Spirited away 2

Chapter twelve:

Recap:

"Chihiro!" Lin's frantic voice was the only sound she heard before the upper part of her body was bombarded with her friend's arms. "You had me so worried! Don't ever do something like that again!" Lin mumbled while squeezing the young girl so tight that she could barely breathe; tapping her spirit friend on the back, Lin finally let go allowing for air flow to reach her lungs.

Sucking in a huge gulp of air Chihiro smiled nervously but happily towards her worried companion. "I won't, I promise; he just needed my help."

Lin glared at her for a moment preparing to lecture her about how 'just because someone needs help doesn't mean that they always get help' but she paused short when she noticed the giant stone gem in her hand. "Um, what's that?"

Chihiro followed her gaze and also looked down at the comfortingly warm stone in her hand. "Oh, it's just a-" before she could respond an old bony hand wrapped around her wrist and yanked it upwards. Yubaba pulled the stone closer to her face while she inspected in thoroughly without touching it; the old witch didn't want to take what the young human girl had earned.

"It's a fire-ruby." she said surprised; they were very rare and extremely valuable. It took every essence of her being not to grab the rare item, she was a business woman after all. But she knew that the young girl had risked her life, and that she was the reason she was put into such danger; she felt that the girl deserved a little reward. 

"A real fire-ruby?" Lin marveled looking deeply at the beautiful stone in her friends had. She was just as surprised as the other money hungry workers circling around them. Yubaba looked around at Lin and the other spirits noticing the greed forming in their eyes while they stared on a the stone before grabbing it from the girl's hand and shoving it into her worker's robe pocket. 

"I knew hiring you again was a good idea." she mumbled a little louder than she had meant to. "Don't go doing that again, do you hear me?" she said while looking up at the startled expression on Chihiro's face while the girl stared down at her in shock. It only lasted for a moment before a confident smirk settled on the pretty woman's face. 

"Nice to see you care." she said arrogantly while crossing her arms; Yubaba sucked in the feeling of disappointment at the girl's attitude while stepping away form her. The older woman ignored the girl's comment before turning back to look at all the workers; she would make a point to make a positive example out of Chihiro's good work and bravery. 

"For such a good job, and for your confident bravery, you can have the rest of the day off." she said while smiling to herself before glaring at the rest of the spirits in the room. "Now all of you! Clean this place up! I want it spotless."

Groans filled the room from all of the other spirits including Lin who sent Chihiro a jealous glare before nudging the girl's shoulder. "Back one day, and you're already back to being the old hag's favorite." after saying it she shoved passed the girl and pushed on following after the other workers who all sent Chihiro a little glare. 

The young woman stood still while rubbing her hands together nervously. She hated being the 'teacher's pet'; even friends would turn against friends depending on the situation. 

....

Sitting in the woman's sleeping room, Chihiro sighed while dangling her legs over the edge of the balcony. There were too many different emotions running through her and her mind couldn't focus on more than one thing at a time; she missed home -- mainly her dad -- but overall she was disappointed in her return to the bath house. She knew it was childish, and pretty much a child's fantasy; but she truly thought she would return home and be welcomed by a certain pair of arms; arms that belonged to a certain river spirit who was no where to be found. Chihiro sighed heavily before running her hands down her face; she was tired of waiting for Haku to return.