"Spiritual Reunion"

By: Shi-chan

Rating: PG

Warnings: Blood and fluffiness in upcoming chapters... perhaps minor language

Disclaimer: Hayao Miyazaki-sama, Ghibli Films, and Disney own Spirited Away, I only borrowed the characters and concept for this fanfiction

Author's Corner!!

Shi-chan OOH! GUESS WHAT?!?! THIS IS *SO* COOL! I have a black and white bed with Kanji, Kana, and dragons all over it, and I bought it like five months ago. In any case, I looked at it when I got home this morning and guess what I noticed? THE DRAGONS LOOK JUST LIKE HAKU!! I was so happy, that I named my bed Haku! My mom came in my bedroom and told me, "Get to bed and go to sleep," and I was like, "What bed? You mean get into my Haku?" My mom thinks I'm psychotic... LOL

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Chapter Two: The Words a Wind Can Carry

A boy with ear-length, forest green hair and shining hazel eyes stared at the chains in which bound him to the wall. He had tried multiple times over the past years to break them, but to no avail. He seemed to be in a jail cell of sorts, as a hostage, he guessed. No one ever spoke to him, and the only life form he ever saw a small female cat spirit who brought him his food and took care of his "toilet."

He couldn't remember anything about the life he had before the cell, except four words. Chihiro, Kohaku, Sen, and Haku. They all seemed to hold a lot of significance to him, but he was unsure as to why. The words Haku and Kohaku reminded him of himself, so he guessed they both had to do something with his name. Whenever Sen or Chihiro popped into his mind, on the other hand, he felt butterflies gliding around in his body. A sense of contentment fled over him and he'd vaguely see the face of a young girl, smiling and crying at once. She would say, "I knew you were good," and it would all disappear.

He loved the feeling he got upon thinking of the words Chihiro and Sen, but then he hated it in the same, passionate way. He hated it because no matter how hard he thought, he couldn't place the voice, the memory, or the names. It was a teasing torture that never ceased to get the best of his anger.

One morning, however, a creature he had never seen before came to his cell with a wide grin. It was a female dragon with an uneasy aura that hinted at her being a god. "Well then, precious, the time had come for your use," the dragon announced as she cast her tongue across her fangs in a sharp smirk. She was in her human form, and the only part of her that hinted at dragon was the fact that she had a tail. Her eyes were deep, crimson red like that of ever-flowing blood, and her hair was white as snow.

"Why is it I'm finally needed?" The boy asked, intensely glaring at the demon. She giggled lightly and snapped her fingers, causing his chains to disappear. "Who are you and what's going on?" He was growing tired of having no answers.

The dragon smiled halfway sincerely and held her hand out for the boy to shake. "I am Jigokutatsu, and you are Kohaku River. Pleased to finally be able to talk to you, precious."

The boy stared at her a moment, analyzing her words. So his name was Kohaku... That only left the questions about Haku, Chihiro, and Sen. After a moment just looking at her hand, he reached out to take it.

As soon as he did so, he heard Jigokutatsu's voice in his head, and memories flashed through his mind. All of the most bloody, horrifying images he had witnessed previously cast through him, causing his eyes to grow wide with sorrow and fear.

"You used to live with an evil witch known as Yubaba. She is a horrible spirit who wishes to control all in the land. You were a slave to her, forced to do whatever it was she bade, and she even changed your name to Haku. Then one day, a girl came along named Chihiro. Yubaba stole her name as well, and the girl became known as Sen. You fell in love with the girl, but she worked for Yubaba, so she only led you on as a pawn in Yubaba's evil plans. I felt sorry for such a precious river spirit like yourself. You are, after all, adorable. You are not just an ordinary river spirit, however. You have the power of sorcery and that is why Yubaba wanted you so. I was the only in the land who knew sorcery that was not under the witch's power, so she grew angry. Then, I rescued you, and I think now is the time for her destruction. For her repetitive attempts to gather me for stupid reasons, and for keeping you captive, precious. All these years I have trained, to sharpen my sorcery, so that you and I might rid the world of her."

Kohaku quickly let go of her hand, but the words she spoke telepathically to him remained vivid in his mind, as well as the grotesque images. He scowled at Jigokutatsu and responded, "Why is it you need me? Why can you not let me go?"

The dragon smiled as her eyes turned fully red, capturing Kohaku's gaze. His eyes turned dark, and he fell to the ground, motionless. "Yubaba and that human girl are the only ones of this world that I cannot control. I need you as bait, precious," She whispered, brushing his bangs out of his eyes.

Later, as Kohaku sat outside, he continually ripped grass from the earth and melted it with his hands. "I will get those two sorceresses for what they did to me before Jigokutatsu saved me..." He muttered, glaring up at the sky.

Suddenly, a heavy gust of wind broke his thoughts. "Kohaku's the great spirit of a river. Sure, we were friends, but why would he fall in love with a human? He probably found another elegant dragon like himself and has already forgotten me. Why would a beautiful, esteemed dragon, spirit, and sorcerer like Kohaku allow himself to be tied down by a promise with a pathetic human girl like myself?"

The boy's eyes went wide as he realized that he recognized the voice the wind carried. "Chihiro..." He whispered, a single tear slipping down his cheek. He then regained his being and shook his head; all love for the girl gone once more. He had no idea that Jigokutatsu had him under her control.

*****

Yubaba clapped enthusiastically as Chihiro concentrated on gathering her energy and being into a ki blast. Her hands began to glow a bright orange colour, and then it all came into one large ball. The mortal stood up, her eyes suddenly open, as she aimed the blast at a tree about five hundred feet away. The ball passed right through the tree, and disappeared into thin air.

The elderly sorceress's eyes grew wide and she stamped her foot. "SEN! If you do stupid things like that, we'll never destroy that demon and get Kohaku back, you know!" She screamed at the human angrily.

Chihiro shook her head and point at the tree, "Keep watching."

The tree remained as it was a moment, then burst into flames and burned to the ground. Yubaba's frown turned into a wide grin and she hugged the girl. "Oh, Sen, that was wonderful! You're extraordinarily good at this for a first-time mortal girl," she declared. Chihiro smiled also and reminded her, "But that was only fire. You still have to teach me the way of air, earth, ice, mind, and water."

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Author's Corner!!

Shi-chan: Thanks everyone for your nice reviews! Please continue to leave me good feedback so I know whether or not this fanfiction needs to go on, okies? :) Oh yeah, I got an email question on if it's easy to do Haku and Chihiro now that they're older, and still keep them in character. My reply was, "It's really not that hard because if you consider everything they went through, by the end of all that, they'd mature and end up being a lot like San and Ashitaka of Mononoke Hime." ^.^

~Shi-chan Meows~

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