RECALLING THE SPIRIT

By Jo-chan-ANIME

HI! To both readers new and old!

Disclaimer: I do not own any Miyazaki characters. I do, however own (so far): Tamiko and Yuki.

CHAPTER #1

"MOM!!!!! BUT THAT'S NOT FAIR!!!!!!!!"

Tamiko raised herself to her full height, and glared at her mother, who ran her fingers through her hair.

"Tamiko, not right now, please."

"You SAID!!!!!! You said that I could go over to Yuki's house tonight! And then you suddenly SWITCHED your MIND!!!!!!"

"Tamiko, things cropped up."

"OH YEAH!!!!!!!! So YOU'VE got a meeting. So then I can't GO?"

Now, you must understand that Tamiko's mother had endured ten minutes of this.

"ENOUGH!!!!!! NO! YOU CAN NOT GO!!!!!!!!"

Tamiko spluttered angrily. "Fine! I'm going to Yuki's NOW then, because I won't be seeing her later!." She fumed, storming out the door, slamming it behind her.

A man with chin length black hair pulled back into a ponytail, sharp features, and bright almond shaped green eyes, entered the room, and came over to sit beside the rather hassled looking woman.

"Chihiro, you survived!" he said, his green eyes sparkling with laughter, while keeping his face smooth.

"Ha. Ha." Chihiro, now age thirty-seven, said wryly. She rubbed her temples. "Jeez, that kid will be the death of me."

She looked up at the man before her. "Haku, do you ever ask yourself if we made the right decision?"

They both looked at each other, without seeing what they were looking at. They were both thinking back...

...A Chihiro in her mid-twenties, was inside, curled up with a book entitled 'Spirited Again'. One she herself had written, but never published. (A/N. Chihiro's age is NOT my age! Chihiro is NOT Jo-chan- ANIME!). Haku was outside with their four year old daughter, Tamiko. Haku was dozing in the summer sun, whilst Tamiko ran around like there was no tomorrow, laughing and shouting.

Something interrupted Chihiro's reading. It was quiet. Too quiet.

Chihiro put the book down hurriedly, and pulled open the back door.

The sight she saw before her was both wonderful and terrible.

Tamiko stood erect, glowing with an eerie light. She held out her arms out beside her, palms up, almost in a calm gesture. Her eyes were closed, and she swayed slightly from side to side, murmuring in a language of growls and snaps that Chihiro couldn't comprehend.

But that wasn't the worst of it.

Around her snaked dragons. Some flew above her head, while others (the smaller ones) wound around her arms and legs.

Haku was still half asleep in his chair.

"Ryu." Chihiro whispered, knowing while the neighbours would not understand the word she was saying, one person who could help her certainly could.

"RYU!!!!!!" she screamed in sudden terror as a small red scaled dragon wound itself loosely around her girl's throat.

The spirit word for 'dragon' awoke something in Haku. Or maybe it was just the terror in the oh-so-familiar voice. He sat bolt upright, saw the scene in a minute, and, grabbing Tamiko by the hand, rushed her inside.

"But DADDY! I wanna play with..um..um...um...um...UM..."she said, in a child's way of trying to remember something. "My friends! Daddy, let me go!" The little girl cocked her head at her father, who had sunk into a chair. Haku had lost his spirit form six years ago, (how I won't say. If you are curious, read the prequel to this story, Spirited Again) and though he would make the same choice if he had another chance, it still pained him to no longer be a spirit.

"The dragons said to say they miss you flying with them."

Chihiro gaped. "You..you SPOKE with them?" She knew even Haku couldn't speak with full dragons. Could NEVER speak with...

Haku and Chihiro exchanged glances. "Tamiko." Said Chihiro sharply, grabbing her daughter by the shoulders. She hated to lie, but she HAD to. "Tamiko, you were out in the sun too long. You're seeing things that aren't real. Go up to your room and rest. Forget about this."

Tamiko looked confused to the point of tears, and upset that her playmates didn't exist, but she did as she was bade to.

...

"What's done is done." muttered Haku.

Chihiro didn't answer. She was too busy staring in horror at the fear compelling hooded figure standing cruelly in the suddenly dark room. The creature hissed.

"Come."

Chihiro screamed.

+++

"Hadn't you better be getting home?" Yuki questioned her friend. Tamiko crunched through the fall leaves. "Yeah I guess." She replied, her good humour gone. "Tell Satsuki and Kanta," Tamiko was referring to her best friend's parents "I said hi." She finished, and turned down the lane to her house.

As she approached the house, she shivered. There was something...wrong. It was quiet.

Too quiet.

She creaked open the oak door, and peered into the darkness. ~That's funny,~ she thought. ~It's five thirty, in the fall.~ She looked outside. True enough, the sun was still spreading it's slowly dimming rays across the sky. But..none was coming through the windows.

"Mom? Dad?" she said nervously. No reply.

"MOM! DAD!"

They were gone.

"But where? How?"

Like a beacon, something shone at her feet, with it's own light. Tamiko picked it up by the golden chain that went through the pendant.

It appeared to be a scale. But not a fish scale. It was too large, too thick, too...beautiful, to be a fish's. Tamiko shuddered. This was getting creepy...

As though controlled, she reached out to brush her fingers on the pendant.

A flash of brilliant light shone, enveloping and blinding the fifteen year old girl.

She stumbled and fell, grazing herself on the grassy dirt. She groaned as she recalled what her mother would say.

Then she did a double take. Grass? Dirt?

As her vision cleared she looked around her. There was a huge blue lake on one side and a grassy plain on the other.

"Buiochas le Dia!!!"

Tamiko turned wildly at the sound of the voice. Directly behind her stood a boy, maybe a year or so older than her. He had a shock of auburn hair, and oriental green eyes. She backed up, her fists, raised, though her instinct told her to run. "Who are you?" she demanded, trying to quell the shaking in her voice.

The boy frowned, as though trying to place something. "English?"

"What language did you just say?" she shot back. The boy looked confused. "FIRST thing you said!"

"Old Irish."

Irish. That would explain for the hair colour. But...

"What's an Irish person doing in Japan!"

He took a step forward. "I can explain..."

Tamiko stepped back...

And fell into the river.

She fought her way towards the surface, kicking off her heavy boots to make herself lighter. ~WHY DIDN'T I TAKE SWIMMING LESSONS LIKE MOM WANTED ME TO!!!~ she thought violently, thrashing upwards.

The cold of the water was overcoming her: her limbs were beginning to go numb. She struggled out of her coat, making her even lighter, but it didn't improve anything.

Closing her eyes, she thought of her mother and father, of Yuki. The last of her breath expired.

~HELP!!!~

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Well, there's my first chapter. The next will be up soon. Each time I will put translations for words in other languages I use.

Dictionary:

Buiochas le Dia: (Old Irish) Thank god!

This is, as I might have mentioned earlier, a sequel. It is not necessary to read the prequel however, to get this story. Things from the prequel DO come in this story, but will be explained for those without the insight of the prequel. If you are interested in the prequel, it is called Spirited Again, and deals with Chihiro and Haku, and Chihiro's second adventure in the spirit word. It has MAJOR plot twists, and my favourite story I've done so far.

This story (Recalling the Spirit) will have humour, but most often my first chapters don't, just so they can get the story off the ground.

Yes, I know, evil cliff hanger.

Will update soon!

~Jose~