A/N: Okay, guys, I went and edited this chapter some. Hopefully, it will be a little better and things might flow easier later for it.

Disclaimer: Don't own it. Don't get any money for it.

Chapter 1: Our Tail Begins (no, that is not a typo)

"Will we meet again sometime?"

"I'm sure we will."

"Promise?"

"Promise. Now go, and don't look back!"

Chihiro ran across the river, through the fields, slid down the hill, and saw her parents, fully clothed and fully human.

"Chihiro!" her mother called. "Where have you been? Hurry up!"

"Mom! Dad!" Chihiro yelled happily as she ran to meet them.

"You can't just run of like that," said her mom.

"You could get in some serious trouble," her dad added gruffly.

Well, they seem fine, Chihiro thought, a little annoyed that they were scolding her when they were the ones who had spent their entire stay here as pigs.

Now, Chihiro had made a number of mistakes in recent days, ranging in severity from not watching her step in the filth-encrusted "big tub" to letting Kaonashi inside the bathhouse. But as she began to follow her parents to the portal between the human and spirit worlds, Chihiro made her worst blunder yet: she forgot Kohaku's warning. She turned around and looked back at the town, Aburaya, and the one person she desperately didn't want to leave.

The moment she turned completely around so that she could see Kohaku, she remembered the warning, too late. The transformation began. She got significantly larger very quickly and her clothes exploded off her body in shreds. Her own weight pushed her forward onto all fours. Her hair grew longer and sprouted anew down the length of her spine. Her skin became scaly, her body became longer and she grew a tail. In just over five seconds, the change was complete.

Terrified and shaking she looked around frantically for anyone who might have witnessed the spell take hold, praying that no one had. Her parents had already disappeared into the portal and Kohaku walking towards Aburaya. She almost let go a sigh of relief, but he suddenly stopped in his tracks. Chihiro almost choked. He couldn't see her like this!

Chihiro crouched as low to the ground as she could, trying to hide in the grass. In front of her, instead of soft pink flesh and fingernails, she saw scaly, four-toed claws that flexed and relaxed as she did. They reminded her of . . . something, she couldn't think what. Hadn't she seen toes like this before, up close? But how could she be so near a beast with such vicious-looking talons without being gutted?

Oh, she thought.

She new what she was now, and she took advantage of her new form by taking off from the ground to find a safe place to hide from the friend she had disappointed.

Kohaku turned around as soon as his and Chihiro's hands parted. His dearest friend was leaving him. He was happy for her and he knew she would be fine, but he wasn't sure if he could stand to watch her disappear. Besides, he was eager to quit his apprenticeship with Yubaba.

He halted his steps and tentatively, fearfully, hopefully looked over his shoulder. Was Chihiro was still there? She wasn't. Kohaku hadn't expected her to be there. But as he turned back to Aburaya, he saw something in the sky out of the corner of his eye. He quickly did a double take. A dragon. It was strange though. He had thought that he was the only one in the region and dragons usually kept to their own territory. He ran after it; he was, after all, a dragon himself and it wouldn't do to make any enemies with any creatures that might help him if he came out of Aburaya bleeding after his and Yubaba's future "discussion". This new dragon was particularly fast and it almost seemed as if it were running from something, though Kohaku couldn't see any pursuer. It stopped for just a moment in midair, then dived and crashed through the roof of an abandoned restaurant, probably the only one in the entire town. Kohaku pushed his legs to go faster, partially riding the light breezes that whistled through the town, concerned for the other dragon's well being. It might have been injured!

Where did it come from? he wondered as he dashed down backstreets and alleys. Is it hurt? If it is, will I be able to help it? My healing powers aren't fully developed yet and I can't take it to Yubaba. She'd just try to turn it into a piglet or trick it into working for her. And taking it to Zeniba is out of the question; I'd be too late if it's seriously injured. What will I do?

He forced himself to slow as he approached the restaurant, not wanting to spook the creature.

Once inside, the dragon's behavior caught him off-guard. It didn't attack and it wasn't bleeding, but it was stretched out on the ground as if in anguish and its body was shuddering violently. Kohaku quickly realized that the dragon was crying. He took a closer look at the dragon. Based in the number of toes, it appeared to be from the same general region as the one he had originally come from. This dragon was crème-colored with a dark brown mane. It was a young dragon, not yet at maturity, and it was on the small side. But the strange part was that the dragon's eyes were violet and they sparkled almost joyfully, despite the tears falling in a steady stream. Kohaku could feel the dragon's emotions radiating off of it; they were so strong. He felt its physical pain as a dull throb all over its body as well as its fear and frustration, though he had absolutely no clue why the dragon was so upset. If he was a dragon as well, communication would be easier, but two dragons in the restaurant would be too much for the building to take and, while it was unlikely, either one of them could potentially become very territorial, which would inevitably lead to violence and defeat his good intentions. Getting the dragon to change to its humanoid form would have been ideal, but it seemed to be far too distressed to try. He would just have to make do with guesses and hope that the stranger didn't decide to take his arm off.

It didn't seem to realize that he was there. Kohaku slowly, carefully, walked over to the creature and rested his hand on its head. The dragon flinched and recoiled at his touch, not out of disgust or pain, but out of fear, terror. Kohaku was even more moved to help this dragon, which, he was now absolutely certain, was a she.

Chihiro's body ached, but she didn't care. She just lay there in the abandoned building, crying at the hopelessness of her situation. Something touched her and she jumped, moving away from whatever was disturbing her. Maybe they would go away. Then, she heard an gentle voice that she did NOT want to hear right now; a voice that she had heard not long ago.

"Don't be afraid. I just want to help you."

Getting strong senses of déjà vu, Chihiro turned to see Kohaku. She wanted more than anything to throw herself at him, to hug him and be comforted by him. But she knew that she would likely crush him if she did that and she was so ashamed that she had forgotten his painfully clear instructions, so she lay her head down and let him stroke her, comforting her, until her fear and sadness and pain disappeared and she surrendered to sleep, wondering if he knew that she was really Chihiro.

Kohaku was surprised that the dragon let him touch it in his almost-human form, let alone fall asleep as he stroked it, all the while working small magics to heal bruises and dull pain, praying there wasn't any internal bleeding. That he couldn't do anything about. He suddenly realized that it was already noon and that he needed to rest if he was going to quit being Yubaba's apprentice; she wasn't going to let him go without a struggle.

Chihiro woke when it was about six o' clock in the evening and the sun was about to go down. Kohaku wasn't there. She was glad he was gone, she didn't think she could bear to face him again. It was then that she remembered why she was still in the spirit world.

$^#^*&! she mentally cursed herself, for she was a dragon and dragons can't talk. She needed help, again. There had to be some way to get the spell off her so she could go home. But who would be able to help her? And who did she want to tell about her plight?

Not Kohaku, definitely, she thought. Even if everyone else finds out, he can't. She knew with every fiber of her being that he would be the very last person she would willingly tell about her transformation.

I can't go to Rin, she literally wouldn't be able to understand me. The same goes for Bou and Kamaji. I will NEVER go to Yubaba EVER again. Then it hit her. Chihiro once again cursed herself for not thinking of it earlier.

Zeniba!