I am happy to post this chapter a day early and let you guys know the next update will probably be August 28th since I'm going out of town to visit family. In regards to the poll you are 9 out of 20. Just as a reminder, the poll will end on the same day as the last chapter of this arc whether or not you guys meet the quota. That deadline is coming up in probably around 8-10 chapters depending on how I flush out the the remaining events of the arc.

pikaree1-There are some characters coming up that are designed for you to love to hate them... *launches the first grenade of a chapter with maniacal laughter and hides in barricaded house*

Thanks for the ongoing support, reviews, messages, follows, favorites, etc. You guys are the best. To me, you guys are like the mushrooms you eat for a boost in the Mario games.

Now time to go take a nap on the beach and hope the tide doesn't come in high enough to reach my makeshift camp.

Chapter 23:

Haku stopped outside the door to the bathhouse's finest quarters to take a deep breath and collect himself. Loud voices could be heard whining and complaining over the sounds of splashing and running water. He already knew the moment he entered into this room, there would no longer be a moment of peace for him within the bathhouse. Every step from here on out would be watched, judged, and guided by the actions of the powerful guests arriving. Manipulating them into maintaining peaceful relations and keeping Chihiro off their radars would become his top priorities until after the resolution of the festival. Knocking lightly on the door, Haku took another deep breath before sliding it open and entering into the chaos.

Flower of the Deep Run River, or Hana-sama as most called her, was as beautiful as her name implied. Considered a prized jewel of the Eastern Wetlands, the koi spirit was of a rare pure silver coloring with large purple eyes. Hana appeared fragile and meek when traveling about in her palanquin, but anyone who heard her speak knew that she had a sharp tongue and an arrogant attitude to match it. If she were not the beloved daughter of the Deep Run River spirit, then Haku might have considered forbidding her from ever coming within ten kilometers of the bathhouse. However, since her father ruled the prominent Lotus bathhouse near the border between the Wetlands and the frigid North, it was important that he kept in the old spirit's good graces if he wanted the shipments of expensive Northern salts to continue.

"Kohaku-san," Hana greeted warmly from a cushion in the center of the room. If it were not for the luxurious eighteen layers of silk kimono she was wearing and the heavy jewels hanging off her fins she might have considered standing up to greet him. Instead she bowed her jeweled head in his direction as he stepped into the water and shut the door. The floor was already covered in a substantial amount of water, courtesy of the goldfish maids moving about the room. From her previous visits, Haku already knew that she would not stand, sit or walk on any surface that did not have at least two inches of water on it. As a water purist, Hana believed in the superiority of water spirits above all others and that making contact with non-water created objects or the dry Earth itself would taint her. "You're late."

"I was in a meeting at the time of your arrival, but I came as quickly as I could. It is nice to see you are unharmed and looking well," Haku commented neutrally.

"I am only here now by the grace of the water gods," she moaned pitifully as she put a fin to her head dramatically, "Several of my maids were corrupted in the attack, most of my luggage was burned, and I even had to use my magic to keep from touching filth when the palanquin tipped!" Haku kept himself from rolling his eyes as he mentally mocked her. Of course having to use her magic suddenly would be an inconvenience when she usually has servants to perform it for her. It shouldn't surprise him that the loss of material goods and her seat looking down on everyone bothers her more than the death of her people.

"I am sorry for your loss, Hana-sama. There are several wonderful merchants on the other side of the river that would be happy to assist you in rectifying the situation-"

"All of my clothes were hand woven by master artisans in the Capital and created from silk spun from the water nymphs residing in Lake Biwa. Do you really think your measly market would carry such quality?" Haku grimaced out a smile in response.

"You will find that there are several vendors that carry imports from the Capital, though I'm honestly not sure if they are water-made or not." She scoffed at him and rolled her eyes to look at some of her maids scurrying about around them. Changing directions, Hana sweetened her tone and pouted at him.

"I will write a letter to my father requesting he have some things air delivered. Perhaps in the meantime, you would consider creating something for me to wear using your water? I'll be the envy of all the Wetlands in even the simplest garment of your creation."

"Sadly, I lack any skill in creating clothes. Besides princess, isn't it a time consuming process? Wouldn't you rather I spent all of that time being with you instead," Haku flirted. In the back of his mind, he was gagging at the thought, but prospective marriage partners were all the same. They wanted time and opportunity, and it was easy to use either as a sufficient bargaining chip to get his way. He considered the real misfortune of the festival to be how many of them flocked to the area to try and woo him, only to find themselves competing amongst each other instead. Smiling widely at him, she cooed at him with a flirtatious smile.

"Of course that would be more worthwhile. I'm surprised it has taken you so long to come visit us at the Lotus. My father has been expecting you for quite some time," Hana hinted openly. Haku had indeed heard of the well-known custom among spirits not born from the Capital's elemental processes that she was implying of. Prospective mates would ask their suitor's birth parents for permission to bind with their child before approaching the intended with the engagement proposal. Since he did not have parents and was born of the elemental processes, there was luckily no one to throw him under the bus per say, but that only protected him so far. Any misconstrued late night visits that called a powerful spirit's virtue into question could toss him into very dangerous waters. Society would expect them to marry immediately in such a situation. Obviously he could not, not given his relationship with Chihiro, and therefore the best policy was simply always having someone that he trusted with him. Usually that person would be Zeniba, but with the issues back at Swamp Bottom, kami knows if she was going to be able to make it back in time. He would have to come up with an alternative solution quickly. Knowing exactly what she was implying, Haku wondered what exactly Hana had been reporting back to her father after each biannual visit that would make him expect a proposal from him.

"Things here have been quite busy with the war. I don't suspect I'll get a chance to leave the bathhouse until there is some sort of resolution. Has the Lotus not been slammed with wounded soldiers as well?"

"I wouldn't know. I never step fin below the third level of the bathhouse. The servants and workers can manage things under my father's guidance and I don't want to risk coming into contact with any of the wounded."

"Well you are more than welcome to stay up here if that's what you desire. Our wounded are kept in the basement so you should be fine to go about as you see fit as long as you avoid going down there."

"What will you do about the attack? If the roads aren't safe, shouldn't you warn anyone else who is making their way here?"

"I will see that a warning is sent off to all of our guests scheduled to arrive between now and the end of the festival. Perhaps the eel coalition that protects the other side of the river would be willing to protect some of the roads if I offer to extend my barrier to cover the town." Grabbing his hand, Hana held it to her cheek and looked up at him. The sight of her beauty would have melted many a man, but Haku could not help finding her dim in comparison to the human girl sleeping up in his flat. There had always been rumors floating around, probably at her behest, that he favored her as a potential bride, but nothing could be farther from it. He knew her father as an important supplier and that the majority of her relatives held powerful positions in the Capital. That information alone reminded him that he needed to keep her happy, lest she call for familial assistance and complicate the situation further.

"You have such a big heart, Kohaku, but please don't do anything that will take away from our time together. A few weak spirits can be sacrificed for our happiness. They are going to become collateral damage in the war anyways," she said slowly as she batted her eyelashes at him.

"It is for the safety of all, not the benefit of a few," Haku replied as he slowly took his hand away. Retreating towards the door, he gave her a crisp bow. "Rest well, Hana-sama."

Chihiro felt a cool rag being dabbed across her forehead as she started to come to. Opening her eyes, she was surprised to see the familiar ceiling of her room above her as the rag descended upon her forehead again. Glancing towards the source, she saw Haku frowning gently at her from his seat beside her. The tension radiating off of him reminded her of the last time they fought.

"What am I doing here," she croaked out as she realized how dry and cracked her throat was. Helping her to sit up and handing her a glass of water, Haku removed the rag and watched her.

"You passed out after playing around with magic irresponsibly. I can't believe Yui encouraged you to do something so dangerous." Chihiro dropped her eyes to the bedspread as she felt a flush of embarrassment redden her cheeks. The need to defend her actions and that of her mentor's was strong.

"You came though…" Haku looked at her as if she were crazy, "You came when I danced." Gritting his teeth, Haku stood up from her side and paced to the window. Watching her lying in the bed unmoving after she should have woken up hours ago had unnerved him. He had even grabbed a rag and a bucket of water to dampen her brow as an excuse to keep touching her and reassuring himself that she wasn't gone. Haku kept listening to her heart beat and feeling out the strength of the charm to make sure it was holding.

"You can't mess around with someone's essence like that Chihiro. It's dangerous. If I hadn't pulled it away from you, the water might have tried to drown you. The reason you use the relics in the ceremony is to amplify the magic and protect yourself from it. This isn't some sort of game we are playing."

"Your water would never drown me," she balked at the notion. Twisting around to face her, he snapped.

"Don't delude yourself into thinking it won't consume you! All water will try to take what it wants and trust me when I say my water wants you! You are never safe near it. In fact, it would probably be better if I found someone else to do the cleansing ceremony with so I won't have to worry about killing them in the process."

"I don't get you Haku," Chihiro threw out like an accusation, "You said I wasn't good enough, but you still came. You say that you won't have a relationship with me, but your soul water whatever it is wants me. Why do you have to be a handbasket of contrasts?" Haku stilled as he realized what she might have heard from his argument with the Yui the other night. Part of him wanted to smack the palm of his hand into his forehead. Was anything ever going to be simple when it came to her? Opening his mouth to stop her tirade, she silenced him with a hand. "No, I'm not finished yet. You obviously got a lot going on and don't want to tell me about it. That's fine. I get that you are conflicted about your feelings with me. I understand. But taking the ceremony away from me after I've worked so damn hard to get this far, is just plain cruel."

"Your efforts currently aren't enough to get by with this-"

"Then I'll work harder. Please Haku, don't take this away from me. I still got a week to fix this." Haku paused to give the impression that he was considering her plea. His anger had melted away to shame when he realized that she had heard him speaking ill of her to Yui. His vile words had been in effort to derail the crane's efforts, and had not been for her ears to hear, let alone hurt her. Haku had hoped to guide her into spending more time at the shrine than the bathhouse going forward, and using the festival as a motive seemed reasonable enough. If she were spending the majority of her time there or moved over there for the time being it was less likely that the marriage candidates and other unusual guests would take notice of her. She would be safer. Making it sound like a concession, Haku gathered the rag and bowl as he spoke.

"You have to practice more Chihiro. In fact, you should probably tell Lin that you are too busy to assist her and spend from dusk till dawn at the shrine until the festival." She shook her head yes in agreement, but felt a small frown tug at her lips. Even though he was agreeing, something about it didn't feel right to her. Throwing the covers off, she slid her legs to the side of the bed and froze as her head spun around her. Her throat ached like a parched dessert despite the glass of water she drank and her lungs felt not much better.

"I will let her know. Thank you, Haku," Chihiro said as she ran a hand through her hair. Haku watched her carefully from the door, wondering if something was wrong. There were other affairs he needed to attend to, but he wouldn't leave until he was sure she was fine. After seeing her relieved smile, he started to walk away. "Why does it seem like we are always fighting? I just want to be with you."

Her whispered words nearly brought him to a halt, but he forced his feet to keep moving. If she could have seen his face rather than his straight back, she would have seen the sad, pained expression marring his features. The weight of the world heaved upon his shoulders.

Gingerly, Chihiro got to her feet beside the bed and wondered how long she had slept. The moon seemed fairly high in the night sky so it was a safe guess to say that she was beyond lunchtime. Oddly enough, she didn't feel hungry, just a strange sensation of emptiness as if there was something she was missing. Making her way slowly towards the living area, Chihiro grabbed a cup of tea and downed it. Nothing seemed to ease the feeling inside of her and even breathing seemed a slightly uncomfortable task. Recalling the moistened air of the infirmary, Chihiro made her way down into the basement.

Hikaru had been concerned after Chihiro's abrupt departure from Okita's party the night before, but thought it wiser to wait for her to come to him than chase after her. After returning to the infirmary that night, he had slept poorly, tossing and turning as he listened to the wretched coughing of the salamander spirit across the room. Surely someone needed to put that creature out of its misery and he knew that several of the others were considering doing it that favor. Even Hikaru was starting to consider asking Yui to move the salamander to hospice for the safety of all present, even if the other nurses insisted that he was on the up and up. Grasping onto a ledge in the woodwork above his bed, he slowly lifted his sweating body upward. He felt anxious that Chihiro had not come down this morning and that had led him to pacing unproductively for quite some time. Using the tension to work out despite the pain of his healing wound brought him some relief.

When the door opened and Chihiro slipped through, Hikaru left out a breath of relief and dropped down to the floor. Typically when she entered, her eyes would scan the room eagerly as if seeking him out and she would greet him with a smile before walking over. However this time, her eyes remained trained to the floor and her chest rose heavily as she breathed deeply repetitively. Walking over, he greeted her with a deep crisp bow.

"Good afternoon, Chihiro. How are you faring this afternoon?" Looking up at him with a half attempted smile, she returned his bow.

"I'm doing alright. Never really noticed how nice the air was down here," she commented as she recovered right before his eyes. The gleam came back to her eyes and she seemed to be coming back to normal.

"You left the party so quickly that I didn't have a chance to congratulate you on that wonderful performance. You will do fantastic at the festival next week." Hikaru's words were slightly tuned out by the sound of voices approaching the infirmary doors.

"Thanks Hikaru, but I still have a lot of work to do," Chihiro said absentmindedly as the infirmary doors swung open. Yui and Lin froze at the sight of Chihiro standing beside Hikaru in the infirmary. The matron of the ward swung into action first, hurrying to hook her arm around Chihiro's and start pulling her towards the entrance.

"Chihiro, we need to talk." Allowing the crane to pull her out of the infirmary, she was surprised when she continued forward as if to drag her through the rest of the maze back up to the upper levels of the bathhouse. Confused by the happenings, Hikaru trailed them out of the infirmary. Planting her feet to halt their movement before entering the maze, Chihiro looked up at Yui in confusion.

"What's the matter?" Whirling around to face the girl, Yui adjusted her feathers and tried to find an easy way to explain the situation to her.

"I need you to stop coming to the infirmary when you are alone. From now on, you need to always have Lin or I with you."

"Why," Chihiro cried out in outrage. The infirmary was her safe area to escape to when she needed time alone. Why would Yui require she have an escort? Hikaru silently approached behind Lin's position and listened in.

"It's not safe for you there and this doesn't just go for the infirmary either. There are some very dangerous spirits coming in as guests and I don't want you getting pulled into their dramatics. We," Yui motioned to herself and Lin, "have agreed to work together so there is always one of us to keep you safe, but we will need your cooperation to do so. Don't wander off alone." Hikaru watched the gentle lines of Chihiro's face harden under worry. He could tell that she wanted to rebel against the restriction, but understood that there was something going on bigger than herself. Part of his heart ached in concern and for the loss of her smile. If she was no longer allowed in the infirmary then she wouldn't be able to visit him. More importantly though, it sounded like Chihiro was going to be in danger and that set every hair on his body on attention. There had to be something he could do.

"I wasn't alone actually, Hikaru was with me. Also I was about to come to find both of you anyways. Haku threatened to take away the ceremony from me if I didn't improve so I would like to ask off from work to spend my time at the shrine with Yui." Chihiro did not notice the sighs of relief that escaped both Lin and Yui simultaneously at her request, but it did not get past Hikaru.

"Request granted. From now on, don't worry about helping me out. I will seek you out if I need you," Lin stated as she placed her hands on her hips confidently. She could already tell that Lin had too much pride to walk all the way to the shrine to ask for assistance on anything, but knowledge that her friend wouldn't exactly abandon her reassured her that they would find some way to see each other regularly. "I also need a favor from you."

"What," Chihiro asked skeptically. She had practically become Lin's assistant from the last favor the weasel spirit had asked of her. Surely nothing she asked for could be much worse?

"I need you to carry that bag I made you everywhere you go starting today. In fact, we should go fetch it now."

"I'll teach her how to put her hair up properly as well using those pins you mentioned. Go grab the stuff from her room and I'll you both back at the shrine," Yui added as Lin began walking with Chihiro through the maze. Heading back towards the infirmary, Yui was tailed by Hikaru who tried to keep up with her.

"Watari-san, please allow me to help in Chihiro's protection. I can protect her from the other guests coming in and redirect any suspicion on her origins." Glancing at him as they reached the infirmary, Yui finally understood the stoic fox spirit. There was almost a sense of desperation in his voice as he spoke to her.

"What makes you think you are strong enough to protect her? You who doesn't remember what magic you hold," Yui scoffed as she held the door open and motioned for him to return inside. He held his ground and challenged her.

"I might not remember now, but I am still stronger than you think. Please allow me to go with you to the shrine."

"Absolutely not. Your wound hasn't even finished healing completely yet and you could tear it open again easily. You need to stay in the infirmary for now."

"I'm willing to make a contract to protect her," Hikaru stated as if the words he spoke were not monumental in meaning. The crane spirit frowned gently at him and closed the door to the infirmary. She didn't want the others to hear what they were about to say.

"Are you telling me that you love her? That you are willing to throw away your life to stay beside her?"

"Yes," he replied smoothly. There was a hint of a pink blush at the base of his ears, but there was no other outward signs of emotion. Yui rubbed the tip of her wing to her forehead as if the news was bringing on a headache.

"You cannot bind to her as your mate and convert her, you know this right?" Though she was omitting the fact that it was because the process had already been started by Haku, the statement was still true. There had to be a way of warning him off without revealing Haku's position.

"I would not risk her life that way. Everyone knows that the Capital tortures and executes any humans or spirits that break those laws. The contract would be a simple one of protection. I would stay by her side, no matter which of the worlds she remains in, and keep her safe. If she did come to return my feelings, then I would marry her the human way."

"And if I told you that it wouldn't be possible for her to return your feelings because she was in love with another?" There was a moment of silence as Hikaru considered this outcome.

"My choice would still be the same. I have no claim upon her heart, unless of course she gives it to me upon her own free will. Then I would cherish it like the precious treasure it is."

"Look, Hikaru," Yui emphasized the familiarity though she could see him grit his teeth at her, "I don't know how to make this any more blunt. There is someone else in her life that has staked a claim in her protection and her love. If he heard you were considering making a contract with her, he would kill you where you stand. Hell, he might just kill you for being so close with her."

"It is my choice to make this offer to her and I will take on any repercussions that my actions bring." Yui scoffed at him and looked at him incredulously. They had saved his life only for him to throw it away. The kitsune was dead set on his decision from what she could tell. There was little more she could do to protect him from the wrath of the dragon. She could only hope that Haku might consider banishing him instead of sinking his teeth into his jugular. A moment of silence passed as she stared at him, weighing out hope that he might reconsider. "How soon can I leave the infirmary?

"Your wounds should be finished healing in three days if you continue at the pace you have set. After that, there will be no reason to continue holding you here. Though you might consider how useless you will be in protecting her if you can't recover your magic," Yui jabbed as she swept into the infirmary. Taking her advice with a short bow, Hikaru let the dark wood infirmary door swing shut behind him.