Chihiro never really forgot. She felt funny some days, days when there were more reminders than usual and the feelings were a bit strong. She'd feel that slight tingle of magic making the memories more fuzzy, like they were meant to be forgotten. On those days she'd just cling even tighter, going over senseless details in her mind until they were clear again. It reminded her of when Yubaba had taken her name, it was so hard to remember who she was sometimes. She'd had to make up chants, spelling her name in her head to sweeps of her brush or whatever menial cleaning chore she had been assigned to do. Remembering was hard work some days.
One of those days, the ones full of reminders, she had been sitting in class. Science class never really excited her. She was a few years older now though, so she sat quietly attempting to listen.
"Rivers very rarely disappear. Their source-water remains under the ground or inside the ground contributing to the water table. So even if a river seems to be destroyed, whether by natural disaster or by man-made extremes, it still usually exists. Now if you could turn in your textbooks to page 643…"
Chihiro sat straight up, her spine cracking from the sudden change in posture. Rivers. Thank goodness for life-changing ideas. She pulled out her textbook, turning to the pages that the teacher had specified and started reading. Pulling a notebook out quickly, she started writing, having to remind herself occasionally to write slower so that she could read it herself later.
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Her classmates called her dedicated. She grew studious and patient. Some of the more spiteful ones called her names like tree-hugger and hippie. She preferred 'hopeful.'
'Besides,' she justified, 'even if this doesn't work, it'll still be good for the environment and everyone that lives around here.' Of course, that motivation wasn't nearly as strong as it was for her other reason. The other reason she could barely form into a full sentence in her mind before she pushed it away.
Yes, she was hopeful, but she at least tried to be realistic. Even if it doesn't work, if he can't come ba-, if the river isn't there; even if for some reason the gods considered it a new river, I will still be righting a wrong.
Graduation came and went and she worked hard, harder than anyone else. People liked her, respected her drive. She was charismatic, yes, but never had many close friends. She was too busy.
She studied law, environmental policies, and most importantly, real estate.
As soon as she could afford to, she set up a real estate consulting business right across the street from the apartment complex that she was aiming to own.
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Everything was slow, progressing, but slow; for a long time. Without her even noticing, things started falling into place. People moved out of the apartments, small local businesses came forward to donate money, and loopholes were found that couldn't quite protect the apartments.
This had absolutely nothing to do with people reporting that items had been going missing and then turning up randomly, that lights would dim around 'witching hour' nearly every night, or that just walking outside the apartments suddenly gave everyone but the bravest souls the spine-curving, jitters. Nope, it had nothing to do with that at all.
The numbers grew and then fell into place, the teams started digging, and buildings came down…loudly. Chihiro watched everything, laughing happily and grinning like a Cheshire cat. Who said that little boys were the only ones who enjoyed explosions?
After a surprisingly short amount of time, the still empty river was dug and the new apartments were being rebuilt. She made sure these ones were up to standard, and not in the way of the river. Besides, it certainly wouldn't decrease interest if nearly every apartment had a gorgeous view of a newly landscaped river (with a park to benefit the neighborhood, of course.) The air very nearly tingled with anticipation. It was as if every blade of grass was holding their breath with her.
Finally, the day came to finalize the project by releasing the river's headwaters into it's newly formed riverbed.
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Chihiro bit her bottom lip and smoothed out the white designer dress that the city had provided her with. Her loud, bright red sun hat (that had come with the dress) drooped lethargically over her forehead. "What's taking them so long? We were supposed to start four minutes ago!" She irritably crossed her ankles to the other side for the second time, trying desperately not to fidget. Finally, the over-weight man with the ugly sash and pink carnation stepped up to the microphone and started his speech. He gestured wildly, assuring the people in the crowd that everything was now right with the world and blah blah blah.
Why were politicians so long-winded? She looked around at what she had accomplished. The new apartment buildings were state of the art. They were environmentally friendly, ran mostly on self-sustaining power and were stylish to boot. Basically, they were very expensive. Her park across the river had a beautiful red gazebo at the end of a trail that was groomed to look like it was natural, a contradicting statement that again just meant that it was expensive.
Her eyes glazed over when they came to the empty dirt of the riverbed. How much longer is this man going to speak? Can't we just release the river now? She snapped her head up and smiled winningly, noticing that he was gesturing for her to stand next to him. Her face turned bright red as he introduced her and started to brag.
"Oh, but let's let her do the talking! Here she is, the mastermind of the Kohaku River Project!" Chihiro's mental smirk almost made it to her face, 'oh, you're going to regret that. Speech-time is over Mr. Politician.'
She stepped forward and a broad, mischievous smile said in a loud voice, spreading both arms like she'd seen him do. "What is there to talk about? Let's let the river do the talking!" She smiled amidst applause. Apparently the audience was just as sick of hearing him speak as she was. She glanced at the man in the now sweaty, very expensive suit next to her. His face was red, but he seemed to be rolling with it.
The crowd began to move toward the river bank. Chihiro and Mr. Politician walked down a real red carpet to the bridge. Her favorite part. She had been very specific on what it was to look like. It had to be an exact duplicate of the bridge where she had first met him. The bridge in front of the bath-house was real, solid, and standing right in front of her. They had praised her originally, saying that she had a hidden artistic side amidst her practicalities. She just smiled and nodded, all while feeling every achy past, panicked afternoon going over every detail of the bridge's railing, trying desperately not to lose her treasured memory of it.
She trailed a hand gingerly over the new wood of the railing, already smoothed over by man-made chemicals. It was a harsh difference to the smoothed wood of her memory, being smoothed by centuries of hands running over it, sanding it down naturally to its silky finish. She looked up, past the shiny, bald head of the sweating politician into the bright blue sky. She had to hold onto the back of her red hat, to keep it from falling off of her tilted-back head.
Mr. Politician was talking again, this time from the center of the bridge. She stopped just behind him, next to the railing, she had a plan. She'd had a plan from the beginning. She barely listened this time, registering that he seemed to be aware of what she had been thinking.
"Now don't you worry if the river looks dirty at first, when the headwaters are released it will pick up every bit of dirt and debris and carry it downriver. The river will take a few days to settle, but we have been assured that the spring that feeds this river is perfectly crystal clear. All we ask is that you wait for the river to settle a bit before taking a dip." Mr. Politician had linked his thumbs in his lapels, obviously proud of himself. For what? He hadn't done anything. Arrogant fool. He brought out a walkie talkie and paused "for dramatic effect" before radioing the demolition team to destroy the dam and release the river. Chihiro had to exert a huge effort not to roll her eyes at his internal script.
Then, in an instant everything changed for her. She heard the slight pop of the explosive in the distance. The crowd disappeared, the politician seemed to move in slow motion, stepping away from the railing. A cold wind picked up, ice on the breeze. It whipped around her ankles; it teased tendrils of moisture past her cheeks. She took two steps forward, so she could see, though she didn't know what she was looking for.
A huge, white mass of writhing water came crashing around the corner. Her eyes caught the first sight of it at the same time as the huge blast of cold, wet air hit her face. The breath was forced out of her lungs as she caught sight of him. A massive, white dragon curling and dancing in the powerful water, crashing toward her as fast as it possibly could. She saw his scales as one with the droplets of river. Bowling over giant rocks and piles of dirt that the construction had left behind, he came pounding to her.
For the first time in fifteen years, her eyes met Haku's. She smiled and let go of her hat.
Time caught up with her then. Her hat was ripped violently off of her head, her hair whipping around her head and into her eyes, making her cry and go blind. She knew her plan. She made her move toward where the hat had flown off; barely being able to make out the hideous red thing she was supposed to be reaching for. The cold air pushed at her, pulling her with it as the water smashed into the rocks under the bridge, deafening and terrifying. She purposefully leaned too far out over the railing, reaching for the hat that she cared nothing about and let the wind help her over the side of the bridge.
The noise was so loud now that it was impossible to distinguish anything except a huge roar, the roar of a dragon, it had to be. She smiled in the few seconds she had of airtime before hitting the water and being pulled into the head of the wave.
She relaxed. She had nothing but trust. She had seen his eyes and that had been enough. She opened her arms and after a beat, felt another pair of arms wrap around her. Her eyes were closed against the water but she felt his forehead on hers. She was finally home. He could take her wherever his river was headed. She clung onto him, feeling the soft cotton of his shirt with his strong back beneath it, the water was completely gone, it was just them, finally together.
"You saved me again, Chihiro." I love you. He didn't need to say it, she'd heard it loud and clear, and she let the Kohaku river take her away.