Summary: Chihiro and her friends make it back to the spirit world. Kinda hard to summarize without giving anything away. I'll work on my summary skills.
Disclaimer: I do not own Spirited Away. If I did own it I certainly would not be writing a fanfic about it, I would be creating a REAL sequel.
Author's note: This story is dedicated to my best friend. (you know who you are)
This is my first fanfic, so please review. No flamers please, my feelings will get hurt. Constructive criticism is always welcome.
Spirits and Shadows, Chapter 1: A prologue designed to drive you insane"This is it, Haku! You've been nothing but a thorn in my side since Sen left. Good riddance!"
Haku smiled as his ears were treated to the sound of paper being shredded, and then his eyes graced with the sight of his contract floating to the ground in tiny bits. Finally, after 6 months of pleading, begging, and threatening he was free!
"Now get out of here." Yubaba growled. Haku looked just too happy and it was making her ill.
"Certainly, Yubaba. Nothing would please me more." Haku replied, fighting the urge to jump up and down with glee. Not only would Yubaba probably turn him into a pig, it wasn't very spirit-like. He turned to leave.
"Oh, and Haku?"
Haku slowly turned around. 'Damn,' he thought to himself, 'I was almost to the door.' "Yes Yubaba?" Haku answered wearily.
"Don't look so down boy. All I wanted to do was wish you luck in finding Sen." Yubaba grinned. The look on the boy's face almost made up for the pain of saying those horridly nice words. If she kept this up people would start mistaking her for Zeniba, which would probably be one of the signs of the apocalypse.
"I, uh. Um, well, thank you." Haku didn't believe his ears. What happened to Yubaba? Haku turned to leave again, and this time made it through the door. Taking the elevator down to the servant's quarters, Haku thought about Chihiro. Even through the days he thought he would never be free of Yubaba and his hated apprenticeship, something had kept him going and now he would be able to keep his promise after all. Turning a corner in one of the bathhouse's back hallways, he bumped into Rin, causing her to fall to the floor.
"Rin!" Haku exclaimed, for this was one of the few times he was glad to see the caustic girl. "I've been looking for you!"
"Funny," Rin replied, rubbing her butt as she got up. "I was under the impression that you weren't looking. Jeeze, you're as klutzy as Sen was." Rin immediately looked sorry, because mentioning Sen was guaranteed to put Haku in a bad mood. "I'm sorry Haku, I know you miss Sen…"
"But that's why I wanted to see you. I'm free, Yubaba ripped up my contract! I'm going to see Chihiro right away, I'm leaving tonight!"
"WHAT!!! That's WONDERFUL! Sen is going to be so happy to see you." Rin smiled, imaging just how happy Sen will be. Haku was practically glowing at the prospect. "I never thought I'd be saying this, but I'll miss you Haku. The bathhouse will not be the same without you."
"You mean there won't be any bleeding dragons flying through the windows anymore."
"I was trying to pay you a complement, you dope. But now that you mention it, yeah. Maybe I'll be able to sleep in for once."
Haku chuckled. He was going to miss this place, surprisingly enough. "Hey, I almost forgot!" Haku held out a piece of gold to Rin. "This is for you. I wanted to thank you for all that you've done for me and Chihiro. You can pay Yubaba for your contract, even buy a train ticket if you want."
Rin stared at Haku, stunned. "I, I don't know what to say." Rin stated, for once in her life speechless. "Thank you Haku. I suppose Sen was right about you all along." She pocketed the gold. "Are you leaving now?"
"No, I have to say goodbye to Kamajii first. Goodbye Rin." Haku bowed politely to her and made his way to the boiler room.
"Bye." Rin called after him, still feeling slightly lightheaded. 'I hope he finds Sen all right.' She thought to herself as she walked away to clean the guest rooms.
"Kamajii! Yubaba tore up my contract and I'm going to see Chihiro!" Was the first thing out of Haku's mouth as he entered the boiler room, startling the spider spirit into dropping the herbs he was about to put in his grinding bowl.
"Chih-Oh, you mean Sen!" Kamajii said, one hand cleaning up the herbs he spilt while the others worked the boiler room machinery. "Good. It's about time you got out of here."
"Kamajii, I'd like you to have this. It's payment for the ticket you gave to Chihiro." Haku held out another piece of gold.
"No, those tickets were a gift. I was never going to use them anyway, I'm too old to find another place to work. You keep that, you never know what might happen. And when you see Chihiro, tell her I said hello." Kamajii sighed a little. He was going to miss them, first Chihiro, and now Haku. "Good luck."
"Thank you Kamajii. Someday Chihiro and I will come to visit you." Haku promised, hoping he wasn't promising something he couldn't keep. Haku turned and left the bathhouse.
The minute he was outside, Haku turned into the white dragon with a green mane, the symbol of the power he was born with, and skimmed along close to the ground. There was no river, and unlike before, when Chihiro left, he could cross the barrier now. Hurrying toward the tunnel, Haku never saw the shadow watching him. Ominously, the shadow raised its' hand and a blinding flash of light shot from its' fingertips at the river dragon. Unconscious, Haku fell to the ground.
TBC…
Wow! My first fanfic, first chapter, and first cliffhanger! Mwahahahahahahah! I feel EVIL! What I said before still goes. I would love to have reviews! Even if you don't like it tell me what I could do better. See ya around!