At night, Chihiro is safe.
Safe from the cruel, harsh outside world that is nothing like the flowery, sunshiney adventure her childish 10-year-old self longed for. Nothing like the exciting roller-coaster her reckless teen self imagined. No, reality was cold. A dull, grey, flat expanse with splatters of crimson blood.
At night, she dreams.
Two pigs. A huge old lady with a large mole on the bridge of her nose. A gigantic baby who shook the floors. A mouse. A red bridge. Small, black, fuzzy balls with eyes gathering around an old, spidery man wearing round shades. Another identical old lady, a gleaming purple hairtie in her outstretched hand. A dark shape and a Noh mask. Dreams of a tall, pretty brunette girl who smiles at her. Of a beautiful white dragon; a dark-haired boy with solemn jade eyes the same shade as the dragon's.
At night, Chihiro is young again, clinging to her mother's arm and throwing small tantrums. Chihiro is free of the heavy burdens placed on her shoulders; she is a carefree child once more.
At night, she meets Haku again. Meets Rin, her sister; No Face, Zeniba, Boh, Kamaji; all of her friends in the Spirit World. And like she had, all those years ago, Chihiro falls in love all over again. She knows, in the back of her mind, that this is just a dream, an illusion, that will dispel as soon as she wakes up; but Chihiro pushes the voice away and smiles at a concerned Rin gazing down at her.
At night… Sometimes Chihiro wishes she could stay in her dreams. Stay in the Spirit World. But always; as she runs down the grassy hills, she is gaining consciousness; floating away from the Spirit World.
Chihiro dreams; she meets her friends again; she wishes. But as the first rays of sunlight filter through the tinted window, she is always up again.
Years pass. Chihiro finds a sudden mass of grey hairs underneath the brown ones. Watches as slowly, slowly, every inch of her is covered with grey, fading into everything surrounding her.
Then, as the last strand of chestnut turns snowy, Chihiro sleeps, and does not awaken again.
In her mind, she is a child, grasping her love- Haku-'s hands, and they are soaring through the sky, rising up to the clouds. But this time, they do not land on the red bridge. This time, Rin, Boh, Kamaji, all of her friends wave at them from the painfully familiar bathhouse, and they fly on. This time, she doesn't let go. Never again. This time…
Maybe Chihiro can finally be free again. The last of their bodies melt away into the wind, and somewhere far away, across the sky…
A star bursts into light, the sound of a girl's laughter fading away.