Footsteps sounded behind the back door of the house. The boy started and looked towards it. Ryuuko followed his gaze. The knob turned and her mother peeked out. "Ryuuko? Are you okay? I thought I heard you call."

Ryuuko turned to look at the boy, but he had vanished yet again. "I…I don't know…" she said softly, despairing.

"What's that supposed to mean?" asked her mother gently, coming out and sitting down. "You really haven't been looking all that well lately." She ruffled her daughter's black hair and then ran a hand through her own light brown tresses. "You can tell me."

Ryuuko looked away. "I saw someone today."

"Oh?"

"It seems like he wants to talk to me, but he never gets the chance. Something always happens, and then I turn around, and he's gone."

Her mother looked thoughtful. "That's strange."

"I know. I feel like I need to hear what he has to say, that it's very important, but I never get the chance."

"Do you know him?"

Ryuuko shook her head. "I have no idea who he is."

Her mother smiled softly. "I'm sure everything will work out in its own good time. Don't worry about it until then."

"Really?"

Her mother nodded. "Really."

"You believe me?"

"Of course. I learned when I was around your age that sometimes the most unbelievable things are the most real. I haven't forgotten it yet."

Ryuuko gave her a hug. "Thanks, Mom."

"Any time. Want some lemonade? I just made a pitcher full."

"Sure. That sounds great!"

As they walked inside, a thought hit Ryuuko. "Mom? Are ghosts solid when you touch them?"

Her mother smiled. "I don't know about ghosts, but I've definitely found that spirits are."

"Mom!" groaned Ryuuko, but she was laughing too.

That night she went out into the back yard where she had first seen him. "Whoever you are, I'm here. You can talk to me if you want," she called out softly.

Only the normal night sounds answered her. She waited for what seemed a very long time before she went back inside. "He's not coming, Mom," she sighed as she shut the door.

"Oh, don't worry. Everything happens when it happens. Maybe he's just not ready yet. Or maybe he can't be called. You never know."

"Maybe. I wish I could find out what he wants, though."

He mother smiled. "And I wish I could find out where those socks I put in the dryer keep disappearing to. Life's full of mysteries, ne?"

"Yeah, I guess."

"What does he look like, anyways?"

"Mm…sort of sad like. He's got dark hair and green eyes and a white shirt. I think he wears shorts too, not long pants."

"I'll keep an eye out for him."

"Thanks. I don't think you'll see him, though."

"Well, it doesn't hurt to be on the lookout, now does it?"

"I guess not."

"That's right. Now get to bed. You've got school tomorrow."

"Yeah. Oyasumi."

Ryuuko walked into her room with a sigh. "I wonder if anyone else will ever see him. Maybe I'm just losing it." She sat on the floor, her back resting against the wall and her knees drawn up to her chest. She closed her eyes, only to open them and see a certain familiar form sitting before her. Out of instinct, she jumped back, forgetting that the wall was behind her. It met her head with a solid thump, causing her to clutch the back of her head and curl up a little with pain. "Itai…"

The boy seemed to smile slightly, as if remembering something long past, and then he reached out his hand towards her. His fingers actually brushed her bangs this time. "You…your hair changed color," he said softly, his first spoken words.

She started at his voice. It was deep, with a natural tone of power, yet gentle all the same. Slowly she shook her head. "It's always been like this," she whispered.

His hand withdrew quickly, confusion turbulent in his deep eyes. "But…Ogino…?"

She shook her head again. "Not Ogino, Okawa. Okawa Ryuuko."

He drew back a little farther. "O…Okawa??" Pain joined the confusion on his face. "How…?" He reached out his hand and slowly traced her features, never quite touching her: the way her ponytail hung, the locks of hair that hung down and framed her face, her bangs.

Moved by the sadness on his face, Ryuuko crept forward a little. "What's wrong? Can I help you somehow?"

"I'm looking for somebody," he said softly. "I made a promise a long time ago, and I have to keep it."

"But why did you come here?"

He didn't seem to be listening. "The thousand fathoms," he murmured softly to himself.

She realized suddenly that he was fading before her very eyes. "Wait! Don't go!" She reached towards him out of instinct as if to restrain him from running away. To her shock, her hand went right through him as if her were nothing. She could even see her fingers protruding from the back of his head.

Then he was gone.

She sat there for a while, staring, breathing hard, her eyes wide. Finally she took a deep breath and slumped against the wall. "This is too weird."

Ryuuko was quiet all next day, and disappeared outside as soon as her homework and dinner were done. Her mother watched her sitting outside on the grass. It worried her a little, but she sighed and left it alone. Slowly, she gathered up the laundry, trying to think of whom the person her daughter had spoken of could be. Absently, she rifled through the pockets of each piece of clothing to make sure nothing that wasn't meant for water would go through the wash. Her fingers closed on something hard in the pocket of Ryuuko's shorts. A sudden wind roared around the house, but she didn't notice. Her eyes were glued to the thing her daughter had found days before. The shorts tumbled unheeded to the ground. Slowly, she reached into her own pocket and pulled out an identical object. Realization dawned in her eyes.

She burst outside to see her daughter facing the boy she had described before. Only, he was no stranger. Slowly, she walked forward. The boy's eyes widened. Ryuuko didn't understand; how could he know her mother?

Ryuuko's mother stepped forward. "Nigihayami…" she said softly, "Kohaku Nushi."

As if understanding the ritual in it, the boy looked solemnly up at her. "O…Ogina Chihiro…" He blinked as if there were tears pricking at his eyes. "I'm too late."

Ryuuko noticed with a shock that tears trickled from her mother's eyes as well. "Never…never too late, Haku. I've always waited." She swallowed. "Only, I am a mortal. I'm not eternally young."

"I can't take you away now…"

She shook her head slightly. "No. I'm Okawa Chihiro now, with children of my own."

"I'm sorry, Chihiro."

She smiled at him. "No, you kept your promise. I got to see you again."

Again?? Ryuuko's head was spinning.

The boy nodded slowly. "And we will never forget."

"Never."

"Nothing is ever forgotten."

"Nothing." She sighed. "Where will you go, Haku?"

He wiped his eyes. "I wander now… But most often I watch the children. Life runs like rushing rivers through their veins."

"You will watch over my children, won't you?"

"For you, Okawa Ogina Chihiro, I will."

"Thank you."

"And goodbye."

The tears ran afresh down her face. "Yes… Goodbye."

The wind sprang up once more, and as Ryuuko and Chihiro watched, the boy became a dragon, a dragon that yet wept, and soared into the sky. For a moment, he was a shining white ribbon against the stars, and then he was gone.

"Goodbye," Chihiro murmured, her had opening slightly. Two white dragon scales slipped from her palm and fell in unison towards the ground.

But they bounced apart as they landed.

Finished. R&R anyways. It'll make me happy, not to mention updates.