Chihiro woke to the smell of cooking. The delicious savoury scents tickled her nose.

"Yum," she thought and her stomach rumbled. She rolled off the mat on the floor, washed her face in the basin and tied back her hair. She then walked through the curtained partition.

Granny was at the stove stirring a large, cast iron pot of something. No-face was whipping up some eggs at the table. Chihiro sat at the table glad of the warmth of the stove, as the linen nightgown Granny had given her was a little thin.

"Food will be with you in a moment dear," said Granny. Five minutes later Chihiro had a huge bowl of savoury oat porridge placed in front of her.

"I want to see you eat it all now. You need to build your strength back up and get some meat on those bones." Chihiro smiled and attacked the porridge.

Bou meandered in when she was halfway through it. He was covered from head to toe in mud. The swamp was thick with it after all the rain. Granny shook her head.

"Really look at the mess you are in! Oh well, sit down, we'll wash you later." Bou had a bowl placed in front of him.

"But I'm not hungry Auntie." Chihiro nearly choked. "I want to play with Sen!" he whined.

"You can go back out and play after you've eaten. But Sen and I have to talk." Bou pulled a face but did not argue. He wandered back out after wolfing down his food. No-Face put a cup of tea in Chihiro's hands and offered her a plate of biscuits.

"No more please!" she laughed, "I'll burst."

Granny sat.

"Now my dear, tell me everything." Chihiro proceeded to do so. The witch winced a few times as if she found the story hard to hear, but she did not interrupt.

"When I saw that he was obviously going to be stubborn about this. I was so upset I kind of ran away..." Chihiro concluded Zeniba sighed.

"Well, you've put me in a very difficult position, my dear. My first instinct is to send you back, but you no longer fit in there. It seems we must get you bonded to this world and that won't be easy."

"So how do I become bonded to this world?"

"First the Lord and Lady must deem you worthy. Second, you yourself must justify your existence here. Thirdly you need three spirits of great power to speak for you."

Chihiro frowned. "You're right that is difficult."

"Don't fret my dear, you are meant for this world, it is clear."

"What do you mean?" asked Chihiro.

"I mean you just stumbling in here, not once but twice, was no accident. Fate has her hand firmly on your destiny. With this in mind, I would be glad to speak for you."

"Oh, Granny! Really!" Chihiro hugged the old woman.

Just then the windows rattled. Chihiro stiffened knowing what it heralded.

"Oh dear," she mumbled and sat back down. He had found her, and quickly. She looked at Zeniba, the old witch smiled.

"Surprised?" she asked, Chihiro nodded.

"You shouldn't be. Dragons are stubborn creatures."

The door slammed open rattling on its hinges. Haku walked through it a few seconds later. At least Chihiro thought it was him. His green-black hair was dishevelled and the immaculate clothing rumpled. He was paler than any human still breathing would be. He strolled into the room and bowed formally to Zeniba. She nodded in return trying unsuccessfully to hide a grin. For a moment his eyes fixed on Chihiro. Her heart seemed to stop. She contemplated running for the door. It was a look a predator would give his prey, hungry and wanting, eager to complete the hunt. But it was the cold anger that emanated from him that really scared her. She began to think she was wrong about him. That he was a danger to her, and perhaps above all, that was why he wanted to send her back.

She had no more time to ponder this, as he marched over and took her firmly by the arm and pulled her up.

"Haku... I..." The emerald eyes glared at her, daring her to speak again. Her jaw clicked shut. Then he was dragging her from the house. He was so strong! His hand tightened on her arm until it was painful. She tried to pull her arm away and dig her heels into the floor. He simply kept dragging her. He pulled her through the door and it closed behind them.

Zeniba and no face looked at each other.

"Well, that did not go very well," then she laughed. "This is going to be quite amusing I think." She floated over to a window. No-Face gave an 'UH' of protest.

"Oh hush," said Zeniba, "you always spoil my fun. I'm only going to make sure they don't kill each other."

Haku finally let go of Chihiro outside of the house. She was so surprised she fell over in the mud. He bent to help her up, but she shrugged away from him and stood. Her nightgown was ringing wet and smeared with mud. She was angry now.

"How dare you treat me like this? I'm not your pet human to be dragged around!" He stood before her fists clenched, eyes deathly cold when he spoke his voice was very quiet.

"This was a very stupid thing to do. You could have been hurt, even killed. Do you know what would have happened to you if you were caught stowing away on that train?

"Nothing happened I'm fine..." she snapped but he interrupted her with a growl.

"You would have had to serve on the train for a year and a day, and I could do nothing to prevent it." She was fire to his ice, however.

"Oh yes, that would have really got to you, wouldn't it? Something you can't do! Well, maybe I should have got caught. At least then I could stay."

"Chihiro I thought you understood..."

"Oh yes I understand..." she spat, her temper was running away with her now, years of control were slipping. "...I understand that you don't want me here!"

"No!" It was his turn to raise his voice he. "I would do anything to keep you here, do you really think I want to send you to a place you won't be happy? But your family is there and you will be safe."

"Well it's nice to know you care!" she spat sarcastically.

"OF COURSE I CARE!" he roared "I care more than you will EVER know! Can you possibly imagine what it's been like for me? I had the power to contact you, but could not find you. I looked for years, hoping you were alright but plagued with dreams of you crying and calling my name. Sometimes you called in anger and sometimes with such pleading I felt my heart would break. I sent Linca to track you down and see how you were, and if you were distressed, to try and help you. But now you are here and I can't keep you safe."

He had not meant to say so much, she could tell, she had provoked him into it. For a moment the green eyes were full of pain, and then they hardened again.

"Now you are coming with me, conscious or unconscious. I'm taking you home."

"I AM HOME!" she shouted at the morning sky. Chihiro prodded his chest with her finger, unaware that he towered over her. "Get this through your thick lizard's skull dragon. You don't own me. This is my life and I'm living it. Now you may be concerned with my safety but it's me that's taking the risks. I could walk down the street in the human world and be raped, mugged or murdered, or maybe all three at once! I face as many risks here as I do there, except people here use magic instead of automatic weapons. I want to stay. Now no doubt you could knock me out without any difficulty, and drag me back. But would you really act against me like that? How many dreams do you think you'd have when I returned? Because I'd make sure I haunted your every moment. I hate it back there I belong here with you..."

She left that hanging for a moment, and when she saw his eyebrows rise in surprise, she hastily added. "And Rin, Kamaji, Bou, Linca and Granny." Was it just her? Or did she see a softening in his hard eyes, and perhaps a slight quirk to his lips. She gave a big sigh and her anger ebbed away, leaving her trembling with the after effects of adrenalin. "I know what I face, I'm not as fragile as I seem. Yes, I'm mortal and can die, but spirits can too." She took a pace back from him and shrugged off her aggressive stance. "I know what I have to do if I want to stay and maintain my freedom. I know that I will have to leave everything behind. If I am willing to do this, why can't you have faith in me? I'm not a child anymore. Please accept my decision." He looked at the ground his greenish hair falling to cover his face.

"It's just you are so naïve. You know nothing of this place you can't even defend yourself, physically or magically." He looked back up at her and gave her a crooked smile. "I could not help but notice you've grown up. You've become a very attractive young woman." Chihiro's cheeks coloured. Unsure if he was teasing her she ignored the compliment. Haku continued more seriously. "Are you absolutely certain of this?"

"Yes, I am." She replied. He stepped towards her and placed his hands on her shoulders.

"Then I'll help you and I'll speak for you."

"Thank you," she whispered. She was not sure if she should hug him or something, but suddenly she was aware of how tall and imposing he actually was. The thought of draping her arms around him made her stomach tighten. She could not believe she had been yelling at him a moment ago. He saved her the moral dilemma by saying.

"Now before we go back don't you think you should get cleaned up?" She looked down at herself. She knew her nightgown was hopelessly soiled, but the water had soaked through it making it transparent, and it was sticking to her in the most awkward places.

"Ah!" She squeaked. She did not have enough hands to cover everything so she just folded her arms and blushed crimson.

"Don't get me wrong," he said grinning boyishly now. "It's very a very eye-catching look, just a little immodest."

"Get your mind out of the sewer and help me!" she snapped. He held his hands up in surrender.

"As the Lady commands," he chuckled. Chihiro had the strange sensation of ice shivering down her spine. Half a pint of water dropped out of the hem of her nightgown, wetting her bare feet.

"Better?" he asked still grinning.

"Much," she glared at him and checked over the garment, it was bone dry and opaque once more. Even the mud had gone. Chihiro smiled in spite of herself. Linca was right magic did fascinate her.

He gave a polite cough drawing her attention back to him.

"You may want to move back a bit now," she frowned.

"Why?" she asked.

"Because if we are going to get back in under a week, I need to change forms."

"Oh...oh right." She stammered clumsily. It was so easy to forget that he wasn't human. She moved away from him, interested in seeing the transformation. There was a blinding flash of light and when her vision cleared there he was. Shining mother of pearl scales, a green main and horns. The eyes were the same though, and the fey intelligence in them would warn anyone that he was no mere beast. Chihiro could not help staring for a moment.

"He's magnificent!" she thought, and then shook herself mentally.

"You did that on purpose!" she accused. "You knew I wanted to see you change." His tongue lolled out of his mouth, and the eyes glittered with amusement. He was laughing at her. She scrambled without grace onto his neck and held onto his horns. She remembered she had to grip with her knees to avoid slipping off. She also had to hike up her nightgown to a very unladylike level. She contemplated ripping it up her legs but discarded the idea. It was after all a present. Haku took off and raced towards the clouds.

Zeniba sighed when she saw them leave.

"It's so nice when your plans come together, isn't it my friend?"

"Uh," said no face.

Bou came wondering back in having witnessed the entire confrontation, unnoticed by the combatants.

"Auntie?"

"Yes?" replied the witch. Bou's chubby face was a study in confusion.

"What's going on?" Zeniba smiled.

"I'll tell you when you're older."

Please vote if you enjoy this story.