Don't Look Back – Chapter 5

The News And The True Reunion

"Your rooms are across the hall Haku." Kasumi told me as I laid Chihiro down gently on her bed.

"If you don't mind, I'll stay on the futon tonight."

"Want to keep an eye on her?"

"I just want to make sure that's she's all right whenever she wakes up."

Kasumi nodded, and gave me a quick curtsy. "As you wish. But, if you'll please leave the room for a minute, I need to get her into something she can sleep in."

I blushed, "I don't mind at all." I left the room, and I could have sworn Kasumi smiled when she saw my reaction.

Even though Kasumi is highly attractive to other men, I don't find her so. She's more of a sister to me than anything. Family, nothing more. Well, I'm not sure how she feels about me exactly, but that's not something I want to stick my head into and investigate. She knows that I'm not interested in any woman, or so I thought…

I knew that I still liked Chihiro… a lot, but what I was feeling at the ball was something that I wasn't expecting to feel. In my mind, I knew that it might be love, but I knew that Chihiro couldn't grasp the fact that I loved her like her parents loved each other. Okay, that might be an overstatement. I'm sure that I don't love her that much… I'm not even sure if I love her. Like yes, but love? Probably not. I gritted my teeth. It sounds so wonderful in my head, but why won't my heart listen?

"It's safe Haku. Try to get some sleep, okay?" Kasumi said, holding the door to Chihiro's room open.

My eyes widened. "In her room? Kasumi, you know that's improper-"

She rolled her eyes at me, "No one knows, and it's not like your going to do anything dishonorable… are you?"

I blushed redder than Chihiro's beads, I'm sure. "No! Kasumi, I'm not some sack of hormones!"

"Not yet you're not." She muttered, and I starred at her aghast. She tried to force down her giggles, but a few escaped. "Oh believe me, I was watching you dance with her. You like her a lot, don't you?"

I sighed heavily. "Can we talk about this later?"

Kasumi smiled wide. "Oh, I'm not sure if I need to anymore…"

"No, I need someone to talk to about it." I said quickly.

"Then I'll be ready to listen. If she's feeling fine in the morning, and I'm done working in the kitchens, I'll talk."

"Thank you Kasumi." I said, and she left the room. I shut the bedroom door behind me, and I sat gingerly upon the futon. I starred at Chihiro while I thought.

I'm not exactly sure why I offered to talk to Kasumi about it, but I guess I really need to talk. I need to know if she ever thinks about me, talks about me, any shred of evidence that I even hold a place in her heart. I know deep down that Kasumi won't know anything, but I have to try. I lied down on the futon, and looked up at the ceiling.

And there was the matter of the Druids. Just their name sent shivers up my spine. The Druids were a group of spirits that… didn't appreciate humans. So much in fact, that they're known for doing horrible and terrible things to them, things that I don't even want to think about, much less repeat or tell. Their goal was to get rid of them for good. We had managed to beat them many years ago, but we barely made it out alive. The Druids were strong and numerous, far better than our forces. The League of Spirits were a group of spirits that swore to oppose the Druids and do anything to prevent their plans from succeeding. The Druids did a wonderful job of crushing the League, but we managed to hold together and defeat them. The Druids fled to the most remote parts of this world, never to emerge again, or so we thought. Since Chihiro was a human and now will forever live in this world… that has to be what sent the remaining Druids over the edge.

Then came the question of why me? If Chihiro is what has them in an uproar, why do they want me? Why do they need or want me? There isn't anything that I could give them…

That's a lie, and I know it. I have an uncle, although you can barely trace him back to me. His name is Odin, and he has no traces of being a water spirit. He's pure fire, and he has a temper to match it. He was a Druid the first time around, but I never found out if he lived. The woman that burst into the bathhouse to get me was Maeve… that was a new name. She must have been promoted… but to what I don't know. I'm not even sure if the original leader of the Druids still lives.

I forced these unpleasant thoughts from my head, and fell asleep.

"Master Haku… you really need to wake up… Yubaba wishes to speak to you..."

My eyes snapped open, and Kasumi literally jumped five feet in the air. I smiled apologetically, "Sorry Kasumi. I didn't mean to startle you."

"It's all right. I would have woken up Chihiro, but I know better. If she's to get up before nine in the morning, she does it herself, otherwise you'll end up with a broken nose, or a very grouchy assistant."

I laughed despite myself. "And how did we learn this?"

"When she got frustrated with Yubaba and nearly set her office on fire."

My eyes widened. "Seriously? How did Chihiro keep her job after that?"

"You."

I blinked. "Huh?"

"You said that she would keep that job until you came back, then Yubaba could deal with her as she saw fit, remember? Besides, the whole bathhouse knows that she's taken a shine to Chihiro. She treats her like a daughter, but that might be pushing it." Kasumi explained, and hauled me up of my seat on the futon. "I think she wants to talk to you about last night. I suggest you get freshened up and hustle up there. You might be a river god, but let's not test her temperthis early in the morning."

After I changed, I headed up to Yubaba's office. 'Well, I never thought that I would be doing this anytime soon.' I thought to myself as I knocked on her door.

"Oh, it's you. Come in Haku." She said airily, and the doors opened to admit me. I walked swiftly down the lavishly decorated hallways (Badly decorated I might add) to Yubaba's office.

When I entered her office, I gave her a slight bow. "You wished to see me Yubaba?"

"I actually wished to see Chihiro, but I've forbidden her maid to wake her before nine in the morning. It yields nasty results. Anyway, I think that talking to you might result in a better outcome."

My eyes narrowed. "And why do you say that?"

"Because you actually know who the Druids are." She sighed, rolling her eyes. "Chihiro still needs to learn many things about this world, although she is well on her way. Besides, I don't think that she would take this topic easily."

I nodded seeing as she did have a point. It wouldn't rest well with Chihiro that these people killed her old race for fun. "What have you learned?"

"The remains of the League that dare stand up have learned a very few important pieces of information. The good news is that there aren't too many new faces. The bad news… we know exactly what we're up against, and it's not pretty. Kallisto is still the leader of the Druids, how she didn't die is beyond me."

I didn't try to hide my cringe. Kallisto was probably the most heartless spirit you would ever find in this world. She makes Yubaba seem like a loving and caring grandmother… seriously. She even admitted it herself, and that's saying something.

"It seems that Kallisto had children while she was in hiding, twin boys in fact."

Another cringe. Kallisto? Sons… and they're twins? I don't want to know how they grew up with her as a mother. I think it's safe to say that they could possibly be worse than her.

"Not exciting I know, terrible in fact. But, it seems that one of her sons doesn't seem to take well to what the Druids practice. This could be used to our advantage." Yubaba went on.

I perked up slightly when I learned this. "At least that's some good news. The more people we have on our side, even if it's just one person, the better."

"I agree. Now, we know that their names are Phobos and Perun, but we do not know who is who, or how to recognize them. We have no idea how strong they are, of if they are even among the ranks of the Druids."

"Well, so much for good news." I grumbled.

Yubaba gave a tired sigh, "Well, you remember Kallisto's second in command, Azar?"

I paled, "Oh no… please don't tell me-"

"Rest assured, she died, and thank the gods too. I have no idea what we would do if she was still around."

I breathed a sigh of relief. In some ways, Azar was worse than Kallisto herself, and that's really bad. Words cannot describe the horrors the both of them wracked upon the spirit world centuries ago.

"Her new second in command is Maeve, the one we saw at the bathhouse. It's unclear why she was sent to kidnap you, but it's being investigated."

"Yubaba, do you know anything of Odin?" I asked, growing slightly fearful.

Her face showed then confusion, and then it slowly became realization. "Odin… that would explain everything. Sadly, he did not die during the last battle we had. No doubt he thought that you could be a wonderful asset to the Druids, even if you refused to help."

"Capture me, force the League to surrender for the safe return of the river god. They've sunk to a new low, haven't they?"

Yubaba snorted. "Haku, the Druids don't know the meaning of low, get used to it. Now, according to the reports, Odin is still third in command-"

"He didn't get promoted when Azar died?"

"Surprisingly, no, he did not. We believe that the position can only be held by a woman. Why is uncertain…"

"So the man can't seduce Kallisto and assume control of the Druids." I said simply, shocked that Yubaba hadn't put that together.

Yubaba starred at me. "Seduce? Not even the male gods themselves could seduce her."

"Someone had to. She did have twins after all." I pointed out.

She opened her mouth to retort, but closed it with an angry sigh. "You have a point there. Who do you think managed to do it?"

"Odin."

"Why do you say that?"

I rolled my eyes. "Do you really think that she would allow a cadet to do that to her?"

"Once again, good point. Oh dear, the children of Kallisto and Odin… I don't want to have the honor of meeting them…"

"None of us do, I assure you."

"Now… since we know the main leaders, we need to focus on renewing and recruiting for the League…"

Yubaba and I talked tactics for what seems the entire morning. When I left her office, I found Chihiro greeting the more important guests in the lobby. I watched her from the doorway, talking equally with the spirits.

It's amazing how much can change over ten years… to me, that's not a long time, but to her it is. I wonder if she even-

"Haku!" she said happily, spotting me in the doorway.

I smiled back. "Good morning Chihiro. How are you feeling?" I asked, walking up to her.

"Just fine. Sleep was all I needed."

I nodded. "Care… to explain what that was that you did?"

She blushed. "Um… it would be one of my talents…"

"Talent? That's not your average talent Chihiro. Come, talk to me about it over lunch."

We had lunch in my rooms, exchanging our experiences over the past ten years. But, she had managed to avoid the topic of her power…

"Chihiro, you've evaded my main question for an hour now. Very good I must say, but you're not leaving until I hear."

She sighed, defeated, and set down her fork, pushing her plate to the side. "All right, you want to know?"

"Explain everything, and don't leave anything out." I said, pushing my own plate to the side.

So, she began to tell me when she and Zeniba discovered her first element, fire. I knew that if she ever had an element, it would be fire. Her spirit is strong and very much alive for a spirit… a lot like fire. Then she brought up that she had not one element, but two. My eyes widened a bit as she went on with her tail. She told me of the experience when she heard her first voices on the wind, and how she could summon them whenever she wished.

"I can fly, but not like you. Zeniba and myself wanted to know if I would be able to fly like you… seeing as we didn't know how to check ourselves."

I shook my head sadly. "You cannot, I can sense it. That's fine though. I swear that you had everyone running when you summoned your fire dragons. I must say… having one wrapped around you is something I had yet to experience."

She blushed. "Sorry about that… I haven't got much control over them yet. I can only summon them when I'm truly angry. Seeing as that doesn't happen often, I don't get a lot of practice with them."

"Then I guess we will have to fix that, won't we?"

"What?" she asked, looking slightly shocked.

"It makes a lot of sense to beat that barrier down. What if you need to fly away from somewhere, and I'm not there to fly you away? You need to be-"

"I know that they can't carry me Haku."

"Do you know for sure?" I asked, a smile coming over my face.

Her face turned a pale red. "Well… no…"

"You never know until you try Chihiro. Now, let's take a walk. I have to get out of this bathhouse before I loose my mind."

She laughed, and my heart swelled knowing that I was the cause of that laughter. I have to get a hold of myself… for both of our sakes before everything we know crumbles into chaos.

We walked along the garden paths, talking about nothing of importance, and laughing at the occasional funny topic. She brought up last night, and wanted to know who the Druids were. I looked at her hard, then sighed deeply. I proceeded to tell her everything in a basic summary of the Druids. I didn't leave anything important out, no matter how bad it was. When I was done, her face was completely calm. I knew that's not what she was on the inside. I could sense the anger and sadness rolling off of her in waves.

"You know… I think I know exactly what you need right now."

Chihiro looked up at me and blinked. "And what is that exactly?"

'Damn, she even talks different.' I mused to myself. I was expecting a 'huh?'… but I guess times change, and too fast. "Want to go for a ride?"

"A ride? Haku, I'm in a dress. I can't exactly ride easily without falling off-"

I smiled, expecting that to be her reaction. I focused, and her dress changed. It was the same color and cut, just with divided skirts. Like the Victorian ladies of old, the dresses they used when they rode horses.

She looked down at her new skirts, and glared back up at me. Her arms were crossed beneath her chest, and she was shaking her head, a slow smile creeping over her face. "I should have known you would so something like this…"

I grinned. I focused, and my shape began to change. My body seemed to meld with my surroundings, and then my dragon form appeared on the grass. Her eyes widened, and I laughed to myself. I remembered that she had never seen me transform. 'Well, this was certainly something interesting for her.'

Chihiro giggled, and gave me a curtsy. I eyed her with one of my jade eyes, and she laughed. She hoped on, and I took off.

As we flew, her pinned up hair came loose, and her hair streaked out behind her. She was smiling, and when the lash of the wind became to much, she would burry her face in my mane like she always did. It sent shivers down my spine. I believe this was the best idea that I've had all day.

When we touched back in firm ground, Chihiro got off and came around to stand in front of me. I raised my head so it was level with hers, which made her smile. She took my head in both hands, and pressed it up against hers, just like she had ten years ago when I arrived at Zeniba's house. I smiled inwardly, a plan beginning to form in my mind.

I slowly changed back to my human form, and Chihiro didn't realize this until to late. When I mean to late, I mean that I was back in my human form. Since she had a hold of my head as a dragon, her hands rested lightly on my cheeks, her forehead leaning against mine. I raised my hands to set them lightly on he waist. I smiled at her, my eyes dancing.

She blushed a wonderful shade of red, and took her hands off of my face. I frowned a little, I had been enjoying that. I lifted my head, and kissed her gently on the forhead, and lifted a hand to her hair, using magic to straighten it out again. I pinned it up, and she smiled up at me.

"Thank you. I loved it."

I smiled warmly. "I'm glad you did. You know, for the first time in my life, I'm glad to be back at the bathhouse." With that said, I pulled her into a warm embrace, my hands around her waist, her arms around my neck. My cheek rested in her soft hair, and I sighed.

This was peace, true peace. And I knew this peace would be shattered, and shattered soon.

A/N: ((grins)) Aww... cute. Yes, just when the fluff starts, the plot begins! Don't you just love me?

Wings of Tears -Yes, glad to see that I'm still getting 10's.

samgurlalways - Last chapter was the just right ammount of fluff? Oh goodie, what about this chapter? Thank you so much for your compliments, seriously. I like to engage my readers, and it means a lot that you think I'm doing it all right, thank you.

Coyote - ((lol)) Chihiro, when she's angry enough, can summon up two flying fire dragons. She cannot change herself, sadly. Hope that cleared things up if you didn't get it in this chapter. If you're still confused, send me an email.

Quote the mute - More more more? Well, here it is!

Goddess of Grammar - I'm glad you like this so far, and I hope you like this chapter as much as you did the last few. Sorry about all of the talking. It's kinda neccessary when you don't know what's going on... hehe.

Disclaimer: I don't own Spirited Away. If you did, do you really think that I would be writing fan fic? I would SO be making a sequel out of this! ((Okay, maybe not, but you get my point.))

Read and review! Thanks!

-Vincent's Angel of Chaos-