Author's Note: Well, here's the first of many to come (I hope). It is relatively short, for it is an epilogue, but the subsequent ones should be reasonably longer.

Disclaimer: "Spirited Away" and all the characters, with a few exceptions, are creations of Miyazaki Hayao. The rest are mine.

~ SUNRISE: AN EPILOGUE ~

The fragile brown leaves crunched under her feet as she walked toward the river. "Haku!" Chihiro whispered, "You promised me." Crouching beside the Kohaku River, Chihiro began to cry. Her tears rolled down her face, and she wished that Haku would appear once again by her side, like he did before, and comfort her with his soothing words. But Chihiro knew that would not happen, because it never happened.

Chihiro had visited this river every single day for the past seven years, with the hope that she would one day meet the one she desired. Even though her hope failed her again and again, she never conceded to the tiny voice in her head that told her, "He will not be there," because Haku was the one that taught her the power of faith. And faith was what brought Chihiro and Haku together, so how could Chihiro surrender to her doubts?

Chihiro woke up with a slight fluttering of her eyelids. A narrow beam of sunlight was streaming through the small opening of her flowery curtains. Sitting up, Chihiro rubbed her eyes and walked to the window. She gently pulled apart the curtains, and wandered back to her bed.

"What are you doing?" cried Miko. "It's only five-thirty in the morning," groaned Miko after a quick glance at the clock.

"I'm very sorry, Miko-chan….but it's that dream again," murmured Chihiro, "the one about him, you know, and the river..." Chihiro lay back into the calming warmth of her white cotton quilt. "The dream just won't go away, Miko."

It was only dawn, and the sun had just risen above the horizon. Chihiro could see the subtle orange of the sunlight: its effulgence was so radiant, yet so weak at the same time. The sunrise was just the beginning of each day, a day satiated with new opportunities…a day imbued with renewed hope. Yet Chihiro no longer had any hope; she had waited for so long, and nothing has happened so far.