I have a little note at the end, go read it!

Disclaimer: I do not own Spirited Away

It was a week before Chihiro could get out of bed without fainting, and even then, she could only stand for a few moments at a time. No face had showed up a couple days after Chihiro woke up - he had been away running a chore for Zeniba, and was overjoyed when he saw Chihiro there, he seemed to have missed her as much as she had missed him. The food Zeniba made seemed to get more and more delicious every day and Chihiro had a suspicion that Zeniba was doing it on purpose, but it was working. She wouldn't be able to stay there much longer, but she didn't want to leave.

Part of her felt at home with the spirits, like she belonged there. She knew she didn't, she was human after all, but the feeling didn't go away. It was like her family was whole again, something she hadn't felt ever since her mother died and her father changed. She tried to shrug off this feeling, it was just nostalgia and would go away, but the others were making it difficult.

Haku made it the hardest. He never left Chihiro's side, not even to go back to the bath house to let everyone know he was fine. It was comforting at first, but soon put Chihiro on edge. It's not like she hated it, she honestly really enjoyed talking with him properly again, and she felt feelings other than friendship flare up.

The feelings that quickly grew didn't hide her growing anxieties, however. He hadn't mentioned her leaving since she woke up, but she knew what they were both thinking. When she left again, her memories would be wiped. Everyone knew it, but nobody was saying it. Nobody wanted to admit the truth, and it killed her inside. She found herself unable to sleep at night, exhaustion growing everyday. At first all she wanted to do was go home, but was that what she really wanted now?

What she wanted didn't matter. All day, every day, she reminded herself that she was human, she didn't belong in this world. So, she began asking Zeniba for pieces of paper and a pen, and although she didn't think anyone noticed, she began writing notes to herself. She wrote about her friends in the spirit world. She wrote about Nomura and the two horse spirits in the mountain. She wrote about Haku.

She swore that she would stop pretending the spirit world was real.

She swore never to go to the river again.

Two weeks passed since she woke up. She said her goodbyes to Zeniba and no face, saying 'she would see them again', even though she knew that was a lie. Haku had already taken Lin and Aogaeru back to the bath house a few days earlier, and he and Chihiro had spent some time alone. Nothing had really come of the time alone, they mostly spent it in silence, simply thinking about what would happen now. Chihiro had no idea what he was thinking as he stared at seemingly nothing in the distance, but she had an idea.

Even Yubaba greeted Chihiro warmly when she got back to the bath house. A few more days were spent there, and Chihiro barely saw Haku. He was busy 'working', but she knew better. He was avoiding her, trying to avoid when she would have to leave. Eventually she gave up and left the bath house herself.

It was a hot afternoon, she was wearing the jeans and t-shirt she had been wearing when she got there - she was sweating like a pig. Most of the spirits were gone and sleeping, so she was able to slip out without being took her time walking down the path through the festival grounds. Birds sand and danced in the blue sky above, very few clouds dotted the sky.

Chihiro closed her eyes and let her mind drift and she walked, a sudden cool breeze causing her hair to fly. Before she knew it, she could hear the gurgling of a small stream. She opened her eyes to find herself standing before the steps down to a rocky stream. She could see the large wooden doors of the train station in the distance, and she let out out a small sigh.

Another cool breeze, she felt the presence of someone else. Glancing to her side she saw Haku. He was as silent and stoic as ever, and the fluttering in her chest quickly turn to sorrow. Silently he glanced at her and she nodded, it was time to go. She began walking down the steps and she heard him follow her. He had never gone this close to the doorway before, and she felt hope in her chest.

They remained quiet as they crossed the field, only stopping when they reached the large doors."Chihiro." The woman hesitated, turning to him, hope burning in her chest. Sharp emerald eyes stared into soft caramel ones, staring for what felt like forever.

Suddenly, emerald eyes closed and Chihiro felt a surge of warmth on her lips. How long had she been waiting for this, she wondered. The kiss quickly turned passionate, filled with emotions of sorrow and longing. They split eventually, both seemingly out of breath. They stared at each other for another moment, before Haku leaned in again. One more kiss, so much softer and gentler than the previous one.

It suddenly ended, as Chihiro felt a rush of cold air and the sensation of falling backwards. She landed on cold, hard stone. She quickly realized he had pushed her into the building, and she scrambled onto her knees, reaching toward him. He looked so sad, how could he look like that? How could he be so cruel? The doors began closing and Chihiro screamed, "NO!" Tears poured down her cheeks in waves/

It was too late. The doors closed, and Chihiro's mind blanked. Confused, she looked around the dark building, what was she doing here? Why was she crying? Shaking her head, she stood up, brushed off her filthy pants, and began making her way to the faint light of the exit. She must have been sleep walking. Yeah, that was it, sleep walking.

Chihiro had found the notes she wrote herself a few days later, furthering her confusion, she must have had one crazy dream to write all that, but she brushed it off. For whatever reason, the writings told her to stop painting and stop visiting the Kohaku River. She didn't stop painting, she got a lot of money from those, but she did stop visiting the river. It was fuzzy, but she remembered someone attacking her there, and it wasn't pleasant.

Her father had been in a complete panic when she had returned home and acted as if she had been gone weeks, he had even called the police and filed a missing person's report. This confused her greatly, where had she been? She couldn't remember being anywhere, although it was strange she had woken up in that train station. She decided it was best to avoid it as well.

A year passed and her popularity as a painter boomed. She was featured in several art galleries across the country, and her paintings of the spirit world were extremely well known, even among the most popular and famous artists. She had decided to try out writing novels too, and the first one was selling very well so far. She still worked odd jobs just to keep a regular income, but she didn't really need to anymore.

Life was good, she was no longer feeling like she was missing something. She finally felt whole, like she was alive again. Her father seemed to improve as well, he was starting to work less and become healthier. Life was improving and moving on.

One spring morning, Chihiro woke up just before dawn. It was odd for her to wake up at sunrise, let alone before it. Despite that, she couldn't for the life of her get back to sleep, so she decided to get up and make coffee. She was still living in the same house with her father, she loved that house despite some sad memories. Coffee in hand, she made her way outside onto the porch to see if she could catch the sunrise.

It was gorgeous as the sky turned pink and lighter shades of blue, she almost missed the glint of something shiny on the grass in the far corner of the yard, near they're little fish pond. Curiousity piqued, she made her way into the yard. Crouching, she picked up the object and examined it. A strange looking green rock, maybe even an emerald, considering how glossy and shiny it was. How did it end up in the yard?

Thinking to herself, she continued examining the rock as she made her way inside. Going back into the kitchen, she put her coffee down and leaned against the counter, still looking at the strangely carved rock. She felt a pang in her chest, almost like something was stabbing her.

The doorbell rang and she shook the thought away, moving to put on a robe - since she was still in very light pjs, and moved towards the door. The figure outside was almost scarily tall, and she hesitated for a moment. No, his height wasn't the thing that made her hesitate, so what was it? Snap out of it!

She forced herself to open the door. She felt like the wind was knocked out of her, and she collapsed onto the floor, her eyes wide and her mouth agape. The green rock fell out of her hand and slid across the wooden floor. Emerald eyes followed her descent before quickly leveling with her as the figure crouched before helping her up again. She wasn't sure what had her so freaked out, maybe it was the strangely coloured hair and the even stranger haircut, but she felt like she had seen a ghost.

He smiled a little, and she felt like she recognized that smile. "I still haven't told you why you were attacked a year ago."

She knew that voice. Haku.

Tears fell down her cheeks and she collapsed again, this time into his chest. "You're cruel, Haku."

His voice sounded so sad as he held her tightly, "I know. I missed you too."

Bittersweet endings, amiright?

Hello everyone!

Thank you so so much for sticking around throughout this story. I know I've been very inconsistent with updating and honestly I'm surprised anyone followed all the updates at all.

Don't go just yet! I'm really enjoying writing fanfics, especially for Spirited Away (despite my sucky update times) and I want to play with themes a bit. I have an idea for another Spirited away fic that takes place in a high school, so it's a decent change of setting compared to this one. might be a bit before I start writing it, but if you're curious, go ahead and follow me! ^_^

Goodbye for now!