for what he was trying to describe. He again decided to settle upon the word "heart", simply because he could think of no other better way to describe what he wanted to.
Yes, everyone had a physical heart, there was no doubt about that. But as he watched and as he toiled away, he could see that everyone was slowly losing their…spirit...the energy that allowed them to love and care for one another. Haku's face had become pale and the boy had become withdrawn in a way that Kamaji had never thought possible. Yubaba had worked her magic upon him, Kamaji didn't doubt that, not even for a second.
Even Lin, who was perhaps one of the most steadfast of people that he had ever had the fortune of meeting, even she did not escape the effects of Yubaba's magic. And Kamaji realized with a strange sort of bitter amusement that even though he had never been directly placed under a spell, he too had also been affected by the sheer amount of power that Yubaba possessed.
No, seeing his friends change so rapidly, seeing them morph from happy to more or less miserable beings, creatures mired in their own sorrow had never failed to make its mark upon the old boiler-man. He became angry and bitter to see his once proud acquaintances turn into nothing more than slaves, their identity stolen away from them, leaving them with so much strength but without the power to use it.
No, the very same people who used to answer to no one began to beg for permission to do every menial task one could think of. Who wouldn't be bitter at seeing a friend reduced to such a shadow of themselves? It was altogether quite surprising that he was more than just a little upset to see thousands of creatures cut down in such a way.
Yet for some odd reason, Yubaba had never bothered herself with the boiler-man. Kamaji smiled wryly at the thought. Maybe it was because he was one of the best there was, perhaps because he was, in actual fact, the only one who knew how to operate the gargantuan system, because he was the only one who knew the intricate workings of the machine.
But if there was one good thing that Kamaji would say about Yubaba, it would be that she was a superb business woman. She had come up with all kinds of advertising gimmicks, and she had been able to reorganize everything about so then all the services provided were made all the more efficient. The workload became more intense and the workers slowly grew a bit more grateful towards the sorceress, especially when their wages were raised. But at what price?
Kamaji knew it wasn't worth it. The bath-house made a lot of money, it was true, but how much of the money were the workers really entitled to? Virtually none. When Kamaji had complained, he had been brusquely told that they were all lucky to have a roof over their heads, and that they were lucky that they had food to eat. In response to that, many of the workers obeyed unquestioningly, believing that yes indeed, they were lucky to have a place that they could still call home.
Except it wasn't a home. Not anymore. Not to him at least.
His home was a place of happiness, when his work did not seem quite as hard, where it did not seem to be so much of a chore as it had become under Yubaba's reign. He had complained before, mostly so then he had something to talk about but lately he had started to complain because he actually had a reason to.
It was a mark of how far things had come and it had made him fearful of what the future held for him. Yubaba had treated him with respect, not kindness but respect, always ensuring that he had the best of food, always ensuring that he had plenty of help in the form of soot-balls. But Kamaji was a spider spirit, and though he held a rather humble job, his kind had been born with an inherent knowledge of most things.
He was the true power, he was the cog in this wheel, the key part in this grand design and if anything happened to him, the bath-house would have to be shut down until Yubaba was able to find another spider to replace him. The trouble lay with trying to find somebody who had the same degree of experience that he himself possessed and so far there had been no possible candidates.
Yes, Yubaba had already started to look and in all honesty, Kamaji had no reason to blame her.
He was old now, he could feel it in his bones and his sight was becoming more and more weak and sensitive to bright lights, hence the sunglasses. He had worked for forty long years and by this time, he had become weary mentally as well as physically. He had packed his bags and he had planned on talking to Yubaba, to tell her that he was going to board the train that would take him far away from the happy memories that had so suddenly turned to ash.
And then she had crept in, had stared about with wide eyes and had demanded a job, her voice loud and shrill. One could even say that she had acted obnoxiously. That day had meant to be his last night at the bath-house, but as soon as he had caught a glimpse of her fierce spirit, as soon as he had seen her struggling determinedly with a single lump of coal, something had made him stay.
He didn't know it at the time, but his faith had been renewed.
And as he had wept tears of joy when he was left quite alone, he knew that by staying he had done the right thing. Lin had returned to him, as had Haku rediscovered himself and even, perhaps to a lesser degree had the Foreman.
All because of a single girl, a shining beacon of hope in an old man's life. Her persevering spirit had resurrected him.
…Maybe there was something to be said for Faith after all…