Sweet Serenity
Chapter One
Year of the Dragon
Chihiro's POV
Despite the circumstances that awaited young Chihiro at the bathhouse, she could not deny how magical this night seemed to be. The skies were clear, lit up with thousands of twinkling white stars, and the wind passing by was warm against her skin. Chihiro glanced down to the dragon she was so carefully balanced upon. Haku was perhaps the most majestic, beautiful creature Chihiro had ever seen—though her encounters with dragons had been restricted to artistic paintings—she was willing to bet that no other dragon would ever compare to him. His pearl white scales shimmered in the moonlight, his body moving gracefully—flowing smoothly like the cool water of a calm river… Chihiro froze. A river. Why was that so familiar? Then the memory came flooding back to her. A small pink shoe, the rushing undercurrents, fear, and then a gentle force easing her back to the shore. Chihiro pulled herself closer to Haku's ear, bubbling with excitement "Haku, listen. I just remembered something from a long time ago, I think it may help you." She paused for a moment, looking for the right place to begin "Once, when I was little, I dropped my shoe into a river. When I tried to get it back I fell in. I thought I'd drown but the water carried me to shore. It finally came back to me. The river's name was the Kahaku River. I think that was you, and your real name is… Kahaku River!"
It sounded as if glass was being shattered into a million pieces. Hundreds of tiny sparkling, pearl colored scales dispersed into the night leaving behind a boy who was no longer lost. Chihiro had never seen eyes so bright, nor so happy as Haku's, and for a moment it had left her in awe. Gently his hands found hers "You did it, Chihiro! I remember! I was the spirit of the Kahaku River."
Hot tears left her eyes as she realized that she had just set him free "A river spirit?" Chihiro asked watching as his smile widened.
Haku nodded and laced his long, slender fingers through hers "My name is the Kahaku River."
"They filled in that river, it's all apartments now." Chihiro explained
"That must be why I can't find my way home, Chihiro, I remember you falling into the river, and I remember your little pink shoe."
"So, you're the one who carried me back to shallow water, you saved me... I knew you were good!" Chihiro concluded as their bodies continued to descend toward the ocean's dark, swaying surface.
"Haku!" Chihiro Ogino awoke with a start. Wide brown eyes snapping open she bolted up right in her bed. Thick, chocolate tresses tumbled over her slim shoulders and a delicate hand falling over her fluttering heart. Glancing at her surroundings Chihiro slowly began to relax. There were no faceless shadows, greedy witches, or over grown babies. The memory of a humid bathhouse faded from her mind, along with magical hopping lamps, and great spirts. The images that had seemed so vivid were gone, leaving behind a simple, rather plain bedroom. With a soft sigh Chihiro reach for the lamp on a nearby nightstand and flicked it on. A warm yellowish glow flooded the area around her bed "It was just a dream..." Chihiro mumbled as she pushed a stand of hair behind her ears. However, her half-hearted reasoning didn't convince her. The occurrences at that old bathhouse was not just some silly dream, but a memory. Pulling her knees tightly against her chest Chihiro felt a familiar ache in her stomach.
It had been seven years since her life changing adventure at the bathhouse, and yet not a day goes by that she doesn't remember the extraordinary events that occurred there. However, despite how often she had thought about those strange few weeks, Chihiro had neglected to tell anyone about her experience. Not even her parents. Once they had passed back through the train station any and all memory of their days as pigs had vanished. They did not remember anything from that time and Chihiro would not remind them. After all being able to forget such things was a blessing in its own respect. She imagined that if they had any memories of being transformed into pigs it would have left a haunting mark, and Chihiro didn't think that they would have been able to cope with what had happened. Yet while they had forgotten, she could recall every detail with impeccable clarity. Especially the memory of her beloved river spirit, Kohaku. An empty, sharp pain pricked her heart. Chihiro missed him the most. Haku had been so kind, and helpful as he had guided her through those days. She would never forget him. If all of the other friends and adventures faded from her mind, Chihiro was sure that he would always remain.
Within all these years they had spent apart Chihiro slowly started to realize the truth about her feelings for him. Between them there had always been more than a friendship. Kamaji had said it himself that evening in the boiler room, but Chihiro had been too young then to understand a love that would grow beyond friendship. As the years pasted Kamaji's words and their meaning became all too clear to Chihiro. During her last year of middle school most of her classmates were discovering dating. Her friends were pairing up with boys they liked and falling head over heels in love—or what they thought was love. So naturally, Chihiro was expected to find a young boy who struck her fancy. It was there that the problem lied. Chihiro had made several unsuccessful attempts at finding true love. She had tried dating a handful of boys, but each and every relationship would end the same. After they had been together for a few weeks Chihiro would find that she was simply unhappy, and would then leave the relationship. She had broken many hearts without any reasonable explanation.
For a while Chihiro had thought that maybe she just wasn't meant to love anyone. That is until one fateful class trip late in the spring. Chihiro's homeroom had visited a mountain resort a few miles away from town. The resort offered several activities. Pottery, hiking trips, cave explorations, and many more that she had long since forgotten about. Her friends, whom of which all had boyfriends, asked her to join them in their activities. Chihiro had politely turned down their offers. She knew she would be the third wheel, and Chihiro thought that she would spare everyone the pain of a single friend. So, the majority of that trip was spent on the sandy bank of a nearby river. It was there that everything fell in to perspective. During those long hours on the river bank Chihiro had plenty of time to think about her situation in love. Memories of Kohaku came to her then, and something just clicked. She realized that it wasn't her fault that she couldn't feel anything for those other boys. The reason being that she had already handed her heart over to a boy, a dragon, a river spirit whom was long gone. Perhaps it was foolish of her to wait for the day that he had promised to return to her. After all it had been seven years and she hadn't seen a single sign from Haku, but she simply couldn't stop loving him. Not after all this time. Besides she had tried many times to move on in the beginning. She had never found another boy that she loved like Haku, the connection just wasn't there.
Running a hand through her silky, brown hair Chihiro wiped the sand from her eyes, and glanced at her alarm clock. It read 6:30 pm in large, bright red digits. It seemed as though her nap was over. With a muffled yawn Chihiro decided to get out of bed, after all she was supposed to meet her friends at the New Year's festival in another hour. Sliding her feet from the warmth of her comforter to the cold wooden floor Chihiro began trudging drowsily across her room. Her legs were heavy, laden with fatigue, but she resisted the notion to go back to bed and opened up her closet. From within she picked out a cute pleated, black skirt and a pastel pink, scoop-neck sweater. She laid the outfit across her bed and found her way to the vanity on the far wall of the room. Chihiro gracefully took a seat at the vanity with the intensions of making herself presentable. Looking to the mirror in front of her Chihiro saw a rather tired looking face. Today had been the last bit of exams for the semester and Chihiro was exhausted. She had used up two entire weeks to prepare for her exams, and had applied every bit of her knowledge in taking each of the five exams. They had been really brutal, but it was to be expected since this was her senior year. Chihiro shuttered inwardly as she imagined that her college entrance exams might be worse. Pushing such ominous thoughts from her mind, she reached for her brush, finally deciding that that messy hair of hers was the best place to start; however, the sleek plastic handle of the brush was not what she felt underneath her fingertips. Glancing to her left, curious mocha brown eyes widened. There on the white surface of her vanity sat a puffy pink carnation. Chihiro had seen those flowers before. But how could that be?
The strange appearance of the flower left Chihiro with a cold chill spiraling down her spine, and an empty ache in her stomach. However, she would have to ponder over it later because her current priority was getting ready for the festival. Standing up Chihiro shed her pajamas, and slipped into the outfit she had spread across her bed. The black skirt fell elegantly against her soft thighs, outlining the curve of her hips perfectly while the pink sweater clung to her body in all the right places. It was a rather flattering outfit on her. Moving to her dresser Chihiro pulled a pair of light beige tights free. She stumbled into those and then picked out a pair of black riding boots from her closet. Once she had zipped those up to her knee Chihiro flipped open the jewelry box on her vanity. Inside lie a sparkling purple hair tie. This year was the year of the Dragon, and she only found it appropriate to celebrate with a reminder of her own dragon. Sliding the tie around her slim wrist Chihiro went to work on taming her hair into a ponytail. Once she had accomplished this, she turned to see that lonely carnation sitting delicately upon her vanity. Chihiro picked up the flower and bent down to see her reflection in the vanity mirror. Carefully she weaved the flower into her ponytail. She smiled at her handy work and decided that she was officially ready for the evening. Before leaving she made a final examination in the mirror on the back of her bedroom door.
The girl that looked back at her was gorgeous. Straight bangs and thick, soft chocolate curls framed a heart shaped face, and flooded over her dainty shoulders. Every inch of her body was made up of tempting, graceful curves covered in flawless, creamy pale skin. Her eyes were glimmering, innocent brown orbs fringed in long full lashes. But it wasn't only the physical appearance that made her so appealing. Chihiro's beauty went much farther than skin deep. Smiling shyly at her reflection she deemed herself presentable. She truly wasn't able to comprehend her own beauty, and often was very modest when encountering compliments. It was an endearing character trait that very few people possessed.
Chihiro descended the stairs leading into her living room rather confidently. Her parents had already departed for the night, leaving behind a note with a phone number in case she need to contact them. This was fine with Chihiro. Seeing as how her parents were practically married to their careers, it was normal to find herself home alone. Chihiro left the note laying on the table. After all she would be spending the evening among friends, and doubted that she would need to call them for anything. Chihiro slipped into a light jacket, gathered her phone and car keys into her pocket, and made her own departure for the evening.
The festival was a charming small-town event. It was held at a local shrine where business owners would line the old stone pathway with their makeshift stands. Some of the stands sold food and merchandise while others were set up with carnival games and prizes. It was really a grand spectacle for such a little community. Usually the festival lasted three days, and while any one of those days provided a great time, it was the last day of the festival that many people strived to attend. On the very last day, just as the sun settled behind the mountain range, a splendid fireworks show would be displayed against the dark night sky. Chihiro could still recall the first time she had seen the fireworks bursting in vivid color against the dark veil of the night. She couldn't turn her eyes away from the beauty of it all. Tonight, she fully planned to stay until the end of the fireworks show, whether her friends did or not. The year before they left mid-way through and Chihiro didn't get to see the entire show. This year she wasn't dependent on her friends to take her home, allowing her the freedom of leaving whenever she pleased. When she arrived, the sun was already starting to set in the horizon.
Many of the people working in the stands had already plugged up their strands of Christmas lights that crisscrossed over the pathway, when Chihiro approached the threshold of the festival. She and her friends had planned to gather at the shrine, but as she conquered the last step of the staircase leading up to the ancient structure, she found that her group was nowhere to be found. In fact, not a single person had traveled to the shrine for new year's prayers. Shoving her hands into her pockets she felt the smooth, hard case of her phone brush against her fingers. They had agreed on seven o'clock. Hopefully, she pulled her cell free from her pocket and glanced at the time. It was 7:10. Surely, they hadn't gone on without her. She really didn't believe that her friends had abandoned her. So, she waited a while longer with the reasoning that she might have been the first to show up. Five minutes passed, then ten… At a quarter to eight Chihiro was beginning to realize that it was a very real possibility that they had went on without her. Tears stung the corners of her eyes, and she felt ridiculous for crying over her terrible friends. This hadn't been the first time they had left her behind. It shouldn't have hurt her. She should have been used to it by now. She had never fully been accepted into their group, and somewhere in the back of her mind Chihiro had always been aware of that fact. She was an outsider. A foreigner to their bonded friendship. Nanomi, Ayame, and Shiori had known each other since grade school. They had forged a deep-rooted friendship that left no room for another member. Chihiro would never be able to compare to the years of history the three of them shared.
Hurt and defeated Chihiro traveled back to her car ignoring her previous desire to watch the fireworks show. She was humiliated and wanted nothing more than to leave that damn festival. Chihiro dug her car keys from her pocket and pressed the unlock button on the key phub. Her headlights blinked and a faint beeping could be heard from where she was standing. She climbed into her silver Toyota with as much dignity as she had left, and jammed her keys into the ignition. As the motor roared to life Chihiro took a moment to ponder on her next move. She didn't want to go back home. There was nothing there but a big empty house. If she were to go home she would end up spending the rest of the night crying. It was something that she would rather avoid. Chihiro gripped her steering wheel as an irrational thought passed through her mind. Her heart beat faltered as she seriously considered going out to that old theme park entrance. The very same one that had transported her into the spirit world.
A/N: First I would like to say thank you so much for reading the first chapter of 'Sweet Serenity'. This is a fanfiction that I have wanted to start for a very long time and I am pleased to say I can finally start it! Spirited Away was the beginning for my lifelong love of anime. So the Haku and Chihiro pair hold a very dear place in my heart. I hope that you all will enjoy this story, and that I can do this couple justice.
Thank you so much for reading, if you have any comments please leave them in the box below! :)
Disclaimer: I do not own Spirited Away.