Disclaimer: I do not own Spirited Away in any way whatsoever. I also do not lay claim to Tennyson's Tears, Idle Tears, part of which is used in this chapter.

I apologise in advance for any mistakes or offending statements (if any). They are purely unintentional.

Chapter 1

Gods and mortals – they were never meant to exist side by side.

One lived as long as time never erred. The other would be crushed in a breath of unfortunate circumstance.

One was born, gifted and free, to shape and protect the world. The other, bound to necessities, faced an inevitable existence of toil and struggle for a rightful place among his peers.

The Universe directed that they should never meet, and thus had been the precept - until now.

On the lush, wind-tussled boundary of two parallel realms, an innocent promise was made between a young spirit and a little human girl – a promise to meet again. And in that moment, time froze.

"Curse is come upon us!" cried the Enchantress, as the veil crumbled and gave way to the collision of two worlds.

"Tears, idle tears, I know not what they mean,
Tears from the depths of some divine despair
Rise in the heart, and gather to the eyes,
In looking on the happy autumn fields,
And thinking of the days that are no more."

"Tennyson," Chihiro murmured as her professor smiled at her.

"That's right, Miss Ogino. Looks like you have kept up your readings," he said approvingly.

Ogino Chihiro, a full-fledged nineteen-year-old, sat in the front row of her university lecture theatre. She had decided to pursue a Literature major after the rite of passage known as high school, much to the bewilderment of those around her.

Nobody had believed her.

Chihiro had been a quiet child. Perhaps quiet was not quite the right word…. She was not overly talkative, but did her fair share of chattering with her peers. Nevertheless, it seemed that the conversations never revolved around her. She would enthuse over her friends' affairs like a good friend should, but she never indulged herself in actively chatting about her family, her crushes, about what she did on Saturday and so forth. And that suited everyone just fine, for children at that stage – really, they were just aching to show off.

She was not what you would call animated either. Naturally, as a human she was entitled to happiness, sadness, annoyance and the lot, but they were never shown to a great degree or excessively. She had not been the kind of child to cry just because she wanted the "blue" pencil and got the green one, or the kind to holler incessantly in an echoing living room just to make a show of throwing a temper, to the chagrin of adults. And in her teenage years, she had never made it a point to get into "catfights" over a certain boy, or to, as the saying goes, dance till the cows come home.

"Yes, Chihiro-chan is a most delightful student, never giving me any trouble at all," her elementary homeroom teacher had gushed during meet-the-parents, "Although, I do wonder sometimes how she gets along with the rest of the children. I mean, she is so different…"

And then, "OH of course she does answer my questions, always very correct and proper too, never speaks out of turn. I always tell the rest of the class to follow her example. I mean, how different she is from them all rascals!" when her parents wondered anxiously if she did not participate in class.

"But I think, that she can be like the others now and then, you see what I mean? Kids ought to be a little naughty, yes? I mean, (well I seem to mean a lot of things) it builds their confidence and creativity, doesn't it? But that's all really, Ogino-san; I'm sure she'll turn out to be a fine young woman. "

That had seemed to be the generally accepted dictum of Chihiro by the adults around her. To them, she was a diffident and good child, and someone even suggested to Mrs Ogino that they should take her to drama or speech class. Her friends, on the other hand, thought that she was a nice girl and liked her enough.

All in all, these traits were hardly those looked to in a student of Literature – a subject characterised by its expressiveness and insight into human nature. But, all in all, people had been mistaken in their judgement, too.

Chihiro was by no means shy or impassive, and she had no less confidence than most either. She was simply discreet, unselfish and mature.

She knew the right time and the right place to do the right thing. She knew that throwing tantrums would not get her anywhere, nor would fighting and arguing – it would just destroy her parents' trust in her and her friendships, both of which she treasured very much. She also knew that it was not too healthy for her to get caught up in the moment and do something that she might regret later, and after all, the moment would eventually pass like all things do in life. But most of all, she knew that she should never take anything for granted, because more often than not, when one finally learns to cherish them, they fall.

God knows where this maturity of hers had stemmed from, and perhaps God does know where. But most had simply attributed this to her upbringing and personality, as if having forgotten that there had been a time when she was simply a spoiled brat. It had all seemed so natural, and yet unnatural at the same time – her transferring to a new school and growing up practically overnight. Her parents had accepted this fact quite happily, since it lifted so many inconveniences from their shoulders, and never questioned it again, as if fearing that doing so might trigger the opposite. And besides, the change had not been too obvious in the beginning – small things like not fussing over their moving to a new prefecture, lending a hand around the kitchen, and so on.

Chihiro herself, however, had been quite stunned at her own change. She had felt that after emerging from the red brick tunnel with her parents – had it already been nine years ago? – she had awoken a more matured girl who could suddenly put things into perspective, much like what the aftereffects of a mid-life crisis would feel. A single thought had flown through her mind then, as she looked at the car that was invaded by moss: I need to treasure these things, or I just might lose them.

Nevertheless, she could not, for the life of her, remember just what had triggered this new-found awareness. Somehow, she had felt that exploring the old tunnel had not been her only activity that afternoon, but that was a preposterous idea. After all, it had simply been a run-down abandoned amusement park entrance that had yielded nothing singularly attractive on the other side. Or had it…?

"Yes, Miss Ogino? Please continue. That was very good."

Chihiro started. She stared at her professor for a while, uncomprehending.

The professor – Professor Wright– was really quite an old man, fully equipped with white hair, white beard and a pair of exaggerated glasses that fell neatly on his nose-bridge, just enough to miss his eyes. Really, seeing as how he was already so fuzzy and white, he might as well be one of the famous Wright brothers himself! His voice was also crackling and rusted – definitely a disadvantage in the formidable lecture theatre. Perhaps it was suitably fortunate that he had such a small class (amounting to 10 students in total), and after all, it was only a side course - English poetry - to the main Literature course, so he could not possibly have had high expectations for the outcome.

The professor cleared his throat again – its effect diminished by age. Somewhere, a girl giggled.

Chihiro snapped back to attention at once and blushed. "I'm sorry, Professor. I was – well, I was – erm, I honestly don't know how I had wandered off."

Professor Wright gave a shrewd glance to his favourite student, and Chihiro felt uncomfortably as if she was being appraised.

Then he beamed. "That's quite alright, Miss Ogino! We all have these little – ah – private moments, if I may say so myself. Too bad, though, that was a fabulous explanation you've got there a while ago. You may sit now."

Turning abruptly, he called out, "Miss Kaname!"

The seat next to Chihiro shook violently as Kaname Reiko shot up in a flurry of stationery. "Yes, sir!"

"Please explain the last two lines of the first stanza of Tennyson's Tears, Idle Tears," the professor instructed, a twinkle of amusement in his blue eyes.

"...It means that he is looking at the happy fields in autumn, and that he is thinking of the days that have passed."

Silence reigned for a few seconds as the professor waited – perhaps naïvely – for the next words that would never come.

"And that is all, Miss Kaname?"

"Yes, sir," Reiko said in all due solemnity.

Professor Wright clucked his tongue reprovingly, "You, young woman, need to do better. I know you're not stupid, come on now."

The class snorted.

Reiko threw her head back indignantly. "But I did do better! At least I got the "past" part right. Do you remember what I said the last lesson? I said – "

"And that is nothing to be proud of," he cut in hastily before he could be forced to relive her particularly gruesome response in her earlier attempt. "Please, try again, or I'll be forced to fail you."

"Well, I suppose he is sad, because he is reliving the past. I'm right, aren't I?" Reiko grinned, seeming to be extremely pleased with herself.

The professor looked relieved. "And…? The past, why the past?"

Reiko looked contemplative for a moment, "Perhaps because the past could never catch up with him again…"

Chihiro looked at Reiko in her rare (or perhaps not so rare after all) moment of thoughtfulness. She felt a dull pang in her chest. Perhaps because the past could never catch up with him again…the past…the past…?

Then, as if replaying a broken tape, the images started to run again. A flash of azure sky, reflections of a sparkling sea, a beautiful old bathhouse, a steamy boiler room and a graceful white dragon...

Somewhere in her peripheral consciousness, she faintly registered Reiko's words as she continued to drawl through her explanations…

And then, blackness.

.

.

.

"Oh, when is she going to wake up…" a distinctly distressed female voice murmured.

"I had no idea Ogino-san was anaemic…"

"She must have fainted from your ridiculous answer, Reiko-san." A smack sounded, followed by more sniffing.

"Doctor, how is she?"

More voices.

"Oh dear, should I ring her parents? But aren't they in Kyoto now…" This one sounded like a feeble croak.

"They'll be no use, I reckon."

"But they should be notified, shouldn't they?"

"I don't think we're helping, are we?" A sigh. "Kaname-san, calm yourself."

"But what should we do?" The female voice wailed again.

"Doctor…"

"ALL RIGHT, all of you, OUT," the stern voice of the doctor boomed. There was a pause of silence, followed almost immediately by a fresh wave of racket.

Chihiro finally cracked open an eye – and was immediately blinded by the flashing white teeth of one Kaname Reiko.

"SHE'S AWAKE!"

Chihiro finally gathered that she was in the university infirmary. She also noticed her friend's teary face just inches from her own. She chuckled inwardly. Trust Reiko to fool around one moment and become completely emotional the next…

"I see you're alright now, Ogino-san," the doctor said as he scribbled on his clipboard. "You should be fine to go home later today. It was just a bout of anaemia, I gather. I'll take my leave now."

Chihiro shook her head, bewildered. Anaemia? Wait, I fainted? Well, that makes sense, seeing how I'm at the infirmary now… But I don't have anaemia. What time is it, I wonder?

"Isn't that great, Chi-chan? And everyone was so worried about you just a moment ago!" Reiko sniffled in true dramatic fashion.

Chihiro started. Everyone? But that means…

"Ogino-san!" A chorus of voices greeted her as she turned, stunned, to face the entire English Poetry class gathered at her bed.

"Why are all of you here? What about class?" Chihiro asked, surprised.

A tall figure stepped forward. She recognised him as Ikeda Tasuke, the guy who sat a row behind her in class. He was also known, less formally, as the glasses-guy with a crush on the biggest idiot in class, aka Reiko.

"It's lunch now. Besides, we can't go anywhere without our professor," he explained.

Professor Wright took this as a cue to press up next to Chihiro's bedside (because he was just slightly short) and inspect her critically.

He clucked, "You need to take better care of your health, my dear girl. Eat more meat! And bananas! Bananas are always good."

"I agree. Bananas are the best," Reiko nodded, hiding a grin behind her hand.

Chihiro rolled her eyes good-naturedly at her friend's antics. "I'm sure, Professor. I'll make sure to eat lots of bananas."

The small Professor hummed in a satisfied manner, glad that for once, somebody was going to heed his advice (never-mind that deep down, he probably knew better).

Ikeda coughed discreetly and smiled apologetically at Chihiro. "Well, we should probably stop disturbing your rest and get going now."

She opened her mouth to reply, but was cut off by a "And don't you come to class this afternoon, you hear?" from her severe Professor.

Reiko gave her one last hug and exited along with the rest of the class.

Chihiro sat contemplating. She didn't know what to think. She was not well acquainted with medicine, but she was almost certain that fainting from anaemia did not occur frequently to people without any history of anaemia. Then again, she could not come up with any other plausible explanation either. If only she could remember…

A breeze fluttered by, ruffling her senses as she caught the salty tang of the sea. Their university was situated near the coast, after all.

As I thought, I still prefer rivers.

Closing her eyes, Chihiro let her mind wander.

Unbidden, the image of a red brick amusement park entrance was conjured. A young girl of about ten stood in front of it, her brown ponytail swaying with the wind.

Chihiro frowned and tried to concentrate on the image. However, a split second later, the peaceful picture dissolved into one of chaos.

The red brick walls crumbled in a destructive fit of rage as the wind picked up its speed. The earth moaned and shook with the impact of the falling bricks. Amongst the rubble and the gale, the brown-haired girl stood, her purple hairband shining in the face of ruin.

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Thank you for reading! Reviews and comments are appreciated.