The Wait: Together

Chihiro smiled wryly as she swung their intertwined hands back and forth. "You really didn't have to come, you know."

"I wanted to come," came his simple reply.

She observed the way the skin on his forehead was crinkled, and the tiny frown pulling the corners of his lips down slightly. "You're worried." It wasn't a question, just a matter-of-fact statement.

Haku gazed at her. "Why wouldn't I be? The only time I'll ever stop worrying about you is when I'm dead. Which would be in about a few thousand years' time."

Or when I do, which would probably be much earlier than you, she silently added, biting her tongue to keep herself from saying it aloud. Haku would get angry if she did that. He hated it when she started getting pessimistic about her condition; somehow, he believed, or hoped, that she would recover.

In general, the possibility of her death was a taboo topic for them.

"So," she started, changing the topic, "what are you going to do while waiting for me? I'm going to be at the hospital the whole day."

He shrugged. There was no agenda on his mind for that day. "I'll just wait for you."

She wrinkled her nose, as if having smelled something pungent. "That's lame, Haku. You should do something."

Haku smiled with a look of fond remembrance on his face. "How ironic. I used to be so busy in the Spirit Realm, managing my duties in the shelter and in the Shugorei, and now here I am, with nothing much to do other than look after you." He squeezed her hand in his big, warm one. "But I think this is more than I can handle at the moment."

"Hey!" she pouted, "What do you mean by that? You don't have to baby me all the time, you know. I won't start crying if you leave me for a few minutes."

"Oh really?" he grinned mischievously.

"Yeah, you could even leave me alone for a few days and I wouldn't even care."

"Mm-hmm," he hummed light-heartedly. His ears began to move in tiny movements back and forth. Upon noticing this, a feeling of dread came over the woman.

When that dragon's ears started moving, it meant he was up something. Something no good, that is. "Haku…" she began.

But it was too late.

One second Haku was standing before her very eyes, and then the next, in the blink of an eye—quite literally at that—the warmth of his hand left hers and he vanished into thin air.

Chihiro took some time to recover from her state of shock and to react to this unprecedented change of events.

She looked around, scanning her surroundings, wondering if he could really have disappeared just like that. He wouldn't use magic out in the open for people to see, would he?

Then again, it wasn't very busy at this time. There were few people around and they seemed to be preoccupied. He must have noticed this and seized the opportunity to do whatever he just did.

Chihiro sighed exasperatedly. Haku really needed to take a joke sometimes.

"Haku?" she called out, stretching out her hands to see if she would touch him. Maybe this was some kind of simple spell that made him invisible. "Haku, I'm not falling for this. I know you're still here. Come on, quit playing, I need to get the hospital."

She waited for a few moments, but he didn't appear. There wasn't even a stray sound that could suggest his presence.

Chihiro rolled her eyes. As if he would really leave her alone. Forget it, she'd just continue walking to the hospital and he'd follow along quietly as much as he liked. Let him stay invisible for as long as he wanted to, she couldn't care less. That childish man!

"Fine, I'm leaving." We'll see who'll be the one crying after this, she thought sulkily.

She stood by the side of the road and waited to hail a taxi. It wasn't very busy at this early time of the day in this small town, so she restlessly stood there. The wait was going to be so long without Haku to keep her company…

Bored, she whipped out her phone from her little bag pack. Seeing that the sky was rather pretty today, being flooded with fluffy white clouds, she decided to take a picture of it. Her phone was filled with many of those pictures. She would take them when she was bored or just wanted to keep the photo as a memento to admire later.

It took a couple of tries for the picture to come out nicely, and when it did, Chihiro observed it intently, smiling to herself in satisfaction. And as her eyes scanned through the picture in detail, a certain pearl white streak stood out in the background, camouflaging rather well in the clouds. She strained to see if there was a thin green line outlining it, but found no such thing. Even then, she was pretty sure it was Haku. She had seen that form a number of times before and wouldn't ever forget that unique pearl color.

"Cheeky dragon," she muttered to herself, poking it, wondering if he'd intentionally tried to include himself in the picture.

But, she had assumed Haku would be right beside her the whole time. She hadn't expected him to be up and about flying around in the sky, as if he'd just cleanly forgotten about her.

If that's how you want to play it, then fine. I'm going to head off first, she huffed to herself.

"You're sulking. Why is that so, Love?"

Chihiro jumped, heart thumping with both shock and embarrassment when she found Haku's face right next to hers, with a huge smirk on his face.

"Y-You… What? Where did you come from?"

"I was here the whole time."

She narrowed her eyes at him. "Liar."

His eyes widened in protest. "I never left your side!"

"Then explain this," she shoved the picture in her cell phone into his face, pointing at the little streak with her pinky finger.

He stared at it, unfazed. "It's a cloud," Haku said slowly, as if speaking to a 3-year-old.

From her expression, she didn't believe him. "It's a cloud," he repeated, looking rather amused now. "Did you think that was me?"

She nodded curtly in response.

Haku chuckled and held her hands in his. "I wasn't lying. I really didn't leave your side. What's got you so upset now, hmm?"

She continued pouting and looked away, not feeling like talking to him for some weird reason. It was a child's tantrum she was throwing and she knew it.

"Don't tell me, you didn't like the idea of me leaving you?" he suggested, sounding rather entertained at the moment.

"No!" she retorted indignantly, still refusing to meet him in the eye.

Haku shook his head and grinned at her childishness. "Okay, I won't do that ever again, I promise. Now don't be mad anymore, won't you?"

"No."

"Why not?"

"I don't, I don't know. I'm not in the mood to talk to you," she replied.

He chuckled softly and hugged her, not caring that she was squirming in his arms. "What do I do with you, you little baby?"

"I'm not a baby!" came her cry of protest.

"Yes, you are. You're upset because you thought I left you. If that's not a baby, I'm not sure what else you are."

Chihiro had nothing to say in return. "You idiot Haku."

"I'm your idiot, though."

She scrunched up her nose. "I don't want you," she scoffed, but she couldn't help the smile spreading across her face at that statement.

"That's good, you're finally smiling."

Immediately, Chihiro tried to stop smiling, which failed terribly and only got her boyfriend chuckling even harder. "Forgiveness is a gift, Chihiro."

"It's a gift only given to those who deserve it," she shot back.

"What makes me undeserving of it? I'm a great boyfriend," he announced proudly.

Chihiro resisted the urge to snort in front of him. "How humble of you."

"Thank you very much."

Just then, they spotted a taxi coming in their direction and Chihiro hurriedly flagged it and then the both of them got into the taxi, on the way to the hospital.

It was a short 10-minute ride to the hospital, and after paying the fare and getting off outside the entrance, the both of them made their way to the counter.

"Ms. Ogino, yes? Please wait for a moment, I'll get Sakino to bring you there," the receptionist greeted politely.

"Okay, thank you." The receptionist was about to turn back to her computer and pile of paperwork on the table, when she seemed to spot Haku out of the corner of her eyes. Chihiro noticed the way she scrutinized Haku with a hint of a smile playing on her lips, indicating she was rather pleased with what she was seeing.

Chihiro turned to look at Haku to find the all too familiar wall on his blank face. Giving the receptionist a curt nod as she smiled at him, he swiftly turned around, pulling Chihiro along with him.

He squeezed her hand, and she understood the subtle message in that simple motion. Smiling, she squeezed back and they found a seat in the waiting area. "I think you'll like Sakino. She's my good friend here."

"Mm… I imagine her to be a rather lively person, somehow," he replied thoughtfully.

Chihiro grinned. "How'd you know? She's really fun loving, and I think you two would get along really well."

"What makes you think so?"

"Well… you two seem to enjoy coercing me into drinking more water till my bladder bursts…" she answered dryly. "Oh, and the children love her! Speaking about the children, since you're waiting for me, why not go visit them? I think they'd like some company. I could head over after I'm done."

He thought about it for a moment, nearly cringing at the thought of them attacking him again. Even tens of thousands of demons could not scare him as much as they did.

"You look horrified, Haku. Come on, they're not that bad," Chihiro teased, nudging him playfully.

He grimaced. "I doubt they'd act any more civilly without you there. I'd prefer not to take that chance."

Chihiro poked his cheek. "Don't tell me, you don't like kids?"

"Of course I do!" he protested a little too loudly. It was out of his character to be like that, and Chihiro giggled. Slightly embarrassed, he cleared his throat and continued in a lower tone, "Children are very endearing. It's just… I think they're a little too much for me to handle alone."

"You'll get used to it after a while, don't worry."

He pursed his lips. "Perhaps."

"Hey Chihiro! It's good to see you again! How are you?" Sakino ran up to Chihiro immediately after spotting her and gave her a tight squeeze when she stood up to greet her.

"Hello Sakino! I'm doing great! You?" Chihiro was excited to see one of her best friends again. She hadn't realized how much she had missed her until now. How long had it been since she last saw Sakino, anyway? It seemed like years already.

Sakino sighed and looked away. "Great, other than some patients here and there causing a huge fuss in their wards. There was this one guy who got here after he got involved in an accident with some injuries, and in the ward he wouldn't quit blaring his heavy metal music. Hello? Ever heard of headphones or earpieces? My goodness, do you know how many patients complained about the noise he was making? It was horrible! Complaint after complaint after complaint and still he wouldn't stop. And geez, his taste in music is absolutely horrible! There was hardly any tune in that song and it was more or less just some maniacal dude screaming like he was in labor. I'm glad he's out of here. I don't know if I could have taken another day of him and his stupid screaming soundtrack."

Chihiro was astounded. She had nearly forgotten how Sakino could ramble on and on, paying no mind to the time at all. Somehow, she reminded her of Lin, and maybe that was what got her to open up easily when they first met.

Apparently, Sakino hadn't been so loud or excited when interacting with people until they met each other. Ever since then, Chihiro had always loved confiding in and listening to this woman.

"Looks like you were having a blast while I wasn't around," she commented with a laugh.

Sakino rolled her eyes. "Blast. Right. Ha. Very funny, Chihiro. Oh? Who's this, now?"

Chihiro followed her gaze to see that Haku was now standing next to her. He looked like a curious puppy, waiting to be introduced to a new friend. It was simply adorable.

Smiling, she introduced, "Ah, I almost forgot to introduce the both of you. Haku, this is Sakino. Sakino, this is Haku."

"It's a pleasure to meet you," he said politely, reaching out his hand to shake hers.

"Nice to meet you too, Haku. I assume you're Chihiro's boyfriend?"

"What? How did you know?" Chihiro gaped at her friend's knowing gaze.

"It was pretty obvious," she replied nonchalantly, "I saw the two of you holding hands before you spotted me."

Flushing slightly when Haku took this opportunity to slip his fingers between hers again, Chihiro swiftly changed subjects. "Sakino, I think I'm supposed to have my chemotherapy session now, right?"

Sakino blinked twice and glanced at her watch. "Oh no! Right! Your session! I almost forgot! We need to get going! Follow me!"

She slowed down a little to sneakily whisper into Chihiro's ear, "You're telling me all about this new boyfriend of yours later, okay?"

Chihiro didn't know if she should be worried about the multitude of questions to come. There was little possibility of them ending.

They entered the elevator and got out at the third floor. Chihiro stepped into the familiar hallway again and felt her heart beating again. It wasn't from excitement or nostalgia; each time she stepped in here, the grim reminder of her fate hung in the air.

Haku must have sensed the sudden change in her mood, for he let go of her hand and wrapped it around her shoulders, pulling her close to his warm body. "You're going to be alright," he assured her, willing his warmth to be of at least some comfort to her.

Chihiro smiled reassuringly and rested her head against his shoulder. "I know."

The trio stopped outside the room where Chihiro was to enter for her treatment. "Okay, this is where you two lovebirds have to separate for a couple of hours," Sakino announced. "I'll just go in and settle some things first, then I'll tell you to come in, alright?"

Chihiro and Haku both nodded and then they were left alone in the quiet hall.

Haku hooked his arms around her waist and then rested his forehead against hers. "To be honest, I don't want you going in there without me."

She smiled and traced the outline of his jaw with her finger gently. There was some stubble under his chin that was rough against her thin finger. "I don't want to go in without you either, but it's just how it is. And I think Sakino wants some girlfriend time with me too, so you aren't welcome anyway."

He chuckled, and Chihiro felt his warm, minty breath fan across her face. "I had expected my girlfriend to be more open to me being around her, but I guess not."

She laughed, and then she snuggled her head into the crook of his neck. "I love you," she said out of the blue, surprising Haku.

"Where did this come from?" Chihiro felt him grin again her cheek.

She shrugged. "I don't know. Just felt like saying it."

He hummed. "I love you too." Bending in close, their lips met. Chihiro felt warmth rush to her cheeks, and her body slowly heated up along with his. It never failed to embarrass her when they kissed. It was almost as if she would never get used to that ticklish sensation that would crawl down her back and turn her insides to mush.

When they pulled away, Chihiro couldn't help but smile as she gazed into his beautiful emerald orbs. "I see you don't turn shy to the extent of not daring to look at me anymore," he commented teasingly.

She hit him lightly on the chest in return, making him laugh.

Just then, the door opened, and Chihiro scrambled to get out of his hold before Sakino or anyone could spot them; public display of affection remained something she wasn't exactly comfortable with.

And that was why she was ready to curse the mischievous dragon for holding her in place instead of letting her go. Of course, Sakino saw the two of them in that position and immediately had an I'm-ready-to-hear-all-about-it expression on her face.

"Okay, the stuff's ready, you can head in now. Dr. Kawahashi should be coming in soon."

"Got it." She wriggled some more until Haku let go of her and she stepped away. She was about to follow Sakino in when he held her back.

"You sure you're going to be okay in there?" he asked, unwilling to let go of Chihiro's hand.

"Yes, I'm going to be alright, Haku. Relax. It's just a chemotherapy session. It's supposed to help me recover."

"I know…" He peeked into the room, eyeing the suspicious-looking machinery in the room warily before turning back to her. "Does it hurt?"

"Not one bit," she assured him.

"I'll be in there with her, so no worries!" Sakino chirped. "Come on, now, we need to get along with it. The quicker you start, the faster you put an end to your boyfriend's misery."

"It's not misery…" he murmured, but obediently let go of Chihiro's hand. He never took his eyes off of her before she disappeared into the room, and the door closed firmly behind them.

He glanced at the clock on the wall at the other end of the corridor. It was about 1pm. Her session was going to take about 6 hours, so he had a lot of time until she finished with her session.

It was a fortunate thing that dragons weren't very impatient creatures; they could sit and meditate for a few hours without feeling the least bit bored or restless.

Haku found himself a seat and settled into it, making sure to feel comfortable. He was going to be seated there for the next 6 hours, after all.

Folding his arms, he was just about to close his eyes, when something came floating down the empty corridor towards him. At first, he thought it was just dust or a trick of his eyes, but then when he recognized that familiar shimmering gold color of that object, he got up to get a good look at it and instantly recognized it as that phoenix's feather.

What was Shou's feather doing here? Did he have an urgent message for him?

Not wanting to open up the telegram in such a public place, Haku quickly muttered some words under his breath to render him and that feather invisible.

Then, using his middle and fourth finger to lightly tap the feather, he said, "Speak."

With a bright light, a projection of Shou began to form. Troubled golden orbs met green ones.

"Haku! Can you hear me?"

"Yes, I can see you fine too. What's going on?" Shou knew better than to send something like this into the human world; it was too risky, for the existence of spirits was not to be made known to humans. If he had to send a message like this to him, it probably meant something big. Haku started to feel wary about the impending news, not knowing what to expect, exactly.

"Is Chihiro with you?"

"No, she's currently undergoing treatment in the hospital. What do you need to speak with her about? You look distressed."

Shou muttered a curse under his breath before continuing, "It's about Shizuna. You know, that crow spirit you rescued?"

"…Yes, what about her?"

"She's in critical condition right now. Sakura and the medical team are still trying their best to save her, and since Chihiro's her good friend, I thought she'd want to know. You have to hurry back here if you want to see Shizuna. Things aren't looking too good…"

Haku frowned. If Chihiro learned about this, no doubt she'd want to make haste with a trip back to the Spirit Realm to visit Shizuna. The thing was, her body might not be able to take going in and out of the Spirit World too often; the Spirit World and Human World had different frequencies, so her body would have to strain itself in adjusting to the different environments.

"What happened to Shizuna in the first place? If I remember correctly, she had no health problems and seemed to be alright."

"I got some limited information from the team; they said they'd need to examine a little more to know better, but I think there's a problem with her heart; there're multiple cuts on it and it caused some major internal bleeding. I think they've managed to stop the blood loss for now. I can only get the details later."

If Chihiro learned about this, it would worry her to no end. Just thinking about the sadness that would contort her face felt like a demon's sharp sting. Never mind, he would take his time to consider this first. "Okay, I'll let Chihiro know after she is done. Thank you for letting me know, Shou. Be sure to update me on her condition if there are any changes."

"Sure. No problem, just be sure to hurry. We're not sure if she can last the night."

"I understand. We'll try our best. Farewell."

Shou nodded, and then the projection shut off, the feather vanishing into thin air, leaving Haku alone in the hall with a new dilemma to work with.


A/N: Wow I haven't updated in like a month haha. Sorry, my workload has been quite heavy, and I think I had to shift my focus into revision, so I hadn't had much time to write in a long time. Boy, I've missed this fan fiction so much! :D It's been at the back of my mind this past month every single day (no I'm not lying or exaggerating). Hope you enjoyed this chapter and thanks for reading!

Not forgetting my amazing reviewees:

SAK00, pillowpuff28, diety, taengoose, tinawinna, Queen Elsa of Arendale, loveghibli, LedF and Guest! ^^

Haha you guys rock! Thanks for pushing me on to keep writing! (:

That's all for now, I guess. Please leave a review to tell me what you thought about this chappie yeah! Finally this story's going back into some plot huehue~ I've got quite a lot of good stuff in store so look forward to it! ^^

P.S. I'll be updating in maybe another few weeks, depending on how much work I have. I'll be super busy in the first half of the year, so thanks for putting up with the long wait! (: God bless~