Chapter Forty-Seven: Happily Ever After…For Now

Haku and Chihiro rose to the third floor and found the correct window. Chihiro moved the cloud closer so that she could look inside. She could have screamed in joy as she peered down. Haku, seeing her excitement, looked over her shoulder and a huge smile came to his face.

Sitting in an ugly wooden crib was their baby. Kaida was sitting up with her hands in front of her. Haku was surprised to see the brilliant jade light was emanating from them, but then he thought of her lineage and it was no wonder at her magic capabilities.

Chihiro tapped on the glass to get her daughter's attention. Kaida looked up, letting the light fade and disappear. When she saw her mother in the window, her baby heart leapt for joy. She smiled widely and reached her arms out, begging for her mother to pick her up. Chihiro desperately wanted to oblige her daughter, but there was no way inside. The window was locked and nothing could open it. Chihiro tried her best to tug it open, but to no avail.

Suddenly, Haku and Chihiro heard a noise coming from three windows down. Haku held onto Chihiro as he took control of the little cloud and moved it behind a protruding window. They peeked out in time to see Yubaba covered in her flying cloak. The hated witch drew it around herself and took off, transforming into an ugly crow-Yubaba. She squawked and flew off. It occurred to Chihiro that their crossing the gate had signaled an alarm, and Yubaba was going off to tend to it. When she was only a speck in the distance, Haku moved the cloud to the window of Yubaba's room and opened it.

Haku stepped inside and looked around. Motioning that it was safe, he held a hand out to Chihiro and helped her inside. Once in the room, they explored it, trying to find the door. Chihiro fumbled around in the dark and ran into a wall.

"Ow!" she muttered, feeling the wall. She found it and switched it on as Haku spoke.

"Are you okay?" he asked, coming to her.

"Yeah," said Chihiro, rubbing her nose. She glanced around at the room. All of Yubaba's magical stores were here; bags of fine, shimmering powder, stacks of roots and herbs, cauldrons of potions, among other things. Chihiro, while hoping to avoid it, anticipated a confrontation with Yubaba. So she took the opportunity to snatch some of the more dangerous-looking powders and potions, along with a few more daggers and sword.

Haku and Chihiro walked quietly into the hallway, not sure if anyone else was around. They were ecstatic about finding their daughter, but they weren't out of the woods yet, and needed to keep their wits about them. They walked stealthily down the hall, not knowing which room their daughter was being held in. They passed by five rooms, as not all had windows, they weren't sure where Kaida was.

Haku's ears suddenly picked up on a muffled burbling sound. He put an arm out to stop Chihiro and motioned to the door ahead. Chihiro nodded, showing she understood, and walked behind him, hands on his shoulders. They stopped at the door and discovered it was locked. Sure that their daughter was in here, Chihiro started to work her growing magic. She placed her fingertips lightly on the doorknob and they heard a soft tick. Chihiro gingerly opened the door and they looked inside.

Kaida was sitting in the ugly crib, still staring at the window, hoping that her parents would return. She heard the door open and turned her head towards the noise. She smiled a big, open-mouthed smile and held her arms out to her parents. Haku and Chihiro came in, relief welling in their chests. Kaida opened and closed her fingers, eager for their embraces. She smiled even more and babbled, "Dada!"

Haku and Chihiro rushed to the crib and picked her up, tears spilling over both of their faces. They held their daughter to them and hugged her. Chihiro dissolved into tears, every emotion flowing from her; tension, pain, frustration, hatred, depression, and self-loathing. It was replaced by joy and elation. The change left her tired and drained, and all she wanted to do was return to the bathhouse with her happy family and continue with the rest of their life.

Haku cried, relief taking him over and he become numb. All he could feel was the tears running down his face, his mate sniffling into his neck, and his daughter babbling and crying happily at his chest. He felt like the luckiest man in the world at that moment.

Unfortunately, it did not last long.

Haku's ears picked up on what Chihiro's could not; footsteps. He rose quickly, startling the other two. He stood in front of them, arms out protectively. He had just re-formed his family and was not about to let the evil witch tear them apart.

Yubaba walked into the doorway, hands on her hips. She spoke suddenly and harshly, catching Chihiro's and Kaida's attentions. "I would like to congratulate you on making it past my small army. However, you will find that I am a much tougher adversary. Now, I ask you to put my baby back in her crib and leave immediately."

Chihiro blanched at the witch's words. "How dare you," she whispered dangerously, cradling her baby to her chest and standing next to her mate. "Kaida is not your baby. She did not grow inside of you for eight months and you did not endure pain for over ten hours to bring her into this world. You worked against her, tried to inhibit her birth. You are not fit to call her your baby. I am her mother and I will do all in my power to protect her."

Yubaba smiled a twisted smile and eyed Chihiro superiorly. "Big words for such a small, pathetic human. Watch yourself, Sen, you don't want to get hurt," said the witch menacingly. Haku's anger, which was being held back by a very thin dam, came flooding out at her last insult. He ran at the witch full-force and pounced on her, knocking them both to the ground.

With his hands at her throat, he hissed, "Take it back! Chihiro is NOT a pathetic human! It is YOU who is pathetic and weak! You captured our daughter to get back at us for besting your curse, instead of attacking us to our face! You took the coward's way out!" Yubaba could only gurgle, Haku's hand on her windpipe. She moved her mouth silently and Haku was flung off of her by an invisible force. He did a quick somersault in the air and landed gracefully next to Chihiro. Anticipating what Yubaba would do next, he silently too Kaida from Chihiro and cradled her in the crook of his arm.

He stared down at her, looking deeply into her eyes. Chihiro gasped slightly when her daughter was enveloped in some kind of moving crystal in Haku's arms. Upon further inspection, she realized that it was not crystal, but water, circulating in an egg-shaped sphere around Kaida. Haku took the sphere in his hands and lifted it. He removed his hands, but Kaida, situated in the middle of the water, yet completely dry, stayed hung in the air.

It will protect her, Haku thought to Chihiro, letting them know that their child was safe. Chihiro nodded and they turned back to Yubaba, who was now launching an all-out attack on them.

Chihiro dodged three consecutive balls of magic by flipping about the room. She quickly pulled one of the daggers she had stolen from the band on her pants and threw it at the witch. It hit her in the left shoulder, sending her into wails of pain. Haku took the opportunity to draw his sword and begin slicing at her. Yubaba backed away, stumbling over the hem of her dress. She pressed herself against a wall and began chanting. Haku's sword got in one last rugged slash across her chest before quivering in his hands. It vibrated and lifted from his grip, then turned and launched itself straight at Chihiro.

"CHIHIRO!" screamed Haku, lunging to grab the sword. Chihiro heard his warning and dived out of the way, barely avoiding being skewered by the blade. The sword continued to fly and lodged itself into a wall, useless to both sides.

Haku fastened his hands around Yubaba's neck once again, determined to strangle the life out of her. Yubaba closed her eyes and a second later Haku yelped in pain, releasing his grip quickly. He retreated to Chihiro's side as she looked at his hands; they were red and raw. She had burned him. This infuriated Chihiro and she began to attack the old witch, throwing whatever was in reach at her. Yubaba sent another magic ball towards her, which she avoided easily. She watched its path, however, and found that she was not the intended target.

The ball drew closer and closer to Kaida, encased in her water-armor. Chihiro, abandoning the fight, ran for her baby. She needn't have worried, however; the ball hit, exploded, and dissipated, leaving Kaida shaken but unharmed. Chihiro sighed with relief, but then heard Haku yelp. She turned around and found that Yubaba's true intentions were not to harm anyone with the magic ball, to distract.

Yubaba held Haku tightly around the neck, squeezing his windpipe. She cackled madly. She was pointing a dagger at his throat. The witch gave Chihiro a look that clearly conveyed her message, 'I dare you'. Chihiro was out of options. She looked at Haku's pale face, tinged with blue from lack of oxygen. She knew that she was defeated.

"Give up," said Yubaba, squeezing Haku's throat tighter so that he let out a barely audible gasp. He clawed at her pruny hands, scratching her with his claws. Chihiro wracked her brain for an idea, but could think of none. She made to drop her remaining daggers, but then heard Haku's strained voice.

"Chi—Chihiro…don't…don't do it," he wheezed, eyes narrowed with effort to talk. "You can't…let her get…K-Kaida…." He could no longer form words, but instead he sent her thoughts.

Chihiro, no. Don't give up. I'll be fine. You must defeat Yubaba. Don't let her get Kaida!

Chihiro nodded. She had a plan, shaky, but it was something. She just hoped that Haku would be okay; she couldn't live without him. Chihiro withdrew the last of the powders from under her shirt and held another dagger firmly in her hand. She ran full-force at the witch and threw the powder on her. Yubaba immediately released Haku, who fell to the floor in a heap, trying to regain oxygen.

Chihiro pounced on Yubaba as the witch screamed. The powder was burning her skin and eyes, leaving them red and raw. Anger filling her, Chihiro lost all control and began stabbing at Yubaba with the dagger. She realized that it would not be long enough to finish her off. However, the dagger seemed to understand this, as it transformed into a thin, handsome sword. The blade was shiny steel and the hilt was engraved with a dragon and three flowers, and inlaid with emeralds, sapphires, diamonds, and pieces of jade.

Pausing only momentarily to marvel at the weapon, Chihiro plunged it into Yubaba's chest, driving it through her heart. The old witch gave a final scream and went limp on the floor, lifeless.

Chihiro, shaken, crawled from the dead witch, unbelieving of what she had done. I…I've just ki…killed someone, she thought shakily, looking down at her blood-covered hands. Oh Gods, what have I done! Oh Gods...

Haku, breathing normally again, went to his mate and put steady hands on her shoulders. Chihiro looked up at him, tears in her eyes. He smiled gently down at her and lifted her to her feet.

"Don't cry, little one," he said, wiping a tear from her cheek with a burned finger. "Everything is okay now." He led her to where Kaida was suspended. He took the orb in his hands and it disappeared, leaving him holding a very confused Kaida. Chihiro laughed, relieved, at her face and held her daughter to her. Haku encompassed both of them in his arms and nuzzled Chihiro's head under his chin.

"My girls…" he growled softly, grateful that everything was over with.

Or at least for now.

Written by: Masako Fuyuki

Posted on: thanks to:

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And to anyone else I have forgotten; Thank YOU! A story is nothing without readers, and you guys are the greatest!

I have a few words to say;

Your first story as kind of like your first child:

You had no idea what the hell you were getting into when you started

Even though it interferes with other things occassionally, you still love it unconditionally and want to give it everything to grow properly

You watch it as it grows and marvel at how it has become what it is

And when it's ready and completed, you watch it with mixed emotions as it goes off to mingle with others, and you know that there is nothing left you can do except go back and relive the memories.