Draco dormiens nunquam titillandus. ( English: Never tickle a sleeping dragon.)

Disclaimer: I do not own, nor am I affiliated in any way, with the creators/writers/etc of Spirited Away. The quote above is taken from Harry Potter

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When Chihiro walked away from the spirit world that fateful day, she didn't walk away empty-handed. She couldn't see what she had walked away with; in fact, some would say that what she walked away with was intangible.

But she did walk away with something, and she did not walk away free.

Chihiro had no way of knowing this, however. She was ten, and not well-versed in the stories of the spirits. When she left, she had assumed that she had truly and fully left. She did not know that words had power, that when Haku had promised that he'd see her again, he sure as hell meant it.

She didn't know that words had power. Not really.

Chihiro had thought that perhaps, she could walk away from the spirit world with no strings attached, and that maybe she'd see Haku and Lin and Kamaji again.

No such luck. Then again, if Lady Luck wasn't fickle, that would make for rather dull stories, wouldn't you agree?

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It was June the twenty first, the summer that Chihiro had moved into her new home, that she first saw them again. Naturally, Chihiro was a little dejected that she couldn't for the life of her remember her way to the red tunnel that lead her to the spirit world, and more than a little angry that no one from there had tried to reach her.

She'd woken from a dream – it was one of those marvelous, grand dreams that you remembered fully –about the bath house and Zeniba and Bo and No-Face. She smiled to herself, remembering, then started as she saw little round shadows moving about her room.

Chihiro frowned. Though she was nearly eleven years old, she still was a little afraid of the dark – or at least she used to be. Now she was unperturbed, and she calmly, curiously, got up from her bed and followed it.

She turned on the light and rubbed her eyes. What's that?

Closer inspection proved that they were little balls of soot – just like the ones Kamaji had in his shop!

Chihiro blinked and got on her hands and knees. "What's going on? What are you doing here?"

The magicked soot chittered in their own little language and made to her window. Chihiro scrambled to her feet and followed them, throwing open the window after hastily undoing the lock.

She was greeted with warm summer air and the chirping of crickets. The soot sprites fled out her window, some tugging at the ends of her hair and sleeves.

"You want me to follow you?"

They made their chittering noise.

Chihiro didn't consider that it was the middle of the night, or that her parents would miss her, or that she didn't know what the soot balls wanted. Such questions were of no concern to her. She merely laced up her sneakers, grabbed the spare key from the hook, and followed them.

She'd become sort-of familiar with her new neighborhood, so soon enough she knew where the soot balls wanted her to go.

"The tunnel!"

She skidded to a stop in front of the large, red building as the soot balls disappeared inside. Everything was still. The statue was still giving her the creeps, and after a few seconds the wind picked up, gently, slowly, tugging her in with alluring fingertips.

She swallowed, and took a step inward.

It was the Summer Solstice.

It was also a full moon.

But Chihiro wasn't quite yet an avid reader of fantasy. She wouldn't know that these two factors often made the perfect combination for things to Happen. She paid no attention to these things.

She stared straight ahead as she walked into the temple, ignoring the way that the shadows shifted or how the light just wasn't quite right. The sun rose early in the summer; Chihiro was up and about in the not-quite midnight, the sky half-black, half-blue.

She emerged on the other end. Everything was washed in silver; the grass rolled in the wind like waves, the leaves of the trees whispered in the wind. She could see the silhouette of the bathhouse, closed and sleeping, in the distance.

Chihiro didn't know where the soot balls were; she didn't know if there was a river halfway down the field.

She didn't care. She ran forward, brimming with glee.

She couldn't explain it, but she had the feeling of coming home.

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Chihiro entered the bathhouse the same way that she had the very first time: through the boiler room. Kamajii was working the boiler, arms reaching up behind him to get the herbs out of the wooden cabinets. The soot sprites continued working, some of them – or was it just her imagination? – casting her sidelong looks as they worked.

Like her first time there, he didn't look up. Chihiro waited for him to speak. She figured she owed him a certain amount of respect, and, frankly, she didn't know what to say.

"So," Kamajii said in that gravelly voice of his, "You're back."

"The soot sprites lead me here," Chihiro told him, stepping into the pit where the soot sprites were. "Did you send them?"

They dropped their blocks of coal and crowded around Chihiro's feet, chirping and singing. They tugged at her shoes and flitted around her ankles.

He didn't answer her right away. A bath token dropped down, and with a curse he reached behind him and retrieved the herbs. "After all that's happened and I'm still worked to the bone," he muttered, then, at the soot sprites, "Back to work!"

After a moment, he glanced over his shoulder at Chihiro. "It's the full moon," he told her.

"What does that have to –"

"The barrier's thinned," Kamajii went on. "The one that normally exists between the bathhouse and your world. Full moon helps. So does the Solstice."

"What does that mean?"

"It means," now Kamajii looked at her, "That you can visit."

Just then, the wooden servant's door slid open. "I keep telling you, Kamajii," a familiar, feminine voice began, "To leave your old dishes...what's – Sen!"

Lin ran up to the girl, her baskets left on the floor. "Sen!" She hugged the girl; Chihiro hugged Lin back, not bothering to tell Lin her real name.

Lin took a step back, sizing Chihiro up. "So? Why're you here, you dope?"

"The susuwatari, Lin?" Kamajii prodded. Lin rolled her eyes but dumped the star-candy into the pit; the little sprites danced and chirped and ate.

"They – they led me here!" Chihiro pointed at the soot sprites.

Lin rounded on Kamajii. "You sent for her?"

Kamajii was unabashed. "I did," he agreed.

"Why? You know it's dangerous for her to be here! Yubaba – " Lin cut herself off. "You brought her here for him, didn't you? During the Solstice?"

"For who? Brought me here for who? What's going on with Yubaba? Has something bad happened?" Chihiro wanted to know.

Lin turned to her, mouth opened as if to speak – then she whirled to face Kamajii. "You –"

"Why don't you take her to see Haku?" Kamajii suggested easily, going back to the boiler. "He's changed, now that he's free of Yubaba's apprenticeship."

"Hmph." Lin made a face. She collected Kamajii's old bowl, then turned to Chihiro. "C'mon, Sen. Let's go."

Chihiro nodded and hastily followed Lin. "Do – do I leave my shoes and socks on?"

"Same as last time, kiddo. Take 'em off."

Chihiro scrambled to do just that. "Bye, Kamajii!"

"Good luck, Sen!"

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Chihiro was brought to an appendix room on the second-to-last floor. "Haku doesn't work for Yubaba anymore," Lin told her, "Though he does continue to stop by. Solstice's especially." Lin cast her a look. "I…"

"Is something wrong, Lin?" Chihiro asked the woman. "Did something happen while I was away?"

Lin shook her head. "Just be careful. You can be such a dope sometimes," she told Chihiro, not unkindly. "And it is the Solstice…"

Chihiro nodded, though her ten-year-old mind didn't quite comprehend. "I'll be careful."

"Promise?"

"I promise."

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It took her about two seconds to figure out that Lin was not accompanying her, and another two seconds to realize that Haku was not in the main chamber.

There were books, though, stacked in floor-to-ceiling shelves. And a large window. There might have been a balcony, but Chihiro didn't pay attention to this. She was much more interested with the faint sound coming from the next room over; she slid open the door and was greeted with quite a sight.

A great white dragon was coiled up in the room, sleeping. The sounds she had heard had been his breath ruffling the pages of the open book that lay beneath one talon. The dragon had a sort of aqua-colored mane, and Chihiro didn't need to see his eyes (which were shut) to know that this was her dragon. Haku.

But he was asleep.

Chihiro debated inwardly for a moment – should she wake him up? Or should she wait? She backed up, deciding.

The choice was made for her when she bumped into a little pedestal (nothing was on it, it was just a pedestal) and it overbalanced. Chihiro was able to quick, turn and right it, but the damage had been done.

The dragon was awake.

His jade eyes opened and locked on Chihiro. "I'mreallysorry!" Chihiro blurted, backing up against the wall this time. The dragon growled, low, and lunched at her with a gaping maw. Chihiro braced herself, back flush with the wall, arms thrown up instinctively –

But the dragon didn't maul her, or bite her head off, or anything like that. He stopped right before her, eyes boring into hers, challenging. Chihiro blinked as he sniffed her, serpentine tongue flicking out on occasion. He growled when she dropped her eyes and but his head with hers until she looked back at him. Eventually he seemed to come to a consensus, and rested his snout on the crook of her shoulder.

"H – Haku?"

The dragon snorted and backed away, walked into the next room. When his tail disappeared through the doorway, Chihiro stepped away from the wall and followed him.

There was no longer a dragon, but a calm-looking boy with long black hair dressed in traditional Japanese clothes. He opened his mouth to speak, but Chihiro had already more or less tackled him into a bear hug. "Haku! I missed you…"

His arms went around her. "I missed you too, Chihiro. But what are you doing here?"

Chihiro pulled away and looked up at him. "I – the soot sprites led me here! Then Kamajii –"

"Kamajii," Haku said it like a curse. "Chihiro, your being here right now is very dangerous. It's the Solstice festival…" a line formed between his eyebrows.

Chihiro swallowed. "Sorry, I –"

Haku shook his head. "No, Chihiro," he said gently, "This isn't your fault." He shook his head. "You cannot be here tonight. You have to leave soon – you'll start to fade, and if you eat our food you'll be bound to this realm for three of our days. You must go."

"Go?" Chihiro took a step back from him. "B – but I just got here!"

Haku shook his head. "I'm sorry, Chihiro. But I cannot allow you to remain here. Not during the Solstice."

"But Kamajii said -!"

"Kamajii was wrong to let the susuwatari guide you here on such a night," Haku told her. "I'll have to have a talk with him." He looked Chihiro up and down. "Perhaps in a few years you will be able to withstand the Solstice. But not right now. Come here, Chihiro. I'll take you to the border."

"But – but what if I never see you again?" Chihiro was adamant. She had been waiting for something like this – secretly, desperately, hoping against hope that maybe she'd be able to see the spirit world again. Now that she was here, being told to go home…

"You will," Haku promised. "There are nights like tonight – less dangerous nights – where you will be able to venture here easily. I'll have Kamajii send the susuwatari for you."

Chihiro swallowed. "Promise?"

Haku took her hands in his. "I promise." He exhaled. "Come, Chihiro. Fly with me."

.

Later on, Chihiro would read. She'd understand what times like the Solstice brought, and she'd understand the significance of a full moon. She'd see more clearly why Haku had to send her home.

But right now Chihiro didn't understand those things. So it was with a heavy heart and a tear-streaked face that she fell asleep that night.

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The dragon was most definitely not pleased with Kamajii. Lin watched from the sidelines as he stormed out of the boilerman's domain, looking as angry as she'd ever seen him.

"Hey, you!" She called after him, "If you make it rain during the revelries, I swear to the gods that I'll make you pay for it!"

Her only answer was in the form of a slamming door.

Kamajii gave the girl a look. "You shouldn't goad him like that."

Lin was so taken aback that she was momentarily speechless. "Me? Goad him? Coming from you? You know he didn't want Sen here for the Solstice!"

Kamajii grinned. "I know. But somebody had to set things in motion. You know how it works, Lin."

"But it's dangerous! Sen can be such a dope sometimes! You know she's not ready to handle some – something like that!"

Kamajii sighed. "I know. Part of this was an experiment. To see if she has it."

Lin made a face. "Has what – oh." Her tone immediately changed. "You don't mean…

Kamajii nodded gravely. "Yes. That."

Lin swallowed, and for once she had nothing to say.

Kamajii turned off the boiler. "So you understand my concern. Tonight would've been his last chance to get it back."

"And he chose not to? Is he crazy?"

Kamajii shook his head. "Come, Lin. The revelries will start soon. You best be getting ready."

"Yeah, yeah," the girl said. "But what's gonna happen? Now that she has his…well, you know?"

Kamajii shook his head. He didn't know. He'd only heard stories of dragons; he'd never actually had to live with one before.

And a dragon without a heart…

"I don't know, Lin," he admitted. "I just don't know."

.

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Well, there you have it. My first attempt at writing a Spirited Away fic. This will follow Chihiro through the years as she grows up with one foot in the spirit world.

It's a work in progress (as is pretty much every other fic I write) so we'll take this journey together.

As always, let me know your thoughts.