-Catgirl-of-Bavaria- : Eh, it's more fluff. But it's Haku fluff this time! –Waves a "Kohaku" flag- anywho, enjoy, I must now depart from the internet! T.T
Chapter 16— Horizon
Haku woke to the smell of coal and sulfur. Lying in his bed of blankets, he kept his eyes shut and let his other senses take in the environment around him. The smell he was sensing was obviously that of the boiler room. He had been brought back to his shelter in Kamaji's quarters, perhaps by Chihiro and Shizuka.
Making a note to thank them for bringing him all the way down, he turned to his ears for information. He didn't hear the talking of any girls, but he heard the grinding of Kamaji's roll-mortar, the sound of the soot balls throwing their loads into the furnace, and the occasional clinking of bath tokens. So it was obviously night time.
Feeling a cold, wet sensation on his forehead, he finally opened his eyes, and pulled the damp cloth off of his warm forehead. It had obviously helped with the splitting headache he had back in Yubaba's office, because it had dissipated into only a slight nagging. He was surprised to feel that his muscles were more relaxed than they had been since his first torture session with his boss.
Glancing around, the dragon saw that he and Kamaji were indeed the only ones in the boiler room. So, then where were the girls, and how long was he asleep?
"Kamaji?" Haku said quietly, rising from his futon. "Where is Chihiro?"
"Oh, She and Izu went to work not even an hour ago with Rin," Kamaji told him, not looking up from his mortar. "You've been asleep for the whole day since last night, and it's just after sunset." Kamaji continued, answering much of Haku's questions.
With a few sharp taps of Kamaji's wooden hammer, the soot balls emptied their last loads and zoomed back into the wall opposite the furnace for a break. They all looked up at the dragon on their way back, and Haku gazed back at them nonchalantly. Soon they had all disappeared into the wall, and Kamaji silently continued grinding herbs in his mortar.
So Chihiro and Shizuka had already gone to work. His heart sank. The incident last night had resulted in them both being under Yubaba's employment. Chihiro had no doubt agreed to it only when he was subjected to torture in front of her. He hugged his knees to his chest and buried his face into his arms, feeling his guilt come over him.
"One of them should be here soon to bring my food and to feed the soot balls," Kamaji informed Haku, obviously sensing the dragons despair. "It's usually Rin's job, but seeing as the circumstances…" the boiler man continued, before this time clanging his hammer onto the metal wheel next to him, signaling the soot balls to resume work and truck their heavy loads across the room again.
"She'll most likely send Chihiro to do it and to see how you're doing." Kamaji finished, twisting his head to look at the dragon that was now peeking his eyes just over his arms and through his green-brown bangs.
Haku decided to relax a little, spreading his legs out from his grasp some and leaning back onto the wall of drawers. She'd probably be here any minute, in that case.
Several minutes passed, and still no Chihiro came through the servant's door. Haku started to feel nervous again, as he had the night she'd come back; suffocated by the machinery and industry around him in the boiler room, crushed by his own feelings of guilt.
He thirsted for the outside air, to take to playful flight in his dragon form and be able to forget about everything the bath house represented to him, even if just for a moment. He thirsted for freedom, not just his but for Chihiro as well.
He wanted her and her friend to be able to leave the bath house and Yubaba's jurisdiction, to take her for a flight. Most of all, the young river spirit wanted so desperately to feel her in his arms again, to feel her warmth and give her his own.
"Kamaji, I'll just be outside for a moment," Haku finally said, getting to his feet and heading gracefully through the sea of soot balls to the back door. Kamaji nodded in understanding.
Padding with his bare feet through the steam room, he opened the heavy metal door and felt the night time breeze greet his face and tousle his hair. Breathing deep, he engulfed himself in the breezy air and shut the door behind him, closing out the industry from his senses.
The wind seemed to swirl playfully around him, welcoming the dragon back to the natural world. The weakness he still felt seemed to lift away the longer he breathed the cool air. He felt the urge to transform into his dragon form and dance with the wind high above, but he had to resist, he had to stay for Chihiro and Shizuka. They'd be there soon.
Sitting down at the edge of the deck, he looked down at the reflection of the full moon on the rippling water below. All that rain had left a sea that spread for miles.
He gazed longingly at the horizon, wishing that he could take Chihiro all the way past that ridge, wishing that they could start over, together, far from the terrible bath house. He knew he wanted to be with her, hopefully forever.
Haku smiled at the horizon, imagining having her by his side forever, always being able to see her. It was a thought that he never wanted to go away.
He felt his insides lurch, and frowning towards the stars, he remembered.
'She is a human. She has a life in the human world, and so does Shizuka.' He could sit there and wish all he wanted that he could be with her forever, but he knew in his heart that wasn't possible.
He fell backwards onto his back and felt his heart ache return to him.
"This must be why Spirits should never fall in love with humans…" He whispered glumly, his saddened green eyes staring the moon down.
The wind blew lightly over his outstretched body, caressing him and trying to soothe his sorrow. Haku had never thought he could feel this sorrowful. He was miserable when Chihiro was gone, but now…Now he was just sad and dreading the day that she'd have to leave.
"I'm being selfish again…" Haku muttered under his breath, angry with himself for being such a fool. "She's a human, and the human world is where she belongs. I have no right to think about this stuff…"
He tried to tell himself this fact under his breathe repetitively, trying to engrave it into his brain, as if doing so would make it easier to swallow and accept.
Even after several minutes of performing this ritual, however, Haku still felt the same deep sorrow. His heart was stubborn, he found, and it wouldn't let the dream of being past the horizon with her go.
"She's human, I'm being selfish…She's human…" He chanted to himself. "I have to be able to let her go when it's time…I can't be selfish about her…"
He tightly shut his eyes, but the moonlight seemed to pierce through his eyelids and shine on his mental picture of Chihiro, the human girl he loved so much, but knew that he had to let go.