Author's Note: Thank you so much to the people who have reviewed thus far (you know who you are), I really appreciate it! You make me happy. Now, with that out of the way, on to the story!
Disclaimer: Nope, not mine, sorry to disappoint you
~~~
As Chihiro slept peacefully, wrapped in a cocoon of blankets, her dreams were invaded by a new and powerful presence. She welcomed the invasion happily. (AN: dream stuff will be in italics for now)
She was walking through the field just beyond the tunnel that separated the Human and Spirit Worlds. It was a place of incredible beauty, one she hadn't seen in over a month, though it felt more like a year. She looked down at herself, only to find that she was wearing a simple white dress that flowed gently around her with each step, something she would normally have objected quite loudly to wearing, but somehow seemed fitting at the moment. The long grass tickled her bare feet and her legs and the air carried the smell of the wildflowers that dotted the landscape. She sighed in pure contentment and sat down on the cool ground. For several moments, she sat alone, admiring the beauty around her. Suddenly, she felt something cool touch her shoulder.
She whipped her head around, only to find her herself staring straight into a pair of soft green eyes. Her breath caught in her throat as realization dawned on her, and she found herself unable to speak. She sat in absolute shock. It was not until Haku leaned in towards her and murmured her name "Chihiro" that she was pulled out of her stupor. She had been told numerous times before how pretty her name was, but never had it seemed so beautiful to her as when he had whispered it into her ear at that moment. Still at a loss for words, she did the only thing she could think to do, and wrapped her arms around his neck in a tight embrace. He returned the gesture, and they remained that way for quite some time. Neither one knew how much time passed as they sat that way, but in truth, neither one cared.
Finally, Chihiro spoke up. "You're here, you're really here," she choked out, on the verge of tears, "I knew you'd keep your promise! I've missed you."
Haku looked down at her with a grin, "I would never break my promise to you, Chihiro, I've never met anyone like you before. You…you're very important to me. I hope you know that." He paused for a moment, and his face fell slightly. "However, I feel that I must tell you, this is only a dream and when you wake up in the morning, none of this will have seemed real. But it is real, you must remember that. You see, I was able to find a way that we can be together. I found a way for me to be with you in your dreams."
Chihiro gasped, and then looked confused. If it were not for her time in the Spirit World, she wouldn't have believed any of this, but her time there had taught her that most anything was possible. "I don't understand, can you explain a little bit more, maybe?"
Haku nodded, and then launched into his story of his journey to the Dream World.
~~~Flashback~~~
Haku had been pursuing his new friend through the Dream World for some time now. This was no easy task, considering the small cloud-creature blended into his surroundings quite nicely, and was moving at a decent clip. Fortunately, Haku's keen eyes and quick feet allowed him to follow with less difficulty than most others would have faced.
He was beginning to feel discouraged, until he turned a corner and saw a large building before him. This had to be the place. Sure enough, the cloud-creature was heading straight for it. Haku walked up to the massive structure tentatively, somewhat apprehensive about making a request to the rulers of the Dream World. Despite his concern, he set his young features into a determined look that made him appear much older than he actually was. His plan was going to work; he would make sure of that.
Once inside the building, Haku was nearly swept up in the sea of bodies that filled the place. Dream Players were everywhere, no doubt waiting to receive their assignments for the night. He attempted to locate a sign or some indication of where he could find the Dream Masters, but was unsuccessful.
Young man, follow my voice, it will lead you to me… A voice echoed inside his head. It was distinctly feminine and at the same time, very authoritative. The voice continued to speak to him softly, guiding him down a series of twisting hallways and through large, elaborate doors. Finally, he found himself in a large room that was entirely bare, save for two large chairs that held two finely dressed figures.
"Oh lovely, our guest has arrived!" the figure on the left, a man with thick blonde hair that hung into his eyes exclaimed. He clapped his hands together in delight and began chattering excitedly. "You know it's been so long since we've had a visitor like yourself. It's so wonderful to see a spirit like yourself. I really do adore the Spirit World, but unfortunately my duties have kept me from taking a trip there for nearly a millennia. Pity, really. Things have been so dull around here lately, it's such a treat to see a new face." He paused for a moment to study Haku. "My, you look so very solid. Made of much stronger stuff than we Dream folk. I'm afraid we're all really just big bunches of fluff." As if the illustrate his point, the man reached his right arm up and passed his hand right through his neck, so that his head was now quite detached from his body. The disembodied head smiled down at Haku, "But of course, there are some perks as well," he reached his hand up again and pushed his head back down onto his neck. "See, no harm done, now I'm as good as new."
Haku was a little bit put off by this display, but let his face reveal nothing. "My name is the Kohaku River Spirit, and I have come to ask you a great favor," he said evenly, bowing his head.
"Oh, how very rude of me, I've forgotten to introduce myself. My name is Kyo, Master of the Dream World," the man responded, standing up at gesturing wildly before taking a bow.
"And I am Lysha, the other Dream Master," said the woman who had remained silent up until now. She remained in her seat to the right of Kyo. Unlike her brother, she had long, dark hair that cascaded down her back and spilled onto the floor. Haku recognized her voice as the one that had led him to this room. "We have been expecting you for sometime now."
Haku glanced from Lysha back to Kyo. "I have made a long journey to see you, so that I may make a request of you." He paused for a moment, but when neither of the two Dream Masters said anything, he continued. "I would like to ask that I be allowed to be the primary actor in a certain girl's dreams. She is…a good friend of mine, but she is also a human, and I fear that the only way for me to see her at the moment is through her dreams. I am currently unable to enter the Human World. Please, I ask that you allow me access to her dreams, so that I may visit her while she sleeps."
Haku finished, and the room remained silent for a long moment. Finally, Kyo responded, "What a fascinating idea! My, I don't believe we've ever done anything like that before, giving someone a permanent assignment, much less giving a someone from outside the Dream World any assignment at all. It sounds like an interesting experiment. Oh, let's let him do it, Lysha," he said, grinning absurdly over at his sister.
"It's against policy," she replied curtly, "I don't like the idea of someone who is unfamiliar with our ways interfering with a human's dreams."
"Oh come now, look at the poor boy, can't you tell he loves this girl? It's obvious," Kyo said with a smirk and a wink in Haku's direction. Haku blushed suddenly, caught a little off guard by the Dream Master's statement. "Besides, he's a smart one, he'll catch on fast. And he has such a nice aura about him, I know he won't cause any trouble."
Kyo and Lysha argued for some time, while Haku waited patiently for their decision. Kyo accused Lysha of being heartless and having no sense of adventure, and she insisted he was being irresponsible. In the end, Kyo managed to convince Lysha to let Haku have a trial run, and to see how he performed inside a dream. Haku breathed a sigh of relief, and expressed his gratitude to the Dream Masters.
~~~End Flashback (and back to the dream; this next part was supposed to be in italics, but it isn't showing up that way, so just know it's meant to be italicized and it's more of Chihiro's dream…)~~~
"Wow, so that's how you got here, inside my dream, I mean? I can't believe you went through so much trouble to see me again," Chihiro said as Haku finished his story. She looked over at him in awe.
"Well, it was worth it," he replied, grabbing her hand and squeezing it.
She gave him a goofy smile. "There's one thing I'm still confused about, though…" Chihiro said.
"Only one?" Haku quipped.
She rolled her eyes at him, and then continued, "How, exactly did you enter my dream? I know you asked the Dream Masters to let you come here, but how did you get inside my head?"
"Well, in the Dream World, there is a huge building full of doors, endless numbers of them. Each door there leads to the subconscious of one human in your world, which is where a person's dreams come from. The Dream Masters gave me the pass to your door, which allowed me to enter your mind," he put a finger up to her temple, "and that's how I got here."
She formed an "O" with her mouth, and sat there, taking it all in. "Well, I'm glad you got here, no matter how you did it. It's kind of weird knowing that you're inside my brain, though."
Haku laughed, the first honest, true laugh he'd let out since Chihiro had left the Spirit World. "I'm glad I got here too." The two children smiled at each other happily.
~~~
Abruptly, the dream ended and Chihiro sat up in her bed, breathing hard. The dream…Haku…it was over. What a wonderful dream it had been though. But had he really been there? And was the story that he had told her about visiting the Dream World to see her again true? She didn't know, but at that point, she didn't really care. She had seen Haku again, and even though she wasn't entirely sure it had been real, what she felt at that moment certainly was.
~~~
Author's Note: Right, so we're finally getting into the actual story now. I hope you enjoyed it so far. Next time around, certain people may be causing some problems for poor Chihiro and Haku, because hey, what's a story without some conflict to make it exciting? Oh, and I'm going to be fast-forwarding into the future, so they're going to be older.
I hope the format of this chapter wasn't too confusing; it's meant to be that Chihiro is dreaming, when Haku enters her dreams for the first time. They greet each other, and then Haku tells Chihiro the story of how her got inside her dreams (the stuff that happened in the flashback is the stuff he's telling her about). And then it goes back to the dream again. I hope that made sense. Meh. I'll try to get the next chapter out by Sunday, but I'm not sure if that'll happen. Until then, reviews on this chapter are appreciated!