Chihiro looked out to the green fields, a cool breeze of spring air ruffling the grass. She made a point to come back everyday, even though she knew she couldn't stay past sundown. Actually, she was too afraid to even cross the nonexistent river. It didn't used to be that way, not when she would come here alone and she knew the rules of the Spirit World. But this was 30 years later, and things have truly changed in her life.
For one, the fear of her loved ones turning into pigs heightened.
Sometimes, though, she would come alone. Her mother and father, still living in the blue house at the end of the way, always tried to tag along. But Chihiro refused them, her memories of their last visit haunting her to this day. Of course they were now too old to care for themselves, so Chihiro had to move back with them, not that she really minded. Despite her first reservations about this place, it had really grown on her; her school, her friends, her home, and mostly this little abandoned theme park.
When she was younger she actually tried to get stuck in the Spirit World. She remembered just looking out at the restaurants and the bath house, on days just like this fine one, and sitting on the red bridge, telling herself that she would not move until the sun set and the spirits returned. But then there was always that nagging sensation in the pit of her stomach, her legs would move on their own accord, and before she knew it Chihiro was forcefully returned to her own world.
And here stood Chihiro, age 40, now afraid of crossing the rocky border of humans and spirits, afraid to face all the spirits she felt she abandoned, and especially afraid to ever see Haku again.
"Mama! Mama! Watch this!" a child's voice rang out a few meters in front of her. A little girl with thick black pig-tails was waving up, her bright pink sundress making it easy to spot her against the Spring's new grass.
"Sen! I told you not to go over there! Get back here, it's dangerous!" Chihiro scolded the child who obliged instantly, walking back up from the rocky river bed where she was playfully jumping from one side to the other.
"Mama, it was a lot of fun," Sin pouted as she stood by her mother with her head hung.
"You can have fun somewhere else. It is dangerous to go past the river, alright?" Chihiro patted the girl's head and ruffled her black hair until the small child let a slight giggle slip out.
"Yes Mama," replied the child before skipping away in the opposite direction.
Chihiro stared back out to the other side. How was everyone? Did Lin ever get on the trian? And was Kamaji still fighting with his soot? Did Yubaba ever get enough money to pay off all those damages No Face caused? What about No Face, how was his thread spinning coming along? Was Granny still happy living out in the middle of nowhere in her modest cabin? How big did Baby get in the past years?
But mostly she yearned to know how Haku was doing. Did he find a home, another river by chance? Or did he make his own? Was he even free from Yubaba's reign yet? Chihiro sure hoped he was.
"Mother, keep Sen away from me!" An older voice called from behind Chihiro. She turned with a strained smile on her face to see her youngest daughter hanging off of her oldest's leg.
"Lin, why don't you try playing with your sister?" Chihiro gave the suggestion into open air, knowing full well that Lin would never listen to something like that.
"Mother, I'm trying to read. I don't want to play," out of all her children Lin followed Chihiro most in looks, with the same thick brown hair and the same rounded face.
"Well we came here to be a family, why don't you try participating in that?" Chihiro gave the comment before turning her back on the squabbling children.
Haku had once promised her that they'd see each other again. It was a long time ago, 30 years to date, but she had really hoped he had meant it. Chihiro actually waited 15 years on her own, all through high-school and college, hoping that he would make a miraculous appearance. But every day she sat fantasizing at her desk and every time she tried to connect with him back on the bridge had just ended in failure. 15 long years later, she decided to move on.
"Dear, I could use a little help over here!" An older man, maybe in his mid 40s, called out from behind Chihiro's back as well. Slightly exasperated, Chihiro turned and laid her grey eyes on a tall black haired man with dark brown eyes that were framed by red square glasses. In one arm he held back a furious teenager with her brown hair in a bun and a book in her left hand, swinging around violently just looking for someone to hit. In the other he was just managing to hold back a girl the age of 6 who was red with frustration and wet with angry tears, her own little fists trying to take out some aggression of their own.
Although Chihiro did not want to turn from the Spirit World she somewhat considered her home, she could not ignore her family.
"Lin! Sen! Learn to get along, please!"
Haku watched the family in the fields of the human world. He could cross if he wanted, he could cross and turn into the white dragon of the river and scare that silly human right out of his mind. Chihiro would know what was going on if she saw him, and that was all he really needed to be happy.
But he wouldn't do something like that. Instead Haku would just watch on. He had been watching her come alone, and then with a husband, and lastly with her oldest daughter. After that crushing moment he stopped watching. But today something inside him just made Haku come and be a bystander to his love's life once again. To his dismay, she had another daughter. .
He should have let her be stuck in the Spirit World when she tried. But whenever she did he forced her to run, scared that Yubaba would take out some sort of revenge if she had gotten stuck once again. Now it wouldn't have mattered. Now he would have let her stay. But now it seemed that Chihiro had forgotten about all of them. She had a husband, children, a life. She didn't need to come to the Spirit World anymore. She was actually telling her children not to play by the rocks! She had forgotten the wonders on the other side.
"She really has grown, hasn't she Haku?" An old voice snuck up beside him. Haku jumped into a perfect position and let no emotion pass his eyes, a reaction Yubaba had always expected him to hold in her presence, "Oh please Haku. You know I do not like those types of things," the old woman scoffed.
Haku relaxed his muscles and his mind, once again pushed into habit by Zeniba's presence. After the No Face deal Yubaba was forced to sell the bath house, and although she was against it Zeniba decided to become the new head so as to ensure the continuation of the Spirit World Bath House.
"Yes, she really has come a long way from that little 10 year old we first saw. Actually, she has grown a lot from that 15 year old that would stubbornly sit on our bridge until someone forced her away," Zeniba gave a slight chuckle at the memory, "But I see you do not like this change in her. Haku, tell me what is wrong," Zeniba asked in a very grandmother like way.
"It is nothing, I was just observing. I'm glad she is happy," Haku lied easily. While it was true that Chihiro did in fact look happy with her new family, Haku felt a little disdain for the fact that she was happy without him.
"Come now Haku, you can't deceive these old eyes. Years ago, when I first met Chihiro, she gave me back my golden seal. The protective spell was gone you know, and do you know how that happened?" Zeniba turned one huge brown eyes on the river spirit.
Haku did not respond with the answer he knew the old spirit was looking for, but settled for nodding instead.
"Oh, you do? Well then, you should know that it takes a powerful love to get rid of my enchantments. Not something that she would be likely to forget. Now she may have moved on, but I don't think she forgot about you in the slightest, and I think you should remember that," Zeniba nodded her head back to the family. And for some reason or another, Haku decided to confine in this spirit, if for no other reason than he just needed someone to vent to. He didn't necessarily trust her, but Chihiro did mean a lot more to him then he liked to let on, and it would be nice to actually tell someone that.
"I'm glad she is happy, and I know it is partly my fault. I didn't see her and I didn't let her stay past sundown when she came. But I didn't want her to forget about this place. I wanted to talk to her so bad, but I was just so scared at first that she would get trapped again with Yubaba angry at her that I chased her away. And when you finally took over it was too late, and she stopped coming over. Now I'll never actually get to talk to her," Haku never let tears fall, it was one of his rules, but he did feel his eyes get a little watery.
"Oh Haku, you had every right to be afraid. But remember, one day Chihiro will grow old and die, just like humans always do. And when she does she will be back here, whether she likes it or not. And sure, she may have a husband and children, but for many humans the Spirit World is a place to start over," Zeniba offered.
"I don't want to meet her again like that," the river spirit said simply.
There was silence in the Spirit World now as the two stood quietly watching the family. Chihiro was throwing a little girl with long black hair and a bright pink dress up in the air. That was Sen, if Haku remembered correctly. Her husband was listening to the older girl that was practically a clone of Chihiro read a snippet from some sort of book. This child had to be Lin.
Haku felt a tear fall down his cheek.
Quickly checking to make sure Zeniba did not see that embarrassing betrayal of emotions, Haku wiped it away with hast and scolded himself. He was happy she moved on. He was grateful that she was happy. It would have never worked out any way; Haku still had the body of a 12 year old, while Chihiro continued to grow as humans do. Haku could not pass the staircase without switching to his dragon form, and she could not live in the Spirit World forever.
Until she passed away, that is.
"We have to get going now, your parents are going to worry," the tall bespectacled man said with a look at his watch.
"Just a little longer, listen to this part of the story," Lin grabbed her father's hand and kept reading, something about how even if a rose wasn't named a rose it would still be beautiful.
"She has forgotten us, I think," Haku was half wondering out loud and half hoping for his thoughts to be denied.
"Do you really think so?" Zeniba asked.
Haku gave a curt nod, "The youngest girl has to be 6, the oldest 15. Maybe Chihiro once remembered us, but not anymore. Besides, the 6 year old is named Sen. That doesn't mean she remembers us, only the name that sounds familiar."
Zeniba didn't answer for some time, trying to figure out what was truly bugging the young river spirit. Even after Yubaba's control was released, Haku never really became friends with Lin, so he wouldn't have really cared if Chihiro forgotten her. Although he did become closer with the boiler man, that didn't seem to be irking him either.
"You know, the spell only would break when love is by both," Zeniba finally chose to tell.
Haku stiffened in his shoulders and caught a breath in his chest. It was no secret that he loved the human, but he never really liked to be called out on it. Something from Yubaba's control had stuck within Haku, even if it was just muscle memory, but emotions were always hard for him to express.
"It doesn't matter anymore. She moved on, I'm happy," Haku turned away from the family, ready to fly back to his new home in a pretty young river, more like a stream. With the new river he had acquired the new name, but Haku was something people just never stopped calling. He wish they would stop sometimes, but he understood why it was hard to.
"Haku, where are you?!" Chihiro's voice called out through the Spirit World.
"Chihiro?" Haku spun on his heel, excitement coursing through his body.
What he saw confused him. Chihiro had her back to the Spirit World and was calling out to the grassy hills on the human side. And from those hills one could see a little black dot running closer and closer to the calling woman.
Eventually he had form, and Haku saw that the black dot was actually a little boy with pitch black hair, cut in the exact same way of Haku's own. The boy was at least 11 and he was covered with dirt and grass stains.
"Coming Mom!" The child waved at his parents while still running across the field.
Chihiro reached out her hand and allowed the boy to grab it when he came within reach, "Mom, you'll never believe what I found!"
"I told you not to run off like that around here! What if you got lost?" Chihiro laid concern on the boy.
"I found a small stream in the hills back there! I was wading around in it, and there was a frog that I almost caught, but it got away at the last second! So I chased it and it went across that rocky part you said not to cross. I tried looking for it, but it just disappeared!" The child was jumping up and down, his excitement to hard for him to control.
"Haku, I'd wish you be more careful around here," Chihiro scolded.
"Well, I didn't plan to go so far, but I remember you told me that you met your best friend here, and I thought that since we come here everyday, maybe you meant to meet him again. I thought that maybe he was waiting somewhere else," Haku was looking out over the hills with a mix of curiosity as to where this mystery man could possibly be.
"Chihiro, let's get going!" the tall man was standing down at the entrance to the towering building that led the way back to the road. In one hand he held Sen, on the other side Lin read a book out loud.
Chihiro gave a wave and pushed her son over to her father with a "tell him I'll be there in a second." The boy ran as fast as he could, his black hair flying behind him.
The now grown Chihiro turned to face the rocky boarder one more time for the day. With her eyes closed she let the wind rustle her hair, whatever she was hoping would come of it an eternal mystery to Haku. But, seeing and hearing the conversation with her son- no, with Haku- he was able to turn away and fly back to his new stream content that one day Chihiro and him would see each other again, and both would be happy about the reunion.
Zeniba watched Haku leave, but her wise eyes most defiantly caught the wide grin that plastered his face. She kept watching until he was nothing more than a white speck in the brilliant blue sky, almost too bright to look at without hurting one's eyes. Zeniba turned back to face the human world in time to see Chihiro meeting her new family at the entrance way. As she walked with her loved ones into the shade, the old witch caught in the air a distinct sparkle of purple that shimmered from Chihiro's tied back hair.