Chapter 1

In a field of the distant land of Japan, there sat a 17 year old girl under the clear blue sky of summer, day dreaming by a fast flowing stream, watching the clear water passing through her fingers. It was cool to the touch and refreshing, just like her, Chihiro's, first love. Just like the water, the love was rushing, joyful and full of life. Many hours at a time she would let the water sweep her mind away and let it calm her, reminding her of the one boy who was so far away, yet so near to her heart that would never leave her. Even after the passing time of their last meeting, after rescuing her parents, she remembered the most important promise of her life to that boy, Kohaku.

They promised to meet each other again, promised . . . Chihiro sighed and lay down in the grass. It had been 7 years scene they last looked open each other, and during this time she had spent the time searching for him, the Kohaku river, but, just like the him, the river was nowhere to be found. Alas, she had not given up hope; her love after all this time had not weakened but had consumed her with the hope of seeing him again. So, today, Chihiro was preparing herself for her biggest step ever in finding him.

She was going back to 'the' Bath House where all of these feeling were given birth. Chihiro was going to find the tunnel and walk down it again, but this time alone in the hope of having a Kohaku walk back with her, hand in hand.

With years of self taught grace she stood, retrieved her belongings, and walked back to the road and drove home in her car planning on the task ahead of her. When home, she walked through the door, removed her shoes and walked up the stairs. Her parents where never really home, they were always on dates together, leaving her at home knowing that she would take the time to be by herself to do her homework or go her stream.

So, they wouldn't really care if she left right? When in her room she packed a small bag of clothes and some valuable jewelry that she had bought with her job as a swimming instructor. She would for sure pack a bathing suit just in case she would have to swim anywhere, like across the river that divided the two worlds.

Making sure that the bag was filled with essentials, she tossed the straps over her shoulders and walked down the stairs to the kitchen. She had already prepared a letter to leave behind. The letter would state that she was going on a road trip of the countryside and would be gone for a couple of days, surely they wouldn't doubt that.

And even if they did, their would be no stopping her, for this was her true love, the one she had been aching to see for so long, the one she had every night dreamed of, the one she would do anything for, her Kohaku. Surely he feels the same for me, Chihiro thought. Surely he is looking for me as well, he must.But what if he fogot her? What if he was taken back under Yubabas spell? What if . . . he was no more . . .

But Chihiro sharply stopped this negative thinking, it was bad to think of things like this right before she was about to go out and find him, like she had been meaning to for so long.

Chihiro took the letter from her pocket, a very short note, and placed it on the table. Then with excitement she rushed out the door and into her car. Chihiro took a deep breath and started the engine.

Chihiro drove for an hour to get out of town, she would just need to remember what her dad told her about getting back to the tunnel, he would constantly tell her he found it by mistake and how it seemed to just 'pop' out at him when he was driving by. "It was a complete accident" he would say with a smile" All I know is that I can't remember what we did, we went through a tunnel and . . . and" He would frown and scratch his head in frustration. "I must have took a nap or something . . . right?". I would reply, confirming him statement, and would secretly smile.

Well, that must have been one heck of a nap, you know turning into a pig and all . . .

Well, Chihiro was just glad that her parents had forgotten about the enchantment they had been under, so that it could be her little secret for her to remember.

She turned left onto a beaten dirt road and drove forward, scanning the area as she went looking for the tiny shrines she had seen once before. Many just like in the movie you wouldn't be able to return to the mystical land after being there once before . . . could it be possible? Chihiro shook her long brown hair back over her shoulder and continued searching.

After driving for 1 hour her good attitude changed to a nervous demeanor. What if she couldn't find the tunnel? What if all of this was for naught? What if Yubaba, the cruel Bathhouse owner, had done something to change the entrance tothe world? What if . . . what . . . if . . . Tears started to appear in her eyes and Chihiro wanting to stay in control of her feelings, tried to steel her self from the overpowering emotions of hopelessness. Could she be that weak to stop now after all this time? Finally, after a few moments, the emotions became too much to bear and Chihiro had to pull over to let her tears flow freely. After stopping, she put her head against the wheel and wept for all that she was worth for.

Time pasted and Chihiro during that time let all of the tears that had been kept inside her for 7 years drip down her slender cheeks. Soon she found that no more tears came and all she could feel was the swooshing of her own uneven breaths. Chihiro raised her head and looked around her to find that she was parked right beside tiny little shrines, the same ones that her mother had pointed out 7 years ago. Chihiro froze, had she really parked right beside the thing she was looking for? None the less, Chihiro couldn't care less, after a moment to actually realize this discovery she whooped for joy. She turned the car back on and kept driving up the road, she sped up, the car was bumping and thrashing and tossing her about, had Chihiro not had her seat belt on she would have possibly been tossed out the open car window. But this did not matter. She was nearing the little stone figure that guarded the tunnel--the tunnel, the one that has haunted her body and soul, the one that might lead her to Kohaku . . .

She slammed down on the brake, with a hair of space left between the statue and the car. But she did not care. She hurriedly drew her bag and left the car, slamming the door behind her. She hoped that the next time she saw this car it would again like last time, covered in dust and leaves from the passing time. Chihiro smiled widely, took a deep breath and sped through the tunnel's mouth.