-Catgirl-of-Bavaria-: Here it is, the sequel to Learning to Love Again! So, I think I've kept you guys waiting long enough for the start of this, lol. It'll be a wee bit darker than my other story, I think, with bigger things to deal with than ever was… So, this time around, it's rated T, with reason; like I said before, it's gonna be a tad darker, a bit more violence and blood(eventually) and I will, in particular parts of the story, be suggestive. I may be suggestive at times, but keep in mind that this won't turn into a lemon, otherwise I'd hide this in the M section! So just a disclaimer/warning…It shouldn't be a problem, unless you're particularly squeamish…I don't think I'm that violent! Lol… And this story is kind of where my German obsession shows, other than all of my translating in OLI XD I love Germany! Woot! .:runs around manically with her German flag in the air:.

So, anyhow, enjoy the continuation, I'll be back in a while to get the next chapter up!

Disclaimer: .:sighs:. Did I not say this enough the last time? Spirited Away and its characters belong to the greatest Anime-ka ever, Hayao Miyazaki-sensei…I only borrow :D

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Chapter 1- A Frustrated Dragon

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Night had long since fallen across European land, the sky displayed to the world below a velvety sheet, splashed with diamonds. One large, silver orb provided light to the green landscape, a hilly spread of land dotted with small villages. Forests were plentiful all over, and a river cut through the largest of the series of villages, completing the picturesque quality of it all. It was a land sculpted brilliantly by the gods.

Even the man made features of this place were beautiful; they were crafted to so well that they only added to the beauty of the surroundings, they seemed to fit, even if humans did build them upon the land. And even with the little villages speckling the land, there was plenty of natural beauty to appreciate, to lie in between those towns.

Each town had at least one chapel or cathedral tower, each town knew what time it was at all times, for those sculpted, gothic and baroque steeples let them know the hour. When you were in a town like this, there really was no great need for a watch, for you could usually hear, if only distantly, the toll of the bells of the local cathedrals.

Stone bridges extended across the river, some of them new, but most remained there from centuries ago, and had survived wars and the decay of time. It truly was an old place, full of history, everywhere.

One foreigner cared to notice all this, as the deep rhythmic bell tolled twice to him through his window.

Kohaku sat at the window of his dormitory in this larger of villages, staring out onto this pristine land, head resting in his hand. Tired emeralds scanned the land, listening to the cathedrals around the place give their voices to the silence. He took in air, admiring how fresh it was, how soothing to his once again tortured soul.

He really did enjoy this place, and was glad that it was untainted with too much human activity. The spirits here, it seemed, were thriving quite well, and it showed through their physical manifestation and entities. Kohaku had come to really like this place called Germany. The humans here seemed to have a good respect for nature.

A while ago, he'd decided that he wanted to use his new lot in life as a human to find out more about the race, and so he decided to sign up for a German course, finding from his readings that this country would have enough culture to keep him studying and occupied, but enough nature to keep the river spirit sane.

He'd picked the language up easily, and in turn, signed up for this particular program that sent him to the country itself to play the transfer student in a German school. He'd had five spectacular months to get to know this place, on a study abroad program. It sent him here for five months, half the school term back home in Japan.

He smiled suddenly to himself; Japan was his home now.

It was almost strange, seeing as how he'd considered The Spirit realm and Aburaya his home for several years before this. Three years before this, he'd been trapped in that world with no love, save the familial love that had come from Zeniba and the once lost soul whom he now knew as Taro. Only in the past three years had he been truly happy with his life.

He peered over to his simple dormitory bed, where a lump steadily rose and fell with breath, curled up beneath fleece and cotton blanketing. His eyes softened as he caught the slight glint of chestnut brown hair falling over the pillows. He studied the form beneath the covers, which, as it was, was both the love of his long life and his partner in this German venture.

Chihiro Ogino had of course been eager to travel the human world with him, and had enrolled in the German language course along with Kohaku, and consequently, the transfer program. She'd been a little slower with the language than Kohaku, but then, he was a spirit and apparently had a knack for a great number of things. Money actually hadn't been a problem for either student, Kohaku still had a great plot of money in the bank from Zeniba-which he was beginning to suspect was an endless account…How that witch spoiled him, he frequently thought whenever withdrawing any money- and Chihiro was rather well off herself, with both parents working high-end jobs.

The last three years with this girl had been beyond perfect, if there was such a thing. Their love only seemed to grow everyday for one another, and Chihiro had guided him expertly, alongside Rumi, through the world of humans, introducing him to a world of gadgets, odd little things, that he didn't have a clue about. Apparently, the knowledge of the human world that the witch Zeniba had instilled into him only went so far, so at times, the young river spirit was on his own.

Video games had actually been his favorite, after he got the hang of how to use the labeled buttons and knobs on a joystick to control whatever character on the screen that represented him. He had to hand it to the humans about their virtual reality technology; it was rather fun and addicting, and thank the gods it was imaginative.

But, even as great as his life was going, Kohaku was feeling rather different lately, almost nervous. For more than one reason, too. It was unsettling him, it was frustrating him, and it was keeping him up on nights such as this.

Kohaku stared back out the window, contemplating his plight as a great owl soared in the distance, hunting for food.

The whole unsettled feeling had started around a month ago, and had started as a nagging in the back of his mind. It was a feeling of wanting to be back home, in the small town of Japan he'd come to call home, his modest little apartment that Zeniba had set up for him. As the previous month had worn on, he had still found excitement in his present situation, visiting sites and places in Germany, admiring the beauty alongside Chihiro. He'd even mastered the use of a camera, a device to preserve those moments, as Chihiro had told him.

But still, through all the joy he felt here, with her, something called to him from home, and it grew little by little and day by day. He couldn't help but have an unsettling feeling about it, he felt at times the indescribable urge to go home, even if it meant transforming to a dragon and flying all the way home, even considering the risk of being seen.

Chihiro had always had a coincidental ability to distract him with enjoyable ventures in the town, just when these home-sick feelings were about to get the better of him. He always managed to shove that feeling to the back of his mind, to resist it. Even now, though, he wanted desperately to be home.

This led Kohaku to the next symptom of his unease, the reason tonight of why he was out of bed. It was the first time in a while that Chihiro and he had shared a bed, and they were taking advantage of their last night in Germany by spending it in each other's arms, a cherished way to sleep for the both of them.

At least, it had started that way. Kohaku had woken halfway through the night, to find himself in a curious situation, and one that he was thankful to every possible god that Chihiro was not awake to take note of. He flushed at the memory of this incident, having these feelings almost unfamiliar to him. True, he knew what his situation was, it was only an animal reaction, and having the girl he loved so close to him in his bed, it was bound to happen one day anyway.

Hell, it was even late springtime, a well-known cause for these types of feelings that the dragon in him felt.

Still, he'd never felt such a physical need for her before, and even during the two previous spring seasons, he'd managed to keep that side of the dragon in him suppressed. He always needed her, he always loved her, and he wanted her to be his until the end of time, but these feelings had never taken physical form…until now. And it was driving him crazy.

He didn't want to get back in bed for fear of it possibly happening again, or him losing control of where his hands would venture in their sleep. But he would need sleep. In just a few hours they'd leave the dormitory building, an old, and half-dilapidated establishment, and go to the airport. Undoubtedly, the dragon would not get much sleep on the plane; the blasted things disturbed him.

There was one more thing that was bothering him, though this was a little more passive than the others, and it had been around to make him think for a longer time.

Kohaku stared at his hands; they were the hands of a twenty year old human. But that even was a close call to being possibly suspicious; after about a year as a human, Kohaku hadn't really noticed any change in his physical, human form.

Research told him that he should have matured physically during these years, it was when human males usually had their growth spurts, but he, the river god who'd traded immortal life in the spirit world for a mortal, human life, never seemed to change. Luckily, Chihiro never cared to notice, or say anything, anyway, and Kohaku had caught on quickly, and set his form to age, as he'd done so in the spirit world to keep up with Chihiro before he had been able to come back to her.

However, this still left a strange feeling in him; he had traded immortality, and consequently, his eternal youth to live in this world. But maybe, as he had thought about it over the years, it had come back with all of his powers.

It would have been nice if Zeniba had warned him of his immortality's return, though he knew it was unfair to think this; that spell had been a rare one, of which little was known, even by a spirit so wise as Zeniba. She had said herself, that Kohaku's case marked a new chapter in the records of this spell.

Finding this out about his returning agelessness had startled him. It wasn't necessarily a bad thing, but he'd heard things back in the spirit world, that a romance between a mortal and an immortal could never last. Even if it survived the strenuous differences between worlds and cultures, the mortal was sure to eventually die, leaving the immortal alone to continue their own timeless life.

As for the differences in culture, Kohaku couldn't really care less; though it was true that the human world was blaringly different than the World of the Spirits, he found his new world more fascinating to him than anything.

But he, Kohaku, was some sort of special case. He was supposed to be a human, by what Zeniba's spell had dictated, but he seemed to have regained all the magic and uncanny abilities of his river spirit self once his love with Chihiro had won over the spell that had been cast. He could transform into a dragon, and all his powers resided in him once more, as if he'd never been a plain human in the first place.

But was he human? Would he, in sixty years or so, perish too, if only to be released into his complete spirit self, as if he had a second life, or would it be over for him? He suddenly wished there was so much more written on that one spell that had given him this life, he wished he wasn't the first spirit-human to have ever gone through this. If anything, he just wished that there was some sort of 'what-if' section to the spell's recordings, which would provide hypothetical answers to hypothetical questions to the hypothetical experience that was his life.

If only life were that simple. Neither the life of a human, nor a spirit was easy, and it was obvious to Kohaku that, when you mix the two life-forces, things become even more confusing.

It was quite obvious why the dragon was being kept up that night. Too much was there to think about, too much that he could not begin to fathom, much to his dismay. He was always a smart one, and that was one thing that Yubaba had used him for. He got top grades in the human high schools, and he caught the German language with ease so incredible he had to feign making mistakes every now and then just to appear human.

Kohaku was very smart. But all this…stuff, that was buzzing in his brain puzzled him, he didn't know what to make of it.

He lowered his hands with a sigh, leaning his dark haired head against the inside of the window, watching the little town in its silence. Maybe when he got home the next day, things would be a little better to deal with, he could relax. He never dreamed he'd be so homesick of that modest little studio apartment that he'd been living in for the past three years. Not to mention their friends back home, both he and Chihiro were eager to see them again.

Jade eyes wandered back to the bed, finding that Chihiro had shifted somewhere while he was in the middle of his thoughts. Sprawled out now on her back, her face was just visible to his keen eyes. She still had that angelic look to her face, but the round face he'd remembered her as having when she was ten had been matured to what he saw as perfection. Her complexion had remained light over the years, and it suited her well. Sometimes she even still had a splash of rose on her face, remnants of the rosy cheeks she had when she was young. When Kohaku did the right things, made the right move on her, he could bring out that rose color, and he loved doing it. He could still make her blush.

Kohaku smiled over at the sleeping girl, and figured, with an uncertain sigh, that he'd be wise to get sleep while he still could. Not even to mention, this would be the last time, for a while, at least, that he'd be able to share himself with Chihiro in these circumstances; for tomorrow it would be back on the plane to Japan, and back to her family with Chihiro. Which was more than fair, but it still remained a fact that he and Chihiro had spent several nights over the last five months like this, and had grown quite accustomed to it. They had grown so much since that first official meeting in the Spirit World, and with the years came a deep connection of their souls. Going back to an empty bed would be an arduous adjustment, even with Kohaku's newfound nervousness about being alone like this with her.

He'd have to trust himself, if at least for this one night.

He pushed himself out of the cushioned chair by the window, and made back to the bed, treading carefully, as nearly all the floorboards creaked in the old building. Her scent met him as he stood over her, and nearly overpowered his keen senses. This was what he was fretting over, his body trying to take over. It wasn't Chihiro's fault, but she was just far too attractive to him! Not to mention the fact that he was a dragon; that left him with more animal instincts than there would be in the average human male.

He sighed inwardly, and laid himself out, on top of the comfortable fleece covering. He settled in close, as the bed was only meant for one occupant to begin with, and turned his face towards hers, taking in what he saw.

Lashes just grazed her cheeks; bangs just grazed her forehead, long enough to reach her eyebrows. Those bangs had been mussed in whatever absent turning she'd done, and stuck up in places, rather cutely. Side bangs had scrawled themselves over her face, concealing some of her behind the strands, and Kohaku took it on himself to relieve her face of the problem, lest it bother her, and of course, because it was obstructing his over all view of her face. Mouth slightly open, she took in calm breaths.

Kohaku reached an arm around to her waist, and pulled her, just barely, into him. She responded to his warmth, if only in her sleep, by turning on her side and facing him, her head nestling in perfectly under his strong chin. Kohaku rested his eyes and stroked some hair that his fingers had found.

Breathing in, he found that he didn't even need a blanket to cover him in this arrangement; Chihiro provided more than enough warmth, and he smiled at the thought that this warmth she had to offer was only ever given to him.

He cherished this moment, for it would likely be a time before such a time would come again. For in this moment, he was truly happy.

-Catgirl-of-Bavaria-: There ya have it, my sequel hath been commenced! The dorm is actually (but to an extent) inspired by the dorm me and my best friend stayed in for five days when we were in Prague( which is actually in the Czech Republic, but anyway)…It was such a very old building, with communal bathrooms and showers, five-inch thick mattresses, and a crazy mini-fridge that made demonic noises every 45 minutes or so. It probably wasn't the best type of place and I wouldn't want to stay there for more than five days, but still, Me and addie had our fun. Haku and Chihiro's dorm is a lot better of a condition than me and my friend's room, but I still made it old and slightly dilapidated in honor of that dorm we stayed in. Long live room 213!!! Good times. Good times…