So... I know I'm a little late with the whole Spirited Away thing, but I only just noticed it on Netflix and watched it so pls forgive me. (Also forgive me for not updating, like, EVERY STORY...)

But, yeah, here ya go!

Chihiro

"Will we ever see each other again?"

"Yes."

"Promise?"

"Promise."

Then his hand left hers, taking her heart with it.

Chihiro woke with a start. Glancing at the digital clock on her bedside table, she realised it was only midnight, and she'd only been asleep for two hours. She would wake again at two, and then four, and eventually at six when she would get ready for school. This was a routine; she would have the same dream every night about three times.

Chihiro lifted up her hand, looking at it from her layed-down position. A shimmering purple thread was tied firmly around her wrist. She remembered who'd made it for her.

It had been five years after her encounter in the Spirit World. Chihiro looked around her room at the posters stuck to the walls she'd made herself. They were posters of the many stories she'd written. Her best (and she'd admit only) friend absolutely loved all of them, and so did Chihiro.

All the stories were one gigantic series that she'd started when she was ten. Chihiro'd rewritten a lot of the first ones from then, but all of them were about a young boy who was really as old as a river, just trying to find his home.

The series had come to an end a while ago, the young boy had found out his name was Kohaku, and yet Chihiro kept revisiting it, making prequels and sequels.

Haku… She still called him that in her mind.

What about our promise? Where are you? It's been five years, why haven't I seen you yet?

Chihiro felt tears bubbling in her eyes. She hardly ever cried, and certainly not about this in a long while. Still, it hurt. She only had a hair tie to remind her of the Spirit World—and her heart—and sometimes she couldn't help but feel as though she'd made it all up.

Tears ran down her cheeks as she pulled the covers over her head. She wished she could see Haku again.

Kohaku, she reminded herself.

A week later, Chihiro's friend, Eloise, was staying over for the night. A sleepover, if you will.

"Can I read the first one again?" Eloise asked Chihiro, who was painting her toenails with a greenish-blue paint.

"Yeah, it's just there," Chihiro replied, pointing to her bookshelf. She saw Eloise take out a handmade book titled Dragon Boy.

After a minute, Eloise said, "Where do you get all these ideas from anyways?"

Chihiro screwed the lid on her nail polish slowly, looking down.

"That's, um, actually a funny story," Chihiro said nervously. She could feel the sadness pressing down on her, and this time it was inescapable.

Eloise sat down on the bed next to Chihiro, adjust the red glasses on her face, sensing something was amiss.

"I… well, you probably won't believe me…" Chihiro played with the string on her wrist.

"I'll believe you," Eloise said gently.

"Ok…

"Well, you see, when I was moving here, my father missed the turn off to get here. He decided to go another way. It was a dead end, but there was a big tunnel. It was an old theme park, but with only food stalls and a bathhouse. There was food, even though the theme park had gone bankrupt a while ago. My parents ate the food, but I wandered through the park. I met a boy there.

The boy told me to run, to get out before it was night. Frightened, I did so, only to find my parents had been turned into pigs. I didn't make it across the river in time. There were spirits everywhere.

Cut a long story short, I was forced to work for the spirits. The boy's name was Haku. And he was really a dragon called Kohaku River, a river spirit that had saved me from drowning a long time ago."

"Kohaku!" Eloise exclaimed. "He's a real person?!"

"A spirit," Chihiro corrected. "I… I haven't seen him since. I… I really miss him…" Chihiro's mouth quivered as she held back tears. "I worry that he's just my imagination sometimes, though."

"Chihiro, Eloise, dinner!" Chihiro's mother called.

"Coming!"

Chihiro chased after the little pink shoe, straining her lungs, kicking her short legs. Above the water, her mother cried out to her. She didn't think Chihiro could do this. She was determined to prove her wrong. But the Kohaku River was very deep.

Suddenly, there was movement in the water beneath Chihiro, and a large talon extended towards her, holding the little pink shoe. The face of a dragon appeared out of the darkness of the water. The emerald green eyes stunned the little girl as she took the shoe.

The dragon then hoisted Chihiro up to the surface, being careful to stay beneath the water. Her mother's arms immediately lifted her out of the water.

"Are you okay?" she asked in a worried voice.

"Of course she is," said Chihiro's father. "My big girl knows how to swim."

Chihiro still stared at the water where the dragon had been.

"Mummy," she said. "I saw a dwagon."

"A dragon? My, you have quite the imagination, Chihiro," her mother laughed.

Chihiro neared where they had filled in the Kohaku River. It was now a bunch of ugly-looking flats, crushing what was left of the breathtaking scenery. She wondered if Haku had returned here or if he had gone to another river.

She sat down on the dry grass in front of the flats. She put her hands together and whispered into them.

"Haku, please tell me if you're here. Kohaku? I'd like to see you please. You… you promised…"

You promised…

Kohaku…

He promised…

…Right?

Chihiro blinked in the sunlight that was pouring into her room. Eloise was still snoring on the mattress at the foot of her bed. Chihiro couldn't remember the last time she didn't have the saying goodbye dream. Instead, she'd had the dream of when she'd lost her shoe and then when she'd visited where the Kohaku River once was two years ago.

Groggily, Chihiro sat up in bed, stretching her arms up and seeing her precious wristband was gone.

"My hair tie!"

"Huh?" Eloise mumbled, lifting up her head slightly.

"My hair tie is gone!"

"What?"

Chihiro got out of bed and threw the covers off, searching desperately for the little purple band.

"Are you looking for that?" Eloise said, having put on her glasses, and was pointing to the full body length mirror opposite the bed. There was a string hanging from the top of it.

"That's it, thank you!" Chihiro said, grabbing the band and slipping it back on her wrist, full of relief.

"Why do you like that so much?" Eloise asked.

"My spirit friends made it for me," Chihiro explained.

"Oooh."

"I don't remember taking it off though." Chihiro turned to face Eloise and thought, for a split second, that she'd seen the ghost-like appearance of Haku. She blinked.

"What are you looking at?" Eloise asked.

"Oh, um, it's nothing."

"Ok. I'm going to get some water." Eloise got up and walked out of the room only to come back barely a minute later holding a glass of water. She took a sip then tripped on Chihiro's bed covers, sending the water flying, drenching the mirror.

"Oops, I'm so sorry!" Eloise cried.

"It's okay! Don't worry, it was my fault," Chihiro told her. "I'll get a… towel…?"

Chihiro trailed off, both girls going silent as the watered-down mirror started glowing an eerie blue colour.

The mirror continued glowing until it looked almost like a portal, then let out a final burst of light, in which Chihiro and Eloise slammed their eyes shut. When they opened them, there was a boy standing before them.

"Haku!" Chihiro yelled, throwing her arms around him. The boys stony face melted into pure joy when he saw her.

"Chihiro!" he said happily, hugging her tightly.

"Where have you been? I haven't seen you for years!" Chihiro said, stepping away from him. He still looked exactly the same as the last time Chihiro'd seen him.

"Who…? Wha…?" Eloise stammered.

"Oh, Eloise, this is Kohaku," Chihiro said, smiling broadly.

"Kohaku?" Eloise repeated, looking at the many posters plastered on the wall. Haku follow her gaze and laughed. Chihiro blushed.

"So… you're a spirit?" Eloise asked, still trying to wrap her head around this.

"Yes. I'm the spirit of the Kohaku River," Haku told her.

"That… is… so unbelievably cool!" she yelped. "So… are you really… a dragon?"

Haku nodded. Chihiro leaned into him. "It's so good to see you again," she whispered. Haku pulled her into his arms.

"I never left you," he murmured.

"So, did you finally get away from Yubaba?" Chihiro asked.

"I got away as soon as you got back here," Haku replied. "Yubaba was furious. Especially when she learnt she couldn't control me anymore. There's something else, though."

Haku placed his hand on Chihiro's forehead, sending images into her mind.

Kohaku

Five years ago…

"Ah, Haku, there you are," Yubaba said, the three strange heads rolling around her feet. "I thought I summoned you an hour ago."

"And?" Haku shot back defiantly.

Yubaba narrowed her eyes, her long nose wrinkling with suspicious. "Since when do you talk to your master like that?" she demanded.

"You are not my master," Haku told her sternly.

"Haku," the old witch said in a warning tone. "Bow now." She flicked her finger at him as she spoke.

"My name is Kohaku. And you can't control me anymore. I'm resigning as your apprentice." Haku looked at Yubaba with a glare. The witches face contorted into a silent scream of pure rage.

Suddenly, there was a pop from Yubaba's desk, turning the two's attention towards the sound. A draw had opened, and the torn up remains of Haku's contract flew out of it. Smirking, Haku turned on his heels and left the office, making his way to the nearest balcony.

"Dragon Boy!" he heard someone shout from behind him. He turned sharply, knowing it was Lin.

"What do you want?" he asked.

Lin strolled over to him and handed him a piece of paper. Humouring her, Haku looked at it.

"A map?"

"The, um, the gates to the mortal world," Lin said, looking down. "Just take care of that girl for me, okay?" she burst out, sounding flustered. "You still owe me one, remember?"

Haku smiled and said, "Thank you very much, Lin. I will look after Chihiro, don't worry."

Surprised by his appreciation, Lin said, "Whoa, Dragon Boy, so much emotion! Just don't dump anyone on me again. I hope the next time we meet I'm out of this hellhole."

"And I hope the same. See you, Lin."

"Bye Haku. Before you leave, what's your real name?" she asked, curious.

"It's Kohaku River," he told her. Her eyes widened with realisation, and Haku took her silence as an opportunity to tuck the map away and leap off the balcony, turning into a dragon and flying off.

"KOHAKU, SAY HI TO SEN FOR ME, OKAY?!" Lin shouted after him. He flicked his tail at her as he saw her waving out of the corner of his eye.

Don't worry, Lin, he thought. I'll take care of Chihiro. I'm pretty sure the girl's still without a spiritual guardian anyways.

I'm coming, Chihiro. Please don't think this was all just a dream.

Three years later…

Haku sat down on the bed Chihiro was tucked into. He was a spirit; she, and everyone else, couldn't see him, but he could still affect the mortal world. He'd learnt that the 'gateways' to the human world were only for spirits who didn't want to be seen. If Haku wanted to be seen, he'd have to create his own portal.

Chihiro sighed in her sleep, bringing Haku's thoughts back to her. He put his hand gently on her head.

"Chihiro," he whispered. "Please don't forget me. I know it's been three years. But I haven't broken my promise. I know you don't yet understand, but you will. I hope."

Chihiro had fallen asleep against the foot of her bed again. Haku felt himself smiling at her cute face. He could practically hear Lin mocking him.

Haku, you know Lin would be right. You shouldn't be in love with a human. You can't be. Not only is it against the law of your world, it's impossible! She'll grow up, forget you even exist, move on from childhood crushes! Stop this nonsense now before you get hurt.

He knew he should listen to his thoughts, but it was already too late. Haku bent down beside Chihiro and carefully picked her up from her uncomfortable position. She murmured as he moved her over to her bed, tucking her in.

Haku stroked her hand and turned to leave, but Chihiro's hand grasped his.

"Don't… go…" she whispered softly, her eyes still closed, probably still dreaming. "Please… just a little… longer… Haku?"

Haku's eyes widened, and he smiled. "Alright, Chihiro," he said quietly, not wanting to wake her, and lay down beside her.

Chihiro's arms wrapped around him, and she snuggled into his side. Haku felt his cheeks burning but hugged her back. She was soon breathing deeply, a sign she was asleep, and soon, so was Haku.

In the morning, Haku woke up before Chihiro, thankfully, but only just. He quickly moved away from her so that she couldn't feel him. He wanted nothing more than to lie with her forever, but she would think she was crazy if she started waking up feeling arms hugging her.

Chihiro woke up slowly, yawning and frowning, feeling the place Haku had been lying. She looked around her room, eyes passing straight through Haku standing in the corner, eventually shrugging and getting out of bed.

Chihiro walked out of her room to have breakfast, leaving the door open so Haku could follow her.

"Good morning, sleepyhead," her mother greeted her as she entered the kitchen. "Your father decided to make pancakes for breakfast."

"Oh okay, cool," Chihiro said.

"Say, Chihiro, did you get changed into your pyjamas last night?" her mother asked, frowning.

Chihiro looked down at her clothes and said, "No, I must've fell asleep."

Haku bit his lip and looked towards Chihiro's mother. Don't figure it out…

"When I checked on you, you were tucked nicely in bed," Chihiro's father told her from the stove.

"Huh," Chihiro said. "Must've forgotten then." She frowned and looked down.

When Chihiro walked back down the hallway to her room, Haku would normally wait for her to get dressed, but this time he got the sense he should probably follow her.

Haku barely slipped in the doorway before she slammed it shut behind her. Chihiro surveyed the room with more intensity than last time.

"I must be crazy to say this, but… Haku? Are… are you there?" she said.

Haku wished he could answer her. She couldn't hear or see him, but… maybe…

He placed his hand on Chihiro's cheek, looking into her eyes. Chihiro flinched away, surprised by the sudden connection, eyes darting around trying to find the source of the touch.

Eventually, Chihiro lifted up her hand, feeling the air until she found Haku's arm. She let out a little gasp, feeling along his arm to his shoulder then cheek.

"Haku…" she whispered. "Is it really you…?"

"Yes," Haku answered, aware that she couldn't hear him, but she could feel his voice vibrating and his mouth moving.

"Chihiro, are you nearly ready?!" Chihiro's mother called.

"Give me a minute!" she shouted back, grabbing Haku's wrist and pulling him towards the door. She opened it and pushed him outside. "Give me a second," she murmured, before shutting the door.

Haku, what in the name of water are you doing?!

When Chihiro was ready for school, she collected her bag and books and headed out. Haku grabbed her hand gently as they walked. She made a surprised squeak, blushed, and smiled, and probably also hoping like heck that it was Haku.

At one thirty, Haku followed Chihiro to the massive oak tree where she loved to sit and sketch.

"Chihiro!" Eloise, Chihiro's best friend, called eagerly, running up to her. "Have you written anything else? Can I see your sketches?"

"When it's done, calm down," Chihiro laughed. "And, no, I haven't yet."

"Ok!" Eloise said cheerfully, adjusting the large red spectacles on her face and sitting down next to Chihiro—on the other side of her, not where Haku was sitting.

"Ooh, I like your drawing so far!" Eloise congratulated Chihiro, looking over her shoulder. "It's the dragon boy from your epic series, isn't it?"

"Um…" Chihiro said, blushing, eyes drifting to where she presumed Haku was.

"Why are you going red?" Eloise asked.

"No reason!" Chihiro squeaked.

Eloise raised an eyebrow at her but said nothing.

A moment of silence passed.

"Hey, Eloise, can I come to your place over the weekend?" Chihiro asked.

"Um, I'll ask my dad, but I think we're free," Eloise replied.

That night, Zeniba dropped in on Haku and Chihiro—Chihiro completely oblivious to it of course.

"Zeniba!" Haku said, surprised at the witch's appearance. "What are you doing here?"

"I've come to warn you, Haku," Yubaba's sister replied. "Chihiro mustn't learn that you're her spirit guardian now."

"I don't kno—"

"Don't play games with me, dragon!" Zeniba cut Haku off, suddenly furious. Haku's eyes widened at her reaction, and he took a step back. Zeniba sighed and said more calmly, "Look, we both know it's for the best if she does forget our world. If she thinks you're here with her, it'll reinforce her beliefs."

"I… I don't understand…" Haku started, being as gentle as he could, not wanting to set the witch off again.

"I know, Kohaku. It's hard, believe me, but Chihiro must not see you—or know you're here—again. It could risk the elders finding out a human girl travelled to the spirit world and made it out. I'm only trying to protect both of you from the consequences—Yubaba has lied enough for you, she's on the verge of telling everyone," Zeniba explained sympathetically. She then looked around Chihiro's room.

"What—how long has she known you've been watching her?" she asked, seeing the posters of the books Chihiro had written.

Haku laughed and said, "Only a day, don't worry."

"Ha! That girl clearly is very fond of you, Kohaku," Zeniba cackled before turning serious again. "Haku, I won't warn you again, and I can't shield you from the consequences. Wipe her memory of thinking you're here, please, it's for the best."

Then there was a poof of smoke, and the witch was gone.

Haku sighed and bent down to kiss the sleeping Chihiro on her forehead.

"I'm sorry, Chihiro, please forgive me," Haku breathed, a tear rolling slowly down his cheek.

Aaaand that's all I got for now! Pls review if you got any ideas about where the cookies I should take this story, it would be much appreciated.

-U. Cutie