DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN SPIRITED AWAY

Chapter 2

"Arise"

Groggily I awoke from my strangely vivid dream. Why did I remember bright lights, bright lights that were blinding me?

The more I thought about it the more my head ached.

A hand rose to my temple as a sharp pain vibrated within my skull.

A moan escaped my lips as I attempted to hold back my tears. Where was I?

I looked around, slightly recognized the place that I was within… but it was as though I was remembering them from long ago, as if they weren't even my memories…

I was staring acutely around, trying to decide where my exact proximity was.

I was lying on a bridge… from a distant memory. It was right there! I felt the memory of this familiar bridge within my mind; it itched at me, demanding that I catch it, that I discover why this bridge was so familiar. But I couldn't!!! I couldn't remember why I remembered this viaduct… but strangely I did.

I groaned and threw my palms against the wood. I was extremely, frighteningly alarmed when my palms actually dematerialized so that they could literally pass through the material.

With a cry of surprise, I pulled them back out, trembling and shaking crazily as I cradled my hand, as if it were injured.

Tears slid out of my eyes, frustrated tears. This place looked unbearably familiar but I couldn't call upon why, despite my endless tries.

My feet moved, and for reasons I couldn't place, they headed in the direction of a building in the distance… a building that looked awfully familiar.

I really tried to stop moving… in all honesty she did… but I couldn't. It was as though my feet had a mind of their own that they listened to.

My feet took me towards a door below the building, a door that was enclosed within a lovely garden.

Her hands then rose to knock softly on the door while I was trying to decide why the heck I was doing this.

A girl answered; an attractive girl with long coffee hair and brown eyes. My limited memories couldn't produce a name for the girl, though she looked recognizable.

The woman looked stunned and then overjoyed. "Chihiro!" she exclaimed in a soft voice.

She pulled me into a tight hug; resulting in my immediate tensing, causing the woman to pull back; she looked puzzled.

"What's wrong Chihiro?" the girl asked, evident question and a hint of hurt within those words.

I was quiet for a moment, as if silence could fabricate the reason why this girl looked unbelievably familiar. Once that proved to be a wasted effort, I responded with the truth. "Who are you?"

The words were soft and low; I was surprised that the girl even heard them.

At first there was nothing but shock written upon her face until that eventually dissolved, replaced by sadness.

"I'm Lin," she whispered shakily.

"How do you know my name Lin?" I asked her with puzzlement in my voice.

She had opened her mouth, immediately changed her mind about something and closed it.

"I…uh…I," she seemed unsettled and scared, as if she couldn't believe that I couldn't remember her.

"Lin? What's wrong? What's going on?"

A voice was heard from the other end of the room. It sounded familiar too… the most beautiful voice I had ever heard. Automatically the picture of a dragon flitted through my mind.

Lin jumped. Her eyes widened and she quickly whirled around, blocking me from the person in the room.

"Haku! I didn't hear you come in!" she exclaimed in a highly pitched voice that was laced with worry.

"Lin, I told you that I was coming to your room at this time. Why are you standing right there?"

"No reason!" She answered too quickly and with a high- pitched shriek; her voice betrayed her. Footsteps softly made their way across the room. Lin's back tensed even more.

"What is it Lin?"

"Nothing!" she pressed desperately. "Please Haku, please… stop!"

Haku had pushed past Lin in order to see the person standing within the doorway, a questionable expression upon her face.

I noticed that his hair was a hue lighter than black and reached the length of a little above his chin. He had a strong jaw and fierce emerald eyes…. Those eyes! Where had I seen them?! He was much taller than me; I had to look up slightly to gaze at his face.

His initial expression was much like Lin's: surprise. His surprise faded much faster than Lin's though, being replaced by joy and… something else that passed too quickly for me to place.

"Chihiro…" he whispered. He pulled me into a tight embrace. "Oh Chihiro…"

When I didn't return his embrace he pulled back with a question in his eyes.

My expression mirrored his. Why had he hugged me? Why had Lin hugged me? Why had they known my name?

"Chihiro?..." his voice puzzled and bewildered.

Once again I was silent, as if, somehow, the truth could be revealed in that awkward tranquility.

The longer his unspoken question hung in the air, the more nervous he became.

Finally, after the silence had lasted a little over a minute, I realized that I was not going to be able to pull an answer out of the air by just looking at the beautiful man in front of me.

I once again asked the question that I wished I didn't have to ask. I knew him from somewhere! I could feel it within the hollowness of my spirit- like chest. I knew him from somewhere… but that was just it; I didn't know where I knew him from.

My eyes searched his quickly as I tried to decipher the man that was holding me tightly within his arms. I didn't know why, but it felt right within those arms; as if an air of protectiveness and affection encircled me when I was pressed against his chest. His eyes were hoping, his eyes were pleading.

But I didn't remember. I willed my soul to give me the answer but it remained silent. Finally, without any further hesitation, I forced myself to ask the question that should have never entered into my brain. I should have known him from the first sight.

"Who are you?"