(Another short chapter, and I apologize for that. I also apologize for this extremely long wait - I'll try to update more quickly in the future, I promise!)

The boiler room had been one of Chihiro's least favorite places in the spirit world. Perhaps her discomfort in the room was due to the alienation she first received in it, or later the disaster that had struck when she held a dying Haku in her arms. She cringed at the very memory, trying not to think about the way his blood had stained her arms scarlet. He had been fine and she'd known that, but it was still painful for her to think about.

Normally her love of the boiler man neutralized those feelings, but she couldn't help but suddenly feel herself dread speaking to him. It wasn't that she didn't like Kamaji - the boiler man had been a guiding light to her during her first visit. But he possessed potentially dreadful knowledge she wasn't sure she wanted to hear. Whatever he had to tell her, it couldn't be good. She could already feel the heat radiating from within as she crept toward the doorway, thick and abrasive against her skin. Chihiro tried to welcome the light instead of feel repelled from it.

(She wanted to hide. She wanted to flee. But what was left for her? A world where she didn't belong? Parents who didn't understand, friends who drifted away? Not even the danger that seemed to lurk in every shadow could drive Chihiro from the place of bright colors and magic and beauty. Some distant part of her, ignored by her true conscious, knew it was home.)

Chihiro entered the room with her eyes lowered, hands trembling. She was years older than she had been, but still she felt fear searing through her veins just as painfully as it had when she was a child blindly searching for sense and reason in a world where none existed. "Kamaji," her whisper was hoarse and wavering, so she cleared her voice and tried again. "Kamaji... it's Sen." She remembered Haku's panicked face when he first found her. Kamaji was different, but would he too be horrified by her return? Something had happened since she'd left, and it had turned her into an enemy of the spirits. She could feel it thrumming within her, a sixth sense she'd had ever since she left. Something was wrong.

When the boiler man didn't respond, Chihiro frowned and raised her gaze to meet his, forcing herself to be strong and steady. Her attempts immediately crumbled at what she saw, heart flying against her ribcage and breath suddenly trapping itself in her lungs.

The boiler man was gone.

"Kamaji?" she whispered, taking a few steps forward and gazing into the jaws of the boiler as they snapped open and shut. What had happened to the six armed man and his enchanted soot servants? Suddenly the place she had once dreaded seemed cozy in comparison to the emptiness that greeted her. The place looked abandoned, bits of coal scattered on the ground as if the little creatures had been on their way to depositing it and simply vanished. Kamaji's table had on it a half eaten tray of food. Swallowing hard, Chihiro stepped through the coal and over to the table. Orders for water hung like dead spiders before it, and when Chihiro looked up she noticed one of the drawers above was open, as if the boiler man had just been reaching inside to retrieve some ingredient when he poofed into thin air.

It didn't make any sense. Kamaji was bound to the boiler room. He couldn't have left, even if he had wanted to, which Chihiro wasn't sure he did despite all his complaining. Work had seemed to be a part of Kamaji's life. And even if he had someone broken free, where would he have gone? He gave Chihiro his train tickets. There was nowhere else for the boiler man to work. It was as if he had been made for his job, a key that could only fit into that one particular keyhole. Chihiro couldn't imagine him anywhere else.

Some papers were scattered on top of the table. Chihiro didn't mean to cry, but for some reason they called to her - she leaned forward slightly, gazing down at them, and was startled to see her name scrawled over an envelope. Sen. She hesitated only a moment before snatching it up and turning the paper over. It wasn't a letter from the boiler man explaining everything and telling her it would be alright, as she had hoped. Instead there were simply three words written in messy handwriting, as if the writer had been in a hurry.

Things have changed.

She'd just barely finished scanning over the last word, trying to comprehend, when she heard a sound from behind her. Chihiro spun around, expecting to have to face whatever terrible force had taken Kamaji away from her. She'd done many terrifying things in the spirit world before. She was willing to fight for her lost friend. Instead of seeing some horrifying beast, though, she found herself staring into Lin's hollow expression.

Lin had been one of Chihiro's closest friends in the spirit world. She'd looked after her like an older sister, and helped her find her way through the working world. While she could sometimes be greedy and a bit shallow, she was a part of Chihiro's spirit family, and she'd come to respect her, as Lin had come to care for Chihiro. Now, however, she remained at a distance, her gaze similar to Haku's only with a lack of intensity. Chihiro went cold. She'd thought that when she returned, people would welcome her with open arms. Why were they suddenly treating her like a timebomb?

They remained like that for a few moments, watching each other almost warily, before Chihiro finally managed to force herself to speak. "He's gone."

Lin's expression caved slightly. She looked past Chihiro at the empty work table and then at the coal scattered on the ground, looking like she was forcing herself to take in every painful difference. "I know."