Hey you guys! So just a little note before you start reading:

Thank you again for all the reviews! When I finish this story, I will definitely give personal thanks to my most devoted readers.

Also: I'm trying really really hard to give Chihiro a strong, rounded character. I've realized from reading some fanfics on here that she's not really being given a personality, more soft and sweet, which is great to read, but still...where's the spunk? It's difficult to keep true to it all the time. Some traits I'm including are: caring, determined, strong willed, spontaneous, short temper at times, forgiving, clever, analytical, fast acting, and of course, understanding, sweet and loving and cheerful.

Tell me what you think! And if it seems like that I falling short in the writing, please tell me, because its really tempting to make Chihiro just an all around, easy going girl.

Lin POV:

I realized that Chihiro must have had a lot going on her mind back there in the big tub, and I didn't want to disrupt her thinking. There was something between that battle of the stain and her that seemed personal, not anything that I could guess, probably. So when she started running with surprising speed back into the sleeping room hallways, I didn't give chase, even though I knew that Haku would kill me if he saw. She was sixteen, old enough to decide what was good for her or not. She didn't need a weasel spirit, and definitely not a thick-headed dragon to watch her back all the time. I sensed that Chihiro had grown stronger, both physically and mentally. She seemed quite like the independent kind of person at times.

I busied with myself for the rest of the morning, and time flew pretty fast. It felt like with Chihiro here, the minutes were actually worth something and not just minutes to prove our existence. Even though she was in a bad state this morning, her very presence was soothing, there was an upbeat sort of determination that glowed around her. I even realized I was humming while I mopped the floors while everyone slept. Be quiet, Lin. You were never really born to carry a tune. Imagine if the sleeping spirits heard. And that only made myself smile hum with more enthusiasm.

I knew that Chihiro would be fine. There was nothing dangerous around here in the bathhouse, no "trees" for her to walk into (I was still wondering about that part of how she got hurt). Soon, The sun was setting, and I knew that the workers were going to wake any moment. Kamaji liked his dinner early, so I hurried into the kitchen before it became busy, where the food was just hot out of the woks, the rice just freshly steamed, soft as rice could be. Maybe I'll eat with him tonight, just to keep the lonely spirit company. It does get quite boring if you only have sootballs to entertain you…

I filled my basket with food enough to feed four people, for Kamaji tended to have a big appetite, and packed three bowls along with four chopsticks…Kamaji also tended to drop his into the furnace, accidents, of course. Then, I headed off on the well know trip to the boiler room where I paid visit everyday. The interior bathhouse had improved greatly since Haku had taken over half of it. He basically renovated everything place, replacing the faded red carpet in the hallways, fixing the lifts so that they were more efficient, and reinforcing the stairwells so that no steps gave way. I had to give that dragon credit. While Yubaba spent her time lavishing the profits on new scroll paintings and tropical plants to decorate every nook and cranny available, Haku kept our safety in mind. Of course he does, he thinks like an old, sensible, no fun man, that 2,000 year old of a spirit. Pah, no excitement. The ride down the lift was much more enjoyable and smooth now that the pulleys had been restored and oiled. I had gotten stuck for three hours in one of those things before until the Gunni could fix it.

Before I even slid open the wooden door to the boiler room, I sensed a major disturbance in the air. It was laughter. Chiming, ageless, eternal laughter. Sounded like a coursing river, a pulsing waterfall. It sent shivers up my spine. Because it wasn't anybody's laugh. It was Haku's.

Another laugh accompanied his, a sound that was a little less glorious and godly, but beautiful all the same with little snorts here and there, warmth penetrating beneath the door. And perhaps the weirdest laugh sounded like an act of some old person choking in the background. I was apprehensive of what to expect when I opened the door. Laughter. Nobody in this friggen bathhouse has laughed for ages. But I was just laughing my butt off this morning with Chihiro…could it be her? Surely not…she and Haku…she looked like she could strangle him back there in the tub…

My heart tugged me, wanted me to join the bliss, so I slid open the door, and sure enough, I saw the scene that made my heart melt. Haku, bending over, laughing too hard to speak, shoulders shaking, with Chihiro leaning on him for almost nonexistent support. And Kamaji was emitting weird croaking sounds. Maybe he choked on his tea, I couldn't be sure.

I was almost sorry that I had to disturb the moment. The minute I entered Haku resumed to that so annoying bossy stance of his, although he couldn't seem to keep his eyes from sparkling with the laughter. Chihiro snapped up straight, looking a little dazed to be intruded upon. Kamaji was still hacking his head off. He did say he was becoming a little deaf, so he probably didn't notice the fact that I had entered.

"Sorry to intrude on the little social gathering here you guys, but dinner's ready!"

Or did Kamaji say that he was only partially deaf? Because the minute I mentioned the word dinner, he perked his head up and immediately groped for the little hammer he kept on misplacing.

"Alright you little runts! Break for dinner!"

I rolled my eyes with exasperation before setting down the basket and reaching into the outer compartment, tossing out handfuls of the star candies that fell with soft pitter patters, followed by the scrambling of the sootballs as they fought to get to the food first.

Kamaji indeed had choked on his tea because soon after he started hacking again. Before I could do anything, Chihiro ran up to him and started patting him hard on the back, murmuring comforting words to the old spider. Kamaji wiped his eyes, a motion that I caught, and I smiled at the thought of how much Chihiro had grown up. Haku looked like he wanted to follow her, but stopped himself after a sharp glance that I passed on him. I better keep the dragon in check. Honestly, I don't think Chihiro wants a bodyguard. But nevertheless, it's sweet, he can't help himself from caring for her. Even if it does go a little overboard.

"Better now?"

"Much," Kamaji croaked. Then Chihiro threw herself into his arms, enfolding him with her two no longer skinny as hell arms. "Sorry for the delay of the hug. You can blame it on him." She jerked her head in the direction of Haku, who looked guiltily to his feet. I wonder what else happened…

Then she walked over to me and also gave me a hug, which I returned. She smelled like the meadows, the sun. She smelled like happiness itself.

"Hey Lin, sorry for what happened in the big tub back there."

"No problem. No explanation needed…or wanted." We both laughed and I pulled away before holding her at arm's length, scrutinizing her. Gosh, she looks so much better, more color to her cheeks. Happier.

"You look great. Much better than this morning."

"Which brings me to ask," his smooth velvet voice lilted in the air, "why was Chihiro up this morning? When she was supposed to be resting?" He pointedly looked at me, his eyes shooting the message I told you to look after her. I jumped a little; I had almost forgotten about the dragon, who had been standing quietly by Kamaji, leaning against the medicine cabinets. You knew this was coming…think of an answer quick Lin. Ummm…nothing, just that she wanted to scrub your face off the big tub?

Chihiro saved me from my reply. Quietly, she walked over the Haku and slipped her arm into his. His bossy air instantly evaporated, a caring one replacing it as he unconsciously without knowing leaned a little closer to catch the words that she said softly into his ear, almost as if to shield the human from all the hurt in the world. I strained to catch them. They were so close, and it brought a small pang of jealousy to my heart which I pushed aside, scolding myself. You'll have to stop kidding yourself, you'll never find that kind of person who obviously is willing to die for you. Haku plainly loves her. Does Chihiro return the affection…?

"Stop sulking, Haku. Didn't I tell you that I'm practically fine? It's not Lin's fault I wanted to clean…"

"Sorry." He muttered back, regret for his actions pulsing off him. He turned to face me. "Forgive me Lin. I was just…concerned."

"Chihiro, don't go making Haku soft. He almost never apologizes." That was a fact. "And apology accepted, dragon, you had every right to worry." Now I turned to glare at Chihiro, raising one eyebrow dramatically in an attempt to look like Haku. A disarming smile was all I received, and I had to smile back.

"I thought you said dinner was ready?" Kamaji made the unnecessary hint.

"Right." I sat down on the dusty wooden floor, pulling the basket next to me and began rummaging through the shaken contents.

"Here, a pair for you, and you had BETTER make them last for this whole meal without dropping them into the furnace, got it?" I handed two bamboo chopsticks to the spider who sheepishly avoided my gaze. My words would be no use. I already had that feeling that he was going to need another pair halfway through the meal.

"Hmmm…" I dug around more before retrieving the other three pairs from the bottom. "Lucky for you, I brought four, that way we all can have a pair. You two are eating with us, right?" I glanced at Chihiro and Haku, who were still standing side by side, their arms still perfectly linked, whether they realized that or not.

"If there is enough food…" Haku sized up the bowls and platters within the basket before looking down at Chihiro who was only two inches shorter than him, silently asking for her opinion.

"Then we'd love too." She finished for him, and he nodded in agreement.

"Great. Kamaji, are you staying in your perch or joining us on the floor?"

"Pah, might as well exercise my old joints and join you youngsters."

"Who are you calling a youngster, hmm? For your information, I am wayyy older than I seem. At least now you're a distance from the furnace…"

He chose to ignore my retort and scrambled down to the floor, trying to make all his four legs fit comfortably below him while freeing two legs for eating. We all sat down as if on cue, Chihiro ending up between me and Haku, me shooting poisonous looks at the dragon saying she's also MY friend and you better not hog her to yourself during dinner. I also haven't been with her for six years.

He only inclined his head. Share, Lin.

"Crap," I muttered. "I only brought three bowls."

"That's no problem," answered Kamaji, specks of rice shooting from his mouth as I dodged to avoid them. "Chihiro can have mine."

Wow, Chihiro has that big of an affect that she even turning Kamaji upside down, not to mention Yubaba and Haku…and maybe me.

Chihiro looked embarrassed, trying to deny the offer as politely as she could without hurting his feelings. "No, no, Kamaji. You need to eat. I'm fine, honestly."

"But you need to eat especially," I pointed out, "when you've just been healed."

"She can share with me." All of us looked at Haku, with Chihiro in even more of a tight spot.

"Haku, what did I tell you about eating and regaining—" she stammered, turning a shade redder at the offer.

"Nonsense." Then, seeing the flustered girl, he tenderly put an arm around her shoulders, affection shining in his green eyes that only I was able to catch a glimpse of. "I insist. I'll eat with you."

Chihiro relented. "Well, it's not like you're going to change your mind any time soon." She growled.

I passed out the bowls of rice, coughing slightly to remind the dragon. He didn't seem to get the hint, and I had to physically tap the arm that was still draped around the girl before he realized and quickly removed it. Couldn't he see that Chihiro wouldn't be able to eat a bite of food being smothered like that?

"So, since when did you guys find each other?" I casually tried to state while picking at the marinated cucumbers, trying to find one that looked crunchy. A choking sound made me look up. Haku was coughing, dignified enough not to spit his rice all over the place like some spider.

"Ugh, what's with all this suffocating, guys?" Chihiro said lightheartedly while kindly clapping the dragon on the back before the food seemed to go down the right pipe. He heaved a mouthful of air and gratefully took the glass of water the she handed to him. How thoughtful I mused while carefully swallowing my own mouthful of rice. I certainly did not want to start sputtering like some fool. "Close one there, Haku."

"Thanks," Haku lowered his voice, "I don't know what I'd do without you, Chihiro."

"Hopefully you don't choke everyday or else I can't see how you survived six years." She grinned at him before turning her attention to me.

"Well Lin, Yubaba explained the things that happened during the time I was gone. Vaguely, but enough detail for me to comprehend." She automatically reached for his hand and they interlocked fingers. "So, once I saw beyond the whole façade that this silly dragon put up, I ran to find him sitting in the meadows. We've talked since then."

"That's good news," Kamaji piped up. "I always knew you too had something for each other."

I was almost afraid that Haku would start choking on his food again, and Chihiro obviously worried about the same thing because her free hand hovered above his back. But luckily, he had just swallowed before hearing and decided to pretend not to hear.

"Oh no, Kamaji, we're just friends, that's all." I restrained myself from snorting and shoveled more food into my mouth.

Chihiro was going to scoop up some rice with her chopsticks when Haku picked up a piece of roast fish with his and held it in front of her.

"Here, let me." He looked so hopeful, like a child waiting for his gift to be received.

She squinted at the fish. "And I suppose you didn't put a spell on this, did you Haku?"

He rolled his emerald eyes. "Just eat it. It'll give you your strength back."

"Thanks, Haku, but really…I feel like you're trying to fatten me up, feeding me and all." She opened her mouth and he swiftly in one motion placed in not only the fish but a few pieces of cucumbers and a huge chunk of rice from his bowl. My eyes were bugging out. I was trying so hard not to laugh at the incredulous expression on her face. For a second, she seemed to be contemplating on the thought of whether to spit all of it out, but decided against it as it would hurt him and chewed the whole mouthful quickly and swallowed. Then she turned to him, eyes blazing, and almost snatched her hand away from his, but didn't after seeing the miserable look on the dragon's face. Kamaji and I exchanged looks, both of us wondering if a fight was about to unfold.

"Haku, I'm not a child! I can perfectly feed myself, thank you very much. You could have at least told me." Chihiro hissed at him. Haku made the whole thing worse by putting his cold mask on in an attempt to defend himself. He was used to being in control, after all.

"Oh really? I try to help you eat, and this is how you treat me." He shot back with an aloof expression, trying to cover his hurt.

It seemed too much, for she took her hand away and folded her arms. "Fine, be that way. Lock all your emotions in. I'm trying to help, trying to show you, but your won't listen." Then she deliberately turned her back to him, not catching sight of the broken expression on his face that he quickly tried to wipe off and efficiently stroked up a conversation with Kamaji and me with obvious skill, both of us just swiveling our heads back and forth between the two. We talked about the promotion I had gotten from Yubaba a year ago, the new enchantment that Kamaji had put on the sootballs to make them stronger. There was a choking sort of gap in our conversation, however. We didn't mention Haku (he was so quiet that I almost forgot he was eating with us), or Ashumo and Kyo, and most of all, his mating.

"Not again!" I threw my hands up in the air, about to go on my daily rant, as Kamaji dropped his chopsticks, this time only to the floor, when he got excited about explaining the value of silk these days. If he had just been talking to me, I would have probably just been dozing off, but Chihiro, obviously learned, made all the right remarks at the right times, making it seem like she actually was fascinated by the cost of silk (which I knew she wasn't), causing Kamaji to erupt with gusto.

"Here let me." She fished around in her pockets trying to find something, but Haku, I don't know how he knew, it wasn't like he was reading her mind or anything, conjured up a piece of string from thin air and placed it on the ground before her, pointedly avoiding any physical or eye contact.

Chihiro stared blankly at the string before picking it up, whispering something so that only a dragon's ears could hear, and plucked Kamaji's chopsticks from the ground, her fingers deftly tying a knot at the top of the sticks and then making a loop big enough for somebody's hand to poke through. Then she slipped the loop onto the spider's gnarled wrist so that the chopsticks dangled on a length of string about ten inches.

"There, try it and see how it works." She sat back to admire her handiwork. I was goggling at the speed she put the whole thing together, less than fifteen seconds, and Kamaji obviously was thinking the same thing. He picked the chopsticks up hesitantly and started eating, and after a minute, dropped them on purpose. They only dangled from his wrist, the customary rattle of bamboo hitting woode, or even worse, bamboo sparking in fire, was gone.

"God, Chihiro, I wish you could have come sooner," I exclaimed with sisterly pride, and six years worth of relief. "You don't know how many chopsticks this spider made me go through!" I poked a thumb in Kamaji's direction. "Now they won't drop into the furnace. Wow, not only are you gorgeous, you're also a genius." From the corner of my vision, I saw respect and pride flit upon the dragon's masked face.

"I'm not pretty, Lin, how many times have I said that?" Haku's mouth opened in protest, but on better thought, he snapped it shut. "And I'm not a genius…I just observe and analyze."

"Well, you sound pretty smart to me." I crunched on a particularly crunchy fishbone.

Soon, Kamaji clanked his bowl down, wiping the last residue of food from his beard, signifying the end of dinner.

"Ahh, well I better get back to work. It was a pleasure eating with you, missed you for six years." He clambered back onto his perch as I collected his dirty bowl and the newly improved chopsticks. I'd have to wash them before giving them back tomorrow.

"No, the pleasure was mine." Chihiro stood up without taking the almost outstretched hand of Haku, their friction still pricking through the air.

"And thank you, Chihiro, for all the help. Come on, get back to work!"

"No problem." She picked up the bowls from the ground along with the chopsticks and placed them into my basket. Less work for me.

"Hey thanks, kiddo," I gave her another hug.

"You are fine with washing them yourself—"

"Yes. Now off to bed with you, you look dead on your feet. See you tomorrow! And," I leaned in, "try to smooth Haku down, will you? I know he can be a bossy, arrogant nitwit, but…you know what I mean."

She gave me a sad little smile and patted me on the shoulder. "Yes, I know, Lin."

"Ok. I'm off! Night!"

"Night!" She waved at me as I headed out the door, and I saw her sway a little on her feet. I heaved the door shut and faced the dark, thoughts buzzing in my mind.

She must be more tired that she is letting on…running around and fighting with Haku can really take up your energy. Argh, that ignorant dragon! I might need to have a word with him. Chihiro does not need somebody to feed her. I hope they settle the conflict without blood spill. He's improving, I can see, but he still has ways to go… And she might have to give up some of her independence in order to live in the same room with him for the next few days. Personally, I think they aren't very compatible, but anything's possible in this messed up world…their love will make up for their differences…

I let out a huge yawn. Time to wash these dishes. Maybe I should have accepted her help.