Chihiro awoke to find him gone. She stretched and sighed, she was still tired, but her arm felt better. Meeka came in and placed a tray of food on a table next to the bed. She busied herself about the room; laid clothes out on the bed, opened drapes and turned on the lights.

"You will get up today, my master wishes to take you out." The spirit woman glared at her. Chihiro did not know what she was supposed to have done.

"Thank you Meeka." Was all she said, the cat woman turned on her. 

"Don't you know it's not right? It goes against all natural and magical law! A human and a spirit, it's disgusting!" She approached the bed and lowered her voice. "If you have any respect for my master you would leave now. Remain and his reputation will be severely tarnished." Chihiro was having a little trouble taking all this in, her brain was still sleepy.

"What are you talking about?" she half grumbled.

"You and him!" Snapped the spirit. "You spent the night together."

"And?" Chihiro folded her arms, "I fail to see the problem here."

"Whoring about may be common among humans, but we immortals have more respect for each other. We deny our baser instincts."

Chihiro threw back her head and laughed in Meeka's face.

"There must be very few spirit children then Meeka." She gasped between giggles. Linca was proof enough that Meeka was talking nonsense. She could have told the woman the truth about last night, but she felt no need to justify herself to the unpleasant spirit. The problem was Meeka would obviously never like Chihiro, and Chihiro was fed up with being judged by her races misdeeds. Oh, the spirit would take care of her for Haku's sake but did not like it. Chihiro was in the mood for an argument.

Meeka approached the bed and extended some wicked looking claws.

"You should consider your words more carefully human. I would hate for that pretty face to get scratched." The spirit's eyes narrowed to the barest slits of yellow. Chihiro sensed the danger but chose to ignore it; she was angry and wanted to provoke the cat.

"Go ahead Meeka" She drawled. "We are all scum; take your petty little revenge out on me. I did not cut down your trees, but I'm beginning wish I had!" Meeka hissed and the claws headed for Chihiro's face. She felt herself move almost automatically. Her hand snatched the spirits paw and bent it painfully back on itself, threatening to snap the wrist. Meeka was forced onto her toes and mewed piteously. Chihiro had not even moved from the bed.

"Don't underestimate me cat! I may be human but I can defend myself. Your anger at me is unreasonable and your hate it is blinding you." Meeka looked into the human's brown eyes and was frightened by what she saw. There was a kind of "make my day" belligerence coupled with a raw power she could not identify in their depths. This human was dangerous.

"Chihiro," Said a calm voice. "Put Meeka down please." Chihiro let go of the spirits paw and the cat ran to Haku who was standing in the doorway, dripping wet. Meeka clutched at his sleeve and gazed at him imploringly.

"Master!" She cried, "The human attacked me! I did nothing and she just grabbed me. Please send her away, I'm frightened of her!" Chihiro rolled her eyes at the display but said nothing, just folded her arms. Haku's eyes fixed on her for a moment; he seemed amused for some reason. He then turned to the diminutive wood spirit.

"Meeka, you disappoint me, you have never lied to me before." The spirit woman was so shocked she stumbled back a few paces.

"But master I am not..."

"I've been standing here since you came in, you just could not see me." Interrupted the dragon, looking darkly at the spirit now. "I think it is time you left my service, you have insulted my guest and dishonoured me." Meeka fell to her knees her eyes were wide and her feline pupils were reduced to mere black lines. Tears leaked from her eyes wetting her fur but she made no noise, just trembled all over. Chihiro felt moved with pity for her.

"Haku," she said gently, "Don't, it's not her fault, and I provoked her. She did not harm me."

"Do you hear that? This human you claim to hate so much is defending you." Meeka glanced from Haku to Chihiro in confused misery.

"I want you to apologise to my guest." Said Haku in a cold voice, "the things you said to her were hurtful and malicious." Meeka stumbled to her feet and bowed almost to her knees to Chihiro.

"Forgive me mistress; I should not have let my emotions get the better of me." She said meekly. Chihiro nodded in acceptance.

"Now," said Haku "On Chihiro's insistence, I will not dismiss you. Instead, I impose a bond of servitude on you for a year and a day to pay for your actions."

"Haku!" Chihiro protested, flinging the covers back from her and jumping from the bed in indignation. Haku held a hand up to silence her.

"Don't worry," he said and turned back to Meeka.

"Meeka of the Izu forest I command you to serve Chihiro Ogino for the traditional term as her retainer." Chihiro mouth fell spirit did not deserve to have to serve someone she hated. Meeka however just bowed and Haku laid a hand on her head. Meeka's clothes suddenly turned to a simple white tunic of a thick serviceable fabric.

"I will serve my mistress willingly as you have commanded." Whispered the spirit.

Haku turned to Chihiro who was thoroughly disgusted by the proceedings.

"I will not keep a slave!" She snapped at him.

"Chihiro," he said gently. "This is how things are done here and Meeka accepts her punishment. " He looked at her steadily; he really needed her to understand. "You have much to learn about our ways." Chihiro sighed and nodded, but said.

"Slavery is completely contrary to all my morals, but I accept that things are different here. I will have Meeka only if you assure me that you intend to keep your promise to her that she will be released." Haku's face darkened, he was extremely insulted by her insinuation.

"Do you really think so little of me that you believe I would not keep my word?" He was furious but was keeping his temper, his eyes gave away his feelings, however.

"I did not mean it like that," Chihiro winced; she would have to fix this.

She walked over to him and looked up at him through her eyelashes.

"So I'm going to manipulate him a bit." She thought as her conscience pricked her. "I feel a tad guilty but... Well, I am only human and he does not realise anyway."

"I'm sorry." She said quietly. It had the desired effect on Haku. The anger in his eyes melted away into something else.

"I did not mean to insult you. I just had to be sure, people like Yubaba are always bending the rules to their advantage, and it's made me a little paranoid I guess. Remember I'm sacrificing some dearly held principles for you." Haku had never thought of this and suddenly felt very ashamed of himself.

"I'm afraid you may have to sacrifice more. You were warned about this place." He mumbled. She gave him a sweet smile, pleased she had diffused the situation.

"I know, but I feel so at home here." Then she frowned, "But if you ask me to accept something I really think is evil I will not do it, for you or anyone else." He nodded gravely.

"I would expect nothing less; it's just good to know that you are willing to try embracing our ways. I was worried that this would be difficult for you."

Chihiro turned to Meeka.

"Is this okay for you? If you would rather serve someone else..." Meeka just bowed low, the fur on her face flattened. Haku placed a hand onChihiro's shoulder.

"You insult her Chihiro," He squeezed her shoulder as if to take the sting out of his words. "I... I'm sorry Meeka," she stammered, "I had no idea. This is all new to me." Meeka bowed again.

"No offence taken mistress, I am in your debt and I will repay you." The cat-like spirit then turned away and began to make the bed. Chihiro sighed, she hardly noticed that Haku had stepped closer to her and placed his free hand on her other shoulder. She jumped a little when his hands started to massage her; they were cold from the lake water. He tried to eradicate the tension he felt under his hands. Chihiro's eyes were on Meeka

"I'm still not comfortable with this." He smiled to himself behind her.

"I can tell, every muscle in your back is rigid." Chihiro just shook her head and then closed her eyes. She let him pull the tension from her; his fingers seemed to know exactly where to rub.

"Did you sleep okay?" She mumbled, his hand froze for a moment and then he continued a bit more vigorously than before.

"Very well, thank you." He said lightly. Chihiro saw Meeka's ears swivel in their direction and decided to let the subject drop.

"Meeka said we were going somewhere?" He removed his hands and she turned around to face him.

"Yes, I'm taking you for a swim."

"Oh... oh well, that's... not what I was expecting. I suppose you swim a lot, don't you?" He chuckled at the question.

"Water spirits tend to." Chihiro coloured at saying such a stupid thing. Why could she never think straight when under that green gaze? He walked to the door and called back to her.

"Get dressed and eat, I'll be back in an hour." Meeka chased after him with a mop, erasing the drops he left on the floor. Chihiro sighed,

"I don't know if I will ever understand spirits." She sighed.

"You never will," said Meeka as she was searching through Chihiro's wardrobe. "You are human. Understanding is not necessary, however, just accept what is." She said this with no malice, her voice was perfectly neutral. "If it is any consolation, spirits don't understand humans either. Especially when they save someone who would have harmed them from returning to the life of a lost spirit."

"Is slavery any better than that?" asked Chihiro.

"You have no idea how much better this is than being one of the lost." Chihiro ate her breakfast and decided not to worry about the subject anymore.

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