Disclaimer: *sigh* well here we go again. I'm going to explain to those people concerned (if there are any) that I do not in any, physical, spiritual, mental or ethereal way own Spirited Away. Okay now that is covered *points vaguely in some direction* on with the story.
I am blown away by the amount of reviews and how people have said such nice things, *bow to you* arigatou. It has just occurred to me by evidence of your opinions and comments that this story is actually ok and worthwhile reading now I will endeavour to keep it the same ^^
Meeting Again
Chapter 3: discovering what happened oh so long ago
Chihiro began to wonder now that she had returned to the Spirit World how she was going to be able to stay. First she knew she had to find work and second she knew that any minute now she was going to be caught because she smelt 'human' as the spirits residing here would say. But her foremost problem was staying substantial, she remembered the feeling of being insubstantial and fading away last time and she had to get something to eat before it was too late. Remembering her surprise as she looked down and exclaimed all those years ago when she had started to disappear and had blurted out the in incredulous comment "I'm see through!"
As she thought those thoughts she looked down at herself. Her blue jeans and red top had started to glow in a pale pearly ethereal light and she knew that because she had nothing to link her to this other world she was beginning to fade, Chihiro looked around for some kind of food that she could ingest. She had no idea where Haku had found the berries for her last time but she knew she would have to eat something quickly. She turned left after walking up those stone steps and headed towards the grassy knoll just outside of the now awakening shops. This place was only vaguely familiar as she was only here once. It was the place were she had hid hoping that it was all a dream and that she would wake up soon. She carefully picked her way up the hill. Chihiro grinned as she remembered the countless scraps and bruises that she acquired here because she was always falling over. She was less clumsy these days but she went through periods were her limbs started behaving like foreign objects and kept tripping her up. She looked around for berries, fruit or some kind of leaves that could help, finding none she began to get worried. She knew that she couldn't take anything from the shops because she had no desire to turn into a pig but maybe she could find a scrap somewhere, anywhere.
Chihiro looked down and saw that now her whole body was starting to disappear. 'Haku were are you?' she thought. Haku had always been there for her when she was in need, it was a strange bond that they had shared and Chihiro realized only after when she had grown up that they were connected somehow. That all those years ago when he had saved her when she fell into his river and she had returned his name, his freedom to him that all their adventures, trials and hardships together had bonded them in a way that was more than friendship. Love? No she thought maybe it was even deeper than that and she couldn't name it and didn't want to because she felt that it was something precious that wasn't to be picked apart.
Dissipating quicker by the minute Chihiro took a deep breath and realized she needed help quickly. 'Lin' she thought but shook her head. She was probably already working in the bathhouse and doubted that she would be able to get to her in time. Just when she was about to give up a thought came to her, Kamaji! He had helped her to get a job and his place was beneath the bathhouse. She knew that he would still be there and would help her. The only trouble was getting there meant she had to go over the bridge. Chihiro couldn't remember or even use the spell that Haku had said when she crossed it last time. While some of the staff here had come to tolerate her she was not sure how much time had passed in this different world. Rather than risk getting caught she knew she had to run as fast as she could and hope that she would surprise them.
She then started running as fast as she could considering how it might be a shock to some spirits, as she now resembled more like a ghost. Rather than get lost among the many restaurants she ran back to the stone steps and turned towards the shops and ran. As she race down the street she barely glanced at the shops filled with spirits. The hanging pink lanterns zigzagging across the street illuminated it enough so that she could see black spirits wandering up and down the street. Dodging around those standing in the streets she ran up to the second set of steps with the red small clock and turned right towards the bridge leading to the bath house. She could vaguely hear shouts behind her.
"A human!"
"Stop it!"
"What's it doing here?"
Ignoring them she kept on running. The bridge was empty save for a few spirits who were casually making their way across. She weaved in and out of them still running as hard as she could. She looked up at the bathhouse surprised that it still looked exactly as it was all those years ago. 'Has anything changed here?' She looked at the end of the bridge and saw her first obstacle.
"Welcome, Welcome, Welcome back!" A frog spirit was there bowing to all the customers and his jaw dropped when he caught sight of her.
"A human!?" That was all he could say as Chihiro was running towards him at an unbelievable pace and a quick jump and she was over him and running again. She turned left and ran through the garden ignore the shouts that echoed behind her. She had to get to Kamaji as soon as she could. She turned left and opened the door that led down towards the steps that led to his domain, the boiler rooms. As soon as she was in front of the steps she stooped and bent down bracing her knees on her legs trying to catch her breath. 'I've come this far' she thought resolutely. She only then noticed, as the adrenaline that was pumping through her veins calmed down that she could no longer see her hands. She didn't want to find out what would happen if she were to disappear completely.
She began to cautiously inch her way down the steps knowing that they were wooden and didn't doubt that the fact that they probably hadn't been repaired or replaced since she was last here. She reached the step were it had broken last time and remembered how she had screamed and ran all the way down into a wall. Stepping down over it she wondered if there was an imprint of her face there. Checking as she got there she smiled and shook her head at her own silliness. She stepped into the corridor that led to the boiler rooms and paused just outside, her insecurities coming to the surface. What if Kamaji didn't remember her or worse was no longer her friend? Pushing down her fear she stepped it the room already sweating from the unbelievable heat.
Kamaji had not changed since she was last here and Chihiro felt relieved by this. He was sitting in his usual spot his six arms in various places searching for herbs or tugging the tokens dangling in front of him telling the workers upstairs that their water was ready. Sen looked down to the floor and saw hundreds of sentient soot carrying large and heavy lumps of coal to the fire. Wether it was because they were made of magic or they had fine hearing they sensed her presence and turned to stare at her. She wondered if they remembered her especially considering that she was only half there. Cautiously she stepped down onto the floor and smiled at them. They all promptly dropped the coal and ran towards jumping up and down and squeaking in happiness. Kamaji turned to see what the commotion was and seeing a pale white ghost like version of her dropped his cup. It shattered on the floor.
"Sen?"
Not knowing what to say she nodded and made her way towards him relieved that he knew her despite the fact to she was now more grown up.
"Kamaji, I need help." She looked down at her body hoping that he knew what she meant.
"Sen I don't have any food or snacks on me if I did..."
One of Susuwatari squeaked and ran into one of the many holes in the wall and returned seconds later with a bright pink star. Holding it above its head it jumped up and down urging her to take it. She knelt and smiled at the kindness that the Susuwatari displayed. Touched she placed it in her mouth and not even thinking about its taste she swallowed and minutes later she was whole again
"Thankyou" It squeaked with happiness but Chihiro felt that if soot could blush this one would be doing so. All the other little Susuwatari then ran back into their holes and soon returned, hundreds of them carrying food that they had horded and preceded to jump up and down urging her to take their food. She smiled amused but shook her head. Kamaji picked up a hammer and tapped it against the side of his seat.
"Alright take a break." They all disappeared into their holes.
"Sen what are you doing here, I thought you returned to the human world?"
"I did but I came back to see Haku." Kamaji smiled tenderly over the love that Sen without even knowing displayed for that man. As he looked down in this adult like version of Sen he could see that little courageous girl in her eyes. The one who on her own despite odds had taken on the responsibility of saving her parents, Haku and in a way she had also saved the bathhouse as well from No Face.
"Haku? You came back to see him?"
"Yes, I had terrible dream Kamaji and if its true I'm afraid he has been hurt." Quickly she explained the dream and what the powerful spirit she had helped all those years ago had said. Kamaji whistled impressed that such a spirit had helped her in so many ways. Not many of the spirits that were in the bath house abided humans but there was something about Sen that made her human side not so repulsive.
"But Sen, no one has seen Haku for years, the last time we saw him was just after he had returned you to the human world and only then he was in dragon form flying fast as possible to Yubaba's office. After that he was never seen again." Chihiro's heart broke at the thought that he might be dead but before breaking down she was going to make sure herself.
"Sen, I'm sorry..."
"No that's okay I'm going to go talk to Yubaba and find out where he is."
To be continued...
Authors note: I have decided to end it there because I know how much people love cliff hangers ^^ I'm sorry but really its because I'm unsure of what is going to happen next so I thought rather than rush I will think things through and will definitely update as soon as humanly possible. After all I'm only human...well was last time I checked lol As for grammar I know that this chapter is kinda a rushed so please ignore the mistakes but as soon as I get a chance I will go over and fix them all up. Honestly I will!
To my devoted readers and reviewers I will update soon but feel free to review and harass me to update (grinning)
I am blown away by the amount of reviews and how people have said such nice things, *bow to you* arigatou. It has just occurred to me by evidence of your opinions and comments that this story is actually ok and worthwhile reading now I will endeavour to keep it the same ^^
Meeting Again
Chapter 3: discovering what happened oh so long ago
Chihiro began to wonder now that she had returned to the Spirit World how she was going to be able to stay. First she knew she had to find work and second she knew that any minute now she was going to be caught because she smelt 'human' as the spirits residing here would say. But her foremost problem was staying substantial, she remembered the feeling of being insubstantial and fading away last time and she had to get something to eat before it was too late. Remembering her surprise as she looked down and exclaimed all those years ago when she had started to disappear and had blurted out the in incredulous comment "I'm see through!"
As she thought those thoughts she looked down at herself. Her blue jeans and red top had started to glow in a pale pearly ethereal light and she knew that because she had nothing to link her to this other world she was beginning to fade, Chihiro looked around for some kind of food that she could ingest. She had no idea where Haku had found the berries for her last time but she knew she would have to eat something quickly. She turned left after walking up those stone steps and headed towards the grassy knoll just outside of the now awakening shops. This place was only vaguely familiar as she was only here once. It was the place were she had hid hoping that it was all a dream and that she would wake up soon. She carefully picked her way up the hill. Chihiro grinned as she remembered the countless scraps and bruises that she acquired here because she was always falling over. She was less clumsy these days but she went through periods were her limbs started behaving like foreign objects and kept tripping her up. She looked around for berries, fruit or some kind of leaves that could help, finding none she began to get worried. She knew that she couldn't take anything from the shops because she had no desire to turn into a pig but maybe she could find a scrap somewhere, anywhere.
Chihiro looked down and saw that now her whole body was starting to disappear. 'Haku were are you?' she thought. Haku had always been there for her when she was in need, it was a strange bond that they had shared and Chihiro realized only after when she had grown up that they were connected somehow. That all those years ago when he had saved her when she fell into his river and she had returned his name, his freedom to him that all their adventures, trials and hardships together had bonded them in a way that was more than friendship. Love? No she thought maybe it was even deeper than that and she couldn't name it and didn't want to because she felt that it was something precious that wasn't to be picked apart.
Dissipating quicker by the minute Chihiro took a deep breath and realized she needed help quickly. 'Lin' she thought but shook her head. She was probably already working in the bathhouse and doubted that she would be able to get to her in time. Just when she was about to give up a thought came to her, Kamaji! He had helped her to get a job and his place was beneath the bathhouse. She knew that he would still be there and would help her. The only trouble was getting there meant she had to go over the bridge. Chihiro couldn't remember or even use the spell that Haku had said when she crossed it last time. While some of the staff here had come to tolerate her she was not sure how much time had passed in this different world. Rather than risk getting caught she knew she had to run as fast as she could and hope that she would surprise them.
She then started running as fast as she could considering how it might be a shock to some spirits, as she now resembled more like a ghost. Rather than get lost among the many restaurants she ran back to the stone steps and turned towards the shops and ran. As she race down the street she barely glanced at the shops filled with spirits. The hanging pink lanterns zigzagging across the street illuminated it enough so that she could see black spirits wandering up and down the street. Dodging around those standing in the streets she ran up to the second set of steps with the red small clock and turned right towards the bridge leading to the bath house. She could vaguely hear shouts behind her.
"A human!"
"Stop it!"
"What's it doing here?"
Ignoring them she kept on running. The bridge was empty save for a few spirits who were casually making their way across. She weaved in and out of them still running as hard as she could. She looked up at the bathhouse surprised that it still looked exactly as it was all those years ago. 'Has anything changed here?' She looked at the end of the bridge and saw her first obstacle.
"Welcome, Welcome, Welcome back!" A frog spirit was there bowing to all the customers and his jaw dropped when he caught sight of her.
"A human!?" That was all he could say as Chihiro was running towards him at an unbelievable pace and a quick jump and she was over him and running again. She turned left and ran through the garden ignore the shouts that echoed behind her. She had to get to Kamaji as soon as she could. She turned left and opened the door that led down towards the steps that led to his domain, the boiler rooms. As soon as she was in front of the steps she stooped and bent down bracing her knees on her legs trying to catch her breath. 'I've come this far' she thought resolutely. She only then noticed, as the adrenaline that was pumping through her veins calmed down that she could no longer see her hands. She didn't want to find out what would happen if she were to disappear completely.
She began to cautiously inch her way down the steps knowing that they were wooden and didn't doubt that the fact that they probably hadn't been repaired or replaced since she was last here. She reached the step were it had broken last time and remembered how she had screamed and ran all the way down into a wall. Stepping down over it she wondered if there was an imprint of her face there. Checking as she got there she smiled and shook her head at her own silliness. She stepped into the corridor that led to the boiler rooms and paused just outside, her insecurities coming to the surface. What if Kamaji didn't remember her or worse was no longer her friend? Pushing down her fear she stepped it the room already sweating from the unbelievable heat.
Kamaji had not changed since she was last here and Chihiro felt relieved by this. He was sitting in his usual spot his six arms in various places searching for herbs or tugging the tokens dangling in front of him telling the workers upstairs that their water was ready. Sen looked down to the floor and saw hundreds of sentient soot carrying large and heavy lumps of coal to the fire. Wether it was because they were made of magic or they had fine hearing they sensed her presence and turned to stare at her. She wondered if they remembered her especially considering that she was only half there. Cautiously she stepped down onto the floor and smiled at them. They all promptly dropped the coal and ran towards jumping up and down and squeaking in happiness. Kamaji turned to see what the commotion was and seeing a pale white ghost like version of her dropped his cup. It shattered on the floor.
"Sen?"
Not knowing what to say she nodded and made her way towards him relieved that he knew her despite the fact to she was now more grown up.
"Kamaji, I need help." She looked down at her body hoping that he knew what she meant.
"Sen I don't have any food or snacks on me if I did..."
One of Susuwatari squeaked and ran into one of the many holes in the wall and returned seconds later with a bright pink star. Holding it above its head it jumped up and down urging her to take it. She knelt and smiled at the kindness that the Susuwatari displayed. Touched she placed it in her mouth and not even thinking about its taste she swallowed and minutes later she was whole again
"Thankyou" It squeaked with happiness but Chihiro felt that if soot could blush this one would be doing so. All the other little Susuwatari then ran back into their holes and soon returned, hundreds of them carrying food that they had horded and preceded to jump up and down urging her to take their food. She smiled amused but shook her head. Kamaji picked up a hammer and tapped it against the side of his seat.
"Alright take a break." They all disappeared into their holes.
"Sen what are you doing here, I thought you returned to the human world?"
"I did but I came back to see Haku." Kamaji smiled tenderly over the love that Sen without even knowing displayed for that man. As he looked down in this adult like version of Sen he could see that little courageous girl in her eyes. The one who on her own despite odds had taken on the responsibility of saving her parents, Haku and in a way she had also saved the bathhouse as well from No Face.
"Haku? You came back to see him?"
"Yes, I had terrible dream Kamaji and if its true I'm afraid he has been hurt." Quickly she explained the dream and what the powerful spirit she had helped all those years ago had said. Kamaji whistled impressed that such a spirit had helped her in so many ways. Not many of the spirits that were in the bath house abided humans but there was something about Sen that made her human side not so repulsive.
"But Sen, no one has seen Haku for years, the last time we saw him was just after he had returned you to the human world and only then he was in dragon form flying fast as possible to Yubaba's office. After that he was never seen again." Chihiro's heart broke at the thought that he might be dead but before breaking down she was going to make sure herself.
"Sen, I'm sorry..."
"No that's okay I'm going to go talk to Yubaba and find out where he is."
To be continued...
Authors note: I have decided to end it there because I know how much people love cliff hangers ^^ I'm sorry but really its because I'm unsure of what is going to happen next so I thought rather than rush I will think things through and will definitely update as soon as humanly possible. After all I'm only human...well was last time I checked lol As for grammar I know that this chapter is kinda a rushed so please ignore the mistakes but as soon as I get a chance I will go over and fix them all up. Honestly I will!
To my devoted readers and reviewers I will update soon but feel free to review and harass me to update (grinning)