Disclaimer: I don't own spirited Away and I never will.

Chapter Three

Not Giving Up

I walked down the stairs to get to the employees bed chambers. There was not a soul. I opened the closet and took out a mattress and some bed sheets. I jumped slightly when I felt a hand on my shoulder. I dropped the mattress on the floor and turned around to attack this trespasser. I was about to throw the first punch and I regretted not doing so when I realized it was Kohaku.

"What do you want?" I asked bitterly as I bent down to pick up my bed from off the floor. He sighed but said nothing. I was tired so I started making my bed and I ignored him. I could feel his body coiling up behind me, to think that I was actually exited to see him.

I undid the first button of my blouse, and I continued looking in the closet for the nightgown that Rin had put on me. I hummed slightly as I looked. I was completely ignoring him. I silently sang Mama Mia from Abba.

"Just one look and I can hear the bells ring—just one look and I forget everything." I continued humming as I searched and I could feel the anger around him growing as I gave him the cold shoulder. I found the nightgown and I undid my blouse completely. I had never been a very inhibited person, so I really didn't care if he saw me naked or not.

I unclasped my bra and threw both my blouse and the bra on the floor. I put on my nightgown and unbuttoned my jeans. They slid off easily and without a hassle. I undid my hair and placed my purple elastic in the pocket of my pants. I turned to look at him. "What do you want?" I repeated as I stared him down.

"How did you get here?" He asked me coldly.

"Geese Louise!" I breathed out. "Answer my question first." I ordered him.

"I want to know how the hell you got here!" He snapped aggressively.

I shook my head in annoyance, if he thought he was going to get an answer from me when he was acting like a jerk he was wrong. I was only going to answer his questions when he would act like a gentleman. Rin burst in the room laughing. "Sen you have to come! We found your music thingy and we're having a blast—come on get dressed again!" She said to me as she danced her way towards us. They had probably found my Ipod and the speakers. Rin was clearly drunk because she took off my nightgown. I covered my breast and turned around. She ordered me to lift my arms and I felt the sensation of cotton cover my body. It was my favourite sundress; it was yellow and bright, just like a summer day.

"Come on!" She said dragging me behind her.

Everyone was dancing whether it was the employees or the clients. The Radish Spirit was dancing and he actually struggled with a few disco moves. Kamajii was moon walking and I couldn't help but laugh when I noted that Boh had snuck out of his bed and was dancing with everyone else. I could hear Abba coming from the speaker. A few of the female workers were trying to sing along to Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! , but their attempt at karaoke was rather bad. A worker taped my shoulder.

"You want to dance Sen?" He asked his face was full of hope.

"Of course." I said sweetly as he took my hand to dance. His hand was moist and I tried not to look too grossed out.

"You remember me, right?" he said hopefully, there was something strange in his eyes.

I shook my head, his face was familiar, but all the spirits that worked in the Bath House looked alike. "No I'm sorry."

"I'm the foreman, you know, I didn't want to give you a bath token." He said more hopeful.

Oh—him, I couldn't remember his name. "Yes I remember." I said to him and he beamed a large smile.

"I knew you would remember." He said happily as he spun me around. "You look amazing Sen! Better than a hundred toasted newts."

"Thank you." I told him as nicely as he tried to move his body closer to mine. I stepped back.

Luckily Kamajii was coming my way, "get away from her you old lecherous slug." He said as he pushed the ex-foreman back. "You know who she belongs to!" Kamajii laced one of his long spidery arms around me. "Good to see you Chihiro." He told me. "Fine gizmo you brought with you. Is that a human doodad?"

"Yes it is, actually it's very popular in the human world." I answered.

He tried to bust a move, but he failed and fell on his butt. I burst out laughing as I tried to help him up. "It's very different from our music. It's more rhythmic."

"Well this is old music, in human standards. You should hear some of the music that is playing right now. It's much more rhythmic." I said, although I doubted that Kamajii would have understood or even appreciated Lady Gaga. "I'm very tired." I said to Kamajii, this was now my second attempt at going to bed. He nodded and I motioned to Rin that I was leaving. Boh waved once again as he saw me leave. I looked at my friends one last time. They were all having so much fun. It warmed my heart to see them all so cheerful. All except one.

When I made it back to my room, I noticed that my bed was already made. My clothing was neatly folded by it, and my nightgown was softly laid on my pillow. Haku had most likely done this as a peace gesture. Once again I undressed and put on the nightgown. I looked in my backpack to see if maybe I had thought of bringing some toothpaste, but I had only brought my toothbrush. I went out on the balcony to get some fresh air. There was a soft breeze and it felt so nice. I lifted myself up on the on the fence and slung myself gracefully on the other side of the balcony. I sat down on the fence and I looked up at the sky. The stars were shining bright. I had never seen them shimmer this much back home. I wondered why Kohaku was being so rude to me.

The wind continued blowing and I wondered why Yubaba thought that I could be able face, what she called, "the darkness". I felt sorry for the loss of her husband. I understood why she acted the way she did. To be frank, she had never been evil, just selfish, and she never did anything wrong in my regards—apart changing my parents into pigs. I sighed, what was I doing here anyways? Maybe Kohaku was right maybe I didn't belong here. I thought of mom and dad, they were probably freaking out. Especially dad, he had probably already called the police to tell them that his sweet daughter had not arrived from University. They had probably told him to call back in twenty four hours, but dad knew that I would never have missed pizza night. He was probably on his way to the University.

Poor daddy, poor mommy… she was probably on the phone with Cho or Aimi looking for me. She was probably thinking the worst. I wished that were a way I could tell them that I was okay. I looked up at the stars I figured whishing on them was useless. The moon was a perfect crescent in the sky. I looked at it trying to relax and clear my mind. "You still haven't answered my questions." A voice said behind me. Caught by surprise I lost my balance, and I fell from the balcony and nearly broke my neck. His soft hand caught me and held me close to his chest. He was warm and cozy… I didn't want to move from where I was.

I looked up and saw how his skin glowed in the moonlight and how his black hair shimmered like the billions of stars in the sky. His green eyes glanced down at me as we floated back up to the balcony and then he set me down on the floor. I was panting and trying not to look at him. What would he think about me now? I started hyperventilating. Not only had I almost died...I did look like a big dope!

He chuckled! I wanted to flip him off, but I could not remember how to use my hands.

"Are you okay?" He asked.

"Why would you care?" I spat.

He seemed taken aback by my comment. I regained a bit of composure, and I instantly felt remorse when I met his gaze. "I do care!" He started.

"No you don't." I muttered. "If you did you would have kept your promise."

"I was keeping my promise Chihiro, but I had no link to the human world until now!" He replied angrily.

I had forgotten about his link to his river. I felt slightly ashamed of never thinking about that.

He continued, "What are you doing here Chihiro? I made sure that you could never find the entrance to the spirit world. I cast a spell on the portal. How could you have found it?"

"I didn't find it by choice. This giant chick jumped out of the ocean, and landed on my car and I lost control. The first thing I did was take the first exit and it got me here." I answered curtly. "I didn't even believe this place even existed anymore."

"I see." He was somewhat relieved from some reason, talk about bipolar… I looked up at the sky and the stars shone more brightly than before. "I'm not unhappy to see you Chihiro. I'm actually very glad to see you, just not in these circumstances."

"What do you mean?" I said looking at my feet.

He lifted his hand and pointed towards the horizon. "Right behind Swamp Bottom there is a cloud of darkness. No Face has expanded to stop it from progressing any further. Zeniba and Yubaba have been trying to find a way to stop it completely and your name has come up too often to my taste… they think you're the key, but I can't have you be used as a weapon."

"You were trying to protect me." I smiled. "But if there is any way that I can help then I have to help or at least, try."

"You don't get it Chihiro, they think that if they send you into the middle of the darkness, then they—" He stopped talking and used the fence for support. "They want to use you as a sacrifice, just like Lord Ebisu. You will be turned to stone and your body will be a prison for all those souls. Only difference is that you have a human spirit, and because your spirit is pure, it makes you the most powerful being in the spirit world even if you don't have any magical ability."

"I see." I whispered.

"You do not understand, do you?" His hands were trembling, but out of fear this time. "If anything happens to you I could never continue living. Not in this world or the next, I can't live without you."

"As there ever been a human who has successfully contained the darkness?" I asked him seriously.

He shook his head. "We never even tried with a human."

"Then we don't know if or if not I am going to turn into stone. I didn't say that I agreed to being used as a weapon. This is the first time I'm actually hearing about this plan. But if there is a way that I can stop this, then I can't give up and look at the bright side; I'll look this good for the rest of eternity." I gestured my young body and laughed.

"You've always looked incredible, not just now, but there was something you said before that bothered me…" he looked away shyly. "You said that there were others… where there?"