Rivers Keep Flowing
Chapter 49: Back Down to Earth
By: LadyRainStarDragon
Fandom: Miyazaki's Spirited Away
Ownership: Miyazaki, Studio Ghibli, etc., NOT me.
Ten and Chitsuko ran to the scene as quickly as they could, hearing the silent summons to a new post. Ten's short brown hair no longer stood on end, and his black and blue robes looked as if they could use a pressing with all of the endless days and nights of guarding the borderlands between Day and Night. Chitsuko, the former Marcella as her Dragon soul had been meant to have been, had her grass that was her kimono tinged brown with the endless heat. Neither paid attention to their discomforts. Their only thoughts were getting to where Amaterasu's voice had ordered them.
Their gaze fell upon Haku as the pair came to the opposite border, that between Heaven and Earth. Their old friend looked as if he was about to dry up and blow away from the long deprivation of his proper place, and in his jealous coils was a sleeping Priestess. His tired voice carried to them.
"Gather the others then Ryu. We are going home."
The dragons stayed carefully out of his striking range, out of common courtesy among their kind.
Ten could not hold his question. "Is it over finally?"
Haku started, then turned his head towards them, and then smiled a familiar grin that they had seen often in their youth, often after a belly ride through the snow.
"I must be more tired than I thought. Yes, it's over and we can get back to where we belong. Where is Huetziatl?"
Ten grimaced.
"The last I saw him, Quetzalcoatl was covering him in gold dust and preparing him for some kind of ceremony pertaining to Jewel. What gold dust has to do with anything I don't know, but he certainly didn't look comfortable."
Haku snorted, then replied.
"I am so glad I was not born to that culture."
Ryu left to go and find Huetziatl and Ob, already knowing that Ob was at the library returning his books and that Huetziatl had to be somewhere in the Meso-American section. He returned soon after with them, and by this time other sun deities had gathered to see off the band of visitors from Earth.
Among the deities was a human spirit who looked curiously like Chihiro's Ji-san would have looked had he been young. The man was waving Japanese war flags and shouting something that might have been "Banzai! Banzai!" amongst the others. The cacophony woke Chihiro.
"What? What happened? Haku?"
"Sh. We're going home now Koi."
Shifting her onto her back where Ten and Chitsuko could make sure she would not fall off, Haku waited for the others to get situated. Soon, BlowingWind, Ob and Marie were seated on Ryu. A beaming Jewel sat on Huetziatl's back, admiring his new rainbow plumage and desperately trying to pry out of her mate what he had been doing.
Huetziatl's blush showed through the white fur on his face as he lowered his head before replying.
"I was ensuring that we could still be together when I take you back to your world. Just remember that my city belongs to you. It is yours to uncover."
Jewel's mouth hung open as the tiny green dragon she had birthed began laughing from his perch in her hair. His power of speech was gone now, for a time, but he understood far more than he would ever indicate.
Shaking his head at the antics of the pair bonded to an ancient city and it's sustaining river lost in jungles, Haku took off and flew down the floating bridge. The others followed them, the magic of the Celestial Pearl leading them safely back into their realm of influence once more, and past the mystical gates leading into that land.
The others babbled excitedly about how glad they would be to go home. Chihiro leaned forward to speak with her mate as Ten purred behind Chitsuko.
"Will they be ok, do you think Haku?"
Haku glanced back at her from the corner of his eye before turning his attention back to his flight.
"You mean Jewel and her Coatl? Yes, I think they will be fine. Besides, Ryu and I have already agreed that if BlowingWind senses he is not taking care of her properly that we would take a vacation and go tear him to pieces."
Chihiro sighed, getting another glimpse of the vicious predator that she had mated.
"You know you won't have to do that."
Huetziatl's startled scream broke into their conversation to drive home Chihiro's point. "Woman! L-leave my ear alone! I'm trying to concentrate on not falling out of the sky!"
Ob yelled from where he was perched on his father's back. "Isn't it bad enough to hear my own Mother talking about breeding and intercourse, but now my Cousin is groping her mate where I can see her do it?"
Haku chuckled and whispered in Chihiro's mind.
"I think he may be grateful for a while when she looses her memories and leaves him his dignity. It shouldn't be long before she gets them back either though if she is acting like that."
Petty bickering and joke flinging followed the group down to the Shrine, although somewhere along the way Huetziatl had taken off for Fujisan to retrieve his healers and then head home. The three human women fell asleep, under a rest spell cast by Ob to combat the stress they had been under. Kumiro greeted the returning Kami anxiously.
"Are they alright?"
Lin shouldered Kumiro aside, her arm wrapped in bandages where she had been burnt by the land Kami's sacrifice.
"Sen had better be alright Haku, or I will kill you."
Haku and Ryu took their human forms as Ten, Chitsuko and Ob prevented the women from falling during the change. Ob handed BlowingWind to Ryu after the change was complete, while Ten handed Haku the sleeping Chihiro. Chitsuko maintained her hold of the sleeping Marie.
"They'll need medical monitoring to be sure that everything is going as it should. After something this strenuous, I wouldn't send Grandmother home yet either. I don't have the necessary equipment here, but they need to stay in this area at least for Chihiro and Mother's sake." Ob mused aloud.
Haku nodded.
"There is a hospital not too far away, right in our city actually. It's not really a town anymore."
Ryu's eyes brightened. "Ob, you recently got those documents establishing you as a human doctor, I remember you reporting that. I think it's time for you to have your first patients for your private practice you had been thinking about doing for a while."
"For country-wide news, the strange disappearances and odd weather patterns have tapered off, and most of the missing parties have been found. Chaos no longer rules the streets, and it is finally safe to visit your neighbors again."
Kenji's dazzling grin sparkled like the sun on raindrops for people across Japan despite his ordinary cookie-cutter appearance. The smile fell abruptly as he continued.
"Locally, our community continues to mourn the loss of Ogino Koji, the High Priest of the Kohakugawa Shrine and a fixture of the Kohakugawa area for over 60 years. No successor has been chosen for the position of High Priest, although rumors have it that one Taijiya Kumiro, who has been working as Ogino-nisou's partner, may be chosen by the Priestess to help her. Ogino-daitoku was discovered yesterday in the forest confirming his suspected death. Strangely enough, he was arrayed quite respectfully, as if he had been left in state to be discovered. An autopsy indicated his death as heart failure. As a personal friend, I wish him farewell."
His co-anchor patted his hand as she continued their daily report.
"Farewell Ogino-daitoku. It's been a long ten months for us all! In local news, Ogino-nisou and MountainChild-miko, two women who have been missing since the start of the strange phenomenon have been admitted into Hokkaido General Hospital. Their new husbands, Nigihayami-san and Take-san respectively, have taken over most of their duties until the primary female Shrine Keepers are able to perform them again. Called on special assignment to the priestesses is an emerging genius that is also known as Take-san. As an especially happy piece of news for the Kohakugawa Shrine, their High Priestess is due to be delivered of a baby sometime within the next two weeks."
He beamed wider as he replied.
"Wonderful news indeed Kana-chan, and may the shrine be blest with many children. In worldwide news, Jewel O'Drake has been found and is in the care of Mexico City Hospital. The man who found her claims to have fought off poachers to bring her in. Miss O'Drake however seems to have amnesia, claiming that she can only 'remember visiting the ruins at night, and then waking up with a strange man holding my hand and crying on my chest with a little iguana staring at me.' She is expected to be released back to her duties soon, and will be resuming leadership of the exploration of what has come to be known as the 'City of Tears.' MountainChild Marie, reported missing months ago from America and also is MountainChild-miko's mother turned up mysteriously right here on Hokkaido, and is also being treated by Take Ob."
A pale hand clicked off the television, surveying the spirits before him with his amethyst eyes, still grieving the temporary loss of the woman he loved. Take Ob, Ryu's son and Healer, had taken her under his figurative wing as well, and had assured him yesterday that Tsuchiko would be waking up soon.
"Thank Kami that it's over." Kumiro breathed.
"You mean thank Chihiro it's over Kumiro. With her participation in this, she's sure to become a Kami in her own right." Ryu said from the kitchen door.
Haku looked up from the shrine records he had been pouring over, glad for an excuse to rest his eyes as Ryu came in from the kitchen with bowls of miso soup.
Ryu continued. "I just talked to Lin. The girls have been released, and she's bringing them back. Ob is coming with them as he is 'retained as their personal doctor.' He thinks Gawakusa might come as soon as tomorrow, so he was really pushing for the early release, just in case she does not look human at her birth."
Haku rubbed his eyes before accepting his bowl of miso. "Has it really been that long Ryu?"
"With time having been out of phase for so long, I don't really know. Ob vaguely remembers other times messing with the river of time as we experience it, which is why he is younger than he should be linearly."
Kumiro accepted his bowl of miso, scrying deeply into the murky depths searching for the future. "What do we do now Haku-sama? With Koji's death, who becomes head priest?"
Kumiro looked up, waiting for his lord's answer.
"I can't be priest to myself, but I will continue to 'play' myself for matsuri. You work well with my mate, despite your ways, which have been curbed by Tsuchiko. Therefore, you will be the one to take up Koji's duties and rooms."
Kumiro frowned as he thought of all the paperwork that went with a head position and then frowned even deeper as he remembered who had done it before.
"What are we going to tell Chihiro about Koji-jisan?"
Haku sighed. "We tell her the truth, as painful as it may be. I have learned firsthand how dangerous it is to keep secrets from one's own mate. She came so very close to slipping away from me after her battle."
Ryu put down his spoon, taking up for a time his duties as groundskeeper.
"What about Lin and her family Haku?"
"We will construct another wing, and they will serve as 'ceremonial' guards in remembrance of her services, just as Tsuchiko is now employed here for her own sacrifices."
"Very well Haku, I'll hire Good Fortune tomorrow. Tsukaimono will be glad to do something peaceful again."
Ryu eyed his friend as the other dragon stared into his food, not hearing his previous comment, or perhaps ignoring it in favor of brooding over thoughts of Chihiro.
"Haku?"
"Yes Ryu?"
The two Kami exchanged glances across the room, each still wearing the woes they had been given in the war.
"Are you alright?"
"Just tired like you are. When Chihiro comes home I will rest in her pool. I suggest you do the same with your bride before she tries one of Coyote's love songs on you."
Ryu laughed and the somber mood lifted from the trio, the three males all shared in the joke.
"She'll probably have better luck than I did with it last year. When I sang it to her, she got so mad at me for listening to Coyote again that we slept in separate rooms for a week. To think I used to be the one chasing her!"
Kumiro had to ask his question. "When did you listen to Coyote before, this sounds like a good story."
Ryu blushed remembering how Coyote had tricked in that summer long ago after finding BlowingWind, then glared at Haku when he spoke.
"I do believe it is called Karma Ryu."
Haku ducked as a phone book flew at his head for his comment, and Kumiro glared at Ryu after failing to dodge it. The human threw the heavy book back at the magma dragon, and the water dragon used the opportunity to dash out to his river.
"I am not getting yelled at for fighting in the house. However, I will let Mother and Father know that Chihiro is coming home."
Haku smiled as he quickly wrote his messages and folded twin paper cranes that flew in opposite directions to find the ones he had addressed them to. Satisfied that all was well, he harvested the edible river grasses for Chihiro, knowing that she would want a salad when she came home.
"Something special is going to happen tonight. Nature is restless, and so am I."
Chihiro labored in the warm tub, glad for the water relaxing her abused muscles. Mrs. MountainChild was out in the living room with Ten, Haku's father Tatsu, Haku's mother Nyuuhakushoku who had put on a very convincing illusion to hide her hair, Chitsuko and Kumiro. Akio and Yuuko had also come, and Chihiro's father paced nervously as her mother tried to soothe his fears.
Chihiro did not know how she knew who was outside. She just did. At this moment, she didn't care how she knew either.
"You're doing great Chi, so much better than I did." BlowingWind encouraged her from one side, she thought it was the right.
"Just a little more Sen, our daughter is almost here." Haku whispered into one ear, which her foggy mind deduced to be her left.
"I see the head everyone. Lots of black hair, and she looks human so far." Ob commented carefully.
Chihiro relaxed as the contraction left her, resting to prepare for the next push. The rest was not long though. Soon the fiery belt tightened around her again and the world was only pounding heat and the sound of voices urging her on, and the gentle touch of their hands.
"One more push Nigihayami-sama. One should do it."
She bore down, and Gawakusa slipped out. Ob snatched her up, the water doing a good job of rinsing her clean, and wrapped her in a warm dry towel.
"Quet Quet!" She chirped indignantly before releasing a howl that shook the rafters. He hurriedly handed her into her mother's waiting arms as he dealt with the afterbirth now slipping preternaturally quickly out of the human.
Chihiro smiled into the green eyes and short black fuzz plastered down where the water had already rolled away and dried. Her face was round and red now, but she knew it would thin out and become as pale as Haku's.
"Quet Quet!" The child chirped glumly before attacking Chihiro's nearest breast.
The water was draining around her now, and BlowingWind's hands were gone, telling Chihiro that she had decided it was time to drain the tub. Elegant hands wrapped a large fluffy towel around her soon and gently dried her off.
Soon Gawakusa was asleep, and Haku held her gently as BlowingWind helped Chihiro get clean clothes on and to situate a very large pad to absorb the extra blood she would be shedding for six weeks.
Haku smiled into the eyes of his firstborn, and uttered the ancient words he had said over the Ogino family for generations, adding new weight to the bonding.
"I will protect and provide for you to the best of my ability, my daughter."
I'm attempting to repost this since the archive isn't showing it . . . even though it was uploaded May 18, 2006.
Well, number forty-nine makes the last chapter for this book of the life and adventures of Ogino Chihiro and her Kami Nigihayami Kohakunushi. I still can't believe that I started this story back in December of 2004. That makes this almost a year and a half in production. I thank everyone who has stayed with me that long, and those who followed me from as far back as October of 2004, as well as those just joining me.
I also wish to give my thanks to my primary muse, the one who started this whole adventure we have been taken on with the birth of Rivers Never Die . . . my departed cat, MoonBeam. Although he has been dead for a long time now, his spirit still inspires me, as does my daughter for whom Promise to Protect and Provide was written.
Thanks also to the original characters that I have birthed through writing these stories, even if they only are figments of my imagination that torture me to get my stories finished . . . then complain about them.
Although this is the last chapter of this story in my Spirited Away arc, I have other collection and stories in Spirited Away to finish. I also have a project beginning in the Inuyasha fandom just starting out that I have decided will actually tie in with Spirited Away somewhere in the middle of it where Chihiro will actually make an appearance.
Much love and Brightest Blessings,
Teresa Huddleston-Garcia who is LadyRainStarDragon.