Chihiro remembered being ten years old and being completely indignant that she had been unceremoniously shipped off to Gram's home up the mountain side while something very interesting was going on at home. She didn't know what was going on, but she knew somehow that it was very interesting and she was upset that everyone wanted her 'out of the way' while it went on. The summer heat wasn't quite so bad out in the forests as it was down in the village, but the heat still pressed on her. She didn't feel like laying listlessly about the house because her young cousins were there, mere babies so far as she was concerned, and she hadn't wanted to play with them just then; and sitting on the porch in the sun, even with a cool watermelon slice to eat and spit seeds into the garden, didn't sound pleasant either. So to the dappled shadows of the forest she went, eager to climb trees and play with whatever forest creature happened across her path. Those were memories she hadn't forgotten, that she still vividly remembered whenever anyone mentioned her being spirited away.

The rest of her memories, the ones buried somewhere deep in her mind, were flooding back now. As a child playing in the woods seeing something dart past from the corner of her eye and giving chase without a second thought; the long, sad journey inside a large, metal worm; meeting Kamaji and Rin and the soot sprites for the very first time; being sent desperately back towards the other side of the veil as the sun seemed to drop out of the sky; making friends with the other worker girls in the days (weeks? months?) she was working for Yubaba; how much trouble No-face had made for her and the bathhouse; meeting Yubaba for the first time and signing the contract that would steal her name; the stink spirit who was really a river god and how grateful he was to her; Zeniba's strange, foreign house and Yubaba's strange, foreign looking living quarters; climbing up and up and up, stairs upon ladders upon stairs; Zeniba's baby who towered over everyone in the bathhouse; and throughout it all a pale skinned, dark haired boy with piercing green eyes who was her constant friend. The river god she had freed from a witch's greedy grasp. The promise she had asked of him when he sent her back to where she belonged.

"Haku!" Chihiro dropped her rice ball and stood up so fast she nearly upset her supper. There was a noise coming from the adjoining chamber, but before Chihiro bothered to worry about it, and before her maids had a chance to see what was going on, she had already fled the room. She ran through the halls, skidding to a stop when she came to a crossroads then running full speed again. There were several startled gasps and yelps of surprise or possibly outrage, but Chihiro paid them no mind as she continued running. Then she was back in the last room she had seen Kohaku. The room was far more crowded than it had been when he spoke with her but the important thing was that Kohaku was still sitting on his grand chair.

It was a long room to run across, he had plenty of time to see her before she got to him, but still all Kohaku managed to do was rise from his seat and stare as Chihiro ran at him full tilt. She hit his chest and wrapped her arms around him, "Oh Kohaku! You kept your promise, we did meet again!" She looked up at him with a brilliant smile spread across her face.

"Chihiro, you remember now?"

"Yes, yes! All that time I spent at the bathhouse, all those things I saw and did, I didn't think I would ever forget any of it. How could I?"

Kohaku wound his arms around Chihiro, wrapping her in a tight embrace as he leaned forward to touch foreheads with Chihiro. "Humans very rarely remember time spent in the spirit realm, it is simply the way of things. But now that you're back in the spirit realm your memories have been returned to you. I can't tell you how worried I was when you didn't recognize me."

"You've gotten much older since I saw you last."

Kohaku chuckled, "No, Yubaba cursed me to be a child when she imprisoned me. I simply returned to my true age after you freed me. But you've grown quite a bit older yourself."

Chihiro blushed then, realizing she and Kohaku must be making quite the scene. She glanced quickly around, relieved to see they were now completely alone. The other spirits must have decided to give them their privacy. "Have you been watching over me since I got back from Yubaba's?" Chihiro asked hesitantly while trying not to think of all the times she had gone swimming in the river.

"Of course! You did rescue me after all."

"And you rescued me when I was a baby, some would say my rescuing you was simply repaying a debt."

"But I wanted to watch over you, you're very dear to me. And I had the promise I made you as an excuse, though I wish we could have met again under different circumstances. I'm still quite annoyed at your village for what they did."

"Forgive them, they were scared and desperate. I'm alive and well, and here where I belong: with you. Are you really going to help them?"

"Yes, come let me show you." Kohaku stepped back and offered Chihiro his hand, she took it and together they ran hand-in-hand out of their mansion and up into the air.

Once upon a time in a village nestled up to a river as it swiftly ran its course down a mountain side, there was a great drought that lasted for several years. Fortunately for the poor villagers there lived in their little town an extraordinary young woman who had seen and done wondrous things. If you go to the village and ask the people there about it they'll tell you the story with glee and perhaps a bit of exaggeration. When asked if they believe the story most of the villagers will say the events are factual and did happen, but how much they believe in what happened after is up for debate. Some argue that Chihiro drowned when she jumped from the bridge.

"Walked off, you mean," someone would remind them.

"Same difference. But I saw her ghost by the river one night! Soaked through and choked with river weed-"

"The Kohaku river doesn't grow any river weed, it runs too swiftly."

"And just waiting for someone to come along to drown out of revenge for the wrong our ancestors did her."

Other believe that when she fell into the river she wasn't drowned, but saved by the very spirit she had been sacrificed to. "Why else would the river have suddenly bloated to nearly overflowing its banks the next day?"

"Probably something blocking it upstream finally gave away. Some creature's dam or a chunk of ice up the mountain finally melting."

"And then the rainy season starting early and finally coming down in full force after three years of barely spitting on us?"

"Well, the drought had to end some time, didn't it?"

"The timing is too coincidental, that wasn't her ghost ol' man Maeda saw but the real deal."

"Soaked and covered in river weed?"

"No, of course not. He just saw her and imagined what he wanted to see, then the old coward just ran away without really looking."

But among the villagers is a small group of people who know a very different story. A group of people who never give a second thought to shedding clothes and going for a swim no matter how swollen or swiftly the river runs, who dance over the rocks of the rapids when going to the nearest bridge is just too far, who never fear wading out past the shallows when collecting water from the river but always with a prayer of petition and gratitude. The Ogino family is well known in the village and though Chihiro's sacrifice has faded into legend her family is still powerful, and strange, and held in high regard.

If you ever find yourself in this tiny, provincial village and decide to visit the Ogino residence you will be welcomed in for a treat and some lovely tea. If you ask they may even tell you the famed story of their auntie, as told by the rest of the village with perhaps an added flourish here or there. But if you ask the right questions of the right family members you may hear something far better than a musty old legend.

"The Tachibana family? They left a few generations ago, couldn't stand stand living next to the river any longer. The head of the Ogino family at the time went with them, loyalty and all that. Last we heard the Tachibanas are living in the royal city and uncle is living with the main Ogino family branch again."

"Your family still serve under the man who ordered your aunt's death?" You might ask, perhaps the best question you could ask.

"Oh no, Auntie didn't die at all." If you are lucky one or another of the Ogino family will tell you Chihiro's story as they know it rather than as the rest of the village tells it. If you are truly lucky the family will instead continue to gossip: "Sometimes she still comes to visit us and brings her husband and children with her. They're much better swimmers than the rest of us but we're still a match for them on land."

"Uncle Kohaku is still mad at the Tachibana family, he put a curse on them for trying to drown Aunty. That's why they left, you know. Thought they could get away from it."

"I heard Aunty ask him when he was going to lift it." This interjection is met with many oohs and aahs as several of the young folk ask how Uncle Kohaku responded. "He said the power no longer lay with him, that he blessed the Oginos that went with the Tachibanas and it's up to them to lift their curse. Aunty was a bit exasperated with Uncle Kohaku for that, but then they smiled at each other the way they do whenever they forget the rest of us are there." The younger Oginos all share nods and knowing smiles amongst themselves, like they are familiar with this common occurrence.

In short: the extraordinary young woman and her devoted river god lived happily ever after.

The end.

And there we are! Thank you everyone who's read, and a special thank you to everyone who's reviewed. I would also like to give a special thank you to Catsafari for proofreading this story and being a sounding board while I babbled on about this idea or that. This has been an experiment in "show not tell" to see how little information I need to give to have a clear story be presented and I hope a successful one.

I also want to give a shout out to velvet-sometimes and their story Hyakki Yagyo. It's another Bride of the Water God like fic for Spirited Away and it's very well written. I didn't realize how much inspiration I had taken from that fic until after I had everything for this fic written. I recommend you go read Hyakki Yagyo and perhaps while at their page you could browse more of velvet's works. I know Avian Affinity is one of my favorites.