Chapter 2: Dreams and Nightmares

"Chihiro!" a voice behind her said, "Chihiro wait up!" Chihiro turned around to see a girl her running up to her.

"Oh, hi Lianne," she said. Lianne was an American. She had moved here with her family two years ago. Chihiro had instantly become friends with her. Lianne's Japanese was very good so communication was not a problem between the two friends. "How's Devin?" she asked her friend. Lianne's brother, Devin had caught the flu a few days ago. Although Chihiro and Devin were not best friends the two got along well.

"He's fine, his fevers going down, "Lianne answered.

"Good," Chihiro said, apparently not paying attention. The two girls started to walk down the sidewalk again.

"Chi, I know that face what's wrong?" Lianne asked accusingly.

Everything, she wanted to say, but instead she said, "Nothing, I was just thing about the exam tomorrow," answered Chihiro, hoping there was one.

"Chihiro, what world are you in? Because in this one, its Spring Break."

"Oh, well you never no," said Chihiro.

"If you say so," answered Lianne. Chihiro could tell that she knew she was hiding something.

Realizing that this conversation was not going to have a very good outcome Chihiro quickly said that she remembered she had to do something, and ran off towards home, hoping she had not hurt her friend's feelings.

That Night

When she got home, she laid down on her bed. Haku please hurry. I need you! She thought, longing for the sweet, caring boy.

When she finally fell asleep, she tossed and turned, her dreams becoming nightmares

Dream

It happened the same way it always did. She ran through the tunnel, saw Rin and Haku. But this time, after he said he didn't know her, She said "Haku how could you not remember me?" At this, he transformed into his dragon form and started chasing and snapping at her with his huge, white jaws.

End Dream

She sat strait up in bed and screamed, "AAAAHHH!"

"What's wrong sweetie?" her parents asked. They had heard her scream and rushed to her room.

"Nothing, just a bad dream," she said, wishing it really was. After her parents went back to bed, she just sat there thinking about the Spirit World. After a while she thought He's not coming, is he? Oh Haku how could you break your promise. Suddenly she realized, if he was not going to keep his promise, the she would for him.

Quickly, she got dressed in jeans and a tank top, packed some clothes and a hairbrush and a toothbrush. She quietly tip-toed down the hallway and stepped into the cool night air. After a second, she ran toward the tunnel she was staring at earlier.

The Spirit World

She ran through the tunnel, and into the meadow. This time, no one was waiting there for her so she continued toward the great bathhouse. About halfway there she started to disappear. "Ahhh! What's going on? Oh yeah, you disappear when you first come here. Where are some berries? Ah-ha! There you are!" she exclaimed seeing a bush with a single berry on it. She plucked it and started to eat it when she tasted the sour thing. She was about to spit it out when she clamped her hand over her mouth until she swallowed it. "Ugh I forgot about that taste. Oh well," she continued on her way to the bathhouse. Later on, she saw that lights were turned on in the windows. The spirits are probably enjoying a nice, cool bath right around now. She thought. She crossed the bridge, this time there were no spirits crossing it. She ran as fast as she could through the many buildings that Haku had led her through so many years ago.

Although this time, because she didn't have a magical dragon guiding her, she got lost a few times and by the time she reached the top of the stairs leading to the boiler room, she was gasping for breath. After a moment she started down the stairs. She noticed that the step she had broken had not been fixed. I guess they don't use these much, she thought. She was not as scared of heights as she was when she was 10, so she went more quickly. She was careful to skip over the broken step. This time, however, she was only five steps away from the bottom when she slipped, falling moments later on the hard ground with a loud THUMP. "Owwwww," she moaned, rubbing her backside. I'm still a klutz, Rin wont be to happy, she thought, smiling to herself as she remembered the sarcastic friends she had made on her last visit to the spirit world. Still smiling, she made her way toward the hallway leading to the boiler room.

-Edited- And Yes, Lianne and Devin are real people I met a while ago. When I first wrote this it had only been a week since I saw them.