Disclaimer: I do not own Spirited Away

Chihiro…

She stiffened. It was that voice again.

Chihiro…

Making up her mind, she grasped the window latch and turned it. Then with all her strength, she swung the window open and welcomed the storm into her room. The wind swept past her, tugging insistently at her clothes and blowing the little knick-knacks in her room haphazardly about. Rain lashed down on her, leaving needle pin prick sensations on her face and soaking her to the bone.

Chihiro…

His voice was distant, yet she knew he was near.

He had come back.

Kohaku had returned.

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"Ko…Haku?" she called softly into the howling storm, "are you there?"

She had remembered.

Chihiro had remembered him.

Without any hesitation, Kohaku manifested.

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She knew he was there; sitting right beside her on the window still. Her skin shivered from the close proximity of their bodies; she could sense his aura colliding and melding with hers. It felt so right. It was as if he was the other half of her soul, once lost but now returned to complete the aching hole in her heart.

Yet even though her heart was near busting with happiness; she was afraid to look at him. Scared that he might not be really there. Terrfied that he was just a hallucination.

"So it wasn't a dream," her trembling lips curved into a half-smile.

"It never was." His voice sounded lower, huskier. But it still held the reassuring and comforting tone that she knew and loved.

"You came back."

"I always keep my promises."

Tears sparkled in her eyes. Tears of joy and relief. Of grief and sadness.

Kohaku had finally returned to her. She didn't question why he had waited for so long; she didn't care. All that mattered was here and now. The time they had left to spend together was too precious to waste. She was so glad that he had come. Now she would be able to bid him farewell one last time.

His hand, pale and translucent in the feeble light, lightly stroked her cheek. Gasping at the strange coolness of his ghostly touch, she glanced up at the spirit boy.

He had grown. She didn't know that spirits were subject to the changes of time. He was taller, his shoulders broader, and if possible, more handsome than ever. The cold, sharp features of his younger years had softened over the years; his mouth was full and sensitive, his cheeks lean and white. His eyes were still the same though; bright and intense, full of age-old knowledge and an infinite calm.

In her observation, she noted how he held himself with a confident air. In their years apart, Haku had somehow transformed from a lost little spirit boy into a man, sure of himself and of the world around him. Her fingers itched to run through his wind tousled green locks, still cut in its familiar short, blunt style.

"Chihiro?"

"Yes Haku?"

"I'm sorry I didn't come sooner." Eyes downcast, he bowed his head in apology, "I would have, but Yubabba wouldn't let me leave."

"But why?" She hadn't thought that the old witch could be that unreasonable. After all, Haku had remembered his name, there wasn't anything to keep him back…was there?

"I had to complete the remaining years of my contract, so she mostly had me doing the filthiest cleaning jobs in the bathhouse." He cocked his head up and grinned mischievously, "I always thought of you whilst scrubbing the big tub."

Her eyebrows furrowed in confusion "which tub?"

"The one where you unmasked the river god who was disguised as a stink spirit; Rin told me all about it. I always knew you were brave Chihiro, but to take on a stink spirit? That's heroic!

She ducked her head in embarrassment, "well, it wasn't a real stink spirit…"

His grin widened; she looked so pretty when she blushed.

"In any case, I didn't fare so well when one did come looking for a bath."

"What?" she stared at him in disbelief, "YOU had to give a stink spirit a bath?"

"Yes." He grimaced, and gave an exaggerated shudder, "it was terrible. I had to give it a full body scrub too. Yubabba didn't even allow me to use any magic even though that thing reeked! I think I almost drowned in all that sludge…and I also stayed an awful brown for an entire month after though I must have washed myself more than –"

A choked sound halted him in mid-rant.

"Chihiro? Are you laughing at me?"

He sounded so personally affronted that she lost all control, bursting forth into peals of laughter.

He tried to look both disapprovingly stern and hurt at the same time, and failed miserably. She only laughed all the more harder, clamping her hands around her mouth in a futile effort to muffle the sound.

"Chihiro? Are you alright?" her mother's voice called from below, "what's all that noise about?"

She hiccupped and valiantly tried to swallow the giggles bubbling from her throat, "I'm alright mum. It's –hic– nothing, I was just –hic– talking to myself."

Yeah, something funny along the lines of a certain proud and stately dragon getting swamped with stinky brown gloop.

She was just about to start up again when she caught the expression on his face.

He didn't look angry or even insulted that she had been laughing at him. No, he was just gazing at her, his expression unreadable and his emerald eyes glowing with some kind of emotion that she could not quite identify. But it made her feel warm all over.

"I'm so glad you're here Ha…Kohaku." She corrected herself with a smile.

"So am I." he returned her smile with his.

They sat together in the near darkness, oblivious to the rain that cascaded down upon them, talking and laughing. He told her about the spirit world; of his many humorous cleaning escapades and updates on the bathhouse staff. Rin had been promoted to head cleaner and now had almost accumulated enough money to buy a train ticket. Kamajii was as happy as ever, content in his boiling furnace with the soot balls for company. Bou was more often out of his room than in now; his adorable chubby form made him a big hit amongst the guests of the bathhouse. No face was still living with Zeniiba, and now was quite the expert at knitting, baking and housecleaning. Zeniiba…well Zeniiba was the same. Nosey, mothering and always full of advice.

In turn, Chihiro filled him in about her life in the human world. About the friendships and bonds she had made in her school. Of her unforgettable encounter with a skunk that had escaped from the nearby zoo only to find its way into their backyard. Her tone was animated and lively, her eyes sparkling as she made him laugh time and again.

Then she told him about her illness. How suddenly it had crept up on her. And the deep depression she had fallen into, where she did not speak to anyone for weeks. She skimmed over the details about her therapy, speaking only of how it caused her hair to fall out and how, in the end, it was unsuccessful.

"I'm dying Haku."

The hopelessness he heard in her voice wrenched his heart. Where was the lovely, dynamic Chihiro with the vibrant eyes who amused him with funny stories just moments ago?

He rested his hands on her shoulders, but they just passed through her. How he wished he could touch her, if only to transfer some of his strength into her feeble body.

Then she did something that astounded him.

She smiled. It was small; yet it still lit up her eyes as brilliantly as ever.

"I knew you would come. I knew that I would see you again before..." the light went out from her expression and her smile became grim, "before I died."

"Still, I'm glad…" She continued in a shaky voice, "I'm glad I got to see you one last time..."

"Oh Chihiro…"

He leaned down and touched his forehead to hers. Then, lightly, he brushed his nose against hers. Once. Twice.

A dragon kiss.

"Don't worry Chihiro. I've come back. And I'm never leaving you again. I promise."

His bold words broke her out of the stunned reverie she had fallen into. She looked at him in bewilderment and wonder.

"I'll take you with me. To the spirit world. We can live together with Zeniiba and No Face. Or anywhere else you want. Just as long as you're with me, I don't care where."

"Kohaku…"

"I can build us a home." He continued in an adamant tone, ignoring to her attempts to interrupt. "I can take care of you Chihiro. If you'll let me, I'll make sure that you'll never want for anything."

His long, graceful hands flew up to cradle her face gently.

"I love you Chihiro."

These simple words were spoken with such sincerity and certainty that she knew in the very core of her being; that they were true. Eyes brimming with happiness and adoration, she gazed into his own and saw love, security, and a future together with him.

"Kohaku…" she began.

"You don't have to die. We can leave now, together. You shouldn't have to die Chihiro, you deserve better–"

"shhh…" she rested one finger against his lips, hushing his frantic babble.

Kohaku flushed. He had been babbling. It was just that the mere thought of having to watch Chihiro die sent him into a panic.

His feared that she would refuse his offer, choosing instead to die a natural death. If that were to be her choice, he would more than likely never be able to find her again. Her soul would become lost to him amongst the masses of the dead. She could even be reincarnated and he would never know. A vision of a lonely future spent without her by his side frightened him. He remembered all to well how desolate everyday had been without her, whilst he worked in the bath house. How could he possibly survive for the rest of eternity with the same emptiness in his heart?

"I will go with you."

"What? You…" His voice trembled with barely suppressed joy, "you'll come?"

"Yes." She said softly, cheeks beautifully flushed.

His smile was akin to those one only read about in romance novels. She felt as if all her limbs had turned into jelly.

She sat still, her trust and faith in him apparent in her face, as he brought his own barely inches away. Then tenderly, he gently pressed his lips against hers in a chaste, sweet kiss.

Chihiro felt a tug at her heart. It was not painful, just uncomfortable. Her breaths quickened, and suddenly, she felt herself lift up and away from her body and then, a wonderful lightness and detachment.

She looked at her hands, eyes widening when she found that she could see through them.

Strong hands enveloped hers.

Chihiro gasped. They could touch.

With a muffled cry of happiness, she flung her arms around him and gave into his warm embrace.

Finally, after 6 long years of waiting, they were reunited at last.