Here's the next chapter. A lot longer than the last one. This should be the end of Chihiro's major mourning, only little weak spots will be shown after this with some major plot, what that is? I have no idea, I'm just rolling with it.

I forgot to mention before. Italics for thoughts and flashbacks.

Oh and I don't own Spirited away or any of its characters.

If any of my references are wrong let me know and I'll fix it.

ENJOY!

Chapter Two.

Chihiro had mopped around the house for three days. Slowly organising her parent's possessions, she had requested to her other family that she do this alone, not willing to reveal anything her parents had kept private. After three days of tears and isolation Chihiro decided to take a walk. She grabbed a thin shawl as there was still a chill in the late afternoon, left over from winter.

She walked down the hill from her house and entered the forest, immediately feeling a sense of calmness. The afternoon sun peeked through the trees and the creatures of the forest could be heard all around. A small smile formed on Chihiro's lips as she observed a pair of Robins trying to court each other.

She knew this path quite well, often walking it when she was a little girl and when she came to visit her parent's during the holidays. So it was quite a surprise when she stumbled on a large rock in the middle of the path. Chihiro landed on all fours and emitted a curse. She turned to examine her injured shin only to come face to face with a statue. Her eyes widened in recognition, it was the same statue she had seen before she had entered the spirit world.

'I have walked this path so many times and have never seen you again.' She reflected.

Chihiro leaned forward and poked it in the face just to make sure she wasn't hallucinating. It was completely solid. This meant that...

Chihiro looked over her shoulder and her eyes widened in shock to see the entrance to the dark tunnel, exactly the same as before. She grabbed the head of the statue and pulled herself up, hissing at the pain in her shin. There would be a big bruise but nothing too serious. Taking a deep breath Chihiro wrapped the shawl tight around her small frame and hobbled to the entrance.

The thought of seeing her friends again gave her a feeling of excitement, something she had not felt for awhile.

Everything still looked the same, the grassy hills still looked inviting and soft, the dry river still looked unfinished and when she came into the restaurant strip it was still quiet and lifeless. Chihiro walked down the main street until she spied the stairs leading to the bathhouse, it still looked incredibly intimidating. Chihiro looked behind her and was surprised to see the sun had almost set. The restaurants started to light and the mouth watering food tantalised her nose. Chihiro ignored them and turned back to the stairs. As she walked up the bathhouse came to life, beautiful against the night sky.

She stopped at the wooden bridge, the last time she was here Haku had told her to hold her breath otherwise they would see her. Chihiro frowned.

'What happens if Haku doesn't live here anymore?'

She decided that the risk of falling into Yubaba's clutches was not nearly as bad as not seeing her friends again. Shadows could be seen moving around in the bathhouse and Chihiro could hear noises from behind her. The spirit ferry must have arrived. She decided to take her chances before the other spirit's came calling. She took a deep breath and started to walk across the bridge. She made sure to walk a little faster this time and kept her hand clamped over her mouth. In a dozen steps she made it across without any problems.

'That was easy, I guess it was a lot bigger the last time I was here.'

A few of the bathhouse workers walked past and didn't even notice her. Chihiro smiled to herself when she discovered they could not even see her. Looking up to the main entrance she walked up to the entrance and entered the place that had once been her home for three days.

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Haku's head snapped up, immediately aware there was an intruder in his bathhouse. He left his desk without delay and walked out of his office. As he made his way towards the elevator the air around him started to become charged with crackling energy. His eyes became dark, none of the emerald that they usually were could be seen. He was furious, how could his workers not notice a human in his domain?

When the elevator reached the bottom floor, he could sense the human much stronger but was nowhere in sight. Little did he know that she was already going up in one of the other elevators. His employees could see something was very wrong with their Master.

'Where is Rin!?'

'Three of the frog spirits scampered away to find her. He was waiting a full minute before he could hear her voice.

'OK! OK! What does he want now?'

She stopped dead in her tracks when she saw her friend.

'Haku what's wrong?'

He nodded his head towards the elevator and they both entered it, he could see that she had no idea.

'There is a human somewhere in the bathhouse.'

Rin's eyes widened 'Are you sure?'

'Of course I'm sure, what I don't know is how it got in without anyone else noticing.'

The elevator stopped halfway up the building.

'Can you go and inform the guards of the situation, do not let any of the staff know and tell the guards not to harm the human if it imposes no threat.'

'Yes Haku, what will you do?'

'I'm going to secure the top floors, if the human got to my office, some damage could occur.'

Rin nodded once and walked off to do his bidding.

Haku closed the doors and made his way back up to his office, he was curious as to how the human made it to his world, the portal had been closed permanently. Yubaba had made sure of that. What worried him further was how the human had got into the bathhouse with only him noticing. The elevator reached the top floor and just as the door opened Haku's eyes widened in shock.

Chihiro had taken the elevator up to the highest floor, hoping to find someone with a familiar face. She slowly made her way down the hallway when she heard the sound of the elevator door opening. She whipped around and her eyes widened in surprise.

Haku!

She could still recognise him, only he was...bigger. His hair was longer but still ebony-green and coming down to his shoulders. His eyes were still green, they seemed quite dark at the moment. His body was lithe but he looked strong, dangerous.

'Haku?'

'Chihiro?' His expression was unreadable but a look of extreme anger overcame his beautiful features. All of a sudden he was standing right in front of her, Chihiro gasped in surprise.

'What are you doing here?' He bit out.

Chihiro was crushed at the rejection, she had hoped some part of him would be happy to see her.

'I-I I'm sorry, I didn't know what to do anymore.' A sob escaped her and she brushed past him to leave. He grabbed her arm before she could escape.

'Chihiro, what's wrong?' He said more softly.

She could only shake her head as she wept, too overwhelmed to speak.

'Will you allow me to look?' He asked softly.

She nodded, barely.

He placed two of his fingers on her forehead and she felt his power move gently through her mind. He was only there for a few seconds before he completely withdrew.

'Oh Chihiro, I'm so sorry.'

She was undone, weeks of pain and sorrow erupted. Her knees gave out but Haku caught her around the waist and kneeled down with her. Her sobs were uncontrollable, wracking her body. Haku simply held her to his chest and stroked her hair as she let go of her pain.

Haku allowed her to cry until she was completely exhausted, pressing his fingers to her temple he whispered his magic and watched as she slipped into a deep slumber.

He picked her up a frowned at how fragile she felt, surprised that she had made it this far, a surge of protectiveness overcame him as he carried her to his bedroom. He had not meant to be so fierce with her, his concern shown with anger, Haku was truly happy to see her again. He looked down and her face and noticed she was a child no longer. Her lips were a rosy pink and had a slight pout to them. Her face was heart-shaped and her eyelashes were long and thick, she still had her brown hair only it was longer and she still wore it like she did as a child. He would put off everything for the next twenty-four hours, content to have Chihiro close to him once again.

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