Author's Note: I seem to be under a deluge of plot bunnies. This is the third fanfic in two months and almost NO fluffiness. It's so strange. Anyway, this one came to me while walking into work. Enjoy.
---------------------------
Disclaimer: Spirited Away owned by Studio Ghibli and Miyazaki-sama. But soon I will own a Soot Sprite!
---------------------------
Promises are strange things. As a kid, you're taught that all promises are sacred. You must never make one unless you intend to fulfill it, for to break a promise is to dishonor yourself, your family and the person you made the promise to. You're labeled untrustworthy and unreliable.
But, what about the promises that can NEVER be kept?
No one will live forever.
Friendships and love affairs sometimes drift apart or break up.
You can't never get hurt, or sick, or not cry when someone dies.
As you get older, you realize this and promises become essentially empty. Sometimes they can be filled, like doing a favor for a friend or co-worker, but the really big ones, the impossible ones, no. So you stop making promises and the world goes on.
But kamis. Kamis always, always keep their promises. It might take days, or months, or lifetimes, but it will be fulfilled. I've learned this the hard way.
You see, 20 years ago, a river kami made me a promise. He said we would see each other again. What he may or may not know is after I left him, crossed that dry riverbed and didn't look back until I was out of the tunnel, I made a promise. I made TWO promises.
One, that I would always hold him near my heart.
Two, I would do everything I could to restore his blocked river.
It's taken me 20 years. I had to finish my education and work my way through the bureaucracy. I also had to save up the money, find the right stones and a jeweller I could trust. It all paid off.
I walk along the bank of the Kohakunushi, or as I call it, Haku's River, holding my pendant in my left hand. The pendant is his dragon-likeness in flight, carved from white and green jade. His eyes are emeralds and a small rose quartz figure clings to his neck. The rose quartz is me. A strong gold chain weaves through his back spines and holds him around my neck, directly over my heart. The river chuckles to me as I kneel in the grass.
I have kept my promises.
If I die before he keeps his, I will be buried in his domain, with my pendant still around my neck. I tell the river this and it laughs. I dip my hand into the water and bring my wet fingers to my lips, sealing another promise.
For as long as he exists, I am his.