Always With Me

Disclaimer: I do not own any part of Spirited away (as much as I wish to), all characters are copywrited to Miazakii.

Chapter Two: Into the Spirit world

Sleep eluded Chihiro, tugging at the corner of her eyes only to lure her into a false slumber that she would wake up from a couple of minutes after. Eventually she tired of trying to sleep and crept away from Naomi's sleeping figure. Outside it was still dark; the skies spotless save for the moon and the stars. Chihiro padded across the kitchen floor, barefoot and clad in her clothes from the day. They had been so tired once they had gotten home sleep had been the only thing on their minds. Besides they could just change up in the morning, right?

Chocolate strands of her hair floated in the wind as she moved across the kitchen. The window was open, the one above the sink, and the curtain fluttered like a butterfly in the breeze of the gentle wind. Her mind spun circles thinking about the voice that it had once had. Could the wind really speak? Or had she imagined its wailing call of her voice...? Shiver running down her spine, Chihiro flopped down on the stool of the kitchen counter. White in color, the counter was cold with a surprising lack of anything on it.

"So...tired..." she sighed and rested her head on the counter.

Chihiro felt her eyelids drooping and soon she was sleeping again, chasing dreams. Her dreams were scattered, they made no dream but thousands of fragments that she seemed to be familiar with. A little girl, an older woman with a lust for money, a masked figure...the dragon boy. Chihiro chased her memories through her dreams, as though someone were reaching out across her mind trying to get her to remember these lost thoughts.

A noise awoke her.

Her eyelids snapped open and she found herself gazing at the outside. A figure dashed into the woods. Chihiro's heart leapt from her chest and into her mouth. What was that? Or more importantly...who? She didn't know what she was doing; just let her feet guide her. Chihiro approached the glass slider that led to the outside. For some reason her feet made no noise as she did so, as though she were gliding like a spirit.

She didn't spare a look at Naomi who continued to slumber besides her feet. Sliding her shoes on, Chihiro rested her fingers on the handle to the slider door. Leaning forwards, she pressed her hand against the glass in an attempt to see the outdoors. Her neighborhood stretched across the far edges of her vision. The road was stretched out before her as though it were a path to another world.

Chihiro slid open the slider door and felt the wind brush over her.

Placing her weight on the edge of the street, she moved to close the door behind her. What was she doing? Her hesitation was gone as though another force had grabbed a hold of her body and was moving her as a puppeteer would manipulate a puppet. She walked down the street, barely aware of what she was doing. The need to find that person, the figure, it was overwhelming to her. Unaware that she had now started running, Chihiro turned to face the call that pulled at her very soul.

The need to follow the figure led her to a place she had known very well; the riverside.

Her heart beat fast against her chest as she gazed into the sparkling dark waters of night, the full moon leaving plenty of light to see. Chihiro looked up, eyes sparkling against the moonlight. A figure stood in front of her, he had deep blue eyes and chestnut brown hair that clung to his face almost angelically. Chihiro found herself lost in those eyes for a moment. She remembered him well.

"Haku?" the name passed her lips.

She could feel the tears coming to her eyes; her memory of the boy that stood in front of her was blocked from her mind, locked by a key that the girl could not find. How could she have forgotten Haku? While everything else around him was a blur to her mind, she could remember only one thing. Chihiro would do anything for Haku.

Unthinking, she reached out for the figure, to touch him. Only she found that her hand passed right through him and Chihiro's weight poised forwards as she fell. With a splash, the water enveloped her, tugged her down as though swimming were inevitable. Chihiro attempted to swim but the weight of the chilly blue just brought her to exhaustion. She closed her eyes and the world faded from her sights.

- - -

Something hard hit her head. It wasn't a tap; it was a careless smack from something that wasn't so soft. She let out a small groan and reached over to where the item was. Her hand closed around something with a slimy feel and Chihiro jolted to awareness. Instantly she flung the item away from herself, a large muck-covered book that seemed to have been owned by a hungry individual (the corner had been bitten off!).

"YUCK!" she yelled and wiped her slimy hand on her shorts, though instantly regretting it.

Chihiro made a face and was caught off guard by the sound of footsteps on the sandy riverside spot she had awoken up on. Her hair wasn't wet and her clothes neither, as though she had never been in the river. But hadn't she fallen in?! The girl looked around, a little worried by this. Was she dead? Dreaming? Another nightmare? Questioningly, Chihiro pinched the skin of her arm.

"Ouch! Guess not..." she flopped over.

Her eyes scanned around. This didn't look like it was off of the river that she had fallen into at all...the bed was made of a plain dirt-like sand containing many rocks, but other than that there was soft short grass stretching around in patches on the other side of the bank. Behind her were thick grasses, taller than herself! The river itself was huge, much bigger than the river had been at home. Where as it had stretched about the size of a road, it now stretched three times the span. She found herself dizzy just looking at it.

"Oi!" A voice called, "Hand me that book over there!"

The grass besides her rustled and Chihiro jumped slightly as a man broke the green. He had several weird items that a junk collector would probably find valuable. Adorned in a thick cloak and carrying several strange pieces of who knew what, the river traveler beamed. Chihiro's jaw nearly unhinged as she noticed his face. It wasn't normal...just wasn't. Where there should've been normal human ears protruded thick, long, white-colored cat ears, protruding from his perfect black hair.

Caught off guard, Chihiro eyed the slimy brown book and turned back to the man. He didn't look that much older than her. Carrying himself proudly and tall, he looked to be nearing seventeen. Chihiro could feel her mind spinning. Ears! He had ears! This had to be a dream! There was no way that it couldn't be so! She gazed from his jet black hair to his bright golden eyes. The teenager grinned and picked up the book, dusting it off a little with a cloth from his pack.

"Hah! This will do perfectly!" He laughed and moved to tuck the book into his sack when he noticed Chihiro staring at him, "what, do I have something on my face?" He moved over to the water and stared at his reflection critically.

"N-no!" Chihiro squeaked, "It's just, eh, you have ears!"

For a moment he stood, stupefied by what she was pointing out. Then he reached up and poked one of the fuzzy ears. The kid laughed, shaking his head as he continued to wipe the book off. He turned his gaze to Chihiro, taking in her tired expression with his vibrant gold eyes. With her delicate cheekbones, surprising lack of ears, and sweet lily-smell, he could tell that she wasn't of this world. She didn't look like she was from around here...

"Never seen a woods spirit before? Don't get out often do you?" He laughed.

Chihiro sat there on the sand, feeling lost. Woods spirit? What was he talking about? And when would she wake up? The girl stood up, brushing the dirt that stained her clothes and clung to her figure. So much for keeping this shirt clean...she sighed as she gazed at her totaled wardrobe. Thank you lack of fashion. Her attentions focused on the strange being in front of her.

"Are those Hakama pants?" She asked, transfixed as she tried to understand.

"Yeah. What else would they be? And...I believe I have the right to ask you this...what are you wearing?" He raised his eyebrow, one of his perfect white ears twitched back as though it were also confused by the strange girl. The half kitsune continued to study her with his beautiful gold eyes.

"Um. Clothes? Modern day clothes?" Chihiro attempted to reach an understanding.

"Oh!" he said, expression lighting up, "you are a human! My apologies! I thought you were a river spirit...judging by the way you seemed to have washed up on the shore. I thought perhaps you were garnishing yourself in some new fashion...let me be kind and tell you it's not working. I thought that looked awfully familiar. Same clothes as the witch."

"Witch?" Chihiro could feel her mind sinking into a deeper state of confusion.

"Mkay, never mind. Yes. So...why are you here hume?" he poked, walking around her and studying her as though she were the latest specimen for an experiment.

Chihiro didn't appreciate the way that he gazed at her, studied her, but her thoughts were elsewhere. What was this strange new world? She gazed at the sand in confusion. It contrasted the thick green grasses that surrounded the edge of the riverside that they were on. He had said woods but...where was the woods? Her breathing halted as she noticed the other end of the river. Besides the thick green grasses crawled moss which instantly bloomed into a dense forest, thick with life.

"I fell into the river! And found myself here. I was following someone...very close to me. His name was...is...his name is..." Chihiro scoured her mind for the blazing memory of the boy that she had seen. What had been his name? Her world spun sickly," I don't remember his name!" She cried in disarray.

Chihiro flung her hands up in the air with a sour face and flopped down on the sandy edge that bordered the river. How could she forget!? She had been so close to discovering the memories that had been locked up inside of her...and now...now she didn't even have the name. His name. Her heart shriveled up at the idea of forgetting his name, as though she had lost something precious.

"I would ask who but that would be just silly," he sighed, "you know, humans aren't meant to be in the spirit world. They tend to do funny things while adapting. I'm surprised you haven't started to disappear already! You must've been here before otherwise you would be gone. But your memories...you are probably losing them because you are here. It's like that both ways."

The upset girl let these thoughts run over her like a soothing hand on the forehead of one who was sick. He had a point, a reasoning. But what was reason in so strange a place? Chihiro was certain that this was a different world from her own, or she wouldn't be gazing at the sight of a kid with cat ears protruding from his head. Her frustration was written all over her face as she gazed numbly at the ground before her.

"I've lost them all then? Every last one?" Her voice was numb.

"Of the spirit world, yes." The cat-kid looked pensive despite his young age.

"I have to find his name. I'm lost but his name is the most important thing to me," she gazed at him with heart-filled eyes.

"There is a witch...by the name of Zeniba. She can give you back your memory, for a price of course," he sat down besides her, crossing his legs.

For a moment they were silent as Chihiro scoured her brain for the spark that the name brought to her mind. Zeniba? Hadn't she heard that somewhere before? Maybe it had been the name of a rich perfume that Naomi had attempted to coax her into buying once but she couldn't fit an actual face with the soft sounding name. Somehow a feeling of warmth filled her with the idea.

Things were slowly looking better.

"Where can I find her?"

Author's Note:
Things are looking up. I'm no longer sick and writing is coming to me faster now!
Not sure if Chihiro's acting is believable but she's a really hard girl to understand. Especially since she's older. x.x
Long story short, comments keep me rolling, i'm glad you guys are supporting me, and tune in for the next chapter!