Disclaimer: Nope, I still don't own it. Man, don't I wish? ;) For that matter, don't we all?You Never Really Forget Chapter Three
Chihiro could feel her heart pounding. The water was black from the night sky as it swirled around her, now to her waist. She put a hand over her eyes, brushing the damp strands of hair that had escaped out of her ponytail out of her face. Her breath came rapidly, and, swallowing hard, she turned to look over her shoulder.
The city was still there.
She could still hear people yelling distantly, but it was getting quieter, drowned out by the angry roar of a river coming to life in the wake of an earthquake. She couldn't see over the small hill, but she knew if she climbed it, her world would still be on that side. It made no sense! She turned back forward, towards the glowing, phantom-esque ferry, as it floated serenely over the chaotically rising water. Past it, she could just see lanterns lighting, as though by some unseen cue. The ferry was getting farther away.
"Now or never," Chihiro whispered breathlessly. "Hang on, Miyu." Taking a slow, deep inhale of air… now hold it! She dove forward into the rush of water, and felt herself instantly caught in the overpowering rush of the current, foaming and swirling as it hit the sunken buildings and debris the earthquake had left. Gasping, she surfaced, knocked to the side as tall, black lumps rose from the water to solidify as spirits. "Ah-Excuse-" Instinctively, she opened her mouth to apologize, only to fill her mouth with a sharp swallow of the salty water. The surprise of water in her lungs knocked her back under the water, and her arms were too tired pull her back to the surface. She was being pulled in every direction, having not anticipated the strength of the water. It was like being in a storm, waves crashing against fallen walls of collapsed buildings, like someone had opened a floodgate, and the pent up water was going anywhere and everywhere it could. When she wasn't hitting waves, she was bumping into the shapeless spirits who moved calmly through the chaos, rising serenely, eyes forward as though they saw nothing else.
She closed her eyes, trying not to think of the irony of it. She remembered, strong and sudden, the rush of water past her- this very same water? All those years ago, with her pink shoe floating behind her as a dragon carried her to safety
Oh, Kohaku, where are you now?
No.
That was a defeatist attitude. Hadn't living in the bathhouse taught her that was unacceptable? Chihiro opened her eyes under the water, lifting her head to see the tell-tale glow of lanterns over the surface. The pressure of the water increased and she gasped again, but this time, kicked her way upwards, breaking the surface with a rasping cough. It didn't matter though- the current had carried her right to the ferry! That's why the pressure had increased- it was coming right towards her. I just have to get there! Chihiro thought. Miyu, they probably have her on board. She cringed slightly, only hoping they hadn't eaten her. She didn't think there was much room for pigs aboard a spirit ferry.
She strained her arms upward to grasp onto one of the railings of the ferry, the music onboard ringing loud in her ears. And then, suddenly, she felt herself knocked on board by a particularly strong wave. "Ack!" She flipped over the railing, heels over head, stumbling in an awkward roll onto the deck. She quickly scrambled to her feet, whirling and grabbing the rail to stare quickly into the water, eyes straining to see if there was a white dragon moving under the surface. Nothing. Or was it just too dark to tell? "Haku! Oh, Haku, was that you? Are you-"
"HEY! You! On the rail? What are you crazy?"
"Huh, wha?" Chihiro turned, her eyes catching a silvery streak dart through the water beside the rail. She turned back quickly, squinting and leaning forward to see, it was Haku! She knew it! Another wave rocked the ferry and she lost her grip on the rail, stumbling backwards into the froglike spirit that had addressed her only a minute before. Apparently, the ferry wasn't sailing as smoothly as it had looked while she'd been in the water.
"Stupid! Can't you see we're in the middle of a storm? Get back inside…" The spirit sniffed suddenly, suspiciously. Chihiro froze. Right, her scent, how could she have forgotten? The frog leaned forward, snout-like nose even with her face. Chihiro backed up. "…human….HUMAN!" The frog shoved her back into the rail where she hit with a surprised 'oof'. He skittered towards one of the doors, where a string lay dangling next to. He yanked on it hard, and a bell began ringing. "HUMAN! Human on deck! It's another one, GET IT!"
Chihiro let out a squeak of surprise. Think fast, think fast! Aha! She had a plan."Wait! I'm not a human!"
The frog paused in his ringing to glare at her suspiciously. People were already coming out of doors, rushing this way and that. "I smelled it!" The frog cried, launching himself at her. Chihiro cried out and dived to the side, out of the way.
"Nono! It's true! I just…I just smell like the other one because I, I ran into her during…before…" He'd said 'another one', that meant she'd been right. Miyu had wound up on this ferry. Now where was she now? The frog's eyes narrowed, and Chihiro stifled a giggle. She knew she shouldn't laugh at a time like this, but the frog's eyes were so huge, when they narrowed, he looked so funny!
The frog was not amused. He sniffed once more. "Prove it."
Chihiro froze for a minute. How? How was she supposed to prove she was a spirit! Nothing she could do, nothing she had-wait. Her hands flew to her ponytail, tugging the pony tail holder that held it together. "Here! Look!" She held up the sparkling band, and it glowed quietly in the pale light of the lanterns. For a minute, even the raging water stilled, just long enough for the frog spirit to wonder if she was telling the truth or not. Then he took a step forward, snatched it out of her hand and brought it up close to his eyes.
"Hm…it looks real enough." He muttered, glaring at her, and finally nodding his approval. Chihiro let out a shaky breath and reached her hand out to take the band back. The frog offered it with a sniff, only to drop it as the water suddenly screamed back to life, knocking the ferry violently to the side. Chihiro felt her side slam into one of the walls opposite the rail, the frog spirit tumbling down the deck to do the same. "Ah!" The girl scrambled to her feet, gripping tightly on the wall to keep from losing her balance on the slippery wood. She looked around frantically for her ponytail holder- she didn't want to lose it, it was so nearly the only thing she had to remember…there it was! She ran near the rail, nearly losing her balance as the ferry heaved and dipped atop of the angry water. She reached her hand for the gift that had been given to her so many years ago-
And felt herself heaved over the railing as the ferry crashed into another major wave. She didn't have time to hold her breathe this time as she was plunged back into the stormy river, and her last thought before fainting was that she hoped Miyu had found her own Kohaku to help her, because it didn't like she'd be able to help. She didn't feel herself lifted, and carried gently through the waters that were anything but. She didn't hear the roar of the river around her, nor the voice that told her not to be afraid, just as it had told her years ago.
But she would.
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Chihiro woke up feeling like a drowned rat who'd been trampled by an elephant. She opened her eyes blearily to stare up at a cloud-filled sky. Funny. There should be a ceiling there was her first thought. Her second was to wonder why there wasn't one, and her third was to realize just why there was no ceiling there. With a gasp (that quickly turned into a coughing fit), Chihiro jolted upright, feeling the horrible ache in her arm from climbing out of the demolished building and the thick dampness of her tired lungs from being underwater so long.
"Easy, there. Calm down." A soothing voice reached her ears, hands catching her as she moved upright, pulling her hair back as she coughed.
If anything, Chihiro started coughing harder, so surprised to hear a voice she knew so well- oh mercy did she know it well! She turned to stare at her companion with wide eyes. Solemn, steely cat-colored eyes met hers steadily and Chihiro stopped thinking for a minute and just flung her arms around the boy, knocking them both back down. "HAKU! Haku- I knew it, I knew as soon- when I, when the water was salty I knew it was you. You got me on the ferry, didn't you? You-…" Chihiro stopped, remembering just why it had been so imperative she get on that ferry. Oh, Miyu…
She didn't have time to stay on that train of thought, though, because she found herself shoved back to her seating position quite abruptly, to find those same, familiar eyes glowering at her. "You are mistaken." The voice that had been soothing a minute ago was icy and abrupt- dismissive. "You washed up in the middle of last night. I happened to come upon you here." He stood up, and Chihiro saw he was taller than she remembered. In fact, he looked quite the same as he used to, age hadn't changed much. She knew it was him. So what was going on? Was he under another spell? Or did he just not remember her?
"Haku," She said slowly. "Are you…has Yubaba got control of you again?"
The answer she got was a derisive scowl and a shake of the head as though the idea were beyond preposterous. He turned around, not even offering her a hand to stand up, instead pointing to his left. Chihiro looked around. Now that she was awake, she could see she was sitting on the bank of a river- a river that was considerably calmer than it had been last night. Turning away from the river, she followed Haku's hand to realize the bank she was perched on was also at the bottom of a tall cliff. He was pointing upwards, and she could see smoke
.
"The ferry you're looking for came in last night. It's docked up there." He gave an easy wave of his hand and shrugged.
Chihiro rose to her feet and clasped his hand firmly in his. "Thank you, Haku. For saving me and for telling me." She said urgently. "I have to go save Miyu, but, I promise! As soon as I get her free I'm coming back and knocking you out of whatever spell you're under! I'll get you free again, Haku, I promise." Then she turned and sprinted in the direction he'd pointed, up towards the smoke, which she could now see was coming from a small town. It was only half-way up that she felt her heart tighten and ache as much as her lungs had when she woke up. She wanted to run back and see if Haku was really there, if it was really him. But she was scared, and she knew it.
The boy she'd left behind watched her sprint off with a wide grin. She hasn't changed. He thought with a shake of his head. I'm sorry to do this to you, Chihiro. This world…it's give and take. He took a step back into the water, feeling it caress his ankle for the second it took to him to shift into his dragon form, diving under the surface to observe the wreckage of the human city that was sunken underneath the now-quiet waters. And right now, this world is taking too much.
A/N: There you go. I don't like how this chapter turned out.
