- 7 -

Haku brushed Chihiro's hair out of her face, her eyes closed gentley in a deep slumber. He lay on his side, propped up on one of his elbows to watch over her. He wondered what she was was seeing right now, what dream she was having. Was he in it? His usual smile faded, he shouldn't be thinking about himself so much. He brought his free hand from behind his back once more and returned it to her forehead, pressing only slightly and closing his eyes, taking a deep breath.

"LET US CONGRATULATE THE NEW GRADUATING CLASS OF 2015!" The Dean of the university shouted over the tops of the graduates, family, friends, and everyone at the celebration. Chihiro took her cap off with the rest of her class and threw it up in the air, also, shouting. Trumpets sounded and a band began to play. She glanced down at her hand to see the rolled diploma with the golden stamp and ribbon wiggling with the breeze.

Someone tapped on her shoulder, but before she could fully turn around, a familiar voice said proudly loud, "WE'RE SO PROUD OF YOU!" It was Mom, with Dad standing inches behind her with that bouquet of roses he had promised, his smile was bigger than ever.

"Mom, can I breathe?" she pretended to sound as if she was running out of air, although her Mother was squeezing her tightly in her embrace. Mom let go, and Dad stepped towards his daughter holding a doctorate.

"Congratulations, sweetie," he hugged her, also, but not as tight or long as Mom. The roses were fresh and filled Chihiro's nose.

"Thanks Mom, Dad. I'm glad this is all done," she said, holding the bouquet and diploma as close as possible. She heard someone shout her name. She turned around, and waved to her friend Nina who was waving so fast her hand could have fallen off, showing her diploma. Chihiro lifted hers, also, and blew a kiss.

She turned back to her parents.

Her heart sank when she turned to nothing but darkness. No graduation, no parents, no college. She dropped the bouquet and diploma from her grasp, falling to her knees as the first tears fell from her eyes. She covered her face, crouching to the dark ground. Moments passed that felt like hours, and all of the amazing memories she had just made in the last half an hour were actually fake.

A hand met her shoulder. Chihiro's wet face snapped to the area the person could have been to find him.

"H-haku?"

"Mhm," Haku was happy he had come, he didn't want her in this mess, even if it was a dream.

Chihiro grabbed Haku's shoulders, turning herself into his chest and crying into him. She buried her face in his robes, clenching the cloth covering his shoulder area like she was hanging on to her life.

"What's wrong, hun?" He said, realizing what he had called her and wondering how she would react in this dimension.

She lifted her head, tears still falling, "I just saw some of my dreams come true... M-mom and Dad were here... and watched them all dis-disappear." She seemed to choke on the last words.

His hand smoothed her hair at the back of her head, trying to calm her down. "It's alright, Chihiro. Do you know where you are?"

"I thought th-this w-was real at first, but it is obviously a..." she didn't finish. She knew this was a dream now.

"If you know this is a dream, then don't worry and don't be upset. Please?" He lifted her chin and kissed her. She felt her insides fill with warmth; he felt all of her emotions from being within her mind. When he broke the kiss, he finished by saying, "Chihiro, you can do whatever you wish to do. You have the power and I know you can do anything." He kissed her hands delicately.

When he stood up, she followed. He looked into her eyes deeply, he could see her entire being. Chihiro was a complicated woman now and she wanted the things in life that took something more than money. A job, a life, a home,... a family. Love. Haku knew who exactly who could help her with all of those things, and he knew him all too well. Haku looked to the infinite darkness and raised his arm. Closing his eyes and imaging a specific scene, he waved his hand and opened his eyes to find it replacing the darkness.

Now, instead of surrounded by absolutely nothing but emptiness and black, the two stood at a beach in a mahogany wood canopy. The stars in the sky twinkled, not a cloud interrupting their view. Haku returned his eyes to Chihiro, who was overtaken by the new surroundings she found herself in.

A few strands of her hair had fallen to her face, so Haku tucked them behind her hair slowly, attracting her attention once more. He smiled at her, and he earned a small smile from her in return. As Haku closened himself to her to meet his lips with hers again, he waved his hand to signal fireworks to begin, dancing with the stars and waves.

Pulling away quickly, "Chihiro, I need to do this now."

"Do what?"

"You'll find out in a sec..."

Haku opened his eyes and gently slipped out of the bed, walking across the room to a locked chest, black with gold markings covering the edges. Unlocking the furniture with a turn of his finger, he found a smaller box. The chest shut and locked itself; the small box in his hand was made of jade and decorated with gold in the form of waves on the top. He placed the box on the bedside table and sat on the edge of the bed, immediately lowering his face to Chihiro's to kiss her motionless lips.

Her eyes squinted at first, but she realized where he was and obliged, kissing back. He sat up in seconds, smiling.

"I'm sorry, but I couldn't do this in a dream," he took her hand and pulled her up into a sitting position, still sleepy, of course.

"That was really you?" She asked, embarrassment in her voice.

Haku sighed, "yes, it was." He thought of the simplest, smallest white lie he could get away with because she would not live with him mind-reading for the sake of curiousity, "I was watching you make odd facial expressions and was getting a bit worried, so, I wanted to know what was happening."

She seemed to stay in contact, not breaking eye contact or turning all different shades of red, "oh."

He smiled and kissed her forehead, grabbing the small box, "so, like I said, I needed to wake you up for this." He watched her yawn and return to her previous position, smiling.

"Okay, but what?" She watched as he lowered himself to one knee.

"Well, if you'd hold on a second, you'd figure it out," he said, with sarcasm in his voice. Her cheeks turning profusely pink immediately signalled the position on his knee was enough to give it away. He smiled and shook his head, "you spoiler."

"Spoiler?" She said in lower than a whisper, losing the volume of her voice.

He laughed, finding the box.

"Chihiro, I know this is somewhat soon to ask you when you have first come back, and it is a very big question," he started, her cheeks becoming deeper red with every word he breathed. "Chihiro," he heard her take in a loud, deep breath, "will you be with me forever?" He watched her eyes close, her chest rising and falling with speed becoming quicker by the second. "Will you be my wife and marry me?" He opened the jade and gold box to reveal a ring that nestled blue diamonds.

She fell onto him covering her face with her hands, her forehead on his shoulder. He didn't fall back one inch as her weight fell to him on the floor. When he realized her arms had found their way around his neck and her face was directly above his.

"H-haku?"

"Chihiro?"

"I only want to be with you," she kissed him as he smiled happily, sheathing her finger with the ring he had found in himself the same day he had saved her life all those years before.