"It has been far to long little Chihiro, far too long." Zeniba said her wrinkles curving into a large smile.
Letting each other go Zeniba inclined her head to Haku, greeting him warmly before turning to me.
"Now who do we have here?" Zeniba asked beckoning us inside.
"Umm my name is Lena Sagaska," I said bowing slightly still careful of the hare resting peacefully in my arms.
Zeniba's eyes widened slightly before she turned to Haku a mischievous smile playing on her lips.
"It seems you found more than you were looking for Kohaku," she said looking at him expectantly.
Instead of waiting for him to answer, I answered, it was after all about me.
"Pardon me Zeniba, but I'm Chihiro's best friend in the human realm, we are more like sisters to each other actually and when I was visiting Chihiro two nights ago he came by. It seemed fate let us strike a bit of gold I think." I said waiting for her reply.
"Ahhh I see, and please call me granny dear. So you are the new protector, this makes things easier then. Without any knowledge of how to open it, we would be at this for quite some time, but now we have you and that will speed things up quite a bit. Oh and I see you have met my new friend Yawnu, seems to have taken a liking to you hasn't he?" She said smiling and coming over to examine me.
That name even seemed familiar; everything about the small creature in my arms seemed to be stirring up my memories.
"She doesn't remember anything about the box or the relic, maybe you could help us? Also her new friend Telnuan explained to her that the best idea was to destroy the relic, but how can that be, I mean it keeps this world together doesn't it, that is what everyone believes." Haku said his eyebrows knit in confusion.
Granny was quiet for a moment her eyes looking at the floor in thought.
"Hmm as for your memories Lena I can help you recover them quite easily. I can also give you something that will heal your back in minutes instead of days..."
I looked at her in surprise wondering how she knew. Granny laughed at my confused expression.
"Haku sent me a message yesterday wondering if I had anything that could help. Now for the question of what to do with the relic, Haku I know you are strongly for putting it back in the tower but I think Telnuan is right. You have been raised on the idea that it is helpful so I can understand where you are coming from, but just like in the human world we can be mislead as well. The relic is doing more harm than good, and truthfully I'm not sure if it was meant to be a long-term device.
In the message I received it explained where the relic was, but not that your father had you Lena. It also described a way for the relic to be destroyed. The relic was of faulty design if it disappears nothing will happen as long as the spirits here believe in this place. I have known this for a long time, it was helpful to us but at the same time destructive.
I don't know where your father is, or if the letter was from him but I think that he doesn't want to get involved. He knows that you must make the decision and go through the steps without influence, that is the only way this world can move ahead." Zeniba said shaking her head sadly at the mention of my father.
I looked at the floor, we were now all seated at the table, Haku next to me on my left and Chihiro on my right next to Granny.
Knowing that he was most likely alive was strange, everyone back in the human world knew that disappeared probably meant dead but here it seemed like it really meant that they were not around.
I felt an immense emotion welling in my chest, loneliness and the feeling of being in this alone even though I knew I wasn't.
I felt a small smile come across my face as I felt Haku lean over and pull me into a hug as Chihiro on the other side leaned in to join us.
The scent of fresh breezes filled my nose from Haku's soft black hair, calming my emotions slightly.
Even Yawnu, now seated on my lap, was nudging himself against my stomach.
"I bet when this is all over he will come back from wherever he is." Haku said softly and hopefully.
"I agree with Haku, Lena, he won't have a reason to be away from you any longer after it is destroyed." Granny said smiling kindly at me.
Yet what if he doesn't want to come back because he doesn't want to see me, I thought sadly.
Chihiro knew exactly where my mind had skipped too from all the long talks we had in the night.
"Don't even think about that, who wouldn't want to see someone as awesome as you? Nobody that's who." She said making me smile as she squeezed me tight.
Both of my friends let go as we settled back to look at Zeniba for what to do next.
"I think with you three and the strength of your friendship I know you can pull this off. It will be dangerous and you should keep in mind anyone you can call on in a pinch. Now for Chihiro and Lena let me explain this next part, as Haku already knows this.
The relic has an imprinting mechanism on it. When a new protector is initiated the relic changes its nature, in a sense, to meet the protectors background. With each new protector the relic changes the way it can be destroyed, how it can be used, and how to open the box it is safely hidden in.
As you Lena have not been initiated, the relic will stay with your father's traits usually pulling on the protector's background.
Even if you hold the relic it won't change until a ceremony happens. With your father, everything you need to know about destroying the relic lies with your grandmother. She was the closest person to him and he had an affinity with water like you do.
To open it we will look into your memories, but to destroy it you must go to your grandmothers home and she will know how to destroy it. For now let me take a look at the box and then I will put a healing balm on you and tomorrow we will try and trigger your memories. Does everything sound good to you guys?"
Granny asked as Haku pulled out the box from within his robes.
I nodded happily, it was a ton of information but in the end it made lot of sense.
Chihiro smiled and nodded and Haku seemed happy and relieved.
I was happy that it made sense to him; it would be really hard to go through with this without his help if he didn't agree that we needed to destroy.
I think he just needed to know from someone who had lived here and that he trusted that it was the right thing to do.
Zeniba's face lit up when she saw the box commenting on its beauty. I had to agree it was a beautiful piece of craftsmanship.
She spent a while looking at it from every angle and asking more about the events that had transpired to this point.
We each took turns explaining different events starting with Chihiro on the night Haku came to see her. Ten moving to me I explained why I had come over and what happened leading up to going to my house, which was where Haku took over.
Granny made us tea that tasted divine and fed us some cakes warning us not to spoil our appetite because she had a big dinner planned.
Haku and Granny kept talking after that and I retired to the couch that sat at the edge of the cabin.
Chihiro was now holding Yawnu on her lap while spinning thread for Granny.
I felt my eyes closing slowly, the feeling of safety and homeliness seeping into my bones.
I shifted so that I was lying sideways on the couch and let my eyes close, my mind drifting about.
I heard a chair shift, scraping across the floor quietly as Granny was asking Chihiro how her life had been since the last time she saw her.
Soft footsteps came toward me and a warm soft blanket found it's way onto my small form.
I opened my eyes slightly smiling up at Haku, his figure still bent down toward me, and his hands resting on me where he had placed the blanket.
He smiled sweetly at me, his green eyes twinkling down at me.
"Thank you" I mumbled as he stood back up his smile growing wider before he nodded and turned back to the table.
"That was sweet of you Haku." I heard Chihiro say, a mischievous smile exuded in her voice.
I felt myself cringe slightly wanting to throw daggers at Chihiro for the blatant comment.
Haku never answered and Granny chuckled slightly before her conversation with Chihiro continued.
The heat in my face slowly lessened and soon enough my mind was caught in the midst of different odd and insane dreams where Haku frolicked in blue fields of grass and my father ran out to meet him in a slow motion hug sequence.
What strange dreams, of course this was a strange place so maybe these are considered normal dreams here, I thought sleepily.
Authors Note: Sorry there's no No Face in this story, I loved him in the movie but every time I tried to add him in it just didn't sound right. I am no Miyazaki thats for sure :) not even close, so for the sake of the story so far I left him out. Please R&R :D Tell me what you think so far.