Chapter one- Memories 11/25/2011

Disclaimer: It breaks my heart to say this but I don't own spirited away- sniffle.

Introduction notes: Hello all you readers,

Just a brief word saying that this is a re-vision and or final of my ruff story that I had up. This one actually has a plot line so it should be much easier to understand, please REVIEW ME! I love my reviews! Will say more in official author notes at end of chapter.

-SF Geronimo (enjoy )

"Will I ever see you again?"

"Yes"

"You promise?"

"Promise. Now go and whatever you do don't look back."

"Haku, finally I've found you!"

"No, you shouldn't be here. Leave."

"What?"

"Leave this place, run away and never return."

"But, Haku!"

"And if I ever see you again, I'll have to kill you!"

"What's wrong with this place? It looks just like my world, but worse."

"The balance is off, our world is dying and must take life from yours. But it takes life already tainted with neglect and so dies faster."

"Is there any way to stop it?"

"Yes, you must open your book to page 183."

"What?"

"Open your book to page 183."

(Chihiro POV)

"Open your books to page 183 class." I could barely make out what the muffled voice was saying, let alone figure out who it was. The light that greeted my eyes was white and slightly artificial, agitating my already fuzzy vision. I rubbed my tired eyes and allowed my foggy brain to adjust itself to reality. My eyes popped wide open and I sat straight up, hearing a satisfying series of bone crunching cracks and pops release from my back as I did. I quickly realized that I had been daydreaming- in class- AGAIN!

"Ouch!" I yelped after I felt something rudely jab me in my tender ribs, I looked over and saw the culprit was one of my friends, Sachi. She was spazzing out and dramatically glancing between Sensei ayumi and I while madly flipping around the thin pages of her history book.

"What?" I asked her, she looked like she might be having a heart attack or something. She rolled her eyes, and started mouthing something that I couldn't make out. She began to repeatedly poke a random page in her book, while mouthing the same words over and over again.

"Seriously, Sachi what is it? I don't know what your saying." She shook her head violently, changing her hand gestures again like she was playing charades or something. "Sachi, I don't think this is the best time to be playing charades, we might get in trouble." Her face turned a bright red, and she looked about ready to erupt. It sort of reminded me of some old American cartoons I had seen where if a person gets mad the fill up with red and start spewing steam from their ears and nose.

"ACK! CHIHIRO I WAS TRYING TO TELL YOU TO TURN TO-" a ruler whizzed past my ear and slapped forcefully down on my desk, causing me to practically jump out of my seat.

"Chihiro san! Sachi san! Would you care to tell me why you are disrupting the class!" Our history teacher looked down at us with that disgusted look of hers, drawing a slight breath when she looked over at Sachi's book.

"And Sachi! You aren't even on the right page!" I hesitantly glanced down at Sachi's book, and sure enough in her made little game of "guess what I'm trying to say" she had forgotten to flip her own page back. But wait-

"Huh?" I whispered quietly to myself, my book was on the right page! I looked to my left at the boy sitting next to me, he flashed me with a classic juvenile grin and I rolled my eyes. I always had to put up with this, why wouldn't they just leave me alone? The last place I wanted to be right now was a sophomore in Highschool, surrounded by dumbstruck boys, status greedy girls, and clueless teachers.

"RING" the bell that signaled the end of school, chirped loudly in my ear causing my head to throb and feel like it might explode.

"Ouch." I covered my ears with my hands, pressing them together as hard as I could like I might be able to block out the noise by doing so. Of course, that just caused the noise to rattle around inside my cupped hands, making it even more unbearable. It was times like this when it seemed as though nothing could possibly have gotten any worse, that fate found a way to prove me wrong.

"Hey, Chihiro?" I felt a something warm rest on my shoulder, squeezing it a little. I looked up hoping that maybe today was the day he had come for me. "You should come over to my place after school, my parents are gone and I have the whole place to myself." But things could always get worse, the last person I wanted to see right now was Hikaru. His voice burned in my ears, it was so coarse and loud and nothing like Haku's own soothing melody. I sighed heavily in disappointment, I didn't want to deal with any boy asking me out or inviting me over or drooling at me today, in fact I didn't really want to deal with it any day.

"Look, Hikaru. I'm not really interested, sorry." I quickly stood up from my chair, hoping he would let go of me and get the message. All the other girls here throw themselves at him, including Sachi. I could never be attracted to his burly figure though, even if he was two years younger so that he was my age. I think its sick, I can't bring myself to accept boys. I feel like I'd be cheating on him, betraying his trust that was so hard to gain in the first place.

"Hey, I don't take no for an answer." His grip only tightened, and his hoarse voice took on a malicious tone that sent shivers down my spine. I was scared, and truly petrified with fear. He forced me to turn around and face him, my eyes burned from his breath that was sharp with the smell of mint.

"I'm really not interested, please let me go." I felt myself shrink back under his intimidating glare, all I wanted was for Haku to show up and knock this guy out. All I wanted was for Haku to come and take me to my real home in the spirit world, all I wanted was for Haku to come back for me. But even memories of his promise weren't enough to fight the fear that riddled my whole body, forcing me to tremble like a leaf that was desperately holding onto its home, not wanting to leave.

"Aww, is the little mouse scared?" he said, his voice growing even more brutal as his mind became clouded. I suddenly realized that he wasn't going to let me leave without a yes on a visit to his house, it sent another wave of fear crashing through my body that was shaking violently. I started to fight against his grip, struggling to free myself from his massive hands.

"No! Stop it!" I screamed, hoping some school facility or another teacher might hear me. I felt wet droplets racing down my cheeks, I was paralyzed with fear and realized the feeling was slightly familiar. I remembered when I was first trapped in the spirit world about five years ago, I was all alone and I cowered under the brutal nature of the spirit world without even so much as an inkling of an urge to fight back. This was history repeating itself, only this time Haku wasn't here to save me.

"C'mon little mouse! You know you- Huh?" Suddenly a gust of wind buffeted us both, immediately I thought one thing- Haku. And despite my position I began to look around eagerly for a boy with emerald eyes, or a slender-bodied white dragon. But the only thing that I saw was a shadow that had no owner, or at least one that I could see. "Huh?" Hikaru said, somewhat stunned from the blast of icy wind. I took my chance to escape while he was distracted and did the first thing that popped into my mind.

"I said STOP IT!" I screamed at him, and kneed him sharply in the groin. He collapsed to the ground, curling with pain into a fetal position. I wasted no time in scrambling out the door, my feet slid a little as I ran with clumsy steps away from the terrifying scene. Water blurred my vision as I burst through the doors of the school, running down the blocks to my secret place where I felt safe.

"Hey! Watch it!"

"Get out of the road!"

"Move it lady!" I paid no attention to the people who shouted rude comments and critically watched me run straight up the middle of the lane, my head was buried in my hands as I ran blindly to the one place where my questions could be answered. I was running to his river, to a place where he was still connected and where I could make believe I was talking to him. Thankfully it wasn't to far from my house, just over a few hills behind the other houses in my neighborhood and further into the forest thicket just before the leveled land disappears completely under giant trees. Running through what I presumed to be most of the forest was the mighty Kohaku river that had been re-routed underneath the apartments that were now abandoned. Everyone had thought the apartments were haunted by the dead spirit who guarded this river, but I knew very well that spirit wasn't dead, or at least I thought so. I often thought of wandering into the forest to find a larger part of the river, but I knew of the old stories and rumors that any mortal who enters that forest will never come back alive.

"Haku? Haku! Please, Please Haku. I don't know how much longer I can wait for you, I don't know how much longer I can believe you." I knew in my heart that if I had to, I could've waited till the day I died to see the river spirit again. But I also knew that every day I went without him the tear in my heart grew a little bigger, the hope in my mind became a little smaller, and the will to live went a little faster.

"Please, Haku. Just this one time, answer me please." I didn't even get to finish my question before I felt my body break down in tears again. Forlorn sobs riddled my body encouraging it to fall, and being met with no resistance the skin on my knees felt the cool, damp grass that blanketed the clearing. Sadly this conversation wasn't at all strange to me, in fact this was how I had ended my day for the past couple of years. I had ended my day in pitiful cries to the one who never answered them, yet for some reason after almost five and a half years I still gave him my tears.

"Please Haku, I have to see you again. I don't care how or where but sometime soon, I think I'm beginning to lose hope Haku. Please don't let me lose hope, don't let me doubt the truth behind your promise." My heart ached under the weight of a promise that he made the last time I saw him, one that was not yet fulfilled. I squeezed my eyes tighter, causing more tears to fall freely down my face and into the waters of his river. All I wanted was to know that he truly meant what he had said, and it wasn't just something to make me leave.

"If you're out there, just send me a sign or something, anything, I need to know you're there Haku." I managed to tear my hands away from my face to look up at the evening sky that was dotted with a million stars that glittered against their navy blue canvas. I didn't care for the stars though, I was just watching, waiting for a sign that he was listening to me, that he heard me. But non-such came, this I should've been used to too.

"Excuse me?" I felt my body freeze but my mind began to run a million thoughts at once. Could it be him? Did he finally come back for me? My heart leapt up my throat, like it was trying to get a peek outside my mouth to see whom the mystery man was.

"Hey, you okay there?" the voice belonged to a teenager, it sounded like a voice that was young and lively, a voice I hadn't heard in a long time. My heart couldn't bear it any longer and before I knew it my legs had danced around each other and I was facing the sweet melody that rang through my ears. I eagerly popped my eyes open, sure of the fact that this voice belonged to none other than Haku. A figure stepped out of the shadows of the forest and into the light of the streetlamps that strangely seemed to glow fiercer with every step he took closer. Out of the darkness stepped a figure with stunning black hair that shamed the night and reached down to his shoulders, his form was tall, thin but muscled like a biker might be.

"Haku?" I questioned, my heart was racing faster and faster with every step this young man took toward me. I caught myself holding my breath as he ducked out from under the final covers of the shadows lifting his head revealing his identity.

"Huh? Is there someone else with us?" I felt my heart drop down farther than I thought it could go, maybe with no return. My hope was completely shattered after one look at his eyes, they were no shade of stunning emerald green but held the hue of amber instead. I felt myself begin to cry again and I turned away, burying my face in my hands once again.

"Hey now, I know I'm not the prettiest thing but am I really that ugly?" I couldn't help but find that even when everything seemed sad and lost, I could still discover laughter inside. I let out a few small giggles before wiping my eyes with the back of my hand and turning around to meet him again.

"No, ha-ha. Its not you, I just thought you were someone else. But if you don't mind my asking, who are you anyway?" I sized the stranger up, inspecting his every detail on the outside and on his personality. That oddly familiar inkling made its way to the front of my mind, I felt a loud gasp come up to my mouth and I quickly brought my hands there to prevent any more from escaping.

"To be honest, I don't really know. But it looks to me like you might?" I couldn't help but giggle again, the carefree attitude of this stranger was highly addicting.

"Say, have you ever seen the movie Howl's moving Castle? If you were anyone I would say you look exactly like the great Howl himself, he is a wizard. But, all except for your eyes." It was true, he was a spitting image of howl but his eyes weren't that crystalline blue, they were extraordinary amber that seemed like the gem itself. And he also looked to be about a year and a half older than me, it was a wonder in never saw him around school because I surely would've remembered him. He cocked his head to the side, laughing in a carefree way just like Howl did.

"Good to know someone knows who I might be, now might I ask who you are?" He asked me, and who was I to deny him?

"Chihiro, Chihiro Ogino." I said, but the howl-like teen was staring back into the darkness. I peeked out from behind him to see what he might be staring at with narrowed eyebrows so hard. But only the blackness of the night greeted me, I thought maybe he might be delusional or something until the vile smell of rotting flesh caught my nose, and the sound of malicious laughter filled my ears. I looked up at him and he must've noticed I was frightened because I suddenly felt his hand on my shoulder.

"Hey, don't be alarmed but I forgot to mention I was being followed. Now you don't want these mangy mutts on your trail so do me a favor and think of a place you really want to be right now okay?" He said to me with a re-assuring voice, his kind eyes forcing me to trust that whatever he was going to do would work.

"Okay." I said, nodding back to him. He smiled to me again and stepped back, away from the cackling of whatever was pursuing him.

"Good, now just close your eyes and picture the place you want to go to. And don't stop thinking about it until you are on solid ground okay!" I didn't have time to question anything else he said, because my world suddenly felt like it was spinning violently around, thrusting me into some tornado of blackness.

"Ouch!" I yelped as I hit the ground hard, I lay there for a moment sprawled out on the cold ground looking up at the evening sky trying to figure out what in the world just happened. It didn't take long before I began to grasp where I was, the forest crowded me on both sides squeezing the dirt road that was overgrown with weeds between both its forested sides. I noticed the fresh footprints in the grass, they had been made yesterday as I had visited this very place like I did almost every day.

"Maybe, today is the day." I whispered to myself, warm thoughts and memories flooded my body just thinking about what could've been on the other side of the red, plaster amusement park building looming over me in the moonlight.

"Maybe, just maybe. Today is the day." I said again, this time with more confidence. I stood for a moment, listening to my voice echo throughout the dead silent tunnel. Without warning I bolted, running through the lonely corridor as fast as I possibly could. I was chasing my destiny, and it was waiting for me on the other side where the moonlight shined brightly.

"Haku! I'm coming!" I shouted into the blinding light that greeted me at the edge of the tunnel, the air immediately felt colder and it pricked my skin with icy nips. I felt a huge grin spread across my face as I made my way up to the top of the hill where I could see everything I ever remembered. Where I could see the spirit world.

Author's Note:

So, what did you guys think? Please tell me it was better than my other first chapter. Anyway, wanted to portray Chihiro's sorrow further and her isolation. BTW, I came up with Hero as a carefree character before I even knew what howls moving castle was, I thought it was kinda spooky how closely they matched. Anyway, I didn't model Hero after Howl, they just happened to be REALLY similar just Hero really cannot- oops! Cant give away to much, please review me and tell me how I did!