Disclaimer: I do not own Spirited Away

Chihiro didn't realize she was holding her breath until she got home and found her lungs starved for breath. She practically slammed on the breaks when she reached the end of the driveway, staying still for a moment before rubbing her hands on her face and muttering, "Fucking hell."

She sighed and climbed out of her car and closed the door, beginning to turn towards the trunk before freezing. She saw something out of the corner of her eye. She quickly spun around to the front door of her house. A small white fox sat slightly on its hind legs, staring at her. They stared at each other for a long time before Chihiro truly registered what it was. When she did, she let out a scream.

The fox let out a loud squeak and quickly darted away into the woods, and Chihiro noted more specifically towards the old train station. She quickly grabbed all the bags and rushed to the house to lock herself inside, nearly forgetting to lock her car. She had practically thrown the groceries on the counter before turning around to close and lock the front door, before freezing again.

A small box sat where the fox had been. The box was silver and sparkled in the sun, and was tied with emerald intricate lace. Chihiro slowly bent down to pick it up before closing the door and walking back in. Sitting down on a kitchen table chair, she carefully untied the lace and opened the box, letting out a small gasp.

Inside an emerald encased in silver chain sat. She cautiously picked it up and felt an immense sense of relief and calm. The complete opposite from Hisashi's jewel.

After a moment Chihiro realized how weird the whole thing was so she quickly put the emerald back in the box. An emerald delivered by a fox, she had to be dreaming. Nodding to herself she stood up to go up to her room but paused before grabbing the box to put on her bed side table.

It was a boring evening, especially after that afternoon, but Chihiro wouldn't complain. She idly listened to a TV show while sketching, finding herself sketching the human form of Haku. After she felt her face heat up she had a good look at the sketch, and she had unconsciously sketched herself in Haku's human arms. She squeaked a little before stuffing the sketch book under her bed and quickly got ready for bed. She doubted she would get much sleep.

I… Can't... Breathe…

Chihiro opened her eyes to darkness. Her lungs were screaming for air but when she opened her mouth all she tasted was water. Freezing water. She could feel her limbs start to go numb. She closed her eyes again and silently screamed for help, starting to get so cold she could hardly move. This had to be a dream, it just had to be, but it felt so real.

She could almost see the fish around her. She felt herself sinking lower as she was at the mercy of the water. A sharp pain hit her side and she gasped, losing what little air she had. Her side began to feel warm, way too warm in the icy waters. I'm going to die here, aren't I?

Her eyes snapped open when she felt fur on her finger tips. No, it had to be seaweed or something. She didn't get much of a chance to try to logic out what she was feeling before a force violently pulled her out of the water onto land.

She didn't care what the fur was anymore. She quickly rolled onto her stomach, coughing out the water from her lungs. Even with the water out, she still felt like she was drowning. She kept coughing until she got sick, and cringed at the pain in her stomach from doing so.

Still in a complete panic, she quickly looked around at her environment. It took her a moment to realize she knew this place. It was her hometown, and more specifically, the Kohaku river that flowed just beyond it. The only difference was the river seemed like it had been moved, and another look gave the reason why. Buildings had been built where it used to flow freely, but it had been rerouted to make room for them.

Well at least it wasn't filled in like everyone assumed it would be. The river rerouting was the least of her problems however, why the hell was she here? She turned her head to look back at the river before freezing and whipping her head towards the darkness on the opposite side of the river.

Hisashi.

Hisashi stood there grinning at her, but it wasn't a happy grin. It was a grin to tell her she was about to die at his hands. It was hard to tell, but she swore she could see scales running up his arms and face. Maybe her snake metaphors were a little too literal for her liking. She went to stand up but flinched, a sharp heat stabbing her side. She put a hand there out of instinct, and her eyes widened. Blood. Way too much blood.

Hisashi's grin only seemed to widen as he realized it too. She was losing way too much way too fast, dream or not this felt way too real for comfort. She gasped in pain and tried to get up again, she needed to get as far away as possible, get help. She only looked away from the river for a moment as she focused on the ground to push herself up when a huge splash from the river was heard, soaking her once more.

A vicious growl filled the air, a growl like nothing she had ever heard before. Giving up on being able to get up, she turned her head back to the river to see a gigantic silver snake standing half in the river between her and Hisashi. No, it had limbs, lizard. No, dragon.

A dragon she recognized quite clearly. Haku. No, it wasn't possible. This was all a dream. It had to be. She could see Hisashi shrink away from between the dragon's front legs, a large snarl from the dragon causing Hisashi to quickly sprint into the woods. Cowardly bastard.

Chihiro giggled a little at her thought before flinching, even a small giggle hurt like hell. The dragon turned to her, his large emerald eyes practically piercing into her soul. Chihiro couldn't help but giggle again despite the pain, "I'm either having one hell of a dream or I'm dead."

The dragon's eyes narrowed at her, his booming voice filling her head despite his mouth moving little to none, "What were you thinking? Were you trying to kill yourself?"

Chihiro tilted her head a little, "Well that's actually a great question, I just woke up here."

The dragon let out a snort and lowered his head right close to her, she could feel his warm breath and sighed in relief at the warmth, "You are far too reckless, Chihiro. I knew you were reckless and foolish as a girl, but as an adult this is far too much."

Chihiro shook her head a little, this was a little too crazy even for a loony bin, "Listen, I would love to wake up from whatever dream this is, so if you could tell me how that would be great." She felt another sharp pain and gasped, causing the dragon's eyes to widen slightly, "This is really painful and I'd rather get it over with sooner rather than later."

The dragon growled softly but it wasn't threatening, at least Chihiro hoped not, "Honestly… You have always been so troublesome." He placed his head near hers again and his emerald eyes glowed softly. Chihiro felt herself grow faint before collapsing, everything in her world going black.

Sunlight streamed into the bedroom from the pale coloured curtains, which had been clumsily and hastily pulled across the window. It landed on a bundle of blankets without mercy, causing Chihiro to groan from under them. That dream had completely wiped her out, her very bones ached like she was still in that freezing water.

Letting out a yawn, she lifted her arms to push the blankets off, only to flinch in pain, causing the blankets to violently hit the ground. Chihiro let out a gasp of pain and her arms flew to her side in an attempt to stop the pain. She let out a noise of alarm and looked down when she realized where the pain was coming from.

Carefully lifting her PJ shirt, she saw a white bandage around her midsection. Her eyes fell onto her left side, the side that had felt like it had been obliterated by a rock, and small specks of red could be seen leaking through the bandage.

Chihiro let out a screech, it was Monday so she knew her dad wouldn't be home, so she screamed as loud as she possibly could until she ran out of breath, "What... The… Fuck?!"

Practically jumping out of bed, ignoring the pain, she rushed to her window. It was open a crack, and her still soaked PJ's sat on the window sill, outside enough to be drying but inside enough they wouldn't blow away. Her right hand flew to her head and she grasped her hair, panic welling inside her, before pausing and putting her hand to her neck, the chain holding the emerald sitting there as if it belonged.

I guess I didn't notice it with the pain I'm in, but seriously... She had no idea what to think. Surely it wasn't real, was it? Haku was a character she created, he wasn't real. Snake people didn't exist, Hisashi had to be a normal human, well, as normal as a freaky stalker could be.

This was all too much, maybe if she just went to bed she would wake up again and everything would be back to normal, but… What if she woke up and she was drowning again? Or worse? She turned back towards her bed before letting out another screech.

The fox, and it was definitely the same fox as it was a rare white one, stared at her as it sat comfortably on her continued staring at each other for a long moment before Chihiro shook her head, "I'm going nuts. Oh, I so don't have time for this."

The fox tilted its head as it watched Chihiro quickly move over to the closet to pick out clothes for her own part-time job. She paused before looking at the fox and motioned for it to turn around. It snorted but obeyed, spinning around so Chihiro could change, as carefully as possible.

Dream or not, her side was indescribably painful, she would have to go see a doctor after her shift. What the hell would she tell the doctor? She had a nasty fall? The doctor would most likely be suspicious but it was the best thing she could think of.

After she finished changing, keeping the emerald necklace on just for safekeeping she told herself, her phone let out a shrill ring and she quickly ran over to pick it up, praying it wasn't her boss upset at her running late. A cheerful voice on the other end made her sigh in relief, "Chihiro! I've called you twice this morning already, do you realize how late it is?!"

Chihiro nodded to herself as she went into her bathroom searching for the strongest painkiller she had, "I just saw the time, I know I'm running late."

The voice let out a huff, "It's already 12:45 and your shift starts at one, you better get here before our boss has a fit.

Chihiro sighed and popped a couple painkillers in her mouth and swallowed before replying, "Breathe Akoto, I just didn't sleep last night is all."

Akoto let out a way too happy sounding giggle, "Painting, I imagine? As much as our boss loves your paintings, I don't think that'll help you much arriving late when we're short staffed."

Chihiro went silent, she did not want to go to work today. Akoto also remained silent for a long moment before speaking up, "...Is everything alright, Chihiro?"

Chihiro couldn't help but jump a little at Akoto's freaky intuition, "Well, to be honest, I had a really bad fall in the woods last night and didn't get a chance to go to a doctor yet."

Akoto gasped, "Well get here right away! I'll tell our boss and he'll probably let us go so I can take you. There are others he can call in."

Chihiro smiled softly, "Sure, talk to you there." She hung up the phone and jogged downstairs to grab her purse, acutely aware the fox was following her. She stepped outside, and went to her car, the fox following and sneaking into her car. She let out another sigh and hopped in, quickly beginning the 15-20 min drive to her boring work, an everyday grocery store, although different from the one she shopped at. That would be way too weird, although she wasn't even sure what weird was right now.