Spirit-Gazing

"Haku! Haku!" Chihiro shouted as she raced up to the thousands-of-years ancient spirit. Haku turned, only to have the girl whiz past him, a gust of cold air slapping him in the face.

"Chihiro?" he asked, compeltely confused. Chihiro slowed down into a backwards jog to face him.

She waved her hand frantically. "Come on, come on, it's starting already!" And with that she barreled through the spa's exit and raced out across the bridge.

He stood there, his brain slowly processing what Chihiro's words meant. A silent 'oh" was muttered under his breath as he raced after her, almost slamming into a stray spirit in his frantic haste.

Chihiro was hoping in her spot on the green field, surrounded but the nighttime darkness. She stomped her foot and pouted when Haku emerged. Haku stopped to catch his breath and then lowered himself to all fours on the grass.

"Gosh, what took you so long?" she huffed inpatiently. Haku ignored her as he burst into feather and scale. She climbed onto his back and held on tight as he pushed off his hind legs, shooting into the air.

Looking into the endless midnight blue sky, Chihiro 'ooh-ed' and ah-ed'. She showed Haku that he needed to fly faster by yanking on his long whiskers; something he despised. Her teasing was rewarded with a huff of warning from Haku's nostrils. She laughed as they landed onto the buildings rooftop, Haku quickly changing into his human form. He was immedietly and roughly grabbed by his hand and was dragged to the center of the roof. Chihiro plopped down cross-legged, pulling Haku with her.

"Do you have to be so rough, Chihiro?" Haku muttered as he flicked his hair to the side. Chihiro thumped him on the shoulder.

"Shh! Just look!" she whispered as she pointed at the sky.

Sitting back-to-back; Haku sitting up straight while Chihiro was slumped to rest her head on his shoulder, they gazed at the sky.

Haku didn't know what the big deal was. He mentally scolded himself for mentioning the show the sky would put on that night a week before. He didn't go indepth with details, but with the little that he did tell her, her face immediatley took on a dreamy look. Ever since that day Chihiro would go to her room's window at night (and sometimes even day) to watch the sky, just in case it started earlier than planned.

There was really nothing special about it. It was such a common occurrence in the spirit world. It was the process of a spirit's life after death, when they would pass on to another level of existence.

Chihiro was completely silent. Haku couldnt even pick up her breathing with his ears. He carefully moved his head to watch her out of the corner of his eye, trying not to disturb her.

He chuckled softly. Chihiro looked like, well, a child in a candy store. He eyes were wide and unblinking, as if she didn't want to miss a thing. Her mouth formed a small 'o' as she watched the phenomenon in the sky.

Swirls of silver and gold delicately painted the sky, a gorgeous contrast to the backdrop of pitch black. The spirits who took on the shape of stars shot across the sky in the most bizarre colors Chihiro had never seen before on Earth. There were also familiar colors such as magenta, orange, deep crimson and even a pulsating lime green.

Everything in the sky was in a rush, stars tried to outrace other stars, and the swirls spun and oscillated into different shapes and patterns.
Suddenly, two stars collided. A mellow 'boom' vibrated through the humid air and rung deep in Chihiro's ears. Sparks that shined like glitter sprayed out from the heavenly bodies. Chihiro gasped, her face getting basked in the illumination.

Unlike Chihiro's fascination with the stars, she was the source of his amusment.

The lights in the sky suddenly fizzled and faded. The world once again became dark and serene.

There was a moment before Chihiro exhaled, rolling everything she just witnessed around in her head and storing the memory forever. "Wow." she said simply. Fireworks seemed like nothing to her now.

"Spirits die. Like humans." Haku explained.

Chihiro furrowed her brows. "Those were spirits?" she asked. "How can spirits die?"

Looking out to the horizon, at the exact spot where the two stars collided, Haku tried to think of a simple answer. "It just happens. There's no reason."

He was afraid Chihiro would be worried for him, Rin, Kamaji. But she wasn't. It seemed to surreal to her, and she was curious. He pointed to the spot in the sky where the collision took place.

"Those two stars were in love." he explained. "Once one spirit died, it's other half went to meet it after waiting so long. To be together forever."

She frowned. "That sounds so sad. I don't know why."

"I suppose, in a way it is. It takes years and years for a spirit to die. The other spirit must have waited a long time for it's love. But now they're happy."

It went silent again, this time for much longer.

"Hey."

Haku turned his face to look at Chihiro, who turned herself around to face him. He did the same, his knees touching hers.

"Hm?" Haku questioned

Her face was serious, but her eyes were sparkling

She raised her thumb to her lips, kissed it, and held it out to Haku. "Promise you'll always be right by my side?" she asked.

That came to him as a shock, but he nodded. "Of course, Chihiro."

He copied Chihiro's action and they pressed their thumbs together, forming a promise.