Spirited Away: A Return Home
A Fanfic by Viral Inque, Re-published by JackOfBlades394
Any Reviews, good or bad, would be greatly appreciated. More chapters coming soon hope you enjoy.
Chapter 1: Spirited Away Again
Chihiro had gradually started visiting the apartment complex after the events that took place when she moved almost a year ago. It was a whole hour from her house by train, but she made the trip almost every other day just the same. It was kind of silly, she thought, and not very safe at her age, but she had been become inexplicably drawn to the place. Her parents had given up on trying to stop her from going. She didn't know anyone in the complex, nor did she visit anyone while she was there. She just sat on a bench or under a tree in the park, drinking syrupy soda that she spent her allowance on and watching people move in and out of the industrial living structures.
They were actually pretty impressive buildings, part of a new wave of modern edifices in the area. They had shiny metal exteriors and flashy glass elevators that made people with a fear of heights sick to their stomachs. Outside, lush and colorful plants and trees litter the place, thriving off the rich soil left behind from the river they dredged up to make room for the apartments. Chihiro enjoyed all these things, but didn't really care all that much about them. None of these things was the reason she had started going there.
Conversely, she hadn't gone near the other place since she had gotten back from her adventure there. As much as she wanted to go back, if only just for a little while, she hadn't gone back. As much as she wanted to see her friends there, she couldn't go back. In fact, she got a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach at the very thought of it. She couldn't figure it out, and in fact felt bad about not wanting to return, but had not gotten the nerve to go near the place to find out why. Instead, she'd come here, in the hope of seeing him just once more.
This wasn't his home though, not anymore anyway, and he couldn't return even if he wanted to. Even still, Chihiro would come here over and over again, in the hope of seeing him.
One day, on a rainy Tuesday afternoon not more then a month ago, she had been certain she had seen him. As she ran towards him, her heart pounding heavy in her chest, she knew it couldn't be him. But she had sensed him near her; as sure as she knew her own name. Of course it hadn't been him, just some junior high school student coming home from a late class, and Chihiro was left heartbroken.
On this particular day, she had brought some popcorn from the nearby convenience store, and was busying herself feeding pigeons, along with the occasional pushy squirrel. She had come to visit the area so often that residents of the apartment complex knew her by face and would wave hello to her as they came home from long days at work.
Focused on the pigeons, which had resorted to violence in order to get at the last few pieces of popcorn, Chihiro hardly noticed someone walking down the paved path and sitting next to her on the bench she was occupying. She gave a lazy wave to the person and didn't give it another thought.
"Do they like popcorn, or these particularly violent birds?" said the person sitting next to Chihiro.
"Hmm, they like the popcorn, mostly," Chihiro, stated simply, but as she said it, she couldn't shake the idea that it sounded like someone she knew. As she looked up, she was shocked to see that indeed she did know whom it was.
"Hey kid, what's new?" said the attractive woman sitting next to Chihiro. She waved a calloused hand in greeting.
"Lin?" Chihiro answered, her mouth hanging open. Before she could get a reply, she jumped at Lin and wrapped her arms around her neck.
"Lin! Lin! It's really you!" Chihiro cried, hugging Lin so hard that her eyes started to go into the back of her head.
"Yes, yes! It's me. Just, for pity's sake, let go of me!" Lin whimpered, gasping for air. With some effort she pried herself loose from Chihiro's grasp.
For a moment, Chihiro didn't know what to say. She merely stared at Lin with a mixture of surprise and confusion. Lin sat tentatively, hands raised, ready to defend herself if Chihiro decided to spring again.
After several minutes, Chihiro finally asked, "What are you doing here, Lin?"
"Well, to see you of course," Lin replied, flashing her charming smile, "But I should explain first."
"What?"
"Well, you see," Lin began, pausing to take a deep breath, "After you left, a lot of weird stuff went down. When Haku got his name back, he was freed from Yu-Baaba's influence. He proved to be even more powerful when his mind was free, and with Bou going against his mother's behavior, they proved to be a real pain for Yu-Baaba."
"How is Haku? And the baby, how is he doing?" Chihiro blurted out excitedly.
"Slow down, slow down," Lin said, waving her hands at Chihiro dramatically. "Anyway, after a while, Yu-Baaba ended up making some changes around the bathhouse. She'd tell you it was mostly because she was getting tired of Haku pestering her, and while I'm sure that was part of it, I think her sister Zeniiba had something to do with her change of heart too. At least that's what the rumors say."
Lin paused to catch her breath. Chihiro watched attentively as Lin smoothed the wrinkles out of her dress, then went into a purse she was toting and produced two candy bars. She offered one to Chihiro, which she took with a bow, and ripped into the other one. After a few bites of the candy bar, Lin took another deep breath and prepared to continue.
"So Yu-Baaba is still a money hungry old crone," Lin continued, picking her teeth with a stubby fingernail, "But now life at the bathhouse is, I don't know, easier; A little more comfortable maybe. You don't have to worry about Yu-Baaba getting ticked off and turning you into a pig or a lump of coal. Well, not as much anyway. All our contracts have been revised too, although it was too much to think that Yu-Baaba would give us our names back or offer us proper wages. Still, things have improved."
"Wow," Chihiro exclaimed when Lin was finally finished, then with a wrinkle of her brow, added, "So why are you here, Lin?"
"Oh, well, to take you back of course," Lin replied excitedly, "Now mind you, Haku had to really push his luck to get Yu-Baaba to agree to this, so you can be sure you won't be getting too warm a welcome from her. But Haku really never forgot about you, and when he saw an opportunity to get Yu-Baaba to let you come back, he took it. Don't ask me what it cost him, he wouldn't tell me, but you can bet it didn't come cheap."
"What?" Chihiro asked in a confused tone, "I can go back? How? I thought I couldn't?"
"Because of Yu-Baaba, you twit," Lin cried, "I don't know what Haku did or said, but she lifted the spell, or curse, or whatever it was that would have kept you from coming back. She lifted mine too, temporarily, so I could come and get you. Pretty nice, coming back to the regular world, but like a cruel sort of joke, since I still have to go back to the bathhouse."
Chihiro stared at Lin like she had no idea what she was talking about. She just couldn't believe it, couldn't let herself believe it. She looked around her, as if coming out of trance, unsure of where she was or what she had been doing.
"So, come on already. We got a bit of a walk ahead of us," Lin said, standing up and holding out her hand. Chihiro stared at her in disbelieve, then obediently grabbed a hold of Lin's hand, stood, and followed her out of the park.
In Chihiro's shock at what Lin had told her, she didn't consider that they were supposed to be walking some forty miles to get back. It didn't take very long at all though. They walked from one place to the next, going through a door here, or down an alley, or under a bridge, and coming out at all sorts of unexpected places. One door in the back of a bakery led to the hollow of a dead tree, while another in some hospital led then to an underground tunnel. Lin consulted a piece of paper as they went, only looking up occasionally to check their position. Chihiro didn't say much, examining her surroundings in a bemused sort of way, the shock of going back to the bathhouse mingling with the shock of the trip there.
In half an hour or so, after slipping down the steel slope of a park slide, they were at the dirt path that led into the train station. The stone statuette of the two-faced spirit stared at Chihiro mischievously.
"What a pain," Lin said through a yawn, rubbing her eyes, "You ready?"
"But what about my parents?" Chihiro asked.
"They won't even know you're gone. Yu-Baaba will see to it that you get back without missing out on too much time," Lin answered, and began walking towards the dark passage into the station. With one last look at the real world, Chihiro followed.
All the apprehension Chihiro had been harboring about going back to the bathhouse was washed away as she made her way slowly through the dark, windy passage. Gone was the fear she had had the first time around, replaced now by a strange sense of familiarity. It almost felt as if Chihiro was finally going back home after a long holiday in some other place. As they inched their way along the path, Chihiro's heart started to pound in excitement. She found herself smiling, in anticipation and with irrepressible happiness.
"That place where you found me, that's where Haku used to live," Chihiro said, and her voice echoed through the hall and bounced back on her.
"I know," Lin replied.
"I was waiting for him, I guess," Chihiro continued, as a dim light began to filter in from the oncoming station, "I didn't think I'd ever be able to see him again. Or anybody else either."
"I know what you mean," Lin said, as they came to the end of the passage and into the station. She smiled in spite of herself, unable to hide how happy she was that Chihiro was coming back to the bathhouse. She had to admit; things just hadn't been the same without her there.
The station was just as it had been the first time Chihiro had come through it. Everything was covered in a layer of dust and the paint peeled off the walls in long, brightly colored strips. Off in the distance, a train could be heard chugging down a track.
One more turn and a short while later, they were in the verdant, open fields that led to the town of the spirits. Soon, a river would magically appear in its place, as well as an enormous boat that would transport the spirits across its banks.
Chihiro looked across the field, at the carved stones that littered its path, and at the town off in the distance. She felt a flood of emotions coming over her. She smiled at Lin, who was watching her, enjoying the look of excitement on her face.
"Welcome home," Lin said.
So I hope you like it. I decided I needed to re-publish this story because I want to continue it. The Story was and is not mine. It has not been updated for about eight to nine years so I'm going to continue the story with another name.
-Always Watching
JackOfBlades
