"Well, I must get going, Hiro," Haku said as he glanced outside the window. The sun had set a long time ago and now the moon took its place in the night sky, a pearl in the darkness. It was well past the time he should have been doing routine checkups on the bottom floor to make sure the baths were running smoothly. But he had been caught up caring for the two human children that time passed by too quickly. He had tried leaving several times but Ryuu had clung on his leg, throwing a small tantrum, insisting he didn't leave.

Although Haku was amused by the child's affections, he was concerned at how well he had recovered from the shock of Chihiro's death. Maybe it was Hiro's presence. The human was so similar to Chihiro in almost every way, even, according to Ryuu, how he would carry Emiko. Haku assumed that Ryuu saw Chihiro in Hiro, so for the child, it was as if Chihiro never left. Just...changed. A brother version of the human girl. I suppose as long as he's not depressed, Haku thought to himself as he rose to his feet. Ryuu, who was busy folding an oragami crane just a moment before, immediately leapt to his feet and latched himself around Haku's leg, gripping his robes tightly.

"No, Onii-chan! You can't go!" Ryuu cried out, using a vice-like grip around the hem of Haku's robes. "You can't leave me!"

"Ryuu, I have to go. I have work to attend to," Haku said in a gentle voice as he pried of the child's fingers. Ryuu shook his head and immediately tears started to cloud his large brown eyes. "Ryuu? What's wrong?"

"If you go, then Nee-chan won't come back." He hiccuped before using one arm to rub the tears from his eyes. "Onii-chan can't leave or she won't come back."

Now this really did concern Haku. "Ryuu. Chihiro is dead. She won't come back even if I stay," the river spirit said as he knelt back down. He placed both of his hands on Ryuu's shoulders and made him look into his eyes. "I understand that you're still shocked by her death, but she really won't come back. Even if both of us want her to," Haku added, dipping his head down as a tightness in his chest made it difficult to breathe.

"But-but...we're in the spirit world," Ryuu sniffled.

"Yes, we are."

"Even if Nee-chan said mama and papa lives in the sky now, I heard my friend say that people go to the spirit world," he whispered and he blinked, letting the tears stream down his round cheeks. Haku wiped a tear away with his thumb as he cupped Ryuu's face, listening to what he has to say. "If Nee-chan died, shouldn't she be in the spirit world? Doesn't that mean she'll come find me and Emi-chan?"

This surprised Haku and he exchanged glances to Hiro who stood a few steps away cradling Emiko in his hands. He shrugged, as if saying, Don't ask me. I don't know how it works here. Haku drew his brows together and thought. Generally, the spirits of the dead does migrate from the mortal world to the spirit world. But he has yet to actually see these spirits of the dead. They go to a certain place in the spirit world, the so-called heaven they often describe as the afterlife of mortals. Not only that, he has only heard rumors of that place; such an ancient place, the way to get there has been lost as the presence of the ancient spirit realm evolved and changed. It'll be difficult to locate the place, and even if he does find it, how can he be sure that Chihiro will be there? Or if he could even find her. Thought upon thought began to fill Haku's mind as a spark of hope began to light up from the possibilities. However, he couldn't tell Ryuu if what he said was true yet. He would have to investigate and find out about this place.

"Onii-chan? She'll come back right?" Ryuu said, startling him out of his thoughts

"Huh? Oh, well, I'm not sure Ryuu," Haku said as he looked at the child. "It's...difficult to know for sure. I'll...I'll look into it, okay?"

This lit up the child's face a little. "Okay, Onii-chan. I just really want my Nee-chan back."

"But….Ryuu, how does Haku staying make your nee-chan come back?" Hiro asked. Ryuu looked at the older human as if it were obvious.

"Hiro-nii, can't you feel it? When Onii-chan is near us, I feel like...Nee-chan is watching me," Ryuu said, a faraway look in his eyes. "But when Onii-chan leaves, it's gone. My Nee-chan is gone…"

Haku scrunched his brows even more. How could his presence make it feel as if Chihiro were here? Is that why Ryuu seems so okay with Chihiro's death? Because when he was here, Ryuu feels Chihiro? It confused Haku, but he can't question the child's thoughts. Maybe there's a reason for him saying that. And he hopes to find out soon. And to learn more about the lost place of dead mortals. They have a chance. A one in a million chance of getting Chihiro back. And he was willing to take it if it meant seeing her again and making Ryuu happy. But in the meantime, he had work to attend to.

"Alright. Ryuu, I really have to go to work now. I have a job to do."

"But-!"

"Don't worry," Haku assured him. "I'll figure out something about your sister. I will do anything to find out if she's still somewhere out there. Even if she is dead and a spirit, I will find her. I promise."

"Pinky swear," Ryuu said with a determined look.

""What?"

Ryuu held out his pinky and gestured that Haku do the same. "Pinky swear," he repeated as he hooked his tiny pinky around Haku's finger. Reluctantly, the river spirit did the same.

"I pinky swear."

"Okay, good!" Ryuu grinned up at Haku. He let go of his pinky and threw his tiny arms around Haku's waist. "That's a promise, Onii-chan! You can't break it." Then Ryuu added in a lower voice, "Not like your promise with Chihiro-nee."

Haku gazed at the child, startled by the seriousness in his tone, and after a moment, he nodded his head. "I won't. Not this time." And with that, he left the humans alone in their suite.

Hiro glanced between Ryuu and the door that had just closed, his mouth a line from the turn out of the conversation. He wondered about this place that human spirits went to after death. And then he wondered, was he dead as well? Is that why he was in the spirit world? The thought of having died with no memory of it disturbed him and Hiro shuddered from the cold feeling he got in his gut. He wished he remembered life before he came under Kimiko's care. Although he would prefer not to remember his enslavement with the Spirit of the North. There were too many things that confused him. The lies Kimiko had told when they first arrived only tangled up the threads even more. Hiro sincerely hoped that Haku would find out what was truly happening because if there's one thing he knew for sure, and this is purely from his gut feeling, is that his oujo-sama wasn't telling them something important.

His blue robes swayed with his gait as Ichirou left the room of Ryoujin. They had a very long talk that stretched until they finally noticed that it was well past midnight. The sun will rise in a few hours, the lord Ryoujin had told him. You've only just arrived, my grandson. You must rest. Enjoy this vacation for we only have two weeks more before our return to the palace.

"Yes, my Lord. But we still have problems to attend to. I can not afford too much leisure," Ichirou had said in return.

"Ichirou. Have you not understand the purpose of this vacation?" Ryoujin asked gruffly. He placed the thick scroll on the low table before crossing his arms. "This is to show to our people that the situation is not as dire as they perceive it to be. No right-minded king would leave his kingdom during troubles for a peasant's vacation. And it will do well that the Crown Prince does the same and acts as if everything is under the control. The last thing the spirit world needs is panic from the dragons about one of our own being polluted by the humans."

"I thought that this retreat was for my mother's health," Ichirou murmured as he gazed down at his folded hands. He allowed his silver hair fall down slightly, hiding his blue eyes from his grandfather, knowing full and well the confusion is evident in his eyes.

Ryoujin observed Ichirou with scrutinizing eyes. He grunted and ran a hand through his thick beard. "And that is what we want the public to think. I trust you will do better to act your part, Ichirou?"

The Crown Prince straightened up, the confusion all but nonexistent in his blue eyes. "Of course, my lord."

So Ichirou walked out of Ryoujin's suite with long, proud strides. All to hide the growing concern and suspicion that threatened to diverge him from his duties as Crown Prince. His conversation with his grandfather proved that the situation was indeed dire, enough to even have the need to put up an act. This problem with Kohaku and the human is dangerous. And that there was more to their presence in the bathhouse than his grandfather lets on. And Ichirou was determined to find out what. For this was his world, his kingdom, and his family that he was protecting. And he was not as cold-hearted and compliant as his grandfather perceives him to be.

He crossed paths with Haku who had emerged Kimiko's suite. The two did not exchange a glance nor stopped to acknowledge each other's presence. For they both had a mission to do.

Author's Note:

I will be honest, I write as I go, I have an idea of what I'd like to happen but nothing too solid. And this chapter just opened a whole new horizon for me. I hope you enjoyed it :)