There was commotion booming from the bathhouse, foremen and yunas dashing back and forth across the crowded halls. Chihiro stood amidst all this and just looked around. Haku's words kept replaying in her head, never ceasing, it was as if they were playing on a broken record.

"You aren't getting near those spirits. It's dangerous and I don't need you getting hurt."

It had only been about fifteen minutes after he had said that and it seemed as if time around her was slowing down. The commotion in the surrounding room continued to rise, everyone preparing for the two tainted spirits that were making their way across the land. Chihiro tried to concentrate, but with all this noise, she couldn't even get a thought through her mind.

Suddenly a hand grabbed her arm and yanked her down the hall. A familiar bundle of brown hair bounced in front of Chihiro's face as she was pulled through the crowd. The figure reached a deserted hallway and turned around to face Chihiro.

"You okay you, dope?" Lin stood in front of the ten year old girl, with an expression that showed some concern.

"Yeah," Chihiro managed to get out. Right now, all she was thinking about was what was going to happen when the time came to choose between what the witch would say and what Haku said.

"Well your confused and lost face says otherwise." The weasel spirit flicked Chihiro's head. "We have two heavily tainted spirits making their way here, and knowing the witch, she's going to get you involved somehow. You need to have your mind clear for when that happens."

"Yeah," Chihiro muttered. "That's my problem."

"What do you mean?"

"I," Chihiro paused for a moment, deciding whether or not she should explain it to Lin, but she knew she could trust the weasel spirit. "Haku told me not to get near the spirits, but I know Yubaba will probably make me help out with them. I don't know what to do."

"Ah, so that's what's bothering you. Well of course don't listen to the moody dragon. If you want to stay alive listen to what the witch wants to say."

"Lin," said Chihiro with a sigh. "The witch probably wants me dead anyway."

"I was kidding silly," said Lin as she ruffled the girl's hair. "For now, I think you should stay close to your dragon, to make sure nothing weird happens when the witch finally comes into the picture."

Chihiro looked at Lin and nodded. Chihiro knew what Lin had said was probably best, it was best to stay near Haku and see how things turned out. She wasn't that weak, she knew that, but if anyone could help her stand up to the witch it would be Haku. Chihiro turned away from Lin for a moment and looked out across the spacious floor of baths. Where could Haku be anyway? Her eyes scanned the floor, but to no avail. she didn't catch a sight of him at all.

A hand was suddenly placed on her shoulder.

"For now just go help prepare the bath. Your dragon will probably make his way to you anyway. He seemingly does that on his own throughout the day." Lin chuckled and shoved Chihiro forward. "I have to get back to work anyway." With that Lin disappeared into the crowd.

"Hope he comes," mumbled Chihiro as she disappeared back into the crowd of spirits.

A small spirit spotted her from across the room. She blinked a few times and continued to watch the small ten year old girl make her way through the crowd.

"She's interesting," whispered the girl.

"Come on Kari, we have to get back to work. Those stinking spirits are almost here. Kari turned to see her friend Sera standing by her side and Kari gave a slight nod in reply but looked back to see she had lost sight of the girl.

"I wonder," she whispered. "How things will turn out."

Haku flew down the many flights of stairs that led up to Yubaba's room. As much as he hated being in that office, his attention and Yubaba's instruction was needed. they couldn't afford to make any mistakes during the course of this rising situation, if they did, it could lead to some grave consequences.

Right now on the lower floors he could see all the bustling commotion. All the spirits of the bathhouse were basically on those lower floors because they needed all the help they could get. Haku let out a little sigh, and honed his eyesight on certain spirits. He was looking for one certain girl floating among them. He had a feeling the witch would involve her somehow, and Haku knew that it wouldn't end good if she did.

"Dang it Chihiro," he mumbled. "Where are you?"

He continued to fly down soon reaching the bottom of the stairway and looked around.

"I literally spoke to her like twenty minutes ago. Where could she have gone?"

Two spirits approached the outlying stretch of water that separated them from the bathhouse. Reeking stenches permeated off them into the crisp air.

"How do we get across?" one of them questioned.

"We swim you dimwit. We want to be cleansed don't we? Then we need to swim to reach our destination."

"Of course we have to," the other mumbled.

The two spirits looked out once more before sliding into the endless ocean of water. How long would it be before they stepped foot on the lands in front of the bathhouse? What trouble would await them there?

And finally another chapter is out after...about five months? XD I am seriously sorry for the long ait you guys. I had this on the backburner kind of because I wanted to focus on some other stories. Since summer is approaching, this will be updated more frequently. Thank you all who reviewed last chapter.

I want to say hello to all you new readers, and thank the old ones for coming back. Hope you enjoyed this chapter, see ya soon!...AND REVIEW :D