I have made up my mind regarding the results of the poll and even though there weren't enough votes, I have prepared for you a double release. Today it rained and gave me the last little push I needed to finish editing these chapters. I will be taking a lot of trips in the upcoming weeks as I try to prepare for my move down to the Dominican Republic which means either a. no writing or b. all the writing and then some. Thanks for all of your wonderful reviews and messages! I can't tell you how proud it makes me to have gotten over 100 reviews.

For those of you that may struggle with the quick moving scenes in this chapter, the italicized writing is memory and the normal writing is present.

Chapter 29:

Protective cool flesh wrapped around Chihiro protecting her from the ground as she was slammed from behind into the grass. Unable to hold back her scream in panic, she twisted around trying to free herself from the silver coils trapping her. Within seconds, the dragon flesh disappeared and the exact man she was running from held her pinned in the grass. Scrambling beneath him in her panic, Chihiro tried anything she could think of to free herself.

"I know you aren't happy with me, Chihiro," Haku grumbled as he blocked her cheap groin shot and finally dropped the entirety of his body weight on her to keep her still. He knew it would be much easier to use magic to restrain her, but something about their previous experiences together told him that she would take an even greater offense to that. "Look we need to talk."

"Like hell we do. I got nothing to say to you."

"You think sneaking out of the safety of the bathhouse in the middle of the night is not something to talk about?"

"Not when it concerns a backstabbing, shallow bastard like you."

"Look, I'm sorry about what happened with Hana. We should have talked about it first."

"You have been telling me over and over again that you didn't want me. It should have come as no surprise that you were with her."

"No, I'm not together with her. It's a misunderstanding."

"You were kissing her Haku! That make out session was not a mistake. Let me go, Haku. I'm done. I'm rolling the dice and going back to my world."

"No, you aren't. Please, I swear to you that I'm not dating Hana. I love you!" Freeing an arm, she halfheartedly swung a punch at him, but he dodged it and flipped them over so she was on top.

"I deserve better than this Haku. I deserve someone who will be honest and respect me and respect what we have together!"

"Just give me five minutes to explain everything before you go running off through the portal. Just five minutes and I'll let you go without a fight." Haku laid his arms flat on the grass and looked up at her. She was straddling his belly easily and was looking back at him with hurt and disgust. It pained him deeply to see her like this, and knowing he had caused it wasn't helping his conscious. "If it would really cool your anger to hit me, then hit me, but please just listen to me one last time."

Chihiro looked back at him silently weighing her options. She didn't trust him, not one bit, but if she ignored him and tried to leave again he would simply pin her or use magic to take her back unwillingly to the bathhouse. Chihiro didn't even feel the tears run down her cheek as she looked down at him. Her heart hurt so much and she felt like she was falling apart. A moment of silence passed between them before Haku took her lack of movement as consent. Slowly raising his hand, he gently caressed her cheek and began to show her what he should have showed her weeks ago.

Chihiro could see fog at the edges of her vision as her body lumbered forward from the side of the bathhouse towards the bridge. It was hard to find the words to describe what she was experiencing. For one thing, she wasn't controlling her body movements. There was a murmur of someone's voice debating things quietly in the background of her head as if her thoughts were not her own, but she wasn't certain what they were saying or who they were. Chihiro could feel a heavy weight bearing down upon her shoulders and a resounding cold emptiness rattling soundlessly within her chest. It was as if she were void of any emotion beside the small hint of curiosity that was pushing her forward. Trying to listen to the voice speaking, she caught the words human, Yubaba, and pig. As she passed out of the shadow of the bathhouse into the walkway in front of the bridge, Chihiro caught a glimpse of herself off the reflective surface of a nearby window. Haku looked back at her in the reflection uninterested before continuing towards the bridge. Within moments Chihiro finally realized what was happening. She was not just seeing Haku's memories, no she was actually reliving them inside of him. Chihiro could feel his emotions as if they were her own.

Before she had time to process the situation completely, they reached the foot of the bridge. Haku stopped in shock as he stared at her ten year old form. It was obvious he was expecting a human from her wafting smell, but seemed completely blindsided by her presence anyways. She, on the other hand, was busy looking curiously over the rail at the train passing by. Chihiro could feel the outright confusion swarm his senses as recognition filled him. A whisper of her name passed loudly through his thoughts and he seemed all the more confused by this. The moment his mind had called forth her name it was as if the blank canvas that was his empty emotional state had bled forth a deep red. He knew her name, from where he did not know, but that didn't keep him from breaking part of the magic enclosing his heart and feeling for her. Had he not signed his name and past away to Yubaba? Yet the human before him was bringing forth a foreign warmth, almost like a sense of nostalgia that whispered he belonged to her and she to him. But how could he know some human? The confusion gave away to anxiety and fear as he realized the sun was nearly down and with that, the return of Yubaba was imminent.

Haku sent out magic that would slow the opening process for the bathhouse and considered going inside to give her more time to escape the Spirit World. Glancing at the sun he realized that Yubaba and the bathhouse wouldn't be the trap that would catch her. He had not thought of the river in his haste. Moving quickly through the town he hunted for her scent. Catching it past a food shop that was handling a pair of ravaging pigs, Haku brushed past the awakening spirits as he followed it out of town. He had to get to her before Yubaba found her or she disappeared completely. The relief that poured over him when he spotted her crouching form on the outskirts of town was like a sudden rain upon a drought ridden field. As he reached out a hand to grasp her shoulder, Chihiro could feel the bubbling warmth surging forward against Yubaba's magic within him. It felt so right to him that he had to stop from himself from wrapping the crying girl in a hug.

The fog tightened around Chihiro's vision and suddenly she found herself staring at the inside of an elevator. Haku's chilled voice reminded her ten year old self not to speak to him so informally, but it did not match the feeling in his heart. In all honesty Haku was scared for her, scared that someone might find out that she meant something to him and hurt her. Though he wasn't quite sure how Chihiro fit into his past or why she made him feel again, he knew that he wouldn't let any harm to come her. Haku would make sure that Chihiro and her parents returned safely to the human world, as he had promised her. A small voice questioned why he would send away the only person that had given him feeling again after what seemed like an eternity of emptiness. His spoken harsh words cut into Chihiro and he could smell her confusion and disappointment in the air. Desperately he wanted to explain to her that it was all an act for her safety, but this was not the place. Yubaba has eyes everywhere and there is truly no safe place in a bathhouse full of spirits. As they stepped out of the elevator and descended into the depths of the bathhouse, he put on an air of nonchalance as he addressed the staff. Purposefully assigning her to one of the few bathhouse staff members he could rely upon, Haku frowned at Chihiro's turned back as she walked away without a second glance back.

The fog enclosed her and swept her away into darkness. Haku's mental voice seemed sluggish if it was there at all, as his vision slowly returned. The darkened boiler room greeted his sleepy eyes and he turned on the futon to look at the sound of the snoring beside him. Slowly getting up, Haku woke up Kamaji. Though Chihiro tried to listen, whatever they were saying was lost on her. It was as if the connection between her and the memories was becoming loose. Despite that, Chihiro could still feel his feelings. When Haku awoken from the darkness that grasped him tightly, the weight that had been bearing down on him all this time was gone. The enchantment that was keeping him obedient to Yubaba and empty of emotion was broken. Whatever Kamaji told Haku rattled him to the core, but didn't surprise him. The idea of loving a human was not a foreign concept to him, in fact he seemed unusually accepting of it as if he had had the time to come to terms with it on a previous occasion. No, it was the open admission that Chihiro loved him back that took the icing on the cake. Before his mind could consider all of the difficulties that such a relationship could entail, Kamaji finally answered Haku's question as to where Chihiro was. Gasping in horror, Haku's mind reeled as it went through rescue plans and how this changed everything. If he rushed after Chihiro as he was inclined to do, it would reveal to Yubaba that he was no longer under her control. It wouldn't take long for Yubaba to backtrack and figure out that Chihiro was the cause of his change. She would be in danger and there would be nothing he could do about it. Tearing apart his memories for anything that could help him, he began to recall parts of what happened after he flew into the bathhouse wounded. Realizing that there was a one in a lifetime chance, Haku moved like lightening towards the head of the bathhouse. Without his name, Haku had no chance of break his contract as Yubaba's apprentice, but that didn't mean he couldn't make a deal with the devil to get Chihiro her freedom.

Blinking back to reality, Chihiro's blurred vision cleared as she returned to the present and her position staring down at Haku. His gentle hand was still caressing her face and he was breathing quickly as if he had run a long distance. Closing his eyes as if to summon more energy from within, he pulled her face towards his. Weaving both hands into her hair, Haku leaned her forehead against his and pushed his magic forward to immerse her again.

The fog now seemed familiar to Chihiro and laid back steadily at the edges of her vision. It was strange to see how Haku saw her in comparison to what she briefly remembered about their experiences together.

"Will we meet again sometime," Chihiro asked with a worried voice. Her ten year old self turned away from the expanse of green grassy knolls to look at Haku. Chihiro could see the hope of seeing her parents and getting back to her world had lit up her eyes. The fake smile that Haku was putting forth didn't reflect into his eyes, but she wasn't paying attention to that. Inside, Haku was raging a fierce battle between declaring his feelings and begging her to stay or taking the higher road to leave. It was too dangerous to keep her here and yet with all of his heart, he yearned for her to stay with him. The palate of his emotional canvas was ripe with waves of blue longing, red love, and green hope. Hope that someday he could see her again, if even for a moment. Swirls of cold black reality creeped in from the corners and began to overtake the green.

"Sure we will," he lied smoothly. With his river filled in, he knew he had no way back to the human world to see her and yet he couldn't bring himself to tell her that they would never meet again. Her eyes were filled with excitement and happiness, how could he mention it now? Besides, she belonged in the human world, not the spirit world. This was her chance to return with a clean break. In time she would forget all that had happened there and her life would move on. The barrier between the worlds would make sure of that. The question was could he forget her again?

"Promise?"

"Promise. Now go and don't look back." Haku felt her warm hand slide out of his and his fingers grasped after the loss. He reached after her, almost about to stop her. Haku wanted her to stay, to abandon her world and family, and stay with him. Watching her walk out of sight, he felt the pain of loss in his chest and his hand dropped back down to his side. The ache of his sadness struck Chihiro like a snow laden breeze on an early Fall day and she felt a small tear escape to linger down her cheek. Like clockwork, she had followed his wish and didn't turn back. If she had, Chihiro would have saw the broken man she left behind.

The fog held Chihiro longer this time about, as if it needed time to compose itself before moving onto the next memory. Chihiro herself was shook up after it as well and as her anger abated, confusion took its place. When the fog finally cleared, there was a loud celebration at hand. It appeared as if the bathhouse staff were celebrating in one of the larger conference rooms. Haku's emotions were calm and proud, but there was still a lingering sadness painting his emotions a tint of blue. Chihiro caught a glimpse of a large banner on the wall and tried to read it briefly as Haku's vision turned to focus on Zeniba. It seems this was the celebration party for Haku's release from his apprenticeship and official promotion to partial owner of the bathhouse.

"Congratulations Haku on a job well done. I'm so proud of you."

"Thank you Zeniba. I will do my best to work hard from here on out."

"She would be proud of you as well, you know," Zeniba hinted quietly before patting his shoulder gently. "I know you still miss her."

Haku mentally wondered aloud if his thoughts were obvious to everyone present, but squashed it when she smiled at him knowingly. Though he wasn't the ice prince he was before, Haku had yet to fully open up to the staff. Many didn't understand what happened between him and their short lived human staff member, and he didn't care to enlighten them either.

"Come with me Haku. I have a present for you." Together the two of them walked away from the party and returned to a small apartment near the top of the bathhouse. Clearing off the table of its papers, Haku watched Zeniba pull a shallow stone bowl out of a small pocket hidden in the belt of her dress. Placing it on the table, she smiled as she asked him if he knew what it was.

"Not in the slightest," Haku admitted before she cackled. Her laughter grated on his nerves and he wondered how such a pathetic looking bowl could be of any use to him.

"Call your water forth and lay it in the bowl. I will do the rest." Following her instructions, Haku summoned a small handful of water and placed it in the bowl. Adding several spells and ingredients to the bowl, Zeniba worked over it for several minutes before leaning back so he could see. Within the greasy water, Chihiro could see herself working on some paperwork on top of her old college desk.

"How can you-"

"It won't work all the time, but every few months it will store up enough residual energy to show you her. It's the best I can do for now." Haku was moved by her actions and was speechless as his hand softly touched the rim of the bowl. Ignoring the slight tremble in his touch, he retracted his hand and swiftly hid it into his pocket.

"I appreciate the efforts you went through to find and make this for me, but I'm sorry to say I can't accept it." Turning his back on the image he longed to see, Haku frowned in pain. "I have decided to let her go and focus solely on the future. Seeing her would only make this separation more difficult."

Nodding her head yes in understanding, Zeniba sighed as she watched the image disappear. Her gift to Haku hadn't necessarily been just for him. After all, she missed her granddaughter significantly too.

"I will leave it here for you, in case you change your mind. Simply tuck it away in a corner for some other time."

The room seemed to blur as if time was passing, but the fog didn't consume her to hide it. She could see Haku checking the bowl regularly despite his own protests. A glimpse of her reading in the library, an image of her having a drink alone at the bar, so little it seemed to her, yet to him so much. The blurring stopped as Haku anxiously paced in front of the shards of the bowl. It appeared as if the bowl was shattered beyond repair.

"Zeniba, I don't understand. Why would it suddenly break," Haku asked angrily of the image of Zeniba floating by the fireplace. Chihiro could recognize the small paper bird on the ground beneath her semi-translucent form. His anger and confusion was barely masking the sadness he felt at the loss.

"It seems Chihiro was in some sort of accident. The hair band we made to protect her used up all of its magic to save her life. She has nothing else from us that I could tap into to connect us."

"What happens now? Surely we must be able to send her something else or something," Haku raged. His mind was a flurry of scattered thoughts and there was a hint of desperation in his voice.

"Chihiro is human, Haku. The next time something happens, she will die a human death as she was originally intended." Haku slammed his fist down into his desk and crumbled down into his chair. The foreboding of loss and helplessness was like a dark sea on a stormy night. Surely there was something more he could do for. Zeniba silently stepped forward towards him until she could place a hand upon his shoulder in support. "If you are not willing to accept her fate Haku, then you know what has to be done. Surely if we talk to the Capital-"

"I won't allow it." His words silenced Zeniba and he brought his heavy head up to look at her. "I will not interrupt her life in the human world for my own selfish desires."

A silence rang out between them as they both weighed their next words. Chihiro could feel the tension in the room thicken.

"Then you must accept the inevitability of her death. I can do no further to protect her from here. If you want me to seek out something that will help you forget her I can try, but we both know that it is futile. Love is the greatest magic of all." The apartment door slamming open interrupted them. Lin seemed frazzled as she charged into the space and closed the door behind her.

"Haku, a messenger from the Capital has arrived. He says to tell you that the General of the Western Plains has fallen and the land set a fire. As of the last report, the Tainted have taken up to the Alps."

"So far," Zeniba asked in horror. The fear that laced her voice and Haku was instant. He was torn on a precipice between handling the prior discussion and the current situation at hand. Deciding that the bathhouse took priority in the moment, Haku focused on that and the implication that Lin's words had.

"Indeed. The Capital has declared war and asks us to begin emergency preparations. As the Eastern Bathhouse, we will be expected to take on the majority of the causalities in our region."

"Where is the messenger now? I will go greet him."

"Dead."