Lightning- hello everyone!

Cobra- There she goes again. You had sugar again, didn't you?

Lightning- Well, yeah… but what does that have to do with anything?

Cobra- I thought as much. And anyway, get on with the disclaimer. People didn't come to hear us talk, you know!

Lightning-Sigh. Fine. But just so whoever reads this will know, Cobra and I are two completely different people. And two more stories will be following this one, if you like it. I'm writing the first one, Cobra is writing the next, and we'll be writing the last one together!

Cobra- Emphasizing every silibyl. Get-on-with-the-dis-claim-er!!!!!

Lightning-Okay. Disclaimer- I do not own Spirited Away or any of I's assets. I do have a copy of the movie though, which Cobra doesn't.

Cobra-Lightning!!!

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………...

Chapter One- The Days After

Chihiro gazed out the classroom window. She wasn't paying any attention to what her teacher was saying. In fact, her mind was very far away from the human world at that moment. She was thinking about the spirit world. It had been almost nine years since she had left it. Chihiro couldn't remember very much about it.

Yes, she still remembered her friends, what they l9ooked like, and that they had made her the purple hair tie now holding her hair in a pony-tail. Something about a human stench. And….. A boy, though Chihiro couldn't remember his name. But she remembered his face, and the love she felt for him. There was also another feeling. A sense of longing, and hopeful patience. It was as if Chihiro was waiting for him to fulfill some long forgotten promise.

Riiinnnnnggg!!!!! The bell almost made Chihiro jump out of her skin. "You're dismissed." The teacher told the class. Chihiro felt a thrill go through her body. It was the end of the day, which meant she had school swim practice to go to.

Chihiro couldn't get out of her seat fast enough. One of her guy friends, Akito, was on the swim team, too. He was probably Chihiro's best friend. And, since that day was February 14th, she had given something to him. Now, Akito was the class heart-throb, so Chihiro would be lying if she said she wasn't hoping for a gift from him.

Excited, Chihiro ran to her swim practice. The spirit world and the strange, green-haired and eyed boy far from her mind.

Chihiro whistled on her way home. Akito had given her something!!! And it was one of the most valuable things to Chihiro: a bouquet of roses. She had only once gotten one of those before. And that was from her old best friend. Chihiro smiled and smelled the flowers.

Suddenly, Chihiro stopped. She had been so happy about the roses that she hadn't even noticed that she had taken the wrong path home. So she was now on a strange, overgrown, dirt road, surrounded by the trees of the forest behind Chihiro's house.

Chihiro gazed down the road's length. It's so… familiar. Chihiro thought in a daze. Just then, she noticed some little stone houses to her right. Chihiro looked at them and smiled. They're so cute! She thought.

Suddenly, the wind picked up, blowing leaves lazily down the road. Chihiro glanced back down the road, her hair trying to follow the wind. The wind, it's almost like it's trying to pull me down the road. She thought. Then she shook her head. What am I thinking?! It's just the wind!!!" Chihiro scolded herself.

Snap!! Chihiro jumped in surprise as her hair flew into her face. My hair tie!! She thought in a panic. She looked around to find the purple hair tie on the ground. Quietly, Chihiro picked it up. She glanced around, looking for a place to put it. Her parents had been trying to get rid of it, and this was just an all too convenient opportunity to do so.

With growing frustration, Chihiro finally looked at the little stone houses. Curious, she went up and investigated them. Finding the perfect spot, Chihiro put her hair tie in it. Then she stepped away from the houses.

And Chihiro's few memories of the spirit world fled her. What am I doing here? Chihiro wondered, looking around at the road. What was I doing? Oh, never mind that! I need to get home!