Disclaimer: I do not own spirited away
As Chihiro yanked open the door to the boiler room, a wave of hot air hit her. Beside her, Akari sighed in content." I missed the heat, being a fire spirit and all"
Chihiro walked inside and a familiar sight greeted her eyes. The soot balls were trudging along the same path that they'd followed 10 years ago, carrying their pieces of coal. Kamaji was perched on his ledge and was furiously grinding at his bowl. Chihiro stepped forward and cleared her throat. Kamaji glanced at her before returning back to his work." Go away human, I have all the help that I need." Chihiro smirked at that." I need a job grandfather!" Kamaji faltered in his work. "I'm not a grandfather! The only time I've been called a grandfather was by...Sen?" Kamaji fully turned around and gazed at Chihiro."Sen? Is that really you?" Chihiro grinned."It's nice to see you grandpa." Kamaji climbed down and gave her a hug."My, My, look at you. All grown up! You're certainly not the little human who came 10 years ago!"
Suddenly the side door slid open and a middle-aged women climbed through."That stupid foreman.'Sen's back!' he cries. Humph! Sen isn't even in sight!" Lin muttered.
"Hey Lin." Chihiro said. Lin looked up quickly."Sen?" Lin's eyes widened at realization."Sen! It's so good to see you ya little dope! Guess that foreman wasn't lying after all! Plus you're not a scrawny human anymore! You're all rounded out now! Curves and edges in all the right places!" Chihiro blushed. It was true, over the years she'd grown beautifully. She had curves in all the right places and was at an average height. Her chestnut brown hair had grown to her waist and it fell in a beautiful wavy waterfall. Lin suddenly noticed Akari standing awkwardly in the middle of the reunion."Akari! Stop standing there like a dope! Come on!" Akari ran forward and the three girls did a group hug. Kamaji protested."Hey don't I get to join!" The girls laughed. "Of course!" Chihro answered, and Kamaji joined the trio.
The door banging open stopped the reunion. Yubaba marched in a huffed."If you guys are done with your sweet lovey-dovey meet-up. I need Kamaji to get back to work and I need you three to follow me to my office!" Kamaji sighed. "She's right, I have tons of orders to fill." He went back to his perch and began grinding the correct herbs for the orders. Lin nodded." Come on you guys, let's go!" she winked at Akari." Besides we still need to fill Sen in on the plan."
YUbaba ushered the trio out of the boiler room, leaving Chihiro no time to think about the "plan". On their way to Yubaba's room, Chihiro continually tried to get Lin to tell her about the plan, but Lin merely grinned and said each time."You'll see." When they reached Yubaba's room, Chihiro grimaced. Yubaba's horrible sense of fashion still exited and the place didn't have many happy memories from her last visit. When they entered, Chihiro noticed that the room wasn't empty. Another person was in the room. It was...Zenniba? "Granny!?" Chihiro exclaimed. Zenniba strode over and gave Chihiro a grandmotherly hug. "My dear! Look how you've grown! You're beautiful!" In the background Yubaba huffed."So that's where granny came from." Zenniba glared at her sister. "Unlike you, I embrace my age seeing as that way I can be a grandmother to sweet Chihiro here." Yubaba retorted."You just don't know how to be beautiful and stunning like me!" She struck a pose.
"All you care about is money!"
"You live in a dingy ugly house!"
"You live in a bathhouse in a small room!"
"I dress more fashionably!"
"We dress the same sister!"
Lin muttered to Chihiro."Here we go again." Chihiro rolled her eyes at the two bickering sisters."Enough!" She yelled."I want to know about the plan!"
Zenniba smiled."You're right dear. Sister, would you like to start?"
Yubaba grinned."Sure. So Sen, After you left, Zenniba saw in her golden seal that you'd come back in 10 years with an escort." She gestured at Akari."We sent Akari to be the escort. Our plan was to bring you back and fix you." Chihro raised her brow in confusion at that. Zenniba barged in."You see dear, whenever a human crosses over into the Spirit Realm, the gateway in which they cross through makes them into a half spirit, that way the human is granted the ability to be able to live here but nothing more." Yubaba continued."When you were changed, your body fought against you, which made you feel unwell that first night here. Half spirits can choose to go back to the human world, but they can also choose to become full spirits."
Zenniba pulled out her golden seal." The high lord or lady can use their power to make you into a spirit, or Yubaba and I can combine our powers, magnify them to the same as the high lord or lady, and change you into a spirit."
Yubaba grinned."This is the best part. If you want to stay here forever, then we can make you into a spirit. Zenniba will take you to her cottage and train you in the basics. We'll hold a ball here when you come back and invite Haku to the ball. We'll introduce you to him under a spirit name. and he'll spend his time with you, our honored guest, for the rest of the night. You'll do something before you leave that should trigger his memory to Sen. And the greatest thing is, Haku won't know it's the Chihiro that he's been yearning to see until the night ends!"
Zenniba glared at Yubaba's enthusiasm."So dear, would you like to become a spirit?"
Does this count as a small cliffhanger? Don't worry, the next chapter will be up very soon. Thank you for the kind reviews! :D
