spirited away 2: Return to the spirit world

chapter 6: a promise kept

Haku woke up in a very good mood. He didn't know why, but something about today felt special. It was almost as if there was a presence in the bathhouse that was giving off a powerful aura that filled him with joy. Little did he know that he was about to have a very interesting day.

Getting out of bed, Haku got ready to start what he thought would be an average day at the bathhouse. He went downstairs to find everyone else up and about. He did sleep in rather late considering the early hour in the morning he got back. And was it just his imagination, or was everyone in a better mood than usual.

"Master Haku! Master Haku!" Haku spotted the little frog spirit hopping over to him looking ecstatic. "Master Haku, you're back! When did you get in?"

Haku shrugged. "Not sure. Really late last night." He looked around at the extra happy workers. "Did something happen while I was away?"

The frog's mouth dropped open. "You mean you haven't heard?"

Haku raised an eyebrow. "Heard what?"

"Sen came back!" the frog yelled.

Haku froze. The little spirit's words took a moment for him to comprehend. Once it registered, he glared at the frog.

"That is not funny," he hissed. "You should know not to joke about something like that with me."

The frog shook his head. "I'm not kidding! I'm serious! She's really here!"

Haku bent down and glared at the frog. "If you're lying to me, I'll turn you into an actual frog for a week." He threatened.

He expected the spirit to confess that he was joking. It wouldn't be the first time someone played this joke on him. None of them realized that they weren't just having fun at his expense, but they were also breaking his heart every time.

To his surprise, the spirit only gave him a big grin. "Master Haku, if I'm lying, I'll personally serve myself as frog legs for the guests."

Haku's heart began racing. Was Chihiro really here? Did she really come back? Would he finally be able to see her after all these years?

He grabbed the frog spirit and held him at eye level. "Where is she?"

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"What was in this bath?" Chihiro complained as she scrubbed scum of some kind off a bath.

Lin shrugged. "I don't know, but whatever they were, they must have been in desperate need of a good scrubbing."

"I'll say." She scrubbed harder, but instead of coming off, the scum seemed to spread. "Ahh! This stuff is not coming off! Man, I wish I had magic so I could just make it vanish."

She looked over at her partner, silently asking her a question.

Lin shook her head. "Sorry, girl, I got nothing that can help. We'll just have to keep scrubbing."

Chihiro began grinding her teeth as she scrubbed furiously at the bath. "Grr, isn't there another kind of soap to help get this off or something."

"Hang on, I'll go check." Said Lin, getting out of the bath. "Just, I don't know, mop up all the water until I get back."

Chihiro crawled out of the bath and began mopping up the water mess, fuming the whole time.

"Stupid Yubaba." She growled. "That old witch just loves taking advantage of me."

She kept mopping, unaware of the figure watching her from the doorway, trying to muster up the courage to go in. He knew she would be happy to see him, but he also knew she would be furious with him. After all, 12 years was a very long time to a human, though it was to him too, and right now her anger may overpower her joy. She was already in a bad mood. Better play it smooth.