"The way to the Dragon's Gate is perilous, Haku-sama," the Tortoise warned Haku, dressed for battle as if he was ready for war, his broadsword hanging onto a belt at his left, while he carried Chihiro in his arms. He had cast a sleeping spell upon her as soon as she realized what he was about to do, and had quickly informed Zeniba about it. No response came from the Witch yet, but Haku knew that if she wanted to contact him, she could do so easily. The important thing now was to get Chihiro to the Dragon's Gate as quickly as possible, so that he could end everything, so that for once in many eons, Chihiro's soul would be able to rest from constant prosecution.

Haku looked at the Tortoise and nodded his head. "I will pay any price to complete this mission," he said, looking at Chihiro as he slept. "It is the only way I can repay her for all she has done to me." He knew that Chihiro would not agree with his decision, but he was adamant to see the Dragon's Gate destroyed. Even if he would die from whatever that may come, he wanted to leave whatever realm of existence he belonged into knowing that from then on, Chihiro would never have to suffer again, in this life or the next. "Chihiro has already given me two lifetimes of her love, I cannot ask more of her."

The Tortoise sighed. Young love was a beautiful thing. However, as beautiful as it was, there was no one to wise enough to say that it was sometimes foolish as well. "But Haku-sama, have you ever considered that as you have given your heart freely to Chihiro-sama, she has also done the same to you?" the Tortoise asked his master. "You say that you are sacrificing your life for her because you love her, but have you ever given a thought how she would live without you by her side?"

"What do you mean?" Haku asked, his eyebrow raised along with the tone of his voice.

"Chihiro-sama is the living personification of the Earth's bounties, and the reserves of her memories run deep. Once the defenses around her decay, she will receive the memories of the past. And what will happen to her, when she remembers you as the one who loved her so deeply for so long, and she knows that you are no longer there by her side?"

Haku did not answer that question, not because he did not wish to, but because he could not. And his silence already revealed how he had felt regarding this issue. "You are coming with me because you are to be my guide, and nothing more," he snarled at the Tortoise. It was a sign that he no longer wanted any form of input on that matter.

"Haku-sama," Mother Duck came before him and bowed deeply. "There is someone here to see you."

With that, Haku nodded and carried Chihiro out of his chambers, with the Tortoise and Mother Duck in tow. He was rather surprised to see No Face in the center of his audience chamber, a few steps away from his throne. "No Face, it is good to see you again, my friend," Haku greeted with the Spirit with a bow, and his gesture was returned. "Zeniba has sent you to aid us, has she not?"

No Face nodded. "Uh… uh," he said as he usually did, but those that had come to know him could translate those two meaningless sounds into almost full sentences, even Chihiro.

"It is good to know that you are here to protect Chihiro as well," Haku said, placing Chihiro into his able care. "Come, the day is growing old, and we must set out to the Dragon's Gate before that Carp does."

"Of all the times to be trekking up a mountain…" the Carp complained to none other to himself, trudging up the mountain path with his broadsword in tow while he picked off yet another falling scale from the skin of his neck. His days were now numbered, and he gave himself a good two weeks before he would really disappear from the world as a Spirit, and remain nothing but a useless, common carp, ready for the fisherman's net.

He was lucky, however, to discover that the two young lovebirds that had managed to wound him enough to stop him from pursuing them left the book that they had opened unlocked, there for all to see. If things went a little differently, he knew that his chase would end at the library, because when he closed the book, he could not even grasp what the book's riddle asked of it.

However, the strangest thing was that the Dragon's Gate was not in any location in the Spirit-World, no indeed. The Dragon's Gate was in the realm of the humans, in a "lexus of powerful energies, drawn from both worlds". In short, it was a Tamba region in Kyoto, a mountainous region known as the "Roof of Kyoto". In the very center of these mountains was a waterfall with sapphire waters known to have given birth to heroes of the human worlds, and also great warriors of the Spirits.

At the very top of the waterfall, would be the Dragon's Gate. It was a structure that could not be seen by common, mortal eyes, twenty feet in height, fifteen feet wide, complete with the stone chalice, large enough for a full-grown adult to bathe in it when it was filled with liquid.

The Dragon's Gate was powerful, as the Tortoise had described, due to the sheer amount of blood spilt there, the blood of the Light-blessed, in one incarnation after the other. Perhaps the construction of the Gate had not been on accident. On the contrary, the sheer drop of forty meters (about 130 feet) was just adequate for the realization of a Dragon's maiden flight…

The Carp was lucky that he was taking a path unused by the sheer amount of human tourists there, because his powers would not be adequate to mask his appearance more than to give himself human shape in his condition. "Just you wait, you insolent boy," he muttered, words that he hoped that the Dragon could hear.

"We will stop here for the night," Haku proclaimed, gently transferring Chihiro into his arms from No Face while the Tortoise and the former began to set up camp. The effects of the sleeping spell would soon wear off, and he knew that Chihiro would not like to know that she was hauled halfway up a mountain while she was asleep; much less the original intention for Haku to have done so was so that he could sacrifice his own life to save hers…

"Uh… uh…" No Face said to him, offering him a flask of water, which he accepted with a grateful nod. As those that did not belong in a different realm, their existence would be like Chihiro's coming into their own world. They would fade if they did not consume the food of that world (and had settled for edible mushrooms found on the mountain), and they would tire far quickly than they would have in their own realm.

The young woman woke not long after the Tortoise had started the fire, its warmth so enticing to her that Haku had moved her closer to the fire. "Haku…" she murmured his name, and soon enough, her brown eyes fluttered open. "Where am I?" she asked, her voice changing in tonality from being in a dreamlike state, to that of sudden realization.

"You are in the Roof of Kyoto, my love," Haku answered, placing them upon her feet. "We are already halfway there, and come morning, we will arrive there in time before that… fish… comes soon."

Her brown eyes were focused upon No Face and she ran over to greet him with a hug, followed by a nod of acknowledgement towards the Tortoise. "Thanks for coming," she told them, and she bowed her thanks to them. She fell silent, watching No Face as he grilled a few fishes for their dinner, something that Haku greatly appreciated.

"Soon, Chihiro," Haku said to her. "All of our troubles would be over."

"But at what cost?" she asked him, bringing her palm to his handsome face. "Haku, don't think I don't know why you made me sleep throughout the journey. I know what it takes to destroy the Dragon's Gate just as you do…" Her voice faltered, because she could not find any further words to say to him. She could not even comprehend the end of that path if they were to take it. But now, what choice did she have, when Haku had already made the decision even without consulting her?

Haku stood up, and looked away from her. "Then you will know that this is the only way I know of to save you," he replied, clenching his fists at his side. The pain of not being by her side if and when she needed him was already there in his heart, and he knew that if he faltered, then they would never be able to finish what they had started so many years ago.

"We can go far away from here," Chihiro suggested, walking towards him to face him. "Far enough where no one will know us but close enough to your lake!"

That was a tempting notion. To take her with into unknown lands, where they could be together without any fear of anyone… "My love… please," Haku pleaded, holding her close to him. "I need you to understand this. Once the Dragon's Gate is destroyed, you will never be hunted down. You will forever be in peace, in your lifetimes to come."

"What will that amount to when I'll spend all those lifetimes alone?" she asked him, tears now forming in her brown eyes as she cupped his face in her hands. "If I can remember our previous lives, I'll be able to remember this one as well! Don't leave me alone to face the ages of this world by myself… please…"

Haku knew that this was not because Chihiro feared for her life and needed his protection. He knew that this was not because she was so afraid of loneliness that she would not allow him to take the measures that he wished. "Chihiro, please do not make this any more difficult for the both of us…" he told her, knowing that No Face and the Tortoise were watching them intently.

"Is there no other way?" Chihiro asked again, pleading him to reconsider. She looked at Haku, but he gave no response. "No Face?" she asked her old friend, who shrugged and shook his head, as did the Tortoise. "Haku, I don't want to lose you…" Her slight fit of sadness had subsided, and she knew that there was nothing that she could do to change Haku's mind.

"You will not lose me," the Dragon reassured her, kissing her on the forehead. "No matter what happens, I will find my way back to you, I promise… You, my love, are the child of Fate herself. No mother would ever seek to forsake her own child." With his powerful arms around her waist, she was literally unable to resist him. "I beg you to have faith in me now as you always have. I will deliver you to safety, at all costs…"

She silenced him then and there, at first with a slim finger on his lips, and then her own, petal-colored ones. She loved him, just as he had loved her, and she wanted him safe, just as he wanted her to be. However, she was tired of being toyed around by the hand of fate. She no longer wanted to be tossed here and there, to walk where she was supposed to.

It was not long before he took the dominance of the kiss, and held her deeper in his arms. And that was when she knew she had the opportunity to strike. Here in the human realm, he would be almost as vulnerable as she had been in the spirit-realm…

"I'm sorry, Haku, but I can't let you take that risk, not for me…" she said, and looked towards No Face and the Tortoise. "Come on, guys, let's go."

HAN: Thanks for the reviews! This fic, as Captial E has stated, is coming to and end ^.^ YAY! This means more time for me to adjust to me Uni life. ^.^