"Don't look back." That was what I told her. "Don't look back."

When she had said his name aloud, he made several realizations. The first was of his history and identity. He remembered how he began and how he had ended. Suddenly, he could feel his river again.

Destroying a river was not possible, but apparently the trauma of being so dramatically rerouted, for that was what had happened, had thrown him so badly he had given himself to Yubaba.

The presence of his river in his consciousness again so disoriented him that when he came to, he realized that he and Chihiro were falling.

When he pulled her around to look at him, he realized something else. He wanted her.

He had since she first set foot in his river and it was only reinforced when he had stepped in to save her life. In this act, he received his first taste of her spirit.

This is what he wanted. He lusted after her spirit. Her body and her mind were not ready to accept him yet, but her spirit had accepted him long ago.

When she appeared on the bridge a few days before, he, at some level, knew she was special; knew she needed to be protected. This morning, when he remembered who she was, it hadn't taken him long to reach a decision.

Not yet. She was not ready for him, yet. She had not even come into womanhood, yet. Yet.

Someday though, in ten or twenty years, she would come into herself and maybe, maybe, she would be ready for him. Then he would lust after her body and mind, as well as her spirit, but not yet.

For him, a spirit, spirit was enough, but for her, a human, it would not be. So, he would wait.

He would age parallel to her, and when she came back, they would be together.

When they arrived back at the bathhouse, she confidently identified her parents and freed herself. He watched her, amidst the cheering and celebrating, until he could wait no longer.

He took her hand and led her to the dry river bed and told her, "Don't look back." It was not really a rule; there would be no real consequence if she were to glace back, but one.

He wouldn't be able to let her leave. If she looked back at him, he would have whisked her back with him and kept her forever.

So, as he watched her cross the field and meet up with her parents, he felt his control loosen, and he was grateful he had the foresight to tell her not to look back at him.

When the trio reached the train station and paused, he saw her head start to turn. Suddenly, he wanted to see her. He wanted to see her kind, stubborn, brown eyes one more time, but when Chihiro jerked her head back he sighed with relief.

She never would have forgiven him if he had taken her back.

When she passed through the barrier, he closed his eyes and let thoughts of her dominate is mind for a moment longer before setting his jaw and renewing his determination. It was time for his "talk" with Yubaba. This was going to be ugly. Hopefully having her oversized child on his side, not to mention the rest of the bathhouse and several influential spirits, would give him the edge he needed to secure his freedom.

However, as he walked, he couldn't help look over his shoulder one more time, as though looking back would bring her to him sooner. Not yet.

Not yet, but soon.