Lucky

A Spirited Away fanfic by Rabid Lola

A/N: Short, semi-reflective. Enjoy.

P.S. Specially for Wielder-tan. Look, I wrote another Spirited Away fic. Hope you like it all right. n.n

…---…

It was unheard-of, to be quite frank, that Kamaji would be found idle when it was time for work. Bother to stick your head into that sweltering, noise-filled domain of his, and you'd always see him, his six-or-eight arms (they'd be moving too haphazardly fast for you to count) pinwheeling all over the place, his back hunched over as he concentrated on his work. And the moment right after you take this all in, he'd shout at you, without looking back, to leave him alone and let him work.

Kamaji was never idle. And yet that was how Lin found him, when she came down to bring him food. He was slumped in his chair, one hand propping up his head, the rest, but for the two that fiddled with the switches, dangling idly.

Lin was surprised. And so, she planted her free fist on her hip while her other arm carried the food tray close to her side. "What's wrong with you? Losing steam?"

Kamaji didn't even snap back, which vaguely worried her even more. She raised an eyebrow as he let out what could have been a sigh, and his fingers ran idly over the end of his workstation. "She's lucky, you know."

Of all the things he'd say, Lin hadn't expected that. For once, she was rendered speechless, her sharp tongue unable to find words. Her fist relaxed slowly, and her hand dropped from her side.

Tags came dangling down with a clattering mess in front of Kamaji, and the worker examined them, flexed his arms, and sent the necessary gallons of water, buckets of herbal wash, and countless other orders where they belonged. He did this almost effortlessly, with a weary ease born out of too much practice.

Lin found herself walking forward, and she balanced her tray on a nearby ledge. "Yeah. She is."

Kamaji didn't look at her, but he continued to muse aloud. "I don't hate this place. I've grown…attached to this bathhouse. In a way." He paused. "It's just the feeling of not having your name. Not knowing your true self."

"It's like you're not your own person," Lin agreed, her voice holding a tinge of bitterness. "We were pathetic, to let Yubaba take us in, weren't we? But it was all we could do, and the price we pay is our identity."

Kamaji looked at her, then. "Are you trying to find your name, Lin?"

The brown-haired woman's face was sharpened, the angular strength in it lit by the flickering fierce orange and yellow of the furnace. But her face was still young, and it still had determination…

"Yeah." She scowled. "Not like it may do much good." How long has it been since I promised myself I'd leave?

There was a silence again. Then Kamaji asked, "If you did find your name, would you stay away permanently?"

Lin opened her mouth for her ready, vehement yes…and was startled to find it would not come out. She closed her mouth, frowning, opened it again—closed it. Looks like her answer…wasn't so sure.

Kamaji gave a little chuckle. "Not easy to answer?"

She replied in the quickest way possible. "Shut up."

The spider-man let out a bark of laughter, and turned once more to twiddle with the levers. Lin got up, about to leave, but Kamaji wasn't done yet. "This is going to cause quite a lot of whispering, though."

Lin looked back. "Eh?"

Kamaji seemed to shrug—or maybe it was just his shoulders moving as he reached backwards to grab something from a drawer. "Sen escaping. Remembering her true name. Breaking her contract…" He pulled at a particularly stubborn lever. "You will not be the only one who will try to follow."

Lin turned to him again. "Haku's lucky, too."

Kamaji's hands stilled. "Oh?"

"Yeah." Lin's voice was almost expressionless. "I overheard—he's remembered his name, somehow. He was bargaining for his freedom with Yubaba."

Kamaji lifted his hands, and began again. "…That's good."

Lin eyed him wryly. "You always did have a soft spot for that displaced river boy."

Kamaji definitely shrugged, this time. "I found him. Here. He stayed with me for a while, before he became Yubaba's pawn. Slept where Sen did. Made friends with the soot-things, too. Then he got caught up in magic…" He took a drink out of the cup of tea on the tray. "In any case, I'm happy. He should get freedom."

Lin felt a reluctant lift to the corner of her mouth. "Maybe." She slid open the door and crawled through. "I'll come back for the tray."

"Lin," Kamaji called. She paused, halfway through the opening, and he stopped his work for a moment, to look back at her. "Good luck."

That made her feel a little better. Maybe I'll be lucky, too.

..-EnD-..

A/N 2: Lin did say in the movie that she wanted to get out. I liked Kamaji, and her. Hehe.