A/N: I had originally intended for this story to be a one-shot, but then I decided that I had to put some other characters into this story. As you can tell from the title of the chapter, this is a somewhat depressing chapter, even more so than the first chapter was. Don't worry, this story will have a happy ending. Rin doesn't yet appear in this chapter, but don't worry. She's one of the narrators in the next chapter (which will be the last chapter).
As soon as we crossed the barrier into the spirit realm, two things happened. The first thing was that my clothes suddenly turned into a beautiful snow-white kimono and my shoes disappeared, leaving me barefoot. But the second thing was that I could barely restrain myself from letting out a sudden wail of anguish. As it was, I pitched forward and began sobbing uncontrollably; losing my grip on Haku's horns in the process.
Immediately, Haku stopped flying and I tumbled to the ground, buried my head in my arms, and let my tears flow. Why I was crying when, truly, I had been brought home by the one I love, was beyond me, but it felt as though there was an overwhelming weight of sorrow on my shoulders and I was crumbling under it.
As soon as I fell, Haku had transformed back into his humanoid form and was now gently pulling me up so that he could look at me. "Chihiro, what's wrong?" he asked, and I could tell he was frantic.
I shook my head. "I don't know!" I sobbed. "As soon we came here, I just felt sad." I tried to stop crying, since I could see that my tears were worrying Haku, but I couldn't.
"We need to get to the Aburaya." he said. "I don't know what's going on, but I bet Yubaba will know." I gasped in fear, since I had some more-than-unpleasant memories with Yubaba, but Haku gently stroked my cheek to comfort me. "She's changed, Chihiro. For the better. She gave everyone their name back, even though most of them prefer to go by the names that they had when she took their real names. You won't have anything to fear from her."
I nodded numbly, since now I had a feeling that Haku would eventually leave me joining with my burden of sadness and I did not trust my voice at all.
Haku didn't dare transform back into his dragon form; instead, he held me to him closely and used the wind to carry us into the window of Yubaba's office on the top floor of the Aburaya. I couldn't see the witch's face when we came in, since I was still crying into Haku's shirt, but from her voice, I could tell she was somewhat startled.
"Haku? What's going on?" she asked. "Why is that stinking human here again?"
"Yubaba, can't you tell?" Haku snapped at her. "Chihiro's dead in the human world, and I found her so that she could return here. But she seems trapped in sorrow, and I don't know what to do." He looked down at me and gently motioned with his head for me to turn around and fade Yubaba. I did so, but reluctantly. I knew that I looked a mess.
Yubaba gasped when she saw me. "Child, what happened to you during the last year of your life?"
"My parents were killed in an accident, and the other children at the foster house I lived at bullied me regularly." I managed to choke out. I hesitated to continue, but I did so that Yubaba could know the whole of my new condition, "and I began to give up hope that Haku would keep his promise." I heard Haku gasp behind me before he tightened his grip on my shoulder.
Yubaba nodded. "Sorrow and despair." she muttered. "The absolute worst conditions for one to die in."
"Yubaba, do you know what's going on?" Haku asked.
The witch nodded and began to tell. "The most prominent emotions that a formerly human spirit feels in our world are the last emotions they felt when they were alive. It's best if a human dies in peace, then they are usually untroubled and can feel all kinds of emotions upon their arrival in this world. But there are those who die in anger, fear, jealousy, despair, and other such emotions. And the worst emotions to feel upon death are sorrow and despair." She looked apologetically at me. "I'm not the one you need to see to fix this. My sister is the one who deals with new spirits who are trapped in sorrow and despair."
As she said that, the air in front of the fireplace began to crackle and bend. And then, on cue, Zeniba stepped out of the portal. She looked at her twin, and in that look, a silent conversation was made between them.
Zeniba looked over to where Haku held on to me and gently pried me from his grip. I suppose she was trying to stem the tears, but her attempts backfired on her as my tears began to flow even more freely.
As I sank to the floor, I felt Haku come back over to me as the twin witches discussed the necessary herbs for a special tea that would, hopefully, help to release me from the sadness that I was drowning in.
A/N: I know: I am a sad and depressing person. I promise you: this story will have a happy ending, but unfortunately, I'm having a small case of writer's block on that. I will upload it as soon as it is finished and I deem it fit to read.