~Vaster than the Sea, Wider than the Sky~
Disclaimer: The characters in this fanfiction belong to Studio Ghibli. Copyright infringement is not intended.
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Looking out of the bus window, Chihiro was reminded of a journey she once took when she was younger. The sky had been just such a blue and while she hadn't looked forward to moving house then, the trip had been made bearable by the mysterious occurrence of a prank. Someone had managed to contrive to decorate her father's beloved car with a layer of leaves. Now, she was on the move again, back to the seaside she had visited four years back as part of a school field trip. The bus trundled down a narrow street and she leaned out to look at the ships below.
A friend of her mother's had invited her to stay by the beach for the summer and she had taken it up. Lately, living at home had become rather stifling, as if the walls had been closing down on her. Her friends had attributed it to her having finally started to grow up, but Chihiro felt it was more like growing away from something that had been important to her. Then, the offer had come and she'd packed her bags with perhaps a little more eagerness than was appropriate.
The bus twisted round yet another bend, the driver yelling at them to hold on to their belongings. Several old ladies moaned feebly.
"What did I say?" one of them muttered. "We should never have let Ohiyo's nephew do the driving. He broke my old man's scooter going ninety miles on it."
The tea talk had confused Sousuke for week. He had understood that something big was going on in the spirit realm but hadn't been quite able to work out the details. Fujimoto had seemed more anxious lately, and after the dragon had departed, the crease that had appeared between his eyebrows had only deepened in the days that had passed. He tried asking Ponyo as they skipped down through the rocks-and-sand path down the backyard to the shore.
"Hmm… Ponyo doesn't know either," she said as she climbed carefully over a rock. "Papa doesn't like to tell me much, so I asked the fish, but all they can tell me is that there might be a big magical war."
"War!" Sousuke repeated anxiously. "But why?"
"A big treasure got stolen, but nobody knows who did it but the wizards are being blamed for them going missing. The treasure belongs to the dragons which is why Haku needs to go talk them out of being angry." They reached the cove beneath the cliff. Overhead, the rock rose up immeasurably high and then swooped back down to sort of hang over them.
"Only, the dragons are mad at Haku because he sides with the wizards."
"Did you hear all this from the fish?" Sousuke asked, perplexed.
"Uh-uh. Granmamare-mama told me. But she didn't say anything about the magical war," Ponyo said, sounding miffed at not having the juicy part of the news told to her.
"I see…" That bit cleared up, he could go on to more pressing matters.
"Umm, Ponyo, what do you think about Haku?"
"What? Oh, Ponyo likes him, because he's nice. He calls me Ponyo, unlike papa, who still forgets sometimes!" Oh dear. Sousuke trailed after her worriedly. "But, our classmates in school call you that and you don't like them any better!"
"That's because they don't know Ponyo has two names," she retorted, blowing her fringe impatiently out of her eyes. "And they're stupid. Anyway, let's go see the big crab I saw yesterday. Papa promised we'd have crabs for dinner if we catch some."
Stepping out of the bus, Chihiro admittedly felt a little green, but as none of the rest of the passengers looked too well either, she was consoled into thinking at least she was still standing. A slender woman stomped out right to where the driver was standing and prodded him smartly in the ribs. "Takashi! What's this I hear about you going over the speed limit again?"
Takashi sniffed. "It was a perfectly smooth ride," he countered, slapping the bus fondly. "This baby can do a hundred and ten on a good day."
Several of the old ladies who had been on the bus glared unhappily at him as they were helped into the nursing home. The young woman tutted loudly and began slinging more bags around her shoulders before tossing one at Takashi. "You might as well make yourself useful while you're here then," she grumbled.
"Excuse me, may I know where I can find Risa?"
The woman turned at her name. "That'll be me… and you're?"
"I'm Chihiro."
Risa stared at her mutely and then slapped a free hand to her forehead. "What day is it?" she asked.
"It's Thursday."
"Already?! Oh dear! I quite forgot you were coming today! There's been a mix up at the home and we're understaffed..." she ran a hand through her hair. In her frustration, she began loading Takashi with more items. "Here, take these," she said vaguely as Takashi flailed under the weight of being overloaded. "Is there anything I can help with?" Chihiro asked as she followed the older woman into the lobby. Risa blinked in surprise. "Oh – I can't possibly…"
"Risa! Could you tend to Fuji-san over in room eight?"
"Hai! I'm coming." She turned back to Chihiro hopefully. "If you really don't mind, that is. I'll also be able to take you back home with me when I knock off."
"Sure," she answered. "Where do I stow my bag?"
Dinner at Fujimoto's was always dramatic affairs and this night's was no different. Upon discovering that there would not, in fact be any crab for dinner, she had sulked, her pretty mouth turned downwards. Sousuke, who knew the signs, was keeping well back from the murderous look Fujimoto and his daughter was shooting each other. "It escaped! And it was poisonous anyway!" Fujimoto growled defensively.
"Was not!" Ponyo huffed. "It was a big delicious crab which you promised Ponyo for dinner!"
Sousuke sighed. Ponyo was lovely – until you got between her and favourite foods. She'd punched a boy at school once when he tried to steal her ham sandwich when she hadn't been looking. "There's plenty of other crab on the table!" Fujimoto was now saying.
"They aren't the one Ponyo caught!"
Above the din, Sousuke heard a soft clatter. Turning to peer into the darkened living room, he caught an orange blur scrabbling under the sofa. The crab stiffened at being sighted and Sousuke winked at it. Go on, he told it silently. I won't give you away. The crab seemed to understand because it disappeared into the room after a quick nod at him. When Sousuke next looked, it had somehow managed to climb onto the window sill and with a light hop, was well on its way to freedom.
On touching the ground on the outside of the magician's house, the crab looked about cautiously, left, then right. Then, with a shake and a misty blurring of its edges, it stretched, elongating into a thin white vaguely rodent shape with a long brush-like tail. Free! Without a backward glance, it was across the road in a few bounds.
Moments later, with a loud screech that shook the trees, a bus halted in front of Fujimoto's house and Haku stepped out, careful not to accidentally trod on one of the bus's many legs. He patted its furry flank. "Thanks for the ride," he said as the cat-bus grinned at him, its twin-lamp eyes beaming in the dark. With another screech, it was away, leaving the boy and his small suitcase in the dark. The door opened and Haku found himself assaulted by a red blur which cannoned into him.
"Haku!" a delighted voice squealed. Ah. It must be Ponyo after all and not some surprise attack. His ears ringing, he managed to extricate himself from the girl's constrictor-like hold around his neck. "Hello Ponyo," he smiled. The human boy – Sousuke – hovered in the background, backlit by the inviting glow of the open doorway. "Hello Sousuke," Haku added in what he considered to be a friendly tone. To his disappointment, the boy didn't seem inclined to reciprocating the greeting as Sousuke only nodded back solemnly, his brow furrowed gravely.
"Hello Mr Dragon."
It wasn't fear then, or the boy wouldn't have greeted him at all. Perhaps Sousuke just happened to have a rather formal upbringing. There wasn't time to consider matters anymore though, as he was pulled into the comfortable sitting room by Ponyo. Fujimoto looked up from the dishes. "Ah. You're just in time for supper. Ponyo, set another place for Haku."
"Yes papa!"
As the little half-sprite concentrated on laying the coffee table, Haku was showed to his room upstairs. Fujimoto held the door open as he stepped in cautiously. There was a faint sting of magic in the scrubbed floor and polished windows. "Sorry about that. I only just cleaned it up," Fujimoto explained on seeing the dragon's wrinkled nose. There was a bed by the window, a desk, chair and chest of drawers. The curtains at the window were billowing gently in the sea breeze. It was a simply furnished room but Haku felt he could be more than comfortable here. "Thank you," he said, meaning it honestly as Fujimoto placed his suitcase on the bed.
"If you need anything, just ask," he said.
"Yes, sir."
Fujimoto nodded. "You would find that the necessary spells for concealment are already in place. I expect you would be busy in the next week or two? The Granmamare informed me that there would be yet another conference, this time with the dragons?"
"Yes. And in the mean time, I am to begin diplomatic talks with the dragons who have remained neutral so far."
This got Fujimoto's attention. "Then, does this mean you will be moving about a lot?" he asked worriedly. "Only… it would weaken the barrier if you do."
"As much as necessary," Haku said apologetically. "No more than that."
A car horn sounded from the road and Fujimoto twitched distractedly. "Ah. It's her," he said with an ominous shudder. There was a loud clatter as the front door was thrown open by Ponyo downstairs, joyfully cheering, "Risa! Risa!"
Haku looked askance at Fujimoto who reddened. "Risa is Sousuke's mother," he explained. "She works at the nursing home above the beach cove. I'll better go see to her."
When Fujimoto got downstairs, Sousuke was dashing about picking bits of his scattered belongings. "Tell her I'm coming!" he gasped breathlessly and then disappeared into the kitchen where presumably, he'd left more of his things in the course of his visit that day. Looking about and seeing that Ponyo was nowhere to be found, he headed outside, half thinking of how best not to invite Risa in. She'd only be a terrible influence on Ponyo, giving her ideas, not that the damage hadn't already been done. He sighed, steeling himself to invite her in, as a friend and civilised person ought to…
"Not today, Fujimoto-kun," Risa apologised, indicating with a jerk of her head to the back seat. Something shifted beneath the blanket, and he caught a glimpse of a brown-haired head. "Oh. Have you a guest?"
"Mmhmm. The daughter of my aunt's friend. She's here for the summer." Risa smiled, "The poor child was helping out at the home today even though she needn't have."
That's right; he'd heard it was understaffed now that two of the physiotherapists had quit at the same time. And then, as he was feeling generous now that he needn't invite her in, he pressed the crab salad into her hand. "Here. I made too much."
"Oh, no, you're too kind," Risa protested. "Don't you have a guest yourself? Sousuke said…"
"Ah, about that…" he lapsed when the bundled up girl shifted, relaxing only when she snored faintly. "Yes, I do have a guest," he said meaningfully. Risa's bright eyes flashed in understanding. "Don't worry about it. I'll make sure she doesn't sense anything out of the ordinary. Your secret's safe with us here on the island."
"Risa!" Sousuke yelled happily at the sight of his mother as he and Ponyo came running out. "Hey there," she grinned as he ran round the front of the car and opened the car door. "Ponyo and I…" he began eagerly when his mother shushed them both. "We've a guest," she said, smiling at his son's excitement. Ponyo leaned in through the open window. "She's pretty," she said in a loud whisper. Fujimoto grunted, deciding against informing his daughter not to make hasty judgments based on glimpsing only a fraction of somebody's head.
"It's her aura I'm talking about," Ponyo huffed.
"I'm sure she is," he said unconvinced as the girl stirred.
Blinking sleepily, Chihiro smiled herself at the little girl waving at her through the car window and waved back a little at the sunny orange grin directed at her. Goodness, she was so tired... who knew that old women in nursing homes could be as cantankerous as… she frowned, the thought almost eluding her. But then, with a jolt, the car was off again into the dark of the night and she yawned, turning over to snuggle better into the loaned blanket. Whatever it was, if it had been that important, she would eventually remember it.
Notes: Ah, I'll be away for the entire of next week, so there won't be any updates then. Hope you enjoyed this chapter and that the narrative jumps were not too confusing...