If Only...

(A/N: Ok! Time for chapter 2 of this story! I wanna thank everyone who reviewed! It really helps me to keep on writing!)

Ok, now before I begin the chapter, I wanna thank Persia-Hime for all her help. I'm also helping by advertising her. If any of u readers out there like Naruto or Pirates of the Caribbean, then you'll most likely love her stories! Go check em out because they're really great!

Disclaimer: Spring is here

But it's still as cold as ever

If I really owned SP

Would I need a disclaimer?

Birthday Dreams

And with that, he whispered to the wind "Goodbye..."

Chihiro awoke, startled by the beautiful face that haunted her in her sleep. Every night, since her departure from the Spirit World, she would always have the same dream. The same face looking at her with sadness in it's eyes, and the same soft voice whispering its goodbye to her. Why, though? Why? It was only a dream... wasn't it?

Looking around her room, she realized it was still early in the morning. The lingering darkness was all she saw as she glanced over at her clock, signaling that it was 6 a.m.

She hugged her legs to her chest, unable to breath.

Why could she never have a peaceful sleep? Well, not that the dream was a nightmare, but why could she never dream of anything else? And why only that moment? She had never seen or heard any of that while she was leaving? Could it really have happened, or was it just her mind making her believe what she wanted to?

She subconsciously reached her shaking fingers towards her face.

'Nope,' she sighed in disbelief when she touched her streaming eyes, 'So many years with the same dream and I'm still unable to go through it without crying.

Even though she was exhausted, she couldn't bring herself to go back to sleep, much less get up.

'Why do I even cry? It's not as if the goodbye was as hard on him as it was for me. He never loved me like I love him, so after all these years, would he honestly still keep the promise he made me? I had no reason to doubt his word back then, but waiting has never been so hard on me.'

Breathing back to normal, she realized she couldn't just sit there. All this had already gotten her once-dry eyes brimming again.

She got up and stumbled awkwardly to the bathroom, legs still stiff from their uncomfortable rest.

'Stupid mattress. I have got to get a new one! I cant deal with this every morning.'

Reaching around for the light switch in the dark, she heard a 'click' and nearly blinded herself with the bright light.

'Great. This really is going to be a good day!' she hissed with sarcasm.

After finally adjusting her eyes to the light, she commenced to her daily routine. It was only after washing her face and looking up, that she realized there was something taped to her bathroom mirror.

It was a card. Huge that it nearly took up half the space of the mirror, and had bright, colorful letters that said 'HAPPY BIRTHDAY!'.

"How could I have possibly missed that...?" she asked herself in disbelief.

Reaching for the card, she opened it and began to read:

'Happy Birthday Chihiro! You're finally 17. Today we will spend today as you wish and buy whatever you want. We hope today will be great for you.

Love,

Mom and Dad'

"Could I really be 17 already?" she asked her reflection.

The eyes that looked back were just as shocked as she felt.

She had never really measured herself, but she guessed she was about 5'7 or so, with a warm face and deep, friendly brown eyes. Her brown hair that had once brushed her shoulders was now almost to the small of her back. The only thing that her friends envied more than her long chestnut hair, was the figure that her mom had, thankfully, passed onto her.

With a sigh, she headed back to her room, scolding herself for having such a terrible memory.

Glancing back at the clock, she saw it was now 6:20 a.m.

Unable to sit still for five minutes, she grabbed her jacket and headed out the door, leaving a message in the kitchen for her parents.

'Taking a morning walk around here. Be back before breakfast. And thanks for the card.

-Chihiro'

Opening the door nearly made her lose her breath again. The icy bitterness had not been a factor she was considering for the walk, but unable to do much else in the house except sleep, she welcomed the cold air.

Once she got her pace set and her mind off of the puffs of breath in the cold air in front of her, she began to wander off into space.

'Huh... So its really been 7 years already, hasn't it?'

'If he was going to keep his promise, wouldn't he have don't it by now? Or is this just not a good time? Or is it that he just doesn't want to come, that he regrets promising anything so silly to a 10 year old girl. Yes, that's probably it.'

'Still, if he doesn't wish to see me, I still want to see him. At least, just one last time. And I want to see all my old friends. Oh how I've missed them so. Lin, Kamaji, the soot balls, Zene--'

Something that she nearly tripped over made her suddenly stopped her train of thought.

Coming back into reality, she noticed that the first rays of light were peeking in through the midnight black. She reached down, and started to examine what had caused her to stop.

It was a small stature, reaching up to about her waist. The round top, the elegant carvings.

'Why does this seem so famili--'

Her eyes went wide with shock. She knew exactly where she was, and what was, undoubtedly, in front of her.

"No..." she whispered "No, it cant be. Can it?

She looked up and realized that she really was where she thought she was. The shrine. The red shine that visited her dreams, seemingly untouched by time and nature, still the same as she remembered.

In all her years of living in the town, not once had she ever come back to this place. Was it fear, or just pure heartache that kept her from coming back? Honestly, she didn't know, but what she did know was that she could no longer avoid it, even if she wanted to.

This was no mere coincidence. She couldn't have just winded up here, just like that. There was a purpose for her being here, and for the dreams. They would never leave her alone, never stay in her past, so she knew she wasn't done with this place yet. Not that she wanted to be.

Gathering up the courage that had evaded her all these years, she started walking towards the entrance. It was slow, but it was progress.

Then, right as she was entering it, she realized there was someone there, in the shadows. It was a figure, probably about her size, but unable to be sure because of the darkness. Suddenly, it started walking. Eyes on her. Walking towards her.

(A/N: Ok peoples! I think this is a great place to stop. So there's the second chappie for ya! Sorry if it wasn't as exciting as you expected, but trust me, it will come. I just had to get the setting set up, and now we can go on to all the twists and tears and hope and all of that which is surely to come! Thanks for reading and please review! Oh, and if Chihiro seemed too OC then please forgive.)