Haku bowed deeply as he entered the king's private study, and then folded himself onto a mat before the low table. He watched the king sift green tea into two bowls and slowly whisk steaming water into the matcha.
The study was one of the only rooms within the palace that was dry. It was an air bubble, suspended beneath the ocean's surface, and designed to allow for the preparation of tea. The king always made the tea himself. It was a time of peace for him to spend with his youngest son, the last one left at home.
Haku sipped the bitter green foam slowly, aware of the king's eyes gazing at him above the clay rim of the bowl. The fragrance calmed him. He replaced his tea on the table before meeting his father's gaze and speaking: "What is your stance on the evacuation, honored father?"
“No one has asked me to intervene,” the king replied impassively. “Thus, I have no stance.”
"Is it true that the bridges between the worlds are close to collapse?”
"The connection has been weakening for some time," the king said.
"The loss would be terrible if the worlds break apart," Haku said angrily. “Don't they understand that if they all leave, there will be nothing holding the worlds together?”
"The choice to leave or to stay is one they must each make on their own."
“But you disagree.”
“It does not matter whether I agree or disagree. The king’s opinion counts for little if there is no one willing to plead his case. It counts for even less in the year of the coronation. It counts for nothing. Human rulers may make decisions on their behalf, but under our laws the king's role is to be the judge and the servant of the people. The king must not infringe on the pride and autonomy of our people. Such is the burden of the arbiter. In that way, I have less say than the weakest of my people.” He looked intently at his son. “Kohaku, as long as I am king, you are one of my subjects as well as my son. Bring your evidence. Plead your case. I will hear you just as I hear any other dragon who wishes to be heard.”
Any other dragon who makes it to the council room, Haku thought dryly, but keeping the thought to himself did not stop King Nihonkai from hearing and replying to it.
"Prince Nigihayami Kohakunushi," he said sternly. "At this moment you are in no place to even think disrespectful thoughts about Fujisan. Do not grovel and apologize for your thoughts. So you are dissatisfied with the way things are. What are you going to do about it?”
"What could I possibly do about it, Father? And after this year, I will have even less power than I do now, if that were even possible.” Haku rose from his seated bow as ordered. He was still ashamed of his outburst in front of Tenryu, but he was too tired to keep the bitterness from his voice. “You can’t mean for me to pursue the throne. I know you and Mother hoped I would, before, but that's foolishness now. What good is a crippled king to the people?”
The king looked at his son without pity. “King or not, you are not powerless as your brother seems to think. As the king is not free, neither are you free. You may not have a choice.”
---
Haku ran his fingers along the fine web of scars on his side, willing the currents of the palace to wash away the cold sweat left by his recurring nightmare. In the dream, he had been trapped under a glass dome. He had thrown himself at it, over and over, until his scales cracked and he fell from the sky… and woke up.
After Chihiro had gone back to the Human World, Haku had quit his “apprenticeship” at the bathhouse. He had tried to find her then, to keep his promise to her, and had discovered the magical barrier that kept him from leaving the Spirit World. Other spirits could cross, and did, every evening by ferry or train or on foot. He could not. Perhaps when his body in the Human World had been destroyed - filled in with apartments - his connection with the human world had been as well.
He had no clear memories of that time, except in his dreams. They were dreams of terror, of grief, of desolation, and of that one warm, golden soul beyond the barrier, unreachable forever.
In his waking moments, only the scars on his back and sides proved that he had lived through those days.
Seven years had passed since Chihiro left the Spirit World. Seven years since he had promised Chihiro he’d see her again. Seven years since he had told Chihiro that he would be fine. Haku regretted those words every day. He had not been able to keep his promise, and he was far from fine. He now understood many things about the worlds and people who inhabited them. He understood that without his river, he was not a true dragon, not anymore, and that he would never, ever see Chihiro again.
Haku had almost fallen asleep again with these thoughts when a servant knocked on his door with a note for him. He lay in bed awake for a long time, staring at the words and trying to control the hope that was bubbling up in his chest - hope that he thought had died years ago. The note said:
I found her. - Zeniba.
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