-Catgirl-of-Bavaria-: Ack! It has been a few days since I updated here, gomen nasai! I've been absorbed in the writing of my other fic, that's coming along quite nicely. I am very proud of it, and it's growing up so fast! –sniff- Ahem…well, I finally beat the boss in my FMA video game, so that means more time to hole myself up in my room, writing fanfics! Woohoo! I'm gonna have to start up my correspondence classes soon, though, so eh, that'll take a little of my time away…hopefully not too much, eh?
A few shout-outs:: Thank you to Celestialfirefox for your reviews on both my Spirited Away fanfics, I am uber glad to have another fan! Dream Master, thank you as well, I love the feedback! Preistess Kohanna, thank you for your plentiful reviews, they are enjoyable! And to my other reviewers, tiafan, CherryBlossom, Dark Chocolate Princess and Neko-serenity! Shout outs and muffins for all of you! –tosses muffins like confetti-
Chapter 17 – A Gift from the River Spirit
The servant's door of the boiler room slid open with a soft clack, and Kamaji turned his head to see the human girl, Chihiro, crawling through the door with some difficulty, trying to manage the basket and the wavering mound of white rice at the same time. One of Kamaji's six arms flew over to take the basket gently out of her hand and set it on the ground in front of her.
"Thanks, Kamaji," Chihiro said gratefully, turning her attention to the rice. "Here's your breakfast!" She said, cheerfully holding the rice out to him.
"Ooh, thank you Chihiro," Kamaji cooed, eager to eat his meal. Chihiro took a glance around the room as she proceeded to the soot balls with the basket of candies.
The little balls were more delighted than ever to see her there, now with their food. She stepped lightly over Haku's empty blankets and knelt down, tending first to the eager soot balls, tossing them little handfuls of the little star-shaped spirit candies.
Below her, they gathered as much candy as they could, happily squeaking the whole while. Chihiro didn't take the time to watch the happy creatures, and as she had dumped the basket out over them, she turned to Kamaji.
"Uh, Kamaji? Where's—"
"Haku went outside for some air. He didn't wake up too long ago," Kamaji told her through his rice-stained mustache, knowing before she even came into the room what she was going to say.
"Oh, thanks!" Chihiro gave a quick and friendly bow and leapt over the munching of the soot balls. They jumped and squeaked their thanks as she continued through the steam room.
Turning the latch on the metal door, she quietly opened the door, peeking out, and looking at the boy, just for a moment.
He seemed to be fine. He was leaning peacefully on his hands, legs dangling over the edge of the deck, and his head was tilted contently towards the stars.
The moon bathed the river spirit in silver, his long greenish-brown hair shining and cascading beautifully over his shoulders. His shining locks floated with a passing breeze, and she caught a glimpse of his moonlit bangs, also flowing with the wind.
With another push of the door, Chihiro set herself into the moonlight, not taking her eyes off of Haku.
The boys head turned, revealing his gorgeous emerald eyes, and the little smile that tugged at his lips whenever she was near. Chihiro was instantly captured by those eyes, and for a brief second, wondered how on Earth she was able to forget such eyes.
"Hi," She managed to say, fighting her sudden timidity. She suddenly remembered the rice cake that she had stolen from the kitchen. "I uh, thought you'd be hungry, so I…" She fumbled, getting the breast pocket in her shirt open and finally pulling out the rice cake. "I got you this."
She walked to him and sat next to him, crossing her legs. Haku looked at the rice cake and smiled.
"How'd you…?" He looked at her curiously, seemingly reading her mind.
"I was in the kitchen for Kamaji's breakfast, and they were there, so…" Chihiro blushed at the dragon as he took a large and grateful bite of the rice.
"It feels like I haven't eaten in days," Haku sighed, rubbing his stomach as he swallowed the bite. "I probably haven't, actually!" Haku smiled at her, taking another bite. The last several days had indeed been spent either at work, in the field, in Yubaba's office, or in sleep in Kamajis room.
"That's what I thought, so I took it for you," Chihiro scooted closer to him. "So, how are you feeling?" She played with her bracelet, running it over her still- bandaged wrist.
"A lot better, surprisingly." Haku said between bites. "How's Shizuka? Is she adapting?" Haku turned his gleaming eyes to her.
"Yeah, I think so…" Chihiro sighed. "She and Rin are at the big tub right now, Rin's showing her the ropes."
Haku held out the remaining lump of rice, just under half of what originally was there, suggesting it to Chihiro. Chihiro looked at the morsel in front of her and immediately blushed, shaking her head from side to side vigorously.
"N-no, Haku, you eat it," She stammered, awed at the river spirit's absolute caring. "You need your strength, and Rin will probably get me and Shizuka something for breakfast in a little bit!"
Her stomach objected, emitting a low growl, reminding her that she hadn't had any food herself since the soup that Haku had swiped for her. She had been so occupied with the unconscious Haku to have cared for her own well-being.
"Are you sure? You haven't had anything since that bowl of soup, have you?" Haku leaned closely to her, concern in his eyes.
Chihiro shook her head lightly, peering at him innocently.
"You need it more than I do, Kohaku…" She said quietly, smiling assuredly at him.
Haku took another few bites, finishing off the rice cake. Almost immediately, his stomach growled for more. Ignoring it, he placed his hand into hers, running his fingers along her soft skin.
"How're your arms?" He asked, feeling the contrasting cottony texture of the bandages adorning her hands and arms.
"Hm? Oh," Chihiro whispered, as if coming out of deep thought. "They're fine, I think, I haven't felt the scratches for a while." She lifted her now dangling legs to see her scraped knees. "My knees, though…" She said as a twinge of stinging pricked at the joints as she straightened her legs.
"How'd I miss those, then…?" Haku asked, more to himself than anything, and peering wide eyed at the large scrapes. He rubbed his hands together, warming himself up.
"I do have some minor healing powers, though I'm not sure if I've regained enough energy to use them yet …" He told her as he lifted his cupped hands to his mouth and blew into them.
To Chihiro, it looked as if he was merely warming his hands from whatever cold that the summer air was providing, but he explained to her that he was trying to breathe some arcane energy into them, in order to jump-start his magical abilities that other wise would have taken a lot longer to return completely by nature.
Rubbing his hands together once more, he shut his eyes and seemed to survey his own powers from within. Chihiro watched, enthralled at the river spirit's powers. His eyes stayed shut, but he smiled as he breathed one last time into his palms.
"That should do the trick," He grinned as he opened his intense green eyes. His left hand hovered slowly over both of her knees, glowing just faintly.
The glow reflected on Chihiro's still slightly bloody knees. Chihiro watched, spellbound, as a tingling sensation flooded her knees and the skin itself began to heal over, spreading the pale tan over the injured pink and red, the blood seeming to evaporate. The glowing subsided as Haku pulled his hand away.
Chihiro was speechless, and amazed at the fact that she had just witnessed the healing powers of a river spirit.
"I think," Haku said, blowing more energy into his hands. "That I have enough to heal your arms as well."
"Right," Chihiro nodded quickly, as she began to unwind the bandages on her right wrist. Carefully unwrapping around the silver bracelet, she revealed the small cuts that the underbrush in the human world had given her.
Haku caught sight of the silver bracelet on Chihiros wrist, and suddenly felt intrigued by it. He sensed something from it, but he didn't know what.
Shrugging it off for the moment being, Haku tended to his healing duties once more, running his hand up her arms and completely sealing the little scrapes and cuts.
"Thanks, Kohaku," Chihiro whispered, letting her head rest on his strong shoulder. She for a second, took in the river spirit's unique scent; salty, but amazingly fresh, surely another sign of the river in him.
"Chihiro, that bracelet," Haku said quietly. "You weren't wearing it earlier, when I first bandaged you up."
"Oh, I bought it in the town that I live in, I had it in my pocket, so it wouldn't get muddy in the rain when I came here," Chihiro replied, once more fiddling with the jewelry. "I bought it, because…"
She held up the little rectangular plate into the moonlight before him, showing him the dragon that the jeweler had etched in, unknowingly to Haku's exact likeness. Haku marveled at the artwork, fascinated that he was carved so perfectly into flawless silver.
"It cost me, but I had to get it," Chihiro continued, remembering the serious dent it had left in her finances that day. "It looks exactly like you!" She marveled herself.
"A human did this you say?" Haku asked, looking at her. "That's amazing…"
"Yeah, that's exactly what I thought when I saw it, too. The guy really didn't want to sell it, it was the only one he had made, but I got him to make a deal," Chihiro told him, proud of herself. "And when I get home, I'm gonna carve your name into it, Kohaku, so I'll never forget your name again." She sighed, resting her head again on his shoulder and refreshing her memory of his scent.
'When she gets home'…Haku felt the heart ache of letting her go again creep up on him again. What more could he expect? He found himself lecturing himself again that she was a human, and thus belonged in her world, just as he to his. It was a cold fact of the harmony of both worlds, but a fact nonetheless.
Suddenly, he got an idea. Gently taking Chihiro's bracelet-adorned wrist, he nudged her to get her attention. She looked at Haku curiously when she picked up on his signals.
"Chihiro, I…I won't lie to you, I am really not going to like giving you up when you leave this world again, but…" Haku told her nervously, his soft hands enclosed over her bracelet. "But at least, I'll give you a gift, so you can take it with you when you go," He said, as his hands began to faintly glow around the bracelet. His eyes shut in deep concentration, collecting his remaining arcane energy, and envisioning exactly what he wanted to do.
Chihiro looked down at his hands, as the glow grew deeper and more beautiful, the wind seeming to answer them by swirling around them, lifting both the spirit's and the human's hair into playful waving above their heads. They leaned close to each other as the light from his hands slowly faded back into the dragon. Chihiro gaped as the last of the light faded into his hands, as they shifted to hold her right hand. She marveled at the softness of his hands, which somehow stayed silky and gentle even through the six years of manual work he'd put in with Rin in the bath house.
The bracelet, she was astonished to see, was still glowing in silver light that put even the moonlight around them to shame. Haku smiled at her and lifted the fading charm to be better seen.
Chihiro squinted through the renewed darkness around them, tipping the bracelet to better catch the moonlight. There, next to the engraved dragon, were several kanji, expertly carved in beautiful calligraphy by Haku's power of magic;
Nigihayami Kohaku Nushi
Chihiro let out a large gasp, reading the Kanji that Haku had forged into the silver. Haku smiled even more deeply as he watched her chocolate brown eyes widen, her small hand cover her mouth in awe.
"Kohaku, I…" Chihiro gasped, not knowing how to thank the dragon.
"That's not all," Haku told her contently. "Flip the plate over." He watched as she gave him a curious and fascinated look. She turned her eyes to the bracelet, and slowly obeyed, eager to find what he meant.
Gently flipping the silver plate, she sought the moonlight again for a better look. She let out another gasp to find even more kanji, carved again into the silver, in the same remarkably beautiful calligraphy as his name on the front. This time it appeared to be a short note;
I will love you always, my Chihiro.
-Kohaku
Chihiro read the kanji over and over, her smile growing with each read. She felt tears pulling at her eyes as she felt her heart skip a couple of beats.
"Kohaku, I don't know what to say…" She reflexively hugged her knees to her chest, a practice that she had often done when experiencing an emotional extreme, not taking her eyes off the note. "Thank you so much," She finally managed to happily whimper, letting her self sink into his shoulder again and feeling a little tear fall down her cheek.
Haku shifted to let her into his arms, bringing her close to his body and resting his chin on her silky brunette hair. He closed his eyes contentedly as he felt her wrap her own arms around his waist. The spell he had cast on the bracelet, both the kanji and an anti-tarnishing spell, had drained his arcane energy, but he smiled, knowing it was worth every last drop of that energy.
After only a few moments, Haku felt Chihiro break away, and caught a glimpse of her glowing brown eyes before she placed her lips onto his, gently urging his passion and love. Hakus eyes widened only for a second, then closed lightly, allowing himself to sink into her kiss. He moved his bandaged hand to gently hold her cheek and deepened the kiss, trying once more to find her human taste. He'd never tasted anything so naturally sweet.
Several minutes later, they finally pulled away, just barely allowing their lips to still touch. Each had a light splash of pink spread on their cheeks, and brown eyes met jade as their hair played around them in the light wind that seemed to mirror their affection for each other.
"You should get back to Rin," Haku whispered, running his fingers through Chihiro's chestnut brown hair. "Or Yubaba might get suspicious. Shizuka will probably need you, too."
"Kohaku…" She whispered, looking longingly into his eyes, wishing not to leave, but knowing she had to, if only for the sake of her friend. "I'll come back at sunrise, I promise," She told him before taking in the dragons taste again with a brief but zealous kiss.
The couple stood, still holding each other's hand, neither wanting to let go. The river spirit saw her to the small servant door, before pulling her in for another good-bye kiss. Chihiro smiled avidly at the boy as she disappeared behind the wooden door.
Haku beamed after her, until the door finally closed with a clack