(Author's Note: I absolutely love my reviews on my other story. Let's see if this one-shot would also get a review! Enjoy!)
Disclaimer: I do not own Spirited Away.
"The Reunion"
By: Arlina'Harris and my cousin! xD
A young brunette child floundered and thrashed wildly in the strong currents of the river. She opened her mouth to scream, but instead choked on a mouthful of river water and silt stirred up from the bottom of the river by her struggles. She felt the darkness threatening to overtake her, the panic filling her chest and pushing out all remaining air. Still, she fought on, desperate to live. She knew that she would die the moment she ceased struggling. But soon she would run out of energy. Her demise was inevitable. The best she could do was prolong the period before it. True to her thoughts, she began to sink. She turned light headed and dizzy, fighting to keep from breathing in the water. But no human could hold their breath forever. Water rushed to fill the space in her lungs, but she resisted. She drifted into a dead man's float. An all too famaliar boy lay at the bottom of the river. One with midnight blue hair, dark as the sky. His blue and white robes were torn, in tatters, and stained with blood. His blood. His body was bruised; battered. Something was wrong with the way he lay. Something was very wrong. Her subconscious knew it. She knew this boy... She cared for him... She loved him. Her mouth opened in pure shock and she watched her precious bubbles of air float to the surface and pop. Her vision blurred and spots danced in her eyes. Water poured into her lungs, now waterlogged. She gave up the fight. Spots and patches clouded her sight and she surrended to the darkness, her eyelids shutting for the final time.
The 18 year old teen sat bolt upright in her bed, her eyes snapping open. There was a panicked, haunted look in them. She whimpered, "No...". Her mouth was still open in a silent scream, her throat dry.
She hugged her pillow and sobbed before getting up shakily and banding her hair up with a sparkly pink hair tie, walking to her closet. She reached in and retrieved the peach coloured robes, proof that the time spent in that place wasn't just a dream. She smiled slightly, hugging the robes to her chest. All she wanted was to be back where she belonged. With her Haku. Her Dragon. "Haku!" She screamed into her pillow. "Where are you? I need you." Her voice trembled than broke.
"Come on, Chihiro. Breakfast." She murmured to herself. Chihiro sighed and replaced the robes in their previous place. She walked slowly down the flight of stairs and sat down in her seat.
She was about open her pack of cereal when a knock sounded on the door. She stood slowly, walking to the door. She had a feeling it had something to do with her.
She opened the door cautiously. Framed in the doorway, stood a teenage boy around her age with straight midnight blue, shoulder length hair, in blue and white robes.
Chihiro stared, disbelieving. "Haku!" She breathed, launching herself at him. She buried herself in his arms and sobbed. "It's been 8 years, Haku! Where have you been? I was starting to lose hope." "Chihiro," Haku said lovingly, with rare emotion. Chihiro smiled. His voice had deepened, taking on a warm, smooth tone. And she loved it. He carressed her cheek. "I'm sorry I took so long to come. Yubaba wouldn't let me. But I'm out of her apprenticeship now. We all are. I just woke up one day and she was gone. She left a note saying something like 'too stressed, vacation, goodbye, never coming back' or something like that."
Chihiro grinned. "Didn't think that she'd ever leave her beloved bathhouse or baby behind." Haku smiled too. He couldn't help it. It had been too long since he'd seen that beautiful smile of hers.
Chihiro hugged Haku tight, with no plans of letting go anytime soon. She buried her head in his muscular chest and breathed in his scent. He smelled like clean river water. She breathed a sigh of nostalgia. Haku's strong arms circled her waist and lifted her into the air and spun her around. Chihiro laughed out loud, her tinkling laugh echoing; infectious. Haku let out a rare chuckle of his own and murmured, "You won't believe how much I missed you, Chihiro." Chihiro giggled and replied,"I'll say just about as much as I missed you. Oh, Haku... You won't believe how many tines I've driven back to where your river used to be and just kneel by one of the small streams that were re-routed from your river and just yell your name." The corner of Haku's mouth lifted slightly in a rare smile. "Believe me, Chihiro, I know. I could feel your presence. I just couldn't reply. The currents in those streams are just too weak. It doesn't sustain my form." Chihiro stared up into Haku's beautiful, deep emerald eyes and kissed him deeply. Finally, Haku pulled back the kiss and retrieved another sparkling hair tie, this one glimmering brighter than the other. Haku handed it reverently to her. "It's the band of love. I enchanted it with the most powerful protective spell known. It reflects the true love of the person holding it." Haku explained. The hair tie was currently the exact shade of chocolate brown as Chihiro's hair, with streaks of dark hazel running through it -streaks of hazel the exact shade of Chihiro's eyes. The back of the band had the name 'Chihiro' on it. Chihiro's eyes teared. She knew that meant that Haku loved her. Her! She stared up at Haku with emotion-filled eyes, gingerly accepting the band from him. In her palms, the band morphed from brown and hazel to the exact shade of Haku's midnight blue hair with streaks of emerald green; also the exact shade as Haku's eyes. The name 'Kohaku' replaced the 'Chihiro'. Haku stared back into Chihiro's teary eyes, his roiling with seldom seen emotion. One stood out particularly in both their eyes. Love. "I love you, Haku." Chihiro murmured softly.
"I love you too, Chihiro. More than I ever thought possible." Haku breathed back. Chihiro buried herself in his warm, secure embrace and smiled against his muscled chest.
Her missing half was back. She was back where she belonged. In the arms of her love. Her protector; her saviour; her White Dragon.