"So you escaped?" Asked Zeniba.
"Yes. I had a hard time, though." Answered Rio. "But I've been meaning to ask you something about Yubaba."
"She is still alive I'm afraid." Zeniba said.
She is still alive? Wait, what's going on here? Haku's thoughts ran as he heard distant voices but could not see. All was dark until he opened his eyes. It all seemed strange. One moment he was unconscious in front of the ruins, now he was in his room, awake and aware. Maybe he wasn't totally awake, but he could hear the voices and ascertain the situation.
"So Haku didn't kill her…this will bring problems in the future." Rio said thoughtfully.
Haku was stirred finally from his bed. He forced himself out and began to walk towards the door.
"And since Chihiro is alive, what I heard about the Seal is true?" Rio said.
Haku stopped and froze midway.
"Yes...the death of Yubaba could not have saved Chihiro anyway." Zeniba said.
"Then it must have been returning the Seal to the ruins that broke the curse." Rio said.
"Not exactly…" Zeniba smiled widely, for she knew what broke the curse.
"Then tell me…" Rio said.
Haku listened very carefully.
"I told Haku all those things so that he could break the curse. If I told him how to really break it, it wouldn't have worked."
"So you had to lie? Then what really broke the curse?" Rio said.
Zeniba smiled again, took a sip of her tea, and answered, "Only true love can break the seal."
Haku stood there, almost to the door. His mouth dropped. Chihiro was alive. In a flash, he ran out of his room and quickly dashed out the front door. Zeniba and Rio sat there, staring at the door. Suddenly, the door slammed open again with Haku breathing frantically.
"Where is Chihiro!" He said.
Zeniba smiled and answered quietly, "She is in the court. They are deciding her fate right now. You might want to hurry since you are a part of the council."
"Thank you Zeniba!" Haku said, and then quickly darted off to the courtroom.
"Your welcome." Zeniba sighed. "I think we should be leaving now too, shouldn't we?"
"But they wont let anyone but council members in." Rio said.
"That doesn't mean we can't spy." Zeniba smirked.
"Then I guess I'll just have to join you and Kuja in your antics…" Rio chuckled.
"Don't forget Rin. She and Kuja have gone ahead already so we should hurry. We might miss something."
"Do you see this? Trash! It is trash! An insignificant part of the human race! Why are we even discussing this issue? The laws clearly state…" Zakotso was at it again.
Chihiro sat there in front of the Council. She couldn't figure out what to say. Her stomach was starting to twist and turn. Her forehead had started to perspire. She was nervous as to what her fate would be.
What if the council had decided death? Many were complaining about the human stench and didn't want her to stay in their realm. Most that complained just wanted her dead. All this made Chihiro anxious and sick.
"This human spec must be put to death!" Zakotso said, turning to the council. Many members of the council had taken sides. Most who were biased sided with Zakotso, but many were still unbiased or in Chihiro's favor.
Orrick had to take all this in consideration. If he made a false move, the council could overthrow him and set up a new leader. These were very prejudiced spirits. He did not look forward to these decisions where no matter what he chose there would be a problem.
"Now Zakotso! Calm yourself. Death is our last alternative…" Orrick lowered his voice, "…a path I do mean to stay away from." He hoped maybe some sane people would understand his decision.
Zakotso grumbled at his leader and sat back down on his chair.
"I think that we should just let her go back home. It would be better that way." Sasha said.
"There's a teensy tiny problem with that, ice queen." Retorted Jean, a forest spirit. "She has seen our world! Remember the whole 'balance' issue? She can't go back without erasing her memory. And frankly, erasing memories has too many complications. It may not even work on her."
"We don't need to erase her memory!" Sasha exclaimed. "She is a trustworthy human! Besides, who is going to believe her story? Knowing how humans act, they'd just throw their heads back and laugh!" There were a couple of gasps in the room. No one had ever suggested such a thing before. Orrick had to agree with her though.
The conversation continued for a while and a decision could still not be reached. Too many spirits in the council were too biased and too cruel to let Chihiro go just like that.
"Then we must vote!" Zakotso declared. "Since there is no other way to decide of Chihiro's fate."
"But what will be the choices?" Jean asked.
"Simple," Sasha, the ice spirit said, "One is to let Chihiro go back into the human world untouched. Two, erase her memory and then put her back. Three is to let her stay here."
"Sasha! Don't try to pull that!" Zakotso yelled. "Sir Orrick, we should let the people decide the choices."
"No! Otherwise we'll only have 'kill her', 'kill her', and 'kill her' to choose from!" Sasha barked.
"Silence!" Orrick said. "I have taken this into careful consideration. We cannot be biased in our decision. Whether you hate humans or not, decide to do the right thing, and vote accordingly. Now obviously, she cannot stay here in the spirit realm, and memory erasing does not work. So we will have to make a decision between death and letting her go back to the human world. Please use your heart and do what you know is right. Don't be cruel with this young human girl. She has done nothing wrong."
That being said, Sasha handed out blank papers to the council. Everyone was silent during the voting. When they were done voting, they all came up to Sasha and handed their votes to her. Zakotso had something up his sleeve though…Sasha could tell.
Zakotso quietly walked up to Sasha and glared at her. She glared back at him, suspecting something but couldn't put her finger on it for some reason. He slipped in his vote in the box slowly. Sasha eyed him as he walked back and stuck her tongue out at him. Zakotso turned around but when he did, she turned her head to look at the box.
Maggot ice spirit…someday I'll be ruler of the council and she'll be mopping the floors of my building…Zakotso smirked at the thought and went back to his seat.
After Sasha counted the votes, a look of dismay came to her face. She handed Orrick the votes and he recounted them. Orrick turned pale after counting the votes over and over again. When he was sure of the numbers, he stood up and announced the results.
"By one vote, it seems, our council has decided to have Chihiro put to death." Chihiro's eyes widened and the words "put to death" hit her hard.
"NO!" Just then, doors flung open to the Council's room and there he stood.
("Yes! Haku's better!" Rin exclaimed from her hiding spot. "Shut up! You want us to get caught?" Kuja hissed. "Sorry!")
Haku breathed deeply as sweat rolled down from his face. Chihiro immediately stood up and hollered from across the room, "Haku!"
Chihiro thought for a moment as emotions started to build up within her. She suddenly came up with an idea. "Wait, Haku can vote too! He's part of the council!"
"Silence Human! Haku is late; he cannot take part anymore even if he is in the council!" Zakotso jumped from his seat in protest.
"But he was hurt!" Chihiro cried out.
"No Buts! He wasn't here as he was obligated to; therefore he should be ousted from his spot immediately. Who can depend on a dragon such as him?" Zakotso argued.
"No more Zakotso! Else I shall have you ousted from your position…" Orrick said.
Zakotso shut his mouth and glared at Haku. If only I was the council's head…we'd be done with all this nonsense…
As soon as Haku bowed to Orrick and sat down, Sasha briefed him on the situation. And obviously, Haku voted for Chihiro to live.
"Now we are at a tie…" Sasha said. "What shall we do now, Sir?" Orrick thought for a moment but was interrupted.
"Why are we still arguing about this?" Zakotso said. "We are the Great Spirit's Council. We uphold the law!" Chihiro had never seen anyone more stubborn than him in her life. "And what are we doing now? Breaking it! That's right, breaking it."
"Zakotso…I'm warning you." Orrick said. Haku cocked an eyebrow and looked around. He looked confused for a moment but then asked Sasha if all members were present. When she said yes, he knew something was wrong.
"Alright, I'll shut my mouth. But just remember that you are breaking the law." Zakotso eased back on his seat, satisfied with his own performance.
"Sir Orrick!" Haku stood from his seat. "There is an odd number of people in the council right now. There's no way we had a tie! Some one voted twice!"
Sasha realized then what was wrong. "Zakotso! You foul beast! I knew it! Sir Orrick, it was he who put in two votes! I know it!"
"There's no way you can prove that! How do we know if you haven't cheated?" Zakotso questioned the ice spirit, something he shouldn't have done.
"Why?" Sasha laughed and answered, " Because whenever I lie, ice shoots out of my mouth and freezes the first thing it touches. I'm not only a spirit of ice but of truth also. My mother was an ice spirit and my father a spirit of truth.
"The only problem that I see in this room is not a human but a snake. Zakotso, I am reading your mind and I see nothing but lies! You must be ousted from your position!"
"Then so be it!" Zakotso shouted. "But you cannot just let this human go back to the human world like that…because if you do that and nothing else, then this problem will arise again. Then before you know it they'll be having their summer vacations here, and the 'balance' as we know it will deteriorate."
Orrick looked at Zakotso and knew he had a point. He thought for a second and came up with a plan.
"Spirits! No more voting. We are done with that. We are going to let the girl go, but for a price." Chihiro wasn't sure to be happy or sad. Everything was happening so fast for her.
"We must seal the secret portal that links our worlds. She cannot come back ever again." Orrick said. Everyone gasped.
"But Sir! There are spirits left in the human world! They'll be stuck there forever!" Sasha exclaimed.
"Sasha, these are criminals that we speak of. They are just there to haunt the living, and most of them use to be humans themselves. Besides, we are only closing one portal."
"But Sir! It is still too dangerous!"
"I have made my decision Sasha! It is either that or Chihiro's life! I don't have much of a choice." Sasha backed down on her seat and sighed in despair. Criminals will be harder to catch after they close the portal. Not to mention the connection between worlds will become weaker. How will the prayers of the priestesses from that area reach the gods?
"Do not worry Sasha." He could tell she was very troubled. "The portal will be reopened as soon as we come up with a plan. We shall put an end to criminals in this world and solve the problems that plague us."
As soon as Orrick was finished talking, they immediately arranged for the portals closing the next day, as well as Chihiro's departure.
"Who will close the gate?" Orrick asked. It was a fairly hard task to do. Not just anyone could do it. "No one will volunteer? Then I guess I'll pick. Hmm…Haku, you will close the gate."
Haku was surprised at this just as he was with everything else that happened. He wondered if he could ever see his spec after that again.
After staring at the ceiling for an hour, Chihiro finally decided to get up from her bed. It was the day that she would leave and maybe never come back. She had to face it sooner or later. And she would've been fine with it if it weren't for what happened last night.
As she stepped out the room, everyone was sitting or standing around the table: Rin, Kuja, Zeniba, Rio, Sasha, Orrick, a few from the spirit council, and even Captain Nathalia Viva was there. All but Haku was there.
"We're going to miss you, Chihiro." Rin sniffed. She couldn't believe her friend had to leave so soon.
"I'm going to miss you guys, too." Chihiro smiled.
"I can't believe you're really leaving." Rin said as she wiped a tear from her eye.
"It's all for the best. I don't belong here anyway…" Chihiro reassured her friend that everything would be all right.
"Well Chihiro," Orrick started, "I think you'll be happy to know that Zakotso is the janitor now thanks to you. He's not going to plague anymore if you decide to come back." He smiled at her. "Now, councilmen, and Sasha, we must prepare the gate for its closure. Haku will come an hour later to lock it. Now let's move out!"
As the council members started exited the shrine, Sasha came up to Chihiro.
"Well, it was nice knowing you, Chi." Sasha said.
"You, too. Thanks for everything, Sasha." Chihiro said gratefully.
"Your welcome, but I should be thanking you. You helped get rid of that Zakotso." Sasha chuckled.
After their conversation, all from the Spirit council left and Chihiro was left to say her goodbyes with her closest friends.
"I know this isn't much, but I want you to have my favorite hair band." Rin said as she handed a sparkling hot pink hair band. "It's a good luck charm, too. It helped me find all the good jewels and riches when I was a young treasure hunter."
"Thanks Rin." Chihiro said. Saying goodbye wasn't easy but it felt better to be going back home then being put to death.
After Chihiro said all her goodbyes to everyone, Haku came in the shrine.
While everyone was in the midst of getting ready to leave, they noticed Haku had arrived. Everyone but Chihiro left the shrine in a flash after giving her their last hug and words of thanks.
Pretty soon the shrine was empty with only Haku and Chihiro in it.
"Are you ready to go?" Haku asked, with a grave look on his face. Chihiro nodded and started walking.
They started walking down the same path Chihiro used when she got to the shrine. All was silent as they went down the long path. In her mind, Chihiro wanted to say many things to Haku but figured that it was best to stay quiet. She didn't need to say anything.
When they reached the portal, Chihiro looked around and wondered exactly where the portal was.
"Haku, where's the portal?" She asked.
"Well, let me explain." He started. "The portal is an area where the connection between our worlds is strong. You, being sensitive to the spirit world, were able to cross in without problem. Any normal human would have just walked in and never even seen my shrine. Infact, my house, in the human world, is on top of a river."
"Oh." Chihiro said. "So what now?"
Haku looked at the portal, then back at Chihiro. "Now you cross through and I close the portal."
"Ok…" She said as she started walking. With each step she took she started moving slower. She stopped at the sound of that word Haku called her, "Spec…"
Chihiro turned her head to face him and he started to move closer.
"Yes?" Chihiro said hopefully.
"Uh…your fly is open…" Haku said. Chihiro immediately fell on the ground.
"What was that!" Chihiro said as she zipped up her fly. "You really know how to break the ice don't you?" She started to laugh and Haku joined in.
"I guess so." He chuckled. "But now it's time for you to leave, spec."
"I know, I know…" Chihiro started to leave. Just before she passed the invisible portal, Haku grabbed her hand.
"Listen Chihiro," Haku said as he took off his mother's necklace and gave it to Chihiro. "This is my mother's necklace. I want you to hold on to it for me, but I want it back, ok? I'm only lending it to you so you have to give it back." Chihiro stared at him blankly. "Promise me you'll give it back!" Chihiro gazed at him with a sad look on her face and nodded.
He looked at her longingly and she had no clue what to say. Her eyes were at the point of bursting tears. In an instant he took her in his arms and hugged her tightly. Chihiro closed her eyes and started to cry softly as she burried her head in his chest. They stayed close in an embrace for a while until Haku finally let go of her.
"I promise I'll return this to you." Chihiro whispered.
Haku stared at her figure as she crossed, until he could see her no more. Then, with his powers, he closed the portal.