Hello. Hope you are well and okay :)
Just last 1 and a half month ago, i got the opportunity to watch 'Spirited away' and by God, i fell in love with it by the time it came to end. Even though, Miyazaki assured us that Chihiro and Kohaku will meet again someday, i couldn't help but wonder, that how their reunion would have been like?
And it was because of those reasons, i wrote this story. It's a multi-chapter fic and my take on that how Chihiro and Kohaku got reunited.
Hope you guys like it!
Also, i don't own spirited away or the places mentioned in this story, except for OCs.
Chapter 01
Lamenting
"What's wrong with you?! Why the heck are you so clumsy?!"
The words echoed in the still air, harsh and cold, their impact feeling like a ton of bricks being rained upon. Though the realization felt much later, for Chihiro was more focused on the choice of words picked up by her granddaughter. If it weren't for her being elder and overall upholding a traditional culture in the house, Chihiro was sure that instead of word 'heck', the word 'hell' would have been used there. Or if going bolder, 'Fuck' it would have been.
Chihiro stared down. The antique glass bowl was shattered in pieces, its shards scattered everywhere on a floor like hailstones on a street after a storm. Then there was this trifle splattered amidst them, its layers of jelly, chopped fruits, cake and of course custard was coming apart.
Such a waste, Chihiro thought.
She then looked at her hands. They had stopped shaking now. Such betrayers they were. A moment ago, they were trembling like there was no tomorrow. It was like an earthquake was surging through her body, causing tremors in her limbs and to her very tips of her fingers. And before she could even register what was happening, her veined hands quivered and smash! The piece of crockery was already on the floor, broken.
Third time this has happened in a week. The amount of things dropped has increased in total. Adding this one now, the figure would be 14.
It seemed like the doctor was wrong. 'Parkinson' was making its way towards her quicker than they anticipated.
Just then they heard a pair of feet racing in a corridor. After a minute, Hinami burst into the living room, panting.
"I heard something and…" She stopped speaking, because the answer was right in front of her.
"Sure you did" Kiyomi replied, rolling her eyes.
Hinami didn't say anything. She was staring at the mess. Meanwhile Chihiro was peering at her face. Maybe she might be imagining things, but she saw a flicker of frustrated expression crossing her eldest granddaughter's face. It was barely there for a second, but there nonetheless.
Chihiro couldn't blame her there. The task of picking up the tiny splinters, all the while being careful, so as to not get pierced by it and moping the surface was all too tedious.
Hinami forced herself into a weak smile.
"It's alright, no big deal. I will clean it up and then I shall fetch you another bowl of trifle, okay grandma?"
Kiyomi snorted "Save yourself big sister, you are just increasing your workload by offering her more dessert when it's bound to be on the dumps either way"
"Kiyomi!" Hinami uttered, anger and disbelieve lacing her tone "Behave yourself!"
"No need to be angry on her Hinami chan" Chihiro said softly "Thank you for the offer but I am not hungry anymore. I am going to rest"
And with that, she left the room, feet shuffling in her fluffy slippers. Before leaving, she however audibly whispered "I am sorry…"
Despite leaving the room, she stood in the hallway, waiting. Her granddaughters were arguing now.
"What's the matter with you?!" Hinami asked "Why did you have to talk to her like that?! She's your..."
"Grandma!" Kiyomi replied, perfectly mimicking her sister's voice.
"How dare you…" Hinami seethed in rage.
"Don't give me that look sis!" Kiyomi replied, equally annoyed "Admit it! You yourself are tired. The only difference is I express and you don't!"
Hinami sighed, but didn't say anything. There was no need to anyway. The sigh said it all. All of them were tired of her clumsiness and the accidents she caused, her old age and the effects of it. And if it wasn't bad enough already, they now had to cope up with her Parkinson as well, which was slowly catching up. She was anchoring them all.
Chihiro breathed and started making her way towards the bedroom. She didn't want to listen anymore. Besides, she already knew. There was no point at all, listening into their conservation.
But it was painful. The truth cut into her deeply, like a rusted dagger which was slowly mutilating her insides, each jab creating a new wound, from which sadness leaked. And what made it worst was, she can't do anything about it. There wasn't any solution to stop ageing now, was it? Otherwise Chihiro would have long ago taken it and implemented it on herself by now. Science still has a long way to go.
It's only a matter of time, before she dies from slow bleeding.
Lying in her bed, Chihiro collected her thoughts. Life is so strange. It first makes you think that it will keep on going. And it does, for a while at least. But while it's pacing ahead, you don't realize that you are also decomposing too. It starts from the edges, like fire catching on paper from corners and then slowly gathering in a shape of circle, until only ashes and burned fragments are left.
The problem was; Chihiro was still burning. She really didn't mind death. What was the point of being afraid of it when you know it's inevitable? At least it wasn't anything like life. Life would keep on stretching you. Death wouldn't do that. It was instant.
Chihiro turned sideways, now coming across the empty bedside which once was previously occupied by her deceased husband; Hiroto Futoshi.
Fingering the silky bed sheets, the old woman paused. Maybe she's being too judgmental. Life give her so many beautiful moments to cherish upon like; graduating with a good college degree which was worthy. Working hard in a job that she finally got the promotion. Then meeting the love of her life. Marrying the said love. Becoming a mother of two beautiful sons; Noburu and Ryou. Raising them and making them respectable individuals of the society. Then seeing them getting settled.
It was overall a beautiful journey. There was no denying that.
But the journey has to end someday. Hiroto was so lucky. He found his destination, while she was still finding hers.
The wait wouldn't have been so bad, if only the old age wasn't overwhelming her. If only, her family wasn't acting so impatient…
Chihiro clutched the sheets, fat tears now leaking past from her crow feet bordered eyes. After all this time, she still cried big tears. The only change that came was ,no howling was accompanied with it.
Hugging herself, she cried at the realization; she has become a burden. And she knows that there's nothing she can do about it. Neither would she fault her family. Their reactions are understandable when seeing from their perspective.
All she can do for now is bear it all. But this alone action was proving to be too much. It's like someone has splashed a can of paint of stagnancy all over her and now the stains won't come off.
Sleep followed crying. Though before drifting off to a harmless world of dreams, she prayed.
"Kami Sama…..i know I really shouldn't…but I am tired. Please have some mercy on me"
After a couple of days.
The whole family was already sitting around the dining table, by the time Chihiro arrived for breakfast. Honoka let out a cry of joy before jumping down from a chair and rushing towards Chihiro to hug her, or at least what her height allowed her to.
"Good morning grandma!"
Chihiro bended down slightly so as to kiss her youngest granddaughter's cheek "Good morning Honoka chan!" she chuckled softly "How are you my dear?"
"Fine!" Honoka beamed widely.
"Come join us Mum" Madoka, wife of Ryou, politely offered, dragging the other chair backwards in process.
"Thank you Madoka Chan" Chihiro replied, taking her seat whilst running her wrinkly hand on Quon's hair in affection. Quon smiled in response.
"What would you like Mum?" Eriko, wife of Noboru asked "Eggs, porridge or crumpets?"
"I would have…."Chihiro paused suddenly "Toast is fine, thank you" She finished.
"Here you go"
Chihiro silently nibbled the toast, pondering on her actions. She was going to say eggs, but decided against it, afraid that her hands might start trembling again, afraid that she might drop something again. At least with toast, there's no hassle of eating it with the help of cutlery.
Chihiro sighed at this. Becoming paranoid about her weakness, to the point that now she's deciding what to eat…..how miserable could the situation get.
Her train of thoughts were however interrupted, when Noburu cleared his throat.
"Mum, Ryou and I were discussing about taking a road trip this coming week"
"Oh, that's nice! Where to?"
"To Daisetsuzan!" Ryou answered "Do you remember the trip we took, back when we were kids?"
"How can I forget that Ryou san! It's one of the fondest memories I still relish upon" Chihiro said, smiling. She then added "You should go. You people will have lot of fun there"
"What are you talking about mum?" Noburu frowned, while at the same time, stuffing his mouth with a fried bacon.
"Huh?"
"All of us are going! It's a family outing!"
"Oh"
"And it's rather convenient too!" Eriko chirped in "With kids having a spring break, we don't need to worry about anything!"
"I agree" Madoka nodded.
"We are going to have so much fun!" Hinami exclaimed excitedly.
"Yes fun!" all the little kids chorused in unison.
While plans were being discussed, Chihiro drank the tea, carefully cradling the warm cup between her palms.
'Maybe she could catch a break...'
Daisetsuzan national park is the largest park of Japan, located somewhere in the center of northern mountains. It is famous for its peaks, rivers and not to forget, thick forests.
On the day of trip, The Futoshis took their cars and from Sapporo, they started their journey.
Chihiro really enjoyed the road trip; the warm rays of sun with clouds occasionally filtering it and the cool wind caressing her face, felt really pleasant. While watching the scenery from the car window, she tuned in on and off of singing of her grandchildren, in the background.
"Row, row!
Row your boat!
Gently down the stream!
And if you see a crocodile,
Don't forget to scream!
Row, row!
Row your boat!
Gently down the stream!
And if you see a crocodile,
Don't forget to scream!
Ahhh!"
The children laughed, their sound soothing Chihiro's nerves.
Who says you can't have a heaven on earth, when your closed ones are by your side. They are more than enough, Chihiro concluded.
How wrong she was.
After a well-deserved rest, the family was now relaxing on a spot, near Ishikari River. The women were busy marinating the meat for barbeque, while the men collected the woods for fire. Children were playing and swimming in the stream, but close enough to the shore for the current was a little fast.
Chihiro was sitting on a lawn chair, reading a book by Dale Carnegie. Every now and then, she would look up and wander her gaze around the thick foliage of trees surrounding them. It was simply fascinating.
"But mummy! I want those rainbow pebbles! Can't I go by myself?" Honoka pleaded.
"No Honoka! I won't let you! The stream is fast! Someone has to accompany you!" Madoka replied, shaving a pile of potatoes with a peeler.
"But everyone is busy!" Honoka whined.
"Not everyone" Madoka spared a glance and her eyes landed on her second oldest daughter "Kiyomi! Accompany your little sister in collecting pebbles!"
"Rainbow pebbles!" the little girl corrected.
"Mum!" Kiyomi uttered, annoyed "Can't you see I am taking a sunbath! Ask someone else!"
"Kiyomi!"
While the mother and daughter were arguing among themselves, Chihiro stood up, closing her book. She would finish this chapter later.
"I don't give a damn about those pebbles! She's going to lose them later anyway!" Kiyomi hissed.
"I won't!" Honoka said, stamping her foot in anger.
"Girls please!" Madoka said "You both are giving me a headache!"
"Blame the pipsqueak!"
"I will accompany her!"
The females stopped arguing and looked up to see Chihiro standing nearby.
"But Mama….." Madoka begin, but Kiyomi cut her off.
"There you go! Grandma is willing to volunteer! Problem solved!"
"Yay! Let's go grand-ma!" Honoka cheered.
"Okay" Chihiro smiled, taking Honoka's hand in hers.
"Are you going to be alright Mum?" Madoka asked, concern flitting across her face.
"We are going to be fine, Madoka chan. We will come back as soon as we can" Chihiro assured.
"Okay" Madoka said uncertainly "Honoka don't bother Grandma too much!"
"I won't" Honoka promised.
And with that, Chihiro and Honoka started walking away.
"Be careful!" Madoka called out.
"We will!"
They didn't go that far. They could still see their family.
Chihiro looked at the water that was gushing in front of them. Madoka was right be worried. The velocity was really fast. Unconsciously she tightened her grasp on Honoka's hand.
"Look grandma look! There they are! The rainbow pebbles!" the little girl shouted in excitement.
"Where?"
"There!"
Chihiro peered towards the direction where the girl pointed. Indeed, just on the shore, a fine layer of pebbles could be seen. From afar, it looked like someone had streaked a rainbow on it by mistake, when it should have been painted on the skies. Though upon reaching there, they found out, that the stones weren't anything like rainbow. They were individually sporting different colors; red, blue, green, yellow, orange, purple, you name it. The sunlight glinting on them, give the illusion that they were of rainbow tone, when they really weren't.
"Aren't they pretty grandma?"
"That they are"
As it turns out, this collecting business was rather fun. The duo collected stones of various shades and tones, each of them strikingly beautiful.
The basket was now almost full.
"I think that's enough for today. Noi, Honoka chan?" Chihiro asked.
"Yes! It is! Thank you so much Grandma!"
"You are welcome sweetheart. Now come on, let's go, your mother must be worried sick!"
"Okay! Let's…..oh! Wait!" Honoka said, halting all of sudden.
"What is it?"
"I don't have that stone!"
"What?"
"I don't have that stone in my collection! Look Grandma, it's right there"
Chihiro looked up and could already feel the traces of reluctance slipping in her body. She was getting tired. Damn old age! Plus the stone was lying in one of those boulders, which were naturally moored in the water. To reach there, crossing was a necessity, which really wasn't the wisest idea, not with the current state of river, it wasn't.
The old woman tried to divert her granddaughter's attention.
"Honoka chan! Look you already have so many stones! You don't need another one now, do you?"
"But I want it! I will be quick grandma!" With that, Honoka tore her hand away from Chihiro's grasp and skipped her way towards the shore.
"Wait! No!" Chihiro almost shrieked in panic "Look out for river!"
In a haste to ensure safety, Chihiro raced ahead, not seeing where she was stepping. As a result, her feet landed on a sharp rock, which poked her skin uncomfortably.
"Ouch! And whoa!"
Chihiro felt her heart jumping from her chest to her throat, as she slipped on pebbles and fell down with a loud thud. Unfortunately most of her body was doused in water, so before she could even dig her fingers on a gravel for a good grip, she was swept away by waves.
"Grandma!"
The old woman flapped her arms and legs on the water, but it was proving fruitless. The surf was closing in.
So concentrated Chihiro was in getting out of water, she didn't realize where the wave was taking her off to.
"Lookout grandma!"
Too late; THUD!
Chihiro whole body slammed against the boulder, quite hard. The impact knocked the air out of her.
Though the boulder blocked her from being carried away, it did at the cost of strength. Chihiro could feel herself slumping downwards. She didn't have an ounce of power to stay upright.
In minutes she was submerged in river. But instead of water gushing in her nostrils and in her mouth and in her ears, something else came floating in.
Something white, bordered with green. The green was soft. And then, out of nothing, a split reel bounced in front of her from which the stock started unraveling by itself. The stock contained an assortment of photos; a little brown hair girl who was wearing a striped green-white shirt and pink shorts, a big house whose façade was made of red bricks, a horde of people racing down the steps who strangely look like they could be relatives of frogs, an old woman whose head was too big for her body, a man with so many spider like arms and lastly, a dragon.
Something was buzzing from the roll, as though thousands of voices were coming from it,all at once.
"My old school was better…."
"Why should I hire you? You look like a weak, spoiled crybaby!"
"You're really clumsy"
"I want Sen! I want Sen!"
"Chihiro. What a pretty name!"
"Will we meet again?"
"Yes hopefully….."
Meet again? But with whom?
This was the last thought Chihiro clung to, before she was sucked in the very realm of the unconsciousness.
Let me know your thoughts in your reviews :)
~Noni.