Chihiro started coughing lightly, and then a little more severely as the elevator came to a stop. She banged her fist against her chest once or twice to finally stop before taking a deep breath. Yuniko looked at her with worry before smiling a little. "Hey! You're becoming a little bit clearer!" Yuniko said with a smile.
Chihiro looked at her, alarmed. "Am I, Kiko?" She asked lightly, knowing full well what that really meant. There was a small, sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach. Somehow.. even now.. she was afraid of fully dying.
"Wow.. you're so pretty! I couldn't really see you before.." Kiko said with a small laugh, looking Chihiro over.
Chihiro looked down at the little girl and blushed lightly. "Wow.. thanks.." Chihiro said. It was true, she'd gotten to become for feminine and less pudgy faced.. not that that had really mattered. All of the people here had known her and judged her the same way, even without being as pretty as she was, or wasn't now. In reality, she had been.. well.. normal. She hadn't been beautiful, but she certainly wasn't ugly.
Chihiro started coughing a bit more before heading to the other elevator. She was still shuddering by the time she pulled the control down.
"Are you okay?" Kiko questioned, reaching out to pat Chihiro's back. Chihiro just nodded her head and stopped the elevator, moving into the room she and Lin had once slept in together. Chihiro went over to the drawers and started pointing out the clothes she needed before she promptly fainted on the floor. Even unconscious she started gasping.
"Sen? Sen! Answer me! Wake up! Wake up!" Kiko said, kneeling down and frantically shaking her. The 22 year old was lying on the floor becoming clearer and clearer every second that went by. Her hair color, a dark brown, was the first thing to form. Then her skin slowly started filling in with color. "Sen.. Sen.. Chihiro!"
Suddenly, a strong force pushed Kiko all the way to the back wall knocking the breath out of her. She opened her eyes to see a man kneeling down beside Chihiro, and placing something on her. Kiko watched speechless as the man's cold, hard gaze turned to her, protective and willing to do anything to save the girl in front of him. She was reminded of a fierce Lion.. or maybe even a-
There was coughing from where Chihiro lay, and she slowly started to darken from Kiko's sight.
"Chihiro!" Kiko shouted, "Chihiro! Don't leave me!"
"Either she leaves you or she dies." The man said, not paying attention to the small girl's tears.
Chihiro's body suddenly shot up in violent coughing, expelling the water that had been held in her body for hours upon hours on its journey to the bath house. She coughed for awhile afterwards, shivering to herself and hardly noticing the arms wrapped around her. But when she finally felt them, she held them lightly and turned around to see Haku, a little older, but still the same one she knew.
Chihiro turned around and hugged him softly, and then tighter, and tighter. "I knew it.. I knew you were real."
Chihiro hugged him tightly until he pulled away, smiling down at her and caressing her face. She didn't know half of what he'd gone through to get her all the way to the bath house in time. Chihiro smiled up at him happily, until she realized something. Chihiro looked over to the corner of the room to see a mere shadow of a little girl.. a spirit she could no longer see. "Kiko.."
The spirit made a noise that she could not understand, and Chihiro's eyes were cast downward, at the cold, hard floor. Something felt missing from her vision, from her body. Her mind felt foggy, her body felt heavy. She felt as if this were a sickness, like the flu, although she hardly thought there were any diseases in this world. She felt sick, nauseated..
"Come on, let's get out of here." Haku said to Chihiro, pulling her up from the ground. He started running, and Chihiro ran with him, her heart elating. She didn't have to work for Yubaba, all she had to do was get out of here with Haku and live happily ever after! Or.. so she thought.
Haku rounded corner after colorful corner of the bath house. It seemed almost like a dream.. a wonderful dream that she was about to escape..
"Not so fast Haku."
Yubaba's voice made their heads turn. Haku didn't stop, and ran them both into an invisible wall, which even Haku could not escape.
"You're forgetting your contracts. And as long as you both have the intent to leave, I'm afraid I can't let you leave the bath house. I've placed a barrier all around the bath house, a unique one to both of you. Until your contract runs out or is nullified, I'm afraid I can't let you leave." Yubaba lit a pipe and started smoking it, earning a glare from Haku.
"There's nothing you can do to stop me from breaking the barrier." Haku said hostily. Yubaba only smiled and blew smoke from out of her nose, making Haku smile as well.
Haku let go of Chihiro's hand and started to morph into a huge, white dragon. With one last glance at Chihiro, he shot forward at the barrier. A large, white mark first appeared as Haku pressed onward, as hard as he could. The large mark became larger and larger until a huge crash occurred.
The barrier lay before Chihiro, shattered. Her eyes widened when she saw what lie on the other side. There lie Haku, unconscious, but breathing, no more than three years old. Chihiro cried out and ran to him, grabbing him up in her arms and turning to Yubaba.
"What did you do!" Chihiro shouted, "Change him back!"
"I knew he wasn't going to obey. I also knew that he could break the barrier fairly easily. So, I put an extra charm on it." Yubaba said, the barrier reforming. "He doesn't have to work in this state, but you do. You are to work extra hard until the spell wears off. After that, all you two have to do is walk out of here, hand in hand."
Chihiro was silent before looking down at the little boy in her hands. "How long?"
Yubaba smiled. "That's a girl. Right now, five years.. If you slack off. The harder and longer you work, the less time you have to stay here, and the older Haku grows. You could be out of here in a month.. If you never stopped working."
Chihiro scowled before running back down the hall where they'd come.
"You start work tomorrow Sen! Don't forget! The more you work, the less time you spend here!"
Chihiro found a spare closet to sit in with Haku, a small room, until he woke up. She looked at his sleeping face and caressed it lightly, tears coming to her eyes. But, she saw his eyes fluttering open and she smiled down at him, a small, sad smile. He smiled up at her widely before looking around and looking down at his hands. He saw them and looked up at her, and promptly started wailing. He rubbed his eyes, sobbing like only a three year old could.
"Chi chi.." Haku sobbed lightly, "I'm little."
Chihiro only laughed lightly and started crying herself. "It's okay.. It's okay.. What are you crying about? I've become a cougar."
Haku buried his head in Chihiro's shoulder and wiped his nose on her shirt, gaining a small laugh. And for the rest of the night, they laughed and cried until they both fell asleep in each others arms, innocent and untroubled.