Shades of Gray

Summary: Haku never tried to see Chihiro but once she decides to return to Spirit World the night that her parents die she receives a less than warm welcome from him since his attention is on another spirit like himself.  With nowhere left to turn, Chihiro calls upon the promise of a childhood friend, Serena.  Together, the two are prepared to show Haku and the other members of the Aburaya that just because they're human doesn't mean that they should be taken at face value.  The question is, will Haku ever see Chihiro for the wonderful person that she is?

Disclaimer: I own nothing off of Spirited Away (wish I did though)!  The only thing I own is the plot and any and all original characters and creatures.

Chapter 2:  In the Burning Heart

It took a long time to prepare the room but as Chihiro glanced around she couldn't have been prouder.  The golden wood of the floors shone and the walls had been painted black.  However, they had designed several large backgrounds that covered every wall from top to bottom and were fixed to the wall so should they decide to change the theme all they had to do was roll the background down.  Using talent, skill, and a little bit of magic they managed to create a trio of midair catwalks that ended in their each individual circle and were connected to one another.  The catwalks were made of dark blue glass, but thanks to Serena's magic, they wouldn't ever break.  To create a bit of allusion they'd installed magic lights on the very edge of the catwalks, they also would be able to tell where the glass ended and air began that way.

Kitty and Serena had given Chihiro a bit of a new look as well.  Her dark drown hair was now streaked with thick highlights that complimented her beauty wonderfully.  She wore light eye make-up, lipstick, and a tad bit of a blush.  Her wardrobe had also been changed.  She was now wearing a pair of white, hip hugger jeans and a single strap, sparkly blue shirt.  It was hard to believe that she'd been so broken only a year ago.  She still loved Haku, she honestly didn't think she'd ever stop loving him, but she no longer needed him like she had.  Chihiro, thanks to the support of all of her friends, had learned to stand on her own.

"You look very nice today."  Serena said as she entered the room.

Chihiro turned around and grinned at her friend.  Serena was wearing a pair of black low riding hip huggers and a shiny green halter top that left her tummy completely bare yet like Chihiro, she was barefoot.  "You look like you're ready to go to a club."  Chihiro teased.

"Hmmm… Not a bad idea actually.  Know of any good clubs?"  Serena asked jokingly as her gaze roved around the room.  "We did a merveilleux job."

"A what?"  Chihiro asked, unfamiliar with the French word Serena had used.

"Marveilleux?  It means wonderful."

Chihiro smiled and shook her head.  "You're accent is so pretty."  She told Serena.

"Accent?  You, Ace, and the others are the ones with accents."  Serena snorted.

"Suuure."

Serena glared at her for a moment but then she just grinned and shrugged.  "Come on, it's daytime and most of the people here are napping."  She said and slipped her arm through Chihiro's and led her out of the room.

"And where are two lovely ladies such as yourselves going?"  Chaz asked as he came upon them.

"We're looking for some hot guys.  Know where we can anyway?"  Chihiro teased.

"Right in front of you babe."  Chaz answered and offered them his arms.  Once situated, they all strolled out into the sunshine together.

Customers at the Aburaya were eager to see the new form of entertainment that Yu-Baaba had arranged for them to have.  For two weeks now the rumors that she's hired a group of humans as dancers at her bathhouse and most were eager to see the show.  As people moved into the room they saw a large stage at the back of the room and rising from the stage was a glass catwalk that'd been built high enough to reach the midpoint to the ceiling.  The balcony that surrounded all of the rooms in the Aburaya was just barely above the catwalks.  The walls looked like a star-studded sky and the stars even seemed to glow by some type of magic.

"What do you think Haku?"  Asked Sakura.  "Do you think that these inferior humans will be able to pull this off?

"Oh?  Why should my being human matter about that?"  She asked haughtily.  "Should I cower before you when I am your equal in every way?"  "My equal?!"  Haku barely managed to say as he tried not to gape at the girl.  "Indeed.  Unless of course, you think you're better than I but… if you think that then I demand to be shown what makes you so much better."  He remembered the girl from before saying.

"Perhaps."  He replied.

"Well even if they don't it should be interesting to see what happens."

As if someone had been listening to her, the lights, save for the catwalk ones, then cut off completely.  A few moments later a single spotlight lit up the center glass circle and they could all see a beautiful young woman there dressed in shiny black pants and a shimmery red belly shirt on.  Her hair was half braided and was woven with red ribbons.  "Ladies and gentlemen, Spirits of the Spirit World may I have your attention please!  My name is Chihiro Ogino, I'm also known to most of you as Sen. Tonight, my friends and I are going to perform a show that will keep you on the edge to the very end.  Thank you for your time and please enjoy the show!"  She finished and the lights went dark again.

"Chihiro."  Haku whispered softly.

            Suddenly the stage was lit up with three spotlights and you could see three women standing there, each perfectly posed and dressed very similar.  One had dirty blonde hair that was twisted up into an elegant clip and her shirt, while the same shimmery red as Chihiro's, was a tube top.  The other woman, Serena, wore the same shimmery red as the other two but had on a halter belly shirt like the one she'd had on earlier.  Three more spotlights came on and three men dressed in black, fitting pants and black muscle shirts stood calm and ready.  Then came the sound of music and the beat of drums…

            Two worlds collide

            Revelations

            It's a primitive past

            Ending years of frustration

            As soon as the man with black hair and gray eyes began to sing the other two moved away from him and headed towards the girls who were now dancing.  Slowly they circled one another, a wordless challenge in their eyes for the partner that had sought them out and Serena moved towards the man who was singing.  Chihiro and the other girl rubbed up against their dance partners very briefly and then spun away, yet when the guys started to follow they merely sneered at them and leapt up to the catwalks.

            Raising, we hope against all hope.

            There is so much at stake,

            Seems our freedoms up against the ropes!

            Does the crowd understand?

            This is East verses West.

            A man against man.

            Can any nation stand alone?!

            Quite easily, the men leapt up after then and yanked the girls into their embrace and began to dance with them; however, it was anything but a waltz.  It was clear that each movement, each touch, each smoldering glance was meant to challenge the other.  Serena and the man dancing seemed to be their key focus point though.  They way they moved together to the music showed the same challenge that the others did yet their movements portrayed a bittersweet sense.  Almost as if they knew they were to be rivals but each were unwilling to back down.

            In the burning heart!

Just about to burst.

There's a quest for answers,

An unquenchable thirst!

In the darkest night,

Rising like a spider!

In the burning heart,

The unmistakable fire…!

In the burning heart…

All around the stage and catwalks flames shot up and the dancers instantly split up from one another and danced as one.  The man who'd been singing and dancing stopped dancing with the others and was now walking among his fellow dancers, his words seemingly directed at them.  As if he were telling them about the heart of a fighter, and the pain that all mortals had to face, and of the sweet victory that would follow.

            In the warrior's code, there's no surrender.

            Though his body says stop,

            His spirit cries, "Never!!"

            Deep in our soul, a quiet ember.

            Knows it's you against you!

            It's the paradox that drives us on!

            It's a battle of wills!

            In the heat of attack,

            It's the passion that kills!

            The victory is yours!

            Alone…!

            And then they began to come back together.  Dancing in amongst the flames they defied all the rules that should have bound them as humans.  The fire also seemed to welcome the humans into its embrace as the flames twisted sensuously around them even as they came together.  And then, in a blink of an eye, they were all down on the stage and they were all partnered to a fellow dancer.  The challenge, while still there in their eyes, seemed to be directed at the audience rather than at one another.  They were standing together, united as one.

            In the burning heart!

Just about to burst.

There's a quest for answers,

An unquenchable thirst!

In the darkest night,

Rising like a spider!

In the burning heart,

The unmistakable fire…!

In the burning heart!

Just about to burst.

There's a quest for answers,

An unquenchable thirst!

In the darkest night,

Rising like a spider!

In the burning heart,

The unmistakable fire…!

In the burning heart!

As the music faded so did the lights and the room was once again bathed in darkness.  A moment later, all of the flames died and then the bright lights came back on and illuminated all of the humans standing on the stage.  A happy cheer rose up from the spirits and the human dancers grinned and bowed elegantly before them all.  Then the man who'd been singing stepped forward and raised his hand for a moment of silence.

"Thank you very much ladies and gentlemen!  My name is Ace and if you'll give me a moment I'll present the rest of my friends and companions to you all!"  So saying he pulled the girl with dirty blonde hair and blues eyes up and announced, "This lovely young woman is Kitty, the serious one in the bunch.  The guy who looks a bit like her is her twin Chaz, and is the hyper one of our group."  Chaz and Kitty both frowned at him, a gesture that he merely grinned at and turned his attention to Chihiro. 

"I believe everyone remembers this beautiful lady from before so I'll move on to the ugly one of our bunch, Diego.  He talks a bit funny but we like him anyway." 

The dark haired Spaniard grinned and bowed to the audience and said quite clearly, "The same could be said of you, Ace."

Ace grinned and shrugged his shoulders and began his last announcement.  "And last but not least is the lovely Serena.  The spitfire of the group but if she gets mad she starts talking in a language known of us know so it doesn't matter."  Serena rolled her eyes and acted like she was going to hit him and grinned when he motioned for her to 'bring it on.'  "Now then, if you people will relax we'll do a dance not quite so…" He grinned slyly as he said the next word, letting the audience catch the double meaning of the word.  "Hot…"

For the next two hours the human dancers weld the customers of the Aburaya, and the workers, spellbound.  They danced and sand in a perfect rhythm with the music that was played.  Their sensual bodies twisting, turning, leaping, and sliding with the music and with one another in perfect accord.  It was hard to remember that these were humans and not some dancing spirits.

Haku and Sakura watched, just as spellbound as the others.  Indeed, it was impossible not to be swept away with the music and the dancers movements.  The confidence with which they moved and the sometimes heated, sometimes sorrowful, and sometimes playful looks that they sent one another as they danced were fascinating to watch.  And when Serena announced that the show was over and that they were very thankful for all of them coming, Haku and Sakura, like the other spirits, felt saddened that it had to end.

Before he left the room Haku felt someone's eyes upon him and he looked over his shoulder back at the stage and saw Chihiro, or Sen, looking at him and Sakura.  He could see the pain and hurt in her eyes but then they're eyes locked upon one another and slowly the walls in her eyes came up and shut him out, making him wonder if he'd seen her pain or not.  Then, as arrogant as her friend, she mouthed the words 'oath breaker' at him and flounced off the stage with the human man called Diego.

Haku felt a strange feeling of jealousy sweep through him as Diego wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled Chihiro even closer to him.  He felt another person watching him then and she scanned his gaze across the stage and saw Serena, Kitty, Ace, and Chaz all watching him.  The twins held reproachful looks but Serena and Ace held taunting sneering looks and then Serena looked over her shoulder towards Chihiro and Diego.

"Why did you call me an oath breaker?"  He asked.  "Have you ever broken a promise?"  "No."  "You're lying."  She answered and narrowed her eyes at him.  "I really detest people who lie."  "And I really detest humans."  "Wonderful.  Then we should get along well don't you think oath breaker?"  "Why do you keep calling me that?!"  He demanded.  "Figure it out."  She taunted.  Haku heard their conversation once again in his head and he closed his eyes briefly to rid himself of it.  When he opened his eyes again they were all gone, and most of the customers were gone as well.

"Haku?  Are you coming?"  He heard Sakura call.

"Yes.  I'm coming."  He replied and left his seat to follow after her, a strange tug pulling at his heart…

"Sen!"  Chihiro heard someone calling for her and stopped when she recognized the voice.

"Rin?!"  She cried out excitedly and whirled around in time to catch the woman in a hug.

"Don't act so surprised!"  Rin admonished after she let Chihiro out of her bone-crushing hug.  "You should have known that I'd come see you as soon as I knew that was you up there!  And speaking of which, you did a really great job."

"Thanks Rin" Chihiro thanked her gratefully.

"So tell me; why aren't you hanging around Haku yet?"

"Chihiro, I mean Sen!  Why don't you introduce me to your lovely friend here?"  Diego asked as he flashed his gorgeous smile at Rin.

"Oh, I don't know."  Chihiro drawled.  "I think you can handle introducing yourself fairly well."

"Quite right."  He agreed and took Rin's hand in his own and kissed it.  "My name is Diego, might I have the pleasure of knowing a beautiful lady's name?"  He asked.

Rin blushed prettily and answered, "Rin."

"How does he do that?"  Kitty asked Serena as they came upon the… interesting scene before them.

"It's the European side of him."  Ace answered.  "He thinks it turns women on."

Serena grinned up at him and raised an eyebrow.  "I think you're jealous."

"I?  Jealous?  Of that uncouth lout?  Sweet Serena, perish the very though!"  He said and pulled Chihiro over to him and managed to wrap his arms around all three of them.  "You see, while he has one beautiful women, I have three."  The three said women all looked at each other and rolled their eyes.  A moment later they all pulled out of Ace's embrace and left to get a well deserved bath and then some sleep.  Or so they thought.

"Serena?  Sen?  Yu-Baaba wants to see you two."  Said a voice from behind them and when they turned to see who it was, Chihiro recognized the girl that'd been with Haku that fateful day.

Serena sighed and nodded.  "Fine, and you are?"

"Sakura."  She answered.

"Lead the way."  Serena grumbled, causing Chihiro to laugh softly.  Even when they were kids Serena followed a set schedule after a day of training.  First a bath, second was supper, third was time to brush teeth and wash face, fifth was maybe talking to family and friends, sixth, and most importantly, was sleeping for a few hours.  For Serena this was a cycle that was not to be disturbed, and after having been with her for a year, Chihiro agreed with her on that.  However, since Yu-Baaba was their employer they had to go meet with her but that didn't mean they had to be nice about it.

Sakura led them silently to the top floor, secretly intimated by the beautiful humans who followed her.  Unlike most humans they didn't carry a fleshy stench with them but rather one that was pleasing to the nose.  Sakura was also curious about the one called Sen; even now the people of the Aburaya still remembered her fondly.  Some even whispered that Haku had cared for the human child.  But that's impossible!  Haku would never like a human!  Sakura thought firmly and was a little startled to see Serena watching her with an amused expression on her face.

"Something amuses you Miss Serena?"  She asked.

"Yes, but I don't think you would appreciate the humor of it if I told you."  Serena answered.  Chihiro narrowed her eyes at her friend for a moment but Serena just smiled at her innocently.

"Oh sure.  Like I'm going to fall for that."  Chihiro whispered.

"Hey," Serena whispered back.  "It could happen."

And then they were there but Yu-Baaba wasn't alone.  Haku was also there with her and, to Chihiro, looking just as handsome as ever except now he had an iciness that hadn't been there before.  Yu-Baaba, on the other hand, looked exactly the same as she had all those years ago.  When Chihiro discreetly looked at Haku again underneath her lashes she saw him studying her with a cold, harsh expression on his face and was glad that Serena would be the one running the show.

"You sent for us?"  Serena asked haughtily, all signs of exhaustion gone from her body.

"Yes, I did.  I need Sen to sign a contract with me."

"What?!"  Chihiro cried out.  There was no way she was making another contract in which she belonged to someone.

"You still owe me money from when that no face monster attacked all of us!"  Yu-Baaba demanded.

Serena snorted and her bright green eyes narrowed angrily at the old hag.  "Your name may mean bath crone but it should be greedy crone."  She said, barely able to keep herself from snarling.  "How much money did you make off of us tonight?"  She snapped, not giving Yu-Baaba a chance to reply to her early remark.

"Quite a bit."  Yu-Baaba purred happily.

"Bon.  Then take whatever you believe that Chihiro owes you out of that.  You owe us forty-five percent of the total amount anyway and that should be more than enough to cover it."  Serena told her haughtily.

"What?!  Who said you got any of the money!"  Yu-Baaba screeched and Serena smiled coldly at her.

"I added a few stipulations to the contract," she said and tilted her head to the side.  "You really should read things before you sign them."

Yu-Baaba's face contorted in rage and she flew at Serena, who had quickly shoved Chihiro out of the way and into Haku's arms.  At any other time this probably would have made Chihiro blush as red as a tomato but she was more worried for her friend and what she and Yu-Baaba might do to one another.  Serena's eyes were glowing and flecks of gold sparked within her eyes and her whole body was tense and already in a fighting stance.  "This is so not good."  Chihiro murmured, causing Haku to look at her in curiosity. 

"Are you afraid for your friend?"  He asked, sounding like his old kind self.

"Of course but I'm more afraid for her because of her temper rather than because of Yu-Baaba."  She answered.

Yu-Baaba also seemed to be a bit wary of the human with the eyes that glowed in fury.  The scent of magic whirled about the girl as she stood silently, waiting for Yu-Baaba to make the first move.  "What are you girl?"  Yu-Baaba asked.

"Annoyed and hungry."  Came the instant reply.  Chihiro smiled a bit at that and relaxed.  If Serena was still able to come up with smart-ass comments then she wasn't looking to hurt her opponent.  Piss them off sure, but probably no more than that.

"You know that you had no right to tamper with that contract?"  Yu-Baaba asked as she floated in the air, a few feet from Serena.

"And you had no right to try and take advantage of me and my companions and although two wrongs do not make a right I do say that one turn deserves another."  Serena countered and closed her eyes for a moment.  When she opened them again her eyes were back to normal and she stepped out of the fighting stance she'd fallen into.

"You seem to have found some pretty strong friends, Sen." Yu-Baaba said to Chihiro.

"I did."  Chihiro answered and flashed a grin at Serena.  "Even if they do tend to forget that I can take care of myself."

"Oops.  Sorry about that sis."  Serena apologized.  "Instincts."  She explained with a shrug.

Chihiro nodded, accepting Serena's apology as regally as a queen.  "Is there anything else that you wanted to speak with us about Yu-Baaba?"  She asked and stepped out of Haku's arms, which had come up around her protectively.

"No."  Yu-Baaba answered shortly although she was still studying Serena.  "I'll agree to this arrangement but only because I wish to."

"Of course.  You are most kind."  Chihiro said and bowed to her respectfully.  "Come on Serena, the others will be worried by now."

"Oh yeah, I'd forgotten about that.  Lead the way captain!"  She said good-naturedly and they showed themselves out Yu-Baaba's quarters.

Haku stood there, watching Chihiro as she disappeared behind the closed doors.  Holding her had felt so… right but spirits and humans were not meant to be with one another.  Were they?  He looked over at Sakura then and wondered what had made him change his thinking from what it had been all those years ago, when he and Chihiro had first met…

Some things are worth fighting for!

Are they really?

Some feelings never die.

How do you know that?

I'm not asking for another chance, I just want to know why!

I can't tell you the answer, I don't know it.