Hello every one! Thank you for reading this far! Please review! I need feedback. :) and Disclaimer, disclaimer, disclaimer, I own nothing and profit nothing from Spirited Away! Anyways, I hope you guys enjoy this next chapter! I know things are a little slow but trust me, it's going to start heating up!

Chapter 3: Haku

Haku

When I woke up, I found out that I had been asleep for two whole weeks. I dreamed that I heard Chihiro's voice. It was so faint that even in my dream I knew it was fake. I walked back to the bath house only to discover that Yubaba had fired me. I didn't care. I walked away and didn't even feel the need to look back. I had all my money with me and went to the train station. The farthest I've ever been was to the seventh stop. That was always as far as I needed to go. But looking at the stop list I realized that there were much more. I need to get as far away as possible. I picked a random number and bought a ticket for the twenty-second stop.

I boarded the crowded train and settled in next to an old looking spirit. She glanced at me occasionally. It was as if she had something to say. By the time we left the sixth stop, there was no one left on the train besides me and the elder spirit. The seventh stop came and I almost lost my nerve.

"Don't worry, love," the old spirit told me. I pretended not to hear her. "There's nothing for you back there." I stared straight in front of me. "Trust me. As a spirit of fortune telling, I can tell you that you're going in the right direction." I finally gave in and looked at her.

"Can you tell me anything else?" She smiled at me and the train started moving again. I was officially in unknown territory. She was quiet for a very long time. It wasn't until the fourteenth stop when she spoke again.

"There are great dangers ahead of you," she said quietly. Great dangers? Was finding a way back to Chihiro going to be dangerous? Every fortune teller I had met before this one had told me that it was impossible. And now this one tells me that it's dangerous but not impossible. A renewed hope flowed throughout me.

My mind surged with new questions. What kind of danger lied ahead? How dangerous was this danger? Would my existence be put in jeopardy? Would Chihiro be in jeopardy as well? I would risk my own existence but not Chihiro's. I could never risk Chihiro. The fortune teller chuckled.

"Don't worry, love, you'll find her."

"I hope so," I replied quietly, not bothering to ask how she knew I was looking for a girl. The fifteenth stop came. "I wonder where we are," I though out loud. "Let's get off here really quick so we can figure out where we are," I suggested. We got off the train and I looked for the closest sign. I immediately knew that we weren't in Japan anymore. I tried to recognize the language but I couldn't. The fortune teller giggled.

"It's English, dear," she told me. English? That meant we were on the other side of the ocean. I looked at the old lady for more information. "That sign says, 'Welcome to Alaska.' We're in the United States." The United States? I heard stories about the United States. It was a land of plenty and wealth, supposedly. I got back on the train.

"If you relax your energy and focus on the land, you'll be able to pick up what ever language is dominant in that land," the fortune teller explained. It was worth a shot. I focused on everything from the grass flying by to the mountains to the snow covering those mountains. And then I felt it; the knowledge of the land started flowing through my veins. When it reached my head it was like being dropped in an ice cold river.

I gasped and tears pricked at my eyes. The land had so many fixed feelings. I remembered that I, too, once had feelings like the land. I hadn't been a river in over fourteen years. And now I missed the feeling of flowing freely over rocks. I missed the feel of fish and people swimming. I missed the feel of providing life. I blinked the tears tears away with a new meaning. I once provided for plants, animals, and people. Now, I would provide for Chihiro. When we got the the twentieth stop I could read the signs. It said, "Welcome to Portland, Oregon." I didn't even have to think twice about reading English. It came naturally. The twenty-first stop read "San Francisco."

"Well, this is my stop, dearie." I stood and bowed to my elder as she left. The train had filled and emptied periodically through out the trip. Now, on our way to the twenty-second stop, the train was packed to capacity. I stood and waited for the next stop to come. "You'll find her there," my elder friend had told me. I prayed that meant that Chihiro was near the twenty-second stop.

The twenty-second stop came and I got off the train. "Los Angeles," the sign read. Most of the spirits exited here. The fortune teller told me Chihiro would be here. I breathed in slowly and stretched my soul to find any presence of her. I couldn't. I didn't feel anything. Instead, I was bombarded with a multitude of spirits, humans, and everything else.

"You look like you don't know what to do." I turned to see a sickly looking spirit. I nodded slowly. He chuckled. "Follow me; I'll set you up for the night." I bowed deeply and thanked him. We walked around a place called "China Town." We ended up at am abandoned Buddhist temple.

"You can stay here for the night." I thanked him again. "Anything for a fellow river spirit," he said calmly.

"What river are you?" I asked him, shocked that he could tell that I was a river spirit.

"I won't be a river for much longer," he said in a small voice. "Soon, I'll be like you." As much as that stung, I nodded in agreement. "I am the Los Angeles River," he finally said. "Goodbye, kid." He walked away and disappeared into the night. I stood there for a moment, contemplating my next move. I looked at the temple. It was our day and the temple was busy. I decided I would stay the night and figure out my next move in the morning. I looked at the sky; there were no stars. The moon was hidden by smog. I sighed. 'I'll find you soon,' I told Chihiro and walked into the temple.