Hi! I know, it has been awhile, but I am sooooo busy with homework and my social life! I hope this one is good, though we don't see much of Chihiro. It brings a whole conflict into the storyline, and something you may not have seen coming. I sure didn't until I started writing it! Hope you all enjoy!
Chapter 9: The Power of Love
Chihiro's POV
"Chihiro! Where are you going?" Haku asked. I was frantically climbing down the floor to where Lin's room was. When I reached her floor, Ijumped down and ran for the room. "I know what she wants, and I have to give it to her." I began searching the room. The room did not look any different from when I left. My only hope was that Yubaba was not just using it as a distraction to get rid of my parents, that she already had what she was looking for.
"Can you tell us?" Yuki asked. I was not that fond of Yuki. Something seemed…off about her. I felt she had a secret that no one knew, and may never knew. And I have my suspicions it had something to do with Haku. I was not very happy she was helping him out. (Thanks, Zeniba. Good plan.)
"Remember when you two helped the water spirit, Kage?" They both nodded in agreement. "Well, you did something to him, and for that he showed me kindness." I finally found what I was looking for. The water stone. Yuki and Haku were dumbfounded. Haku was not as surprised as Yuki was.
"A-A real water stone?" Yuki said, gazing her gray eyes on the peculiar item. Haku had seen one before, I could tell by the look in his eye. I was sure he had made one once, before his river was destroyed.
"For reasons unknown, Yubaba wants this. Kage told me to keep it a secret, but secrets do not last here, I've learned." Haku knew what I had to do. And I had to do alone. That meant no help from Haku, and especially none from Yuki.
"I will not let you go alone," He said, "this is too dangerous. Going against Yubaba alone is risky business and-"
"How many times have I done this before? Yubaba knows better than to put me up against another challenge. You stay here…with Yuki…and I can handle the witch." I smiled at him and walk out of the room, ready to face the one who got me wedged in this mess in the first place. Though it hadn't all been bad. I finally was able to see Haku, and now my decision was made.
Haku's POV
I watched her smile for as long as I could remember. I knew Yubaba would not try anything too dramatic. She knew I would make sure she would pay. But that didn't mean I could not stop worrying about what would happen to her. I sat on the edge of the balcony. It was like nine years ago, when the train tracks were invisible due to the amount of rain the Spirit World had had. I smiled at the memories we shared.
"Hey," Yuki said in a calming voice, "I can see why you love her so much. She's so strong-willed and caring, and I can see the two of you are too blinded by your love to even notice you two are-"
"Would you please stop talking about it?" I yelled at her. Her face showed disappointment. I did not care what she thought, though. I only cared for me. And Chihiro. However, Yuki was furious at me.
"Well, I am going to say what I need to say," She would not stop. "Whether you like it or not. You two were destined to be together. I do not care what the Spirit World has to say about that. I do not care what anyone thinks about that. If you are in love with her then you tell Chihiro!"
"It is not that simple!" I screamed with fury, "There are too many things at risk, things I care about. Things you would not understand."
"I understand perfectly what is going in," she began, "You don't want to love her, but you do. You think she is human, so bad things will happen because of the way you feel. I am a girl, and like any other girl, we know everything about love."
"But this is different. If I was human or she was spirit, this would not be a problem." I stood up and stared into the night. The stars shone as bright as they could. Every time I saw the stars, I imagined one being as perfect as Chihiro. As peaceful and gentle, beautiful and glorious, and just as bright. But never had any one star been as wonderful as she was.
"I know it has been a long time since you and Chihiro had seen each other," Yuki said, "But now is your chance! Are you really going to let the Spirit World run your life? You live it the way you want to. I know I cannot be with the one I love, but I know he will be happy with someone else, someone who can be with him."
"That is how I feel about Chihiro," I continued, "One day, she will die. I am a spirit with eternal life. It would not be fair to her to risk her life for someone she will never see again. Even on the day she…passes on, she will not remember her visits to the Spirit World. She will be oblivious to everything she has ever known."
"Then why don't you find a way to keep her here, with you?" I looked at Yuki. Could it be done? Is there any possible way to keep Chihiro in my world, our world? The world she had always belonged to? I had heard of one story where a spirit and human were together by transforming her in a spirit, but I had not talk to the couple in hundreds of years. I did not even know where they lived.
"No one has that power," I said in distress, "it is…impossible. Humans are not granted that right. You would have to be worthy of that, and Chihiro has not done much, other than saving my dear friend, Kage." Yuki was silent for some time. But then, as usual, she had unanswered questions.
"I knew you had a connection with the river spirit, but I never asked. How do you know him?" That surprised me.
"It was long ago," I began, getting ready for a long story of my past, "It was when Yubaba first controlled me. I had nowhere to go, so I went to her bathhouse, searching for a place to stay. She gladly took me under her roof, but there was something unusual about her mood. It was then she tricked me into becoming her apprentice, taking my name and using me to do her dirty work."
"Okay, I get that whole story, but what did Kage do?"
"He saved me once," I continued, "I was on my mission to steal the golden seal from your mother," Yuki gave me the "You Were So Stupid To Do That" look. "Which I am truly sorry for. But Kage was watching me. He knew what I had to do, and it was for good intentions. If I did not, Yubaba would never have let Chihiro and her parents leave." Yuki gasped.
"But I thought she wanted you to steal the seal before Chihiro came!" Yuki exclaimed.
"Yes, that is entirely true, but I declined at first. She had little power over me, so there was no point. Then Chihiro came. I tried saving her from Yubaba, but it was too late. And when she realized it was I who helped her along the way, and how much I cared for her, she had leverage over me. She told me Chihiro would never return unless the seal was hers."
"So how does Kage have anything to do with this?" Yuki asked. I hated all these questions, but it was finally time she learned the truth. The truth of my past.
"He was following me to your mother's, and when I had gotten the seal he warned me not to return to Yubaba's. I told him about Chihiro and Yubaba's evil promise, and he completely understood. He had lost someone he loved. She just ran out on him leaving behind only a note saying she was not good enough for him, that she would be an embarrassment to him." Yuki looked as if she were going to pass out or cry. Her eyes began to water and she looked away from me.
"Are you okay?" I asked. She told me to continue, so I did. But I was going to ask her about that when I was finished.
"And so when the paper birds were attacking me, he slowed them down so I could get to Yubaba's. eventually they caught up, but when Chihiro left to return the seal, he appeared in my dreams, telling me he used water from his river to make a water stone, looking exactly like Chihiro's, and that its magic saved me."
"So, by giving you the water stone, he saved your life?" I nodded.
"The stone uses properties of love, and since I showed him love of a brother, he wished to return the favor. I told him I would stop at nothing to find his one true love, even if she did not wish to return." Again, Yuki was having a hard dealing with what I saying. She was confusing me and making me questions her past. Ever since she had moved back in with her mother, the only stories we heard were adventures and tales of her traveling, but I was beginning question if that was all true.
"Even after the note she gave him, he still wants to find her?" She asked.
"He has done so much for me over the years, and now I will find her more than ever." I paused for a moment, and began with my question. "So why were you getting tense when I brought that up?"
"Huh?" Was her reply. I knew she knew something. I knew what she was hiding. Yuki had a secret she was keeping from everyone.
"Tell me," I started, "you know who wrote that letter, don't you?" She looked at me with guilty eyes, but she would not say.
"Yuki, you have to tell me. Kage spends sleepless nights flying around the Spirit World looking for her. That was the reason his river was so polluted. He never was there to take care of it, although it was mostly the humans fault for pollu-" Yuki stood up and ran down the hall, crying. She was going to tell me, and I was not going to lose my chance in finding that girl. Kage deserved her just as much as she deserved him, as much as I desperately wished to be with Chihiro.
"Yuki! Come back! You have to tell me!" I ran after her and when I finally caught up with her, all was revealed. But Kage was going to be thrilled once I told him the truth.
"You want to know the girl who broke his heart? You want to know the girl who was so stupid to give up the greatest man in the whole world? The stupid, careless girl had a troubled life. She left her home to have an adventure, and along the way came love. He was kind and caring, and he so loved her. Kage was too kind and important to everyone he knew that a poor girl like her was humiliation. You want to know the girl? Well, she's standing right in front of you."
Be honest, who saw that coming? We got another love story! Next chapter, I PROMISE, we will see Yubaba and Chihiro. WHat will happen? What will Yubaba and Chihiro do? And what more secrets lie within the bathhouse? Please review!
Anabelle ;)
