(A/N Inreference exiting of the tunnel, and the events taking place. You'll have to read to find out. Suspense. Ha. ha.)
Disclaimer: I own nothing
Spirited Away: The Kohaku River
After exiting the tunnel, Chihiro and her parents made it safely back to the human world. After a few shorts days trapped in the Spirit World, their car was covered in dust and dirt from inside and out. Chihiro's Mother declared of someone's part of a joke.
As her parents uncover the car, Chihiro looks back after exiting the tunnel. Her mind was focusing she will someday meet Haku again. She doesn't know when, or how. But someday they will meet again. Then suddenly, all of her memories were erased as her hair ribbon sparked. Chihiro no longer held the memories of her time in the Spirit World, and her encounter of meeting Haku.
She hopped back in the car, and her and her parents drove away to their new home. After settling in the house, Chihiro sat in her room sitting on her desk staring out her new room window of the town.
Her mind seemed blank after exiting the tunnel, but what had happened? It seemed she forgot something important. All she remembered was stumbling upon an abandoned theme park. As so her Father had thought, they were everywhere in the nineties, then the economy went bankrupt. In conclusion there was an abandoned bathhouse.
After a few days, Chihiro decided to move on, she was new to the town and had to get used to it. One week later, Chihiro was enrolled in school. She dressed in a white blouse with a red dress, and brand new black shoes. Chihiro shyly steps out of the car, and walks to the playground where other children were playing. Children were playing kickball, hopscotch, jumprope, sculpting sand castles, a game of tag, and swinging on monkey bars.
Chihiro shyly sits down on a bench and watches as other children freely roam their business. A girl with a baby blue dress with a pink bow in her hair asks Chihiro to come play her and the children on the monkey bars. Chihiro shyly nods, and follows the girl to the monkey bars.
"I'm Yuki Samoya. What's your name?"
"Chihiro. Chihiro Ogino." They slightly bow.
Yuki climbs on top of the monkey bars kicks her legs on top and hangs down with her body while she balances with her legs. Chihiro climbs up as well, but not in the same position as Yuki and the other kids as they climb high to the top. Chihiro pulls her body up as her legs drag in the air keeping her from sliding forward while balancing on her lower body.
As she clings, she cocks her head to the side looking around. Today was off to a good start. New home, new school. As if her mind were playing tricks on her, she could sworn a young boy about her age with bob cut hair, eyes as green like a dragon's eye, dressed in a white kimono with, puffy light blue Japanese trousers known as monpe with a purple sash tied around his waist. As Chihiro tries to get a better look, she loses her balance off the monkey bar and falls elbow first.
Oomph!
Yuki climbs down followed by other children to her aide, to their surprise she didn't cry as her cut on her elbow began to drip like a single tear. Chihiro paid no attention as other children tried to help her. Chihiro looked back to see if the boy was there, but he suddenly disappeared.
After her cut was taken care of, her parents became worried of her behavior, Chihiro reminded them constantly she was fine. After that little glance of the boy, she began to draw.
As she closed her eyes, he appeared clear as the sky. As she drew in perfect detail, his eyes looked straight into her soul, he looked somewhat familiar. But where?
What was his name? Did they have a class? Did they meet somewhere and she forgot him? As she stared in to the drawing of his eyes, the eyes looked sharp like a dragon. She turned the page of her sketchbook and began to draw a dragon with one detail of the young boy eye's.
Over ten tries of finding the perfect kind of dragon she read from books of spirits born from the nature of trees, rivers, oceans, stars, planets. She found a similar dragon born of a river but not specified which river because the mythified book she borrowed from the library indicated people believed spirits were born of the earth, the stars, moon, planets and the nature that surrounds them, but not specified in name if a spirit chose a life form, like the book she read as a little girl 'My Neighbor Totoro.' A spirit who protected the big tree miles from the town in Japan.
In Japanese culture, the dragon is the savior of the river and waters. She closed her eyes, and let the tip of her pencil guide her.
After an hour of drawing with her eyes closed, the dragon became life-like. The dragon fit well with the boy she drew on the first page. She put the two together so they wouldn't be separated.
As the years gone by, she specialized in drawing dragons. She used her favorite one every time.
Every night after her first drawing of the boy and in his dragon form, she dreamt working in a bathhouse and the woman who hired her had a large head, blue dress, wore jewelry on her fingers, and could sworn she felt the pain in her arm as a large ten foot baby begged her to play with him or he would kill her.
Chihiro snapped open her eyes, she was safely in her own house, her own room. The pain in her arm followed her from her dream. She shook her head, pain does not follow you from dreams.
She grabbed her sketchbook from her desk, and drew more of the dreams she had almost every night. A spider like man working in a boiler room with tiny little sootballs with eyeballs carrying coal. Falling into a bath where a spirit gobbled up in garbage asking for help with a thorn on his side. Her favorite dragon, except when he snapped at her when she tried to aide him because he was bleeding from the inside.
A shadow spirit with a non-exisiting face-mask chasing her downstairs, and found herself in a field of pigs. Two pigs resembled her Mother and Father.
As Chihiro drew more of her dreams. It all seemed she experienced these dilemmas. One dream she wrote down in her sketch book was with an old woman similar to the lady in the bathhouse but soft in notion cited a quote.
"Once you meet someone, you never forget them. It just takes awhile for your memories to receive."
As the years passed by, Chihiro was now eighteen. Currently attending college, majoring in the field of art. She was currently in class right now drawing her favorite dragon with a girl of ten on his back soaring over the bathhouse with several strange creatures on the bottom. A ten foot baby with two ladies who like alike but one looked grouchy. A woman in her twenties waving to the girl on the dragon's back, and the spider-like man commanding the sootballs to carry coal.
The girl sitting next to Chihiro pointed to the girl on the dragon's back."You know, she kind of looks like you."
Chihiro blinked."Yeah, I guess she does."
"What do you mean you guess? Everyone can clearly see the resemblance."
After class, Chihiro gets a call from her cell phone. It's her parents. "Hello?"
"Chihiro, it's Mom. Listen, you need to come home after your done with your classes."
Chihiro took a breath."Why? Did something happen?"
"No, Sweetie. Nothing has happened. It's kind of wonderful news."
Chihiro grabbed her bag and started to walk to her next class with the phone clanged to her ear."Can't you tell me over the phone?"
"It's better if we're all together. Go and study now. Bye."
Chihiro hangs up the phone. After school, Chihiro gets in her car and drives the twenty minute drive to her house. After Chihiro gets out of the car, her parents expect her as they sit in the living room drinking coffee.
"Chihiro. Please have a seat." Said her Father.
Chihiro sits down in a chair. After a few minutes of silence her Mother sets down her mug on the coffee table."Chihiro. Your Father and I couldn't be any happier you have grown into a young mature young lady. Where do the years go?"
Chihiro blushed, cursing at her body's betrayal."Thank you, Mom. What news did you have me come home for?"
Her Father takes a sip of coffee."Well, the news is my job has offered me a new position in the city. My company has named me manager, and that means I can take over the business in Tokyo instead of working in the small office or crumbling up space of recycled paper in the study room."
"Does this mean-"
Her Mother cut herself in."We have the privilege to move again. You can even enroll in the best art school in Tokyo. Your Father's company has given him one week to get settled in the new house, so we will have to pack by tomorrow afternoon within the two day moving truck."
Chihiro was silent for a moment. Since moving to this small town residence, she has somehow grown close, like attached. She could move again, but that was once when she was ten.
"I'm sorry. I don't want to disappoint you two, but I am currently old enough to make my own decisions, I want to stay." she exclaimed.
"There are no opportunities in this small residence. There's a perfectly good art school in the city. Why you can get your own apartment if your ready to handle adult responsibilities." Said her Mother.
"Dad. Mom. I can't somehow make myself leave this town. I've grown so attached that-" she stutters."I can't explain it but you need to understand I'm not a minor anymore for me to come with you guys. I love you both so much, we can always call or write a letter."
Her parents faces were hard to read. "We are sorry you can't come with us, we can;t make you, but I guess we accept your decision. Are you sure you can't change your mind?" Said her Mother.
"I'm sure Mom." Said Chihiro.
By the end of the week, Chihiro was named owner of the residence of the house, her part-time work would cover all the expenses and her classes at the college. After hugging and saying their goodbyes. Chihiro's parents drove away to their new home.
The house was quiet. Her Mother's smell of cooking, her Father constantly working in the study room were now empty. This would be the last time she would see her parents. After their move to Tokyo, she grew distant from them.
Once in awhile they would call to check up on her. Same constant of hello. Goodbye. How are you? How's your classes? They were slightly disappointed their only daughter was not closer to them. She was eighteen after all. Children had to leave the nest eventually.
Six months later, Chihiro began to hear voices. The voice sounded like an angel. Voice deep and beautiful. She wrote the quotes in her journal. Her journal became full of sentences she's heard over the years.
The one of the sweet old granny. Handing her a woven hair piece.
"It'll protect you."
The giant Baby.
"Play with me or I'll break you arm."
The mean old-witch.
"Sign your name, and I'll put you to work."
A twenty-year-old woman bathhouse worker.
"If you need anything ask me."
The Sweet Granny.
"In return, you must take care of this girl." To the dragon.
"Chihiro. What a pretty name!"
Her dreams focused on the young boy she had seen earlier in her preteen years.
"Don't forget Chihiro. I'm your friend."
"I've known you since you were real small."
"I remember you falling into my river, and I remember your little pink shoe!"
"Sure we'll meet again." Sure we will." Promise." "Promise. No go and don't look back."
The voice spoke to her as in now his voice has gotten deeper, sweeter, and calming as she was near to waking up, he appeared blurry as she could of sworn he held up his hand reaching for her." I will find you Chihiro!"
Chihiro. Chihiro. His voice echoed as she woke up.
She grabbed her notebook and turned to the last page of her sketchbook. The drawing contained of her favorite dragon in the sky with her on his back but the girl resembled her in her teens. With several creatures in the sky together. Chihiro noticed a letter by the dragon and the spider-like man. An H. By the dragon's tail, another letter spelled out an A. Chihiro's eyes began to grow big, she turned her book slowly spelling out the letters.
She spelled out a four letter name. She turns back the page from the beginning and spells out the name again. Again, and again. The name came back to her. Her mind flashed from all the dreams she had over the years. Those weren't dreams. They were memories.
She murmured the name out loud."Haku!"
(A/N So how was that? In the Japanese Version Chihiro lost all her memories of the Spirit World. According to Zeniba, the memories are never forgotten, it just takes time for them to receive. So although she lost her memories, they are deep inside her subconscious as if playing them like dreams.
Next Chapter will be up continuing with Haku after he let her go, and trying to keep his promise to see her again. You'll have to read and find out. Leave me a review. Till next time.)