"This is where it started, and this is where it ends-"
15 year-old Ogino Chihiro stood on the bank of the beautiful river just below her great blue home, and stared into the water at her own reflection. She sang her heart out, her beautiful voice echoing across the crystal blue waters.
"-I come to beg your forgiveness-"
Her voice softened suddenly.
"-And to say goodbye-"
"Don't look back. Not until you have gone through the tunnel."
"Will I ever see you again?"
"Yes. Very soon. Now go."
"-Because now I'm looking back to the past, and I'll see your reflection, and that just might be-"
He lied, Chihiro thought. Why did he lie!? He should've just told me! I would've stayed with him! Or...maybe that's just it...He lied to get me to leave...he didn't want me around in the first place...He didn't feel the same way...he didn't love me...
"-The death of me..."
Chihiro stood in silence, and listened to the rushing of the waters, and closed her eyes as tears began to slowly spill down her cheeks. She wore a white t-shirt with the words Lost & Found written in bold, black, English letters across the chest, and her red and black, plaid school skirt. A sudden wind picked up, causing her waist-length brown hair to flow elegantly behind her, held together in its middle by a glimmering purple tie. The tie that had been made by her friends. And then suddenly the wind just went plain crazy on her, tore the little band from her hair, and tossed it into the river. She gasped.
"NO!" Chihiro screamed. The band was quickly swept downstream and Chihiro raced along the bank after it. She tried to snatch at it when it drifted closer to the shore, but to no avail.
"Come here, you little bastard!" Chihiro cried, swiping at in again. This time, she lost her footing, slipped, and fell into the water. She flailed wildly, trying to stay afloat, but the current was too strong and quickly pulled her under. She tried her best to fight it, to get some air, but she wasn't strong enough. Her lungs burned for air, and soon her impulse to breathe caught up with her, but all she inhaled was water, causing her to choke and suffocate. She was drowning.
But then something grabbed her. It was warm and friendly, even loving, and extremely familiar. Chihiro closed her eyes and allowed the warmth to envelop her, figuring it was death that had come to take her away. Death had finally come to end her pain. Maybe wherever the reaper decided to take her, Haku would be there too. Or maybe...or maybe he'd be off, enjoying life, having forgotten completely about her. No matter. She had, after all, come to the river to say good bye to Haku, to give up hope of ever seeing him again.
He lied, Chihiro thought as she slipped into unconsciousness.
When she opened her eyes, she was lying face up on the river bank, staring up at the cloudy blue sky.
"Wha...?" Chihiro slowly sat up, coughing a bit of excess water out of her lungs. She was cold, the water that had drenched her making her skin especially sensitive to the random bouts of wind that seemed to plague the place.
"Chihiro..." A voice from behind whispered
She froze. That voice...it sounded just like-
"No," Chihiro said, shaking her head. It was impossible. Why would he have waited so long to come find her? She was just imagining things. It wasn't him. It couldn't be him.
"Chihiro..." The voice was louder now, closer. She could feel the shadow of a person fall on her.
It's him! It's him! It's him! The thoughts reverberated throughout her mind, but she ignored them and clamped her hands over her ears.
"No. I won't believe it. It's not you. You're not hear. It's all a lie, just like your promise," Chihiro said firmly, hands still clamped tightly over her ears. She could hear a sudden intake of breath, and knew that her statement had wounded him. Good. He wasn't real anyways.
"Chihiro, turn around."
" No."
"Chihiro, please...look at me..."
"NO! Go away! Leave me alone! You aren't real! You aren't him! I won't listen!"
"Chihiro! Chihiro, please! Look at me! Don't do this! Please...please..." Two arms enveloped her into a tight embrace and Chihiro suddenly just broke down. Tears spilled from her face and she closed her eyes and turned to sob into the chest of the long-awaited Haku.
"Y-you...YOU! You lied! You said 'soon'! How could you do that to me!? Five years! FIVE YEARS, Haku! Why!? Why!?" Chihiro began to hit his arms and chest, letting loose 5 years worth of longing, anger, and a broken heart. Haku bore it all silently, and waited until she had calmed before gently beginning to stroke her head, neck, and back with one of his hands.
"I know...I'm sorry...I did lie. I'm sorry, Chihiro, I'm so sorry..." Tears began to drift down Haku's own cheeks as he said this. It had taken so much longer than either of them ever would have guessed, and those 5 years had been nothing but torment to Haku. He had thought of Chihiro the entire time, never letting his thoughts stray to any other subject. And it was all because of the despicable hag, Yubaba.
Yubaba was one clever witch, he'd give her that. Right after Chihiro had left, he had gone straight to Yubaba to tell him he was leaving and quitting his apprenticeship. Yubaba had merely laughed and whipped his contract out of thin air. Then she had pointed to the smallest print he'd ever seen, at the very bottom of his contract, and read aloud by memory, "If he/she who has signed this paper decides to quit, they will be assigned to an extra 5 years of labor so as to make up for however much work was initially intended to occur". Oh, how that horrid bitch had laughed and laughed and laughed, and taunted him, and filled his mind with the fear that Chihiro would forget him before he could find her. It had been horrible. But now, here he was, and she hadn't forgotten, in fact it seemed as if her memories of the Spirit World haunted her every day.
"Why...? Why did you do this to me?" Chihiro whispered. Haku pulled her back slightly, and tilted her chin up so she could look him in the face. Chihiro opened her eyes slowly and gasped at the sight before her.
"Because I love you, and I had to finish 5 years of work before Yubaba would set me free...but mainly because I love you," Haku said, smiling softly, tears still spilling slowly from his emerald green eyes. Those eyes she could utterly lose herself in.
He still wore the work outfit from Aburaya, but he had changed. He was taller, and his chest and shoulder were slightly broader, and that his calves were slightly more muscular. His face, his eyes, and his hair, however, were still virtually the same. His face was obviously aged, but it was easy to recognize, and his eyes and hair hadn't changed one bit.
"You...You're so cute..." Chihiro murmured in awe, reaching a hand up to gently wipe the tears from his eyes. Haku blushed at her comments and touch, but smiled nonetheless. Chihiro smiled back, now tears of happiness spilling down her face, as she practically knocked Haku over with another hug. They had their arms wrapped around one another, Haku lying on his back with Chihiro's head against the nape of his neck, and the rest of her body atop his. (No wrong images, please! )
"And you're so beautiful," Haku whispered into her ear. After a few minutes of lying together in this position, Chihiro stood and helped Haku to his feet.
"So, 5 years of keeping me in waiting and I bet you didn't even bring me a present!" Chihiro said, turning away in false anger. Haku smiled softly and pulled something from the inside of his shirt.
"No. But I did manage to get this..." He dangled the purple hair tie before her face. Chihiro cried out in joy and snatched the tied from his hand. She quickly pulled her hair in a tight ponytail and turned to face him. So many unseen emotions were exchanged between them, no words were needed.
"Haku...I'm sorry I said...I'm sorry I called you a liar...And I'm sorry for all of those bitter thoughts I had...And I'm sorry for doubting you...And-"Haku pressed a finger to Chihiro's lips, hushing her.
"I'm sorry, too. We both had our doubts; we're both sorry, but we're together now. That's all that matters," Haku whispered. Chihiro nodded her head silently as he leaned forward to kiss her. After a few seconds, he pulled away, ending the kiss.
"The song..." Chihiro whispered suddenly. She looked towards the rushing river, and then back at Haku. "'This is where it started, and this is where it ends'...We met at your river, and now...and now it's ending at another river..."
"'Ending'?" Haku echoed in confusion. Chihiro smiled.
"It's called symbolism...or...maybe it's irony...I don't quite remember, but all I know is that our adventure, our shared pain, started at a river-started because of a river-, and now...now it's ending because of a river...even though we still have one hell of an adventure before us," Chihiro explained. There was a moment of silence.
"...That almost seems too deep for someone like you..." Haku said. Chihiro frowned.
"Just what the hell is that supposed to mean?" She snapped. Haku smiled, and leaned forward to plant another kiss on her lips.
"Nothing at all. Where to now?" Haku asked, lifting her into his arms. Chihiro pondered this for a minute, and then a strong breeze stung her skin, reminding her of the fact that she was drenched.
"Let's go home. I have a very romantic idea of the two of us falling asleep together," Chihiro said. A blush burned Haku's face. "What's your problem?"
Suddenly, it struck her as of to what she had implied, and she blushed slightly too before laughing.
"Having naughty thoughts, I see!" Chihirp snickered. Haku turned an even brighter shade of red.
"N-n-no! It's not me! You're the one who said it!" Haku accused, a tinge of anger in his voice. Chihiro stifled another bout of laughter.
"Well, to put it in less perverted terms, all I want is to change clothes, and then go straight to sleep...just in your arms...with you next to me...not having done anything before hand..." Chihiro said. "Better?"
"Sounds like a plan."
END
OMFG! I feel so retarded having written this thing 2-3 years after the movie came out! God. I'm a dumbass. But that's ok. Sorry if the peeps seemed out of character, but that's just how things go in my mind. And to those of you who can't accept the fact that Haku might have a little bit of a pervert's mind-! Well...screw you! He's a man...water-spirit...thing...that looks like a man! So...ok...my point is that men have dirty thoughts...and so do women...but not as often as men! Ok...enough rambling. Please review! It does me an arse-load of good to know that people actually give a damn!
Thankies!
El Lainera