"I was told this would be worth my while," said the Kappa's voice in Chihiro's head.

"By who?" snapped Chihiro.

"I... I can't tell you, she put a spell on me to prevent me giving a description or a name," Chihiro swore under her breath; it was as she suspected. "But I can tell you what she said," offered the Kappa. Chihiro nodded. "She told me to kiss him in front of you; make a big scene. He played right into my hands by asking for a kappa to get some lobsters from the sea. I volunteered to go; it gave me the perfect opportunity to get close to him. You arrived at just the right time, so I kissed him." The kappa was babbling now, Chihiro's threat of marooning her in the desert had rattled her. "She wanted you to see so you would leave him, she said it would weaken and confuse him, and you would be unprotected." Chihiro pursed her lips; she had heard enough.

"I know who sent you; when you collect whatever it is, she promised you- tell her this: she has acted against me twice now with no provocation. If she makes it a third time tell her, I will seek her out and she will rue the day she ever crossed me." The Kappa gulped and nodded. "You may go," said Chihiro.

Thus dismissed, the Kappa slunk back into the water. The Nygel gave Chihiro a bow of respect and disappeared also.

"You do know that she will never deliver that message," said Haku quietly. "She failed her task and will not return for a reward. If she did the only thing she would probably receive is a painful death."

"None the less, I'm sure she will hear about it," said Chihiro turning to him. "A threat like that is bound to reach her ears sooner or later." Haku looked thoughtful.

"Do you think it was Yubaba behind this? It seems a little subtle for her."

"Yes it does; it's not like her, she would probably challenge us openly or attack our friends, not this. Which leads me to an uncomfortable conclusion: it was not her idea."

"An accomplice?" said Haku, sceptically.

"Perhaps. If I am right, we should be worried."

"Very well we shall proceed as if you are," said Haku taking her hand. "We will prepare for the worst, and then we won't be taken by surprise if she is gathering others to herself." Chihiro nodded.

"Stupid witch," she growled. "Does she not know that she could have had her position back?"

"I don't think she was content with that anymore," mused Haku. "I think sharing power with another was difficult for her to handle. She wants it all to herself.

"All power corrupts," mumbled Chihiro darkly, as she moved to the cliff steps.

"It won't corrupt me," said Haku blithely. "I have you to keep me humble." He picked up the lobsters which were wandering around the beach in confusion. He frowned at them, narrowing his green eyes. "You two caused me a lot of trouble," he said. "If I ate you now I'd probably get indigestion." Chihiro smiled at him; he was quirky sometimes. "You have a stay of execution, go home." He released them into the water then trotted after Chihiro. When he drew level with he sniffed the air, his eyelids fluttered, and he bit his lip, his sharp white teeth peeked at her making him look feral.

"Haku?" Chihiro was puzzled by his behaviour. He almost whimpered as if it was too much effort to speak, he then swallowed and said,

"You're still bleeding aren't you?"

Chihiro looked at her hand, the cut to her fingertip still dripped blood. She held it up, and drops ran down her hand; the cut was small, but Chihiro guessed some property of the kappa's nails was preventing the clotting process. She was not worried; it was only a small nick.

"Oh, so I am," she remarked. "Evil creature; you should be more choosy about who you have living in your river, Haku." He did not reply. She held her head on one side and regarded him quizzically. His green eyes seemed dreamy and far away.

"It can't be my bleeding that's causing this, I've had my period a few times while I've been with him and I don't remember a reaction like this!" Chihiro thought. "What does he smell to make him so dizzy?"

"Was not fresh," mumbled Haku as if reading her thoughts.

"Are you alright, Haku?" asked Chihiro, somewhat concerned now. He shuddered and seemed to pull himself together. His eyes snapped open, and he looked at her. It was like trying to look into the sun. Chihiro lowered her eyes and felt a blush colour her cheeks; she was not sure what she had done to create such burning heat in his gaze. Her finger was still oozing, and she raised the offending finger to her mouth, intending to suck away the blood. She seemed to remember Linca telling her something about dragons and blood. Personally, Chihiro had thought Linca had been embellishing just to tease her. As she raised the finger to her lips, Haku grabbed her hand and pulled her to him, trapping her against him with his free arm.

"Allow me," he whispered.

"I'm not sure that's the best idea you ever had, Haku, in fact, I'm quite sure..." she trailed off under his gaze. He slipped her finger into his mouth and sucked it gently. His eyelids fluttered closed, and he groaned.

Chihiro was quite right, thought Haku, it was a bad idea, but he could not help himself. Her blood was sweet and yet tangy with iron at the same time. It slipped down his throat like the finest red wine, almost consuming him with its purity. Chihiro could hardly believe the expression on her lover's face. Anybody would swear he had just had his first taste of chocolate. The wondrous taste left Haku's mouth, and he realised her finger had stopped bleeding, but he wanted more; he had barely had a thimbleful. He flicked his tongue over the cut, opening it back up and allowing him another taste of the nectar-like liquid. He growled to himself with satisfaction.

Chihiro had no idea what was going on, but she decided she did not want to die of septicaemia or blood loss. She yanked her hand away from him, childishly hiding it behind her back.

"No more of that until you tell me exactly what's going on," she snapped. Haku still had his eyes closed, and he sighed deeply.

"Spoilsport," he muttered, but he slid his eyes open, and they practically glowed with a feral light, more animal than anything else. Chihiro nearly backed away from him, prompted by the ancient reflex to flee a predator, but resisted the urge. A slow smile spread across Haku's lips. "I thought I'd never have the opportunity to taste your blood. I did not take into account how often humans injure themselves and how freely they bleed." He liked his lips his tongue sliding over his canines. Chihiro just stared at him; the situation would have been funny if he had not been looking at her so intently. This was something dragonish and strange, but she needed to understand it. If she kept him talking she might learn something. He was still guarded about his nature, and this seemed a golden opportunity to get him to open up.

"Why do you like my blood so much?" she asked carefully. She started up the stairs; his eyes followed her, and eventfully his feet did the same.

"It's a drug," he sighed. "As you know bonded spirits don't tend to mate that often, in fact, they may never mate, it's not necessary, even when the mating season prompts us we still need further inducements." Chihiro did laugh then.

"I don't think you need any encouragement Haku!" He bared his teeth in a wolfish grin.

"I'm still designed to be affected by my mate's blood; dragons bite each other, and then instinct takes over."

"Oh," was all Chihiro could think to say.

"I knew biting you was out of the question, though I came close to doing it a few times. But it did not stop me wanting a taste of you," he murmured huskily.

"Do I taste nice?" asked Chihiro lamely.

"You have no idea how good you taste," he growled. "I could just eat you whole."

Chihiro opened her mouth to object to such a practice on the grounds that it would kill her, but she did not get a chance to speak. Haku tore up the steps between them faster than was humanly possible and caught her around the middle. Chihiro was not at all sure what to expect, but she certainly did not expect gentle, enticing kisses of such sweetness that it left her close to tears. He put his hands on either side of her face, his thumbs lightly stroking her cheeks and temples.

"My beautiful mate," he whispered.

"I'm not your mate quite yet," she corrected breathlessly.

"You are in all but name," he countered, "something which I plan on remedying as quickly as possible."

"How long will the arrangements take?" she asked, interested. It occurred to her that she had agreed to something and she had no idea what it involved.

"Too long," Haku hissed, and with that, he threw her over his shoulder and carried her up the last of the steps. Chihiro giggled girlishly; she was probably setting the feminist movement back twenty years by enjoying such treatment, but she did not care.

"Err, Haku," she chuckled. "I still haven't eaten anything; I'm very hungry."

"So am I," growled the dragon and carried her into his house. Chihiro soon discovered it was not food he was hungry for.

Haku did eventually get around to feeding Chihiro with fresh carp that he caught and prepared himself. He tried to teach her how to clean the fish, but when she saw him deftly slice open the belly and swim bladders and blood started to fill the sink, she decided that she would lose her appetite if she watched any more, and disappeared until some delicious cooking smells drew her back to the kitchen.

The earthy fish was scrumptious, and Chihiro cleared her plate then helped herself to seconds. She needed to keep her strength up she reasoned. Being the lover of a dragon was quite draining. She spent the rest of the day pottering about Haku's home and even started to rearrange his kitchen. Haku came back from his river, dripping wet and trailing water over the stone floors. He stared at the chaos his kitchen was in. Chihiro had her head and shoulders in a cupboard, pans where clanking and crockery was chinking.

"I leave you alone in my house for a few hours, and you are already changing things. Are all human women this territorial?" He folded his arms and did his best to look stern, but a smile kept pulling at his lips. Chihiro emerged from the cupboard holding an old rusty wok.

"Why can't you dry yourself before you come back in?" she grumbled. "Take your water someplace else."

"This is my home," he laughed, "get sanctimonious some place else." But the water dripped from his clothes and the pool of water around his bare feet evaporated with a hiss. Chihiro nodded with satisfaction, but she was not finished.

"This kitchen is so disorganised," she grumbled. "How do you ever find anything?"

"I don't use it that often," he replied. "While I'm here I usually live off raw fish." Chihiro shook her head and bent to pick up a plate.

Haku sighed dramatically and said, "As long as you seem bent on organising my life and house training me I suppose you better move in permanently and get it all over with." The plate clattered to the ground, shattering into three pieces. Haku grinned; his beautiful little human looked quite shocked. Did she not believe him when he had told her that he wanted to spend every minute with her? He bent down and retrieved the shattered plate and the pieces danced in his hand and reformed themselves as if never broken. Chihiro was very quiet; he merely looked at her expectantly, waiting for an answer.

"People will talk," she murmured at length.

"People will always talk about us Chihiro," he said gently. "Were not you the one who said we should not let the gossips get to us?" She nodded but seemed unconvinced. "I don't understand," he said, frowning. "You have pledged to be my mate, and you have already been practically living with me these past few weeks. What is the difference in just moving your things to my rooms?"

Chihiro did not have a real answer; she had agreed to be his mate without the slightest hesitation. However being effectively engaged to someone was not the same as living with them. She knew she could cohabitate with him quite comfortably, but the fact that they would be on show to everyone made her hesitate. It was a daunting prospect, knowing that every fight they had and every intimate moment would be conducted under everyone's noses. Of course, she would have to face the same problem when she was his mate, but at least then their relationship would have legitimacy, and their commitment to each other would be shown to everyone. Surely then they would be left to their own devices. She also got the impression that now she had pledged herself to him he wanted to move everything forward quickly. He still thought about them in terms of time. For that reason alone she thought that it was time to put the brakes on.

She took the mended plate from him.

"I think we should wait a bit before I do that Haku." His face fell. "I know I almost live with you already and it does make sense just to move in but I would rather things stayed as they are for now. I don't want to rush things. We have barely been together for three months, and I've already promised myself to you. I think that's enough for now."

He nodded, but he still looked disappointed. Chihiro put the plate on the counter and hugged him. "Cheer up!" She said, "It's not as if I've told you it's all over!" He smiled. "Besides we haven't even told anyone at the bathhouse our big news yet; give me a few weeks grace and let the dust settle a bit, then we will see what happens." He seemed happier. "Also," she continued, returning to her pots and pans, "if I did move in with you, I would have to sort out your wardrobe."

"You leave my clothes alone, human!" he growled.

"Well it's not as if you ware most of them," she exclaimed.

"I like them," he retorted. Chihiro grinned.

"Perhaps you are right; you never know when you might need a pair of pornographically tight trousers. Tell me, does it require magic to get them on?"

Dirty water from the sink fountained up and splashed all over Chihiro and the dishes she had just cleaned. She squealed and cursed; Haku laughed so hard at the indignant look on her face that he did not see the flying wok until the very last minute. It froze in the air just before it hit his head.

"That would have hurt if it had hit me!" he protested.

"Don't be such a sissy; I knew it would not hit you," snapped Chihiro, wringing her hair out and pulling at her greasy clothes. "I'm surprised you let it get as close as you did." She grinned impishly. "You must be losing your edge."

Water gurgled up from the sink again, but Chihiro was ready for it this time and bolted out of the kitchen, skidded around a corner, her wet feet slipping, and she ran for the front door. An arm slipped around her and lifted her about a foot off the floor, but she kept moving forward. She flew out the front door with the dragon, and they floated along the cliff line. Chihiro stopped struggling. She eyed the drop below her feet; it must have been about thirty feet down to the lake and the further along the cliff they travelled, the steeper the cliffs became. She closed her eyes and swallowed, trying her best to ignore the sick feeling in her stomach.

"Do you think I would let you fall?" asked Haku, obviously amused. "Don't you trust me?"

"I trust you," she replied, eyes still closed. "But I think I'm going to need some practice. My body is just not happy without something beneath its feet. This was much easier when I was 10 and had no regard for my own safety. Did you know I climbed out of a window ran across a roof and a very unsafe pipe and then climbed a ladder to the top of the bath house just to try and save you? I must have been mad. I don't know whether I could do that now." Haku laughed but slowed down and moved them closer to the cliffs. Chihiro opened her eyes but was determined not to look down.

"Where are we going?" she asked at last.

"To the spring," he replied. "It's just what we need to cool off."

"I can't go swimming in these filthy clothes!" objected Chihiro, "I'll contaminate your water! I know you hate that; when I tipped the mop bucket into the lake you had a headache for three hours, or don't you remember that?" Haku sighed.

"Just stop thinking so much for a few minutes... please."

"But..."

He put a finger to her lips, silencing her. "Who said anything about swimming with our clothes on?"

a/n- don't forget to vote if you have enjoyed!