Chihiro woke with a start; she was face down on the floor, her cheek resting on the polished boards. She shivered and thought sleepily that she must have fallen from bed. She was forced to reassess her assumption, however, when a cool pair of hands grabbed hers and efficiently began to bind them. Panic gripped her and she tried to wriggle away from her kidnapper.

"Be still!" hissed Rin's voice. "It'll come off soon enough and I'm using silk rope; it won't even rub your skin." Chihiro stilled and let her sister finish with her hands.

"What it going on?" Chihiro demanded as Rin helped her to her feet.

She noticed it was early morning, a grey pre-dawn light was forcing its way through the drapes and her heart leapt. Through a gap in the drapes she could see small, delicate snowflakes billowing and swirling playfully in a light breeze. It was only light snow, perhaps not even enough to cover the ground, but it was promising. It almost improved her testy, angry mood; almost. Rin was grinning from ear to ear, her hands on her hips and feet braced apart. She looked quite happy argue if it was necessary, or perhaps just knock Chihiro out cold.

"This is your cleansing," she announced, her eyes twinkling with mischief. She then turned and started opening draws, rummaging around them with a will. "Haku said you did not pack yet so I'm just going to grab what I can for you." Chihiro could hear Haku and Linca's voices in the next room, but she was unable to discern what was being said. She glanced around the room; bewildered and confused. Her eyes fell on a large, two handed, log splitter axe. It was innocently propped up against the bedroom screen as if it was part of the furniture.

"Err... Rin I still don't know what's going on but I'm fairly certain that an axe was not here last night."

Rin straightened up and chuckled. It occurred to Chihiro that her sister was rather strangely dressed. She wore a white shift dress that was very becoming for her statuesque figure and complexion.

"This is your cleansing," she repeated. "It has to be a little rough on you because you have been living with your betrothed for two months. That is a lot of sin to get rid of!" She laughed and then dumped a hastily packed bag by her side. "Now, hold still; Zeniba gave me this so we did not have to waste time dressing you up."

Rin unfolded a square of black cloth and blew on it. Black dust billowed off it and settled on Chihiro. Seconds later, her night attire had changed to a black shift dress in the same style as Rin's.

"That is so no one confuses us; you are the unclean one and we are performing our moral duty."

Chihiro sighed. She should have guessed her sisters had been planning something; they had been as thick as thieves all week.

Rin picked up the axe and swung it experimentally. She then brought it over her head and it came crashing down onto Haku's bed, almost splitting the wooden bed frame in two.

"Rin!" Chihiro exclaimed, hardly crediting what she saw.

"It's tradition," Rin grunted as she swung at the bed again. "Your family can not have you shamed by starting your new life in an old bed. If you had sleeping mats we would have burned them, but no, you have to be all modern and have a bed and that means an axe. Zeniba already destroyed the one at Haku's house last week. He still can't work out how she got in; he would be furious if he knew his own river dismantled his defences. It was quite accommodating, though she was practically stampeded by a mad horse spirit."

Chihiro smiled the mental image that popped into her head of the Nygel chasing Zeniba around Haku's home.

With the work of a few moments and six well calculated swings, Rin had reduced the bed to kindling; mattress and blankets were shredded beyond repair.

"There!" she said, dusting wood chips from her dress. "Now keep quiet and do as you're told. When we get to the train we will untie you." Chihiro rolled her eyes and Rin pulled her into the sitting room.

Linca was wearing the same white dress that Rin was, but the colour and cut did not suit her so well. In fact, Chihiro thought she looked ugly. Not that the spirit seemed to care. She was delivering a monologue to the dragon, who seemed to be having trouble keeping a straight face.

"...we will be removing our sister this morning and taking her into our care. At the end of the traditional term of two nights, you shall be able to take her as your mate. She will be cleansed of all previous acts and will be returned to you only if you have made suitable provisions for her care." She nodded to Meeka who was hovering near a window.

"Meeka will be our factor and has the power to inform us if our requirements are not met. We will brook no insult against our kinswoman." Linca gestured towards Chihiro and said, "Do you promise us on your honour to abide by our prerequisites in order to obtain our sister as your mate?" Haku grinned but answered in kind.

"By my honour and name I do swear."

"Excellent!" said Linca, clapping her hands and returning to her normal self. Haku glanced at Chihiro and his smile slowly faded. Chihiro felt like all the strings of her heart had just been plucked simultaneously.

"Can't we at least say goodbye?" she pleaded.

"Hush!" commanded Rin.

"Oh, we may as well let them," sighed Linca. "Look at them; they are missing each other already!"

"It's not proper," said Rin.

"Who's going to tell?" wheedled Linca. "There are only the five of us here."

"Alright," snapped Rin. "But quickly." She shoved Chihiro in Haku's direction.

Chihiro stumbled, but the dragon caught her around the waist and pulled her to him. He touched her face, once again marvelling at the softness of her skin. Chihiro gazed up at him and felt like she was drowning in his emerald eyes.

"The next time we meet I'll be asking you if you are willing to be my mate," he murmured softly.

"The answer will be yes," Chihiro breathed.

Without another word, his lips claimed hers in a hungry kiss, leaving her in no doubt exactly how much he was going to miss her. Chihiro lost herself in his embrace, but before he was finished with her she was roughly tugged away.

"Alright, break it up you two; you're going to make us sick," chuckled Linca. She grinned up at Haku and the dragon glared down at the white haired spirit balefully.

"Tut tut, dragon. We said you could say goodbye, not stick your tongue down her throat."

With that, Chihiro was dragged from the room. Haku stared after her longingly. She contemplated trying to wriggle free of her captors and kiss him, one last time, but that would probably really fly in the face of whatever tradition Rin and Linca were trying to adhere to. Instead she mouthed "I love you" to him. A smile caught his lips but he still looked a little like a lost puppy. It was an image that she knew would probably haunt her heart over the next two days.

However, that thought was obliterated while she was being paraded like a trussed up prisoner through the bathhouse. It seemed that even the night shift had got up early to see the spectacle; the walkways and bridges were full of people cheering raucously and throwing flower petals. Chihiro heard the odd snide comment from the crowd but most seemed to be there to wish her luck. Rin and Linca proudly marched on either side of her, but Chihiro was terribly embarrassed by all the attention. She knew her parents would be in the crowd somewhere. What would her father think of all this?

Luckily she did not have to endure too much of it and was soon being pushed over the main bridge and down some steps behind the food houses and then onto a train platform she had never been on before. The train was already waiting for them. Chihiro was shivering uncontrollably and had snow flakes stuck all over her by the time she entered the relatively warm locomotive. Tickets were handed over; it was only the three of them on the train. Chihiro suspected that even spirits did not want to travel this early in the morning. Rin and Linca untied her and wrapped a warm shawl over her shoulders.

"If I end up with a cold and can't get through the ceremony, I'll blame you both personally," grumbled Chihiro, as she curled up on a seat.

"You'll be fine," said Linca breezily. "Everyone knows that you can't catch a cold from the cold." Chihiro kept shivering and almost wished she would get sick.

"Relax," said Rin, "The hard part is over for now. Get some sleep; we will be at Zeniba's in a few hours.

The train moved off and Chihiro caught sight of the first rays of sun painting the tundra-like plain with its pastel pallet. Green at first, then pale silver, then pink and then at last burnt orange. The light covering of snow on the spindly vegetation and tussocks of dead grass turned everything into a crystal sculpture; starkly and simply beautiful. Chihiro fervently hoped as she drifted into a light doze that it was a day like this for her mating.

Zeniba's cottage was bustling with life. No-face; Bou; Chihiro's parents; Chihiro's sisters; the witch and Chihiro were all squeezed into the cosy kitchen.

Tea flowed freely and biscuits, fresh from the oven, perfumed the room with their oaty aroma. Everyone was talking at once; laughing and joking with each other. Chihiro sat at a corner of the table feeling like she was the only one who was not enjoying the occasion. She felt as if she wanted to spend a few days in quiet contemplation and not have to deal with the combined hustle and bustle of her biological and adoptive family.

She smiled cheerfully and answered questions directed at her. She even managed to laugh at the bad jokes Linca was telling, but it was all a façade for the sake of her family. Finally, someone noticed her mood. A chilly hand fell on her shoulder, making her jump. She looked up into the rigid mask of No-face.

"Uh?" he said quietly, obviously questioning her.

"I'm alright," she murmured. Clearly he did not believe her, as he tugged at her shoulder and gestured to the kitchen door. Everyone else was preoccupied with the conversation and no one noticed Chihiro and No-face slipping away from the table and out the door to the garden.

Chihiro leaned against the rough hewn stones of the cottage wall, glad of the biting morning air. She felt like she could finally breathe again. She inhaled deeply, several times, feeling the cold air sting her lungs, then she sneezed. No-face was watching her carefully.

"Thank you, friend," whispered Chihiro, smiling up at him. "It was all getting a bit much for me."

"Uh?" Another question.

"Why? Well, I suppose because I'm unused to all the attention. Suddenly everyone is very concerned about what I do and I have all these rules to follow and traditions to uphold..." She slid down the wall and crouched, hugging her knees. No-face silently sat beside her.

"... all this stuff just does not seem like me very much," she continued. "I never wanted a big wedding if I ever got married. Now suddenly I'm getting mated and the ceremony is the social event of the decade." She frowned and then muttered bitterly.

"And all those people who gossiped, judged and said we would never last, will be there, merrily toasting our health, while behind our backs they will be placing wagers on how long it will be before he tires of me." Her lips thinned and she grimaced.

"And I'm supposed to just smile sweetly and let them get away with it."

"Uh!" said No-face slipping a cold, shadowy arm around her shoulders.

"I know I should not let them bother me, but they do," said Chihiro to the sympathetic monster. "It's going to be hard enough getting mated, let alone having to be diplomatic and congenial at the feast and ball afterward. I hate parties; or rather I think they hate me. My troth plight party was good, but that was just a small affair. This is on an altogether different scale." She shivered but did not want to go back inside. Besides it was nice to talk to such a good listener.

"I don't want to embarrass Haku either; he seems to think that all the attention is just something we must grin and bear. That the day is less about us and more about the occasion." Chihiro's lovely face suddenly flushed with anger.

"Well I think that's nonsense!" she burst out. "This is our day, celebrating and strengthening our love. Instead I feel like I'm a freak on display. Oh look at that cute little human trying to be one of us, oh how sweet. Well they can all drop dead as far as I am concerned! I know they all loathe me being here; even the Lord thinks what I'm doing is wrong. They are all judgemental, self centred, egotistical..."

"Surely we are not all like that?" said a crisp voice. Chihiro looked up to see Linca standing with her back against the wall not two feet from them. The diminutive spirit's white eyes locked with her sister's. She was not hurt, Chihiro saw, but angry.

"I've been trying to hook you two up since you got here. I knew you loved each other but you were both too stubborn to admit it."

"I did not mean you," said Chihiro quietly.

"I know exactly what you meant, and you know what? It smacks of snivelling self-pity." Linca strolled over and took Chihiro's hands and roughly pulled her to her feet. No-face decided to be somewhere else and floated through the wall to rejoin those in the kitchen.

"You have a wonderful partner, whom you love very much, and he loves you so much he is willing to go against his own instincts and scorn his own kind and make you his mate. Have you ever thought what is going to happen to him when you are no longer around Chihiro? You will be the owner of his soul; you can't just give it back to him on your death bed; you will take it with you to the next world. He knew all this when he asked you to be his; it is a sacrifice of a magnitude that I can't grasp because I'm too selfish to even conceive of something so altruistic."

Linca stood on her toes and pressed her bluish face closer to Chihiro's so the human received the full impact of the anger in her eyes.

"He is effectively giving up his future for you, and you are moaning about entertaining people you dislike." Linca rocked back down onto her heels. "You were right when you said it was your day; it's that and more. What greater proof can there be that you love each other? Even your critics will respect that."

Chihiro swallowed and tried to think of something to say, but she was so shaken by the spirit's words that her throat seemed to have forgotten how to form speech. It had never occurred to her, even in her darkest moments, that Haku was making a sacrifice of any kind. Linca had astounded her. What would happen to her kind, tender, gentle white dragon when she passed on? And why had he not told her of what he was giving up?

"I... I never thought... I didn't know.... I" she stammered, distressed now at her own blissful ignorance.

"I know you didn't," said Linca sharply. "And you should know by now that I am always right."

"Wa... why did her not...?"

"Why didn't he talk to you about this? Probably because he knew how you would react and he did not want to burden you with the knowledge. Believe me, he would have thought about it very carefully before he even asked you to be his. But at the end of the day he is the possessive sort and he wants you as his and his alone. Don't fret over his decision; it was his to make and he made it freely and out of love." A grin crept across Linca's light blue lips. "And maybe a little bit out of jealously. I can't blame him; you're the catch of the century." Chihiro smiled weakly. Linca took her hand.

"This is what the cleansing is about, Chihiro; learning from the collective advice and experience of your family. You must try and see your decision from all angles. I told you this because I knew he had left you in ignorance about it and that is not fair on you. This ceremony was never meant for a human, Chihiro; it takes no account of your lifespan. He will be fine without his soul, but not the same as he is now. Part of him will be lost forever. I suggest you talk this over with him tonight."

"How?" Chihiro asked. "I'm in confinement and he's about 200 miles away."

"Oh, I don't expect he'll obey the rules to the letter. He'll contact you somehow; you can depend on it. His bed will be very cold tonight and he will be a very lonely dragon," chuckled Linca, her demeanour cheerful once more. She patted Chihiro's hand.

"And as for the party, you can be as rude and obnoxious as you like. You will be the mate of one of the most powerful spirits around. No one is going to argue with you while you have him on your arm."

Chihiro could not help smiling. The picture Linca painted was a pleasant one, even if she did not intend to insult her guests.

"Now," said Linca authoritatively. "Get in the kitchen and be nice. Your guests you can be horrible to, but you are contractually bound to be good to your family." And with that Linca shoved Chihiro back into the bosom of her family.

Linca did indeed prove to be correct. Chihiro snuggled down under her blanket and got comfortable on her sleeping mat. Her sisters and parents were already asleep nearby and her father was snoring softly. She closed her eyes and drifted into a light sleep, and then she felt a warm, familiar presence in her mind.

"I know it's you, Haku," she thought at the presence, "and you're breaking the rules." His voice chuckled pleasantly at her words.

"I'm maintaining the spirit of them; I'm not actually there." His voice echoed in her head and she was very pleased to hear it; she had missed him today.

"I had to speak to you; all I've been doing all day is tying up loose ends so we can close. That and being mothered to death by Meeka." Chihiro smiled in her sleep.

"She has also been, err... instructing me on how to keep my mate happy. I pointed out that you are human and she knew little about humans. I also said that she had never had a mate and so was in a poor position to give advice."

"What did she say to that?" asked Chihiro.

"She cuffed me!" exclaimed Haku. "She actually hit me across the top of the head and told me to concentrate. I would have laughed if I had not been so shocked. I think she is taking this factor business way too far." Chihiro laughed.

"Well, I don't think you deserved it but she is acting with my best interests at heart, I suppose."

"Yes, that is true and it's the only reason that she is still herself and not currently residing in the pig pen," he muttered sourly.

"You make a lot of threats," observed Chihiro, "and they scare people because you really do have the power to follow through with them. But I have never really seen you do anything. I've come to the conclusion that your threats are as hollow as rotten wood."

"Not all of them," he muttered darkly. "Before you came along there was more than one person who really did end up in the pig pen. Never for very long; I never executed staff by slaughtering them in pig form and turning them into pork. Yubaba had a weakness for that sort of thing; she saw it as poetic justice. I, however, think it's a waste of staff and the meat that was once spirit never tasted very good."

"And it's morally wrong," added Chihiro.

"Oh, that too," he mumbled.

"Shouldn't that have been your first consideration?"

Haku sighed.

"I am not here to discuss ethics with you, Chihiro; we would be at it all night."

"So why are you here?" asked Chihiro.

"To say goodnight to you, and to hear your voice. I know you have not been gone long but I miss you already. It's as if we are already mated."

"And the bed is big and cold without me I bet," said Chihiro coyly.

"No. Well, it is but... what I mean is I'm on the sofa tonight. Rin's murdered my bed, remember? But you're right; I am lonely. I miss your warmth and the sound of your breathing. It's hard to relax without having you near me."

He sounded so sincere that Chihiro wanted to throw her arms around his neck and cover his face with kisses. But she couldn't; he wasn't there. That brought home to her how lonely he would be without her when her body finally failed her. She had no doubt that she would be in the best of health and still have all her faculties, no matter how old she got. Haku and her family would not have it otherwise. But she knew her body would eventually age and die. That was the way things were, and Haku would be left behind.

"Haku," she said gently. "What is going to happen to you when I die?"

The warm presence at the back of her mind grew cold at the question.

"Chihiro," he said at last. "We are about to become mates; this is not the time to be thinking about death. This should be the time we focus on our new life together and the happy future we have ahead."

"But I do think about it; it's something I'm sure you've accepted but you avoid discussing it. This is my cleansing time; a time when I'm supposed to think about my choice of mate. I've looked ahead, with Linca's help, and I've seen very few problems for us apart from my mortality. However reluctantly, I am going to leave you one day and I want to know how that will affect you, as I will be bonded to you spiritually."

"Why can't your sister keep her mouth shut?" he grumbled. "I have no answer for you, Chihiro, I don't know what would happen and to be honest I don't really care."

"I care!" Chihiro exclaimed. "You're my love; I will not knowingly damage you."

"You will knowingly damage me if you let a little thing like death get in the way of our happiness. Just turn up, the day after tomorrow, say the right words and I can get on with making your life as fulfilled as possible. I have no other objective for the next hundred years or so; you will be my only preoccupation."

"That and the bathhouse," quipped Chihiro.

"Damn the bathhouse! The whole place can burn to the ground for all I care," he growled. "Now stop this foolishness; and it is foolishness. When you die I will probably go insane with grief anyway, with or without losing a part of myself. So, whether you become my mate or not, the outcome will be the same. When you die, I will have little else to live for..."

"Wait a moment, dragon," Chihiro interrupted indignantly. "What about any children we may have?" Again she felt the effect her words had on his presence in her mind; it shuddered with emotional confusion. "Will they lose both their father and mother on the same day? Would you orphan them, Haku?" The dragon was silent for some time; finally he spoke.

"No." Chihiro felt a flood of relief in making him see sense. Now at least he was thinking beyond her demise and not just of his own loss. "We better make sure we have children," he said quietly.

"All in good time; I'd like to have you to myself for a few years first." Chihiro felt the dragon's mood shift and start to lighten. "I need to find my way in this world and my place in it; then we can concentrate on making a family."

"You'll be a wonderful mother," he sighed.

"And you'll be a wonderful farther; as long as we have sons." She had confused him again. She chuckled and explained. "Well, if any girls we may have take after me, they will wrap you around their little fingers." He laughed at her, seemingly happy again.

"I'm still far from domesticated."

"Oh, give me time and I'll sort you out," said Chihiro slyly.

"I love you," he breathed, his beautiful voice echoing around her mind.

"I love you too," she replied.

"So, are you going to turn up to this ceremony then?" he asked, mock seriously.

"There's a strong possibility..." she said sleepily.

"If you leave me at the altar, I'll hunt you down..."

"Goodnight, Haku," she interrupted.

"Goodnight, little one," he said gently. "Sweet dreams"

And they were.

A/N- Don't forget to vote! Yes, this was a huge chapter but it really moves things on. Part two next week.