Wahoo! Chapter 9 is here! You know you wanted it ;) So anyway, gimmie more reviews! Hehe…. Once school gets out, I'll be able to work on this more. It gets out on July 24th….. Son of a diddly!

Sen and Naomi fallowed Rin to the big tub. When they got there, it was filthy and smelled like sewage. Grass and sludge was everywhere. Over in a corner were mops, brooms, scrubbers and such all in a stack of buckets. Rin walked over to it and tried to pick it up, but she had to yank it hard, because it was stuck to the ground from the build-up of scum and slime. Behind them they could hear other workers laughing at them as they started to scrub the caked-on filth.

"No doubt: This is gonna need an herbal soak," Rin stated needlessly.

"No. We're doing this on our own," Sen imposed. She had thought hard about different things on the way there, and she decided that she had to push herself. When Naomi had asked her the other night how she could have left the Spirit World, she started thinking about what to do this time. She thought that if she could toughen up a little, then whatever had to happen between her and Haku wouldn't seem so unbearable. After all, what if she had to go back home, never to see him again? Naomi and Rin were looking at her like she was insane.

"Can't you see this mess? Remember how hard it was to clean last time? It needs a soaking now more than ever," Rin argued.

"Maybe, but I need to start doing things on my own even more. Now stop complaining, this doesn't look so hard."

Actually, it really wasn't. The bristles on the scrubbers were so coarse from so many years that they cleaned things rather quickly. Since it was a big room though, it took about an hour to clean everything but the actual tub. They did that last.

Meanwhile, Sen wasn't satisfied. As she scrubbed the walls of the tub, she felt like something was missing. With her feet in water up to her ankles, she remembered the first time she met Haku when he was the spirit of the Kohaku River. Back then, she didn't know who he was, but now she loved the very thought of him. Feeling the water between her toes, she felt so comfortable being reminded of such sweet memories. She sat down in the dirty water (which, at this point, was so dirty that you could call it mud), and she stared into it. She knew she looked stupid, but that didn't matter, because (as sick as it may sound) when the disgustingly odorous mud enveloped her body up to her hips, it felt like she was back on the balcony in Haku's lap, being lulled to a peaceful slumber. Before she looked like she had gone crazy, she stood back up as Rin started talking to her and Naomi.

"I think it's clean enough. We can rinse it out now. Lucky for you, Sen, I already have a bath token," she said as she sent it to Kamagii. Soon after, a board on the wall popped out, and as Rin pulled the rope, the tub filled with water.

Suddenly, there was a big commotion on the other side of the bath house. They could hear that people were gasping in shock, something was smashing into the walls, and above it all, Yubaba was screaming her head off. Rin, Sen and Naomi all stopped what they were doing to look through the hall and see what had happened. They didn't get very far though, because Haku, in his dragon form, charged in and landed in the big tub. They ran over to him, and saw that he had been wounded in many different places.

"Sen, thank goodness you're here now. Haku has been hurt, and he wouldn't let anybody care for him but you," Yubaba said from the same spot she had watched Sen and Mr. Raikatuji (AKA, stink/river spirit) long ago. As she came down to them, she added, "I sent him to Zeniiba to tell her about you coming back to this world, and when he came back, he was hurt and desperate to find you." As she finished, Haku began writhing in agony. His bleeding had made the water start to turn red. Sen immediately got into the water with him and started using the healing skill that Kamagii had taught her. Tears silently escaped from her eyes; she was afraid that she would lose Haku forever. One by one, she traced her finger over the cuts and scrapes all over his body, and they vanished. As she did this, Haku (even though he still had a lot of healing to go through) looked like he wasn't in pain anymore. Sen though, was feeling it all. But if it made Haku better, she wanted to.

Now don't go and assume that the rest of them were just standing around. Dayu was nervously hanging over the edge of the tub, squealing with anxiousness. Yubaba was watching with concern as Rin and Naomi tried to help. But every time they got near Haku, Sen would get distracted and Haku would start squirming in pain again. After he calmed down though, it was easier to heal him and Sen finished quickly. As she did, Haku became a human again.

Sen gathered him into her arms and sat in the murky water with him.

She was about to bombard him with hugs and kisses, but then she remembered how shy he was about that in front of everyone, so she asked, "What happened to you?"

"While I was coming back from Zeniiba's house, Kosho attacked me. He is one of the major members of the Xovio Cartel, and I think he is planning to attack here soon. Maybe in a few days, after he can organize a militia," Haku said calmly. "Sen, I'm okay now, don't worry."

"What do you mean don't worry? We're going to be under attack soon, and we don't have anyone besides ourselves to fight," Yubaba interrupted.

"That's bull. Just have the workers fight, and in exchange, give them a raise or something. But they probably would fight just for the sake of saving their home, if you ask me," Haku said, knowing that he was being pretty rude to Yubaba. He just figured that she only said that so she could complain about something.

"Fine. Sen, I would let you go without finishing this tub since you look so shaken, but there isn't much left to do. Just finish it and then you can have the rest of the day off."

Sen pulled the plug at the bottom of the tub, and the water drained out, leaving it spotless. She gave Yubaba a look as if to say sarcastically, "Oh you showed me, girl," and Dayu was right there on her shoulder, giving an attitude with her. She stood up, and Haku helped her out of the tub as Rin and Naomi collected the brooms and scrubbers.

As Yubaba left scornfully, Haku saw what she had seen: Sen was very much shaken up. Concerned, he asked, "Are you okay, Sen? I didn't look for your help so that I could worry you, you know. I did it because......" He paused. "Because I didn't want just anybody to help me……" He held Sen's hand as she put it up to his face and added, "Not when I could have you."

As Sen and Haku fussed over each other, Naomi and Rin did their own thing.

"Boy, I tell ya: I'm starting to worry about their separation when you guys leave," Rin said to Naomi. "I mean, they look so happy together. They would probably lose the will to live if they could never see each other again."

"I know what you mean. Whenever I see Haku around the building, he looks like he is on top of the world. I can never talk to him though; it's like he's so eager to see Sen all day that he spends all his time running around to work off the excitement."

"Come to think off it, I've noticed that in the past two days that you have been here, he has been coming and going a lot more than he used to."

"You think he could be planning something?"

"It's likely, with him. He is very sneaky."

They saw Haku walk out of the room, and then Sen went over to them. Dayu, who was first on Sen's shoulder, went with Naomi while Sen would be gone.

"I'm going to go take a shower and get some new clothes," she said with a very pleased look. "I'm happy that you at least have Rin, Naomi, because I do feel bad that I pretty much ignore you when Haku is around. But anyway, I'll probably just come back and help you two once I finish, even though I have the rest of the day off," She said as she waved to them and left.

After Sen had finished her shower, she went into the workers' bedroom, and found Haku there.

Hearing her come in, he turned around and asked, "Will you let me take you somewhere?"

Sen remembered that she already said she would help Naomi and Rin with their work, and she replied, "I just need to tell Naomi and Rin that I'm going. I said that I would help them and—"

"I already let them know," he said excitedly. Wherever they were going, Sen could see that Haku was anxious to get there.

She smiled at him as he turned into a dragon and she got on.

It didn't take long to get there, because they had walked there before with no trouble. Once they arrived, Sen remembered where they were: the field of crops and flowers that Sen cried in after she saw her parents as pigs. For some reason, she was delighted to be there again. But then again, she loved being anywhere with Haku.

Haku got back into his human shape, and as soon as he did, Sen kissed him. She was more thrilled than ever that he remembered so much about her last stay there. She was even happier that he didn't pull away this time though. Instead, he held her close in his arms and yielded to his craving to love her completely (that is, physically, and not just emotionally). Since Sen had been there, he had never let himself do this with everybody around in the bath house. But now that they were alone, he could show his affection with a little more than just a hug, which is what he really wanted, and was the reason for taking Sen there.

"Are you happy to be with me?"

When Sen heard this, she was a bit startled at first, because Haku's lips were still gently against hers (and in them, and around them, and…..), so he could not have spoken. But then she remembered last night, and how their bond had made it possible to share their thoughts without words.

Sen, still attached to Haku at the mouth, slowly brought him down to the ground, herself next to him. Then, since she was enjoying that moment much too thoroughly to make it end, she said with her mind rather than words, "I'm happier with you than I was happy to save my parents, and I love you more than anything in both worlds."

They stayed like that for quite a while, when finally, Haku stopped to catch his breath. You probably would have to also, if you were going at it like they were. He lied flat on his back with his arms spread out and had a look on his faced that showed he was much more than just satisfied.

He sighed blissfully and said, "Well, now that the first order of business is taken care of, and quite well I might add," at this, he grinned, "I have one more thing to do for you while we are here." He walked behind some tall plants and out of sight. When he came back, he had a large basket. Inside it was the same food that he had given her at that same spot 6 years ago (sorry, I don't know what it was in the movie……….)

"Did you make those, Haku?"

"Indeed I did. How many do you want?" As he said this, he sat next to her, pulled out two and offered them to her. She took a bite of one, and almost choked on it with amazement.

"These are better than I remember!"

"Yes, well…… I knew that Gyukudo would bring you here a few weeks before you came. So, after Rin got her job in the kitchen, I asked her to teach me how to cook…… The ones you had last time were from the kitchen, but I made these myself."

Most people would think that was only a nice gesture, and that it was just another way for Haku to have gotten into Sen's heart, but Sen took it as a whole lot more. She thought to herself, "If he learned how to cook just for me, then is he preparing for something? Does he want to be able to cook food for me any time that I would be hungry, as if we—" Her thoughts were interrupted by the look on Haku's face. He was expecting a reaction from Sen that was more than deep thought.

"Haku, I don't know how I managed to get through my life without you or your delicious food for six years," she said as she finished her first piece. "But really……. This is the second-best thing I've ever tasted."

"What's the best thing?"

Sen, once again, started kissing Haku. You guessed it; the best thing she'd ever tasted.

"Chihiro, you have to try this; it's so tender!"

Well I think that quote from the movie was rather appropriate, don't you? Lol. Well now you can see why this chapter took so long to finish: it's a long chapter. At least, it's the longest one in the story so far……… PLEASE review on it!!!