Chapter 6

All knowing POV

After dinner Chihiro went back to work in her office. Haku decided to take a walk around the house to make sure everything was as it should be. Taking note of the barriere Master Riku had put up, he decided to add a little something to it. The barrier seemed to be the kind where anyone, spirit and human alike, had to be invited into the house to be able to enter. Haku decided that he needed to add a little something to it. Now if anyone tried to force their way into the house, he would know immediately. Satisfied that the safety measures that had been taken would suffice, Haku went back inside.

Chihiro was starting to feel the effects of sleep weighing down on her eyelids. She was determined to finish what she was currently working on, but soon her head was resting on her desk and she didn't notice her office door opening slowly and a voice softly calling her name.

Haku had been listening to the sounds of her office, making sure that should there be anything, he would know. He had noticed the lack of the sound of her pen scribbling away right before he heard the sound of papers fall to the ground. When he opened her office door he noticed her sleeping on the desk and her papers scattered on the floor.

"She probably pushed them down accidentally as she fell asleep." He thought. Walking over and putting a gentle hand on her shoulder he tried to wake her, but she was completely out. Haku gathered the papers on the floor in a heap and put them on her desk. Before returning to the side of the sleeping girl.

"She looks so peaceful in her sleep."

He then lifted her gently into his arms and carried her out of the office. Using magic to open and close the door. On his way up the stairs he met Ellie. She was in a simple white nightgown.

"Did she fall asleep on her desk again?" Ellie asked with a sympathetic smile.

"Yes she did. Does that happen often?"

"More and more recently. I was actually on my way down to check on her. But I can see you've got this covered." Ellie then turned around to go back to her room. "Goodnight Kohaku."

"Goodnight Ellie."

Haku then carried the sleeping Chihiro to her room and put her down on the bed as gently as he could without waking her. He pulled off her socks and covered her with a blanket.

For a while he just kneeled next to her, staring at her serine face. Her eyelashes fanning her cheekbones that were a little flushed, the elegant line of her jaw, the beauty of her peach colored skin, and every other small detail of the face he hadn't seen in the last ten years. He had often wondered just how she would look when matured into an adult female, after all a human can change a lot in the span of a single decade. None of his imagined outcomes even came close to the striking woman she had become.

Haku's eyes fell on chihiro's full bottom lip. He wondered for a moment if it was as soft as it looked. Before he could be pulled further down that track of thoughts, he forced his eyes away from her face. They landed on her silky brown hair and the purple hair tie that held it in place.

"Zeniba. She knew Chihiro was the woman we were talking about, but refused to tell me. No doubt having a laugh. It is so like her to do something like that. Never outright giving the answers but leading us in the right direction to discover for ourselves. She sure is cunning, the old witch."

Deciding to leave Chihiro to sleep peacefully, he stood and exited the room. Closing the door softly, he turned to see Master Riku coming down the hall.

"Is she asleep?" Master Riku asked him.

"Yes. She fell asleep on her desk so I carried her up."

"Good. Would you mind accompanying me in my office? There is something I would like to talk to you about Kohaku."

"Of course sir." Haku said with a small nod.

Master Riku poured a cup of tea for them both and told Haku to take a seat. Accepting gratefully, Haku sat in a plush armchair in front of Master Riku's desk, while the Master took the seat behind the desk.

"As I told you earlier, I received a letter from Zeniba saying you were coming. She explained in the letter that the two of you already knew each other from years ago, but that chihiro wouldn't remember as her memory of the events that transpired would have been wiped upon her return to the humanworld."

"Yes, that is true. Chihiro and I met ten years ago when she and her parents stumbled into the spiritworld. Through several different events, we helped each other find our freedom, and she and her parents returned here safely." Haku nodded.

Master Riku nodded too and gave Haku an appraising look. "Did Chihiro tell you that she can talk to the water of your river?"

"Yes, she told me that earlier. I can assume you know what that means." It wasn't a question. Haku could tell that the master already knew what that meant. Not only from the way he had just asked, but also from Chihiro's earlier comment of how the Master didn't want her to reveal that to anyone but himself and Haku.

"Yes, I do." The Master answered with a small sigh. "It is for this reason I also told her that no matter what she might think of the next bodyguard the council sent our way, she would have to accept. I've been holding her indoors for the last three weeks, not letting her go out in case of more attacks. She has no idea herself the power she holds in her hands."

Haku found himself to be very grateful to the Master for his protectiveness over his good friend. "Do you think it would be safe to tell her?

"No. At least not yet. If we were to tell her that she currently holds rights to the river's ownership, being the only creature in existence with the loyalty and respect of the water itself other than you who were born to it, she would likely panic."

A little worried Haku horidly asked a question. "Why would she panic? I mean I know that If others found out that once the river has been revived, she would need to pass the ownership over to someone else, as a human cannot hold it for long without it draining her lifeforce, they would try harder to kidnap or kill her, to take the ownership by force. But seeing as she does not seem too worried even with the attempts made on her life so far, one would believe her to have nerves of steel."

"While that is true and she does, Chihiro would most likely see it as theft. In other words, she would likely think that she had stolen the rights to the Kohaku river from under you. She would be ashamed of herself, thinking that she had betrayed you, however unintentional it might have been." Master Riku answered.

Haku was confused. "But that doesn't make any sense. Chihiro didn't take it. It can't be taken by force, it has to be given willingly. Obviously my water sees her soul as pure, and recognizing her from when we have met before, knew her to be the best and only choice. She didn't steal it. It was a gift. Don't you think she would be able to convince her of that?"

Master Riku sighed while leaning back. "I don't know." He said solemnly. "I don't know if she would understand the connection your water feels towards her. Honestly, I don't understand it either. Could you possibly explain to me why the water would feel such an intense loyalty to her that it would do this without your permission or instruction?"

While it is true that the essence of a natureborn spirit, in this case the water of the river itself, would never give rights and loyalty to anyone without the permission of it's true soul, it being Haku, in this case Haku had no doubt. At the time Haku had been forced away from his river, trapped in the spiritworld and the water had been lying dormant waiting for his return. There would always be a small connection between them, letting the water feel what he felt. No doubt it had picked up on his strong feelings towards Chihiro, knowing her to be a trusted friend and ally.

Haku made eye contact with the master once more. "It's actually quite obvious, to me at least. While I was not with my river, a small connection between us remained, letting it feel what I felt." Haku began to explain. "Sixteen years ago, when Chihiro was about four years old, she fell into my river. My water called to me, saying that a child was drowning in our depths and we had to help her. Knowing that I couldn't let her die and that at such a young age she likely wouldn't remember for long what happened, I saved her. Six years later my river had been filled in and I found myself under a contract with Yubaba, Zeniba's twin sister. She had taken my name as well as my memories of everything from before I arrived at her bathhouse. I had tried desperately for so long to remember but I couldn't. When Chihiro arrived there though I was somehow able to remember her. Not what had happened, just her. Her name and face. I tried to get her to leave but it was too late. She was trapped just like I was." Haku looked at the teacup in his hands with a sad expression.

"You mean she fell under a contract as well?" Master Riku asked him.

"Yes. But I knew her name and gave it back to her, so she didn't forget anything. Her parents, on the other hand, were trapped by Yubaba and they were the reason Chihiro had signed the contract in the first place. To save them." Haku lifted his gaze to the Master once again. "Long story short. Yubaba had put a slug in me to be able to control me. She forced me to steal Zeniba's golden monogram seal."

Master Riku's eyes widened. "I heard it has a death curse on it for anyone who tries to steal it."

Haku nodded. "It does. When I returned to the bathhouse, Chihiro found me and saved my life. She broke the curse, extracted the slug from my belly and then made the journey to return the seal to Zeniba. I went there to retrieve her and on the way back she somehow remembered that day she fell into my river. She recalled my name and spoke it outloud, breaking the barrier on my memories. When we got back, she freed her parents and she went back home." Noticing the expression of deep concentration on the Master's face, Haku fell silent letting all of the information sink into the Master's mind.

After a few minutes, Haku spoke again. "So as you can see, my river has clearly mirrored my own feelings of gratitude, adoracion and loyalty. It knew from the beginning that it didn't need my permission, for I would have given it wholeheartedly. She saved my life, gave me my freedom and returned my name to me. There is no doubt in my mind that when the water felt her nearby, It knew exactly who she was, and that if it was to have any chance of surviving and being reunited with it's soul ever again, it needed her help. And in it's opinion she was the only worthy candidate. I feel guilty for having her in this position. If I had been there, I never would have dared to ask. She deserves better than to be in danger because of me. I know for a fact that I will never be able to repay her for all the things she has done for me, and is still doing. I will owe her for the rest of my existence."

After a long minute, Master Riku nodded again. "I see the whole picture now. The river loves her." He said as a matter of fact.

Haku looked up in surprise, eyes wide and mouth open in shock. "What? I don't..." But Haku didn't really know how to respond.

"I don't claim to be an expert on how you or your river thinks Kohaku. But much like your dragonside, your river's point of view is very simple. It does not hang on technicalities. It feels and responds. Correct me if I'm wrong, but have you ever felt loyalty of this magnitude to anyone before? Or any of the strong feelings you say you have for her?"

"Well, no but.."

"And for your river to have felt these feelings of yours so strongly they themselves would have to be extremely strong. For it to have given itself over to her so completely, it would have to believe that you and it loves her."

"Believing we love her and actually harboring those feelings are two very different things." Haku argued. But somewhere in his chest, just saying those words out loud felt like lying.

"Tell me Haku, have you found your mate yet?"

Haku felt like a bucket of ice had just been dumped on his head. "No.." He said with a frown.

"If I recall correctly, when a spirit finds their soulmate, or in a dragon's case their mate, they instantly know who they are to them as soon as they touch. Could it be that when Chihiro fell into your river as a child your river didn't call to you for help because it was simply a child that was drowning, but because it recognized her as it's soulmate? Having been only a child you wouldn't have felt the bond as strongly as had she been an adult."

"But she's…" But Master Riku continued.

"And it would also make sense as to why when your memories were gone, you were still able to recognize her as important to you and remembering her name. Driven to protect her at all costs by the bond between mates. And you didn't feel the connection even then because again she was just a child."

"But she's an adult now. Wouldn't I have recognized the bond now then?"

"I think you already have. You just haven't realised it yet, or won't admit it to yourself."

Haku was just sitting there unable to form words.

"How does your dragonside feel about this topic? Is it growling in disapproval or…" He trailed off watching as Haku's expression changed. "Or perhaps it's purring in agreement and satisfaction now that the thoughts are finally in your head?" Master Riku finished with a satisfied smile. The wide eyed look of disbelief on Haku's face told him everything he needed to know.

It took an embarrassingly long time for Haku to find his voice again, all the while Master Riku just sat and patiently waited for him.

"Chihiro is my mate." Haku said in a small whisper. The Master nodded at him. A happy grin slowly formed on Haku's face and with a stronger voice this time he repeated his own words to himself. "Chihiro is my mate."

Hello everyone and welcome back. Please leave a review. I so desperately want to know what your thoughts are. Please tell me if there is something you like or dislike. I thank you for reading my story non the less and hope you enjoy it. :)