Author's Notes

Sorry! My life sucks and this just wasn't getting priority. But it's here now!

Disclaimer: I do not own spirited away. Just this story.

Review Replies: (Almost 200? I love you all!)

A Fading Shadow Yep, took me long enough huh? Yahaku-kan Yep, I read every single review, more than once usually. Good ego booster. Shitza Next time I'll try to feel like updating sooner! driftingwanderer Nope, six. I list them at the bottom of this chapter. You're close on who Darkness is. Velf Usually, after I procrastinate for a while chapters take about two weeks to finish. But I say the rest is 'brain storming' Tomoe isn't really based on anyone in particular, it's interesting that she reminds you of a real life person! Freaky Person O.o Thank you! Baka- onna2003 I don't know if this counts as soon, sorry! Joker is Poker with a J Yeah, the D is silent. The name is Swedish actually. Storm-Maker Your review made me laugh every time I read it. Thanks! foxer I love hearing that people like the oc, writing about them makes me so nervous! Kute Anime Kitty hacker? Scary! Tomoe does a great job of making Chihiro face reality, eh? Dragon Princess Thanks! Hiril Moon when you put it that way, Chihiro does seem a bit slow on the uptake, huh? Theresa L'Anne He's back, for now... Sakura Hiwatari I've heard of 'X' but I've never seen it. Is it good? Taichi rules Tomoe's great have in the story just so I can give her lines like that Kataan Thanks! Fufa wait no more SnowhiteandtheSevenDragons I really like your name. Thanks so much for reading and for the free publicity! Shitsumon You definitely remembered the most. You're only one off. Mitusuko Maxwell Yes, Chihiro is a dork. But that's one of the reasons she's cute with Kohaku Aryanne Yeah, I got the name Tomoe from RK. I can't say I love the RK Tomoe, but after seeing the 'Love and Betrayal' movie I did feel bad for her. GoldenRat Good question. Yes, he's back for now. Juliana yes, their incessant bickering was driving everyone nuts. IrishKitsune I feel bad that Lin has been pushed aside in this fic to accommodate the ocs, but it couldn't be helped. Lady Tetsu-Maru scaring was the intention. I love being mean to Kohaku. wakoramaco87 I hope I answer everything too. Yes, the sequel is theoretical right now, but for organization has been tentatively called 'Spirit Hunting' avolare flattery is very effective. My friends will tell you how large my ego is. Worry not, I will finish. Not in any decent time period but I will finish. Hannah I do adore the guardians. I try on updates. Dark Angel - The Doom well, if another chapter doesn't help I will have had my first casualty, eh? Astarii Amaranth the only way I get people to keep reading is by never saying what I mean the first time. Katsy Kat It is wonderful to know that some people do recognize just how much I have to remember to keep this fic going. I love explaining how the magic is working, that's just one of my favorite things. I have so many theories on it. But yeah, I hate naming chapters. I'll try to work on it though.

Chapter 14: Prelude to War

"Akiro, watch that branch!"

"If I wasn't walking backwards..."

"Ouch!"

"Kaz I told you to watch out for the branch!"

"You told Akiro!"

Light sighed in exasperation. Maybe moving Kohaku hadn't been the best idea. After a few minutes of checking to make sure Kohaku was okay (Tomoe, the only one with half a brain in a crisis), crying(none that the guardians would own up to) and apologizing(Light, to the point of annoyance), they had decided it was probably better to move Kohaku closer to the palace. Light had decided that the closest place would be the bench by the Lily fountain. Getting the guardians to coordinate themselves well enough to carry him there, however, was more difficult than getting him back together in the first place.

"Light-sama?"

"Yes Tomoe?"

"Won't Kohaku be worried when he wakes up and finds his weapon gone?"

The moment she could Light had taken the two daggers and fused them back into the crystalline katana, then strapped it to her own side.

A glimmer that didn't quite belong in one that otherwise appeared so innocent appeared in Light's eyes, causing Tomoe to feel a bit uncertain about the wisdom of her question. "Oh let's hope he worries. Then maybe he'll have half an idea of what we've all been going through."

Tomoe smiled and risked a look back at Chihiro, who was smiling as well.

"Light-sama, if you don't mind me asking, how exactly did Ko and Haku figure out how to put themselves back together?"

Light flinched. "It really was my fault. I did find what I though could perhaps help put Kohaku back together again, but because of the high risk involved, I didn't want to tell them, but...I lost the memory orb earlier and they must have found it."

"But how did Ko and Haku killing each other help bring Kohaku back?" Chihiro asked.

Light looked back at her and smiled sadly. "I didn't know if it would. The theory behind it was that if both Ko and Haku, both parts of Kohaku's "self" are existing on this plane then Kohaku's soul doesn't have a shell to return to. But if both of them could be reduced to essence, it could be possible for Kohaku's soul to bind itself back together with both halves of his self."

"And the only way to reduce them both to essence was for them to die?"

Light looked away. "Yes. That's why I didn't want to try it unless the situation became desperate."

"Hey! You girls done yet?" Kaz yelled. The four guardians has already laid Kohaku down on the bench, and seemed oblivious to the fact that half of his limbs were hanging off at odd angles.

"Oh honestly..." Light stomped over and with a critical look directed at her brothers, rearranged Kohaku so that he would be comfortable. The guardians didn't even have the decency to look sheepish, despite Light's glare. She hung her head. She knew they were a lost cause, but she just couldn't quite bring herself to give up yet.

"Chihiro," she turned around, "Would you mind staying here and watching over Kohaku? Now that he's back together the six of us need to get ready to get down to business."

For a split-second Tomoe looked confused. Then realization dawned on her and smoothed out her expression before Chihiro could take notice.

"Of course I don't mind."

"Excellent! We'll come to check on you later then."

Chihiro didn't quite understand why they all left so quickly. But she sat down next to Kohaku anyway.

"Wake up soon, okay?" She whispered to him. "Stop worrying me already."

He was slowly returning to consciousness. The sensation in itself was odd for him; he did not sleep often and he couldn't remember choosing to do so.

He opened his eyes and quickly shut them again. The sun was too much for him to deal with when he already felt like he had been run over. He could tell there was someone sitting next to him, familiar...female...human...Chihiro, he decided. But why...?

Oh. Oh no. He had been fighting Djavel and then...

No. No no no no no. No. He had not been knocked out, the guardians had not had to come and rescue him and then drag him home. No. Absolutely not. There had to be an explanation less damaging to his image. There had to be.

Right?

"You really shouldn't have tried something that stupid."

Now Chihiro was talking to him. And her reassurance that he had done something stupid wasn't exactly making him feel better.

"We all though that you were going to die." She continued, and Kohaku couldn't help but thinking bitterly that he was already dead so they really shouldn't have bothered.

"What's going to happen now?" Chihiro asked. "Not even Light has all the answers. She didn't even know if this was going to work and..." She trailed off, sounding choked up and Kohaku mentally berated himself for causing her to worry.

"Please wake up." She whispered. "I need you here. I think I just realized how much."

Overwhelming guilt beat out his pounding headache and he grimaced as he sat up.

"Kohaku!" Chihiro exclaimed joyfully. "You're okay!"

He opened his eyes a little and tried to smile at her, but sitting up had reminded him of exactly why he was lying down in the first place and he instinctively moved his hand to his head.

"Are you feeling alright?" She asked, hovering over him.

"I'm fine." He lied, trying to set her at ease.

"How can you possibly be fine?" She chastised him, gently wrapping her fingers around his wrist and pulling it back to his side. "You almost died!"

He looked away. "I'm sorry." He apologized. He wasn't quite sure what for, but he was sorry for whatever it was if it had hurt her in any way.

"You don't need to be sorry." Chihiro looked away. "It turned out okay, didn't it?" Kohaku was completely lost now. "I guess?" He offered.

Chihiro blinked as she looked up at him. "Don't you remember what happened?"

Kohaku shook his head sheepishly. "No...not really."

"Oh." Chihiro answered. She paused, lost for a moment as to how she should explain what had happened.

"You kind of...got split in two. I don't know exactly what happened. Light explained it as something with your self and soul. I didn't quite get all of it; you should ask her, but there were two of you. We called then Ko and Haku and they were always fighting, and neither of them really acted like you, and they were almost complete opposites, but they were both kind of like you and in order to bring you back they had to kill each other and it was horrible, and ...I'm just so glad you're okay!" Chihiro babbled.

He smiled and held her hand as she concentrated on not crying. The whole thing sounded vaguely familiar, but he couldn't remember being there for any of it.

The garden was quiet as the two sat in silence, half-listening to the quiet rush of the water as it poured over the petals of the giant white lily that served as a fountain and was the namesake of the garden.

"I am sorry." Kohaku said, "for worrying you like that."

"You got hurt! You were the one who was attacked. You don't have anything to apologize for! Chihiro insisted, holding his hand with both of hers.

He turned to look at her with a small smiled. "But I caused you pain, and that's inexcusable."

Chihiro blinked, then looked away, blushing slightly. "The others are inside. If you feel well enough..."

Kohaku nodded and slowly stood up. He was hit by a sudden dizzy feeling and abruptly shut his eyes, trying to steady himself. He could still fell Chihiro's hand in his and that gave him comfort. He took a deep breath.

Light probably wanted to meet to discuss what to do about Djavel. This had to do with the separatists. There was no way that someone as powerful as Djavel was just a stray nutcase. No, he had to have some kind of support. They had been wrong. They weren't gone. They weren't suppressed. Their war wasn't over.

But he could do this.

He opened his eyes and smiled at Chihiro, who looked a little less worried.

He had to do this.

Upon finding Light and the guardians in the watching room, Kohaku had been promptly glomped by Light, causing him to fall over as she called him an idiot and cried and blamed herself and threatened him with dismemberment if he ever dared try something like that again. The whole time the guardians had been so helpful, standing off to the side snickering.

Once Light had composed herself, Kohaku was introduced to Tomoe, who he was, understandably, quite wary of considering his history with her doppel ganger Ai, but nevertheless welcomed and thanked her once he was told of her job as Chihiro's temporary spirit guardian.

Now of course was time for business, and he had to give the full account of his encounter with Djavel. Light had not been the least bit surprised that he had not remembered what had happened when he was split and promised to help him retrieve the memories later if he really wanted. He wasn't so sure that he did.

"What's going on?" He could hear Chihiro ask quietly a few minutes after the guardians had all but shoved him behind the screen to change.

"Kohaku's changing." Light answered.

"Why, you want to watch?"

"Tomoe! Chihiro exclaimed in shock and horror while Light broke into giggles. Kaz and Zepher had cracked up too. Gaven was trying not to laugh and even the stoic Akiro was smirking as he helped tie the complicated sash that Kohaku had to wear. The whole get-up was extraordinarily complicated compared to what he usually wore, and each of the guardians had to help him put on a certain piece of it, for ceremonies' sake. Kohaku would have really rather skipped the whole thing, but his other clothes were still bloody from his double suicide and Light had insisted.

"But why is Kohaku changing? I thought he was going to tell us what happened."

Light didn't respond verbally to Chihiro's question, but Kohaku would have bet his gold sprite that he heard her shake her head.

"Having him tell up isn't enough. There are too many things that we can miss that way. Visual clued, energy shifts, stuff like that. No, we'll be using the watching pool for this."

The watching pool in itself was a work of art. Kohaku recalled the first time that he had seen it as Zepher straightened the fold of his sleeves. The pool was roughly six feet in diameter, but looked as deep as eternity. The water was azure and the pool itself made of crystal that threw shards of light onto the dark stone walls. It was beautiful, but that's all it was at first glance. The water was always still, making the whole thing look like a pretty picture. Which was why when it awoke it was all the more shocking.

Kohaku scowled as Kaz ran a comb through his hair. The wind guardian just smiled like an idiot and Kohaku rolled his eyes. Gaven, thankfully, pushed his brother out of the way and placed the prayer beads around Kohaku's neck. The last step in whole overly complicated symbolic process.

"Aww...You're so pretty!" Kaz teased.

Kohaku shot him a death glare. "Shut up." He snapped. "Let's get this over with."

The guardians shook their heads but filed out from behind the screen. The knew how much Kohaku hated drawing attention to himself, and dressing up certainly brought him attention. Chihiro and Tomoe both seemed to be trying not to stare, Tomoe having a bit more luck then Chihiro, being much more use to the extravagance and pomp and circumstance of the spirit world that made such ornamentation necessary. Light had once told Kohaku that he reminded her of a human prince that she had blessed hundreds of years ago. He had been a good emperor, but he had died young. Kohaku had appreciated the irony.

"You ready?" Light asked.

Kohaku nodded. Light move forward and dipped her right hand into the water, causing it to glow faintly. She turned to Kohaku and lightly touched his forehead with her left hand. She backed away and the guardians came to stand behind her. Kohaku moved towards the pool descending into the clear water as if walking down stairs, the loose hakama pants and numerous overcoats billowing around him.

Chihiro took in a breath and held her tongue even as Kohaku descended further into the small pool. She repeated her new mantra in her head: This was magic. She needn't understand it. If Kohaku and Light were there it would be okay.

Kohaku had completely disappeared underneath the surface fo the water now. The odd thing about it was that the surface of the water was as smooth as it had been before, and no matter how Chihiro tried she couldn't see the vibrant colors of Kohaku's ornate ceremonial clothing through the water.

"Ah!" Chihiro let out a noise of startled surprise as the water of pool shot up, creating a small hurricane in the center of the room before collapsing and engulfing them completely.

The sensation was a bit like being underwater. Things were distorted, and there were swirling shades of blue, but there was neither the weight of wetness of water surrounding her.

"Can you hear me?"

The sound of the voice caused something to shift and suddenly Chihiro was standing with Light, the guardians and Tomoe again. Light and the guardians were looking around, anticipating an answer. A light snow began to fall, sparkling like each was made of diamond.

Light smiled softly, "Okay, quit showing off."

The snow stopped. Chihiro moved closer to Tomoe. "Where are we?" She whispered.

"The watching room. We never left." Tomoe answered. Chihiro blinked, confused. Tomoe shook her head. "We're in a projection of Kohaku's consciousness. This is one of the uses of the watching pool, but I've never seen it before." Chihiro half wondered what the other uses were but her thoughts were interrupted as things changed again.

The landscape was forming loosely, th water like atmosphere thinning and spreading out to create the sky and clouds, the excess forming into ground beneath their feet.

"Okay," Light answered, "let's start with the guardians leaving. I've already seen up until then."

Six figures materialized in the strange world, as an orange film spread across the sky. Chihiro recognized five of the figures, Kohaku and the guardians. The sixth was a boy, similar to Kohaku in age and build, wearing more black then anyone Chihiro had ever seen. His coloring seemed western, sandy blond hair and reddish eyes.

"-Tick-Tock."

"Go!" The image of Kohaku said.

"Be careful." Zepher answered. The guardians left.

The figure in black began speaking with Kohaku, but Chihiro could only hear bits of their conversation.

"I wish I knew."

"...A pity..."

"I'm a threat."

"...never quite good enough..."

"About what?"

"...your little pet..."

"My name is Djavel."

They started fighting. Chihiro didn't want to look; she had to look. By the time she had decided whether she wanted to watch or not, it was over. The world was breaking down and shifting back.

"Alright, that's good. Pull out now."

Light's voice was faint, like Chihiro was hearing her from very far away. Then, she was back in the watching room, the water level of the pool was lowering, leaving everything mysteriously dry in its wake. Kohaku was a the center of the pool, standing on top of the water, eyes closed. The water retreated to the confines of its pool and the light in the water died away.

"Kohaku," Light called softly; the boy's eyes fluttered open. "I need you to call the war council and take care of things here. Kaz, Zepher, Gaven, Akiro, we're going to visit an old friends. Tomoe, please make Chihiro comfortable here."

Kohaku, Tomoe, and the guardians all bowed. "Yes, Light-sama."

Light swallowed with visible difficulty and nodded. "Good, very good."

Light and the guardians left immediately, and Kohaku almost as quickly after them, only pausing to give Chihiro a reassuring smile. For several seconds after their departure all Chihiro could do was blink as her poor human brain tired to piece together the assault that had taken place on her senses.

Tomoe coughed politely. "We should get going. It's not really good to be pulling magic away from a place like this."

Chihiro shook herself out of her daze. "What?" She managed. "How are we pulling magic away?"

"We aren't." Tomoe corrected her, taking her wrist and pulling her best friend gently toward the door. "You are."

"I am?!" Chihiro responded, incredulous but allowing herself to be led out of the room just the same.

"Don't take it personally or anything." Tomoe tried to appease her. "It's just something humans do. They don't have their own magic so they pull it away from everything else. It's why they usually aren't allowed to cross over until they're dead."

Chihiro blinked, only faintly registering where they were. Tomoe had taken off down the hallways like a women possessed, passing numerous doors. Chihiro was sure that she would never be able to find her way back on her own.

"What about me?"

"Kohaku's got a shield on you. It came with the invitation. Those little cranes? Insanely complicated network of spells in them. The shield basically keeps you from absorbing took much magic around you by giving you a steady stream from your prince charming. Shoot, did I take a wrong turn? ...anyway, there are other spells on you too. Like one that helps you retain substance so you can return to the human world. Aha! I knew it was around here!"

Tomoe came to stop in front of a deep purple door. "This is where you'll be staying. It's called the violet room, so if you get lost tell someone that and they should be able to help you find your way back here."

Tomoe slid open the door; Chihiro's jaw dropped. The room was a sea of lavender pillows. A huge western-style mahogany bed inlaid with ornaments of gold wire with a purple silk canopy stood in the center of the room. The most impressive thing, however, was the view. The doors on the far wall opened to a balcony the full length of the wall. Hung in the sky large was a glowing golden orb.

"Wow." Chihiro finally managed. "Are you sure this is my room?"

Tomoe grinned, flopping onto the bed. "This is nothing. You should see Kohaku's room. I was here when they were preparing it for him."

Chihiro shook her head, trying to focus on what was important and not the gorgeous room around her. "Wait, you said Kohaku's feeding me magic?"

"Yep." Tomoe answered, taking a chocolate from the bedside table. "Your parents too."

Chihiro crawled onto the bed withe her friend. "But isn't that making him weaker or something? Oh god, is it my fault Kohaku got hurt?"

Tomoe was holding back giggles. Chihiro shoved her. "This is serious!"

"I'm sorry." Tomoe apologized, still giggling. "You're just so cute." Chihiro blushed as Tomoe tamed her amusement.

"No," she finally answered. "It's not weakening Kohaku at all to feel you guys magic. I'm sure he doesn't even notice. Every spirit has only so much magic at hand for immediate access, even Light. When Kohaku linked you three to him, he started sharing his magic with you. It's a pretty small amount actually, in terms of how much Kohaku has at his disposal. But if you're worried that's why he got hurt, don't be. Because he wasn't suffering from magical exhaustion when he showed up here after being split."

"Oh." Chihiro answered, feeling slightly better. "The moon looks pretty tonight." She changed the subject, bouncing up and down a bit on the bed.

"It's turning red." Tomoe answered, looking out at it.

"What does that mean?" Chihiro asked.

Tomoe's eyes darkened.

"War."

The mountain top was barren, as was the tradition for holy ground. The guardians had lined up on one side of the mountain, the expressions they wore clearly betraying their contempt. Light was but steps in front of them, her own expression carefully blank.

A boy appeared across from them, without fireworks or fanfare. He smirked at the small group, pale blond hair falling into blood red eyes as his black cloak blew in the wind.

Meters away his antithesis stepped forward even as her guardians glared. The boy just smirked all the more as he strode forward to her, stopping mere inches away.

"It's been too long love." He said, tilting her chin upwards almost tenderly so that her pale jade eyes met his.

"Yes," she answered. "Indeed it has."

A/N

The Sixth Deaths/Near Deaths of Kohaku are as followed:

1. When he lost his river (Pre-movie)

2. When he came to the bathhouse and he was trying to absorb his power but Yubaba found him and started to pull power away from him. (pre-movie, mentioned by Kawa-kami, Ch. 7)

3. Zeniba's Curse (movie)

4. When he remembered his name and was trying to absorb his power. (End Ch. 1)

5. When he was hit by the soul whip. (Ch. 9)

6. When he put himself back together again. (Ch. 13)

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