Chihiro

Chihiro walked glumly along the pavement to her house.

The bus left her at the junction of the road for

Convenience sake and now as it rumbled away, she pondered about the recent events in her life.

Well, maybe he went out.

Give it a few more days to try, and probably you might see him then.

If what she says is true, then how longer should I wait? What if she was lying? Based on her sudden burst out that day and her own intuition, it could be that she is hiding something.

She kicked a pebble out of her way and sighed. I really miss Haku. I was this close now and yet, I couldn't meet him.

Then her face lightened up. Since there was not much work to do today, why not visit the park? If she was lucky, she might see the purple dragon again.

Chihiro

After she had her lunch and showered, she opened the gates and took the keys and her hand phone with her; just in case.

As the gate closed with a small click, the window in her room that she had left open, the curtains fluttered wildly, as if some strong wind had came into the room.

There weren't much people at the park, since it was a weekday. She went to the lake where she first met the purple dragon. She sat down on the bank beneath the willow trees, and as the breeze stirred the low hanging branches, causing stray leaves billowing up, she smiled peacefully at nature's beauty.

She considered calling the spirit out. She wanted to ask more about Yuri and Haku. Maybe they were connected in some sort of way.

She twirled the end of her finger on the surface of the water, causing a small ripple to form. The water was clear and cool, and she remembered the sensation of falling into them again. The wind blew, and the lake shimmered gently.

"Murasaki…" she gently called out the name. She repeated it twice, then waited.

The lake bubbled near the place where she twirled her hand. She removed her hand hurriedly and backed away, momentarily shocked.

"Ah, it's you again." A purple head emerged, and eyes that were so dark in color that they shone pierced her. It shook its head to the side, shaking off the drops of water.

"Hai."

"What do you want this time?"

"……" She looked a bit uncomfortable.

"…I came to ask about Yuri. And Haku too." She finally said.

"…Yuri…and Haku?" it slowly said. "What do you want to know?"

"Yuri gave me a spell of hers, and I did as she told me too. It was one to meet with Haku. But it didn't work."

"It's always like that with a beginner. But Yuri's spells, like herself, are not exactly of the normal standard."

"..H..Hai." She was wondering now if she was wrong about Yuri lying to her after all.

"And…Haku. I know your lake was once connected to his river, but do you have any way of knowing where he is now?"

"Being connected doesn't mean that I know his whereabouts. I can only sense another's presence when he close to me, or in other words, within my perimeter. Yuri is the one you should ask about this." It said, expelling a breath through its nose, which flared up. Chihiro watched the dragon's movements curiously.

"A.ah," she stammered, feeling nervous all of the sudden. But she didn't understand the dragon's words fully.

"Anou…what do you mean with…'within your perimeter'?"

"It means that within my energy space. Some spirits stay in trees, rocks, rivers…Each one has a certain field of energy space, that tells other spirits that it inhabitants this or that place. To avoid conflict, simply saying." It patiently explained.

"My perimeter stretches through the whole park here. As your place of inhabitant is larger, so does your energy spaces."

"So that means…" she looked around, and spotted the low hanging branches of the willow trees. "If there is a spirit in the willow tree," she pointed above. "You will be able to sense it, correct?"

"Yes." For a moment, she thought the dragon had smiled.

"…you have a kind soul, Chihiro…" it said softly.

"Eh?" she started.

"You have a very kind soul…your voice tells me that. Kind souls are hard to come by now," it said somewhat sadly. "…With the pace the world is moving now. Even the animals and spirits feel it. "

"Aa…" she flushed lightly. "Arigatou."

The dragon inhaled a breath. She noticed that Haku did it too, when he was in dragon form. And the intervals between breaths were longer. Unfortunately, even as she watched fascinatingly, it reminded her of Haku, and she missed him even more now.

"Yuri has a kind soul too…" The purple dragon suddenly said. Chihiro looked at the spirit, surprised.

"But…if your will is not strong in this world…kind souls can turn black in a blink of an eye…" it sighed. "That is the same…with her."

"Huh?" She felt that the dragon was trying to tell her something about Yuri, but the hint was too brief for her to grasp it.

"But…if your will is not strong in this world…kind souls can turn black in a blink of an eye…" it sighed. "That is the same…with her."

"Huh?" She felt that the dragon was trying to tell her something about Yuri, but the hint was too brief for her to grasp it.

"Yuri had a kind soul too…unfortunately…something happened that changed that. She was a natural born, with talents that could flourish beautifully if taught the proper way."

"What happened?" She asked, intrigued.

Murasaki eyed her with one dark eye.

"Her mother, is a natural born too." It finally said. "It seems that the trait is passed on from generation to generation. But her mother's soul, molded by years of experiences, mostly bitter, turned black. When Yuri was small, she started teaching her. She did not posses the necessary qualities to teach, however." The spirit stopped here, and found Chihiro hanging to every one of her words.

"One day, when Yuri made a huge mistake during one of the lessons, and adds to the fact that she was unusually restless that day, she took out her spirit and enclosed it in a jar for a week."

Chihiro felt her blood chill. A mother locked her own daughter's spirit in a jar?

"How could something like that happen?" she asked softly.

The dragon dipped its head under the water, because its skin was getting dry and powdery.

"It's is rare to find kind souls in this world. Most of them are molded by the fast paced world into twisted dark creatures."

"Then…what happened to her mother after she let her out?"

"During the one week in the jar, Yuri's body was like a living corpse, and her mother did not bother to feed her everyday. The body would come and go, wandering around the house aimlessly. Yuri received a huge trauma because of this. When she was finally let out, she was a changed person. A few days later, Yuri's mother was gang raped and murdered when she went for work."

"And…her father? Where was he when it happened?"

"According to what she told me, her father was away on a business trip for two weeks. He rushed back when informed of his wife's death."

"Yuri's father was a good man. He had a kind soul, like you. With him, she was able to live peacefully, but that sort of peace will not last long."

Chihiro stared blankly ahead of her, trying to digest all the information. The dragon expelled another breath and watched her.

Then, as if hearing something, Murasaki raised her head and looked at the sky.

Chihiro's shoulder shook, and she was sobbing quietly when the dragon came back to her senses. It glided out of the water, water dripping, tail and all and curled up beside her.

"…I'm sorry." It apologized gently; its twin whisker's floating in the air.

"Ie…you don't have to apologize." She managed to say between her sobs. She rubbed her eyes and smiled.

"Yuri is such a poor girl…I feel sorry for her…" she sniffed. "But…why are you telling me this?"

Murasaki's eyes flickered to a direction before answering.

"What Yuri lacks is the experience. Her traumatic past and uncontrollable powers is doing no good to her now. I hoped, that with this situation with Haku, she might be able to—"

"—how nice it is for you to stop by, Chihiro."

At the voice behind her, she quickly whirled around.

Yuri was clad in singlet and shorts, her short hair semi-wet that suggested she just had a shower. Her face had a look of cold fury to it; and she made no effort to hide it.

"Why do you look so surprised? Because Murasaki has been telling you stories?" she smiled a cold smile that did not reach her eyes. There was a wild, vicious look in there.

"N..Nakamura-san…" Was she angry?? About Murasaki telling her so many things about herself?

"I think you've chatted enough with Murasaki. Don't you think it's better to leave now??"

"H..hai." She got shakily up, and glanced at the curled up dragon worriedly. She knew that Yuri didn't like her, and she was worried that she might ruin something precious between them.

"Nakamura-san…what Murasaki told me just now…it wasn't her fault. I was the one who—"

"--Don't try to defend her. This is my business, not yours." She cut in icily, pupils dilated. She looked half-crazed with anger, and the expression frightened Chihiro.

"Demo—" she protested.

"Chihiro…" the dragon quietly said. It inhaled another breath, moving it's head to stare at her reassuringly.

"It's okay. It is better for you to leave now." It said gently.

Under Yuri's glare, she obediently nodded and left.

Yuri

Unforgivable.

I strode towards the curled dragon form, fists clenched beside me so hard the skin went white. My earlier suspicions were confirmed. Cold fury raged inside me.

"What did you tell her?" I demanded.

"Your past." It said calmly.

I reached out a hand and closed it around its slippery neck. The scales flared up in some places beneath my grip. Failing to get a good grip, my other hand came up. One dark eye watched my movements warily, but otherwise she did nothing.

Unforgivable. "You shouldn't have told her that." I said icily. My temples throbbed.

"What are you going to do?"

You shouldn't have done that.

She betrayed me. I cannot forgive you for this.

"I cannot forgive you." I echoed, and my hand tightened around her neck.

In a blink of an eye, Murasaki's tail came up and shoved me aside. Not roughly, but rough enough to make me release her. I hit the ground on my back, hard. With a low growl, the dragon quickly dove into the lake with a splash.

My arms came up to shield as water splashed. Cursing, I straightened up and went to the edge of the bank. The cool water rocked and lapped at my slippers, to which I ignored it.

"Unforgivable." I whispered, clenching my fists and slicing it through the air. I also kicked at the waters at my feet; it splashed up to my thigh and partially soaked my shorts.

It looks like Shazi would be coming into the big picture now, I grinned maliciously.

Let's see how you'll handle her.