Undying Love – Your Beautiful… Aqua Depths
Author's Note: Hihi, everybody! Here is another update! I'm trying my best to update the story as much as possible… since I'm on winter break right now. I'm really excited today… because my story has finally reached 40000 words! *smiles happily* Anyways… I do hope to have this story done soon, with at least 60000 words… hopefully. I really do hope that you like this chapter… you'll find it to be quite… interesting. *grins evilly* Please make sure to read and review! *wants to hear from all of you*
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Special Author's Notes - aiyna: To aiyna, I read your review the other day… concerning the spelling of one of the characters. I actually researched the spelling of every single Spirited Away character's name that I used in the story… and though in the Spirited Away movie… the character Rin/Lin is pronounced as "Lin", the spelling of this character is actually "Rin". So no, I actually spelled her name "Rin", on purpose… because after researching it, this is what I found to be the real and correct spelling of this character's name.
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Chapter Dedications: I dedicate this chapter to the following people who have added me to his/her Favourite Authors list: Vegeta-and-Maria, SilverStarWing, Ravengurlie149, Kirara1, Millenium Spirit Of Shadows, Magik Bunny Ball, CoolCat10, Sesshochan1, ditterdums, faye-faye14, alannalivandra, sweet-genie-16, Meiko M, Vireyda Magodaly, Ringtir, Sakura-Star3, FluffyLuver4Eva, Tael95, SARSinjection. x, Ravenessa, khelen, Arlibie, xoxLoveWhorexox, darkmidnightgoddess, and FuzzyFanFicFreak!
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The young couple was walking behind Kamajii and Rin, hand in hand. The close group of four left the cozy townhouse about ten minutes ago, taking their sweet time to walk in the vast forest that shadowed the doorway to the Spirit World. The night was just right for a nice walk; the temperature wasn't too cold or too hot, and the skies were beautifully clear, making the stars stand out and sparkle more than usual. This night was absolutely perfect.
Chihiro leaned into Haku, who currently had his arm wrapped around her slim waist. The young girl sighed softly, taking in the beautiful and exquisite sight above her. Haku, who heard Chihiro's breathy sigh, glanced to her in slight concern.
"Is there something wrong, Chihiro?" asked a curious and worried boyfriend.
"Hmm? Oh… nothing, nothing at all! I was just taking in all of this pretty sight today… don't you think it's breathtaking?" commented a captivated Chihiro, who took another exciting glance around her surroundings.
"Heh… I'd definitely agree with you on that. Even the stars in the Spirit World aren't as pretty or as bright as this. But… even the stars here and in the Spirit World don't compare to the inner and outer beauty… that you possess…" Haku confessed lovingly and truthfully, making Chihiro tint with a light pink on her cheeks.
She giggled; Haku always had a special way that made her all warm and giddy. Chihiro took both of her hands and linked them with his, giving them a light squeeze. The young girl rubbed her flushed and smooth cheeks against her boyfriend's, letting out another relaxed and satisfied sigh. Everything felt so right; Chihiro didn't want this perfect moment to end.
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Ten more minutes had passed, and the two of them were lying on the grass, looking up at the stars. Chihiro had strongly insisted on resting a while in the dark tresses of the forest, to fully appreciate the spectacular sights that the sky had to offer today. The couple stayed behind, while it was unanimously agreed that Rin and Kamajii would go on ahead… to the Spirit World. Plans were already made for the four of them to meet in Rin's bedroom, where Chihiro would be staying overnight.
Chihiro and Haku were lying side to side of each other, their bodies touching slightly. The couple blushed faintly at the somewhat intimate contact, but appreciated and enjoyed the fact that they were able to spend more quality time with only each other's company. Even though the night was quite chilly, and the both of them were dressed lightly, the couple was still warm from the share of each other's body warmth.
"Mmm… do you like to stargaze, Haku?" asked the attractive brunette, who now turned her body so that her stomach was flat on the ground. The peaceful and dreamy boy diverted his lingering gaze on the stars to his girlfriend, who was waiting patiently for his answer.
"Stargazing? Yeah… I've developed quite a strong liking for it over the last couple of years. I'd always do a little stargazing now and then… when I needed to take a break from work… or just from life's problems. I…I know this may seem kind of… awkward, but for some reason… looking at the bright and beautiful stars makes me feel… at ease…" Haku exclaimed softly, a small smile creeping up his flawless face.
"Oh no, Haku! It doesn't seem awkward at all! In… in fact, I kind of felt the same way too…" Chihiro whispered knowingly, propping her subtle hands under her head.
"You… you do?" asked the young boy, surprised at Chihiro's unexpected confession.
"Hmm… yeah. In fact, it's kind of funny, you know… how I first got into stargazing into the first place…" she chuckled quietly, her chestnut eyes radiating a warm, but mysterious aura… that not even Haku could identify. Haku had the distinct feeling that whatever she wanted to say was very personal and sensitive to her.
Chihiro gave a somewhat hesitant glance at Haku, as if to ask him if he really wanted her to go on with her conversation. Haku nodded his head, acknowledging her to continue her explanations. Chihiro sighed softly, and paused in uncertainty… before resuming her conversation.
"Well… I first started stargazing two years after… after that day in the Spirit World…" Chihiro whispered softly, immediately catching Haku's attention. She noticed the curious and worried expression on Haku's face, and closed her eyes… as she continued her explanation. "You know, when I first got out of the Spirit World… you know what I thought? I… I thought that everything either had been a dream, or some shear figment of my imagination. The idea of the Spirit World caught me as some unrealistic fantasy at first; I thought I had lost my mind…"
"Chihiro…" Haku murmured quietly, his eyes downward and his expression solemn and sorrow. He took Chihiro's small and fragile hands into his own, giving them a light squeeze. She gave her boyfriend a small smile, as Haku gave her the reassurance and comfort she needed to go on.
"As the weeks passed by… I tried to convince myself that the whole experience wasn't real… that you weren't real…" she trailed on, giving Haku a most guilty glance, before looking down at her hands. "I never wanted to forget about the Spirit World… or about you; meeting you truly was the greatest moment of my life. But without your presence, I felt so lonely… I felt so much pain and doubt in my heart, thinking that there was a chance that my feelings would never be returned… or that you might forget our promise as time passed…"
"You know I would have never forgotten our promise… regardless of the circumstances. Chihiro…" Haku murmured sweetly, giving her a loving kiss on her forehead.
"I know that… but still Haku, I… I did have my share of doubts. How was I to know that we would be reunited someday? Fate and destiny were always so unpredictable… and there came a time that I didn't want to risk the chance of being hurt so badly. So… I went into self-denial… trying to wipe those special memories from my mind. But… I was… I was just fooling myself. No matter how hard I tried, I knew that the Spirit World was real… that you were real. I tried to be a strong girl; I didn't want my friends and family to worry about me… I wanted to deal with my problems on my own…"
Chihiro sighed quietly, and played with the silky strands of her hair… before continuing again. "And then… I realized that trying to forget you was virtually impossible. I couldn't forget you… you were my first and only love. So every night, I would dream… and just hope that you would return to me someday. But as I waited… those long hours turned to days… then to weeks, and months… and finally, two years had passed. I had so many friends at the time, and it seemed that I should have been happier in life. No matter how hard I tried… the empty hole within me could only be filled by you…"
"Chihiro… I swear that if I knew… I would have tried coming to you earlier…" exclaimed her boyfriend, a huge amount of guilt playing on his features. 'I caused her so much pain…' he thought sadly. 'No one deserves to go through that pain… especially an angel like her.'
"I know… I know you would have. It's just that so many years of waiting… and I had lost much of my hope and faith for your return. So from then on, I would come to this forest at night… to this exact spot… and I would spend hours at a time, just looking at stars. Every time I looked at the stars, I always would comfort myself with the idea that perhaps; in the Spirit World… you'd be looking at the same stars too… thinking of me as much as I think of you…" she said softly, staring at the stars once again in silence. Haku… seeing the hurt that was playing on her readable eyes, took his hands and turned her head… making their eyes meet once again.
"Chihiro… even throughout all of these years, I never forgot about you. There wasn't a time when you were plaguing my mind; there was never a time where I didn't want to comfort you from the pain and sorrow you felt without me. I know that I can do nothing to change the past… but now that I'm here, I am here for you. I will always love you Chihiro… no matter what…" Haku murmured affectionately in her ear, watching as Chihiro's cinnamon eyes moisture from happiness.
The young girl placed her arms around her boyfriend's neck, pulling him closer to her. Now only being an inch away from her other, Haku and Chihiro held their breath for a second… getting lost in the love and comfort that was evident in their eyes. Haku's lips met with Chihiro's subtle and gentle ones, as the both of them were absorbed in a deep, tender kiss.
As the minutes went by, the kiss had gotten so much deeper… as Chihiro's fingers grabbed gently at Haku's shirt, while her boyfriend's hands were entrenched in her soft threads of cinnamon waves. Intense lust and passion was thick in the air, as the couple continued to show their undying affections for each other through their kiss. Both of the star-crossed lovers continued to kiss under the moonlight… as they both thought to themselves: 'I love you.'
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The young couple was walking towards the grassy fields, heading towards the cluster of lights that could be seen from so far away. Even from hundreds of meters away, the magnificent and vibrant array of bright lights could be pointed out without any exerted effort needed. Haku and Chihiro continued walking, or more like… running, across the fields. If anyone happened to have spotted the couple at this moment, it was obvious to see that the male youth was having a most difficult time keeping up with his agile and hyper girlfriend.
"Chihiro… Chihiro… will you please slow down?!" exclaimed a tired Haku, panting loudly due to his enormous lack of breath… courtesy of his own girlfriend.
Chihiro scratched the back of her head, before looking at Haku with an apparent, but small, frown. "I wasn't going that fast. Besides… I don't want to waste any time! I want to visit the bathhouse and the workers… right now!" whined a hyper and joyous young female, taking his hands and jumping up and down in a little too much enthusiasm. 'Okay… she's really, really starting to scare me…' thought a certain, worried male.
"Look… the bathhouse and the workers aren't going to fly away any time soon. We don't need to rush… after all, we have all night to get there…" commented Haku, pointing out his side of logic… which, in his opinion, was the more reasonable course of action.
"I don't want to spend the whole night just getting there. I want to get there now, and then spent the rest of the time doing something useful and fun. Trust me, hours of constant walking isn't fun…" retorted a confident Chihiro, grabbing Haku by the arm once again… as she started sprinting like the wind to the direction of the lights.
'Stubborn cow...' Haku told himself amusingly, though the word "cow" hardly was suitable for describing someone as physically beautiful as Chihiro. 'You'd think she'd listen to my thoughts of reason instead, with her innocent and intellectual look. Damn… she's as hardheaded and tenacious as me!'
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About half an hour later…
Chihiro had been staring at the bathhouse in front of her for some time; things certainly had changed. Even though she wasn't that picky on details, she could definitely tell that many things had happened in the bathhouse while she was gone for all of those years.
Just simply by looks, the bathhouse was at least two times larger… perhaps three. Not only that, the walls had been repainted to have an elegant silvery-white look, and the door and windows were framed with a shiny blue color. Though the bathhouse was mainly painted with two colors, the simplicity of these colors made it have some sort of stylish and pleasing allure.
Chihiro also noted of the bridge behind her; the wooden boards were painted silvery-white, while the railings were of that shiny blue hue once again. She silently thought that the person… or spirit, to be more exact… did a very good job on the paint job and the overall design of the area. The bridge and the bathhouse both complimented each other; things were looking very good here.
The young girl also noticed the beautiful white lanterns that hung from the bathhouse's roof. As Chihiro stared at the lanterns a little longer, she realized that inside each contained a bright blue flame. Though the flames were somewhat small, the lanterns lit up the place very well; it seemed that the blue flames were more effective in lighting, compared to the light bulbs used in her world. Not only that… but the light radiating from these intense, sapphire flames were absolutely stunning; she never anything like this in her entire life before.
Lastly, the young girl took note of the various workers there… she noticed that the workers really weren't different from what she last recalled; she could only see the Yuna and Aogaeru. Sure, there were certainly more workers than before… but for the most part, the workers seemed to dress and work in the same fashion as they used to. 'It seems like some things don't change after all…' she chuckled happily to herself.
Chihiro sprinted alone into the bathhouse anxiously, wanting to see how the bathhouse looked. Though Haku told her not to run off too far, she knew that she still would have a couple of more minutes before Haku would return from his meeting with Yu-Baaba. She sighed calmly, taking in the scenery around her. 'Just like good old times…' she told herself, a small smile creeping on her beautiful face. 'I wonder where Rin and Kamajii are; Haku and I are going to meet them in a couple of minutes…'
As Chihiro took another step in the bathhouse… the unknowing girl didn't notice the wet, slippery floor that she stood on. Once her open-toed sandals came in contact with the water still on the wooden floor, Chihiro instantly lost her footing… unable to balance herself. The worried female closed her eyes in regret, waiting for the impact of the hard planks to make contact with her back.
Chihiro closed her eyes for a couple of more seconds… and finally realized one thing: she wasn't falling. 'Huh? What's going on?' Chihiro asked in her mind, wondering why she didn't feel the wooden floor hit her back. Chihiro suddenly noted of the fact that she felt a sort of comfortable warmth around her waist.
The innocent and curious female opened her eyes… and surprisingly came in contact with the most beautiful blue eyes ever, which were staring worriedly at her. 'Such beautiful… aqua depths…' Chihiro noted in admiration. She never saw blue eyes as full and lively as now; she had no problems whatsoever with staring in those depths all day. Those eyes were absolutely stunning.
"Are you okay, young miss?" asked her caring and concerned savior, giving her a most charming and attractive smile.
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Haku returned from his meeting with Yu-Baaba, only to find that a bunch of the workers were surrounding… something. Even after jumping up with his tall figure, he still could not see what the commotion was all about. As he got closer to the crowd, he noticed that the spirits were having whispered conversations and pointing at… something.
Haku knew that it wasn't very nice to eavesdrop on other people's discussions, but he was really curious with the uproar; it took a lot for the workers to be worked up in such an excited state. As he focused his hearing on the conversations around him… his eyes finally widen in recognition and surprise. 'Did I just hear them mention… Sen? Oh my god… Chihiro might be hurt!' Haku told himself.
Haku pushed worriedly into the crowd, trying to see if he could spot his beloved girlfriend. Finally… after a few more efforts, Haku had spotted Chihiro… except that she wasn't alone. Haku glared darkly at the arms that were comfortably wrapped around his girlfriend's waist… as he looked up to see who the owner of those arms was. Almost immediately, anger and jealousy was registered in Haku's mind… and he wanted nothing more than to murder the blue-eyed boy through means of a most painful and slow death.
'RAISUKE!'