As Rin and Chihiro descended from the floor that Rin's room originated on, down into the basement, she noted that everything looked very much as it had when she had been their eight years ago. The walls and floors were very plain, and made clear the practical nature of the basement; a servants quarters where the employees bustled about carrying linens and food.

Kamachi's door was still a small set of square sliding doors. Rin kneeled and slid one back before gesturing to Chihiro to enter. As she entered the room the familiar sound of the boiler's hisses and clanks met her ears. A damp heat hung about the room and above her, arms working harmoniously at a diligent pace, the boiler man sat.

"Dinner time? Already? Feel like I just ate," he commented without turning to look down at those who had entered his boiler room. Chihiro laughed and waited for him to turn towards them.

"Oh, Kamachi, is that anyway to greet and old friend?" Rin said with her arms crossed as she looked up expectantly. The old man paused then, and turned his head to face the two young women.

"Ehhh," he said in his typical low and questioning voice. "Rin? What are you doing down here?" he asked before stretching down to get a closer look at Chihiro. His mustache twitched before realisation came swiftly over him.

"Well I'll be darned!" He exclaimed as he, using his spider like limbs, lifted himself off his platform and came to rest down upon the floor where his dear friend stood.

"It's nice to see you, too," Chihiro said, bowing to him slightly.

"Look how tall you are." And it was true, she was now exceptionally taller than him. She had almost forgotten how small his body really was. But he made up for it with his highly dextrous and numerous arms.

"It's been eight years, I grew a little," she commented when he said nothing and continued to stare up at her in wonder.

"You came back. . ." he said finally, and he and Rin exchanged a knowing look. Chihiro wanted to protest and ask what this was all about, but decided against it.

"I came back," she confirmed.

Kamachi invited them all to sit with him while he took a rest from the boiler. The bath house was not particularly busy that evening, and he wasn't as needed at the grinder. They all chatted about life at the bath house and how much it had changed with Haku, as well as life in the human world.

Chihiro told them about school, and how her parents thought that she was at University right now. It was the only way that she could disappear without arousing their suspicions or cause them to worry. She loved her parents dearly and although she didn't want to cause them any pain over her, she also knew deep down that she couldn't stay away from the spirit world any longer. Once she came of age to attend university, she took the opportunity to make her leave.

She was questioning now whether she would ever make it out of the spirit world as she had the last time. She had no idea how easy or complicated of a task it was for her to be transferred from one side of the gate to the other. In order to pass back into her world the last time it took Yubaba's magic. Perhaps one could only pass back and forth so many times and if she left again, if she could leave at all, she would never be able to enter the spirit world again.

If that were the case, would she want to leave? Could she? She knew for many years following her departure that life in the human world would never quite be enough for her. She didn't grow and become the person that she was destined to be in the human world; she grew here, with the spirits. She wondered then exactly what Haku would have to say to her about all of this, because eventually he was going to return, and eventually this was going to become a topic of discussion.

She tried to force the thought of all that and other complicated things from her mind when Rin pulled on her sleeve.

"Are you listening?" she asked.

"Huh? Oh, sorry, I was just thinking," Rin smirked and the boiler man gave a thoughtful smile.

"Have you been to see Master Haku yet?" Kamachi asked.

"I have, but he left shortly after I arrived."

The old man's brow creased for a moment but the moment passed quickly and before she knew it the conversation was plowing forward like nothing had even happened.

It didn't seem like it, but hours had passed by the time any of them realized was time it was. Kamachi's dinner arrived by way of a young servant girl, and he took the dish excitedly. She look up at his used utensils from earlier that day and put her hands on her hips.

"I keep telling you to leave your bowls out Kamachi." Rin and Chihiro looked at each other immediately and gave a knowing laugh. It was one of the first things Chihiro had ever heard her say to Kamachi, and it seemed that some things never really did change.

The sight of Kamachi's food made Chihiros stomach rumble and Rin noticed. She suggested that the two of them have something to eat as well as figure out Chihiro's sleeping arrangements. She agreed to this but not before feeding the soot sprites. She took the basket from the slightly confused servant girl, who quickly put her questions aside after a stern look from Rin.

The sprites danced around scooping up as many of the colorful treats as they could hold. Chihiro smiled and laughed at all of the sprites that tried desperately to scoop up more than they could carry. They would stack two or three into their wispy arms before they'd topple on to the ground. Even though they failed, however, they continued to attempt to hold more than they could carry, or needed. She shook her head in a bemused way and finally stood to accompany Rin back to her quarters.

Even though Chihiro had slept all day before she had re-entered the spirit world, she still felt the tug of exhaustion as her circadian rhythm protested her staying away the entire night. Her dinner was delicious and as soon as they had finished eating, she situated herself into a sleeping robe and rolled out her bed. Rin had insisted that Chihiro stay with her, and she was completely fine with that. The idea of staying in a room alone didn't sit well with her, and having Rin so close made her more comfortable in general.

Sleep came to her swiftly and it wasn't long before she was dreaming of all kinds of strange and wonderful things.

Chihiro found herself standing on the bridge between the town and the bath house. She looked down over the railing and into the shallow waters below. She found her ten year old reflection staring back at her and looked harder; unsure of why she saw her younger self. Suddenly she noticed that another reflection had joined hers and her heart stopped.

Haku was standing there, his twelve year old body and face so extremely familiar to her. She turned quickly to look at him, and found his adult body and face waiting. She wondered why the water had shown their young reflections, but moved passed it very quickly as he placed a hand on her cheek. Her heart quickened and she reached out for him.

'Chihiro,' his voice was soft and pleasant. It all felt so real to her that her heart began to ache with longing. 'Chihiro.'

Chihiro's eyes fluttered open and she was met with the source of her name. Haku was standing near her, gently calling out to wake her. Once he noticed that her eyes were open, he said, "Meet me in the gardens, just beyond the bridge. You remember?" he asked quietly. She could tell her was making sure not to wake Rin. She nodded in response and with that he disappeared out into the hallway.

Chihiro blinked a few times before sitting up. Muffled light was pressing against the curtained window in the room where Chihiro had made her bed. It had to be the middle of the day at least. Her heart was racing as she reached for her bag and fumbled with the zipper. She realized how nervous she was and sat back for a moment, collecting her thoughts and forcing herself to breath.

She wasn't sure what was going to transpire, but this was what she had come here for. This was the moment that she had been anticipating for many many years. Whether it would end with her love coming to fruition, or Haku gently telling her to go back to the human world - that he did not love her the way she loved him - she knew not, but she knew that where their first meeting had fallen short this would be the one that counted.

She dressed in one of the casual day dresses that she had tucked away in her backpack and brushed her long hair. The dark brown locks fell like silk down her back and shoulders as she stood, ready to face her destiny. She ran a hand quickly over the purple hair band that had always given her comfort in times of stress.

She exited the bath house as quickly as possible, taking note of the eery quiet of the place. Something so large and so often busy felt almost alive, even when its inhabitants were sound asleep. She exited through the front entrance, something she had never done before. The light of the noon sun was bright and warm against the exposed skin of her arms and legs. She took in the daylight and began to cross the bridge, feeling it's familiar wooden planks individually with every step.

She came to the gate into the flower gardens, now in full bloom, and paused. Her hand hovered over the latch with uncertainty, and she knew there was no turning back. She had sealed that fate the moment she crossed over into the spirit world for the second time. With a deep breath and an adjustment of her shoulders, she unlatched the gate and stepped through.

After closing the gate behind herself with a soft click, she looked on down the path. She was engulfed in a myriad of bright and beautiful colors. The flowers smelled amazing and she was lost for a moment in their other worldly attraction. She slid her gaze from one side of the path to the other admiring every flower, down to the petals, like little star bursts hanging from the branches. She did this until her line of sight was interrupted by someone standing on the path before her.

She stopped walking her felt her stomach twist itself into knots. She clenched her hands into little fists to keep them from shaking, but moved forward to meet Haku. He was standing patiently, holding a flower gently between his fingers and admiring it.

"I'm sorry I woke you," he said finally, as she came into a normal speaking distance. "This just isn't something that can wait."

Chihiro wasn't sure how to take this. Could this be it? Was he going to tell her that she needed to leave the spirit world forever? That his feelings had faded where hers had bloomed? Or was he going to tell her that by coming here there was no way for her to leave again? She wanted to believe that this was going to be the moment she had been hoping for for so many years, but the uncertainty just couldn't be pushed away.