AN: Here you are. I wrote as much as I could and I hope to wrap this up sometime soon. It's time this project came to an end.

Chihiro let the ball of soot run along her fingers, but the tiny black ball moved sluggishly and seemed to move slower by the second. Her heart sank as she realized what was wrong.

"You're the last one…"

Again, it looked at her with those sad eyes.

Hajime had started inspecting the platform nearest to the furnace, before pulling open drawers, looking for something but Chihiro did not know what.

She had the ball of soot in the palm of her hand, and she slowly raised it eye level. It crept closer to her face and chirped softly. Soon she was crying and she couldn't understand why. Why did she recognize this tiny little creature fueled by dying magic. Why did she feel it was her fault Hajime was mutilated, or that this bathhouse was in shambles. Her heart was aching now for a lost familiarity. For the former resident of this boiler room.

Hajime knelt by her, resting a tentative hand on her back. She looked up at him, and he held out shimmering, colourful star-shaped candy. He put his hand next to hers and the soot moved to his palm, black tendrils reaching out to the confections. It started to dissolve the sugar before swirling around as if it was drunk. It looped and jumped becoming more graceful.

Chihiro let out a soft chuckle through her tears.

"That's all you needed, huh? Just a little sugar and love."

The ball of soot looked up at her, eyes full of a new fire. It danced around and around before jumping from Hajime's hand and scuttling into the mouse hole.

Just like that, the little ball of soot was gone.

"I'm glad someone is happy…"

Chihiro stood and looked around the room once more. While everything felt familiar and terrifying, this room gave her a new sense of hope. She smiled down at Hajime, who had been watching her through the entire soot's dance and offered a tiny smile in return. She nodded once before extending her hand.

"We better get moving, huh?"

Hajime nodded and took her hand. They started towards the opposite side of the room towards a small hallway but before they stepped up and onto the platform, the soot ball emerged again, chirping for their attention.

Chihiro looked back and saw that it had brought out a tiny lump of coal. She squatted down and lifted the soot ball once more and kissed it softly. It left a small smudge of ash on her lips but she did not mind. She set it down once more but pocketed the coal.

"Thank you."She rose to look at Hajime and he quirked his head slightly. Chihiro looked at him quizzically. He raised his hand slowly to her face, his thumb resting on her bottom lip, smudging the ash from her lips.

SLAM

"Oh, Hajime, Don't do that. That's not your place."

Haruto kneeled in the doorway and smirked.