Title: Meant to Be

Author: Hitachiin Hikaru

Fandom: Spirited Away

Rating: "K+" for minor language

Genre: Romance

Disclaimer: I don't own any part of Spirited Away, including characters, cities, towns, scenarios, titles, or anything else about it you can think of. I just want to express my creative intent with this fic.

Summary: Promises were meant to be broken, and memories were meant to be forgotten. For Chihiro, all she has left is an empty pledge, a faded dragon, and a name that isn't hers. Whose voice is that? Why do I recognize it? HxC R&R Please

A/N: Yesterday I saw Spirited Away after five months of not even thinking about it, so I decided to write a bit of a fic for it. This is probably going to be a one shot, unless someone asks otherwise. I hope you enjoy it, and don't forget to tell me how to make it better, if you please!

The sunlight shone orange as the fiery orb began to set on this world, reflecting off of the water in shining bursts of light. The clouds were tinted all type of colors, from pink to purple, and blue to red, as dusk set over Japan. Darkened shadows were elongated from the low sun, making the world seem almost surreal, almost as if a race of spirits and gods lived in the beautiful scenery. "Sen," a voice whispered, as if trying to test if she could actually say it. "Sen… whose name is that?"

A young girl, about fourteen or fifteen, sat on a bench overlooking the lake, her chin resting in her hand in contemplation. She had medium length brown hair pulled back into a ponytail, a shiny purple hair tie holding it in place, and a dark green shirt with blue shorts that went to her knees. She was watching the lapping waves, concentrating on that name.

"Will we see each other again sometime?"

"I'm sure we will."

"Promise?"

"Promise."

"Promise…" she repeated slowly, remembering this wasn't the first time she had that conversation run through her mind. Always the same words, the same voice with the same passion in making that promise. The questioning voice she knew was her own, but whose was the answering? Who did she want to see again so badly that it hurt? Whose voice is that? And why do I recognize it? It was impossible to tell just from her memories, which were fading as well. A pretty, brunette girl in a pink cleaning uniform; a black, translucent thing with a Noh mask; and a dragon. A beautiful dragon, with gray-green eyes and silver scales, but other than that, Chihiro had no memory of them. Where they were from, how she met them, or even their names. Sen wasn't any of their names, of that she was certain, but whose?

She told herself, "I'm Chihiro, and I know that. But Sen… she seems a part of me, something I used to be… But what?" The young teen pulled at her hair and her gray eyes narrowed in pain, trying her best to remember what happened. It seemed that dragon… it was the most important memory she had. But it was fading into the back of her consciousness, her new friends at her school taking more room than anything before. "Who are you?" The only reasonable explanation was that it was all a dream, but how could she accept that? She was desperate to believe that these people were real, that these feelings and memories, and that promise were one hundred percent real. But how could she? The boy who promised her hadn't made an appearance at all, at least, as far as she could tell. But wouldn't he at least come up to her and explain everything?

Standing up, she kicked a rock as hard as she could and it tumbled down the hillside into the lake, leaving a wave of ripples in its wake. She turned around, but old habits were hard to break, and she slid on the grass, slipping down the hill and hitting her head painfully on a tree stump at the bottom. "Ouch…" she mumbled, holding the spot in pain.

"Sen, you're such a klutz!"

The voice sounded as if it was right next to her and she jumped up, glanced around to see who spoke, and realized that no one was there. "Damn it!" she yelled, frustrated, fat tears pouring down her cheeks. She climbed easily back up the hill, anchoring herself on the rocks and tree roots that protruded from the grass. As she reached the top, Chihiro took in her surroundings, and sighed, realizing she had better start home soon or her parents would start to get worried. Though, something told her that she worried more about them in the past than they have ever worried about her their whole lives. Walking up a path, she spotted something and tilted her head in confusion. "Those stones… look like little houses," she said offhandedly, passing by the little stone abodes.

Her eyes then caught a place where the road had stopped being paved, and led way to a little used dirt road. Curious, and forgetting that her parents are probably worried about her, she followed the path, stepping tentatively down it at first, then gaining confidence as she hurried along, eager to see what was at the end. She passed several more stone shrines, and a strangely shaped rock statue, and began to run as fast as she could, a little worried now, as the sky grew darker. The logical voice in the back of her mind told her she was never going to find her way back after dark, but the adventurous one urged her to keep going. So she did.

Chihiro spotted a clearing ahead, and saw another weird statue standing directly in the middle of it. "That's weird," she mentioned, the words, though she's said them a thousand times before, leaving a strange sense of déjà vu. The girl looked at the old red building in concern, though only because she felt she wasn't going to be able to get home, not in fear. The brunette walked towards it, feeling strangely at ease, and stood at the entrance, peeking in. The wind blew softly against her, as if it was calling to her, telling her to go into it. Taking a deep breath, Chihiro walked in, looking around in interest. It was just a dark tunnel, so she couldn't see much, and felt her way along the wall.

Coming out the other end, the gray eyed girl saw she was in a large room and, seeing that there was nothing of interest inside of it, ran to the door, and was soon outside. The grass was a rolling green color, and she walked in it, looking around at the clock tower. Frowning, Chihiro strode along the pasture climbing up another steep slope to where rocks were put in. "If I stay here to long," she whispered, trying not to slip on the large stones, "the river will be back and I won't be able to get across again." Then she blinked. How did… I know that?

Shaking her head, she ignored that dreadful prospect, somehow knowing that she would find that dragon with the steely eyes if she kept going. Her feet carried her along, her heart obviously discerning where to go even if her mind had no idea. She scaled a set of stairs faster than she could have imagined, and followed a path up to where she saw a signpost strutting itself out in the middle of nowhere. She furrowed her brow, though her heart pounded in her chest, and turned to look. "A bathhouse," she breathed, her hand flying up to her mouth in surprise. "What the…?" She walked onto the bridge slowly, heading for the foreign cabana cautiously.

"Who are you?" a voice questioned coldly. "What are you doing here?" She blinked in shock and glanced around, trying to find that owner of that voice. It was feminine, and she recognized it. She looked behind her and saw the brunette from her memories standing there, the pink uniform exactly as she remembered it, and smiled.

"Rin!" she shouted, running towards the woman in excitement. "Rin, it's me, Sen!" The woman looked shocked for a moment, frozen in place, and then a smile spread across her pink lips. The two embraced fondly, Chihiro crying into the girl's shirt happily.

Rin asked, "Sen, what are you doing back here? I thought you left for good!"

"I…" she replied, her voice fading. She didn't know what she was doing back here, truthfully. She just… followed the path and her heart, and it led her to one of her greatest friend, who she only remembered upon seeing her. "I'm looking for someone, but I don't remember his name." Rin furrowed her brow, and shook her head, obviously unable to remember whom it might be. Chihiro sighed and sat down on the bridge, feeling miserable. She'd never find that dragon.

Trying to reassure her, Rin suggested, "Why don't you come inside, we could ask Komaji if you like."

"The boiler man!" she recalled, clapping her hands together. She followed Rin into the bathhouse through an isolated door to the side of the main one, leading into a garden. Her eyes widened, and she saw a spot near the sliding door, behind some bushes, and remembered her ten-year-old self sitting there, a boy with dark green hair comforting her. He was holding her hands in both of his, truly caring about her. His voice reverberated in her mind, the same one from the conversation, the one who promised.

Remember Chihiro; I'm your friend.

She blinked as the image faded away, and she followed Rin through the door and down the wooden stairs, feeling no fear at the lack of railings. Soon they reached the metal door, and she pulled it open with ease, stepping inside to the boiler room. "Komaji-san!" Chihiro called, cupping her hands around her mouth to amplify the sound. "It's me, Sen!" Someone gasped, though it didn't sound quite like the boiler man considering the voice was a little too high. A loud crash sounded and squeaking as the tiny soot balls leapt into the air to get out of someone's way.

Chihiro squinted to try to get a better look at the person through the darkness, and made out long, dark green hair and gray-green eyes sparkling in the darkness. "Chihiro," the boy breathed, and she found that she knew the voice, and that she'd know the voice anywhere. The dragon, the comforting boy, the promise, the green eyes; all of those thoughts flew through her mind at a rapid speed, all coming together to form one conclusion.

My name is the Kohaku River!

"Haku!" she shouted, and ran up to him flinging herself into his outstretched arms, crying tears of joy at the sight of him. She thought she had forgotten forever, his name, his face, everything, never to find them again in her mind. But she had been wrong, dead wrong, and now she was finally back, with him. "Haku…"

He asked her softly as Rin skirted around them to give the two some privacy, entering into the boiler man's room, "Chihiro, how did you get here?"

"I tried so hard to remember you, and I couldn't! I'm so sorry!" she cried, and he sighed, knowing that in her distressed state things weren't going to be easy. Gently, he pushed down on her shoulders until the two were sitting on the floor, the brunette still wrapped tightly in his embrace. I haven't been this close to Haku since that bird thing was looking for me, when we first met, she recalled vaguely, trying to get her tears to stop flowing down her cheeks.

"Shh," he told her kindly, rubbing her back. "Everything's going to be all right, I promise."

Promise…

"Promise!" she gasped, her noise muffled down by his shirt. "Haku, how come you never came to see me again, like you told me you would?" She felt him tense, and then let her go, watching the ground with a face full of shame. Chihiro felt guilty for making him feel bad, and tried to amend, "I'm… I'm not mad! I was just wondering!"

"I tried to Chihiro," he whispered, and she bit her lip, awaiting the rest of his answer. "But Yubaba wouldn't tear up my contract, so I've been waiting for her to die so I can just get up and leave of my own volition. I never expected though… that you…"

She smiled and took his hand in hers. "I couldn't wait Haku. So I came to you instead." He returned her smile with one of his own, and she felt her heart race in her chest. The river spirit watched the human's pretty face, seeing how much she grew up in that five years she'd been away, and felt his own heart beat erratically. "I'm glad I did."

"Me, too," he whispered, lightly pressing his lips to hers, knowing that true love could not be dwindled by time nor distance between the hearts. His thought was right, because Chihiro loved him as much as she ever had, enough to have broken Zeniba's spell on the golden seal, enough to remember his true name, enough to be able to follow her heart right back to him. "I'm glad you're back, Chihiro."

"So I am, Kohaku, though I feel so bad… forgetting about you after all this time. I'm sorry."

He smiled and took her hands in his, the feeling so familiar to the girl as he had done it many times when she had first ventured to the Spirit World. "Chihiro, some things happen. Promises were meant to be broken, and memories were meant to be forgotten, and as bad as that seems its true. But of all the things that were meant to happen, the most important one is this: you and I, we were meant to be with each other, no matter how much time, and how much space separates us. The proof is that we're together now."

She smiled and nodded, "That's all the proof I need." She wrapped her arms around his neck and toppled the dragon boy over with another kiss.