Hey everyone! Sorry this chappie took so long! I've been extremely busy with school and all, and I had writer's block. So anyhow, special thanks to my reviewers:

dragongirl9000

Tales-Coyote-Carnivore

for their wonderful reviews! So enough of my babbling, and on to chappie 3! Please enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own Spirited Away. Any of it. Cause if I did...they would be cleaning the house...not me.

Chapter 3

"Please will you give me my job back!"

Chihiro awoke and saw rays of warming sunlight filter through the filthy window. It was inviting her outside. She looked over at Kamaji, fully asleep, as was the rest of the bathhouse during the day. Flinging back the lime green and navy checkerboard print comforter, she rose and stretched. She still wasn't use to the sights of the bathhouse yet. Grinning, she thought to herself, 'This is going to be an interesting day…' She walked lightly over to the edge of the wooden floor.

"My shoes. Again?" she asked. On cue, the sootballs carried out her yellow sneakers, her crisp white socks folded neatly inside them. She ignored the socks and jammed her feet into the shoes. "Arigato," she told the sootballs, bowing. The sootballs tried to imitate her, causing her to giggle, as she forced open the creaky, rusty, metal door of the boiler room. The morning breeze sifted through her hair. It had grown down to her chest, since the last time the wind did that. She climbed the stairs, still apprehensive, but making it to the top safely. She crawled to the secret passageway, and to the magnificent garden of the spirit bathhouse. She wandered. Her feet brought her to an indigo hydrangea bush. She bent down to smell the sweet smell enrapturing her.

A tight hand clamped over her mouth, stifling her scream as she felt a warm body press against her.

"Gotcha," a voice said in her ear. Her eyes widened in fear and she prepared to fight her attacker. They spun her around and-

"Haku!?" Chihiro half screamed, stopping mid punch. Haku grinned like the Cheshire cat.

"Surprise. And good morning!" he replied.

"Pfft. That was some good morning…" Haku's eyes became downcast.

"I made you angry?"

Chihiro whipped around huffily. Haku hung his head. Chihiro giggled and threw her arms around his neck.

"Surprise" she said playfully. Haku blushed at her closeness, and his own foolishness. He lightly, hesitantly wrapped his arms around her waist. ' How come she's not blushing? Not fair…' he muttered in his mind.

Chihiro broke apart smiling. She turned her face up towards the sun, letting the warmth and power swarm over her face. The light highlighted her creamy skin, her rosy cheeks; her soft lips…Haku mentally kicked himself. ' Don't look at her lips. Don't look at her lips. Don't look at her li-' Chihiro forced him out of his mental recitation and grabbed his hand and dragged him over to a large grassy hill. She flung herself to the ground, and took Haku down with her. She rolled down the hill like a little three-year-old would do: without a care in the world. Haku found himself smiling whenever she did. The lied on the grass, looking at the clouds, puffy and white, racing each other in the brilliant blue sky.

"It's so nice out today…" commented Chihiro.

"Mmhmm," Haku agreed. Chihiro shivered even though the air was warm. Haku became alarmed. "Chihiro! What's wrong? Do you have a fever or something? Are you getting sick again?" He quickly put a hand up to her forehead and tested the temperature. She didn't seem to be any warmer than usual.

"Haku, I'm fine, really!" reassured Chihiro. "I'm just…worried…and a little scared…" she blushed slightly.

"Scared? Of what?"

"Yubaba. And not being able to get my job back." Said Chihiro quietly.

"Here's my advice to you. Don't be scared. I'm always here to protect you. And I'm sure Yubaba will give you you're job back." Haku said gently.

"You do?" She asked, her eyes widening. "How?"

Haku's eyes twinkled. "You'll see…" They left it at that.

Chihiro got up from the grass and brushed herself off. Haku did the same.

"Well then," Chihiro said brightly. "What should we do now?"

"I have an idea," said Haku mysteriously. He led her over to a petite, but extravagant, pond. Peering over to the surface, Chihiro gasped. The crystal clear water was filled with rainbows. Tiny fish of every species and ranging in colors from neon pink to lavender, maroon to macaroni-and-cheese, lemon yellow to lime green, and everything in between.

"Haku!" Chihiro exclaimed. "This is amazing!"

"I thought you might like it," said Haku, giving her a mysterious smile, his eyes glinting. They stayed by the pool, frolicking and enjoying each other's company until dusk. Haku looked up at the darkening sky, mildly alarmed.

"It's getting dark. We should head back to the bathhouse. Yubaba should be awake now. Or getting there at least…" Haku gave a nervous laugh. Chihiro just swallowed hard and tried not to look too nervous. But, in fact, she was ready to puke. Wonderful.

The elevator doors slid apart with a rolling clack. Chihiro stepped out into the dim, foreboding grandiose hallway of Yubaba's private quarters. It scared her as much as it did last time. Slowly, she made her way to the large, double gold doors with the enchanted knocker. Chihiro hesitantly leaned in and whispered,

"May I please see Yubaba?"

The knocker replied without any pretense of keeping its scratchy, growly voice down.

"You again! What do you want with Yubaba human?" the knocker demanded.

Chihiro started shaking ever so slightly.

"I would like my job back," she said meekly. The knocker was silent for a moment, then replied, but not in its usual rough voice.

"Come. In." it said icily. Chihiro, caught off guard at this switch of character said,

"Huh?"

"I said come in!"

And once again, she felt herself being pushed, dragged, tugged, and prodded along until she wound up in Yubaba's room. ' Again with the theatrics' Chihiro thought to herself. She rubbed the bump forming on the back of her head.

"So. You've come back. Why? What could you possibly want to do here?" Yubaba inquired.

"I want my job back," Chihiro demanded. "Please," she added in an attempt to sound more polite.

"No." said Yubaba simply, and started to count the jewels in an ornate gold box on her cluttered desk. Chihiro stomped over and slammed her hands down on Yubaba's desk. 'I can't believe I'm doing this! I don't even want to be doing this! It's like I'm a puppet…" Chihiro thought wildly.

"Give me my job back Yubaba!" she demanded, surprised at her own forwardness.

"Why should I you filthy human? I cant have you screwing up the order in my bathhouse again! You cost me a fortune last time!"

"I promise I won't screw anything up again!" Chihiro pleaded. "Let me be someone's assistant!"

"Now that you mention it…" said Yubaba, a suspicious gleam in her large, evil, eyes. " Haku was telling me how he was looking for an assistant…"Chihiro tried not to show her adoration for Haku. "I'll put you there. If you differ from you master, complain, or don't finish any of your jobs, I'll turn you into a soot gremlin. Understand?" Yubaba said, staring hard at Chihiro.

"Similar to last time," Chihiro debated with herself under her breath. "Okay, fine. I accept your deal, Yubaba." Said Chihiro confidently. Yubaba pulled a piece of parchment and a black feather quill from the piles consuming her desk. Chihiro read the agreement and found Yubaba's every word, and her own, emblazoned on it with metallic green ink. She signed her name. Yubaba floated the parchment back to her outstretched hand. She grinned.

" So you've decided just to give your name away as Sen," Yubaba asked teasingly. Now it was Chihiro's time to smile.

"No. Not exactly. You see, if I remember correctly, you control people by taking away parts of their name, or in this case adding them, for the spell to work, and the name to be changed and owned. So for your lovely little spell to work, you must turn my name into Chihiro." She grinned at her own cleverness. Yubaba growled, and Chihiro could have sworn she felt an ounce of electricity surge through the air.

"Very well! You will be addressed as Chihiro!" said Yubaba, infuriated. She turned and pulled down firmly on an off white thickly braided rope hanging from the ceiling. Haku appeared almost instantly.

"You rang, Mistress Yubaba?" Haku said, his voice saturated with politeness. Chihiro tried hard to stifle a giggle. The act Haku was putting on was pretty amusing.

"Yes. Take this girl. She has just signed a contract with me as your apprentice." Haku looked appraisingly at Chihiro.

"What's her name?" he questioned Yubaba, turning back to face her.

"Chihiro," Yubaba spat out.

"Shall I take her to her quarters now, Mistress?" Haku inquired. Yubaba waved a banishing hand.

"Leave," she commanded. Haku bowed deeply and Chihiro thought it would be best to do the same. Haku turned and walked to the golden door, which flung open. He waited for Chihiro to follow him out.

It wasn't until they were out of the elevator and walking down a corridor Chihiro had never seen before, that Haku broke the stony silence.

"You did it, Chi! I told you you could do it!" Haku praised.

"I know! Something just came over me! It was so exhilarating I didn't know what it was!" Chihiro explained. Haku's expression became suddenly sheepish and guilty. Chihiro's became that Haku-what-did-you-do-to-me one.

"Well, yeah. That was me. I put a marionette spell on you. So I basically prompted you to say and act like that." Haku explained.

"So I can't even get a job by myself! She only said yes because you were asking for me!" she threw up her hands in the air to signal she gave up all hopes of becoming successful in the bathhouse, and starting her job off right. 'why did this day have to be such an emotional roller coaster? Scared. Happy. Scared. Happy. And now I'm irritated. Really irritated.' Thought Chihiro, not following Haku anymore.

"If one does not experience emotion, one does experience life…" recited Haku, sliding a golden key into a lock in the door on his left. "Or so they say. Here, come take a look…" He was at the end of the hallway, gesturing for her to go in the room.

Yubaba peered ominously into a crystal ball, perched precariously on a stack of old leather bound books.

"Good, so she's accepted the post…and him. Like I expected. Now to change all of this…" In the crystal ball Chihiro turned and walked into the room…