Disclaimer: I do not own the movie "Spirited Away" or any of its characters. I also don't own the Disney Channel movie "The Thirteenth Year.", which this story is loosely based on. I also do not own the name "Ishakari River" as it is a real river in Japan.
^All reviews welcomed, but kindly lay off any obscene, profain, or distasteful comments.^
^Flames will be used to feed my pet dragon.^
*Mental speaking*
"Speaking"
'Thought'
Chapter Seven
Just like that she was gone. He had turned his back for one second and she paid the price for his mistake. Haku had fallen to his knees as that scream had torn from his throat. Agonizing pain was shooting through his entire body and every breath felt like someone was ripping his lungs out.
His eyes were burning almost like someone had doused them with alcohol and then set them on fire. His eyes were burning so badly that they were watering-no-wait a minute. He no longer could deny, nor hide, his feelings. His eyes weren't watering, no, he was crying like a baby.
Chihiro was his life, his love, his support, and now she was gone. Suddenly a shadow was there, blocking out the sun. Haku slowly looked up into the person's face. At first he thought it was Sakura, but he realized, with a start, that the face belonged to Lin.
'Oh no,' Haku thought, which was the first coherenant thought he had had in the past five minutes, 'Lin is seeing me crying like a baby.'
Immediately he tried to stop crying, as Lin stared at him. He looked up and almost blushed when he saw that nearly the entire Bathhouse, staff and guests, were staring at him. All of them had heard his raw-throated scream and had come to see what had caused it.
"Haku, get up this instant and stop waisting time by crying!" Lin ordered.
Haku shot to his feet and noticed that Sakura was staring at the place where Haku had last seen the dark Spirit carrying Chihiro off.
"Sakura?"
Sakura tore her eyes away when she heard her name.
"What do you want?" she replied with no emotion.
"What were you talking about me being the 'son of the Protect-"
Haku was cut off as Sakura slapped a hand over his mouth. She glared at him and then jerked her head at their audiance.
"Not here," she hissed.
Haku nodded and Sakura removed her hand.
"Where then?"
"The one place that I know we can talk and not be overheard, Zeniba's house in Swamp Bottom," Sakura stated in a low voice, "Do you know where Zeniba's house is?"
"Yes," Haku replied, "I've been there a couple times."
"I'm coming with you," Lin stated, breaking into their conversation, "I want to know what's going on and I want to help Sen."
Sakura looked into her eyes for a brief moment before nodding.
"Very well," she replied and then turned to Haku, "I trust you don't like passengers?"
"Only if they're not Chihiro," Haku mumbled, earning a smirk from Lin and a sad smile from Sakura.
Without another word, Sakura transformed into her dragon form. Haku stared for a second before he transformed into his dragon form. He impatiently waited until Lin was seated on Sakura's back. Wordlessly, the two River Spirits rose into the sky and were gone.
~~~~~~~~~
At Zeniba's house...
Zeniba wasn't expecting company, but her windows rattled even more fiercely than they had during Haku's last visit.
'Two River Spirits?' she thought to herself, confused.
"No Face!" she called out softly.
The shapeless Spirit came at the call of its name.
"Uh, uh?"
"Could you open the door for our guests?"
"Uh, uh," it replied, went to the door, and opened it.
Standing outside were two River Spirits in their dragon form and a young woman that Zeniba didn't recognize, but knew that she was not Chihiro. Haku transformed into his human form with ease and waited until the other had transformed before he stood.
As the second form appeared, Zeniba's jaw nearly hit the ground. The Spirit standing before her was the last Spirit Zeniba thought she would ever see at her simple cottage. Zeniba opened her mouth to greet her, but she put up a hand, cutting Zeniba off.
"Not out here, Zeniba," she stated softly, "We need to talk and his spies could be anywhere out here."
Zeniba ushered them into the house before closing the door. No Face had not only had three chairs pulled out, but it also had three cups of tea waiting for them. The four of them sat down almost as one and Zeniba looked expectantly at Sakura. Lin looked at Haku for an explination, but he stared into his cup of tea.
"So what brings you all the way out here?" Zeniba asked Sakura softly.
"Rook," was all Sakura said in reply, spittng the name out like it was a bad taste in her mouth.
Zeniba hissed as if the name alone had caused her pain. There was an intense silence after that hiss.
"I found her," Sakura suddenly stated simply, breaking the silence, "After fifteen years of heartache, she came back to me. The girl you know as Sen and Chihiro is my Ishakari."
Zeniba's eyes widened in shock.
"Are you sure?" she asked excitedly.
"She had the necklace," Sakura replied and took a sip of tea, "By the way, I thought you were all-seeing, all-knowing."
"I am only when it directly involves my sister," Zeniba stated and then changed the subject back to the shocking news, "Did Chihiro know any of what was written on the back?"
"No," Sakura replied sadly and sat her teacup down, "I doubt Rekou would have gotten her if she had known about the message."
"Hello!" Lin yelled angrily, "We're here too, you know!"
Zeniba and Sakura both turned to her with looks of contempt on their faces.
"Sakura," Haku stated heistantly, "What were you talking about when you called me the 'Son of the Protectors of the Wind Kingdom and the Water Kingdom.'? It sounded slightly familiar, but not very much."
Sakura sighed and shot a look at Zeniba, who only blinked at her owlishly over her cup of tea.
"This is going to be a long night..." Sakura muttered and opened her mouth to start telling a very long story, only to be interrupted by a strong gust of wind, which rattled the window almost hard enough to take the shutters right off of their hinges.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
AN: sorry to leave you hanging, but I'm working on the story behind the story so it's gonna take a little while. PLUS: I PO'd my pa, who reins over my surfing privs and he's not too happy. He thinks I'm purposely flunking my freshman college year.
^All reviews welcomed, but kindly lay off any obscene, profain, or distasteful comments.^
^Flames will be used to feed my pet dragon.^
*Mental speaking*
"Speaking"
'Thought'
Chapter Seven
Just like that she was gone. He had turned his back for one second and she paid the price for his mistake. Haku had fallen to his knees as that scream had torn from his throat. Agonizing pain was shooting through his entire body and every breath felt like someone was ripping his lungs out.
His eyes were burning almost like someone had doused them with alcohol and then set them on fire. His eyes were burning so badly that they were watering-no-wait a minute. He no longer could deny, nor hide, his feelings. His eyes weren't watering, no, he was crying like a baby.
Chihiro was his life, his love, his support, and now she was gone. Suddenly a shadow was there, blocking out the sun. Haku slowly looked up into the person's face. At first he thought it was Sakura, but he realized, with a start, that the face belonged to Lin.
'Oh no,' Haku thought, which was the first coherenant thought he had had in the past five minutes, 'Lin is seeing me crying like a baby.'
Immediately he tried to stop crying, as Lin stared at him. He looked up and almost blushed when he saw that nearly the entire Bathhouse, staff and guests, were staring at him. All of them had heard his raw-throated scream and had come to see what had caused it.
"Haku, get up this instant and stop waisting time by crying!" Lin ordered.
Haku shot to his feet and noticed that Sakura was staring at the place where Haku had last seen the dark Spirit carrying Chihiro off.
"Sakura?"
Sakura tore her eyes away when she heard her name.
"What do you want?" she replied with no emotion.
"What were you talking about me being the 'son of the Protect-"
Haku was cut off as Sakura slapped a hand over his mouth. She glared at him and then jerked her head at their audiance.
"Not here," she hissed.
Haku nodded and Sakura removed her hand.
"Where then?"
"The one place that I know we can talk and not be overheard, Zeniba's house in Swamp Bottom," Sakura stated in a low voice, "Do you know where Zeniba's house is?"
"Yes," Haku replied, "I've been there a couple times."
"I'm coming with you," Lin stated, breaking into their conversation, "I want to know what's going on and I want to help Sen."
Sakura looked into her eyes for a brief moment before nodding.
"Very well," she replied and then turned to Haku, "I trust you don't like passengers?"
"Only if they're not Chihiro," Haku mumbled, earning a smirk from Lin and a sad smile from Sakura.
Without another word, Sakura transformed into her dragon form. Haku stared for a second before he transformed into his dragon form. He impatiently waited until Lin was seated on Sakura's back. Wordlessly, the two River Spirits rose into the sky and were gone.
~~~~~~~~~
At Zeniba's house...
Zeniba wasn't expecting company, but her windows rattled even more fiercely than they had during Haku's last visit.
'Two River Spirits?' she thought to herself, confused.
"No Face!" she called out softly.
The shapeless Spirit came at the call of its name.
"Uh, uh?"
"Could you open the door for our guests?"
"Uh, uh," it replied, went to the door, and opened it.
Standing outside were two River Spirits in their dragon form and a young woman that Zeniba didn't recognize, but knew that she was not Chihiro. Haku transformed into his human form with ease and waited until the other had transformed before he stood.
As the second form appeared, Zeniba's jaw nearly hit the ground. The Spirit standing before her was the last Spirit Zeniba thought she would ever see at her simple cottage. Zeniba opened her mouth to greet her, but she put up a hand, cutting Zeniba off.
"Not out here, Zeniba," she stated softly, "We need to talk and his spies could be anywhere out here."
Zeniba ushered them into the house before closing the door. No Face had not only had three chairs pulled out, but it also had three cups of tea waiting for them. The four of them sat down almost as one and Zeniba looked expectantly at Sakura. Lin looked at Haku for an explination, but he stared into his cup of tea.
"So what brings you all the way out here?" Zeniba asked Sakura softly.
"Rook," was all Sakura said in reply, spittng the name out like it was a bad taste in her mouth.
Zeniba hissed as if the name alone had caused her pain. There was an intense silence after that hiss.
"I found her," Sakura suddenly stated simply, breaking the silence, "After fifteen years of heartache, she came back to me. The girl you know as Sen and Chihiro is my Ishakari."
Zeniba's eyes widened in shock.
"Are you sure?" she asked excitedly.
"She had the necklace," Sakura replied and took a sip of tea, "By the way, I thought you were all-seeing, all-knowing."
"I am only when it directly involves my sister," Zeniba stated and then changed the subject back to the shocking news, "Did Chihiro know any of what was written on the back?"
"No," Sakura replied sadly and sat her teacup down, "I doubt Rekou would have gotten her if she had known about the message."
"Hello!" Lin yelled angrily, "We're here too, you know!"
Zeniba and Sakura both turned to her with looks of contempt on their faces.
"Sakura," Haku stated heistantly, "What were you talking about when you called me the 'Son of the Protectors of the Wind Kingdom and the Water Kingdom.'? It sounded slightly familiar, but not very much."
Sakura sighed and shot a look at Zeniba, who only blinked at her owlishly over her cup of tea.
"This is going to be a long night..." Sakura muttered and opened her mouth to start telling a very long story, only to be interrupted by a strong gust of wind, which rattled the window almost hard enough to take the shutters right off of their hinges.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
AN: sorry to leave you hanging, but I'm working on the story behind the story so it's gonna take a little while. PLUS: I PO'd my pa, who reins over my surfing privs and he's not too happy. He thinks I'm purposely flunking my freshman college year.