Author's Note:

A couple things before jumping in immediately. First of all I really did hope to have this chapter done and ready before now but I wanted to get the first 5 chapters written first and chapter 4 and 5 were really causing me problems.

That's not the only thing that held me back however. I've had some stressful situations fall into my lap recently and because of these personal things I am going to probably be slow in all of my updates for the next few months.

The biggest of all these things is the fact that my daughter is going to have to have spinal surgery. At this stage in the game I don't know when it will be happening. I only know that she is due to have more tests on Halloween. (Definitely more a trick than a treat huh?)

I imagine this means her surgery could be around Thanksgiving time and that also means she will be bed ridden until almost Christmas time. :(

Now hope isn't completely lost. I will have to keep my mind occupied somehow while she is in getting these tests and what not. So this may also mean that I will have more time to work on my stories. But I wanted to alert you that it could mean the polar opposite.

That pushed aside. I honestly loved writing this chapter in paticular. It's probably my fave out of all the first 5 chapters. While I write in third person this chapter is more from a Haku perspective and my plan is that odd chapters will be Chihiro and even will be Haku. You will see some repetitions happen from chapter to chapter but that is only so you can kind of see both things happen from each perspective. I hope you enjoy this chapter as much as I did!

Chapter 2

Haku breathed in the fresh scents of the new day that was dawning. He felt each new day held some promise and that he had to take flight to visually see what that promise might be. He jumped from his balcony and transformed once he was in the air.

Flight itself had always held its own sense of freedom but he always had difficulty properly explaining to anyone what it felt like to transform into his dragon form if they asked. Over the course of his life he had taken some time to heavily consider how he would explain it to someone. The slimming elongation of his body felt like a waking stretch someone might preform when they first would get out of bed in the morning. The shimmering scales forming over his skin felt much like a dozen translucent rivulets cascading down from a waterfall all over him. Sprouting horns was the most difficult to explain and probably hurt the most of his entire transformation. In some ways it felt like he was being treated to a scalp massage only the force administered was somewhat like a vise that had gripped his head from the inside out and tightened for several long torturous seconds before being completely released.

Lately much of this transformation felt the same. But recently, the past few months, just before he transformed he would always feel this strange tingling itch that he couldn't quite scratch. It was like his dragon was bursting to get out and be free. Up until this most recent change, he had always felt like his dragon and his human form were two parts equaling one cohesive whole. But now it felt more like his dragon was somewhat separate from him. That it was its own entity or at least had its own separate spirit.

When the 'itch' first started happening he realized he had to go looking for answers. He was sure he would need assistance and considered Yubaba briefly. But honestly, he tried to refrain from visiting Yubaba as much as possible. She wasn't as fierce and controlling as she was once when she still held a contract over his head. But her temperament and greed still left a lot to be desired. He could have went to her with his questions and concerns but instead he chose to seek out her sister.

Zeniba didn't have answers right away. Or at least she didn't let on that she had an initial inkling. But she had promised to do some research on it. It took her a month before she ever got back to him again. What she had discovered wasn't all that shocking. He reflected on their previous discussion a couple months back.

"Some spirits are broughtinto this world wild and because of this have a ferocity about them that can't be tamed. They aren't completely senseless but more often than not are ruled by their savage instincts. Some spirits are born to care and protect for something specific and those same manic instincts are kept from developing because of their commitment to that specific place or item."

"Are you saying that because I am no longer tied to my river that I am becoming ruled by some ingrained savage instincts that I never knew I had?"

"I am not positive of course. But, yes, my logical guess is that you are slowly gaining this feral nature." She paused for a moment thoughtfully. "Perhaps, you should move in with No-Face and I. We have plenty of room and I think having constant companions would do you good. I would daily research what I could do to help better keep these instincts at bay. You could immediately share with me issues you may be having."

The elder woman meant well but Haku much preferred his tower house by the river that he had discovered shortly after his contract to be Yubaba's assistant had been terminated over the idea of living in the marshlands of Swamp Bottom. So he shook off her offer and promised to keep in touch if anything changed, and he once again needed her guidance.

Now he was flying to Swamp Bottom once again because Zeniba had sent word that she learned something more. Something important that she needed to verbalize as soon as possible. He knew that if she hadn't shared it through a communication spell or letter that she needed to share it where she could control the level of privacy. A location where she could be certain that the proper wards were in place to keep anyone that should not have access to this knowledge from obtaining it.

It was only seconds after he touched down on the ground that the door opened, and she waved him inside. He had rarely seen either of the twin spirit's hair disheveled and out of place but whenever he did he knew that there was something troubling them. Several strands of gray hair had escaped Zeniba's high bun she wore on her head. There were dark shadows underneath her eyes. It didn't take a high IQ to determine that something was troubling the powerful spellcaster.

"Thank you for coming so soon, Haku."

"I can tell something has been bothering you. Does it have to do with the information you discovered? Is that what is worrying you?"

No-Face's robed body glided across the planks of the wooden floor. He reached out with his oddly shaped 'hands' to grab a huge tome and brought it over to Zeniba. She smiled her thanks to her companion and quickly opened it to a bookmark toward the back of the dense volume. "'At the time that the nocturnal orb's light is subdued by the daylight star the birth of a neoteric thaumaturgy will bring forth a transcendent eidolon.' I found this prophecy last night."

"Isn't this something you should share with your sister?"

"I will, of course. But I thought of you first. Perhaps it's because I have been so diligently looking for information for you."

Haku replayed the words over in his head again, and even asked to read it for himself. Seeing it in black and white seemed to give him more insight about what the words could be referring to. "Is there an eclipse coming up sometime soon?'

Zeniba solemnly nodded. "Two months from now to be exact. I'm not surprised you came to the same conclusion that we did." He knew that while she was including No-Face in the fact finding it was more likely that she was the one that truly discovered it. But over the years Zeniba had grown to really know the quiet spirit and it had quickly became obvious that he had this insatiable need to feel included. So, she often gave him praise for his assistance even if he had done very little to actually help.

Haku heavily considered why she was bringing this up to him and he worried he might know the reason. He didn't want it to be true but he had to ask anyway. "Do you think this has something to do with the strange feelings I have been noticing?"

"I am not sure. But I do believe that if we don't find a proper way for you to communicate with your dragon soul that there will be trouble on the horizon." Zeniba turned to No-Face. "Would you be a dear and grab me the other tome?"

Haku felt the need to fly away consume him. This was the closest thing to communication he had with his dragon spirit. There was a difference this time however. It was pulling him a specific direction and judging by his knowledge of the cardinal points it was pulling him toward the entrance to the human world.

He became lost in another memory as Zeniba began pouring over the embossed manuscript open on her lap.

There would never be another sensation like it. I knew that as I flew away from Swamp Bottom with the young girl on my back. She gripped my horns to keep from falling and despite the pressure I felt comforted by her touch. There was something familiar about it. Something in my foggy memory that I couldn't quite pull to the surface. I couldn't quite study the details. Was this where I knew her from? Was this the incident I first heard her name?

As if we were telepathically linked Chihiro leaned in to my ear to share what she was remembering herself. She told me of how she fell in a river and she should have drowned. She was telling me how the river carried her to shore. "I think that was you, and your real name is Kohaku river."

My heart became free in that moment and my dragon form evaporated. I held on to her hands and smiled at her. "I remember. I am a river spirit of the Kohaku river. I remember you falling into my river, and I remember your little pink shoe."

A sort of tragedy filled my heart when she explained how my river was no longer there. But at the moment I couldn't let it consume me. I had to concentrate and keep us levitated. The last thing I wanted to happen to this dear human of mine was for her to fall out of the sky. I would be fine if that were to happen but this little human… Well, I didn't want her to be trapped in the spirit world like that. I didn't want to be the one responsible for something so tragic when I could have easily prevented it. Even if there was a large part of me that wanted her to never leave. There was also a large part of me that wanted her to live her life.

"Haku, I need you to come back from that memory you have lost yourself in." The river spirit blinked and flinched back from Zeniba as she had infiltrated his personal bubble. "There you are. I'm assuming you were thinking of Chihiro once again."

Spirits don't generally blush as a rule but he couldn't deny the heat that blossomed in his cheeks.

"Hmm. Yeah, that's what I thought. How old would she be now?"

The passing of time was different for spirits than it was for humans. But Haku had kept track of the way time moved on a calendar in his room, and for each year that had aged Chihiro Haku had allowed himself to age a year also. She had once told him that he looked like he was only a couple years older than her. To be certain he knew how old she was he had asked directly, and she had told him she was ten. Haku had been diligent of keeping track with the calendar and knew that ten years had passed. "She would be about twenty by now. If my math is correct." He honestly didn't doubt his math. He just didn't want Zeniba to have more ammunition to give him a hard time.

He of course didn't think of the blaring obvious detail of the change in his appearance. "I'm glad you didn't think to try to fool me. If you had pretended not to know I would have called you out on it. I mean you wouldn't have aged yourself if it wasn't for that girl." She smiled at him. "I haven't thought to ask you this before but what if her time comes after she has lived a full life? What if she comes back and has left numerous grandchildren behind?"

Suddenly Haku felt very angry. He wanted to shift to his dragon form. He wanted to open his jaw and hiss at the short stout woman before him. He wanted to relish in the feel of his talons ripping through her flesh.

"Haku! Steady now. Be still." Haku took deep breaths and settled back into his seat. "I've never seen anything like that before."

Haku didn't trust his voice so he simply arched an eyebrow at Zeniba and continued to breathe deeply in an attempt to calm himself.

"You did a partial shift. You had scales erupting over your arms and cheeks." Zeniba looked back at her book. "I think what just happened confirms something I just read."

"What's that?"

"Are your emotions heightened?"

"I didn't really think so before that moment."

"How did you feel when I asked you about Chihiro's life? I could read it on your face but I want to hear how you perceived it."

"I was angry and wanted to deny everything you were saying. I wanted to tear you apart because I didn't want to hear it." He frowned for a moment as he considered what he had just said. "The weird thing is that I have considered the situation you mentioned before now. I decided that I would continue aging for the next five years and after that I would stop. After that I would go back to my previous form. The form that looked twelve. I wouldn't want her unable to recognize me when she passed on." I would also rip down that calendar. I would no longer want to keep track of the passage of time like that. It would just be torture to do so.

"But now you obviously don't want that to be what happens. I knew you both loved each other. You may have been young but it was quite obvious. I think you have indeed confirmed that your dragon soul is becoming unmanageable, and that we do have to find a way for you to communicate directly with it."

"Any ideas of what we can try?"

Zeniba shook her head. "No, but now I know I need to be more diligent about my research."

Haku looked out the window. "I really do need to go for that flight now. Hopefully that will help calm me."

"When you transform try to see if you can mentally link to your dragon form. See if you can sense and separate your two souls emotions and consciousness. You are a great spellcaster in your own right, and that's partially because of how much intelligence and focus it takes. I am sure you can work some of this out without guidance."

Soon after Haku was transforming again and about to take to the skies. He first tried to mentally link with his dragon before hovering off the ground. It wasn't a clear consciousness he was feeling. But he was feeling that urge again. That need to fly off toward the human entrance to the spirit world. So he halfway entertained that urge. He headed off in the direction of the bathhouse. He figured that it just might be time to get Yubaba's thoughts of what was going on with him. Not that he was looking forward to it. But he figured it was a smart idea to utilize all the resources he had available.

A large figure in the distance waved his direction. It was obvious that whoever was sweeping his arm back and forth wanted him to go that way. Somehow it didn't surprised Haku that the direction he would have to fly was the same one he was being directed toward by his instincts. He guessed he probably should have listened to them in the first place after all as he swiftly switched his destination.

Once he got a little bit closer he saw that it was Bou that was calling his direction. He mentally sighed but continued forward. Once he landed he instantaneously swapped his dragon form for his humanoid one. "Bou, you know your mother doesn't want you out here." It was only when Haku got closer that he noticed Bou carried someone in the hand opposite of the one he had been waving to the sky.

The figure was of a young woman and he was immediately stunned by her beauty. She had long chestnut brown hair that she wore high on her head. It draped in a curvy ponytail down her back. If she had left it down he was sure that it was likely to reach her waist. A blush began to stain her high cheekbones which only enhanced the flawlessness of her skin. Her dark eyes widened in what Haku could only perceive as one of amazement or confusion. Once her scent hit his nostrils his footing became unsteady, and he had nearly lost his balance as he realized who she was. "Chihiro."

Her blush began to drain from her cheeks in shock and she sighed in confusion. It took a moment for her to ground herself, and once she did she blinked back up at him. "How do you know my name?"

It felt like a knife had pierced his heart. She had forgotten. Just like all other humans that left the spirit world after spending a short time here. She had forgotten. With the counting of years on the calendar this possibility had never occurred to him. He should have expected it because it was the same thing that happened to any human that spent time in the spirit world. He felt as if a part of his heart was breaking.

It wasn't until she asked the next question that a flicker of hope resurfaced. "Why does this place seem so familiar?"