Return to the River

Chapter 7

"Remember when I went to Zeniba's to return that gold seal you stole?" I asked him.

"Yes, I remember. I never thanked you for that, by the way," He chuckled.

"You're welcome. But something she said about the seal is something I remember. She said that I had broken the spell on the seal. I thought it was the black slug on the seal, but that was Yubaba's apparently. She said that the spell that was hurting you could only be broken by love." He looked at me with intrigue in his eyes, and I felt the smile creep onto my face with what I was going to say next. "So I'm sorry that I didn't know how to say this before, but you're welcome for loving you. I may not have known that my love saved you when I was ten, but...now that I remember you...I know why my heart was closed off to other people. It was because it still loved you. I love you."

His eyes glistened like iridescent emeralds, and I saw his smile as the sun rose a bit higher in the sky. He took my hand and slowly pulled me closer until he had to look down to meet my gaze. 

"I love you, too." Before he could react, I wrapped my arms around his neck and swiftly pulled him down to kiss him. I'd never been able to do that to anyone before because in my heart he was always the one I loved. I'd saved that kiss for him. To my surprise, he responded to my spontaneous act and wrapped his arms around my waist to pull me even closer. And together our lips moved in sync. 

It was the most euphoric moment I'd ever had in my entire life. It felt almost like that time I remembered his name and suddenly the two of us were falling from the sky hand in hand and flying together through the sky. That's what it felt like. We were defying gravity again. But...before I knew it, he slowly pulled his lips away and rested his forehead on top of mine. Eyes still closed.

"I have to leave," He said quietly.

"I don't want you to. I thought things were gonna be different this time." He softly pulled my hands from his neck, so he could hold them in his. Then he pulled a little farther away to look down at the bracelet on my wrist. He lifted the wrist that had the bracelet and softly placed a kiss on the cord. It lit up softly where he kissed it and when his lips left, the light slowly disappeared.

"I'm sorry, I couldn't be here for long, but I'm not sorry that I came to see you and helped you to remember all of us again. I can't promise that I'll get the chance to see you again. But in case I don't, I want you to promise me something this time. I want you to promise me that even though I can't be in the human world with you, I want you to be able to move on without me." I didn't like what he was asking. I knew it was going to be hard to watch him leave and probably never come back, but did he really have this much faith in me?

"I don't know if I can do that," I admitted sadly.

"I know you can. I put a small part of my spirit into this bracelet along with the connection of your memories from the spirit world. The only one who can take it off is you. That way you'll know that we're always here with you." He slowly placed his other hand on my heart, and I placed my free hand on top of his. "We're in your heart, too. We've never completely left you in those eight years because you always kept us here. You have the strength to carry on without any interference from us. But...if you can't do it.....if it hurts too much....drop this bracelet in a river and let the stream carry it away along with your memories of us."

"All magic comes with a price, huh?" I chuckled lightly. I didn't want to forget them again, but I knew that at some point it was going to hurt without Haku again. But the fact that he put so much faith in me was my motivation to move forward and say yes. After everything he did for me, I owed him this much.  I looked back up at him and into his eyes and said, "I promise. I know I can do it."

He smiled that same smile I remembered when I remembered his true name. It made my heart warm, and I was glad that I was the reason for that smile. I'd never want to forget that.

"I believe in you." He said. Then he started moving backwards away from me, and just like before, his hand slipped out of mine. Only this time, he was the one leaving instead of me. He turned away from me, but I wasn't done yet.

"Haku!" I suddenly shouted. He moved to face me again. "I love you. Don't say goodbye."

"I wasn't planning on it. I love you, Chihiro." Then he turned away again and slowly transformed into the same shaped dragon as the one on my bracelet. However, instead of silver skin like on the charm, his scales glistened almost white like the river when the sun hit it. His teal colored hair blowing in the breeze. He bowed his head looking at me and finally took off into the sky over my head and away from the river. 

I promised I wouldn't forget him, and I won't. I'm stronger than that. I never completely forgot him in the first place, so I knew I had the strength to move on without him. Like Zeniba said before, "Once you've met someone, you never really forget them."

Suddenly, I felt my cell phone buzzing in my pocket. I pulled it out to see that it was already seven thirty in the morning. My mom was calling.

"Hey, mom," I said into the phone.

"Chihiro, where are you? We have to make sure that you have everything ready to go which includes the car, sweetie," She grumbled angrily.

"I know. I'm sorry, I...I couldn't sleep last night, so I...took an early morning drive to clear my head. I'm coming home now." I heard her sigh into the phone.

"Oh Chihiro, I know you're nervous, but everything's going to be okay. Tell her honey," She said calling over to my dad. I must've been on speaker.

"You're mom's right honey. It's just like when we first moved out here. A new school, a new home, I admit it is a bit scary but--"

"I think I can handle it," I said cutting him off. I looked back down at the bracelet and tugged the sparkly hairtie from my hair that Zeniba gave to me.

He believes I can do it. They believe I can do it. 

                                                                                   I can handle it.

                                                                                        THE END