I'm Baaaaacck! I would really feel awful if I left you guys hanging for long. But before the story starts up again, here's a short word from the author.

Red-Rose87- Thank you sooooo much for your kind words. You really got my creative juices flowing again. So consider this chapter dedicated to you, nice person that you are.

Disclaimer: I do not own Spirited Away. Unless I get really rich in the near future and move to the far east, I doubt I ever will. Don't sue, please. I own about 15 books and my cat. You can't have the cat. If you take my cat I will kill you. DON'T TOUCH THE CAT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! For the record, I do own Wren and Rose.

Author's note- I'm introducing two new characters in this chapter. They will be traveling with Chihiro throughout the story. No doubt you will be sick of them by the end. Rose (I have two reasons for naming this character Rose, and one of them is you, Red-Rose87) and Wren are works in progress. So be kind to them, they're babies yet.

This whole story is still dedicated to my best friend. I only hope you have as much fun reading this as I do writing it.

On with the show!

Chapter 2: Enter Chihiro and her slightly insane "babysitters"

Chihiro grinned as she listened to her "babysitters" list the merits of eating pizza every night for a week. At thirteen she didn't really need a babysitter, but since her parents were on vacation for two weeks, they were paying Wren and Rose to make sure she didn't get into any trouble. Of course, with "babysitters" like these, Chihiro would never have to go looking for entertainment.

"It's Cheesy!!" Wren sang out, laughing hysterically.

"And it goes with anything. You can drink soda, vodka, milk. Okay, so maybe not vinegar, but still…" Rose continued.

"MUSHROOMS!!!!!! Yummy, Yummy, Yummy Fungi!"

Chihiro grinned, listening to the two of them. Wren was convinced that fungi were the forgotten food group. She and Rose were twins, both seventeen, but sometimes could act younger than her. Their father was a manager of a huge corporation, and he was promoted and moved to Japan from America when they were six to manage the new branch. Rose and Wren met Chihiro when she was ten and they were fourteen. Wren was Chihiro's babysitter from the get-go, mainly because she seemed the more normal of the two, which was not true. Wren would make up fantastical stories about her cat and some wizard. She was also positive that pixies were after her. Rose told Chihiro later that their psychiatrist said that Wren had such a vivid imagination that she could not tell reality from make believe. There was medication that Wren was supposed to take, but Chihiro had seen her flushing it down the toilet. Chihiro was never worried though. The most violent thing Wren would ever think to do to her would be to chase her around the house with a mushroom.

Rose was definitely different from Wren. Her hair was dyed a rather alarming shade of red, and Chihiro often wondered if she was going for the Guinness Book of World Records for the most piercings. Chihiro thought both girls were pretty, but Wren always thought she was drab in comparison to Rose. "I'm just plain and brown, just like a little wren." She often said. Chihiro felt sorry for both girls, since their parents didn't seem to care about them much. Their dad was disappointed in them all the time. He wanted two perfect dolls to show off at big corporation parties, not a semi-rebel and a girl who thought the government was conspiring against her. Their mom never cared much about them in the first place. She'd ask once a week whether or not they were still breathing, and not really listen to their answer even then. No wonder they wanted to act differently.

"Hey Chihiro! You going to help decide what kind of pizza to order or do you want to sit there daydreaming about Dragon Boy?" Rose called over.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm coming." Chihiro yelled back.

"Fungi!" Wren shouted happily.

Chihiro grinned as she walked over toward them. Rose and Wren were the only people she ever told about her adventures in the Spirit World. Neither of them told anyone else, and both said they believed her. Which in Wren's case may not be a good thing.

After much debating with the pizza place, finally convincing them to do their pizza in thirds, they ordered a large 1/3 mushroom and sausage (for Wren), 1/3 meat lovers (for Chihiro), and 1/3 pepperoni (for Rose). After dinner (Wren did chase Chihiro around the house trying to get her to eat a mushroom), the three girls were at a loss as to what to do. They had pretty much exhausted the meager array of fun things to do, and Wren refused to let Rose take Chihiro to a club. As the girls were sorting through ideas, Wren's cat, Snickerdoodle, walked into the room. Snickerdoodle was a huge black cat who would not look out of place sitting on an alter in some Egyptian temple. He walked up to Wren and rubbed against her leg, then walked to the door.

"Look, Snickerdoodle wants to go for a walk, don't you sweetie?" Wren said, looking at the cat the same way Chihiro had seen Yubaba looking at Bou. It was a little freaky. "Come on, guys! Let's go for a walk."

"Uhg. How 'bout not." Rose replied. "It looks like it's about to storm."

"So? Water is good for you. Besides, Snickerdoodle wants to go for a walk."

Chihiro knew this would be the winning argument. Wren always won when the cat's desires came into play. 'Oh well, I can always wear a raincoat,' She thought to herself.

Once everyone was outside, it started to drizzle.

"Can we go in now?" Rose asked.

"Snickerdoodle! Get back here!" Wren yelled, ignoring Rose. She raced after the runaway cat. Rose and Chihiro shared glances, then ran after Wren. Snickerdoodle ran out of the yard, down the street, and into the forest bordering the suburb, Wren hot on his tail.

'Wait!' Chihiro thought, "He's leading us down the same road that dad got lost on three years ago. The one that leads to the Spirit World! But there's nothing there, I went down this road hundreds of times and I never find the tunnel.'

Still, now there was something at the end of the road. It seemed like a small cliff, overgrown with moss and vines. Here Snickerdoodle stopped and waited for them to catch up.

"Damn! What a stupid cat!" Rose panted, out of breath.

"He is not!" Wren gasped back.

Chihiro felt like her legs were going to give out at any second. As the wind blew the now pouring rain into her face, she started to lean up against the cliff side. Rose and Wren turned when she let out a short scream as she fell through…

TBC…

Well? What do you think? I'd like a little feedback here people! By the way, it's not an accident that Chihiro is thirteen in this while in chapter 1 only 6 months have past. All will be reveled in time…

And I'm begging here. Plz, plz, plz, plz, plz, plz, plz, plz, plz review. Just tell me what you think.