Disclaimer: I don't own the movie/characters, except for the ones I make.

B/N: Well, here we go (again).

…

"Why, Chihiro! When did Aicho get so big? She is almost the mirror image of you when you were her age… It's almost too much to believe that she's 17 already." Said Mrs. Mazuki, the old grocery woman who sold fruit to the folks of Chihiro's town. Chihiro smiled, feeling the wrinkles that were beginning to form on her skin shift. Her eyes slid from the older woman in front of her, too the young woman who had her nose pressed against a window pane across the street. The store was closed for the day, but Aicho didn't seem to be concerned. It wasn't a busy place, and the copy of old fairy tales she was eyeing would most likely still be there the next day. "It seems like just yesterday you moved into that old blue house on the edge of town and would walk past our fruit stand every day on your way to and from school. It's hard to believe 40 years have already passed since then."

"Haha… yes, well, it has been quite a long time." Chihiro replied, nodding slowly.

"Yes. I recall being worried about you for many years." Mrs. Mazuki said tapping her chin in thought. Chihiro cocked her head to the side slightly, but felt her expression grow neutral when she realized what the older woman meant.

"You had so many suitors, what with you willful spirit, and energy. You were quite the leader back in the day. Yet you always turned down every boy that offered themselves. I know my boy Mickey would have given you the stars, had you asked." Mrs. Mazuki admitted giving a defeated sigh. Chihiro eyes widened which in turn made the other woman laugh. "Oh well. The past is the past. You finally did marry though, which is all that matters. And to a scholar, no less."

"Mom. I think it's going to rain." Aicho shouted from across the street before looking both ways and approaching her mother. Chihiro and Mrs. Mazuki looked up in surprise and were stunned to see the dark storm clouds that were definitely not over them moments before.

"I think you may be right, deary." Mrs. Mazuki said, blinking a few times before turning away from the mother and daughter so as to start packing away her produce.

"Do you need help, Kaima?" Chihiro asked, but the older woman just waved her off with a smile.

"I've been lugging this fruit in and out of my house for years. I'll be fine. Have a good evening you too, and be safe getting home."

"See you, Mrs. Mazuki." Aicho said as Chihiro waved back and the two began their walk back home.

They walked in silence for a while eyeing the clouds and hoping the rain would not start until they were inside. When they were about halfway home Chihiro suddenly stopped walking and made a confused face. Aicho, noticing her mother was no longer walking alongside her, stopped and looked back.

"What's the matter?"

"Aicho. I just remembered… I have to show you something." Chihiro said slowly, and with a lot of effort, as if the words hurt to say. Aicho felt this was odd, seeing as her mother was usually quite easy going and not afraid to speak her mind.

"Now?"

"Yes. Come this way." The older woman said as she made a sudden 90 degree turn and took off for a hillside that led into a wooded area. It was the area Chihiro had always warned her daughter to stay away from. Her mother had warned her many times that it was dangerous, and the intensity in her voice had always managed to persuade the curious Aicho that it wasn't worth her mother's anger to go exploring. Now she was being led into that very forest by the one who had forbid it.

"Mom?"

"Yes?"

"What are those little things? They look like small houses?" Aicho said as she knelt down to look inside them. One housed a small frog who watched the young girl with beady eyes. After a moment Aicho felt unnerved by the creatures unwavering gaze and quickly caught up with her mother.

"That's because they are. People believe spirits live inside them." Chihiro answered, not bothering to stop and take a look at the little black boxes she had once found interesting from the back seat of her father's car.

A little farther down the road an old statue of a pudgy figure sat staring straight ahead. Aicho felt the urge to just stop and look at it, but she didn't want to fall behind. Chihiro was walking like a woman on a mission, which wasn't uncommon for her, but it often meant trouble was about to start for Aicho. Whether it was her mother on her way to the principle of the school, or on her way to the local newspaper headquarters. If she wanted something done, she would go forward head held high. Aicho had never been able to walk with such confidence, but she had gained her mother's tough spirit and will.

Slowly building with a wide tunnel came into view, with another statue that reached to the two women's waist, sitting guard. The grass was trimmed back but with each step Chihiro took it appeared to grow an inch beneath her feet. Finally she stopped just before entering the tunnel. She stared down the dark pathway, looking longingly at the bright light that shone at the end. Aicho squinted, trying to see down the tunnel, but found only complete darkness.

"What's this place?" Aicho asked, craning her neck to see better. Chihiro gave a sad sigh earning a look of confusion from her daughter.

"The entrance."

"To?"

"Your destiny." Chihiro replied nodding slowly. "They need you. They need you like he needed me." Her eyes focused on Aicho who was fidgeting nervously.

"Mama… Are you alright?"

"No. I haven't been alright since I left." Chihiro replied with a sad smile. "But I am still healing." She took a step away from the tunnel and held her hand out to Aicho who accepted it after a moment of hesitation.

"Aicho. I want you to listen to my words. Listen to them with more attention than you've ever given anything. More than attention than to your favorite books, or the boy you like. More attention than my past warnings. Alright?" Aicho opened her mouth to question the older woman, but stopped when she caught her mom's gaze. She had never been as serious as she was at that moment.

"Are you hungry?"

"A… A little."

"Do not eat any food, unless it's given to you. Nothing. I don't care if you're crawling on the ground starving. If it's not given to you, do not touch it."

Aicho nodded, albeit at a loss for understanding, but she silently promised.

"There are friends and enemies at the bathhouse. I don't know if the same people are still there, but ask for Kamajii. Kamajii will help."

"Where am I going? I thought we were all going to the city tomorrow? We were going to go shopping."

"Aicho. Don't worry about that. Just listen." Aicho nodded. "I… I don't know why you have to go, but something is telling me you need to. Zeniba. I bet it's Zeniba." Chihiro said with a smile. "Don't trust Yubaba, though." Her eyes opened up quickly and became serious.

"Mom?" Aicho whispered, almost desperately. Chihiro raised her hands to cup her daughter's cheeks softly. She looked her over quietly.

"You're lucky. I was only a child."

Aicho had to force down the gulp of nervousness that had clustered up in her throat.

"You're scaring me." Aicho said clutching her mother's wrists and pulling her hands from her face. Before she could say anything else Chihiro had pulled the girl into her arms and was hugging her furiously.

"I'll be with you someday. I promise." Chihiro whispered quietly into Aicho's ear. It sounded southing, but it didn't help qualm Aicho's fears. "Your father and I love you." Suddenly her mother had let go of her and was pushing her towards the tunnel. She wanted to fight back. She wanted to break free of her mother's grip and bolt through the trees and up the hillside to her house. She could tell her father her mom had lost it.

But the light at the end began to shine and sparkle and she found herself drawn to it, like a moth to flame. She was the fragile moth, and the light would set her afire. She couldn't stop herself though. Chihiro was still at the entrance to the tunnel and not one step past.

"Aicho. If… If you meet a boy named Kohaku… hit him. Hit him harder than that boy who made your friend Suzaka cry in sixth gra-"And then her voice was gone, and the only sound that could be heard was the wind whistling through the tunnel.

And then she was walking through a decrepit room with high windows and a leaf covered floor. The paint was crumbling off the walls, and the wind whipped past her, rushing back down the tunnel from where she had entered. She didn't like the feel of the room and quickly rushed towards the only exit that could be seen. A grassy hill sat nestled in front of her with a single river running from between one nestle of trees, alongside the hill, past the buildings entrance, and into another section of woods. She wondered if it was possible to walk into the trees, keeping alongside the building, until she met back up at the end of the tunnel where she last saw her mother. Something inside her told her to never try. Something instinctual.

She crossed the river easily enough, and slowly climbed the hill, straining to see what was on the other side. The grass was a bit slippery and wet, even though it was towards the end of the day. She wondered if it was possible that it had rained here before it was about to hit town.

Finally, lights came into view. Bright, colorful lights.

Then she smelt the food.

…

A/N: Thanks for reading my revised version. I hope you guys like it better than the drabble I had before. And if you didn't read what I had before, well congratulations. You got to go through life without wasting a couple minutes trying to piece through my terrible grammar and limited plot structure.