This story is dedicated to those who believe in miracles. : )
Disclaimer: I do not own anything except this fic.
Miracle
Sen turned the door knob and entered the room quietly. The room was painted in white entirely and illuminated brightly by the sunlight that shone through the large glass window. The setting in the room was simple; there was only a bed at the centre, a small desk and a wooden chair besides the bed.
An old lady was sleeping on the bed with silver locks curling around her face. Her features were soft and peaceful in her sleep. Sen walked to the bed in light steps and bent down to place a tender kiss on the old lady's forehead.
"Hi, granny. How are you feeling today?" she whispered.
The old lady stirred slightly and fluttered opens her eyes. She smiled warmly as soon as she saw Sen and replied, "I feel much better now, Sen dear."
Sen emptied the vase swiftly and replaced it with the fresh flowers that she brought. "Do you like the flowers, granny? I bought it at the market this morning. The seller said they are supposed to bring health and prosperity." she asked while her slender fingers busy arranging the flowers. She tried her best to sound cheerful and hid her grief as she recalled what the doctor told her the other day.
"I'm sorry. We've done our best. There is nothing left we can do except to let her leave in peace. She wished to go home and you may bring her home now."
"They are lovely, Sen dear. I'm glad that you came." her granny's voice snapped her out of her trance. She turned to look at her granny and caught her granny's chocolate brown eyes gazing back softly at her. Comprehension was reflected in those eyes as if she had understood everything without any words spoken.
Feeling tears welling up in her eyes and threatening to spill, Sen lowered her head and avoided her granny's gaze. There was a long pause before she heard her granny called out to her, "Come and sit by my side, Sen. I'll tell you your favourite story of the spirited world."
She obliged and pulled the chair to sit down besides the bed. She knew exactly which story that her granny was about to tell. It was the story about her granny riding in the air on a white dragon's back when the white dragon finally remembered his name.
She had heard it over a thousand times and she could already memorize it by heart yet she couldn't bring herself to stop her granny from telling the story. Not when she saw the way her granny's face lit up and the way her granny's eyes shone with a gleam that mingled joy with sadness every time she told the story.
"And so he told me that his real name was Nigijhami Kohaku Nushi..."
"Granny, can I ask you something?" Sen interrupted.
"Of course, Sen dear."
"Do you miss grandpa?" she asked tentatively.
Her granny betrayed a little shock at her question but she smiled again as she recovered from it and said, "Yes, I do and I always will."
Sen suddenly felt as if there was a lump in her throat and tears began to flow down her cheeks. She could feel her granny's rough hand stroking her hair gently as she sobbed on her shoulders. After a while, a new resolution formed in her mind as she calmed down and dried her tears.
"Granny, would you like to hear a story from me?" she asked with a shaky voice, still trying to choke back her sobs.
Her granny merely smiled and nodded in encouragement.
One night, a white dragon flew into Chihiro's room through the window. It landed on the floor and slowly transformed itself into a human, a boy whom she waited for years. His face still looked as handsome as he was when she first met him. And his emerald eyes were still as crystal clear and mesmerizing as she remembered.
"Haku, it's you! Is this a dream of mine?" she gasped with tears glistening in her soft, brown eyes.
He walked to her bed, held her hands and spoke gently, "No, this wasn't your dream. And yes, I've come back to you, Chihiro, just like I promised to."
"Would you come with me, Chihiro? We shall go back to the spirited world and stay together forever."
She bit her lips and shook her head in sorrowful silence.
"Why?"
"Because I'm not the girl you loved any more. I'm now old and wrinkled. I don't-"
"Shh... you're always the girl whom I love." With that, he placed a kiss on her forehead.
Then, she suddenly found herself floating in the air. Her entire body began to glow in an enchanted green light and she began to transform: all her wrinkles were gone, her silver hair was turned into brown and suddenly she found herself as young as she once was when they first met!
The light faded away slowly and she began to sink but he caught her securely in his arms. She blinked in disbelief as she examined her body. He chuckled softly, looked her in the eyes and asked again, "Now would you come with me, Chihiro?"
This time, she nodded shyly.
He dropped her off gently to her feet and stepped back before he transformed into a white dragon again. Then she sat on his back and together they took off and flew out from the window, towards the sky. No one ever saw them since that night. But they were believed to live happily ever after...
A contented smile crept to her granny's lips before she shut her eyes as Sen finished her story. She never woke up again. Sen wept but she knew her granny was gone for good.
A few years later, Sen received her first published book in a big, brown envelope. It was entitled, "Spirited Away". She took out the book and flipped to its first page. On it, she had written:
Special dedication to my Granny,
a magnificent person who had lived to tell a magnificent tale.
But when she was about to toss the brown envelope into the waste bin, something shiny fell out from it. She picked it up out of curiosity and she was astonished with what she found. It shaped like a scale yet its size was as big as her palm. Its surface was hard and smooth and it reflected rainbow as the sun light danced on its white surface. A small note was tied to it. The handwriting in gold ink was tiny but neatly written,
"Thank you, Sen. From Haku."
Sen could only stare speechlessly at it. Somewhere behind her conscious mind, she recalled her granny's words years ago:
"Miracle only happens to those who believe."
I know there are many stories out there writing about Haku x Chihiro. But I wanted to try something different, so I wrote this. By the way, this is also my first Spirited Away fic. Hope you'll enjoy reading.