Disclaimer: Go to the first chapter to see my disclaimer, please.

Chapter 4

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Chihiro and Mya were tired from their trip, and it was nice to have some rest. So as soon as Lin opened the room's door, they both collapsed onto the nearest futon, even if it wasn't theirs. All they cared about was that it was comfy and fluffy. They didn't move until the next day.

The next morning, Chihiro woke up and stretched her arms. She looked around; there were several other futons surrounding her, with Mya snoozing soundly in one of them.

She sighed and thought to herself, Kami...I'm actually here.

She went up to go to the bathroom, and when she came back, Lin was digging into the cupboards to find uniforms.

"Good morning, Lin." Chihiro yawned.

"Hey. Morning, kiddo." Lin replied. She held out a petite peach-colored shirt. "It's so lucky that you're not a shrimp anymore. I found one that fits ya on the first try." Lin joked. She tossed Chihiro the shirt. A moment later, a flying short landed on Chihiro's head.

"Thanks," Chihiro muffled. She took the shorts off of her head and saw that Mya had woken up. And...no offense, but she didn't look as pretty as she usually did. Mya's usually shiny, thick, straight hair had transformed to a twig-colored bush overnight. She had dark circles around her eyes, and her face was as pale as a blank sheet of paper. There was dried drool around her small mouth, and her clothes were wrinkled from not being changed last night.

"Muhrning..." gurgled Mya. She stumbled her way to the bathroom and shut it quietly. Chihiro's chocolate brown eyes were wide with surprise, and Lin just chuckled. "Oh...looks like somebody's had a rough morning." Lin said, while picking out Mya's clothes. Chihiro grabbed a pillow from a futon and threw it softly at her friend. "Be nice..."

About 45 minutes later, Mya returned to her normal self again and both she and Chihiro were dressed up in their uniforms, ready to work. (psh, yeah right!)

"Um...Lin...is there another choice?" Mya asked, pinching her peachy shirt. Chihiro rolled her eyes and giggled. Mya ALWAYS had to be in style, no matter what. Even if she was in a mystical spirit world, with slugs, frogs, and spider-people roaming around, and she had to clean sludgy gigantic tubs, she just HAD to look good.

"Sorry Mya, that's what you're stuck with. Now come on, you have to go see Zeniba. I know she would let you girls have jobs, duh, but you have to take care of things, you know. The bathhouse is a business, so we need to handle it properly." Lin opened the door to let the girls out, and shut it quickly behind her back when she stepped out. She started speedwalking toward an elevator, and motioned the girls to hurry up. In the elevator, Lin pulled on a handle, whispered "Hold on", and up the elevator went, at a fast speed. They got out and repeated the same thing once more. Then, they arrive at the top floor, with Lin already running ahead.

"Lin! WAIT UP!" Chihiro shouted. Lin stopped and waited for the girls to catch up with her, tapping her foot impatiently. She kept on looking at her watch every 5 seconds. Hmmm...ever since when did Lin get a watch?

Anyway, the girls caught up and Lin grabbed both of their arms. She started leading them to the gigantic door to Yubaba's-now-Zeniba's office. Funny that the annoying doorknocker wasn't there, and Lin pushed the door open. Chihiro and Mya followed, panting, into the huge colorful office. There was Zeniba, hunched over on her desk, scribbling letters and such. She looked up when she heard someone step into the room. Zeniba smiled and immediately got up from her desk to hug Chihiro. Chihiro introduced Mya to Granny, and Granny was delighted to meet another human girl.

Just then, Chihiro realized something. Lin. She disappeared. Chihiro looked around the office. She sighed, relieved, when she spotted Lin near the door. But she gasped when she saw that Lin wasn't alone. Next to her, stood a young man. He was very handsome, with bluish-blackish hair gracing his lower back, and a strong, chiseled face with amazing dark blue eyes. He was also wearing a uniform, except it was a pale yellow. He stood tall and broad, talking to a blushing Lin.

Chihiro raised an eyebrow. Hmm...is this guy the reason Lin had me running for my life? For a dude?, she thought. She turned around to tell Mya, but Mya already had a smirk on her face, beady brown eyes directed at Lin and her boyfriend. Hmph...and SHE was the one who was teasing me about Haku. Ha, my turn now, Linny-lin. Chihiro placed a smug look on her face, happy with a reason to tease Lin later.

"Ah, Raiden. Nice to see you this morning." said Zeniba, breaking the silence. Raiden? The guy-so-called-Raiden took a step forward and bowed in greeting to Granny. Lin smiled big and wide when he walked back to her and picked up where their conversation left off.

"Um...Granny?" Chihiro started out. "Who's this guy?" she whispered.

Granny smiled and answered, "That is Raiden. He is a thunder spirit who works here at the bathhouse part time. He's an assistant, like Haku. He makes sure things are organized and the way they are supposed to be. And he does a great job. We like him here." Chihiro nodded in understandment, while Mya murmured, "He's hot."

Granny chuckled softly and said, "Sorry, Mya, looks like Lin already has her hands on him."

Ah ha! thought Chihiro. Lin has a crush! I knew something changed. Chihiro smiled in awe at the sight of her friend and her loverboy. Loverboy. That reminded Chihiro of something; she asked, "Hey, Granny..um...when is Haku coming back?"

"Oh dear, Chihiro, you just can't wait to see him, can't you?" Zeniba rolled her eyes. "You girls these days are just too much! Hm, well...he left about a day before you arrived, so he'll be back soon. Probably tomorrow or the day after. Is that okay?"

Both Chihiro and Mya nodded their heads in disappointment. But there was a pang of excitement in their stomachs...Haku was coming soon.

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In the kitchen...

"ICE CREAM! I NEED ICE CREAM!" Chihiro screamed. She needed ice cream. She need something sweet, something sugary...something to take her mind off of Haku.

"OKAY, okay, Sen, just chill out for a sec." Lin rushed into a freezer and grabbed a quart of strawberry ice cream and spoons. She opened the container and set it in the middle of the circle of the three.

"Now..." Lin started, picking up her spoon. "what is up with you? You've been acting jittery all day." The girls were put to work after the visit to Zeniba's office, and scrubbed their butts off all afternoon. Lin and Chihiro were used to the work, but not Mya. She was exhausted, and finally fainted when she caught sight of the radish spirit. Now here they are in the kitchen, sharing ice cream to reward each other for working so hard.

"N-nothing's wrong...just...I'm just tired, that's all." Chihiro said, spooning ice cream into her mouth.

Lin and Mya exchanged looks and pummeled Chihiro with We-know-it's-something-else looks. "Chi...you're craving ice cream." Mya paused. "It's Haku, isn't it?" she said, smugly.

"Oh, NO WAY." Lin quipped sarcastically, letting out a laugh.

Chihiro's face turned beet red as Mya laughed along with Lin. "Is not!" Chihiro shot back, mouth full with ice cream.

Mya nodded rapidly and made a heart with her hands. Chihiro blushed again.

"Ha, look who's blushing!" Lin pointed at Chihiro. Chihiro gave Lin a glare.

"Heh, relax Sen, we're just teasing ya."

Chihiro wiped the melted pink liquid off of her mouth and smile mischivieously. She remembered she had something to ask Lin. "Oh, Lin...I forgot to ask you...How are you and Raiden?"

Now it was Lin's turn to blush as she replied, "Nothing. Just talking and...stuff. It's all gooood."

Chihiro smiled at Lin. "You guys look cute together." She looked at Mya, who nodded agreeingly.

Lin scoffed. "Uh-what? No, no, no, no, no, no, you've got it all wrong girls. We're just friends."

"Nuh-uh-uh, we saw your eyes sparkling when you were talking to him. DON'T deny it, Lin. You like that guy." Mya confronted, a smirk across her face.

Chihiro smiled a mile-wide smile while Lin crossed her arms and shook her head. "N-nope. I have NO feelings for...for...Raiden." she said, nervously.

"Ha. We're not even gonna force it out of you, Lin. We know you heart that dude. And we can't blame you, he's pretty hot." Mya said, grinning from ear-to-ear. Chihiro was in a fit of giggles.

Lin relaxed a bit, while still blushing a slight pink. She hung her head. "F-f-fine. I admit it. I kinda like Raiden. Kinda. He's cute, so why not?" she murmured.

Chihiro and Mya high-fived, satisfied with Lin's surrender. After more girl chatter, they finished their ice cream, cleaned up, and got ready for bed.

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The full moon was shining bright on the sparkling water. Then, a long, slivery figure flew gracefully over the lake. The beautiful blue and white dragon landed on a high balcony and transformed to human form. The young man, who looked about sixteen, opened the door to his room and slid the it shut. He was back from his task, and he desired some rest.

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'Haku?

Haku, it's me. Chihiro.'

Gorgeous emerald eyes stared back at her with surprise. After a moment, they softened and peered at her with love.

'Chihiro...'

Haku held out his hand, and Chihiro reached for it until...

Chihiro's eyes snapped open. Dangit!! I can't believe I woke up from a dream. She slowly sat up from her futon, and looked out the window. Tonight had a full moon, and it was beautiful. It reflected off the crystal lake and shimmered with beauty. Wow...

Admiring the beautiful sight before her, she thought of the one person she wanted to share it with.

Chihiro prayed to the gods that Haku would soon return, and that he would be happy to see her. She prayed they would give her guidance throughout this world, and that they would let her have a wonderful time here. After praying, she got up and went over to her backpack. She carefully took out her stuffed dragon. Chihiro held onto her friend tightly and slipped back into bed. She cuddled with her cute little dragon, thinking about how she was going to reunite with the real one soon. She drifted off to sleep, dreaming sweet dreams about her dragon boy.

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And here you go, Chapter 4.

Sorry if it kinda sucked. As you may have figured out already, Haku and Chihiro will reunite in the next chapter. And it's gonna be happy and sappy, with lots of fluff, if you don't mind, lol. I make happy stories.

Oh, and 'Raiden' means 'god of thunder'. Just so you know.

Next chapter will be up soon. Enjoy.

xoxo Mari

P.S. Review please!

P.P.S. I want to thank the people that reviewed. I'm touched -sniffle-

Three people may seem a small amount, but I'm so happy already.

Thanks Garra's Moruni, ichigo-2007, and BlackWolf'sShadow!