Disclaimer: I own everything that is related to Spirited Away... OK so I don't, but I would like too. At least Haku...PLEASE!!!!

Exhausted Emotions

Darkness usually comes before light or in truth, is it really the other way around? Darkness engulfs the light, and light consumes the darkness. It's nothing but a never-ending cycle of light and dark. Will it ever come to an end?

Eyelids fluttered lightly as the girl slowly regained consciousness. Brown orbs stared upward with confusion, and shifted slightly, trying to figure out where she was exactly. She couldn't seem to remember much of anything as she stared; her mind clouded with a heavy fog-like substance. Her eyes darted back and forth, trying to absorb all of her surroundings as quickly as possible.

A slight pain coursed through her body as she tried to sit up; only then realizing that she was heavily covered in blankets. A thin tube ran up her arm and into an IV, giving her the various nutrients that she needed. She again tried to sit up, but found it too hard and way to painful. Before she could blink an eye, several nurses and doctors bustled around her. They poked and prodded, flashed and inspected, and just basically wore her out. She sighed heavily, wanting to close her eyes once again.

"Don't close your eyes Chihiro. We don't want you falling back asleep do we?" the doctor asked.

Chihiro hardly heard the man's voice as she let her eyelids close softly, her mind settling once again into a fuzzy haze. No sooner had the doctors tried to keep her awake, she was once again asleep, and when she would wake up; that was only a mystery.

Several days later

Haku stared out the living room window, his eyes red and puffy and moist with tears. He had tried to stop crying, only the thought of Chihiro's dormant body laying motionless on the plain white sheets of a hospital bed would send a shiver down his spine and tears would form in his eyes.

He stared vacantly, watching Missy and Alliyah, the two girls from across the street, approach the house; the sun glistening off their scantily clad bodies. The doorbell rang a moment later, however, the boy made no attempt to move and continued his exploration out the large bay window and into the vacant front lawn.

"Haku!! Could you get that for me? I'm in the middle of a very important business call." Lin yelled from the kitchen. Ever since the night of David Ogino's escape, she had been trying to track down not only Chihiro but the girl's mother. She was one of the best lawyers in this area and that was one of the reasons that they had gotten such a good deal on the house. The law firm where she worked wanted her badly enough to pay for the house itself.

The doorbell rang once again. Lin excused herself from her telephone call and after glaring at Haku as she passed the living room, she went quickly to the door. Alliyah and Missy stood there, both in bright pink and blue bikini's, towels thrown over their shoulders.

"Hey Lin, is Haku home?" Missy asked politely.

"He's in the living room girls, but if you'll excuse me, I have a very important phone call. Have a nice day girls." Lin told them, before her voice could be heard from the kitchen, talking amiably on the Ogino case.

"Hey Haku," Alliyah said softly, "Missy and I wanted to know if you wanted to go swimming at the lake with us? Jake, Randy and Becky are going to be there."

Haku had met Missy during his art class. He had been minding his own business, painting a picture of a dragon soaring through the sky with a young girl on it's back. A small bird and a mouse sat on the girls shoulders. Missy had quickly fallen in love with the simple piece of artwork and asked him right out of nowhere, where the idea of something so creative and cute came to him from.

Haku had told her that it reminded him of something from his past, something that he had seen. It had been a lie of course. What could he have told her? That he used to be a spirit in another world and he use to be able to change into a dragon, and the young girl was Chihiro?

Missy had said something about the girl looking familiar to her, but she couldn't quite place it. After the comment, Haku wanted to wipe the little girl out of the picture, but doing that would ruin the memory. He had taken the picture home with him that night, not caring that it wouldn't be graded. Showing it to Lin, the woman pulled him to her, and they both just cried.

Now, Haku sat at the window, the picture out in front of him, propped up against the pane of glass. He hardly heard the girls enter, or even the question. He looked up slowly, his eyes red and blotchy from crying all night.

"What? I'm sorry, you guys whatever you asked, the answer is no. I don't want to go to the movies, or skating, swimming, or biking. All I want is her, just her and now I can't even have her and this whole thing is just a gigantic mess. I don't even know if she's ok and I want to see her and I can't see her, and I am not going to leave this house until I find her and I am able to see for myself that she is ok, see that she will be alright. She's going to be fine. Lin says she's going to be fine, just fine. I don't believe Lin, I can't believe Lin but I want to believe her and..." Haku rambled, tears threatening to spill from his eyes.

Both girls stepped backward as the greenish-brown haired boy burst into a chaotic, rambling mess, gently rocking himself back and forth, before Missy got up the nerve to call for help.

"LIN," the girl yelled into the kitchen, "something's horribly wrong with Haku!"

The phone hit the receiver as Lin slammed it down. "Kohaku, I have told you already that she will be fine, now I want you to get dressed and..." The dark haired girl trailed off, her mouth hanging open as she stepped foot in the living room. "Girls, maybe you should go without Kohaku, I think it may be better if he stays home. He needs to get some well-needed sleep." Lin finished, wrapping her arms around the desolate form of Haku.

Both Missy and Alliyah nodded their heads, said a swift goodbye to Haku and Lin, and swept out the front door and down the sidewalk. Haku watched them go, his thoughts racing through his head as he rambled on. He turned his head to see Lin, a small smile on her face. Haku felt the tears striking the back of his eyes and he broke down into Lin's shoulder.

"Haku, it's fine. Chihiro will be just fine. I made a breakthrough today on her case. I know where she is but...." Lin stated.

"YOU KNOW WHERE CHIHIRO IS??" the boy asked, immediately pushing the grown woman away from him. Lin nodded her head, but left it at that.

"I'm not telling you Haku. You need to get it through your head that Chihiro will be OK. She will be just fine because she knows that there is someone out there that cares for her. You, Haku. She has just got to know that you care. I'm going to go make you some soup, and then you are going to go straight to bed." Lin headed off to the kitchen, patting Kohaku softly on the head before she left.

"Lin?" Haku asked. The woman turned around to look at the boy. This wasn't Haku. Haku was moody and determined all the time, unless he was around Chihiro. When around her he was happy and had a smile on his face, but now. Bags under his eyes from the lack of sleep, and wrinkled clothes. She gave him a small smile, as if to ask him 'What do you want, because I am very busy and you are getting on my nerves.'

The boy smiled weakly back, before the smile disappeared all together. "What if, what if she doesn't remember?"

"She has to remember Haku. Who could forget you?" she said softly, before heading out to the kitchen to make the boy his lunch.

"Who could forget me?" Haku whispered softly to himself.

A/N: Ok, yes I know that was horrible. I have major writers block and I am also trying to get two other stories of mine posted. I'm having lots of trouble with posting soon. Anyway, I hope that you guys are enjoying this chappie. And I thank all of you who have reviewed and a special thanks to my beta; theoneandonlyzaria