Returning to My Spirit

Sonata: This'll just be a quick little oneshot to get my creative juices flowing againnn~ Also I just watched the movie for the first time in ages, and I felt sad about the ending. Kinda wanted to remedy that.

A young, brunette woman stood by the edge of a pond. She wore a pale green sundress with white sandals, and her long brown hair was tied half up with a white hat atop her head. She frequently visited this pond, though she had no idea why. In the pond lived very few animals – just a couple of fish, some frogs and an occasional beetle. In the trees surrounding her vicinity, birds inhabited a few branches, squirrels lived in knotholes, and insects formed their nests. It was late summer so the trees were still a deep green, waiting to turn beautiful orange-gold shades, and the cicadas still chirped.

However the young woman did not chirp happily as the creatures around her did. Instead she sighed and looked down in the pond. "Why do I keep coming here?" She wondered. Since the beginning of summer that year she had started visiting the little grove she found herself in. "Have some more sense, Chihiro." She chided herself.

"You're such a dope." Said the voice of a woman.

Chihiro's eyes widened in shock. "Wh-whose voice was that?" She was bewildered. She tried to shake it off, but it bothered her – she knew that voice, but from where? "Keep calm Chihiro." She reminded herself. But she soon slumped and said to herself, "I'm talking to myself – I must be insane." Chihiro sighed once again as she shook her head at her behaviour. "I mustn't keep coming here – it can't be good for me." But her thoughts contradicted her true feelings. Whenever she visited the pond she felt an inexplicable sense of calm overcome her. She didn't understand this – why had that place felt so tranquil? How did it relax her?

An image of a dragon with white scales and a sea-green mane suddenly came to the girl's mind. "A dragon?" She thought, confused. Her cellphone rang, shaking her out of her reverie. She pulled it out of her matching white purse and answered the call. "Hello?"

"Chihiro?" Inquired a womanly voice.

The girl smiled at the phone. "Hi, Mom."

"Hello sweetie. I just wanted to check on you – are you almost here?" Her mother asked with a touch of concern. Chihiro had been driving to her parents' home to visit them. She was attending a college five hours away from home, so it made sense to move nearby.

"Yeah, just another half hour left." She answered her mother's question as she walked to her car. She had some gifts sitting in the back of her car – a fruit basket, some pastries and a couple souvenirs from her recent trip with friends to Hokkaido. She opened the driver's side door and got inside.

"Alright then, see you soon." She could hear her mom's smile in her voice before she hung up. Chihiro was excited to see her family again – she loved them dearly. She started up her car and drove out of the grove.

As she drove, her mind drifted to memories of when she first moved to the small town. For awhile her parents were her only friends, but she soon bonded with some of her classmates and things progressed from there. At the same time, she also remembered being scared of meeting new people, sad at the thought of leaving old friends behind, and being mad at her parents for putting her through that. When did the change happen? All she could remember was feeling braver after her dad got them lost in a strange forest on the way to their new house. They were gone awhile too – the movers had even filed a missing persons report.

"Wait.. They said we were gone for weeks... That doesn't make sense." Chihiro decided not to dwell on those thoughts for too long – she might end up getting lost. Unfortunately, it was too late for that. She was already lost. She looked around and saw that her parents' house was up a hill. "I turned too early." She frowned. The road was narrow, so she drove on as she was unable to make a u-turn.

She drove through a familiar and very overgrown forest. She hoped that there would be a road out of there. As Chihiro drove on, she noticed that the road slowly got older and older, transitioning from asphalt to dirt, then to mossy stone. She stopped in front of an odd statue and an old, faded building. "Dead end." She frowned deeply. She stepped out of the car and looked around for any sign of, well, maybe someone to give her directions. She found no such trace.

"Chihiro..." Called an eerily familiar voice.

The young woman gasped and turned towards the source of the noise. It was coming from the tunnel leading inside the decrepit building. "Who's there!?" She called out, startled and a little afraid. But there was no answer. She wanted to turn her car around and leave this place behind forever, but something was telling her that she would regret that decision. So, steeling her nerves, she went inside and walked through the old, damp tunnel.

As she walked through the tunnel, she began to hear a rattling noise. She reached an area that resembled a waiting room or lobby and she frowned in confusion. "Is this an abandoned station?" She shook her head. She heard a train – it couldn't be abandoned if there were still a train running. She continued her walk and ended up outside the old building and was greeted by a beautiful, but familiar sight.

Green grass fields as far as the eye could see, and a pleasant breeze blew through her hair nearly taking her hat with it. She smiled in wonder at the place. She walked down the hill and came to a dirt path, leading up to what looked like a small town. Perhaps someone there would give her directions. The town had small buildings and faded signs advertising their food and hospitality. But there was no one. Chihiro was confused – where was everyone? She could smell food so she knew someone was cooking, but where?

"Hello?" She called out to the empty street. Again there was no answer. She kept walking, determined to find someone and hopefully get to her mother before she started to worry. She came upon a tall building painted deep red. There was an old fashioned bridge leading up to it, and on its sides were waterwheels and steam pouring out of vents.

"A bath house?" She asked no one in particular. Unknown to her, her hair tie – the one that had been with her for years – began to glisten.

"Get out of here, go! I'll create a distraction." A masculine voice instructed her firmly. She ran – desperate to find someone. She got to a restaurant, and instead of people, there sat two large pigs eating all the food. What was strange was that they were wearing her parents' clothes.

"Wh-what was that!?" At some point, she ended up on her knees – though she didn't know when. She stood to her feet once more, and continued walking across the bridge.

She ran through a flowery path, leading her to a pig pen. With her was the boy from the bridge.

"What are these images?" She asked no one, trying to make sense of everything. She approached the entrance of the bath house.

"Your parents woke up on the human side of the river – they're waiting there for you." Said the boy with a kind voice.

"What about you?"

"Don't worry, I have my name back. I'm going back to Yubaba and I'm going to quite being her apprentice."

"Wait, we'll meet each other again, right?"

"Yes."

"Promise?"

"Promise – now go and don't look back."

"Who is he?" Chihiro was now more confused than ever. She opened the front door of the bath house and walked in. Instantly she saw a flurry of activity. People were running around, doing whatever their job was. Obviously the place was still in business. Chihiro looked around for someone that wasn't busy, and saw a woman about her age standing and talking to another person. She walked up to the woman.

"Excuse me, may I ask you a question?" Chihiro tapped on the woman's shoulder.

The woman turned towards Chihiro – she had a long face, and really long hair. "Huh? What is it?" She scanned Chihiro, and an expression of realization dawned on her face. "S-Sen!? Is that you, Sen?"

Chihiro was taken-aback. "I'm sorry? Um, no – my name is Chihiro." Did she know this woman?

The woman scoffed, "Come on Sen, stop playing dumb you dope! Did you get sick of the human world already?"

Chihiro shook her head, but a name came to mind. "R-Rin?" She stammered out uncertainly.

"Yeah, I'm Lin! Wait, did you... forget me? Forget all of us?" The woman, Rin, asked tentatively.

"Sen! I'm sorry I called you a dope! I take it back!"

"Call me Granny."

"Play with me!"

Sudden flashes of people and their faces popped up in Chihiro's mind. "... Rin? I-Is this...?" She began uncertainly. It was starting to come together – she was just missing one more piece. The tacky décor, the toad-like features of many of the workers, masked people, she recognized this! But from where?

"... Chihiro?" A male voice called from behind her.

She turned around and saw a young man wearing a white and blue version of the woman's uniform. His hair was somewhat long and deep brown, and his eyes were almost hazel. He was familiar too.

"I need to tell you something important... When I was little I dropped my shoe in a river."

The man stepped closer to her, his eyes wide and taking in her appearance. Chihiro blushed at his gaze, and stared in wonder as she had more flashbacks.

"I fell in when I tried to get it, but the water washed me ashore."

Chihiro was now subconsciously stepping closer to the man. He continued walking towards her, a grin forming on his lips.

"The name of that river was "The Kohaku River." That's your name!"

The man was right in front of her now, just inches away. Chihiro's eyes widened, "Kohaku..." She breathed out as she remembered everything – her parents turning into pigs, the river spirit, No-Face, everyone!

The man, Kohaku, pulled Chihiro to himself and hugged her tightly as though to assure himself that she was really there. "You're really here..." He laughed breathlessly. Chihiro hugged him back and felt tears of joy run down her cheeks. She nuzzled her face into Haku's embrace.

"I promised, didn't I?" Chihiro laughed.

Haku tilted Chihiro's face up and stared her in the eye, "You've grown up – you're so beautiful." He smiled tenderly at her and brought his face mere centimeters from her own and said, "I love you." With that, he brushed his lips gently on hers in a tender kiss.

When he pulled away, Chihiro looked up at him with the brightest smile and said,"I love you too." She placed her hands on his chest and stood to the tips of her toes and kissed him back. But before she could pull away completely, Haku crashed his lips onto hers with the passion of his inner dragon. She gasped at the sudden change, but smiled against his lips. The emotions within them were poured out into this kiss – all their love, their joy expressed through this act.

Their passionate kiss came to an end as Chihiro needed air, and they both smiled at each other. They knew they were meant to be together. Sure they would face trials and would be tested from time to time, but they didn't care. They loved each other.

THE END

Sonata: Okay, so for those who don't know, Chihiro DID lose her memories of the Spirit World. But Hayao Miyazaki said that there would be chance for her to remember everything in the future because of the magic hair tie. Hence why she looked back in the final scene as her dad drove them away. BECAUSE he said that, I felt inspired to write this. I didn't feel right with Chihiro forgetting that entire adventure and all the bonds she created in her time there. And don't forget all the personal growth that came to practically everyone because of her influence on their lives.

Also, if for some reason you want to know what happens with her parents, then just message me. I'd be happy to answer any questions.

But as always... Please read and review!