Hey, thanks for coming to read my first every Spirited Away fanfic! *laugh* I honestly have no experience with these things, and I'm pretty sure that even this one chapter is the farthest I've ever gotten.
First of all, a little disclaimer: If you're the type who's read an endless stream of fanfics concerning Chihiro and Haku all grown up and ending up together (with all that clichés) and you've grown sick of it; then steer clear of this fanfic. I know it's probably the most overused plot in all Spirited Away fanfics but I wanted to take a stab at it myself - even before reading fanfics I've always loved visualizing how it would be like to have Chihiro and Haku reunited as adults. True love lasts forever after all. :)
Also, this is one of my first fanfics so don't hesitate to be absolutely ruthless with the reviews! *laugh* I'm always striving to keep my stories as good as possible so any input provided will help me beef up whatever meager skills I have to hopefully create something which is actually decent.
When writing this piece I've always wondered just how Chihiro and Haku would reunite. Being a river deity/god Haku is pretty much bound to the spirit world; he obviously needed to take some drastic measures to get into the human world. And Chihiro, after 10 years, is pretty much starting to wonder herself whether it was all a dream; life is so normal it's starting to feel like all those magical moments never happened at all.
So, thank you for reading, and I hope you enjoy. :)
Haku's Return
"You have to promise not to look back. Not until you've passed through the tunnel," he said, holding my hand with a reassuring grasp.
"What about you? What'll you do?" I asked. What if this was the last time I'd see him? I couldn't take that. Not now. Not after everything we've been through together.
"Don't worry. I'll go back and have a talk with Yubaba. I'll tell her I'm going to quit being her apprentice. I'm fine, I got my name back," he said confidently. He said it with such conviction that even I felt a little relieved.
"Will we meet again sometime?"
"Sure we will."
"Promise?" I asked, looking expectantly at his jade-green eyes.
"Promise," he said, his eyes sparkling with absolute certainty. "Now go. And don't look back."
And I ran. I ran as fast as I could across the lush green hills. As fast as I dared along the rocks of the dry stream. And I didn't look back. And that was the last I saw of him.
Where are you, Haku?
… Where did you go?
"Chihiro?"
Haku? Is that you?
"Chihiro!"
Haku, I have so much to tell you… So many things I'd wish I'd said before I left-
"CHIHIRO!"
Chihiro awoke with a start. The sound of a train rumbled outside her window. It was that dream again. Her roommate, Keiko, was hopping on one foot, hurriedly putting her clothes on.
"Chihiro, wake up! We're gonna be late for class again if you don't get moving- Oh gosh, it's already 9! Mr. Miura is gonna kill us if we're late for the lecture again…"
Chihiro groaned. She definitely was not in the mood for a Miura calculus lecture today. The last time she was late he'd made her answer all the questions she'd missed in front of the class on her table to remind her that 'knowledge waits for no man'. Everyone started calling her the "Miura victim" for a week after that.
"I don't wanna go to class today, Keiko," she whined, pulling a pillow over her head.
Keiko, who was pulling on her heels, rolled her eyes at Chihiro as she grasped the handle of the door.
"Oh, suit yourself, but I'm holding you responsible if Mr. Miura asks me why you didn't make it to class today. The things I do for a friend…" she muttered as she slammed the door behind her.
Chihiro could hear the pitter patter of footsteps running down the stairs to the apartment complex. Another train cruised by, drowning out the sound with a loud blow from its horn. Chihiro pulled the duvet over herself and sulked. She has definitely seen better starts to her day.
A quaint office with the glow of firelight was occupied. An old woman with a head far too large for her body was slowly filling out a pile of paperwork on her desk. On the floor to the left of her desk, three strange disembodied green heads pranced around each other on the rug with glee. Standing in front of them was a young boy, no older than 13 in a traditional Japanese robe, with shoulder-length hair and jade eyes that sparkled in the glow of the fire.
"… Are you sure about this?"
The heads were prancing harder now, oblivious to the tense atmosphere in the room.
"…Yes."
The fireplace was crackling, with embers sparking out of the wooden fennel, dangerously dispersing a few inches in front of the Arabian rug on the floor.
"You do realise that even if I grant your request, you'll lose everything? How are you even supposed to find her, when you won't have the means anymore?"
Her pen, which was marking paperwork at an incredible speed just seconds ago, stopped as she waited for his answer. Her massive eyes slowly rose to look him in the eye.
"…It's better than never seeing her again."
Widening her eyes in surprise, the witch began to laugh in amusement. Stunned by the sudden change in the attitude, the three heads were taken aback, rolling behind the sofa next to the fireplace.
"I like your spirit, boy! True love, huh? I guess the age old stories were true!" she guffawed, laughing continuously like he'd just given her the punch line to a great joke.
Unaffected by her glee, the boy stood there resolutely, waiting for the answer he seeked. After a while, the laughter faded as the witch wiped the tears from her eyes.
"… Fine. I'll grant your request. As a special gesture of goodwill, I'll even send you to the other side myself," she said, resuming her business-like tone. "But… I'll expect payment in full. What you ask for is no simple task. In fact, it's UNHEARD of! In all my centuries here at the bathhouse, no deity has ever been foolish enough to ask me of such a thing. So I'll ask you one last time. Are you certain this is what you want?"
Looking her straight in the eye, the boy nodded, slowly turning to leave.
"Don't go back on your word, Yubaba."
Chihiro awoke again, gasping as if awoken from a nightmare.
The same dream again.
For 10 straight years, she'd always have the strangest dreams. For some reason, they were always blurry, like there was some sort of wall clouding her vision – trying to stop her from seeing her dreams with any clarity at all. At first the mysteries of the dreams and their contents tormented Chihiro with their tantalizing secrets. What exactly did they mean? But after 10 long years of having the same cloudy dreams over and over again the mystique had run its course, giving way to annoyance.
'Why couldn't she have normal dreams for once?' she wondered. 'Ten years of the same, broken tape running on replay,' she thought bitterly. It wouldn't have been so bad if the dreams made sense.
Chihiro looked at her clock. Oh, wow. It was 2 pm. She'd slept for 5 hours!
Chihiro jumped out of bed and hurriedly began to undress. It was almost time for afternoon classes, and she figured she had already missed enough classes for one day.
Besides, there was always time to think about dreams later.
*chapter 1 end*
And that's the end of chapter 1! I've written a lot more than this but I thought that this would make a good cut off for the ending. So, let me know what you think, and I hope you enjoying reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it.