A/N: I made it longer, I really did. I hate to say it, but I'm not one for super long chapters. I'll never just have like three paragraphs or something absurd like that for a chapter though :) So, in this one, Chihiro makes it back to the Spirit World. People shall be coming in in the next chapter, that they shall! Including our beloved Haku! *cheers* So. I'll let you read now ^_^

Oh, and I just wanted to thank everybody for reviewing my story, especially Aria! That made me bounce around happily all day! :-) But that was the most reviews I've ever gotten for a single chapter of anything, much less for the first chapter of a fic, so needless to say, I'm thrilled. And I don't think that anyone is ever going to decide how long Chihiro was in the Spirit World. It's going to become one of the unsolved mysteries of life ^_^;;

Disclaimer: If I owned Sen to Chihiro no Kamikakushi, I'd be perfecting this story and hiring Miyazaki-san to animate it into a series or sequel or something, that I would. I would not be sitting here writing fanfiction, no siree.

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"Hey Chihiro, you're having a picnic with us," demanded Umi.

"I am?"

"Yes."

"Um, all right then. When?"

"How about…tonight right before the sun sets?" suggested Yuna. "Down the hill from your house, by that neat little grove."

The trio was walking home from school, blessing their lucky stars that it was finally the end of the week. And amazingly, they had a lack of homework that lifted their spirits even more. "Okay then you guys," Chihiro smiled. "I'll see you later, but I have to go now. My mom saw this weird vase in some antique store and decided that I needed to go buy it for her today." The girl rolled her eyes, brushing her hair out of her face.

"See ya Chihiro!" Umi yelled, although Chihiro had only gotten a couple paces away since she had finished speaking.

"You don't have to yell, Umi!" Despite her semi-annoyed tone, she could tell that Umi knew she was joking.

"Of course she does!" Yuna giggled, slinging an arm around Umi's neck and nearly strangling her. "Anyway Chihiro, we'll see you tonight!"

"Later!" Chihiro turned and talked away, smiling as she heard Umi's voice drifting after her on the wind: "And don't forget to bring a ton of food!"

With a shake of her head, Chihiro set about finding the little store that held the vase her mother felt the need to own. Despite her mother's directions, it took her the better part of an hour to find the little place, which ended up being set back from the street and nearly hidden behind newer buildings.

With a sigh, she entered the store. A bell tinkled overhead, and she looked warily at the shelves, most of which were covered with dust. The ancient smell of the place nearly drove her back out into the fresh air, but she forced herself to get in, get the vase, and get back out as quickly as possible. "Hello?" she called, receiving no reply.

It only took her a moment to find the vase that she needed. It sat in an extremely dusty display near the front of the store. It was a pretty vase, Chihiro decided, but it would take massive amounts of cleaning to make it look presentable. Waving her hand in a rather pathetic attempt to bat the masses of dust away, she grabbed it and headed for what looked like it was the cash register, wondering how she was supposed to pay. Being in the deserted store creeped her out a bit.

Something caught her eye as she was turning. A bottle sat on a high shelf. It was a plain glass bottle, filled with some kind of water and it had dirt at the bottom. She didn't know why, but she walked closer. Upon the front was a label with neat handwriting that read, Water and sand of the Kohaku River. There was no reason that she should have wanted it. But for some odd reason, her hand reached up and took it from the shelf. She had to stand on a box that was right by the shelf to reach it, and even then it was a stretch. She had just wrapped her fingers around the bottle when the box collapsed under her weight. She grabbed the shelf in an attempt to keep her balance. And of course, it broke, sending her tumbling to the floor among various other trinkets. She winced, checking immediately to see that her newly acquired bottle and the vase hadn't broken.

Scrambling up off the floor, she held the items close, looking around for the shopkeeper. Still, no one came, even with the racket that she had made. With an embarrassed look around for perhaps the hundredth time, Chihiro dropped the money for her possessions onto the wooden counter and fled the shop, the little bell above the door tinkling once again.

It wasn't until she was outside of the odd little shop that Chihiro realized that she had been holding her breath. She let it out in a big gust, grateful for the fresh air and the breeze that stirred her school uniform.

"Well that was weird…" she mused aloud. She felt a bit bad about knocking the shelf down and then taking the stuff without talking to the shop's owner. Then again, it wasn't like she stole the vase and bottle of the Kohaku River, and she did look for anyone there…

With a shrug, Chihiro set off through the streets and up the hill to her house. Her mother practically pounced on her the moment she set foot through the door. Chihiro handed her the vase and went immediately to her room.

She set her hair stuff down and went about finding another hairtie to replace the purple one. Once her brown tresses were securely tied back, she set the bottle of river water on her windowsill so that the sun shone through it, refracting off the particles that had been stirred up with movement. As an afterthought, Chihiro fished her broken hair tie out of her pocket and tied it around the neck of the bottle. Water and purple glinted in the golden rays of the afternoon sun, entrancing the teen for quite some time. She felt like she was connected to the two items somehow, and it frustrated her that she could not think of why she felt attached to them.

After a while, Chihiro pulled herself away from the mesmerizing interplay of light and glanced at the clock. With a sigh, she got up from her seat on her bed and changed out of her school uniform. Jeans and a t-shirt were her chosen attire, simple and comfortable. With a last glance at the bottle and hair tie glittering in the sun, she wandered out into the kitchen.

She passed the living room doorway, pausing to ask permission of her mother. The woman was sitting at their low table, which was cluttered with polishing rags and various other cleaners. She was scrubbing away at her precious vase while the television blared out some talkshow.

"Mom?"

Chihiro's mother barely looked up at the sound of her daughter's voice. "Chihiro, look at these people! They have no shame! I know that if my family was as dysfunctional as theirs, why, we would keep it to ourselves, not dishonor past and future generations alike by going on some silly talkshow in front of the whole world! I wonder how much they're paid…"

"May I go on a picnic with Umi and Yuna?"

Chihiro rolled her eyes as her mother's only response was to let out a great, "HAH!" of amusement and disbelief as one of the people on the talkshow leapt from her chair to dive at one of the men, screaming and kicking.

"Well, I told her," Chihiro muttered to herself as she turned away and wandered into the kitchen. It took her only a few minutes to make a number of sandwiches for herself and her friends. After she grabbed some gold sodas and fruit juices from the fridge and an assortment of fruit from the basket on the counter, she threw it all into a large picnic basket she dragged out of the storage closet. As an afterthought she added a blanket for them to sit on and a deck of cards.

When everything was finally ready, she set off, anxious to be outside and in the nature-scented air. She went straight down the grassy hill (nearly tripping more than once and sending herself and her load of food flying) at a quick pace until she came to a level spot perfect for their dinner. Chihiro dropped the basket into the sun-warmed grass and wandered off, figuring that if either of her friends came looking for her, they would see the food and know that she was somewhere nearby.

Her explorations took her into the trees that stood on one side of the field. They did an excellent job of blocking out the sun, and Chihiro was grateful for the shade. It was nearing summer, and the rays of the afternoon sun burned hot. Deeper and deeper into the grove she went, stumbling through the underbrush that carpeted the ground.

She was beginning to fear getting lost in the mass of trees when a dirt road popped up in front of her out of the blue. Not that it looked like it functioned any longer, for plants had been allowed to take it over, making it into nothing more than an old, disused pathway. Memory stuck her then, memory of a place just like this. When she and her parents had moved to their home, they had taken a wrong turn and driven through an arboretum just like this one.

Chihiro know that she should go back, but her feet picked a direction and followed it down the road. She kept an eye out for the little spirit houses and the stone carving of the monk that lay off to the side, but she could not find them. "Huh, I must be father along on the path than I thought," she mused to herself. That meant that she was close to the tunnel.

Oddly, that was all she could remember. She knew that she and her parents had gone through the tunnel, but as to what lay on the other side, she had no recollection. So caught up in her musing, the teen was, that she did not notice when she rounded a final curve and came upon her destination. Another stone sat in the ground, the face of the monk carved into its surface staring at her in an odd sort of welcoming way.

It was hardly recognizable; the fake plaster had been overgrown with plants so much that the tunnel's entrance was nearly covered. She walked immediately to the tunnel, pulling the vines from their hold in an attempt to gain access to what lay beyond them. The wind picked up at her back, as if it wanted her to go through the hall of stone.

With a sigh of annoyance, Chihiro finally just pushed her way through the twisted mass of plants. They yielded to her will and let her through. The tunnel was dark, and Chihiro felt an initial chill run through her. Part of her balked at the thought of walking through the tunnel, the same part that screamed at her to turn around and run back to her friends and the warm light of the sun. But another part of her chided herself for being so childish, chided her for being afraid of a simple, deserted tunnel.

She emerged from the tunnel to see a spacious room filled with wooden benches. The slowly weakening rays of daylight illuminated the floor in pretty colors from a stained glass window set high in the hall. While it was dirty and unkempt, it did not have the same feeling of desolation as the outside had. An arched opening led to a field, one which Chihiro quickly began walking through.

No hesitation gripped her. She moved as if she knew exactly it was where she was going. Chihiro crossed the remnants of a river, now only a stream strewn with boulders, hopping from stone to stone. Grinning at the fact that she got across without a major clumsy episode, she started up a flight of old, worn steps.

"How weird," she said to no one in particular, staring at the odd little town that was before her. "It's all… restaurants." A grumbling in her stomach reminded her that she was quite hungry, and by now quite late for her picnic, but the thought of eating some of the food that was set out in the various restaurants repulsed her beyond measure for an unfathomable reason.

Her feet continued to carry her through the town, always heading upwards. The emptiness of the place gave her the shivers. "Just a few more minutes," Chihiro promised herself. She walked by deserted storefront upon deserted storefront without seeing so much as a bird ar squirrel, much less any people.

Chihiro's walk came to a stop as she reached what seemed to be the focus of the odd town. It was a grand old building, standing proudly against the setting sun. Chihiro let her eyes travel over the bridge that led to the building, then up and all over the magnificent structure. Her eyes finally stopped their roaming on the white Hiragana that was painted upon the door. Yu. Bathhouse.

At that precise moment, the sun sank below the horizon and the lanterns lining the walkways flickered on.

And as far from her friends as she was, an entire world and more away, she had no hope of hearing her friends' desperate, panicked screams of her name in the field down the hill from her home.