The wind, it spurred up the leaves as she walked down the path of her college. Inhaling, the crisp fall air filled her lungs and a small smile plastered her face. Fall, for her, was a time of change, an entry into a new age and a new path. There was a new path she was heading down now, Chihiro was ecstatic to be on it. Her age brought her more freedom, and more freedom brought her wisdom.

Except, there was a freedom that still had made her wait so long.

Twelve years.

Twelve years she would never have over there.

Twelve years she had spent wondering about the time where she had to clean those stubborn floors and work for that crabby old witch.

Twelve years that had aged her to an adult.

All these seconds, minutes, hours, years encompassed her mind now. She absentmindedly walked, drifting in and out of her thoughts as she usually did on these walks on the university campus.

Why did she still cling to these memories? What if they were all just a dream?

Why hang on to a loose memory that was never going to come back? Why dwell in a past that was not existent? Why dream of what could be when it never was?