-EPIGRAPH-
"If we wait until we're ready, we'll be waiting for the rest of our lives."
-Lemony Snicket
The silent rustle of leaves filled the calm air, withered, dry ones floating gracefully down towards the brown soil below. Little sparrows hopped about, their little beaks reaching swiftly for the tiny bread crumbs graciously sprinkled about to fill their stomachs. A young woman watched them, humming along to a soft melody. The corners of her lips turned up into a soft and gentle smile as she adored the cute birds. Turning her head, she stared out into the distant sunset.
Glorious streaks of gold, orange and reddish-pink painted the sky, and the woman sighed in awe. Her hand reached out to the semi-circle of sun, imagining her fingers brushing the soft edges of the large star. She exhaled and took another look at the sparrows that were almost finishing their meal. Their rhythmic chirping filled in the silence that was beginning to surround her. Her mind then began traveling back in time to a memory that would forever remain in her heart.
Hasty click-clacks of a woman's heels sounded clearly through the hallways as she jogged past rooms, past doctors and nurses, her panicked eyes turning watery. Her hair was in a mess and her forehead sweaty. Short pants left her as she continued with the painful exercise. Her legs would surely suffer later, but she couldn't care less. She was already running out of time. Making a left turn down the hall like she had done so many times, she easily located the door. Turning the knob quickly, she rushed in, hazel eyes big as she saw the doctors and nurses moving aside from the bed, allowing her space. Her mother was kneeling on the other side of the bed, crying her eyes out while holding on to her dying husband's frail hand.
She hurried over to the bedside, dropping to her knees, carelessly throwing her handbag to a corner and grabbing the fragile patient's hand. His wrinkled hand trembled slightly against her cheek where she held it, and she looked on helplessly at his tired eyes that were struggling to keep open.
"Dad! I'm here, I'm here!" she cried anxiously. Tears spilled out of her eyes as she watched the frail man turn his head ever so slightly with whatever strength he could muster. His half-opened eyes took a look at her, taking a few seconds to recognize her before a weak smile formed on his wrinkled face.
"Chi…hiro…" he called softly.
She nodded furiously, sniffling. "I'm here, Dad. You'll be alright. Don't worry, okay?" He closed and opened his eyes, like the understanding, wise man he was in his semi-lucid state.
"Take... care of… yourself… I love you… my baby girl…" he muttered, squeezing her hand so softly it was barely even felt.
"No! You've been fighting for so long! You can't give up! You can't leave me! You can't leave me and Mom alone! Don't leave me…" The girl burst into huge sobs, crying against her beloved father's chest. It rose and lowered softly as she inhaled his lemon mint scent; her favorite scent. He slowly raised his hand, patting and stroking her soft hair.
"I'm always with you…" he said, fingers pushing her chin up, revealing her tear-streaked face and smudged eye make-up. "I'll be in here…" he pointed his finger to her heart, "always…"
His hand then lost its strength, and the room was filled with only the high piercing sound of the sustained tone of the machine.
The woman turned her eyes back to the carefree sparrows, but realized they were now gone. Shifting her focus back to the sunset, the negative emotional feelings tugged at her heart, threatening to make the moisture in her tired eyes fall, but as soon as they had come, they disappeared as her mind was already on its own leaving for another world, an unknown world to many, whereas she was the privileged one, or the not so fortunate one of having discovered it.
The young girl begged her parents to leave. The place was filled with quaint and old houses, tucked side by side along the path. Her parents eyed the food greedily and soon, they were chomping down hungrily, despite her pleas to leave. She was sure she was throwing a child's tantrum, but she was adamant about the feeling in her gut that told her something was wrong. Very wrong. And that they needed to leave.
"Come on, you guys!" she impatiently exclaimed again, getting overly jittery. They ignored her again, too caught up in eating the food that did indeed smell appetizing and fragrant. She looked around uneasily, gripping her long shirt tightly to dry her clammy palms. Chihiro frowned, staring at them and willing them to change their minds and just leave, but she gave up since they did not show any indication of intending to leave soon. Grumbling to herself, she stalked off, not wanting to stand there idly watching her parents eat.
The child, taking her time to decide where to explore, walked to the right where she saw a flight of steps and a building of some sort that read 'Abura'. Piqued with interest, she turned back to take one last look at her parents for any sign of returning, but when she received none of the sort, went ahead.
At the top of the tall steps, the tall sign towered above her puny figure and to her right, discovered a bathhouse that stood magnificently across a bridge. "That's weird…" she muttered to herself. "It's a bathhouse." Why on earth would there be a bathhouse in the middle of nowhere? And it seemed to be in business, which was a little out of place in the obsolete area.
Enjoying the muffled sounds of her shoes against the wooden planks, she went over to the red railing and looked over, just in time to catch the sight of a train. "There's the train!" Seeing something that was finally worth more interest than mere food, she dashed to the other side of the bridge to see the train go past. That was when she realized there was someone else on the bridge.
Her brown orbs met deep emerald green ones, and his surprised expression was reflected in her face as well. Where had he come from? He gasped as he took a good look at her, making her lean back from the railing, thinking he was going to scold her for standing on the railings like what her teachers and parents would do all the time.
The boy, who looked to be only one or two years older than her, blinked and took a few steps towards her. "You shouldn't be here. Get out of here, now!"
His harsh tone surprised her and she jumped off. "What?"
"It's almost night. Leave, before it gets dark," he said it as if it were obvious to anyone who had the slightest speck of common sense in them.
It was then that the lampposts standing guard on either side of the bathhouse's entrance dimmed, while its interior brightened up. He turned back, the frown seeming to have been etched onto his face permanently. "They're lighting the lamps."
Without warning, he pushed her. "Get out of here. You've got to get across the river, go! I'll distract them!"
As she descended the flight of steps in a hurry, she only then realized it was getting dark, and the place began to light up as she passed almost magically. Halfway down, she rubbed her eyes in confusion. "What's up with him..?" she paused to wonder before continuing down, deciding to take his warning seriously, seeing his immense urgency.
At the bottom of the steps, continuing to trace her way back, the little shops began to light up. Chihiro didn't notice it at first, her mind solely concentrated on getting her parents to leave. However, when she finally paused to make a turn around the corner, she noticed the black, translucent ghosts appear out of nowhere, which to say the least, freaked her out. "Mom! Dad!" she continued shouting, trying to calm her nerves with the reminder that her parents were there.
"Come on! Quit eating! Let's get out of here!" she tugged on her father's shirt, not at all noticing that the couple had become a little too large since the last time she'd seen them. It was only when her 'dad' turned around that it dawned on her: Those things were definitely not her parents. All she did was gasp and back away, helplessly watching as the two pigs continued sloshing their way through the food.
Then, she did the only thing she could do: Run.
"Mom! Dad! Where are you?!" she screamed, her voice echoing throughout eerily. She could not believe that those animals were her parents. She had to find them.
All she saw were black ghosts all around. Everywhere. She felt small and weak. Fright crept up her spine as her head whipped in all directions. She needed her parents. "Mommy! Ahh!"
The girl ran and ran as fast as she could, trying as best as possible to avoid the tall creatures that could be potential ghosts that ate humans or something of the sort. Her legs, all of a sudden, seemed to know where to go, and took her back to where she had come from. They pushed forward, engaging her muscles in vigorous exercise and using up much of her limited stamina.
It was only when she felt wetness on the bottom half of her clothes did she stop. "Water?!" she exclaimed, completely flabbergasted.
She crouched down on the grass, curling up into a tiny ball. The little girl was absolutely petrified, and she didn't know what on earth was going on. She wanted to believe it was all just a dream. Yes, it was just a dream. But inside, she knew, she couldn't fool herself. This was reality. Her parents had been turned into a disgusting pair of unsightly pigs. And danger was imminent for her, had she not been assisted.
A pair of gentle hands held her shoulders and startled, she gasped and looked up, only to find herself staring in a handsome boy's deep emerald eyes. "Don't be afraid. I just want to help you," he said carefully with a beautiful crystal voice.
"No… no, no, no!" she shook her head, evidently afraid of him being one of the bad guys who were trying to kidnap her and turn her into a pig as well.
"Open your mouth and eat this." The boy held up a plain-looking berry. "You have to eat some food from this world or else you'll disappear," he warned, seeing her reluctance to trust him.
"No!" her hands stuck out forwards, but instead of hitting his face, they went right through, much to her shock and horror. He was unfazed by it though; he remained as composed as ever. "Don't worry, I won't turn you into a pig."
Deciding to trust him, she opened her mouth and let him put the berry in. "Chew it, and swallow." It had a very strange taste; nothing like she'd tasted before. She couldn't say she liked it though, but for the sake of becoming solid again, she had to listen.
"There you go, you're all better. See for yourself."
Brushing her fingertips against his solid, strong palm, she felt an overwhelming sense of relief and comfort. His tender eyes emitted a comfortable radiance that she found herself being attracted to. "I'm okay…" she murmured in disbelief.
Chihiro sighed and leaned back on the wooden bench, hearing a soft creak from its aged boards. A tiny smile played on her lips as she relived that memory. The boy who'd saved her, and the boy whom she'd saved. She reached for the purple hair tie that lay in the pocket of her long, loose pants and gazed lovingly at it.
"I haven't forgotten..."
Her voice trailed off in the wind as a familiar scene that she'd recalled too many times unfolded before her very eyes.
"Will we meet again sometime?"
"Sure we will."
"Promise?"
"Promise. Now go, and don't look back," he let go of her hand, watching as the now matured girl left.
She could still remember the earnest look in his eyes, coupled with a very small sad glint that remained in those pools of green. They had probably been reflected in her brown eyes as well. "You promised…" Chihiro's voice was close to cracking as tears filled her eyes, making her vision blur.
"You promised, Haku… But now, I'm just not sure if I can wait any longer…"
"I promised, so here I am." Chihiro looked up, startled at the appearance of a deep male voice beside her. Her eyes turned sharply to see a mature man standing before her, dressed smartly and casually in a pair of long black pants and a navy blue tunic held together with a brown, leather belt. The wind played with his sea green hair that had been cut to fit his casual look. Now, it was messy and short, and with the hair covering the sides of his face gone, his beautiful, captivating features stood out all the more.
His eyes sparkled as they stared at each other wordlessly. A mixture of feelings stirred up within Chihiro, overwhelming feelings of sadness, relief, frustration and happiness flooded her. The tears were pushed out of her eyes and one by one, they fell to her lap as she let herself be enchanted once again by those same green emerald orbs that she had met with years ago. "You…" she squeaked a little too off-key.
He shushed her gently by welcoming her with a warm embrace. Her head fit perfectly in the crook of his neck as her tears spilled freely. The man rocked her gently and whispered sweet-nothings to her, things that she'd longed to hear for too many years. His hand went past the woolen hat on her head to the small of her back, pressing her closer to him as she sobbed into his clothes. "Haku!" she repeated, more for herself rather than him, for she could not find it in her to believe it.
"Yes, Chihiro. I'm here now."
"You promised, Haku. You came!" she smiled, sniffling, face still buried in his chest.
"Yes, my love. I've missed you dearly," he replied sadly.
She continued to nuzzle her cheek against the soft fabric of his clothes, but moments later, without realizing, she found herself falling. Losing her balance, she tumbled to the ground and landed on her side painfully. Her waist hit the edge of a rock, making her cry out sharply in pain. She was pretty certain it would leave a very ugly bruise. Haku gasped and her eyes shot up to him, making her momentarily forget about the pain as she gaped at the scene. The man was floating away towards the unreachable horizon, his lower body turning into fragments of scales blown and scattered away by the unrelenting breeze. His longing gaze broke her heart into a million pieces.
Chihiro tried to muster her strength, but she couldn't. She was too weak. She could only helplessly watch her beloved dragon disappear and her hand reached gingerly out for him, final tears leaving her desperate eyes. "No!" she whispered.
The alarmed cry of nurses and shuffling of feet was the last thing she heard that brought her back into reality, seeing only air in Haku's wake before plunging into darkness.