Disclaimer – "Default Chapter" saids it all ^^*

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~*~ The Day the Dream Ended ~*~

Chapter 7 – Meetings

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All around me was mist…I squinted my eyes, trying to look for something…anything that could possibly be out there in this misty yonder. My gaze meeting nothing but more mist and emptiness, I sighed in defeat and began to walk, feeling a bit of déjà vu as I did so.

Wherever I am…didn't I do this already, just a little while ago?

With much effort, I searched my dully-aching head in order to recall events which had happened earlier that day. Suddenly, I paused in my aimless walk and looked again at the misty realm which I stood in—really look at it…and my eyes widened voluntarily as I gradually came to a realization.

It's…it's light out…

Shaking my head as if to clear it, I held my hand out before me and found myself staring at it…and actually seeing it. Thinking back, and remembering the chilling cold of the darkness which had enveloped me in the land I presumed to be the Majou no Sekai, I shivered before returning to my train of thoughts, wanting to keep them intact.

When I opened my eyes last time, I thought I was in the Majou no Sekai, and everything was dark…so I guess that must mean wherever I am now, it's no longer the Majou no Sekai!

Shaking my head and smiling a bit ironically at my current lost situation—to be more accurate, my constantly recurring lost situation—I continued to search in the seemingly endless mist for some sort of sign that could answer my questions.

It seems that all I've been able to accomplish today is get myself lost.

Continuing my walk, I found myself actually smiling quite cheerfully in spite of the baffling situation. Amused at myself, I realized that my smile, which used to never seem to leave my face when I was younger, felt so strangely unfamiliar…so out of place on a face which had only been capable of forced and faked expressions.

It's been so long…so long since I last smiled like this…since I last truly felt anything but emptiness and loneliness. It's been so long since I last allowed myself to be happy…so long since I last allowed myself to just…be myself. Why didn't I realize it sooner? Why didn't I realize that when I try to hide myself from the world, I'm also hiding myself from me…and that I'd bring myself and those around me nothing but misery and hurt?

Yet as I debated in my head over my own belated realization, a part of me had known the answer all along.

I had given up…given up on ever regaining my emotions and showing them again, because I was afraid that I'd hurt others around me, just as I did once.

Because I was afraid…so afraid…of getting hurt again.

And yet…strangely, for all that I thought I had forgotten what it means to feel and had lost all hopes of regaining my emotions…all it took for them to return was for me to come back to the Majou no Sekai…for me to admit to myself that I've always missed my friends, and worried about them…

All it took for me to regain my emotions was for me to realize and admit, at least to myself, just how much he means to me.

Sighing and scolding myself for thinking about something so…so…irrelevant!…in the situation that I am in, I couldn't help but smile again at the thought of the boy who had somehow called me into his world once again.

That was also when I noticed that the mist around me had started to lift as everything seem to begin to glow brighter; somewhere from the source of light in the yonder a voice called out to me.

"Let your heart guide you on…"

A frown settled over my features—the voice sounded so familiar! I quickened my pace toward the voice and the source of light, enthralled by its mystery.

"Believe…" the speaker continued, voice fading as I got closer to it. "Believe in yourself, and believe in your heart. Let your heart guide you on…let it awaken the magic within you…"

And it was gone. Darkness once again enveloped me, and I felt myself falling into the nothingness.

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Finally opening her eyes in her reality, Chihiro found herself in a bed, surrounded by layers of comforters and pillow alike. Struggling to get up from underneath the multi-layered yet light covers, she looked around her, almost afraid of what she might find. After all, when you've woken up to three completely different environments in one day, one of which wasn't even in realism, you become somewhat wearier of it.

To her relief, candlelight met her vision, lighting up the otherwise dark room. Thunder could be heard outside the…wherever she was at the moment, and the sound of rain constantly falling brought a strange comfort to her ears.

Well, at least this time I know I'm in the Majou no Sekai again.

Unnerved by her strange dream and even stranger encounter with the voice, Chihiro breathed a mental sigh of relief, thankful that her strange ordeal was over…for now. Slipping quietly out of the comfortable bed she was placed in, she walked over to the large window, eager to see the land of the spirits after such a long time. However, as she looked out the window, she found herself at a total loss of words at the sight which met her eyes.

The lands, once beautifully green and fertile, was completely devoid of all color…except for black and the occasionally lighter shade of gray. The sound of falling rain which had greeted her was in truth a thunderstorm, merciless in its nature, drowning out and killing all which stood in its way. The beautiful crystal-blue river that once divided this world and her own was no more…instead, dark, ugly and harsh waters overtook its place, its waves destroying living and non-living things alike as they crashed onto one another. The once clear blue sky was darkened by the angry layers of clouds which choked out all rays of sunlight who dared threaten to shine upon the dying land; nothing could be seen in the distance, where the smoke of the Aburaya bathhouse once graced the skies. The horror of the destruction of the lands that stood before her seemed to tear at Chihiro's heart and froze her swirling thoughts, leaving the girl feeling pained and utterly helpless at the situation which stood before her. A strangled sob escaped from her trembling lips.

Oh God…what…what's going on here?! Why is this happening?

As her mind began to seemingly work again, a million thoughts crossed the girl's mind. What about her friends…Rin, and Kamajii? And Zeniiba, Kaonashi…and Yu-Baaba, Bou, and everyone else at the bathhouse? What about…

Haku…where are you? How am I supposed to find you like this? What if…what if…

The thought of never seeing her friends again, of the possibility that they may not even exist any longer, tore at the girl's heart…especially the thought of an eternal parting from a particular dragon. Tears began to fall silently on their own at her thoughts; Chihiro felt as if her heart was about to break in two…

Preoccupied as she was by her heartbreaking thoughts, Chihiro did not notice when someone else entered the room which she alone had occupied just moments before.

"Chihiro." He muttered quietly, almost to himself.

Upon hearing her name, the said girl snapped her head up, surprised out of her thoughts at the familiarity of the voice. Swirling around as quickly as she could to face the speaker, Chihiro felt as if her heart had stopped beating the moment she laid eyes on him.

"Haku…"

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"Zeniiba?"

"I've lost track of her." was the grim reply. Turning from her position facing the large windows, the old witch felt the lines of worry on her tired face. She looked at the other occupants in the room and noted that they, too, shared her frowning expression, each silently concerned for the safety of their little human friend.

Silence hung in the room despite the fact that the usually empty room was quite occupied—Yu-Baaba, having sensed that something was amiss when she saw the strange flashing of magics by the barrier which separated the two worlds, had summoned those closest to her to tell them the news.

The years sure have changed us all. Zeniiba thought to herself wryly, eyeing her twin sister who, not so long ago, wouldn't have been caught dead worried about anything but her own well being…and her money, of course. Actually, the witch probably didn't know what it meant to care for another in the first place, let alone share that care and concern which comes with it with someone else. Meeting that girl…watching her struggle to find herself and grow from her experiences…it has changed us all—even the most stubborn of us. But now this…

It was Rin who could no longer stand the silence and finally spoke up first.

"Argh…I can't take much more of this!" the girl threw her hands up in the air, as if hoping to take her frustration out on the very air itself which surrounded her. Getting up and, much to the distress of the other occupants of the room, she started to pace back and forth between the windows and the people in it. "We were this close…this close!…to meeting with Sen again! And now that we know she's here, all of a sudden we would just lose track of her?! Where could she possibly be?! She can't survive on her own like it!"

"Rin, calm down. We all feel the same way, and beating the air isn't going to help." Kamajii said as calmly as he could. Frustration was clearly written on the old spider-spirit's face, which was not an usual event as he was not one easily unruffled.

In his own quite way, Kaonashi walked over slowly to the fuming young woman, comforting her with his murmuring speech. Seeing this, Yu-Baaba couldn't help but smile a bit, still having difficulty believing that this was the same greedy monster that had almost destroyed her bathhouse.

"He's right Rin…being angry right now isn't going to help Sen any." the old witch addressed her in a surprisingly gentle tone. "Right now, we have to try to track Sen down…and fast. She can't survive out there on her own—not in this world, and not when it's like this. She sure picked a bad time to visit." Turing from the group of staring eyes, who were surprised at the degree of her change of tone, Yu-Baaba looked indifferently towards the thick and unyielding dark clouds outside.

"What if it wasn't an accident she's here now, all of a sudden?" the new voice startled everyone in the dark room. Bou stalked in quietly, having obviously overheard the bulk of their conversation, dragging with him one of the many cushions at his disposal. The giant baby—still no older than he was when he had met Chihiro—continued to talk to the 'concerned adults' who were no better off at figuring out the bafflement of the situation than he was. "What if she was meant to come…what if she was summoned here by someone?"

"He raises a very good point." Zeniiba said quietly, straining to smile but still smiled nethertheless affectionately at her sister's baby. "And it would explain many things to us…the most recent of which being why we would suddenly loose track of her aura as if she had disappeared off the face of our world."

"But who would do this? And why would they want Sen?" a very concerned Rin thought out loud. Beside her, Kaonashi nodded his head viciously, agreeing with her questions.

"I think a better question would be…who could do this? To conceal something's aura takes very powerful magic, you know…magic that no one whom we know of possess…no one that remained in this world, anyhow." Yu-Baaba answered the duo, brows knit together in deep thought. Lines had appeared on her face where there was none before—an indication of just how much more worried the old witch was than she is letting the others on.

"Kohaku has that power, doesn't he?" referring to the young dragon by his 'real name' which the witch had once stolen from him, Kamajii asked the one in the room who held the most knowledge of her former disciple's powers.

"Yes…he does." was the soft reply. If it was at all possible, the old witch seemed to look even more worried than she already was.

"But why would Haku want to conceal her from us if she's here?" Bou asked the suddenly silent adults, impatient to get some sort of an answer.

"That just adds another question to our list, doesn't it?" Kamajii said, perturbed but not unkindly.

"He has been missing, hasn't he? Since you last talked to him?" Zeniiba asked her twin sister quietly. If not for the silence that had claimed the occupants of the room, she would not have been heard at all.

"Yes…yes he has." Yu-Baaba answered just as quietly, eyes not leaving the thick clouds outside. And he had left without saying anything at all…not of what he was thinking of, not of where he was going, not of why he was going. After I told him of the eventual destruction of little Sen's world after ours disappears, he just…left. Not angrily, not hurriedly…he just walked out the doors and disappeared, leaving no trace of his aura in our world.

What is going on here? Haku…Sen…wherever you two are…please be careful…and make it back to us.

Make it back to us alive.

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Tada~! Another chappie up, and another chappie closer to the end. Man alive…*yawns* I have so much homework/studying to do still, and all I wanna do is sleep~!! But…I didn't wanna keep you guys waiting ^^*

But anyways…in exchange for updating so much sooner than I originally planned, I'm still not gunna tell you if they're together yet or not (or, at least, that was the best excuse I could come upwiv..) *hint hint*…and that leaves us wiv a question that I had to ask myself…*if* they're not together yet…then who the hell is Chihiro with right now?!?!?! *ready to pull out my own hair* LoL…j/k~! I actually *do* know what I'm doing, for a change, dunt worrie, you'll see in time too!! We might actually be closer to the end than I thought we were last time…and the fact that this chappie being a tad longer than my usual chappies might have had something to do with it ^^* Gomen nasai if it was much too long~!

One problem I seem to have while writing is that my plot seem to want to lag and take forever to come out…*shakes head* Gomen nasai, minna-san~! There seems to be nothing I can do about it…but eventually, eventually…the story will come to and end, even if it comes a tad slower than you and I both want it to. In the meantime, pls just stick wiv me and read thru the plot-lags…or *brightening up* you guys can help/teach me how to get pass them~! ^^* Hehehe…after all, this is my first ficcy every, so I'm allowed to make it a learning experience too…aren't I??

Soooo…wiv dat said, sorry this chappie had to be slower (somewhat), cuz I just couldn't have a Chihiro whom I had made pretty impersonal and cold to her surroundings just snap back together and be all bubbly and lovey-dovey, now could I?? ^^* Also…*looks ashamed* I was so caught up in trying to quickly get to a Haku/Chihiro meeting that I kinda forgot about the other characters!! *ducks flying objects* Gomen ne~! But hey…they made an appearance in this chappie…at least ya'll know they're still alive…right?? XD

By the way…this probably had nothing to do with the story…but does anyone out there know how to get the frickin italics working?!?! *sleep deprivation and loads of hw obviously taking its toll on me…* Man alive, they seriously hate me~!!! X_x Anyhow…if anyone could help me wiv dat I'd really appreciate it :D

Anyhow…the usual comments n' critics are most welcomed…so are praises, if you think are applicable ^^* Hehehe…until next time then~! (And I promise you, next time I'll tell ya'll for sure whether or not Haku & Chihiro are together or not…and if not, who Chihiro is with right now, and where Haku is at too…but you just gotta wait!!)

~Aqua Sunshine ^^*

ps: Morrigan/Nickoi…you said you wanted my email…? If you click on "Aqua Sunshine" at the top of the story, right underneath where it says Story » Spirited Away » The Day the Dream Ended…it should lead you to my "home" page, where my email and other stories are. But *shrugs* if you're too lazy to do that (if it were me, I'd be too lazy to do that too ^^*) then it's friskyfilly00127@hotmail.com. There you go!!