Spirit and Soul Chapter 2: Ready to Return, a spirited away fanfic

Spirit and Soul

Chapter Two: Ready to Return

(A/N: Chapter two is up!!! Well actually I've had a lot done already, but I've been saving it because… well… I'm nervous! LoL.. but no longer! You all know who owns "Spirited Away" and it's characters. And I forgot to mention that since it's been a while since I saw the movie I've forgotten some of the names! So, I switch between the Japanese translated to English and the English names on the English version. Sorry for any inconvenience. Read and ENJOY!)

'Well we meet again sometime?'

'Sure.'

'Promise?'

'Promise.'

Chihiro was ten years old again, standing on the stone steps leading out of the spirit world and into the human. Haku stood beside her with his black hair blowing in the wind. She felt a tingly feeling run from her hand to the rest of her body. She was holding his hand. She felt safe and knew that everything would be fine. It was time for her to leave, to leave Haku and the rest of her newfound friends. Before leaving, she took one last look at him for she could not look back until she crosses the tunnel. His skin had gotten a little bit more colour after she had squashed the black slug that bonded him to Yubaba, and his beautiful green eyes had gained a sort of sparkle to them. He was the Kohaku River spirit that saved her many years before, and she was the girl that saved him by helping him find his name… She didn't want to leave him, but he had promised they would see each other again soon. So she let go and ran.

Everything was dark and Chihiro, age eleven, lay in her bed crying. "Haku! Haku! Where are you?" She yelled into the night with no avail. It had been a year and Haku still had no come to see her. Haku had not kept his promise.

Haku…

"Haku!" She jolted into a sitting position. Chihiro was in a hospital bed with a bandaged head. Gingerly, she got up and walked to the mirror that hung on the wall. She had a small cut on the side of her forehead that was on a bump. She winced as she placed the bandage back into place. It was still day outside. 'Where is everyone?'

"Chihiro!" Yumi rushed into the room. She crashed into Chihiro giving her the hug of a lifetime.

"Yu...Yumi! I can't breathe!"

Yumi pulled back, her face full of tears. "You scared me half to death with the whole going unconscious thing!"

"Sorry, I really didn't have a choice." Trying to find her balance after Yumi had let go. "How long was I out?"

Jubei came in with another bouquet, this time roses. 'I must've ran over the other bouquet when I tried to get away,' thought Chihiro sadly. She was beginning to think she really couldn't get rid of him. "You were unconscious for about ten minutes," he said calmly, offering the new bouquet.

"Ten of the worst minutes of my life!" Retorted Yumi. "Now leave us! Chihiro and I must talk in private!" She shooed everyone else out of the room and shut the door behind her.

"Yumi, it's a small scratch. You're such a drama queen!" Chihiro sat down on the hospital bed.

"I was concerned, okay!" Yumi puffed up, but soon she deflated and began to fix her makeup. "So…?"

"So what?" Chihiro asked.

"So, what did Jubei say to you?"

"What did Jubei-- Oh, Yumi, is that all you care about?!" Chihiro laid back, exasperated. "He didn't say anything. He didn't say anything important!"

"'He didn't say anything important!'" Yumi mimicked her in a mocking tone. "Come on, just tell me… Or else I'll call you 'Chi-Chi' again… CHICHICHICHI!"

Chihiro groaned. She did not want to go through that again. "Fine, fine!" She put her hands up in surrender. "He asked me to be his girlfriend…" She knew better than to lie to Yumi.

"He did? That's great! And what did you say?!"

Chihiro decided to tell her everything, excluding the dream part. She told Yumi everything about what Jubei has said.

"You did what?!" Yumi stared at her incredulously. "The best guy in school and you don't even budge! Chihiro!"

"I'm just not interested, Yumi. I told you that before!"

"Honestly, Chihiro." Yumi wagged her lipstick at her. "You act like you aren't interested in guys at all! Out of the five years that I've known you, not once have you showed "interest" in a single guy!"

Chihiro went to look out the window. "I am interested in someone," she whispered under her breath. 'Now that I remember everything, what should I do?'

"What did you say?"

Chihiro changed the subject. "Did any of you guys see or pick up the thing I stumbled on?"

"Thing you stumbled on," Yumi stopped fixing her powder to stare at Chihiro like she was crazy, "you didn't stumble on anything besides your own two feet."

"But…" She had a feeling that she shouldn't question further. "Never mind."

"That bump on the head…" Yumi shook her head as she put her compact back into her bag, "still didn't knock any sense into you! Come on, let's take you home."

That night Chihiro had to fight with her parents to let them lie on the roof. "You'll hurt yourself again!" Said her mother.

"I'll be fine. I promise!" In the end, Chihiro won, and she was back on the roof thinking.

'Haku,' She thought with tears forming in her eyes, 'Haku, why haven't you come? It's been five long years.' Chihiro was beginning to think it was just puppy love and that Haku had gone off with someone else. Would he still have feelings for her after five years? If he had, surely he would've come to see her. 'No one finds love at the age oft ten. Maybe, he's moved on...'

A shooting star blazed across the night sky, reminding Chihiro of Haku in his dragon form. It hurt too much to know everything now. She missed him so badly. It was getting late, and Chihiro was beginning to get cold. She slid back into her room and got into bed as always, but this time she had forgotten to close the window. Chihiro didn't notice the wind coming into her room, so she fell right asleep.

She didn't dream at all, but she heard a voice calling her name.

"Chihiro…"

The voice seemed so close and real that Chihiro woke up. White petals were flying in from the outside and into her room. The wind carried them in and scattered them all over her bed. 'That's weird. There aren't any trees with white petals nearby…'

"Haku!" Gasped Chihiro, and she quickly scrambled to look out her window. The petals had stopped coming in, and there was nothing outside. She plopped down into her bed, dismayed, and picked up one of the petals. It was white and soft. She remembered that Haku had used them to distract the spirits so she could try to get away. It was one of the first times they met. Chihiro wondered why this was happening, but then soon realized that it must've been because she remembered Haku. 'Haku was calling me… Something must be wrong!'

Chihiro was now fully awake. 'If Haku can't come to me, I'll go to him!' She grabbed a bag but then realized that she wasn't sure what to pack. Last time she was there, the bathhouse and her friends had provided everything for her. She wondered if she really needed to pack anything. She ended up packing some clothing, including underwear, jewellery that she was willing to part with just in case, and her cell phone. She knew the bringing the cell was probably useless, but who really knew.

Chihiro really didn't want to go out at that hour, but she needed to see Haku. She needed to know if he was all right and if he felt the same way she felt about him. She simply could not wait until tomorrow. 'Besides,' she told herself, 'the tunnel isn't that far away.'

So Chihiro tied whatever bed sheets she could find together and sneaked out through the window. But not before writing a letter to her parents saying that she would be back soon and promised not to get hurt. As soon as she got to the ground, Chihiro wanted to turn back. Unfortunately, she knew that if she did, she would never be able to start going back there again. 'This could be very dangerous…' She told herself gravely. Yet she trudged on into the night.

About a half an hour to forty-five minutes later, she reached the entrance of the tunnel. The fat, round statue with the two faces stood in front of it. It really freaked Chihiro out, especially since she knew she had tripped on something like it that afternoon.

She took a deep breath and said, "Well, this is it. Haku, I'm coming!" And with that, she ran into the tunnel…

It was also dark on the other side, but everything could be seen distinctly because there were glowing balls of light flying around. The field had not changed at all. It still had the old path the led to the crossing point. The tall green grasses blew in from the "breathe" that the old building behind her took. Many little statues like the one outside or the one she had tripped on were scattered around; not one of them stood upright. An abandoned old house stood in the distance. Chihiro could not help but smile in the dark. The last time she was here she was scared out of her wits.

She finally reached the strip of rocks were a river was to be built. She knew that after she crossed it the rocks and pasture would turn into a giant sea. There was no going back after she crossed. Then, something occurred to her that she had not thought about before. If she crossed into the spirit world, she would begin to disappear unless she ate some food from that world. Last time, Haku had given her a berry. This time, Chihiro didn't have Haku. So where was she going to find the food? There was nothing she really could do about that, so she decided that hopefully she'd be able to figure that out after the crossed. She took one deep breath and crossed over.

When she looked back, there was a great expanse of water behind her. She had done it; she was in the spirit world. 'I'm fading faster that I thought!' Chihiro stared at her hands, or rather through them. 'I've got to find some food soon!' She raced around the spirit town looking for anything she could eat. Chihiro knew better than to steal any food unless she wanted to turn into a pig like her parents did before.

Finally, she found what she needed… a dumpster. A dumpster that was located just outside the restaurant where her parents turned into pigs last time. Or at least it looked like one. It was made of tatami mats bonded together and was filled with tons of leftovers. With the food so good in the spirit world, Chihiro was surprised there were any leftovers. Carefully, she lifted the lid and stuck her hand in.

(A/N: I have not clue if there are dumpsters in the spirit world, but do you want Chihiro to disappear?!)

Chihiro grimaced at the sight that she pulled out. A half-eaten tiny roasted bird was what she held. 'Ew…' She held it away in disgust. 'I so don't want to eat this!' Unfortunately, Chihiro really had no choice, her feet had totally disappeared and it already took lots of strength to hold the food up. So, Chihiro took a big gulp and bit the leftover bird. Luckily, the food didn't taste as bad as the idea of eating it, and soon Chihiro was whole and opaque again.

She continued on and hid in the bushes that were just outside the bridge that led to the bathhouse. Slowly, she peeked around the side. Chihiro saw the Yuna (the female workers) and the Aogaeru (the male workers) greet their guests into the bathhouse. The guests, of course, included an array of different types of spirits. Short and stout, fluffy yellow bird spirits waddled over, spirit nobles in their masks and red robes floated over, and forest spirits with their large antlers plodded over the bridge.

The last time she was here, Haku has told her to hold her breath while she crossed the bridge so no one could see her. She wondered if that would still work without him with her. She inched her away towards the bridge and took a big gulp of air before stepping on to it. Chihiro didn't know if the spell of holding her breath had worked or if the workers and guests just plain ignored her, but she got across safely.

Soon she was standing in front of Yubaba's bathhouse. It was bigger than she remembered. It's structure looked ancient with its pagoda style roofs, but it gave off a bright light and atmosphere that suggested it had many years ahead of it. Without hesitation, Chihiro scrambled to the tiny door that was located next to the bathhouse's main entrance. She then ended up in the small garden outside the bathhouse. Silently, she tried to remember the directions Haku had given her to Kamajii's boiler room. 'Take the door that leads outside and go down the stairs. The stairs lead to a door that leads to the boiler room. There, simple enough.'

Chihiro has reached the stairs without difficulty, but reaching the boiler room door was another problem. She remembered with loathing the last time she tried to go down the very same stairs. She had slipped, ran down the stairs to prevent from falling face forward, and smacked into the wall at the bottom. It was not an experience she wanted to relive. She turned around and approached the steps backwards. Delicately, she went down them as one would go down a ladder. The trip took her forever, but she finally reached the bottom without injury.

(A/N: The smacking into the wall was so funny the first time, and I'm sure it would've been funny the second time. On the other hand, we must give Chihiro a break!)

After Chihiro had walked through the tiny hall of steaming machines, she reached the open doorway to Kamajii's room. She stood there for a moment, taking in the scene that lay before her. On the other side of the room was a small sliding door where Rin would deliver Kamajii's food. To the left of that was Kamajii himself, sitting on his box pedestal. His six arms worked quickly grinding, collecting, and mixing herbs. Four herbal tabs dangled in front of his face. Each red tab had the name of a type of herbal bath or soak. It was Kamajii's job to mix the herbs, put them into the water, and send the water to wherever it was needed. Now and then, he's use a spare hand to push up his dark, round glasses. The wall on the right of the door looked like a giant filing cabinet. Hundreds of wooden drawers contained different kinds of herbs and soaks, from dried wormwood to sulphur. Kamajii always knew which drawer contained what, and it probably took him years of practice to do so. In the centre of the room was a square area that was one step lower than the wood floor. The flooring was of packed earth and Chihiro could see the Susuwatari at work. The Susuwatari were tiny piles of soot that had been enchanted by Kamajii to carry coals into the boiler that heated the bath water. Hundreds of them, like little hairy spiders, crawled in and out of there little tunnels carrying coals. Chihiro respected them for their work very much because the coals were no ordinary coals. The coals in the spirit world were so heavy that Chihiro had broken into a sweat when she has one tried to carry, or better to say haul, one into the fire.

"Kamajii!" Shouted Chihiro with joy as she stepped into the boiler room. "Kamajii!"

Kamajii looked up from his work. "What? Who's yelling?" He looked directly at Chihiro, but it took a few seconds before he fully remembered her. "Why, Sen, it's you! After all these years! Why are you back here?!"

"I just needed to come back!" Shouted Chihiro over the boiler room sounds; she was not yet prepared to mention Haku's message to her. "Where's Rin?"

"Hmmm…" Kamajii scratched his baldhead; his extremely huge and bushy moustache twitched from side to side. "She should be here any minute now to bring me my dinner. Just sit tight!"

"Okay," Chihiro took a seat on the edge of the wood floor. Her feet were covered with Susuwatari. Each made little "eeps" and "meeps" of delight in seeing her. But soon they returned to their work. Business was booming for the bathhouse, and they could not afford to fall behind.

Sen was Chihiro's servant name when she worked in the bathhouse for Yubaba. Yubaba gained control of her servants by stealing their name. So, if Chihiro had forgotten her name while she was Sen, she would have never been able to leave the spirit world and save her parents who had turned into pigs. Thankfully, she has lots of help. Especially from Haku, who could not remember his own name but could remember Chihiro's.

Just as Kamajii had said, the tiny door slid open and Rin came into the room. She had not aged a day. Her long black hair was still tied in a low ponytail, and she wore her pink servants clothes. "Kamajii!" Stated Rin bluntly. "Where is your old bowl? I told you to leave it out-"

"Rin!" Chihiro embraced Rin with all her might.

"What the?" Rin pulled Chihiro back to get a good look at her. Rin let out a gasp, "it can't be?! Sen?!"

Chihiro's face lit up. "Yes! It's me! Sen! I've missed you so much!" She gave Rin another squeeze and Rin returned the favour.

Rin quickly served Kamajii his food and fed the Susuwatari their Kompeitou, the small star-shaped candy they loved. "What are you doing here?" Rin finally asked.

"I needed to come back." Answered Chihiro. "No, thank you." She said to the numerous Susuwatari that were offering Kompeitou to her. She looked at Rin and at Kamajii. It finally hit her just how much she had missed them!

"You've changed so much, squirt." Stated Rin amused. "You're hair's so long and you've grown so pretty!"

Chihiro blushed at Rin's words but quickly moved on to more serious matters. "Where is Haku? I haven't seen him around yet."

Rin and Kamajii exchanged glances. "Haku," Rin said slowly, "went to see Yubaba as soon as you left. Then we saw him leave. We hoped that maybe he was with you…"

"With me? I haven't seen him in five years!" Chihiro became worried.

"He hasn't been seen around here for five years either, but we all saw him leave" Said Kamajii eating his noodles.

Chihiro squirmed, "I don't have a good feeling about this. I need to find Haku." Chihiro told them about the voice she heard and about how she truly believed that it was Haku. "I really need to find him, Rin!"

"Yes, but where do you start?" Inquired Rin.

Chihiro thought for a moment. "Take me to Yubaba," she said firmly, "maybe she knows."

"Yubaba!" Shrieked Rin. "Are you nuts? She'll turn you into an animal. Or worse yet, a piece of coal! You know she was never to happy about you outsmarting her, and it didn't makes things any better when Haku demanded to leave."

"All the same," Chihiro said with false confidence, "if she was the last one to see Haku then she must know where she is. Besides, Yubaba is nicer than she lets off."

Rin looked at her forehead closely. "What's that?" She asked pointing to the bandage on Chihiro's head.

Chihiro's hand flew up to the bandage she had totally forgotten about it. "Oh, it's just a small bump. I fell earlier today. But that's beside the point, Rin, I have to see Yubaba. I have to find Haku! I can go to the Yubaba's office myself and I'll ask her for work so I can stay. I just want to know that you won't try to stop me!"

Rin looked at her sadly, but then quickly put on her chiding face. "Well then!" She said removing the bandage. "We mustn't keep Haku waiting. But you must let me take you to Yubaba's office. Ugh." Rin grimaced when she saw the ugly bump and cut the fall had left on Chihiro's forehead. "And we can't send you off the Yubaba with that on your head! She'll probably think you're a clumsy fool!"

'I probably still am,' thought Chihiro, but she let Rin tend to her anyways.

"Kamajii, can you make some of that healing stuff you make?"

Kamajii took out a grinding bowl and began to make some medicine. Within no time he whipped up a dark, green paste. "Now hold still," directed Rin, "it stings as bad as it smells, and it smells really bad."

"AHHH!" Chihiro screamed as Rin applied the paste to her cut forehead. It felt like it was on fire. Chihiro ran around the room a couple of times, fanning her forehead. She was more than relieved when the pain stopped.

"There, all gone!" Said Rin, proud of her handy work.

Chihiro touched her forehead gently. The bump and the cut were both gone. 'Wow, that's some powerful medicine!'

"Come on," urged Rin, "there were lots of guests today and Yubaba is in a good mood. Let's go to her now before it turns sour."

"Okay," agreed Chihiro. She went to Kamajii who was busy working on something she could not see. "Thank you for everything Kamajii." She would have hugged him, but he really seemed absorbed in his work.

As she and Rin headed out the little door, Kamajii called, "Sen, do you have something that will help you remember your name?"

Chihiro slapped her head. Last time she had Haku and a card addressed to her. She had forgotten to pack something with her name on it so she could remember. Kamajii took her gesture as a "no" and held the thing he has been working on to her. "This is for you then." He held out a piece of black cord with a pendant. The pendant was a rectangular piece of some kind of black, glassy stone. It could not have been any bigger than the part of one's upper thumb. The characters of Chihiro's name were carved into the wood and glittered in the light.

"Oh, Kamajii. It looks beautiful! Thank you!" This time she got to hug the multi-limbed, old man.

"So you don't forget!" He announced. "And bring Haku back when you find him. We all have a lot to catch up on, don't we?"

Chihiro nodded, eyes filled with tears. She then put on the necklace, bowed low, and followed Rin out of the boiler room.

As she and Rin travelled through the bathhouse, Chihiro absorbed the sights she didn't have time to look at before. There were many different kinds of baths, and running water could be heard everywhere. Guests in towels and workers in servant clothes walked about. Murmuring, laughter, and shouting could all be heard at once. The air was always warm and inviting; it smelled spicy. Every room in the bathhouse was heavily decorated with vases and elaborate paintings.

It took two transfers of the elevator, but they finally reached the top floor to where Yubaba's office was. Chihiro turned to Rin. "Thank you so much, Rin. Thank you for everything. Don't worry I'll be back soon!"

"I know, squirt," said Rin trying to fight back tears. "You be careful okay!" She gave Chihiro one quick squeeze and let Chihiro out of the elevator.

"I will. Bye!" Chihiro watched as the doors closed and the elevator, with Rin in it, headed back down.

The corridor leading to the office was dark and lined with giant vases. Chihiro walked up bravely. She was about to knock when the gold knocker spoke to her first, "Well, look who it is! Chihiro was it?" It eyes rolled around and made Chihiro shiver. "Well, don't just stand there!" It said harshly. "Come in!"

The door swung open, but this time a magical force did not pull in Chihiro. She had walk down two halls to get to the office. The walls of the halls dripped with gold and fancy ornaments. Bright light spilled in from every direction. She walked slowly but assuredly. She knew what she had to do, and she had it all planned out.

Finally, she reached her destination, Yubaba's office. The office, like everything else, still looked the same. On the left side of the room was a huge marble fireplace and the Kashira warmed themselves by the fire. Chihiro never liked the Kashira. They were a trio of heads… just heads. They had huge eyes that never blinked, busy beards and eyebrows, and they were a sickly green colour. They couldn't talk either; they just made grunting noises. On the other side was a huge window with velvet curtains. In front of the window as Yubaba's desk covered with jewels and papers. And sitting at the desk, counting her riches, was none other than Yubaba.

"So…" Said Yubaba coldly. She didn't take her eyes off her work. "You've come back, Chihiro. What is that you want?"

Chihiro opened her mouth and was about to speak when the room began to shake. Heavy footsteps could be heard from the next room. They came closer, and closer, and closer…

(A/N: Haven't started chapter three, so get your comments in before I get it done! I will try to use all your creative criticism, so please review! Thanx!)

*. ~ Luv Laney