Author's Note: Wow, thank you so much to all the people who have reviewed. I'm shocked to find that people have decided to add my story to their favorites lists, but I'm not complaining! Also, constructive criticism is very helpful, so thanks for the advice too. I'm so glad someone is reading and enjoying it, seriously, it makes me really happy. You guys are awesome. Also, I updated the first few chapters pretty quickly and kind of rushed through them. I might be taking more time between updates from now on so I can make my chapters a little bit longer and more detailed.
Disclaimer: You know the drill
~~~
Chihiro felt almost greedy having this place that held such great beauty all to herself. It seemed like such a shame that she was the only one who would ever be able to enjoy the landscape of her dream-life, but at the same time, she liked the fact that it was so personal, so private. She was thankful for every second that she spent there. There was only one person who she truly wanted to share this place with, and she hoped he would be arriving soon.
With a contented sigh, she lay herself down in the soft grass of the field and breathed in its cool scent deeply. The smell of it reminded her of Haku. It seemed like everything reminded her of him lately, sometimes it felt like he was all she could think about. She was eager to see him again tonight and sat up so that she could watch and wait for him to come.
But unfortunately, he didn't come. She waited for hours in the spot where they always met, but he never appeared. The night wind whispered past her confused face as she wondered where he could be. Finally, getting impatient and a little bit frustrated at waiting, she got up to look for him. She ran through the field, calling his name and squinting her eyes to peer into the distance in an effort to locate him. Her endeavors proved wasted, however, as he was nowhere to be found. She shivered involuntarily, though whether it was from the wind, or the cold feeling at the pit of her stomach, she couldn't be sure.
~~~
Chihiro woke up abruptly to the feel of fresh tears on her face. She sat upright and looked frantically around her room, genuinely upset by the events of the night. "No…" she cried out into the still darkness of her room, "Where could he be?" Her mind was racing as she tried to process what had taken place that night. She sat with her head in her hands breathing raggedly and attempted to quell the rush of emotions that threatened to overwhelm her.
Chihiro didn't perform well in school on the day following her lonely night, and those she was closest to noticed a distinct change in her attitude. She was detached, cold, and certainly not the bright and charming girl they were accustomed to.
The next two days and nights were much the same; Chihiro was unsuccessful in finding Haku inside her dreams, and she was growing increasingly worried. In all their years together, Haku had never missed a single one of their meetings, and now he had been disturbingly absent for three consecutive nights. At first, she had felt abandoned and had thought that Haku had merely forgotten her or moved on to something, or perhaps even someone, else. But on the third day, after she got over her initial shock and emotional response, she came to an entirely different conclusion. Haku was in trouble.
She knew from the way Haku acted with her that he treasured their time together inside her dreams as much as she did. The only thing that could have stopped him from coming would be if he were in some sort of danger. He wouldn't willingly miss a moment that they could have spent together. He loved her. She was positive he did. And suddenly she realized that she returned the feeling unconditionally.
~~~
Yubaba looked on in satisfaction as her underlings tore the Dream World apart in their search for Haku. They were leaving no corner, no shadow unexplored, and she was extremely impressed with their efforts thus far. She noted happily that her new apprentice, Shen, was performing his duties with a special vigor and an eager fire in his eyes. She was quite pleased with his progress under her tutelage. They would find that traitorous little liar Haku in no time. That much she was certain of.
Yubaba had waited patiently for Haku's payment for his freedom for two years, but by the third, she had grown rather…displeased. Unfortunately, she hadn't had any idea where Haku had gone, and did not possess the means to pinpoint his exact location. For two years afterwards, she sent parties out to search the lands, but each time they returned from their journeys empty-handed. It wasn't until about three weeks ago that realization struck her. She knew that Haku had gone to find that terrible, bothersome human girl, Sen-or Chihiro if one were to call her by her real name-but she hadn't had a clue as to how he would have reached her in the Human World. That is, she hadn't had a clue until she remembered the Dream World, the one place where spirits and humans could connect without actually physically leaving their respective Worlds. She was certain this was where Haku had gone.
She had gathered her strongest and her smartest followers to travel with her to the Dream World, where she would collect the payment she had been promised. I've got a business to run, I can't just go around releasing my workers without some sort of compensation. He made a deal with me, and I'll see that he keeps it, Yubaba thought to herself.
So now she stood in the Dream World, watching its destruction with a rather morbid fascination. She took a long drag on her cigarette and blew out the smoke slowly. The wisps of gray hung in the air before her face like a shroud, partially obscuring her view for a moment, and then were lost amongst the sea of clouds that made up the land of dreams. She had arrived with her followers in the Dream World only moments earlier, and chaos had already broken out. Although the inhabitants of the Dream World could not be harmed physically since their bodies consisted mostly of cloud and weapons passed through them without any effect, they were ill equipped to defend themselves.
Early on, one Dream Player had attempted to defend his home from Yubaba's men, but she had destroyed that threat quickly enough. Her magic was extremely potent. When he had so foolishly challenged them, she had waved her hand in the air, a gesture that appeared careless at best, and cast a quick spell that caused him to vanish into nothingness. It was no more than a simple reversal spell, but it was enough to lift the enchantment that held the clouds and smoke that made up his body together. His form dissipated, and the soft substance that had once been magically joined together to create his being now drifted apart and became indistinguishable from the scenery.
The Dream Players had been subdued with little difficulty after that, and did nothing to stop Yubaba as she made her way to the Center, the building that was the core of the Dream World and home to the Dream Masters. She smirked at a Dream Player who was crouching on the ground near the Center. He looked up at her fearfully and frantically pushed himself out of the way. This prompted a chuckle from the witch. She threw the same spell she had used previously down at him and he disappeared without a trace.
"Hey boys," she called out hoarsely to her party as she stared ahead at the Center, "Drop whatever you're doing. He's in here, I can feel it." They immediately obeyed her order and ran to her side.
"Would you like us to proceed inside?" Shen asked fervently.
"Yes, find him, and be quick about it."
~~~
Inside the Center, Haku was telling an enthusiastic Kyo about the first time he had learned a magic spell after arriving in the Spirit World. During the tale, Haku and the two Dream Masters remained unaware of the events that were taking place just outside the walls of the Center. It wasn't until it was too late that Haku realized something was amiss. He felt a strong new presence, and it certainly wasn't a friendly one. He ended his story abruptly and spun around to face the door of the room just in time to see it be blown open. Before he had time to collect himself or prepare for what was coming, Yubaba's forces had flooded the room and overtaken him.
~~~
He wondered briefly if he had died inside the Center. However, after a moment, he realized he was in far too much pain to be dead. (AN: Ok, so I'm not sure if spirits can die or not, so don't yell at me for this. Think of it sort of like that time in the movie when Zeniba's little paper bird things were attacking him and it looked like he might die…). He instantly became acutely aware of every aching muscle and every gaping wound on his body. He could feel dried blood caked to his skin and sticking to his clothing and his hair.
He tried to move, but found that he couldn't. It was difficult to tell whether some outside force restricted his movement, or if he was simply too physically exhausted to move. He groaned and attempted to open his eyes. Light. Blinding, bright white light burned his eyes and sent a stabbing pain across his temples. He snapped his eyes shut to stop the pain. Footsteps. The sound of light, brisk footsteps. He strained his ears in order to orient himself and determine where exactly they were coming from. To my left, maybe twenty paces away, he thought. The footsteps were getting closer; now fifteen paces away, now seven paces, now two. And then his visitor was right next to him, only inches away. A light, cool breath hit his ear softly as the visitor spoke.
"So, you're awake now. You've been asleep an awfully long time, nearly three days by my count. Poor thing, you're exhausted. Your work in the Dream World must have been positively rigorous," the voice hissed out mockingly, "However, now that you've had some rest, I'm sure my mistress would just love to see you. She's been waiting for years."
~~~
Chihiro sloshed through ankle deep puddles as she made her way down the road and away from her school. She hadn't been able to focus on her studies at all. She was worried. Worried for Haku. Something told her that he needed her help and she had an overpowering desire to go to him.
She paused for a moment and looked ahead of her. There was a phone booth several feet away. She remained rooted to the spot where she stood as the heavy rain pelted the top of her head, making her hair stick to her face. Slowly, she walked towards the phone and reached her hand out to pick up the receiver. She lifted it to her ear and placed a few coins in the slot. Hands shaking, she dialed her home phone number. She held her breath as the phone rang, and prepared herself for the most difficult phone call she had ever made.
She heard the click of the phone being picked up on the other end, and then her mother's voice, "Hello?"
"M-mom," Chihiro sputtered out, her voice so shaky that she hardly even recognized it.
"Chihiro, sweetheart, where are you? It's pouring outside, why aren't you home from school yet?"
"Mom, I'm…I'm not going to be coming home tonight. I might not be back the night after that either. I don't really…completely know how long I'm going to be gone. I love you, all of you, but there's something I-I, well I just have to do. I'm sorry, so so sorry. I'll come home soon though, I promise. Please, don't worry. Goodbye, I love, I love you, I…" She trailed off as she burst into tears. She let the receiver slip from her hand and started to run as fast as she could. She could still hear her mother's frantic voice calling out from the other end of the pay phone she had failed to hang up.
She ran as fast as her legs could take her, across the road and deep into the woods. She slipped in the fresh mud created by the heavy ran and cut her leg on a sharp rock. New tears caused by the physical pain mingled with the old tears that already streaked her face. She squeezed her leg tightly, and then picked herself up and kept running anyways. In moments, she would be at the entrance of the Spirit World where she hoped she would find Haku. Finding him was all that mattered.
~~~
Author's Note: Gah, sorry this took so long to get out. I've been really really busy. I might take a while to get the next chapter out too, but hopefully it will be a little better than this one. I know this chapter isn't very good, but I didn't really have much time to revise it, and I didn't want to make people wait another week for it. Sorry!
Anyways, in the next chapter, Haku and Chihiro get to see each other again, woohoo! Until then, adios.