Spirited Away: The Wait [ORIGINAL]

Farewells

The Wait: Farewells

“I wonder what Piglet is doing,” thought Pooh.

“I wish I were there to be doing it too.”

-A.A. Milne, Winnie-the-Pooh

     The familiar meadow reached far out, extending far away from them. Its grass had grown so tall it covered half of their calves. Wild flowers had grown too, and the green pasture was filled with a faint, sweet aroma. There was no wind, and in the still air hung a gloomy silence as the pair stared ahead of them wordlessly.

     “So… this is it.” Haku was the first to speak.

     Chihiro hummed almost inaudibly. “Yeah… I guess it is. Again,” she added almost absent-mindedly.

     “You do remember what to do, don’t you?”

     “Go, and don’t look back,” she said, reciting his words the last time they had been there. 

     He sighed at the memory. “That’s good…”

     “I’m really going to miss you…” she said out of the blue.

     He glanced at her, surprised. Chihiro hastily averted her eyes, a tiny pink blush dusting her cheeks. Attempting to justify herself without being awkward, she added, “Shou too! And everyone else, like the kids and... um… Sakura?”

     Haku couldn’t help but chuckle at how cute she looked when she was flustered. Chihiro was still deep in thought for a better comeback when he said, “I’ll miss you too, Chihiro.”

     Her head jerked up to his, her surprised brown orbs finding his, as if she hadn’t been expecting him to feel the same way. He remembered how she had looked when they had first met outside the bathhouse. Pure curiosity and surprise had been found in those clear eyes of hers, hiding nothing.

     “Your eyes are so beautiful,” he murmured, absently stroking his fingers lightly across her cheek.

     “U-Um… thanks…” Bewildered by the affectionate gesture, she blushed even harder.

     “Will you be alright when you get back? Do you know how to go back home?”

     “Sure, I’ll be fine.”

     “I’m not convinced.”

     She cocked her head to the side, furrowing her brows. “Why not?”

     “After witnessing your exceptional sense of bodily coordination…” he trailed off, but they both knew he was referring to how she had somehow “tripped on air” and fell on her butt after helping a person up. She had even reminded that person good-naturedly to be more careful a millisecond before falling herself.

     Everyone had cracked up at her clumsiness before helping the embarrassed woman up.

     Chihiro puffed out her cheeks and frowned like an angry chipmunk, except her cheeks weren’t quite as fat. “I just happened to lose my balance, that’s all! I don’t fall every 5 seconds, you know. And I know my way back. There’s only one path to follow.”

     “Watch out for the little rocks and bumps on the road; we wouldn’t want you tripping over them now, would we?” he teased.

     She rolled her eyes. “No one could be stupid enough to trip over them!”

     “Says the one who tripped on air.”

     “I did not!”

     He gave her an if-you-say-so look, smirking at her undisguised annoyance. Now she knew why Shou and Haku got along so well together. And he must have picked up all of these from that stupid phoenix too!