Disclaimer: I do not own Spirited Away or any of the characters in it. It belongs to Studio Ghibli and Hayao Miyazaki. It is therefore (c) to them. However the plot line of this story is (c) to me. I do not wish to see it anywhere else. Thank you.
Ok Oddlings, this is my first fanfic so constructive criticism and comments are wanted, please enjoy and excuse any mistakes I may have made. I hope you enjoy it and hope I recieve honest and polite feedback. Even if it is not good feedback please be polite.
This chapter is more of a introduction, action will come in the next chapter.
Now onto the Story..
A Release From This.
Chapter One.
"Will we meet again someday?"
"I'm sure we will."
"Promise?"
"Promise."
It had been almost eight years, eight long years since she had seen that boy, those people. But still she woke from dreams of that place, still it lingered within her; though certain details were a little hazy it was still all there. Eight years she had waited for that promise to be fulfilled but it never was. She had almost given up hope. Sick of sitting around waiting for something that might never come through a tunnel in a forest; she was now in College taking degrees in English and Art. She had moved on as best she could, but some things cannot be forgotten, some things don't want to be forgotten.
She sat up, wiping her eyes with the backs of her hands; she was not the spoilt ten year old she used to be. She would be eighteen in two days. Two days then she would be an adult, respected as an adult. Her hair flowed across her shoulders and down onto her back slightly, she pulled a brush from her bedside table. After neatening her bird's nest of bed hair she put it up in a ponytail with the same purple hair band she was given eight years ago. It was another one of those things she couldn't let go of.
She stretched, looking round her familiarly messy room. Its white walls were lined with small paintings mostly of dragons, spirits and other mythical beings. There was also a picture on the desk, this picture was of a cherry blossom tree, under that tree sat a boy, a boy with dark greenish hair and striking emerald eyes. She stared at this picture for a moment longer before scanning the room once more. Clothes hung messily from the computer chair, a canvas lay out on the floor with a half finished painting on it. She looked over at her curtains as they blew gracefully in the breeze coming from her open window. She always slept with the window open; she liked the feel of the breeze washing over her as she slept. This was the only room in her blue house that she truly liked, though the house was nice it was the only room she felt truly at peace, this was probably because it was hers. Her little place of privacy and comfort. No one came in without permission and that was exactly how she liked it.
"Chihiro! Breakfast is ready!" He mother called from the kitchen.
"Coming mother." She said with a hint of boredom. She didn't find anything interesting anymore. She didn't have any interest in anything except her art and her writing, everything else bored her. She wanted nothing more than to be swept away to an interesting place where she could live instead of just existing.
She pulled herself up and walked down the stairs still in the shorts and t-shirt that she slept in. Sitting down at her kitchen table, a plate of pancakes was placed in front of her. She poured her self a glass of milk and began eating. She had never told anyone about what had happened in the spirit world, she knew they wouldn't understand. It was all she ever thought about, even when doing the simplest most irrelevant thing she would slip in to thoughts of that world, and how she would love to see it again.
The rest of the day was just as boring as the start. She did everything she could to try and make it at least in a small part interest but it didn't work. It never did. No matter how many times she tried it never worked. All she needed was something interesting.
The morning of her eighteenth birthday started just as any day, her routine of getting up, showering, getting dressed, tying her hair up in the purple band and going downstairs to eat her daily plate of pancakes. She was beginning to think her parents had forgotten but that's how it had always felt on her birthday. Her parents acted as if it was just the same as any other day and then they would surprise her with something or other. Even thought it wasn't really a surprise any more, she had gotten used to the routine.
Her parents were no where to be seen for most of the day so she lounged around reading from her books of mythology and legend, she had collected quite a lot of information over the years, they were like her own personal encyclopaedia's. She could guarantee that there was no one else in the entire world with the same set, as she had made them herself. Her compiled knowledge, including that of the spirit world. She often found herself engrossed in these books, a small release from the dreary world she lived in. She didn't know how long she had sat there, how long she had been reading for. Time was lost when she read those books. No matter how many times she read them, she always found out more from doing so. Not so much from what was written on the page but from what wasn't. She had written them and almost knew them off by heart. She lost herself within those books, so much so she didn't even notice her parents returning.
"Come on Chihiro, put the books down. We're leaving." Her mother called from the kitchen. She heard the fridge door opening and something being removed from it. She got up placing her books down carefully and walking into the kitchen. From there she was ushered into the car by her father.
The journey was not long, but it was silent none the less. She never liked talking in the car anymore. She rarely liked talking to any one anymore for that matter, she had almost completely cut her self off, but that was how she liked it. She watched her surroundings change from the small town she lived in to a city; she wasn't sure which one however. Its lights were shining brightly in the dark many a shop and pub were lined along the crowded streets. They stopped outside a pub, unlike most of the pubs in this district; this pub was more old fashioned. It had no neon lights; instead it had lanterns though these lanterns didn't have proper flames, only bulbs that look like flames.
She climbed out looking about herself, her parents had said nothing about what was to happen, not that she cared anyway. She would rather spend a night in than make a fuss about her birthday, but her parents felt differently making it necessary for her to oblige them.
The doors opened revealing a crowd and birthday banners, she looked at the people with a slight distaste not knowing what they were doing there. Most of them she had seen in her college, she spoke to none of them. She now felt obliged to thank them for their presence though after that no one spoke to her.
After an hour of being ignored by everyone including her parents, she no longer wished to stay there. She had no desire to spend time with people who were only there for the free drinks and the food. They didn't come for her. Anyone with half a brain could see that. She stood up and slipped silently out of the back door and onto the crowded street.