An hour later, Chihiro found herself stumbling over the rutted, weedy path that ran through the thick woods. She caught a glimpse of the tunnel and began to run, though she kept tripping over vines and stones. About hallway to the tunnel, she fell, but immediately got up and continued to run.

Though she was still in control of her own thoughts, Chihiro was being pulled back to the tunnel by an irresistible force. She broke through some bracken and nearly stumbled over the little god-statue with its odd, grinning face.

"To think I was afraid of it!" Chihiro said aloud, laughing. She could remember stubbornly standing by it as her parents had started walking through the tunnel on that significant day. None of them had imagined what they were in for.

The little statue was chipped now, but it was still grinning through the moss on its face.

Chihiro gazed past the statue and fixed her eyes on the tunnel. The wall was cracked in several places, but the tunnel was still open and the sound of the wind still echoed within it. Chihiro suddenly rebelled against the force that was drawing her back to the world on the other side. Was someone really calling her back, or was she deluding herself, trying to make herself believe that she could return?

The whispering voice, we never want to forget,

in each passing memory always there to guide you…

Well, she had already come this far, Chihiro reasoned. Nothing ventured, nothing gained. If disappointment was at the other end of the tunnel, then so be it. There was no point in turning back after she had come all ten miles to get here.

Chihiro took a deep breath and walked through the tunnel, eventually ending up in the train station. Rainbow light still shone through the round, colored window and she could hear the faint sound of the train itself . Trembling, Chihiro walked through the arch and into the light of day.

The meadow lay before her. The wind was making the grasses stir, so that the meadow rippled like a green lake. Chihiro stumbled through the dry riverbed and hurried up the steep flight of stairs that would bring her to the restaurant area. At the top, she stopped to catch her breath and looked at her surroundings. On either side of the wide path were the restaurants. Nothing had changed. Chihiro continued to walk on.

As she came closer to the bathhouse complex, Chihiro could see something at the near end of the red bridge. Someone was waiting for her. Shading her eyes against the bright sunlight, Chihiro took a closer look. Who could it be? A moment later she had her answer. There was no mistaking that translucent back form with its solemn mask.

"No-Face!" Chihiro exclaimed, and she moved toward the bridge as if she was flying. She threw her arms around No-Face, momentarily forgetting that he was not fully corporeal. It was rather like trying to embrace water or a cloud—but Chihiro didn't care. She was back!

Stepping away from No-Face, the teenage girl looked at the shadowy black spirit, who suddenly presented an apple to her.

"Take," No-Face said, sounding concerned, and pointed at Chihiro's hands, which, unknown to the girl until now, had started becoming transparent. Horrified, she immediately took a bite of apple and swallowed. In her excitement Chihiro had forgotten that only eating food from the spirit world would keep her from disappearing completely.

"Thank you, No-Face," Chihiro said gratefully.

"Did…did you call me here?" the girl asked suddenly in a flash of insight.

No-Face nodded, and Chihiro felt a rush of guilt.

"I'm so sorry I never said good-bye properly!" Chihiro cried, but No-Face shook his head as if to say, "Don't worry about it."

No-Face beckoned to Chihiro and they walked across the bridge together. When they arrived at the entrance to the bathhouse, a squat, fleshy creature wearing a green, peaked cap held up his hand and spoke sternly to No-Face.

"We're not open for business yet. Please come back in the evening."

"Chichiyaku?" Chihiro asked, and No-Face stood aside so that the bathhouse manager could take a closer look at Chihiro.

"How do you know my name?" Chichiyaku demanded. "And why are you here? You're a human!"

"Do you remember a little human girl named Sen?" Chihiro asked, smiling. Chichiyaku stared.

"Sen? Is that you?"

"Absolutely!"

Chichiyaku reached out, solemnly shook Chihiro's hand, and then escorted her into the bathhouse. Chihiro gazed up at its many stories and smiled. It looked the same as usual, though it was quiet now, as customers would not arrive until the early evening. There were no workers in sight, but Chihiro knew that they were attending to any number of the constant tasks involved in the running of the bathhouse.

At that moment, a very familiar friend appeared, carrying a heavy bucket and looking angrily in Chichiyaku's direction. Chichiyaku and Chihiro halted abruptly as Lin practically threw the contents of the bucket in the manager's face.

"I've been working for an hour, and I still can't get all the sap out of the pine tree spirit's bath! We need to brainstorm—the regular cleaning solution isn't working!"

"Lin?" Chihiro said hesitantly. Lin whirled, nearly splashing Chichiyaku with pine-spirit sap.

"Sen?" Lin exclaimed. It had been three years, but Lin immediately recognized the human girl that she'd taken under her wing.

Chihiro nodded, and Lin's angry frown turned to a smile. She put down the bucket and immediately embraced her friend. Chihiro felt incredibly happy. Coming back to the bathhouse was like coming home.

Alas, the happy reunion was cut off when Chihiro and her companions heard a creaky, sour voice say something in what was almost a snarl. Chihiro turned around and smothered an exclamation of surprise. Coming toward the small group was a squat, wrinkled witch wearing a blue dress, her gray hair pulled tightly into a bun. Chihiro recognized Yubaba immediately. This couldn't be the kindly Zeniba, though at first glance both sisters looked exactly alike. Yubaba's sour, pinched face was immediately recognizable.

"Chichiyaku, who is this human and why did you let her in?" Yubaba demanded, coming up to the group and looking directly at the manager with a severe expression.

Chihiro stepped forward and confronted the witch. "It's me, Sen, and I came here on my own. I wanted to see my friends again."

"Sen! My, how you've grown," the witch said bitterly, still remembering how Chihiro had broken the curse put upon her parents and returned to the human world. The memory still rubbed raw with her, for it was the first time anyone had broken one of her curses. And to add injury upon insult, a little girl had broken the dark spell of one of the most powerful witches in the spirit world! Even the bathhouse workers had eventually been on Chihiro's side.

"Ah, I see the No-Face is still your…friend," Yubaba spat out the last word with contempt. "Do you release how much destruction and chaos you caused by letting him in?"

"Yubaba, it's been three years. Let it go!" Chihiro said. "No-Face is changed now! He was only feeding off of the greed and corruption that was in the bathhouse at the time."

Chichiyaku spoke up unexpectedly. "I agree with Sen. We were all very selfish and greedy at that time."

Lin nodded in agreement. "Sen wasn't. She helped us see what's really important."

The humble Chihiro blushed at the lavish praise, but kept looking steadily at Yubaba. The witch was momentarily stunned into silence at the boldness of her workers. How could such a little shrimp of a girl have affected them this much? Yubaba marched closer to Chihiro until she was just inches away from her face.

"And what about your dragon friend?" Yuababa said. "Are you here to see him, too?"

An image of a pearly-white dragon with a grass-green mane flashed through Chihiro's mind. The dragon transformed into a handsome boy with sympathetic gray-green eyes, and Chihiro heard the echo of a promise.

"Will we meet again sometime?"

"Sure, we will."

"Promise?"

"Promise. Now go—and don't look back."

Chihiro stared at her feet as Lin and Chichiyaku tactfully parted. Only No-Face stood by her now, a quiet, comforting presence. A seed of doubt began to grow within Chihiro's soul. It had been three long years, and she hadn't had any word from Haku. No-Face had been the one to remember her and want her back badly enough to call her. Not Haku. Had the dragon boy forgotten her?

Yubaba looked knowingly at Chihiro, a triumphant smirk on her face.

"I think I'll visit Boh," Chihiro said abruptly, and hurried away, No-Face floating beside her.

The huge baby was overjoyed to see Chihiro again. The latter was very glad to see that Boh wasn't as spoiled and demanding as he had been when she had first met him (and was not such a germaphobe either). Boh had been reading an enormous book—well, enormous to Chihiro, at any rate—when she had walked in. Chihiro took a closer look at the cover and smiled. The title read, Legends of the Human World.

"Boh! You've learned to read!" Chihiro said cheerfully.

"Yeah," Boh said, picking up the book. "It's all about humans and all the things they do! Humans sound silly!" he giggled. "Want me to read you a story?"

"I'm going to see Kamajii now, but I'll come back. I'd love to hear a story!" Chihiro said sincerely, and a broadly smiling Boh waved goodbye to her.

Chihiro hurried out of the bathhouse and down the narrow side stairs that led to the entrance of the boiler room. Pulling open the heavy metal door, she was immediately hit with a blast of damp heat. She slipped into the room and was completely envelopes by the heat.

When her eyes adjusted to the darkness, she could see Kamajii at his seat by the bellows. Customers would be arriving soon, and he was beginning to work the bellows. His lanky, many-armed figure was silhouetted against the orange glow from the furnace.

"Kamajii!" Chihiro called out, but he did not turn his head. Chihiro spoke his name more loudly, and Kamajii turned his head.

"Another human!" he exclaimed. "We just had a human three years ago! Did you end up here by accident?"

Chihiro smiled. "No. No-Face called me here. He still remembers me."

Kamajii stared and studied Sen for a long time.

"Why, if it isn't Sen!" he said in amazement. "And look how much you've grown! Come here, you," he went on. Reaching out one very long and possibly infinitely extendable arm, he reached out, pulled Chihiro to him, and gently hugged her.

"I think you have some little friends that would like to see you," Kamajii said, and whistled. Immediately a flood of sootballs streamed out of holes in the walls. When they saw Chihiro, they stopped as if Yubaba had put a freezing spell on them. Chihiro grinned at them, and then there was a great sound of squeaking and cheering. The sootballs recognized her and remembered how she had helped put the coals into the furnace.

"Well, they're really glad to see you," Kamajii said.

"Kamajii," Chihiro said to the creature that had helped her get a job at the bathhouse, "Have—" She paused and swallowed hard. "Have you seen Haku?"

"Haku has been sent to another part of the spirit world to help his sister, Emeraude, the spirit of the Green River. She has been injured."

"When will he be back?"

"Until his sister is better, I suppose."

Chihiro felt sorry for Emeraude, but she had to know…something.

"Kamajii, do you know if Haku ever…mentioned me again?"

Kamajii gave Chihiro an understanding look, but he shook his head. As gently as he could he divulged, "No. Some of the bathhouse workers were saying that…that it was strange that he never said anything about you after you left."

Chihiro's heart sank.

Haku had forgotten her.


Note: 'Emeraude' is Latin for 'Emerald'.

The verses in italics are from 'Always with Me' (English translation) from 'Spirited Away'