Princess Mononoke Fan Fiction / Spirited Away Fan Fiction ❯ A Thousand Fathoms ❯ Seperation ( Chapter 3 )

Author's Notes: Hello, hello! I'm back and with another chappy!! ^_^ Enjoy! Sorry the last chappy seemed rushed. It seemed rushed to me too, but I'm too lazy to fix it! MWHAHAHAHAAHAHA……yeah…I told you it didn't compare to the first chappy. You should listen to me. ^_^ Anyway sorry for the delay, writer's block already, plus I was reading this great Inuyasha fic that all of you should check out. It's Hanyou no Kon by Kaminari. Another reason why I haven't updated is my cat died on Tuesday May 13 2003. She was about 12 years old. I'm still grieving.

72 reviews! That is way more than I had expected for the first chapters, let alone the whole story. I thought I wouldn't get more than 10 for both chapters. You've all surprised me! As for the question 'Will Rin be in this fic?' you'll just have to find out now won't ya? ^_~

Disclaimer: I don't own Spirited Away.

Rating: PG-13 (Ratings may change)

Summary: Seven years, one month, two weeks, four days, and two hours, but hey who's counting? Never a dream. I would never let myself believe it was a dream. "Oh God, I'm actually going through with this!" I took a step.

~*~*~*~ A Thousand Fathoms ~*~*~*~

Chapter 3: Separation

The lights to the amusement park were already lit. It had taken me forever to convince Rebi to let me find Haku. It was almost the "afternoon" and I was sprinting through the bathhouse. I had to get to Haku. Spirits would throw me weird looks, and sometimes insults for not paying respect. Completely ignoring them I kept running, because, frankly, I didn't care. Haku was my only priority.

I whizzed around a corner and then another. To tell the truth, I had no idea where I was going. There was something, though, something that lead me to where I was going. Something like magic, something like love--a force that pulled at my heartstrings, and my reptilian brain--instinct.

I had written a quick letter, nothing special really, just something to tell Haku that I did have feelings for him. I also grabbed my book. The book that had been published a few years ago, a book I wrote about the Spirit World.

Doubts kept popping up in my mind. What if I didn't get to him in time? I wanted to turn back, give up, because at the moment it felt futile. At times I kept wondering if should give him the note. I mean, it could seriously ruin our relationship. We were friends, if Haku thought of me as nothing more than that then giving him the note would freak him out. I was so confused.

I made it to the small cement platform outside next to the ocean. I remembered when Lin and I were here for a few minutes before I left to go to Zeniba's years ago. There was a thick water line on the edge of it, showing that the ocean's level had decreased drastically over the past seven years.

Frantically I looked around for any sign of Haku.

None.

Nada.

Zip.

Zilch.

The harsh reality was sinking in; Haku was gone, Yubaba hated me, Koto was probably planning his revenge, and I was all alone. This wasn't what I wanted my summer to be!

The stars were pinpricks in the night sky. Lights flickered across the ocean. The small town miles away stood out against the darkness. Maybe Lin had moved there. She told me years ago that when she left here she would go to that town. I sighed. Everyone was leaving me, or already left.

"Damnit!" I said blandly as I kicked the cement wall. "I knew it was hopeless." I leaned my back against the wall and slid to the ground looking at the sky and listening to the ocean. I closed my eyes, remembering. I hadn't seen the ocean in seven years. I missed it. When I lived in Osaka* we had a beachfront home. Every morning Mother and I would go to the beach and talk about nothing important. We'd collect shells and driftwood. I still had a few of the shells in my room.

God, how I missed those days. My life was simple back then; not anything like it was today. Of course it was my fault my life was like this. I'm the only person who can control my life and I suck at it.

Opening my eyes, I sighed again and shifted my weight onto my knees. Rebi would be pissed if I didn't come back soon. I looked to the sky one more time before heading in. A glint of silver across the night sky caught my eye. Instantly I turned my attention to it. It was Haku; he'd just left. I hadn't missed him after all! My heart soared--once again on cloud nine.

"Kohaku!" I screamed at the top of my lungs, praying to God that he'd hear me. The strip of sliver kept flying. Mustering up all my strength, I took a deep breath and hollered again. "Kohaku! Damnit, Kohaku, get your butt down here!"

The silver strip turned slightly and before I knew it Haku was standing before me in his human form. "Yes?" Silence. I bit my lip and stared at the ground, my cheeks burning. The burning got worse as I realized he could probably see my blush from miles away, even during a night like this.

"What is it Chihiro?" His voice was soft, thick, rich; too much of it would make me tingle, just like a double dark chocolate truffle. My eyes instantly went to his, and suddenly I didn't feel so self-conscious anymore. His eyes were calm, like the ocean next us, deep, fathomless.

I pulled out the book, which held the note within its pages. Gulping I took a step closer to him, my eyes locked with his, my face burning more and more with each passing second. I smiled sheepishly. "I just wanted to give you this…" I looked down, unable to keep contact with his eyes, fearing they would tell me something I didn't want to know. "It's a book. Um…" Holding it out to him I continued, "Read it when, a, when you get discouraged." I froze keeping my eyes on the ground. I stiffened even more when he brushed his fingers against mine to grab the book.

"Thanks," my eyes shot to him. He was smiling with his eyes and face, nothing false about it.

"I also want to thank you for what you did to Koto. I failed to mention that today." I bowed. "Thank you very much."

"You're welcome." I met his eyes again, smiling.

"Do you think he'll kill me in my sleep?"

Haku laughed, "No, he knows that he'd have to deal with me after."

I was skeptical, afraid, though I didn't want to mention it to anyone. Obviously Haku could tell for he wrapped his arms around me bringing me into a friendly hug. "Nothing will happen to you, believe me. I have spies. If he does anything to you, I will know."

"Thanks." I rested my head against his chest. Spices filled my nose once again. God, I didn't want him to leave. Reluctantly both of us pulled away. "I should get back," my voice was barely above a whisper. "Rebi will get mad…"

Haku nodded. I looked into his eyes once more and I could sense his pain, his reluctance to leave. "I'll see you again, I promise. And thanks for the book."

I smiled sadly. "Have fun."

"Yeah." He leaned his forehead against mine. Then, within seconds he was the silver stripe standing out against the night sky.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Saying good-bye to Haku was one of the hardest things I've ever had to do. However this didn't compare to the time when I had to give up my plush toy, Umi the Fish. I cried for weeks! Worst of all I had to watch it disintegrate into ash at the yard sale from Hell that went horribly wrong ten years ago. That resurfaced memory and the one of Haku flying away made my bottled up emotions explode. I was a mess inside, though I knew better than to show it when I was around the other workers of the bathhouse. The last thing I needed was to have rumors spread around like a grass fire.

However, sorrow wasn't what I was feeling exactly. Anger was the only way to describe it. I was mad, ticked off at practically everyone in the whole Goddamn world, mainly, though, at Yubaba and Koto, and yes--I admit it--Haku. I hated him most of all for keeping his stupid promise, one that he didn't even make in the first place. He just up and left. I was positive that Koto would find a way to shred me into string-meat even tough Haku said differently. Yubaba, well…there was only a matter of time before I became a pig. Haku said nothing about keeping her away from me. He was the only thing keeping them from me. With him gone, they had the chance to do with me as they pleased.

"Sen," I could hear a voice, it was so close yet so far away. "Sen, are you okay?"

My eyes fuzzed over and then went back to normal. I turned towards the voice and found Rebi standing next to me. Jet black wisps of hair framed her face, somewhat hiding her dark, forest green eyes. "Huh?"

"You spaced out. You okay?"

I nodded, "Yeah, I'm just tired that's all."

A smirk graced her features, not just her face but her whole body. She was thinking something, something I didn't want to know. Unfortunately, she told me, her voice filled with amusement. "I bet you are, spending all night with Haku."

My mind went blank. I was positive that my facial expression was the same, blank. How did she know that I went with Haku last night? "How'd you…?" I let the sentence fall. If I wasn't able to complete a whole sentence, I was sure that if I kept talking it'd turn into mindless dribble, and I'd say something I did not want anyone to know.

"I saw him come and get you," The smirk was still plastered on her face. "I saw him bring you back. He was carrying you while you were sleeping. You said something about chickens." Rebi let a laugh escape. Her smile widened, smirk-like. There was something suggestive about that smile. "He must've really tired you out."

It clicked.

I thought it was just Koto and Yubaba who thought that I was a whore. It pissed me off to know that they thought that I would even do such a thing, and having three people believe it in three days wasn't a very good sign. "Excuse me?"

"…You know…" One of Rebi's eyebrows went up, as she spoke.

I was shocked, she actually believed that I would…"Oh God! You really think…? It's not like that. We're friends, that's it." I could feel my cheeks starting to burn.

The whole time I said this Rebi was shaking her head. "No, the way he looked at you…there was something. Besides, you're blushing!" My face felt ten times hotter.

"We're friends." I was telling the truth. We were friends, good friends. Even though I liked Haku, even though I had…interesting dreams about him, didn't mean that we were, at the moment, extremely more than just friends.

Rebi looked skeptical. "Alright… If you didn't…then what did you do?"

"It's none of your business."

"I don't think Yubaba or Koto will listen to a human--especially one that escaped Yubaba's grasp once already. You'll need someone to talk to. You'll need me!" She smiled big, making herself seem like the most important person in the world.

I rolled my eyes. She was right. I couldn't complain to Yubaba, Koto was an ass, and Kamaji was ornery, again. Plus Rebi was a woman, appearing to be in her early twenties, she'd understand things better than an old man would. No offence to Kamaji, he was like a grandfather to me. However, Rebi was the better choice.

"Fine," Rebi sat down next to me smiling widely, her dark green eyes glittering, thirsting for information. She pressed for answers wordlessly. "We just talked."

She was skeptical again.

"I'm serious, all we did was talk."

"Sure. Okay."

I lazily threw a hand in the air and shrugged my shoulders. "If you're not going to believe me, I won't tell you anything."

"Okay, okay! I believe you,"

"This stays between us. Even though Haku and I just talked I don't want rumors to go around that aren't true. Got it?"

Rebi nodded. She shook my outstretched hand and smiled brightly. "So… tell me all the details!"

Author's Notes: Please review tell me what you think. I know it's short, but oh well. I'm going back to fix chapter two, so chapter four might take a while to arrive. ^_^

*I have the Japanese version of Spirited Away and it never said where she lived before, so I'm saying she lived in Osaka.