20 Questions, a spirited away fanfic

Hello! So... this is my first Spirited Away fanfic ever. Well, my first attempt of a fanfic. I hope you like it. But first, I'm going to make a few points about this fanfic, just to make my decisions clear.

First of all, in this fanfic Chihiro doesn't remember anything about her visit to the Spirit World. Miyazaki himself stated that Chihiro, at the end of the film, does not remember what happened to her in the Spirit World. The English version of the film adds a line indicating that Chihiro has come away from her adventure a better person. At the beginning of the film, Chihiro's pessimistic viewpoint was expressed:

Chihiro's Father: Look, Chihiro! There's your new school!

Chihiro's Mother: It doesn't look so bad.

Chihiro: It's gonna stink. I liked my old school.

At the end of the English dubbed version, Chihiro is asked again what she thinks of her new school:

Chihiro's Father: A new town and a new school — it is a bit scary.

Chihiro: I think I can handle it.

The original film simply ends with Chihiro's father asking her to hurry back to the car. This created confusion, making people believe Chihiro remembered something. But she doesn't, so I simply wrote down my story thinking about what Miyazaki said.

Secondly, about Chihiro and Sen. There seemed to be some mistakes. The original title of the movie was "Sen to Chihiro no Kamikakushi", literally "Sen and Chihiro's Spiriting Away". This tells you that, from the beginning, Chihiro and Sen are already the same person (the title for the English version, Spirited Away, doesn't give this idea). Sen is already inside Chihiro. The time Chihiro spends at the bathhouse is the time where Sen (which is the part of Chihiro which is hard-working, mature and strong) is brought to the surface. At the end, when Chihiro leaves the bathhouse, she has become a mixture between her old self and the part of her personality which was hidden much deeper. But, since the start, both of them were the same person.

Thirdly, about the characters in this story. I was too lazy to make OCS, so I just "borrowed" some characters from other animes and mangas I had seen or read before. Sakura Haruno and Sasuke Uchiha belong to Kishimoto's Naruto. Tomoyo Daidoji and Eriol Hiiragizawa belong to CLAMP's Card Captor Sakura and Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle. Rukia Kuchiki and Ichigo Kurosaki belong to Kubo's Bleach. And Eve (Vollfied isn't her real surname), Sven Vollfied, Train Heartnet and Rinslet Walker belong to Yabuki's Black Cat (awesome manga and anime! You really should watch it).

The song isn't mine either, it's Bruce Springsteen's.

And, finally, I added Haku as a main character even if he doesn't really appear that much in this fanfic. It was just because this is a ChiHaku (mild) fanfic, and he does appear in some flashbacks and the last scene.

Anyway, here's the story!

It was a special day.

It had been 6 years since Chihiro and her family moved to the new town, and into the blue house on top of the hill.

Chihiro's life was perfectly normal. She went to school, had friends, and lived happily. Her grades weren't the best of the world, but she certainly studied and passed everything. Her parents loved her (and she loved them in return), and she didn't have to worry about anything related to money or health.

Her life wasn't like the ones she read in books; full of mysteries, secret powers and adventures. That didn't mean her life was boring. She was happy, and she couldn't picture herself living a different life from the one she already lived. It wasn't perfect either. But she liked it. Some nights, when she was in bed, she couldn't help but to feel her life was missing something, as if though she had forgotten something important. But, when she felt like this, she grabbed the hair tie which was on her bedside, and she felt better. It somehow soothed her.

But, like every other person's, her life had some mysteries. Probably, the greatest mystery was the strange incidents which happened while they were moving to the house they lived in now.

Chihiro remembered that her father got lost (again), and she and her parents had taken a route which didn't lead them to their house, and they ended up in front of a strange tunnel.

She hadn't wanted to go in, because the tunnel gave her a weird feeling. But her parents had gone in anyway, so she had followed them. The statue she was standing by gave her the creeps.

She remembered being scared, and holding her mother's arm while she walked into the darkness. They ended up in an abandoned theme park. However, she didn't recall what had happened there. Her next memory was walking out of that tunnel, still grabbing her mother's arm. When they arrived to the place where their car was, they found it covered by leafs and dust. Her parent's hadn't given it much importance. So they just turned around and headed to their new home, this time taking the route they were supposed to have taken in first place.

As soon as they had arrived, they found that all the boxes with their belongings were already inside the house. And everything was covered by the lightest cape of dust. But there was no one. Her parents thought it was weird. Wasn't the moving van supposed to arrive about an hour later than them? They surely hadn't spent that much time inside the tunnel. Everything looked as if though it had been there for a few days.

Her father hadn't bought the newspaper that day, so he suggested for the family to go and have a walk around the village. That way, they could get to know where all the shops and places were. Not very far away from their house, they found a convenience store. Her father had bought the paper, humming happily, while her mother looked at some magazines. Chihiro just looked around the shop. It was so cramped. Her father was in a good mood. However, his expression changed totally as soon as he saw the date which was written on top of the first page.

"What the hell!" he shouted, his eyes wide open.

The few people who were in the store seemed scared at this sudden outburst. A little boy who was walking by began crying. Chihiro and Yuuko were extremely embarrassed. But when Akio showed them the date on the newspaper, they were shocked too. Three days had past since the day they had moved out, which was the same day they had moved in. Meaning three days had passed since that morning! Akio asked the shopkeeper (who was reluctant to answer after Akio's previous show) if the date on the newspaper was correct. He said it was.

Chihiro and her parents never solved the mystery. They received some calls from relatives, asking them why they had been detached for three whole days. Chihiro's father made up a very credible excuse. He said their phones had ran out of batteries and they couldn't find the chargers in the middle of the mess. But the family was still surprised. Yes, they had gone into the tunnel, but they surely couldn't have spent three days inside. None of the three remembered exactly what happened. Had they dozed off? Maybe. Well, it was an unknown mystery.

But what surprised Chihiro the most happened that evening. When she was about to go to bed (they were sleeping in futons since her bed hadn't really been set up yet) and she let her hair hang loose, she found that, instead of her normal hair tie, a shiny violet one was on her hand. She took a liking to it immediately. She didn't know why, but it was somehow special to her. She decided not to tell her parents about it. Chihiro never used another hair tie since that day.

Another of the incidents, which wasn't as striking as the others, but equally surprising, was the change in Chihiro's personality. She didn't complain about everything anymore. She was much more collaborative, especially in anything which had to do with house work. While they were unpacking things, instead of being a nuisance as she usually would have been, and start saying things such as "I'm bored", she was the one who did the most. She ran around the house carrying things. She vacuumed, dusted, mopped (what her parents found weird was, that instead of using an actual mop, she ran with a cloth in her hands while scrubbing the floor), cleaned and unpacked.

But her behavior didn't change after having settled in. She helped whenever she could, and was very respectful to her parents. Akio and Yuuko were very pleasantly surprised. They didn't know what had happened during the time they were in the tunnel, but they somehow knew it had something to do with Chihiro's new way of being.

When she entered school, she made friends easily. She was cheerful, generous and lots of fun to be with. She kept her friends through elementary school and middle school. Now that she was in high school, she had the best friends she could have ever dreamt of. And, on top of it, she was popular. Since she had moved, she had changed physically as well as mentally. The features of her face had sharpened, taking away the childish round forms. She had also lost the red tint of her cheeks. But her eyes were still the same. They were the same color as always, dark, and full of light and happiness.

Chihiro didn't like very long hair. She thought it was pretty, but really unpractical and uncomfortable. She hadn't let her hair grow a lot since she moved, so she kept it the same length. Her body had grown. She was fairly short, standing 5'2" above the ground. She had already developed womanly curves (she was a bit disappointed about the size of her breasts, though. She thought her chest was rather small).

But that didn't keep boys away from her. A lot of boys had asked her out, but she had refused all of them. She told them there was already someone else. That wasn't true, but she always felt guilty when a boy asked her out, so she lied. She felt as if though she was waiting for someone, and when that someone came, she knew he'd be the man just for her.

The school bell rang. Finally! Chihiro jerked up from her chair (pretty much like everyone else), grabbed her math books, and started packing her stuff.

"Goodbye class." the math teacher said, while his students started to go out of the classroom. "Have a good weekend."

"Thank you, sensei." a few students answered, while walking out of the door.

Chihiro couldn't believe it. She was finally out! The math class had seemed to go on forever… who was the person who had planned the timetable? She'd surely kill him or her. Math on Friday's last period! It really wasn't the best way to begin the weekend. But she didn't care. Today was a special day. It had been exactly 6 years since she and her parents had moved into their actual house, so her mom had let her invite a few friends over for a sleepover. It was going to be so much fun!

She was ready to go out when one of her best friends, Tomoyo Daidoji, caught up with her.

"Oof. Finally out," she said. "Are we going yet? Let's go meet the others! Yay, today's going to be great!"

Chihiro grinned. Tomoyo was one of the four girls (her four best friends) who were going to the sleepover. She was the most childish one, always daydreaming and drawing funny sketches on her books. She was impatient and extravagant, and also extremely naïve. But that didn't mean she was stupid. Indeed, she was intelligent. And beautiful. She had long dark blue hair, which she usually let down, and matching dark blue eyes. She was tall and slim, and some boys had tried to ask her on dates, but she turned them all down. She already had a boyfriend. Eriol Hiiragizawa lived in London, but she talked to him on the phone whenever she could, and he came to see her every now and then. They were childhood friends, but before he moved away, they had confessed to each other.

Her family was small, just her mother and her. Her father had abandoned them when he had known her mother was pregnant. But they managed to survive. Now, her mother was the owner of one of the most important toy corporations of the moment, Daidoji Toys Co.

Her mother adored Tomoyo, so therefore Tomoyo always had the latest and coolest stuff: phones, consoles, toys… but Tomoyo's favorite possession was her camera, which she never left home without. She recorded lots of things, especially her friends. Whenever there was a sleepover, a rendezvous or a party, Tomoyo would be there, camera in hand, recording everything. Afterwards, she and her friends would watch the videos and laugh at themselves. She wanted to be a cinema director when she grew up, instead of taking family business.

"So, let's go! We'll meet them outside." Chihiro grabbed her bag pack, and headed out of the classroom with Tomoyo, chatting about their plans for the day.

They walked out of the building, and they saw the three other girls waiting for them at the gateway.

"Finally!" Sakura practically screamed when they arrived. "It took you ages!"

Sakura Haruno was probably the person with the weirdest hair Chihiro had ever known. Who in the world had pink hair? Well, Sakura did. It was natural; she had never dyed it. She also had big, green eyes, which gave her a rather odd appearance. She kept her hair short and usually out of the way with a hair band. She had a large forehead, but no one teased her about it. That was simply because Sakura attended karate classes. If you got her mad, you could end up being punched (her punches were famous around the school) in the face, and if you got her extremely mad, you would end up being taken to the hospital. Her strength was enormous.

Sakura's parents both worked in a hospital. Her father directed one, and her mother was a doctor in the same one. They had started going out without knowing that they actually worked in the same hospital! Yes, it was weird. Having practically grown up surrounded by nurses and medics, Sakura's devotion was clear: she wanted to become a doctor one day. She was very smart, and she could do it. Her boyfriend, Sasuke Uchiha, was very protective, so he was glad she had chosen a profession which didn't involve taking too many risks.

"Well, it wasn't our fault we had Math! The classroom is in the other side of the school!" Tomoyo answered.

"Besides, we hadn't been waiting for very long." Rukia said. "Just a few minutes."

Rukia Kuchiki must've been a boy in her other life. She was just like one: she had boyish manners (though she wasn't rude at all), and she wasn't very feminine. She had black hair which was cut neither long or short. She would usually wear it down, claiming to loose all the hair ties that fell in her hands (unlike Chihiro). Her eyes were black, too, and held a glint of stubbornness in them. She was very short: she was just 5", but, like Sakura, no one made any comments. That was because she attended the karate club, too. She had got to know Sakura there, and they became friends instantly. Unlike Sakura, Rukia was extremely good at kicking.

The only person who dared to tease her about her shortness was her best male friend, Ichigo Kurosaki. They'd argue over the stupidest things, and always ended up insulting each other. They were best mates / worst enemies. But everyone knew they were made for each other, except for themselves, of course. They liked each other, even if they didn't realize it. Rukia's friends were currently thinking of a way for them to end up together.

Rukia's family owned the most important juice company in the whole of Japan, Seireitei Inc. Whatever store you went to, you'd see Seireitei juice boxes all over the place. Rukia's home was full of them, and she'd always bring them over for lunch.

"No need to snap like that, Rukia." said Chihiro. "We all know having Japanese or Math last period on Friday is a killer."

"Damn straight," she answered.

"Yeah," was Sakura's reply.

Tomoyo and Eve just nodded.

Okay, Sakura had weird hair, and Rukia's behavior was weird, but Eve Vollfied was definitely the weirdest person Chihiro had ever known. She had very long blond hair, which nearly touched the floor, and reddish eyes. She enjoyed experimenting with her hair, so she would always go to school with weird hairstyles. She was the smartest person Chihiro knew (and the one who had read the most books), but she was quite shy and didn't speak very much. But once you got to know her, you knew she was always the first one who came up with good ideas and funny plans.

Her family was also very weird. She was an adopted child, and her adoptive father, Sven Vollfied, was a police officer. They also lived with a guy named Train Heartnet, who was like Eve's brother, and a girl called Rinslet Walker, who no one knew what she exactly did in the house, not even herself. One of the times they had gone over to Eve's house, they had found Sven on the floor, Rinslet over him holding a pan (that explained Sven's bump in the head) and Train holding a poster which said "Go, Rins!" and no one knew where he had taken it from. But Eve had assured them they had nothing to worry about, because that was what they normally did.

Eve had fallen head over heels in love with a boy named Leon Elliot, who was one of the school's troublemakers. He loved skating, and Eve would go every weekend to the park and pretend to be reading just to watch him in the distance while he practiced.

"Well, when are we leaving?" the impatient Tomoyo asked.

"Let's go!"

And so they headed for the first place where they would spend their great afternoon. It was the girls' favorite place, and the guys' most dreaded one. As you should have guessed, they were heading towards the shopping mall.

"Oh, look at that!" Tomoyo squeaked.

All of her friends nodded in approval. It was certainly a cute dress.

"Let's go try on clothes!"

The five of them went into the shop. All of them had money to spend, because certainly none of their families had money problems. In fact, all of them had quite generous pays. They looked all over the place to see what they could buy.

"Hey, check this skirt out!"

"Look how pretty!"

"Wow! That shirt must be mine."

Chihiro tried on a few tank tops, and Eve looked at a few jumpers while the other girls struggled while trying to get Rukia into a skirt. Tomoyo ended up buying the dress she had seen in first place, Chihiro got a few shirts and Sakura got a pair of jeans which she described as "perfect".

They spent nearly the whole afternoon inside the mall. Besides checking numerous clothing stores, they also went to the bookstore (Eve wanted to buy a book), the jewelry shop and the costume shop, where they tried on all sorts of masks, hats and wigs. They were laughing so much that they were nearly kicked out of the shop.

Two hours after going inside the mall, the five girls emerged from it, each of them carrying at least a bag.

They got to Chihiro's home quite early, so her parents weren't home yet. They all went up to her room, left their bags in a corner, and sat either on the bed or the floor. They started brainstorming about what they could do next.

"Pillow fight?" proposed Sakura.

"That's for later." answered Rukia. "Let's wait until we are in our pajamas."

"I know! Let's have a singing contest!" exclaimed Tomoyo.

All the others agreed. Chihiro had a TV in her bedroom, and she also had a Play Station 2. For one of her birthdays, she had been given as a present a game called Singstar. She enjoyed it enormously, so over the years, she had collected quite a few titles. She set everything up and the contest began.

Nearly an hour later, Chihiro's mom peeked into the room. She found Eve and Sakura singing (Eve was winning by quite a few points), and the three others cheering. Tomoyo was recording everything. She waited for the song to finish until she made herself noticeable.

"Hello girls!"

"Good afternoon, Miss Ogino!" they said all in unison, except for Chihiro who muttered a "Hi mom".

"No need to be so formal! Just call me Yuuko." She smiled. "By the way, will you be having supper soon?"

"Oh yeah, that's right! Mum, can we order pizza? Pleaaaaaase?" Chihiro gave her mother the puppy eyes.

"Fine," said Yuuko. "But don't make a mess. If you do, I'll have you five clean the whole thing up." Her eyes told she was saying the truth.

"Of course, Mom!"

"Thank you, Yuuko-san."

So they started debating on what kind of pizzas they wanted. They decided to ask for 3 big ones. Chihiro refused to eat anything which contained pork (another weird thing which had happened to her and her parents after moving), and Rukia insisted for it to have double cheese. When they finally agreed, they phoned. Each time they ordered pizza, a different girl had to phone. Last time was Tomoyo's turn, so now Sakura had to phone.

"Um, hello? Yeah, I'd like to order pizza. No, 3 pizzas. What? No, I don't want any weird packs or anything. So let's see…"

When the order was made (Sakura made sure they didn't bring any special offers), they changed into their pajamas. Only by looking at them, you could tell how different the girls were. Chihiro was wearing a green tank top, with matching green shorts. Sakura wore a pink nightdress, short-sleeved, which was tight and went to the middle of her thigh. Rukia's pajama consisted of a white t-shirt with long, loose black pants. Tomoyo wore a purple nightdress, which flowed neatly to her feet, and Eve wore a blue long-sleeved shirt with the picture of a black cat and matching long pants, where little mice could be seen running around.

While they were waiting for the pizza to come, they started a pillow fight. Someone (who they'd later discover was Rukia) switched off the light, so they were fighting in the darkness.

"Waaaaaaaaaaaaar!" Chihiro screamed, while hitting an unknown person (Tomoyo) on the head with a pillow. The whole of thee room became a mess, with pillows flying around, only the light of the streetlamps which came from the window shining. Then, the door opened, and the five of them looked at the doorstep. There, an unknown figure could be seen, standing, projecting a huge shadow on the floor. On one hand it had something which looked like a box, and in the other hand, a very sharp shining knife could be distinguished.

"Kyaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!" all of the girls shouted in unison.

The light was switched on again. Yuuko was standing there, the boxes with pizzas in one hand, a knife in the other.

"What are you girls doing? I just brought the pizza. If you don't want it…"

"No, no!" said Chihiro. "You just scared us there."

Yuuko looked at them. Certainly, they seemed scared. But they looked so funny. Eve and Tomoyo were on the floor, in a wrestling-like position. Sakura was lying under the table, with her arms over her head. Rukia and Chihiro were on the bed, Chihiro's foot pressed on Rukia's face. She burst out laughing.

They ate most of the pizza. Tomoyo recorded them while eating, the cheese making threads from the pizza to their mouths. The pizza which was left over was kept, in case they were hungry later. Some time later, the girls were having their "spa session". With a lot of effort, they had convinced Rukia to paint her nails, and Eve to let them experiment with her hair. Now they were all talking and gossiping. Tomoyo, of course, didn't let go off her camera.

"Sooo… what are we doing next?" Chihiro asked.

"What about a scary movie?" Eve suggested.

"Nah, that's for midnight," Rukia answered.

"I know! I recently made this game up!" Sakura said. "Do you know 20 questions?"

"The game where you have to think of an object and the others have to guess it by asking you 20 questions?" Tomoyo asked.

"Yup, that one. Well, I made up my new game out of that one. It's called… surprise, surprise, 20 questions."

"Duh, how original," Rukia answered, sarcastically.

"Shut up! Want to hear it?"

"Yeah, sure. Go on." Chihiro replied.

"Okay. There is one answerer. The others are askers. So, as you will have guessed, the askers have to ask the answerer 20 questions. But not about an object. They have to ask questions about the answerer's personal life. So the askers start asking normal things, such as favorite color, movies and that kind of stuff. But as the questions progress, the askers get to ask the answerer more personal questions. Of course, before the game starts, the answerer has to swear to tell the truth. Want to play?"

Silence.

"But… basically, that's the same as asking questions." said Eve. "Just because you like to call it 20 questions, it doesn't mean you've made it up. Asking someone questions about themselves was invented quite a few millenniums ago."

"Okay, then." Sakura seemed angry. "I was just suggesting."

"Actually, I find it quite interesting!" Tomoyo squealed. "We can record it and then look at it! And that way, we get to ask personal questions about things we don't know… Our secret confessions... Will be kept forever!" Tomoyo's eyes glinted with malice.

"But we know everything about each other." said Rukia. "So what's the point?"

"Well, this way, we get to ask things we don't usually tell. We can record it, and then laugh at ourselves. We can also ask about anything, being sure that the person will only tell the truth! I think it will be lots of fun!" Chihiro had made her point.

"Well, if you find it so much fun, why don't you start answering?" said Rukia.

The whole room went silent. The only sounds which could be heard was the cars in the street outside, and Yuuko's footsteps downstairs.

"Ummm…" Chihiro looked around. All her friends were staring at her. Tomoyo was recording it on tape. She had no option. "Sure."

"Yay! Let's start!" Sakura was delighted. "But first, you have to promise you will tell the truth, the truth and nothing else but the truth. Do you promise?"

"I promise." Chihiro sounded solemn.

"Okay then. Who starts?" asked Eve.

"I know! We'll take it in turns. There are four of us (askers, of course), and twenty questions, so I guess each of us gets to ask 5 questions. May I start? Please? After all, it was my idea!" Sakura pleaded.

"Fine." was the reply from the other four.

"Okay, so here goes question number one. What is… your favorite food?"

"Duh, what kind of question is that?" asked Rukia. She was ignored.

"Shush! So…?" everyone was looking at Chihiro.

"Rice balls."

Haku handed me a rice ball.

"I put a spell on it, so it'll give you back your strength. Just eat it."

Haku placed the rice ball under my nose. I hadn't eaten anything since I had arrived to the Spirit World, which had been the day before, and I was really hungry. And it smelt really good. I just couldn't refuse it.

I took the rice ball from his hand and looked at it.

"It's all right. Haku wouldn't have poisoned it." I thought.

So I reluctantly bit into it. As soon it was in my mouth, I knew something. That was the best food I had ever had. Even if was just a rice ball, a simple one, it had been brought by Haku, and it tasted like a piece of heaven. I soon found myself eating hungrily.

"Just rice balls? Plain old boring rice balls?" Sakura seemed puzzled.

"Yeah, I don't know why, but I just love them!"

"Okay… who's going next?"

"Me, me!" Tomoyo raised the hand which she wasn't holding the camera with. "So Chihiro, here goes number two. If rice balls are your favorite food, what is your favorite drink?"

"Mineral water."

Four year old Chihiro stared into the water of the Kohaku River.

"Mommy, can I drink this water? It looks so clean!"

Her mother laughed. "I wouldn't do it. It looks clean, but it may have some dirt, so don't drink it."

Chihiro looked at her mom. She was deep into the conversation she was having with her dad, so she wasn't looking at her. Chihiro folded her small hands, cupped a bit of water and took a little sip. It actually wasn't bad. In fact, it was much better than the water which came out of the sink at home.

"Wow Chihiro, never guessed you'd stick to the healthiest stuff. After seeing how much pizza you had!" Rukia exclaimed.

"Hey!" Chihiro slapped her playfully in the arm. "Ask the next question then."

"Okay then… What is your favorite color?"

"Duh, what an obvious question. Look around the room!" Sakura said.

They all did. They saw light green walls, dark green blankets with matching green pillows (which were still scattered around the room after their previous fight), green carpet and even green teddy bears.

"Well, actually, my favorite color is green. But not this green you see around the room. More like a darker green, a deeper one, like the color of an emerald."

Chihiro looked at the train far below. She stared at it from the top of the bridge, until it got lost in the distance. When the train couldn't be seen anymore, she looked up. And she saw him.

He was a boy, a bit older than her. He wore some weird clothes, the kind that people of the Feudal times wore. He was handsome. His hair was cut in a weird style, very symmetric, and it was a dark-green nearly black color.

But his most striking feature was his eyes. They were a greenish color, a dark, deep one, resembling that of jade or emerald.

"Wow… beautiful…" she thought. "They are so pretty."

"Eve, your turn!" Tomoyo giggled.

"Okay. Ummm… so what is your favorite animal?"

"I know this may sound weird but actually… even if they are not really animals… I like dragons. Not the western ones, but more like the Chinese ones, long and elegant. They are a symbol of good luck, too"

I tied my hair with the hair tie Zeniba had just given me. Suddenly, the windows rattled.

"What good timing! We've got another guest! Will you let him in?" Granny asked.

"Sure." I answered.

I walked towards the door, confused. What kind of guest would've made the windows shake? I opened the door, cool air from the night hitting my face, and then I saw the most marvelous creature I'd ever seen.

A beautiful Chinese-like dragon, with white scales which shone in the moonlight, and an aquamarine mane was standing on its four feet outside the door. It looked fierce, yet gentle, strong, yet elegant. It was just… magnificent. I would've recognized him anywhere,

"Haku!" I screamed, while running to him.

"Dragons?"

"Yeah, like that one." She pointed towards her desk. The sculpture of a dragon could be seen there. I was white with a blue mane, long and thin. It was certainly as Chihiro had described her favorite ones were like.

"Wow… how beautiful!" Sakura exclaimed. "I hadn't noticed it before. Did you make it?"

"Yeah, a month or so ago. I had a weird dream, where a dragon appeared. So I tried to make a sculpture of it as carefully as I could."

"Weird dreams? Yeah, I've got tons of them. I remember once. I dreamt about a man with tatoos on his eyebrows, and very long swords, and black butterflies…" Rukia was rambling on and on.

"Okay Rukia, your time for answering will come later. Now let us ask Chihiro." Sakura said. She seemed to think. "Okay, talking about dreams… which is the weirdest, most incredible, happiest or most shocking dream you've ever had? I mean the one which has had the most impact on you."

"It's the one that dragin comes from. I have it sometimes… it's a dream which is always the same. I will find myself standing up, with all of paper around me, cut in weird shapes, and look around myself. The paper will fly out of the window. I will find a dragon wounded on the floor. There will be blood everywhere. The dragon will be there, standing in the middle of futons and broken wooden planks. Then, he will stand up and look at me and I will say his name, which I never remember when I wake up. Blood will come out of his mouth. I'll tell him he's bleeding, to hold still, and that the paper things are gone. Then, he'll just fly away through the open window, and I wake up."

Haku entered the room, breaking the door in the process. The birds continued to chase him, so I tried to close the windows. One of them did, but the other one was stuck. Suddenly, the birds got into the bathhouse. Most of them crashed against the glass, but some of them stuck on me.

"Mmmmm!" I tried to scream.

I ran around, trying to pull them off me while screaming. I covered my head with my hands, waiting for the worst… but nothing happened. I looked around, at the floor, and at my hands. And all I saw was… paper.

"Uh? It's just paper."

The paper bird-like creatures which were still intact rose to the air and flew away. The ones whose wings had been ripped off tried to fly, but they couldn't. When I was sure they had gone away, I tried to close the window, but I remembered there was something more urgent. I turned around, and I saw Haku. He was lying in the middle of the mess he had caused, futons, blood, wood and glass all around the room.

But the worst thing was definitely himself. He was covered with cuts and bruises, and blood came out of his mouth. He looked as if though he was in great pain.

"Haku… you're bleeding!"

He just looked at me with his piercing emerald eyes. He breathed heavily, and tried to smile, which just caused more blood to come out from his mouth.

"Hold still." I tried to comfort him. "Those paper things are gone now. You're going to be alright."

But he didn't seem to hear me. His smile just got bigger and he flew out of the window, leaving blood everywhere.

"Wow… that was definitely weird." Eve declared.

Everyone shook their heads in agreement.

"Okay, sixth question!" Tomoyo said happily, bouncing on the bed. The camera was dangerously close to falling to the floor. "So… what is you favorite sport?"

"Running." She answered. "Tomoyo, did you forget I belong to the track team in school? Anyways, I enjoy running. It makes me feel free, happy, as if though I'm... complete."

"Goodbye! Thank you!" I shouted towards the crowd who was cheering for me.

"Haku!" I said, while grabbing his hand. I wasn't sure if I had to call him Haku or Kohaku. But I decided for the first one. After all, it would sound weird for me to call him by his real name, even if it was me who had discovered it. But again, he would always be Haku to me.

"Let's go!" he said.

We ran together, holding hands. I felt happy. I could go back home. Home… but where were my parents?

"Where are my mom and dad?" I asked.

"When you passed the test, they woke up on the human side of the river. They're there now. They're looking for you."

As I ran through the streets of the city, I realized something. Haku was holding my hand. We were running together to a free tomorrow, unlike the first time, when we were running away from danger. I was with him, and nothing bad could happen now. So I wished. If that was to happen every time I ran, I wished I could continue running forever.

"Wow… how deep." Rukia commented. "Anyways, here goes the seventh one. What is your favorite place of the world?"

"Well… my favorite place in the world was the Kohaku River. It was the most beautiful place I had ever seen. Its banks were green and full of animals, and it carried really clean water. I used to go there a lot when I was a kid. My mom would make lunch, and we'd have a picnic there. But then, the river was drained, and they made houses where it used to be. But that is still my favorite place, you know."

Four year old Chihiro chased a dragonfly along the bank of the Kohaku River. It was way ahead of her.

"It's so pretty!" she exclaimed, looking as it flew far away from her. But everything in that place was pretty. The flowers, the animals, the sky… even the river seemed pretty by itself.

Even if she was just four years old, Chihiro felt like doing something. Something to thank the river for all the beauty he brought to that place. So she bowed, and said:

"Thank you, Mr. Kohaku, for giving us the chance to see so many pretty things. This is the most beautiful place on earth."

"Chihiro… rivers can never be completely destroyed. Their course can be changed, but never completely eliminated. Maybe they did a bypass, or it flows underneath the buildings, but the river can't have been destroyed completely." Eve smartly deducted.

"That's right… I guess I'll go and look for it some day. Will you girls come with me?"

"Sure!" the four of them answered at the same time. Chihiro really felt like hugging them. They were such good friends!

"Eight. So let's see... Oh, I got it. If dragons are your favorite animals, then your least favorite animals are…" Eve asked.

"Slugs. They are so… disgusting!"

I put the thing the River Spirit gave me in his mouth, after I had chewed it, and forced Haku to swallow it. I somehow knew it would cure him. But he didn't have the same idea. He started to fight, trying to pull me off him so he didn't have to eat it.

"No wonder he doesn't want to eat it. It tastes so disgusting…" I thought. But he had to!

His tail crashed against the floor and walls. I didn't think I would be able of holding him for much longer. But his mouth was suddenly full, and he spit out something disgusting. He stopped struggling.

"Sen, look there!" Kamaji told me.

I looked at the object which had come out of Haku's mouth. It was covered in black mud.

"Eeeeeew, no wonder he was in so much pain," I thought.

The black mud seemed to disappear, leaving only a golden seal and a slug. A black slug.

"The gold seal!" I recognized it, and grabbed it.

"Get that slug over there! Get it, get it, get it!" Kamaji seemed nervous. I briefly wondered if he was afraid of , if he had once been a spider, he could be frightened of them. But it wasn't like it mattered very much. This was the slug which was causing Haku so much pain, so we had to catch it quickly. I hated the slug just for doing that to Haku.

I chased the slug. It tried to go into the holes where the soot balls lived, but they didn't let it inside. So it turned around, and ran towards me. It started to climb my legs, so I guessed it wanted to get into me for protection. So I just tried to kick it off. I accidentally stepped on it, so it popped, leaving my whole foot covered in black mud.

"EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW!!" was the only thing my mind was screaming. I knew I was going to hate slugs from that day on, even more than what I already did.

"I agree. Slugs are certainly very disgusting." Sakura declared. "So now… wait, let me think... ah, I know. What is your favorite song?"

"I love "The River", by Bruce Springsteen."

"You only like things about rivers?" Rukia seemed puzzled.

"Well, I guess I like it partly because of that, and partly because of the lyrics. It's really a love story… a sad one, but a love story anyway."

I come from down in the valley

Where mister, when you're young

They bring you up to do like your daddy done

Me and Mary we met in high school

When she was just seventeen

We'd drive out of this valley down to where the fields were green

We'd go down to the river

And into the river we'd dive

Oh down to the river we'd ride

Then I got Mary pregnant

And, man, that was all she wrote

And for my 19th birthday I got a union card and a wedding coat

We went down to the courthouse

And the judge put it all to rest

No wedding day smiles, no walk down the aisle

No flowers, no wedding dress

That night we went down to the river

And into the river we'd dive

Oh down to the river we did ride

I got a job working construction for the Johnstown Company

But lately there ain't been much work on account of the economy

Now all them things that seemed so important

Well mister they vanished right into the air

Now I just act like I don't remember

Mary acts like she don't care

But I remember us riding in my brother's car

Her body tan and wet down at the reservoir

At night on them banks I'd lie awake

And pull her close just to feel each breath she'd take

Now those memories come back to haunt me

They haunt me like a curse

Is a dream a lie if it don't come true

Or is it something worse,

that sends me

Down to the river

though I know the river is dry

That sends me down to the river tonight

Down to the river

My baby and I

Oh down to the river we ride

"Girl, you've got a serious problem there. You're so obsessed with rivers. Anyways, what's so special about them?"

"I've got no clue." Chihiro answered, honestly. "I really like them."

"Okay, we're halfway through this round. Tenth question! What is the thing which scares you the most?" Tomoyo was filming Chihiro's face. Chihiro's expression suddenly turned unreadable.

"I'm really afraid of blood."

I looked at my hands. They were covered in blood. But sadly, it wasn't my blood. If that had saved him some suffering, I wished it could've been mine. But it was his. It was Haku's. He was dying. Dying, because I hadn't been able to get to him quickly enough to save him.

Blood. Not only in my hands, but everywhere in the room. And it was my fault. I felt scared. More scared than ever. I was more scared than when I found out my parents were pigs. I was more scared than when I breathed while crossing the bridge. Hell, I was even more scared than when I nearly drowned, even if I couldn't exactly remember. I was scared that he might die. Because of me.

But my vision was stained with crimson red. There was blood everywhere…

"We're all afraid of blood!" Sakura exclaimed.

"Then, how are you going to become a doctor?" Eve muttered, darkly.

"Oh, that's right." Sakura seemed deep in thought. "Guess I'll have to think of something."

"Rukia, your turn." Chihiro said.

"Okay. What is your favorite time of the day?"

"I love the night. Especially the hours when the sun is about to come out, and the stars start to disappear."

If anyone from the human world had seen me right then, they would've surely thought it was a dream. Even I couldn't believe it. I was flying on a dragon! But not just any dragon. I was currently on Haku's back.

Flying on a dragon was nothing like flying on a plane. It was… incredible. Marvelous. I don't think there is any word which can describe how it feels like. It was the most magical experience I had ever had. The first time I flew on Haku was different. He was nearly dying, and we had to save ourselves. He was frantic then, trying to look for an escape. He flied at a really high speed, causing me to nearly fall off. I couldn't enjoy the trip at all.

But this time was different. He was flying slowly (at least compared to the speed he was flying at before), steadily, being careful not to drop me. It felt great.

I decided to take a look at my surroundings. We were flying high, above the clouds. Fluffy white cotton could be seen everywhere, reflecting the moonlight. There weren't many stars. I guessed that was because it was very late into the night, and it wouldn't be more than a couple of hours before the Sun raised. However, the moon shined brightly, making the surface of the Spirit World glow, as if though it had its own light. Then, I somehow knew I would treasure this moment forever.

"Okay girls, this is getting a bit monotonous. Aren't we going into the more "interesting" questions yet?"

Everyone in the room stared at Sakura, who was smiling sheepishly. Couldn't she be a bit more discrete?

"Okay, let's try." Eve was silent for a couple of seconds. "What are your favorite clothes?"

"Duh, you find that interesting? I didn't mean that kind of question!" Sakura exclaimed.

"We all know what you meant." Rukia sarcastically answered.

"I guess my favorite clothes are the ones I was wearing while I moved here. I was ten around then, but the shirt was really big, so it still big enough for me to wear now. It's white and green. The shorts I was wearing were a dark pink, kind of a red color, but they don't fit anymore, so I bought them in a bigger size. They aren't the same, but I love them anyways."

I couldn't bear it. Pigs. My parents had been turned into pigs, for God's sake. I just sat there, head between my knees, refusing to believe it. I could somehow sense Haku. He was standing right beside me. It made me feel a little better, even if it was only a tiny bit.

"Here are your clothes. Hide them."

I looked at the thing he was handing me. I recognized it immediately. They were my clothes! My shirt and shorts! I grabbed them and pressed them against my chest.

"I thought they'd been thrown away." Well, I actually knew they had been thrown away. Lin had told me. So why had he bothered to get them? I was about to ask him that, when he spoke.

"You'll need them to get home." He said, as of though he had read my thoughts. I decided not to bring up the subject again. I held them tightly, feeling the familiar touch. But one thought occupied my mind.

Haku had actually bothered to bring them, even if I knew he hated my human smell.

"Oh, look, Sakura is asking the thirteenth question. Is it going to bring bad luck?" Tomoyo asked, talking to herself rather than to anyone else.

"Shut up! I don't bring any bad luck." Sakura stuck her tongue out at Tomoyo. "But you see, I actually have to thank you, Tomoyo. You gave me an idea there. Chihiro, tell me what your favorite number is."

"Three."

Three were the days I had spent in the Spirit World. Three were the nights I had lived in that alternative universe, wanting to go back home.

But after I left Haku's side, after I promised him not to look back, I realized I would miss it. I would miss the Spirit World. I would miss all of the friends I had made there. Lin, Kamaji, Bo, No Face, Yu Bird, Zeniba, the soot balls… I would probably miss Yubaba too. I'd miss the bathhouse, the workers, the spirits and gods. I would miss the atmosphere of the place, always busy. And I would certainly miss him. Him referring to Haku, of course. I suddenly started seeing threes everywhere. Three were the number of people who traveled with me in the train (even if none of them counted really as people). Three was the number of green heads Yubaba had in her room. Three was the years I had when I had first gone to the Kohaku River. Three was the number of times I had seen Haku in his dragon form. Three was the number of times I had actually ridden on Haku (even if one was seven years ago, and I didn't really know then). Three was…

Three was everywhere. Three was the number of the Spitir World. So three turned my favorite number that instant.

"Okay, so… ta-dan! Here comes number fourteen!"

"Tomoyo, we're not in a TV show." Chihiro said. Eve nodded her head in approval.

"Oh, let me have some fun! Anyway, the question is… if you could choose to have a magic power, what would that be?"

No one was surprised when Tomoyo asked that question. It was weird she hadn't asked it earlier.

"Let me guess." Rukia frowned. "Breathing underwater? You're so obsessed with rivers it wouldn't surprise me."

Chihiro sighed. She was already used to Rukia's twisted sense of humor.

"Well, for your information, mi chosen power would be… flying."

"Thank you Haku. You're a good friend." I told him. And he definitely was. He had proved it. He had taken me to see my parents, given me food, returned me my clothes, and helped me remember my name. I certainly couldn't thank him enough. Even if I had known him for such a short time, I felt as if though I had known him for long. He was probably my best friend. I didn't know if someone else would've bothered to do the things he had. I decided I would forgive him from being an idiot last night. He probably had had a reason. Maybe to protect me? Or to protect himself?

He nodded curtly. Still holding my clothes tightly, I turned back and ran towards the bathhouse. As soon as I crossed the bridge, I realized I hadn't waved Haku goodbye.I turned around, and I realized he wasn't there. But something moving in the sky caught my attention. As I looked at the being, I realized it was a dragon. A long, slim one, resembling the ones in Chinese paintings. And it hit me.

"Haku… he's a dragon?"

But it didn't surprise me very much. I didn't know why, but I had lost absolutely all my ability of getting surprised. I guessed it was because of the events of last night. I just watched as the dragon flied across the beautiful blue sky. I stared at it until it lost in the distance. I was sure it was Haku. It somehow seemed right for him to be a dragon. I hurried back into the bathhouse.

"Wow…" I thought. "He's a dragon… And he can fly! I wouldn't mind flying at all. It must be so cool!"

I didn't realize I had fallen asleep in the boiler room room until I woke up. But, even if I had woken up, my mind still replayed the events in my dream. I was flying, flying across the sky.

Everyone stared at Rukia.

"Oh, my turn?" the other four girls nodded. "Well. If you could choose where to live in the future, where would that be?"

"I would like to live here, where I live. I love this town."

"I didn't mean that. If you were forced to go away, where would you like to live?"

"Well, I haven't really thought about that. But I would like to live near the sea. Next to the Kohaku River, too." Chihiro ignored Rukia, who was staring at her. "I guess the mouth of the Kohaku River would be the best place. I'd like to live in a very high building, at the very top, so I could have really beautiful views."

I watched the moon. I was sitting on the balcony of the room the girls and I shared in the bathhouse. I was thinking about my last customer, the River Spirit. He had been so contaminated… did us humans do that? Then, no wonder spirits hated us. I was also trying to discover what the thing he had given me was. It was neither soft nor hard. It was fluffy and hairy. I was trying to clear my head when I heard footsteps behind me. I guessed it was Lin. She sighed.

"Here, I swiped a dumpling for you."

I looked at the dumpling she was holding in her hands, and took it.

"Thank you." Lin lied down on the floor.

"What a day." she commented.

We both sat there, in silence, eating our dumplings. As I bit into mine, a thought rushed to my mind. Last time I had eaten was that same morning, the rice balls Haku had given me. But… where was Haku? I realized I hadn't seen him since that morning.

"Lin, have you seen Haku?"

"Not Haku again." She paused as she bit into her own dumpling. "He just disappears sometimes. Rumors have that he runs around doing Yubaba's dirty work."

I really felt sorry for him. Because that meant that what he had said that morning, about Yubaba being able to control you if you didn't remember your name, was true. Was he doing everything against his will? I just pained me. I decided to ask Lin if she was sure.

"Does he really?"

Lin had no time to answer. A random girl from the inside called her name.

"Lights out, Lin!"

"Fine." She answered.

And the lights went out. But the light coming from the moon was enough to light our surroundings and let us see everything. I let my gaze get lost in the horizon. The moon was in the sky, shining brightly. White fluffy clouds could be seen here and there, like cotton in the sky. The sea was a beautiful blue color. Well, I knew it wasn't really a sea. Seas didn't disappear when the weather was dry. It was more like a giant lake, which had filled recently. But it still looked pleasantly right. I watched the train as it made its way through the water, lights shining ahead.

"There's so much water. It looks like a sea." I spoke what my mind was thinking.

"What did you expect after all that rain?"

I somehow felt stupid. I guessed that was what happened each time it rained in the Spirit World. What was Haku doing right now? I let my mind wander off to him for a second. And I saw him. Well, I didn't really see him. But I could picture him. He was sitting right besides me and Lin, watching the ground (or the water) beneath us with his usual calm expression. And, for a second, I knew that if he was to be here, with us, he would be enjoying the view as much as I did.

"I love high places as well." Eve confessed. "I'd like to live in an attic, too."

"I'd hate it." Sakura admitted. "I'm afraid of heights."

"Well, so what's your question, Eve?" Tomoyo asked. "We're already on number sixteen. We're close to finishing!"

"Okay, okay. Let me think about it." Eve meditated for a few seconds. Then, she opened her eyes, and looked at Chihiro. "Chihiro, tell me. If your boyfriend asked you to go on a date, and you could pick the place, what would you choose?"

The four girls looked at Chihiro. Indeed, that was an interesting question. Chihiro thought about it.

"Well, I'd like to go to a place where there were flowers. I wouldn't mind if it was a park, or maybe a boulevard, but I'd certainly like having flowers around. I think they'd make a romantic atmosphere, and they smell pretty good, too!"

"Master Haku! Master Haku!" I could hear voices inside the bathhouse, looking for Haku. But I didn't want him to leave my side. Even if he had given me instructions, I felt scared.

"I have to go." Haku looked at me, holding my hands in his. "And don't forget Chihiro. I'm your friend." He stood up.

A thought came into my mind. I hadn't told him what my name was. So how did he know?

"How did you know my name's Chihiro?"

"I have known you since you were very small. Good luck. And whatever you do, don't make a sound." He let my hands slip out of his. He turned around, and walked into the bathhouse.

"Calm down, I'm coming." He opened the doors which lead to the gardens. I heard some guy talking to him.

"Master Haku, Yubaba wants to see you."

He slipped his feet out of his shoes, leaving them on the rock. A spirit bent down to get them.

"I know. It's about my mission, right?" I wanted to hear more, but the doors closed, not letting a sound get through. I wondered briefly what mission Haku was talking about. But I dropped it. Whatever he did was his own business. I waited for the people to calm down. I breathed deeply, feeling relief deep inside. They hadn't caught me! Even if they had seen me, they hadn't caught me. As I breathed in, I noticed the slightest sweet smell. And I realized I was surrounded by flowers, beautiful flowers.

"Follow me."

As he spoke those simple words, he turned around al walked away. I wondered what all the secrecy was about. Coming into my room, leaving me the message, meeting… and everything just for seeing my parents. I was confused. He had been such a jerk the previous night. And now he acted as if though nothing had happened. But I decided to follow him. Even if I didn't know him anymore, I still hoped he would bring me to my parents.

I forgot everything about the spirit on the bridge, at let my feet take me where he went. He went into a maze of flowers and bushes. I followed him closely, not wanting to get myself lost. As I followed him, I noticed.

"Why are there flowers everywhere he takes me?" I thought.

I cried. I must have looked pathetic, but I didn't care. I let Haku put his arm around me, while I devoured every rice ball left. Then, I just cried. The feeling of sadness was overwhelming. My parents were pigs. But I wasn't crying just because of that. I was also crying because of Haku. I felt it was unfair that he couldn't remember his name. He didn't deserve something as horrible as that.

As I cried, and I let him comfort me, my mind noticed. It was the smell. It smelt like flowers.

"Okay, this is our last round! We've only got one question each left!" Tomoyo said happily.

"Tomoyo, calm down We've still got to do this for every single one of us. So don't worry, there will still be a lot more questions." Rukia replied. "Anyways, aren't you going to ask something, Sakura?"

"Chihiro, you've got to answer this question honestly." Chihiro nodded. After all, she had promised to tell the truth. "What haircut do you prefer guys to have?"

Chihiro blushed. What kind of question was that?

"Well… I like a haircut I once saw, but I really can't recall where or when. It was long hair, but it didn't arrive to the shoulders. The hair was straight, and fell neatly. It had a long fringe, matching the symmetrical cut." Chihiro made hand gestures while trying to imitate it. "I guess it's difficult to explain."

I watched silently as Kamaji made Haku drink from a small bowl. I guessed it was some sort of potion to help him fight against the curse on Zeniba's seal. Or maybe it was just for the pain. I had no clue. I held his head, watching as Haku swallowed unconsciously the liquid in his mouth. I felt the weight of his head against my arm. As Kamaji finished with the potion, or whatever it was, I placed him on the futon. He sighed. I let my hand return to my side, away from his resting form. But as I let it slip away, I couldn't help notice the feeling of his hair against my fingers.

His hair wasn't tough, but not silky either. It felt soft to touch, just as I had imagined. Wait, had I ever imagined it?

"That should make him wake up for tomorrow." Kamaji said.

I just stared at Haku. He was so different. Awake, he seemed always alert, fierce and dangerous. Sleeping he looked vulnerable and peaceful. I noticed some blood on his face and clothes. But I mostly just watched him, his face, his hair, his expression. He seemed like a sleeping angel to me.

"Cool. I think I've never seen someone with that haircut… people don't cut their hair like that nowadays." Eve thought aloud.

"Yeah, I know. I must've seen it in a movie." Chihiro reasoned. "Or maybe on TV."

"My turn, my turn!" Tomoyo giggled, excitedly. "Okay, my last question is… you and your boyfriend go out on a date. He brought a present for you. What would you like that present to be? Whatever you want! Imagine your boyfriend was rich, or something."

"Well… I think my choice would be… a trip to the Caribbean where we would go diving and see all the cute fish!"

As Haku and I flied through the sky, I had that sensation. Again. It was like the first time when I had rode on him. It was such a familiar feeling. It was as if though my body was submerged in water. It wasn't unpleasant. The other way around, it actually felt good.

I never thought feeling surrounded by water would feel as it did that moment. But then everything clicked. I think it's called déjà-vu. That feeling of "I've been here and done this before". I had somehow ridden on Haku underwater before. But I couldn't remember. Then I recalled Granny's words.

"Once you've met someone, you never really forget them. It just takes a while for your memories to return."

If that was true… then it meant I could've actually met Haku before. But I was sure I would remember. After all, a dragon isn't seen everyday. And the feeling was unique. I would certainly remember something as wonderful as that.

I thought. Hard. And it came.

A pink shoe.

That was how everything started.

"Certainly, your boyfriend should be rich." Rukia considered. "My turn, anyways."

Rukia smiled. But Chihiro didn't like it. She had a bad feeling about what next question was going to be.

"Tell me, Chihiro… have you ever been kissed by a guy? I don't mean just a peck. I mean a serious kiss. Have you ever made out?"

Four pairs of eyes stared at Chihiro. She suddenly noticed the curtains. Their greenish color reflected the light in a funny way… A blush crept up her face. The curtains were certainly interesting… but she knew she had to answer the question. She took a deep breath.

"No." she honestly answered.

As I ran down the hill, waiting to meet my parents, my thoughts drifted to Haku. Or should I say Kohaku now? No, I had decided to call him Haku. He certainly wasn't normal. Well, why should a river spirit be normal? He should be anything but normal. After all, he wasn't a person. Well, not in the strict sense of the word. But, even if he wasn't human, I still felt drawn to him.

Sure, I had fancied a few guys in the human world. But this was different. I knew it wasn't love. I was ten, and I knew I was just too young to be "in love". But I broke the rules of the game. I didn't love him, but it was just because "love" is an easy word to say. There wasn't a word to describe what my emotions towards him were. What I felt was too complicated to be love. It was much deeper. But I knew we weren't just friends either. We were much more than that.

Our history had started years ago, when he had saved my life. I wonder why he did it, because I was sure he had never done it before. But I didn't care.

Years afterwards, we met in another world. Neither of us remembered the other one. But he saved my life. Again. And I'm happy to say I saved his.

We were best friends. I had friends in the human world, but I was sure they wouldn't have done the things Haku did for me. Our friendship was really deep, even if we had known each other just for three days (we had met before, so it didn't really count as three days).

I wasn't sure about how he felt towards me though. I wasn't sure if he too felt "connected" to me. But I knew.

I knew I would never be connected to anyone in the way I was to him. We would both be dead if it wasn't for the other. I knew I didn't love him because I was too young. Too innocent, pure and untouched. But that was the reason why it wasn't love. It was a much stronger feeling. Love would start and come to an end. But what I felt would last forever.

And I somehow knew I could never bring myself to think about or love other men. Because my heart was already taken. And I was sure I would never kiss another man who wasn't Haku. Or Kohaku. Or whatever.

"We're up for the last question!" Tomoyo giggled, happily. "It's Eve's turn!"

"Make that question interesting." Sakura whispered in Eve's ear. She nodded. Chihiro just titled her head, confused. What was all the secrecy about?

Everyone waited, expecting. Eve took her time, while she carefully chose the words.

"Why do you reject every single guy who dares to ask you out?"

That question caused different reactions in every person in the room. Rukia just nodded. Sakura opened her eyes widely, asking herself why she hadn't thought of that before. Tomoyo did nothing, knowing that Eve was going to ask something like that. She recorded Chihiro with her camera. Chihiro just blushed harder than last time. It was very embarrassing to talk about that topic. But who was she kidding? She was already sixteen. She knew that usually, girls her age had already had a boyfriend, made out with him, broke up with him. Some had even dared to go a bit "farther". But sadly, she hadn't.

She was somehow abnormal in that sense.

"Well… to be sure, I don't exactly know why. Every time a boy asks me out, I get this odd feeling. It's as if though… It's complicated. It's as if though I already had a boyfriend, and I feel as if though I'm betraying him. I also feel like as if I had promised something to someone, and I'm about to break that promise. It's as if though I'm waiting for someone to ask me out, but I never get the right person to. Together...It's as if though… I already like someone else.

"Haku, I'll be back soon. Just hold on." I told him. I knew he was asleep, but I hoped my message could reach him. I meant what I said. I would solve the problem with No Face first, then I'd go to Zeniba's and get a cure for Haku. I definitely would.

"What's going on?"Lin asked, curious. I couldn't blame her. If I walked in a room and found myself with the things she had, I would certainly be confused, too.

"Something you wouldn't recognize… It's called love."

I wanted to correct him. To tell him it wasn't love. What I felt was much stronger. But I knew I shouldn't. It would just complicate things more. Now, the most important thing was Haku's safety. I didn't bother to tell Kamaji the truth. Because, in a sense, he was right.

I loved him. But not just that. I felt more things towards him. But it was too complicated. I was just a girl who had never loved anyone in her life before. I knew it was bizarre, but I knew he was my one and only. The kind of prince you only get in fairy tales. But this wasn't a fairy tale. I knew it was reality, and I had to save Haku. I was no longer the damsel in distress, and he was no longer prince charming. The writer had given the script a 180º turn.

I would save him. I somehow would. To prove myself I was worth his affection. Worth his friendship. Worth his love. Worth his feelings, the same I had towards him. For all of eternity.

It was a special day.

It had been 6 years since Chihiro and her family moved to the new town, and into the blue house on top of the hill.

Even if she didn't know it, her life had once been like the ones she read in books; full of mysteries, secret powers and adventures. But she could no longer remember. Some nights, when she was in bed, she couldn't help but to feel her life was missing something, as if though she had forgotten something important. She didn't know it, but she was missing the times when she was in the Spirit World. But, when she felt like this, she grabbed the hair band which was on her bedside, and she felt better. It somehow soothed her, because some of her friends had done it especially for her.

Not all of them, though. The bathhouse worker Lin, or the boiler man, Kamaji, couldn't help. And he could either.

"He" was Haku, Kohaku, or, what his real full name was, Nigihayami Kohakunushi. He had been the first boy she had ever felt something deep towards. And she still, did, even if she could no longer remember.

"Once you've met someone, you never really forget them. It just takes a while for your memories to return." a wise old woman once had told her.

And it was true. Because, even if she didn't remember him, he was the reason behind her every answer.

And, somewhere in another world, a world so close that you can touch it with the fingers when you reach out your hand, but so distant that you can never arrive, even if you walk for your whole lifetime, a man was looking at the sea. In the dark night, just like the night another girl was answering twenty questions under, a man was looking at the black sea. He was standing on a bridge, looking at the dark mass of water ahead of him. He was in the same spot where he first saw her.

He didn't regret his decision. He loved her too much to regret having given her the freedom she deserved. He just regretted not being able to fulfil his promise. If he didn't have a river, how could he go back to his world,

He tried, once again, to sense his river. He tried really hard, searching to feel the sensation of his flow of water in the same spot where she had first fallen into him. But... nothing. Nothing, once again.

He sighed. He was free, free since he had broken his own contract. But he was kept prisioner of that world which didn't want to let him go.

But he looked fiercely down, to his own distant reflection and sweared, to himself, that no matter what, he would be reunited with her. And maybe, just maybe... he would then tell her how much he loved her.

This is the revised and expanded version. Hope you liked it! Please read and review.

Thanks so much to my beta reader CelestialxChaos! Thanks for the patience you had and all the hard work you've put into this. I only regret having taken so long to post this.

If you've ever read Bleach, you'll see the irony in Rukia's family business.

A sequel is sure to come, due to various PMs and reviews I have received. Thanks to you all. See my profile for more information.

Chronicleofcoincidence