Author's Note: Right, so here's chapter 4, um, I really don't have much else to say except thank you to the people who have been reviewing! Oh, and just for reference, any time that Chihiro and Haku are talking directly to each other or interacting, it's inside of Chihiro's dreams at night, because, well, that's the only place they see each other. So, on we go.
Disclaimer: Bah, disclaimers from pervious chapters still apply here. Shocking, isn't it?
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For five years, life was wonderful. Haku visited Chihiro in her dreams every night during that time without fail. While they led their day-to-day lives fairly happily, what each truly lived for was the night, when they were united again deep inside Chihiro's mind. They had the perfect arrangement; they were able to see each other every day, and Chihiro was still able to remain in the Human World with her family who she loved dearly. She had a little brother now too. He had been born a year and a half after her family had moved and he was over three years old now. He looked a great deal like Chihiro, which delighted her. He's going to be one good-looking kid she thought to herself with a laugh.
Haku was quite comfortable in the Dream World now too. He found the inhabitants to be quite friendly, and the rulers were far more kind and just than Yubaba had ever been. The Dream Master Kyo favored Haku greatly, and had come to think of him as something of a "project." Haku was brought before the Dream Masters almost daily to answer Kyo's questions about the Worlds outside of the land of dreams, and Haku's experiences there. Although he wouldn't admit it, Haku was quite amused by the relationship between Kyo and Lysha. They were polar opposites in nearly every sense. One of the reasons that he obliged Kyo's requests to hear stories of the Spirit World was so that he could watch the brother and sister argue after he was done with his tales. They would debate almost any point, ranging from the way the Dream World should be run, to more petty issues such as which one had better hair (which was Kyo's absolute favorite topic to argue over). It was a wonder that they were so effective as leaders and managed to work so well together.
In those five years after Chihiro's trip to the Spirit World, Chihiro and Haku had each grown up a great deal, and with them, the love they had felt even as children had grown as well. Chihiro was no longer the clumsy little girl she had been (though she was still known to bump into tables and sometimes walls every so often when she wasn't paying attention), and she had become a lovely young woman worthy of her equally lovely name. She was taller now, but still slender, and had let her hair grow down several inches past her shoulders. Her eyes, however, had not changed; they remained as bright and full of curiosity as they had been when she was only ten. Haku too had grown, as Chihiro noted one night as she watched him in her dream.
~~~(Dream)~~~
Chihiro waited impatiently in the field for Haku to arrive. She was always anxious to see him appear at the top of the hill where he would inevitably smile at her and then make his way down to meet her at its base. He was so grown up now, nearly sixteen (in his human form) and as strong and confident as ever. His hair hung loosely around his face and occasionally small gusts of wind blew strands of it over his eyes. He grinned absently and pushed them aside. Chihiro stared up at him admiringly and watched his powerful form as he came jogging down to meet her. He moved beautifully, never missing a beat, never tripping, always perfect. She knew she was certainly not as poised as him, but then again, she couldn't think of anyone who was.
He stopped a few feet in front of her and exhaled deeply, never taking his eyes off her. They stood that way for sometime, standing there and grinning at each other, close enough that if they had merely reached out, they would have been able to grasp the other's hand. Eventually Haku did just that and clasped her hand in his own. The subtle action reminded Chihiro greatly of her departure from the Spirit World back when she was ten. He had grasped her hand gently then, as if secretly willing her to stay there with him, despite his outward insistence that she leave quickly and not turn back. She smiled at the memory, but hastily snapped out of her reverie with a shake of her head. She pulled Haku into a quick hug and kissed him quickly on the cheek. He blushed slightly, so slightly that it would have been imperceptible to almost anyone, though Chihiro caught it easily. She knew him so well; there was something so personal about sharing time alone inside a dream and it had made them extremely close. The kiss on the cheek was an innocent gesture, one that had been Chihiro's standard form of greeting for Haku for two years now.
~~~(Flashback, inside one Chihiro's dream two years earlier)~~~
Chihiro sat in the field, her knees clutched to her chest. Tears spilled readily from her normally bright eyes, making them a dull, clouded color. It had been a terrible day for her back in the human world, and right now she needed the comfort of her dream life, her sanctuary. Her breaths were shallow, her lungs sucking in the painfully cold air that somehow seemed fitting given her unhappy mood. Time dragged on as she remained that way, trying in vain to banish memories of the day from her mind.
"Chihiro?" came a soft voice from behind her. She turned and looked up at Haku, who was standing only inches from her. Upon seeing her distressed state, he knelt down quickly next to her, his face giving away his confusion, and above all else, his concern. He reached out and pulled her into a warm embrace. Neither one spoke for a long time. Haku didn't tell her that "it would all be okay" or ask her what was wrong, for which she was eternally grateful. In truth, she didn't want to talk about it, she didn't even want to think about it, she just wanted to forget, if only for a moment.
Her tears subsided and she pulled away a few inches from him so that she could look up into his face. She sniffled once more and smiled at him as best she could given the situation.
"Good, no more tears," he whispered. Then he reached out and did something he had never done before; he placed his hand on her cheek and stroked it awkwardly. The movement caught Chihiro completely off guard; never once had she seen him do anything with less than perfect elegance and grace. The innocence and vulnerability of his actions shocked her so much that she did something she had feared she might never do again; she laughed. She wasn't quite sure why she had laughed, but she knew that Haku had managed to make her feel the kind of happiness that she had longed for during that terrible day. In her elated state, she leaned over and kissed him on the cheek. He blushed deeply for a few seconds, but composed himself hastily enough to join in on her laughter. For the remainder of the night, they stayed that way, laughing and smiling, though neither one of them really knew why.
~~~(End Flashback)~~~
Ever since that night, Chihiro had greeted Haku with a quick kiss on the cheek. It just seemed appropriate. She thought of it as her way of telling him how deeply she cared for him, as a friend, and perhaps even more, every night.
"So," Haku began, "what should we do tonight?"
"Let's just sit here, you know, and enjoy each other's company." She replied.
They looked over at each other and smiled.
~~~
Unfortunately, all good things really do come to pass. Just as Chihiro and Haku were beginning to realize the full extent of their feelings for each other, everything came crashing violently down. Yubaba, in her impatience at not hearing from Haku for five years and her rage at not receiving the payment he'd promised in exchange for his freedom, had decided to take action. She and a party of her subordinates, including her new apprentice, made a journey to the Dream World, where they planned to find Haku and make him wish he had never asked to be free of his contract.
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Author's Note: Woohoo, finally some sort of semblance of a plot! Please, please, please review! I'll give you a cookie if you do! Anyways, I'll try to get the next chapter up soon, though I'm not making any promises. I'm super-busy right now, what with finals and all the end of the year stuff at school. Gah. Thanks for reading this far!