The Wait: Back Home
"Promise me you'll never forget me because if I thought you would, I'd never leave."
-A.A. Milne
A woman with extensive long strands of brown hair crawled through a passage with a basket in hand. The moment the passage door opened, she felt the immense heat attack her skin and just like every other day, her resulting perspiration would be absorbed by her pink uniform, making it all the more uncomfortable and unbearable. Oh, what she would do for a bath. With her bangs matted to her forehead, she stood up, wiping the sweat away with the back of her hand.
"Dinner's here, Kamaji!" she announced as her hand reached into the basket to pull out a huge bowl of ramen.
"About time! I'm starving here!" the grumpy old man replied.
She scowled at him. "Some stupid yuna was the one holding me up, alright! Geez…"
He chuckled as he stopped working and dug into the meal. "Dinner time!" he yelled to the working soot balls which then dropped all their coals, rushing over to Lin for their favorite, and truthfully, their only choice of food.
"Do I want to know what happened?" the old man asked while chewing his noodles and slurping on the soup eagerly. "Tastes better every time," he remarked to himself.
Lin threw out star-shaped crackers to the soot balls while her face held the same scowl in place, though it seemed to have grown bigger as she fumed thinking back.
"Thanks to her, the bottom floor is a wreck. Customers are going crazy and she's actually feigning illness as a poor excuse to slack! The next time I get a hold of her job schedule, she's going to be in charge of clearing the dump out back."
The soot balls seemed to whimper when their beloved crackers broke into a million crumbs in Lin's tightly balled fists. The woman sighed as her hand delved into the basket to get more and threw it into the eagerly awaiting stick-like hands of the little creatures.
"Ahh… this place just gets hotter and hotter, doesn't it?" the weasel spirit grumbled in frustration.
"It's not getting hotter; you're just getting angrier, Lin. Cool down a little," Kamaji replied calmly before taking in another mouth of the noodles.
She rolled her eyes. "Tell me when you're done with that. I gotta head back soon to help clear up the mess. If you saw it those sunglasses of yours would fall right off and you'd be as angry as me…" Lin continued in angst.
"I don't think I would be, Lin. Could it be any worse than the mess Chihiro made the last time she was here?" Kamaji said, smiling at the wonderful memories of the past.
A sad smile appeared on Lin's face, making the wrinkles that had initially appeared on her forehead vanish.
"I guess not… That girl was really…" her voice trailed off as she paused to remember the endearing human whom she'd long regarded as her own little sister, a sibling whom she'd longed to have for the last few centuries in her lifetime. How was she doing? Was her life good? Did she still remember them? Was she ever coming back? Were they ever going to meet again?
The questions swarmed and bombarded her mind like they always did whenever she recalled the baby-faced human girl who was much stronger than her wimpy outer appearance was. A force to be reckoned with, she was.
The woman sighed and opened the passage door to leave, knowing the call of her duty awaited her. "I miss her too, Lin," Kamaji voiced out, "we'll meet her again, I'm sure."
The corners of her lips turned up into a tiny smile. "I sure hope so."
"Well then, time to get back to work. Come on now, we've got a lot to do! Get your lazy butts moving!" Kamaji shouted and the soot balls immediately scrambled back to their respective holes while some others retrieved their pieces of coal, returning to the momentum of their jobs.
'Speaking about that, I wonder, where is he now? He hasn't come back for a while already,' Kamaji thought absentmindedly to himself.
The woman's heartbeat accelerated while her eyes tried to catch up with dense trees that swooshed quickly past. She sunk back in the leather seat, vainly attempting to calm herself down. The mere thought of returning back to the Spirit World made her bubble over with excitement on the inside. She was this close to hyperventilating.
She looked out the window, spotting her little blue home with ease. 'Home…' the word spoke to her with such warmth, and bittersweet memories tugged on her heart. She missed home dearly.
The cab drove past and the houses atop the hill were hidden from view by the dense greenery that now surrounded the narrow path. With tremendous anticipation, Chihiro looked out, hoping to catch a sight of the peculiar statues that had scared her before since they practically resembled morbid-looking marionettes to her, but when she tried to get closer to the window, her forehead smashed against the glass a little too hard when the cab began to bump up and down unsteadily on the uneven ground.
"Ouch…" she whined, rubbing her sore head. It was giving her a headache.
"You alright back there? I'm sorry, I didn't notice the ground!" the taxi driver called, concerned.
"I'm fine! Thank you for your concern!" she smiled, feeling all warm on the inside, touched by the man's kindness. He'd been a real gentleman when he saw that she wasn't very well and had even asked if she was feeling alright when he stopped the cab to pick her up. She'd nodded in subtle indication that she was perfectly fine, but the man went out of his way to make sure she was comfortable in the taxi.
"I have a daughter who's just like you," he'd simply explained in justification of his actions when she'd ever politely inquired.
"Are you sure it's safe for you to be alone out here? Where does your uncle live anyway? I've never been to this part of town before but I don't think it's safe for a young girl like you to be here. It's late at night and what's more, you aren't in the pink of health from what I can see…" the taxi driver prodded again amidst the sound of rocks or some things rocking the car about.
"Yeah, my uncle stays around here and he promised to show me the stars tonight, that's why I'm here so late. Don't worry for my safety please, I'll be just fine. And I'll head back to the hospital as soon as possible," she replied, though guilt gnawed at her for lying to such a caring man.
"Would you like for me to wait for you and then send you back?" he suggested, a warm smile brightening his face as he glanced at her through the rear view mirror.
Surprised by his generosity, she felt some moisture begin to gather in her eyes, genuinely touched by his sincerity. "Thank you very much for the offer, but my uncle will send me back to the hospital. I really appreciate your kindness."
"You're very welcome," he beamed before resuming his work.
"You remind me of my father…" she whispered by mistake, but thankfully the driver didn't hear. Or at least he looked like he didn't hear anything. Images of the warmhearted man flashed by in her mind like a shutter of a camera that wouldn't stop, scenes of them hugging, of him smiling and laughing, of his serious face in work, his sad expressions, everything. A deep sense of longing stirring in her gut made Chihiro feel like crying again like she'd done so many times already.
But she suppressed the urge. She couldn't be sad now. Her father would never want her to feel sad because of him. Furthermore, she was going back to the Spirit World soon, and she didn't exactly want her friends to see her puffy, red eyes and Rudolf nose; not the kind of reunion she had in mind.
And so her mind went back into its fantasies. How was Haku doing? Had he cut his hair, like in her most recent hallucination—that she wished was real—or did he have it long? Had he grown taller? Was he still the same boy 10 years ago? Did he still remember her? The questions bombarded her mind but she shrugged the imminent anger, frustration and sadness off. Those questions would just have to wait till she saw him again. Nothing would dampen her mood now.
Chihiro continued to reminisce about her friends in the spirit world with a tiny smile on her face that had slipped on subconsciously, until the cab came to an abrupt stop. "Alright, I can't go any further. Is this the place?"
Chihiro peered out the window. A thick mess of dead leaves decorated the front of the tunnel that was lying in the pitch black, eerie jungle surrounding the rocky path.
"Yes, thank you!" she beamed her hand reaching for her purse, but was stopped by a shake of his hand.
"Don't worry about it. It's hard enough…" There was a small hint of a crack in his voice as his eyes looked out the window.
She tried to decline his offer, but the stubborn man wouldn't budge an inch. Chihiro could only sigh in defeat and opened the door to leave.
"Thank you for the ride, sir. Have a good rest."
She closed the door and walked towards the tunnel. Its faded red paint and peeled, ancient walls looked even older and dirtier than ever. It wasn't that surprising though; after all, that was years and decades and even possibly centuries old with no one who would even spare the tunnel a glance, let alone clean it. She waited till the cab sped away before taking a few more steps to stand before the peculiar statue that had scared her years back. "Looks like we meet again, huh."
The woman patted its head before taking one final look behind her and taking a deep breath, took her first step into the magical realm. "Here we go again, Chihiro," she muttered nervously.
Gentle winds began to blow in her direction, the fallen, dry leaves flying towards the tunnel. The wind seemed to be guiding her to the Spirit world again, just like the last time.
"I'll take that as a welcome…" she chuckled.
The tunnel was just as dark and long, seeming to never end. Its musty smell attacked her nostrils and she nearly gagged, wondering if there was a dead body around or something. Not that she wanted to know. Her hand instinctively reached out to the side for her mother's hand, but when she only felt the stuffy air on her fingers, fear and loneliness gripped her. Her brain was suddenly fully aware of the fact that there was no one to protect her, no one with her. The sound of her footsteps gradually picked up its rhythmic pulse. It was as if her nervous heart beats were echoing throughout the tunnel. Nonetheless, her eyes were fixated on the end of the tunnel, searching for the light waiting at the end of it.
Soon enough, relief filled her as a faint glow of light appeared from the end of the tunnel. Her brisk steps soon turned into a light jog, seeing that she couldn't run very fast after the earlier marathon she just ran. "I'm really back!" She felt like a typical little red riding hood as she almost started off in a series of skips and hops toward the ever brightening entrance.
Entering the familiar train station that was as deserted as ever, she smiled. It felt good to be back. She wondered if this place was ever used, though. She never saw it being busy before, even though there were trains around.
Chihiro's feet stopped at the end of the tunnel, just a step away from the great plain that lay in front of her. The scenery looked just like a painting; she was baffled by its beauty that seemed to have blossomed over the years. The rising sun that hung on the horizon at the far-end of the sky was gorgeous to say the least. It made the girl's heart flutter, just like every other beautiful thing would make her feel. "This is amazing… I've never come here at dawn…" she murmured in awe.
The sweet smell of dew overpowered the previously musty odor she'd had to put up with in the stale, old tunnel and she sighed in contentment. If she was already this overjoyed before she'd even taken her real first step in the Spirit World, she wondered how she would look like at the sight of her old friends.
Perhaps, jumping, and then dizziness, fatigue, and finally, distress amongst everyone after she collapses again.
Her palm hit her cheek lightly. Nothing of the sort would happen. After all, she'd only escaped from the hospital a day after the doctor said she'd have to stay in bed for at least 3 days or if she did any overly strenuous exercises, she may collapse again.
'This sounds really good,' she thought to herself with thick sarcasm in her mind.
Guilt washed over her suddenly as she recalled the hospital. "Mom…" Hopefully she wouldn't overreact or get too worked up over this... Nothing was going to make her change her mind, however.
"She fainted from the shock. No worries, she'll be fine soon, but she'll have to rest more," the doctor said to Sakino who stood by, watching anxiously.
"Thank you," she bowed and the doctor nodded to her with a small smile on his face before leaving.
The letter in the nurse's hand crumpled with ugly wrinkles as her fingers clenched tight on the material. "Chihiro… What the hell are you thinking?"
Had something finally snapped in her? What was she doing, leaving the hospital like that? Thank goodness her mother was fine or she would never be able to live with it. Didn't she know how tough it was on her mother already? And then she just up and went off to some unknown place for the sake of some "friends" who were living there.
Really? It sounded more like they were at some hide-out doing some pretty illegal stuff. Sakino sighed and sat down in the chair beside the bed where Yuko was resting. She rubbed her temples and closed her eyes. Getting angry at Chihiro wasn't going to do anything. Right then their priority was to find her.
The woman hadn't even recovered! What would happen if she were to meet with some kind of accident out there or just collapse with no one to tend to her? Chihiro was rather notoriously infamous for always over exerting herself even after being told countless times not to do so. Sooner or later the doctors would rope her to her bed.
Sakino sighed again, this time more miserably. Yuko would never be able to live with the pain. None of them would. "Yuko, don't worry. We'll find her soon."
The smell of food wafted towards Chihiro's nostrils, and she would have been tempted if she didn't feel just like a pregnant woman who could not stand meat then. She just didn't have the appetite. Besides, eating the stuff would mean turning herself into a pig, and what could be worse than a human pig to spirits?
Oh, right. A sick one.
She walked on slowly, inclining her head every now and then to check out the quaint little houses that looked to be the same as before, or perhaps some of them had been renovated. Nothing could have changed much in 10 years over in the Spirit Realm anyway; a mere ten human years probably just felt like a month to them.
It was getting close to mid-afternoon, and somehow the Sun decided it was the perfect day to cook her with its hot body. Rays of light impinging on the eye shone torturously on her skin, the searing heat making it harder to breathe. Her tongue ran over her dry, cracked skin of her lips. She regretted not bringing a water bottle like a sensible adult would have done. She hadn't even recovered after the whole collapsing-from-dehydration thing and now here she was, putting up with her throat's whines about how thirsty it was.
"Great going, now the next thing you know, you'll collapse again."
Chihiro smiled ruefully to herself and continued on, going up the steps. "It's here, right?" she panted, still making her way up at a snail's pace. The girl was exhausted, as expected after aimlessly wandering for the entire morning. She counted the number of steps as she climbed up one after another. Silently encouraging herself till the last one, her irregular and ragged breaths filled her ears, but were soon drowned out by the sound of rushing waters.
The tall signpost towered over the petite frame of Chihiro, with the word "Abura" written elegantly on it. She stared at it and smiled after a while. "This is it. I'm really back," she breathed. Turning to her right, there lay the bridge leading up to the entrance of the bathhouse. The willowing black smoke making its way into the clean, fresh atmosphere caught her attention, and she smiled at the memory of Kamaji. "I wonder how he's doing…"
The bathhouse was just as grand and magnificent as ever, and its exterior looked the same as before. For a while, Chihiro simply stood there, not moving. Her mind was blank, as memories flooded her mind just as they used to, and then tears proceeded to brim in her eyes. It only struck her then how much she had truly missed everyone, and yes, she had even missed Yubaba.
Her feet took their first steps on the wooden planks of the bridge, and she could feel the heat from the overcooked wood. Perhaps it was boiling hot, maybe it was nice and warm, but her brain never got a chance to register that simple point when she tumbled to the ground, her head once again, not so gently landing on the hard surface directly.
Chihiro could only cry out and whimper at the pain as her weak, now trembling hand came to clutch her spinning head. The world looked like it was turning upside-down, as if on a mad rollercoaster ride. Her heart was beating too fast for her liking. As the darkness began to close in, the girl panicked and desperately tried to keep her eyes open, but then, they were too weak and she gradually lost strength, finally falling into the deep abyss of blackness.
"… sick human!"
"Throw it in the dumpster!"
"She'll scare away the customers!"
"Why'd you bring her in? You should have thrown her off the bridge, imbecile!"
"What's all the commotion about?"
"It's a human! A sick one! Ew!"
"Oh my... Get her out! She's stinking up the place!"
Chihiro's ears picked up on the outraged, shocked voices around her and slowly as she regained her consciousness, more and more people chipped into the noise pollution that was hurting her ears and giving her a bigger headache. "Ow…" she moaned, stirring.
Some of the spirits who were staring with curiosity and disgust pointed at the human girl accusingly. "She's awake! Everyone!"
Most of the spirits hushed, turning away from their nosy conversations and gossips to look at the lowly creature who'd stumbled into their world.
As Chihiro's eyes opened, her initially blurred vision slowly focused and she looked around, eyes scanning for any familiarity in the area. She tried moving, but her limbs would not budge. It took a good few seconds for her to actually realize she'd been tied up with ropes. The coarse material was digging into her skin, making it hurt and itch simultaneously.
"Where… am I..?" She took in the crowd standing before her, people of diverse ranges of shapes and sizes standing a good distance away from her but still crowding around her in a circle, as if some force were repelling them from coming closer to examine the human girl. A few familiar faces stood out to Chihiro, and she recognized the frog spirit who had scared her the previous time while walking with Haku on the bridge. She also spotted a couple of familiar bathhouse workers along with some yunas whom she'd met with before.
"I'm really in the bathhouse..?" she murmured, eyes widening.
"She looks familiar, doesn't she?"
"Hey, you remember the last time one human girl came here?"
Chihiro grinned, relieved. They did remember her! So she wasn't the only one.
"Yeah, but then she left. Now it's a different one. What do we do now? Hey where's Lin?"
'Lin?'
"I'm here, I'm here, you big noisy bunch. Now what do you want? I was busy with the mountain spirit over there!" the woman's voice answered from behind, clearly ticked.
"Lin!" Chihiro cried rather softly. She squirmed to turn around to look at Lin, but it proved to be too overwhelming for her body when she almost passed out again from overexertion.
Lin made her way over to the other side of the human girl to get a good look, at the same time hushing everyone, leaving the room in thick, dreadful silence.
Chihiro's hopeful eyes stared at Lin's, willing for her to remember. However, Lin gave her a blank look, with nary a flicker of recognition in her eyes. And time would not render her more time to think, because Yubaba soon appeared, with workers parting like the Red Sea to make way for their boss.
"What do we do with her, Yubaba?"
Chihiro's heart sank when Yubaba gave her a pointed, disgusted glance and with a gesture of her hands, instructed, "Pesky humans. Throw her into the furnace. We have no need for a sick pig around here."
'They really don't remember me..?' Chihiro shook her head. That could not be happening. After all, she'd made such unforgettable memories with everyone, and they said themselves that they remembered her, the human girl who'd worked here for a period of time before. What in the world was going on?!
"Lin! It's me! Sen!" she called, but her voice was too soft and hoarse, evidently a result of a lack of water. A big and buff bathhouse worker dressed in a dark green tunic and white pants arrived by Chihiro's side, lifting her up with ease but grunting at the odor.
'No!' Chihiro all but screamed in her head.
A/N: I'm so sorry for MIA-ing for like, 3 weeks? I was busy with common tests/exams so I couldn't update. Of course, I still came back to write a little as a little break time for myself from time to time. XD But yeah I like this story so I couldn't help myself.
This chapter was much longer than usual, so I hope that makes up? I didn't actually intend for it to be this long haha. I don't know if the quote thing applied but I still like it heehee.
Thank you to you amazing people for reviewing: VeryBerry96, ialiceiamagodness, EasternWindDragon, WhiteTiger246, michelle88222 and FruitySmell!
Don't worry about the full explanation for Chihiro's condition; it shall come soon! (: But please tell me if there're any mistakes because I may be doing inadequate research on all this medical stuff and all! I'll update the thing if I manage to understand what you're saying. XD
Thanks again you great peeps and I'll see you soon? :D
Oh and one more thing: Leave a review for me please? ^^ I love getting reviews from you guys heehee and I'd love to get more opinions from you (: