Spirited away fic
River flows in you
The rain was dripping off of the ends of her brown hair, running down her back. The water was there. The river that had begun to flow, after so very long, was calling to her. Chihiro sat at the bottom of the weeping willow, and stared.
She was waiting.
She had waited for half a year now, and it was getting so cold.
She didn't want to grow up and go to college. Those things no longer mattered. She just had to wait for the river to come back.
Her parents were worried, she could tell. She hasn't been eating, she hadn't slept in days. The psychiatrist wasn't working. She stayed silent. She stared out of the windows at the pouring rain and drew dragons and bloodied paper birds. They tried to talk with, reason with, threaten and beg her. They watched their little girl fade away.
She listened to the river.
The clock struck seven.
"Chihiro." A quiet voice answered the stare. Too exhausted to turn, she felt him slide down the tree to sit beside her. His long fingers ran through her hair, pulling it away from her face. She closed her warm, brown eyes.
"Are you sure?"
She nodded a little. The river sighed.
"You'll see them again, you know. It'll be alright. You can change your mind." She shook her head.
"No, Haku. Just take me home." She whispered.
He nodded in consent, reaching over to her and placing a hand over her heart. Chihiro smiled and closed her eyes, as the small orb of light rested in the palm of Haku's hand. Water trickled down the spirit's cheeks, and then he was gone.
"Chihiro?" Her father rounded the bush, and sighed in relief.
"Thank God! Don't run off like that, honey. We were so worried." Chihiro didn't respond, just continued to stare at the river. She was curled up in a ball at the foot of the tree, unmoving.
"Chihiro?"
The rain ran down the bark, tracing patterns on her frozen skin. There was a small smile curving her lips.
"Chihiro?" The river trickle by, water landing in it, reaching towards what it already possessed. Her father touched her arm and recoiled at the icy temperature. Chihiro's head rested on her shoulder, eyes blank.
"Chihiro!"
The dead girl was smiling.
Chihiro held Haku's hand in her own tightly as they stood at the gateway.
"You'll see them again, someday. They'll understand." He wrapped the silently sobbing girl in his arms, waiting until her tears subsided. The cries became tremors, became shivers, became quiet.
"I'm home." She said sadly, teary eyes turning from her parents for the last time.
The lights one by one began to fade into life as the sky darkened. Slipping her hand into Haku's they began to walk towards the little lamps.
And they listened to the river.