Disclaimer: blahblahblahblah
Author's Notes: Thanx 2 all who reviewed. This story's coming to an end soon.
Chapter 6
"Are we having fun? Haku, you don't look happy? Why the long face? Oh yeah… You're all chained up!" The words were followed by a cackle. Yubaba loved to torture Haku. She knew that Chihiro would never remember who Haku was, and she'd made sure of that.
Yubaba was the one who had made lightning strike Chihiro's boat. It was revenge against Chihiro. Then, when no one was looking, she stole Chihiro's memory. Now it was kept safe in a box.
"You will pay," said Haku, his eyes never leaving the witch. "Chihiro will find me and you will pay!"
"Pay what? The toll for being evil?" Another cackle. Her words were like endless drumsticks, beating against his head, extracting every once of dignity within him. The malevolent swine would have her fun now, but it wouldn't be over until the fat woman had sung her last note.
"What some food? It's good for you. You'll starve to death before your lover even gets here!"
"Lover?" Haku knew of his existing feelings, but Chihiro felt the same?
"Yes," Yubaba continued, "she-
"You mean to tell me that you think Chihiro is in love with you? She may love you, but she's not in love with you." A third cackle.
"Shut up! I don't want to hear anymore!" Haku couldn't stand it any longer. He was tired of hearing Yubaba's scoffs and taunts.
"Fine suit yourself," Yubaba said. Then she left the room cackling to herself. He heard the door lock.
Haku wondered if Chihiro was dead. But he couldn't think about that; he had to keep hoping. Without hope, Haku was afraid he'd lose his sanity.
Instead, he decided to think about the time when he was a river. He couldn't remember anything before being a river spirit. He guessed he was born a spirit, but-
"Wow, Mom, it's a peanut butter and jelly sandwich! Are we having it for lunch?"
-A vision of a hand grasping a peanut butter and jelly sandwich flashed through his mind. Haku wondered why. Perhaps a young child had said that before he fell into the river. However, the only child Haku could remember falling into his river was Chihiro, and she had a pink shoe, not a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.
Haku thought of the time that they had crossed the bridge. Chihiro had almost made it, until Cricket the frog had jumped up and startled her. Haku wished he had never decided to be Yubaba's henchman. Although if it wasn't for that, none of this would've ever happened.
Haku wondered about the dragon king. The dragon king knew about every dragon, even he was part god. Surely the dragon king would've noticed by now that Haku was missing.
He also wondered if, when Chihiro returned to the human world, he'd be able to see her ever again. He thought about marrying her, but then realized that today's customs might be different then when he used to be the river spirit.
Maybe he could come to the human world even though he had no river to go to. Perhaps he could find a new river to guard. Or maybe the dragon king would give him his river back. Whatever happened to him in the future, he hoped it would be with Chihiro.
"This is it," said Helene. She and Chihiro watched the train disappear out of sight.
"It looks like a dead beach," said Chihiro. The only things other than sand that she could see for miles were cacti.
"At least we made it," said Helene, taking a breath of scorching, barren air.
"Yeah," agreed Chihiro. "Wonder who's got the clue this time."
"We need to find some quick sand," indicated Helene, "because it specifically says that in the clue. I guess we'd better get going, although it seems useless to look for anything out here. It's completely flat."
But they began the long walk across the path to nowhere anyways.
