Lin was not in the mood to be messed with.

Her day started out bad and so far, not a good thing happened to her. During the average "morning" routine of getting ready for the big day ahead, her shirt ripped; causing her to be late for work because she had to mend the rip. Yubaba did not care for reasons. She successfully embarrassed Lin by telling her in front of everyone that if she didn't "meet required standards for an average bathhouse worker", she would have to face the consequences.

Of course, the staff took the oppurtonity to laugh at Lin that entire day. And just to make her day even worse, she was assigned to the big tub again - doing frog's work.

So here was a very grumpy Lin, having tough luck scrubbing the sludge off the dirty tub. She winced at her aching muscles, remembering Chihiro and her cheery smile that would light up anyone at the darkest of moods. "How it would be, if she was here," she mused, smiling.

"Lin!" It was the foreman.

"What?!" Lin snapped, not bothering to look up at the foreman.

"Yubaba wants to see you."

"Wait - what?" Lin dropped her brushes and climbed to the edge of the big tub, staring at the foreman in disbelief. "Me?"

"You heard!" the foreman yelled roughly. "Now get going."

Lin shook her head, muttering how her life just couldn't get any tougher. Why Yubaba would want to see her was beyond the weasel spirit - she was just an average worker, like thousands of others that worked in the luxurious bathhouse. But it was better not to risk it. Just get it over with, Lin thought to herself and marched down the bathhouse with her head held high.

The noise grew fainter and fainter until it wasn't even in ear shot as the elevator took Lin to the highest floor. The eerily quiet luxurious halls were enough to scare even the arrogant foreman into behaving. Lin stopped, jaw-dropped, as she saw something truly shocking: the doors that eventually would lead to Yubaba's office were open.

"W-what?" Lin stammered quietly. Taking a deep breath, she walked through the doors and carefully made her way to the office. As she approached the office, she heard two voices: one loud, demanding, rude, threatening; and another voice that was frightened and meek.

The frightened and meek voice was Yubaba's.

Yubaba spun on her heel quickly, making Lin gasp and quickly hide behind a curtain. Though she wasn't still in the office, she knew that she didn't stand a chance escaping. The slightest gasp, the quietest footstep and she would be discovered.

"How dare you think I am imagining this?!" the rude voice yelled. "There is a human here."

Human? Who ever it was meant Chihiro. Lin definitely wasn't leaving now.

"Oh, of course not sir," Yubaba whispered. "Just if there was..."

"JUST IF THERE WAS!" Somebody slammed a fist on Yubaba's desk, rattling the china and upsetting the order of the paperwork. "Listen here, witch. There is a human here. I want that human's head on a silver platter."

"Of course, honorable sir," Yubaba promised, bowing slightly. "As soon as I find any traces of the human, I will let you know."

"See to it you bring satisfaction," the voice hissed. "I am the Dark Spirit. You know what will become of your son - and I'm not mentioning you - if this isn't taken seriously. I want every corner of this bathhouse searched. You know that humans are the real threat to my very being."

"I promise you, sir!" Yubaba stammered, bowing again.

There was a warning, terrible silence in the office. Yubaba seemed to tremble from head to toe at the being before her. With a loud, disapproving sniff, the Dark Spirit said:

"Good."

Yubaba hastily made her way over to the balcony, opening the doors. "This way, sir," she murmured, nodding towards the balcony. The Dark Spirit sauntered over to the balcony and without a second glance or word to Yubaba, jumped out the balcony and turned into a hideous bird, flying away.

Yubaba glared at the bird with such bitter hatefulness that if looks could kill, this Dark Spirit didn't stand a chance.

Too bad that they didn't.

Yubaba spun on her heel, strode over to the curtain Lin was hiding behind and yanked it aside. The witch scowled at her employee, her glare promising many levels of pain.

"You were eavesdropping, weren't you?"

Of course the witch was simply taunting her. Lin managed to keep a straight face. "What will you do?!" she screamed. Lin felt herself loose control and all her worries and anger rise to the surface.

"Listen here, weasel." Yubaba grabbed Lin by the shoulders and shook her furiously. "Did Chihiro come back?"

Lin glared.

"Obviously I have to teach you a lesson!" Yubaba screamed and hit Lin several times against the wall until she cried out in pain and tears stung her eyes as her head spun and spots covered her vision.

"Where is Chihiro? Answer me," Yubaba hissed, holding Lin by the collar of her shirt.

"I won't tell."

"'Course you won't," Yubaba hissed, throwing Lin on the floor with a sickening thud. "You love her too much. Of course, you understand, I can't have you running off and informing your friends for Chihiro not to come back. That will risk the life of my baby."

"Bo would be very angry with you, witch!" Lin wanted to glare and snap in reply, but she managed to stare at Yubaba hopelessly and whimper as she fell back to the floor in pain.

"My Bo is none of your concern," Yubaba said. She snapped her fingers, revealing a hidden staircase beside the fireplace leading down to a set of dungeons. The prison cells were dirty and bare.

"In you go," Yubaba spat, pointing down the stairs. Lin stood up on shaking legs, backing away.

"No ... no ... please!"

"Have it your way." Yubaba snapped her fingers again, making Lin faint and fall to the floor with another sickening thud. Climbing down the staircase with an unconscious Lin in her arms, Yubaba threw her in one of the dusty cells and slammed the door loudly.

The witch quickly climbed up the stairs, shuddering. "That prison," she muttered, stepping into her office and hastily snapped her fingers to hide the dungeon.

"Mama!"

Yubaba turned around, shuddering as if the Dark Spirit was before her. Instead, it was her gigantic son standing. Bo rubbed his eyes sleepily and yawned. "Mama, what's all the racket?"

Yubaba smiled sweetly and rushed over to Bo. "I'm sorry, sweetie," she cooed. "Here am I - old hag - disturbing you when you were sound asleep."

"Mama, I think I heard Lin."

Yubaba groaned inwardly. Perfect.

"Oh sweetie, you must imagined it," she assured her son with a sweet smile. "Lin is working."

"Then call Lin here!" Bo cried. "I want to see her."

"But I can't, sweetie," Yubaba objected, wrecking her brains for the perfect lie. "She's attending customers, you see."

Bo arched his eyebrows slightly. "Really?"

"Of course." Yubaba desperately hid the impatience from her voice. "But please, dear, go back to sleep."

"And for your information," Bo said rudely, "I'll be visiting Auntie Zeniba tomorrow. I want to, mama."

"Oh, of course. But go to sleep now, dear. For mommy."

Now, Bo could have a major control over his mother; but he could not resist to do what his mother asked him to when she looked at him that way. Bo nodded briefly in acknowledgement and stumped to his nursery, falling asleep the moment his head hit the cushions.

"That was close," Yubaba said to herself, all of her motherly sweetness fading away the moment Bo left. "When my son will grow up, he will thank me for saving him." The witch shuddered at the unpleasant memory of the Dark Spirit's threat to Bo.

"Yubaba," it have said, "if you do not do exactly what I tell you to, you can imagine what will become of you - I am not mentioning your beloved baby. Bo is his name, isn't it?" And it repeated the same thing to her today.


Oh, Yubaba did imagine. She would rather suffer one hundred Bo fits and slay the entire human population than see her beloved baby ... hurt, putting it mildly.

Lin's eyes fluttered open. The first thing she felt was a terrible pain in her head. "What ... where am I?" she stammered, looking around her unfamiliar surroundings. She saw herself in what looked like a prison cell; the metal bars seperating her from the corridor that was filled with other countless prison cells.

Her hands and feet were chained to the wall. Memories resurfaced, and Lin cried when she remembered - or, more likely, understood - how she got here.

"What will become of Chihiro?" she wailed to herself, covering her face with her dirty palms and doing her best to ignore the shrill clank of the iron chains. "Chihiro ... please, if you can hear me, hear this: don't come back to the bathhouse. Yubaba is working for the Dark Spirit, and she'll kill you if you'll give her the tiniest chance. Please, Chihiro, don't come back! Please ... for the sake of your life ..."

Lin felt heart wrenching cries form in her chest and her heart break; and soon, she was crying gently, rocking herself and trying to lock out the harsh sounds of the iron chains that clearly didn't approve of her moving. I don't care for myself - I'm not at life threatening danger, Lin thought.

Lin remembered, for the umpteenth time, that Chihiro was a human. How easy it is to hurt a human! Lin felt the need to get free - to yank herself out of the irony grasp of the chains, to push herself through the bars, to run down the train tracks all day and night if necessary to get to Zeniba's to warn Chihiro of the danger she was in.


Yubaba didn't bother to bring Lin anything to eat and drink; and because of that, her stomach was empty and her throat dry. It was only noon the next day that Yubaba came down to Lin's cell, opening the door with a screech and carrying a bowl of water in her hand.

Lin looked up at Yubaba, weary.

"You have two choices," Yubaba said firmly. "One, you tell me where Chihiro is and I'll set you free - with a certain spell, of course, that will prevent you from telling others what you heard. Or two, you do not cooperate and just stay here, say, for the rest of your life. Your diet will consist of only bread and water, so don't expect it to be long."

Lin pressed her lips together, balling her hands into fists.

"I take it as a no?" Yubaba demanded, her face hardening as if it was made of stone.

Lin remained silent, doing her best to ignore her heart that seemed to tighten inside her body.

"And one more thing," Yubaba said, putting the bowl of water near Lin. "Don't expect me to be patient with you. You will face certain physical consequences for your stubborness."

Lin took the bowl of water and drank it, letting the liquid soothe her dry throat. "Your bathhouse won't run without me," she reminded Yubaba fiercly after she found her voice. "Nobody will be bringing food to Kamaji, the boiler man; and eventually he'll be so weak from lack of meals that he won't be able to do his job. As you know, his job is crucial for the bathhouse to run."

Yubaba laughed. "Smart. I can get somebody else to bring the food."

Lin scoffed. "Fine," she said. "Explain it to your workers when they start questioning where I am, and why you're not searching for me and having others do my work instead."

Yubaba's eyes narrowed, pressing her lips firmly together. "Fine, weasel. You go to your work, but there will be new ... consequences, let's say, for you. One, you will get very little food and rest. Two, you will do ten times as more work as you did before. Three, you may not leave the bathhouse territory under any condition without my permission. And four, if you do your work poorly, don't finish it on time, or give my staff any trouble - you'll be beaten."

Yubaba ignored Lin's gasp as she snapped her fingers, freeing her. "Now move!" she yelled. Lin stood up on her trembling legs and followed Yubaba up the stairs and into her office.

"You're not resting," Yubaba hissed to Lin. "Go finish doing the big tub. Remember your punishment."

Lin didn't say anything as she ran out of the office, sobbing, and took the elevator down. On the contrary, she did not know if it was better for her to stay in that stinky, dirty, dusty, disgusting prison cell or was she better off overworking herself in intolerable conditions. Well, what's the good crying over what has been done?

All the while Lin was scrubbing the big tub, she kept thinking about Chihiro. She knew that if Chihiro returned to the bathhouse, Yubaba would notice immediately and her presence would be reported to the Dark Spirit. The fact that Yubaba worked for the Dark Spirit was a shock to Lin; she knew the witch to be horrid, but she did not expect this from her! Yes, the Dark Spirit did threaten Bo's life; but was there really nothing Yubaba could do about it but bend to the Dark Spirit's will? Hardly.

By the time it was evening and Lin was carrying Kamaji's food, she felt exhausted. Dark circles surrounded her eyes, bruises covered her arms from the heavy work, and her skin was just too pale.

"Lin! Are you all right?" Kamaji gasped when he saw her. "What happened?"

"Kamaji," Lin whispered, handing him the bowl of rice and dumping the crackers to the very hungry soot balls.

"What happened?" Kamaji repeated fiercly.

Lin felt her heart tighten in her chest, and soon, she was sobbing out all her worries to the boiler man. Kamaji listened patiently while mixing a concoction out of healing herbs. By the time Lin finished telling what happened to her, her hands were shaking from the unsteady nerves and her breathing came out in gasps.

"There, there," Kamaji soothed, handing Lin the herbal drink. "Drink this."

"Th-thank you," Lin stammered and gulped down the concoction, cringing at the unpleasant taste. "It's not me I'm worried about, Kamaji. Chihiro is in life threatening danger! With Yubaba alert and all, she'll know that Chihiro's back the moment she steps here ... and then ..."

"We'll do something," Kamaji interrupted.

"No. I will do something. If you stop doing your work or whatever, Yubaba will notice this immediately and she'll know I told you and she'll kill you." Lin paused. "Kamaji, do you think I can leave unnoticed during the day?"

Kamaji frowned at the soot balls. "Get back to WORK!" he shouted. Then he turned to Lin. "Maybe," he said. "I can give you train tickets."

"Thank you."

Kamaji looked at Lin, worried. "But what about you?" he demanded. "Zeniba's a long way from here. You will get there by evening, and Yubaba will notice your disappearance."

Lin covered her face with her hands. "What can I do?" she wailed. "Kamaji, I have no choice! Chihiro can die if she comes back here, and I will never forgive myself for being such a coward; not going to tell her because I was afraid for my own self."

Kamaji shook his head. "That's not what I meant."

Lin stood up with a weary sigh. "I have to go now. If anybody asks you anything about this, say that you don't know."

Kamaji felt his eyes brim with tears. "Take care of yourself."

Lin smiled sadly. "I will. Bye, Kamaji."

"Bye, Lin."


It was day-time. The weather, despite it being the very peak of noon, was cold and a chilly wind wrapped the bathhouse. Yubaba had Lin attend to a stink spirit the night before; and, as if that wasn't enough, she ordered Lin to be cleaning the bathhouse and to finish it by dusk.

"If you don't," Yubaba have told her, "you know what will happen."

And that is why Lin was scrubbing the big tub, awake and alert, when she should be resting from the night's tough events. "Just a little more," she reminded herself and scrubbed the last of the remaining sludge.

Lin climbed to stand at the edge of the tub and adored her handiwork. She looked up towards the women dorms and an image of herself, sound asleep, immediately popped into her mind.

"No, this is my chance."

Carefully, so not to wake anybody, Lin went to the boiler room. Kamaji was sound asleep on his pedestal, snoring loudly. The soot balls looked at Lin questioningly. Lin looked at them blankly in reply and walked quickly to the back door. Her hands shook from her unsteady nerves as she placed one on the door knob and, twisting it, opened the door and ran up the stairs.

The gardens looked bare and incomplete without the green grass and leaves as a cold wind swept over the dry earth. "It will be snowing soon at such rate!" she thought out loud and went to the back of the bathhouse. Angry ripples covered the sea's surface, as oceans and seas always did in autumn and early winter. The water was icy cold, stinging Lin's bare feet. But she ignored it and ran along the train tracks. Lin knew the consequences of her actions, and it trembled her to think about it.

Lin could not tell how long she's been walking - it could have been five minutes, ten minutes, whatever. But as she the bathhouse shrinked behind her running figure, she heard a familiar voice call out her name. "Lin!"

Lin turned around hastily, breathing in a sigh of relief. "It's only you, Haku."

Haku frowned and walked over to her. "What are you doing here? Do you need a ride?" It was then that he saw the state Lin was in. She was dangerously thin with dark circles around her eyes, bruises covering her skin. "What happened to you?!"

"Listen to me, Haku. Yubaba is working for the Dark Spirit! The Dark Spirit sensed that Chihiro's been in the bathhouse, and ordered Yubaba to find her and kill her. Don't bring her back here!"

Haku nodded stiffly. "Thank you, Lin. What happened to you?"

"Yubaba has been demanding where Chihiro was, and I didn't tell."

Haku pressed his lips together. "Zeniba gave me to this; but I think you better have it," he said, and handed her a bottle of lavender colored liquid.

"What's this?"

"It will give you back your strength," Haku explained. "Just don't drink all of it at once."

Lin grasped the bottle, looking at it as if it was made of gold. "Thank you ... really."

Haku knew that when Lin used such a gentle tone with anybody other than a costumer, she really meant it. Nobody could blame Lin, of course, for being cross so often. She was a victim of Yubaba's theft; all what she knew was hard work and fear of Yubaba getting displeased with her.

"You're welcome. Now go!" Haku looked at the bathhouse. "It is not far off. You should be able to get back with plenty of time to spare."

Lin nodded, hiding the bottle in one of her pockets. "You'll send Chihiro back to the Human World?"

Haku nodded sadly. "It's just too dangerous for her to stay."

Lin looked down sadly, wiping the offending tears from her eyes. Haku sighed, putting a reassuring hand on her shoulder.

"I promise you, that I'll do everything in my power to defeat the Dark Spirit so she'll be able to come back here again."

Lin looked up sharply. "You know the beast is unconquerable. The best the Lord could do was imprison it!"

"That doesn't mean I shouldn't try."

Lin sighed heavily. "That's not what I meant, and you know it."

"Go now," Haku said, pushing Lin slightly towards the bathhouse. "I'll come to sort things out with you as soon as I can."

Lin was surprised that Haku cared; but again, kindness was a quality Haku always possessed; even when he was Yubaba's henchman. Because nobody saw it didn't mean he didn't have it.

"Thanks, Haku. I'll go now," Lin said, and with one last, sad smile, ran back to the bathhouse.


It was the day Chihiro was supposed to return back to the bathhouse. Zeniba was strangely silent as she packed Chihiro's belongings into a thin paper bag.

"Granny, I'll come back soon to visit you," Chihiro assured the kind witch, patting her arm.

Zeniba looked at Chihiro. "Promise me one thing, dear," she murmured, grasping the girl's hands.

"Okay ...?"

"No matter what happens," Zeniba said sternly, "you won't do anything to risk yourself."

Chihiro felt her heart tighten inside her chest uncomfortably. "All right," she whispered in reply, though something told her that she'll end up breaking that promise.

Zeniba sighed happily, dropping Chihiro's hands. "Dear -"

The door sprang open with a loud, shrill bang; making Chihiro jump in surprise. "Haku, what's the matter?!" she cried.

Haku sat down at the table with a weary sigh and hastily explained the situation. Chihiro was confused, and looked at Zeniba to Haku many times hoping that somebody will explain it to her. Zeniba paled, and her old hands shook slightly from her unsteady nerves.

"Chihiro, you need to go back to the Human World," Zeniba said gently when Haku finished talking.

"But will Lin be all right?!" Chihiro exclaimed, worried for her friend. "What if Yubaba hurts her?"

"Lin will be just fine," Haku assured, patting Chihiro's hand. "I gave her some drink that will give her back some strength, if anything happens. I also promised Lin to see to it that she'll be okay once you leave."

"But ... I can't go!" Chihiro yanked her arm away from Haku. "What about you, and Granny, and everybody else? How can I leave you in such a critical situation!?"

"Dear, it will be better if you go," Zeniba said gently. "If you do go, we will be able to fight off the Dark Spirit without worrying about your safety. Besides, your parents are waiting for you."

"But a moth didn't pass already ... did it?" Chihiro whispered.

"No," Haku admitted. He sighed. "Please understand."

Chihiro looked down at her feet. She did understand what her friends were trying to to tell her. "There's ... nothing I can do to help?" she whispered, already knowing the answer awaiting her.

"Dear, your safety will help us," Zeniba pointed out and No-Face grunted in agreement.

Chihiro sighed and reluctantly, nodded. "I understand," she said slowly.

Zeniba hugged the girl tightly for a moment. "Don't worry, Chihiro. You'll be all right!"

"But what about you?" Chihiro croaked dryly, her voice muffled by Zeniba's dress. "All of you."

"Don't you worry about us, dear," Zeniba said as she brushed a few strands of hair from Chihiro's face. "We'll be fine."

Something made Chihiro doubt Zeniba. There seemed to be a pang of sadness in her voice; and everybody in the room, for that matter, seemed heart-broken. Chihiro hugged No-Face and Zeniba one more time and, throwing the black cloak over her shoulders, climbed on top of Haku's back and the two flew away. Chihiro turned her head so she could get one last look and saw Zeniba and No-Face waving sadly to her.

For some reason, this felt like the goodbye. Though nobody said it was.

The two arrived at the border early the next morning. The hot sun did little good to the cold earth. The trees were bare; the bathhouse's garden seemed lonely and sad without its green bushes. The only thing uneffected by the cold weather was the field; the grass as green and firm as it always been.

"Chihiro," Haku whispered, and took her hands lovingly in his. "I just wanted to apologize that everything turned out this way. Nobody could have foreseen the Dark Spirit escaping the Abyss. Nobody ever escaped the Abyss before. I wanted to give you a wonderful month here with everybody. I promise you that I will do everything in my power to defeat the beast so you can come back."

Haku lowered his eyes to the ground, and Chihiro saw that they were brimming with tears. "What is it, Haku?" she asked.

"Only, I don't know if I'll ever see you again," he said sadly, looking up.

"What -"

Haku brought his finger to his lips, as if silencing her. He hugged her tightly for a moment, kissed her hand, and pushed her gently towards the tunnel. Haku watched until Chihiro stepped into the tunnel and the darkness seemed to swallow her whole. She never turned back, for Haku's words from eight years ago rang in her mind:

"Go, and don't look back."


Chihiro walked cautiously down the dark tunnel, images of her beloved friends racing in her mind. Clear tears stood in her eyes, and she could feel her heart beat at a dangerously fast pace.

How could it turn out this way, she thought sadly. Just when I thought I'd get to see everybody again! I did, but it was just too fast. I couldn't even thank Lin for saving me, or tell her and Kamaji goodbye.

Chihiro walked through the dusty room with stained glasses and high-arched roofs, and now, was nearing the entrance to the Human World. She could practically smell the gasoline, practically test the warm forest air. But this made Chihiro nauseous, for she didn't want to return back home. She wanted to go back to the Spirit Realm! But how could she do that? The Dark Spirit wanted her dead.

Chihiro froze in her tracks, her eyes nearly popping out of her sockets. W-why does the beast want me - an average, weak human - dead? she thought. Chihiro placed her palm over her heart, nearly feeling each anxious beat it took.

How foolish I was, not to ask why the Dark Spirit wanted me dead when I had the chance! she thought, aghast. Surely, Haku knew. I remember how recently every time I walked into Granny's living room, she would stop talking as if she didn't want me to hear what she was talking about. And how they would never answer me when I asked if there was anything I could do to help!

Chihiro walked towards the entrance and outstretched her hand until the sun shine hit her palm. "Mommy, daddy," she whispered, "please forgive me. Please, wait for me just a little bit longer! I know Granny and Haku were hiding something from me, something that I should know. I must go back and find out what it is, and if I can help. I promise you that I'll come back to you immediately as soon as I find out. Just, please, wait a little bit longer for me."

With that, Chihiro spun on her heel and ran back towards the Spirit Realm; unaware of the danger of death awaiting her.

I'd like to take this moment to dedicate this chapter to my mother. Thank you, mom, for all the ideas, encouragement, and help you provided me! You're the best! :)
My huge thanks to my dear readers who were so patiently waiting for the update. Thank you to everybody who left me a review for the next last chapters, and also thank you to my newest reviewer, AAS97! :)
No guarantees when I'll update next, but I'll try to do it this week. In the meanwhile, leave me a review and tell me what you think! I LOVE hearing from you all! Till next update!