spirited away 2: Return to the spirit world

Chapter 24: The one filled with hate

Chihiro flew through the air, pulling No-Face along with her, Yu-bird following closely behind. From up here, the spirit world was beautiful. It reminded Chihiro of the times she flew on Haku's back. She wanted desperately to fly with him again, only instead she wanted to fly beside him.

They were covering ground fast. Of course, that was to be expected since they didn't have to walk. Yu-bird kept slowing them down though, unable to match Chihiro's speed.

"Come on, Yu-bird!" she cried. "Can't you fly any faster than that?"

"Ah, ah."

Yu-bird glared at whatever it was No-Face had said, but was still barely able to keep up. Chihiro stopped to allow her friend to catch up before deciding to just take her in her arms to go faster. They were on a time limit. They had to get back to the bathhouse so she could complete her transformation.

But she still had enough time to observe the view. The spirit world was truly a gorgeous place, far more beautiful than the human world, which, she realized, had not been properly taken care of. Pollution, global warming, natural disasters, none of these were present in the spirit world. That was because the spirits had such a deep connection with the environment. They knew how to take care of their world and didn't abuse it. And for those spirits that were bonded, they had to pay for the cruel way humans took care of their world. It was becoming more and more apparent as to why so many spirits disliked humans.

It was for this reason that Chihiro was able to forgive Yuteela so easily. She had been provoked. It was just as if someone provoked an animal. She understood this and forgave the forest spirit, just like she had forgiven Yubaba, Bôh, and No-Face after they tried to kill her 12 years ago. Now they were her best friends, well not so much Yubaba.

"Ah, ah!" No-Face cried, pointing at something on the horizon.

Chihiro looked and saw what appeared to be a beautiful angel flying a short distance away. The angel waved to them before disappearing behind a cloud. Chihiro smiled. The spirit world truly was a magical, beautiful place. Even the dangerous places, such as the toxic forest they were currently flying over, which Chihiro had no problem breathing in any toxins, was beautiful. If only humans could live in harmony with their world.

Chihiro frowned at the thought. She herself had once been arrogant about her former world. Coming to the spirit world had changed her in many ways. It had also changed her parents' appetite, since they suddenly seemed to find something wrong with any food made from pigs, although they didn't know why.

The thought had amused Chihiro in the past, but now, thinking of her parents, it was depressing. She had lost them in a way. True, they had moved away and they rarely saw each other, but she could always call them up if she wanted to speak with them, or write them a letter. Now they were separated by different worlds, and only death could reunite them. Well, that wasn't exactly true. She could still return to the human world before she completed her transformation.

No, she couldn't do that. She would miss her parents, but she knew that she couldn't live without Haku. On top of that, the human world hadn't felt like 'her world' since the first time she left it. She knew that she was doing the right thing by staying here, but there would be some things in the human world that she would miss; the most important thing being her parents. She knew that at one point in the future it would really hit her that she had lost them. It would be hard, but everyone went through that pain eventually, and she would have Haku and her friends to help her get through it. She wished she could at least say goodbye though.

No-Face noticed Chihiro's sadness and grunted questioningly. Chihiro gave him a smile, letting him know that she would be all right.

"Don't worry, No-Face, I'm fine." She assured him. "Look, I can see the train tracks!"