Haku was a mess. The same serious, arrogant, stubborn mess he'd always been, but now he had no time to worry about his threatening reputation, his overall demeanor and the fact that everybody had some sort of fear from his presence. He is not the apprentice to the almighty Yubaba that he used to be, he still worked for her, yes, but he is a powerful God now. He has his name and he has his river. That said, he was way too powerful to let a grumpy old witch tell him what to do. Still, he had work, and this made him even more respected by everyone, even Yubaba. However, Zeniba, her much wiser twin, saw Haku as a son, more of a stubborn little boy than a God. Although she looked out for him with her life, she knew all of his breaking points, all of his mixed emotions, and how he hid them from the world and those who fear him. She, after all, might have been the only one who did not. She also knew that there was nobody who intimidates him than her, which she used to her own benefit to a small degree.

However, Zeniba loved Haku as her own child, and she found from the way that he would visit her every few weeks, how he already had a guest room in her house, and how he only really ate and slept when he was being took care of by her, that, even though he was, to say the least, an asshole, he looked to her for some inner peace and protection that he needed and that she happily provided. Whether or not he pretended to care, he needed someone to care for him. So, she decided to be that person.

But Haku was still a mess. Besides Zeniba's house, which has become a second home beside the bathhouse, he did have one happiness. While everyone was asleep, he would walk to the tunnel separating the spirit world from Earth. He went there because everyday, there would be a blue envelope put together by a cute sticker that he liked to gently peel off once he was in his office and stick on a piece of spare parchment so that he can look at the interesting designs, some that were recognisable and some that he had to look at carefully to detect what it was supposed to be, whenever he was feeling overworked. The best part about the envelopes was what was inside of them. Pristine white paper, with the ramblings of the little human that he last saw eight years ago written in clumsy handwriting that even he, who was, to say the least, a master in all languages, still sometimes had trouble making out.

He didn't cherish these letters because he enjoyed reading about how boring and carefree her life was, which of course he envied, but he loved that silly but incredibly wise human so much that knowing that she was safe and healthy made his evening. When she wasn't in perfect health, he would dread and worry for weeks until she sent him a notice that she felt better. Once she broke her leg and was in the hospital for a few days and he couldn't think of anything else except that. He wasn't sure what how you can break apart of your body like she did, which was classic for her, but he worried for her life. He even thought about going to the human world just to perhaps cast a spell on her leg to heal it, anything that would have helped. However, once she let him know that she was out of her "cast" and able to walk again, he eliminated all of those thoughts, as they were absolutely ridiculous. Ridiculous, because God's were prohibited into going into a human's realm. Because of this, he honestly was worried about his future with her, if it was to happen. She is older than she was when he saw her, every now and then she would send a photo of her, her slender body that looked adorably tiny, and a face that was way more gorgeous than any other God would describe a human to be. He eventually learned to match his own body with her current age, and it ended up suiting him more than his body as a young boy did. However, Haku had only a general idea of how long a human's life is, and from what he knew, she had maybe 50 years left, 80 or 90 at the most. He has lived so much longer than this, 80 or 90 years would be just a small portion in his life.

He had considered writing her back. He really had. Even Zeniba started pressuring him for awhile, until she realized it was pointless. Rin, who was a worker at the bathhouse and adored Chihiro, even threatened him to. He snarled at her, and told her to write it herself if she cared so much for her. Rin, after hearing the attitude she was receiving from the dragon, went into a frenzy about how she's not a God and how there's no way she would know how to write, and how Haku, who can write in Japanese and so many other languages flawlessly, is a selfish brat and a child. Rin obviously thought that she was equal to Haku, which made Haku more aggravated by her than by anyone. He reminded her how she was lucky, after all, that he was so kind as to not wipe her off of the face of the Earth. Rin, knowing this to be true, huffed and left Haku's office. Haku had felt guilty, but knew that if Chihiro would want to see him, she would probably have been in his office with him, leaning over his shoulder as he worked. Of course, this is what he pictured her to do, which was good enough for him.

He opened today's letter and immediately started panicking.

Dear Haku,

I tried to visit you yesterday. It's really cold at this point in the year, and I didn't make it that far. I'm sorry that I didn't tell you first, but I wanted to. I haven't been doing well lately, My mother has been trying to make me happy but you're all I think about right now. Well, for the past eight years you've been all I thought about, but I get told all the time that I'm getting old, that I'm a woman now and I need to act like it by falling in love and having children, which I can't do. Not because I am unable, but because I don't want to. I am perfectly able of doing both, which I am reminded of all the time lately. I don't like life here, I don't like having to write these letters and wondering if you'll ever respond, or if you'll ever read them. I'm sorry for not telling you that I wanted to visit earlier, but after sitting in my bed, terribly sick, I don't think I should visit anymore. I want to come to your world and stay in your world, and I know it's probably not a good choice but I want to feel free again. I need you to do that, after all I've seen you have no idea how bored I am. More than bored, I've been sort of, well, worried. You already know what people have been saying about me, and how people have been telling me that I'm crazy, I'm delusional, everything like that. I'm starting to believe it. The story that I have in my mind about you and everyone else in the spirit world is completely foolish, and I don't blame anyone for not believing it. So why do I still, after all these years? I'm afraid that I am lying to myself. As I mentioned before, I'm extremely sick and weak, but I need to know the truth. Tomorrow, instead of sending you a letter, I'm coming to the bathhouse. I hope you're ok with this, but it's something I've thought long and hard about, and it's something I need to do. I hope you understand and I'm sorry for possibly being a headache over the years.

Love,

Chihiro.

Kohaku, shooting un-godlike expletives out of his mouth and circling around his study, spent the next hour stressing about Chihiro more than he has in his entire life. He spent so long only caring about her well-being that he forgot about her happiness. She wasn't happy. How dare he make her think none of this was real. How dare she not tell him before how she felt. This wasn't the only thing that was making him panic, but she was sick as a dog because of him. And now, she wanted to make it worse, again, for him. His first instinct was the same as always on subjects involving his human, he pulled Rin from her job and into his office. Rin was in the middle of cleaning the big tub for whatever filthy spirit needed to use it next and was, to say the least, extremely frustrated when she was pulled from her work to take care of Haku's problems. When she got to the study she saw Haku struggling to meditate in the middle of the room, scales poking out of different parts of his body, showing that he was aggravated beyond any sort of tantrum he's had in front of her, which he has had a lot of.

Rin, who was extremely confused by now, tried her best to calm the dragon by awkwardly rubbing his shoulder. "Hey buddy, wanna tell your Auntie Rinny what's bothering you?" Kohaku, who was even more annoyed by the sound of her trying to console him, opened his eyes to give her a dirty look as he spoke. "Chihiro is coming tomorrow." Rin's eyes lit up with enthusiasm. "That's amazing! Oh, we've got to get everything prepared, the poor baby has gone through so much here, she's going to feel welcome and I will make sure of it. Don't worry about a thing, we'll make her happy if it's the last thing we do!" Haku, whose eyes beamed red and who was visually full of anger, was so close to using his dragon claws that now replaced his hands to slit her throat just to shut her up. "You will call me Master Kohaku, no abbreviations, no nicknames. We're not friends, I am your boss and you owe me your life for not killing you already, Rin." Rin glared at him for his oh-so-rude response. "Please, I've known you much longer before you were even "Master Haku". Now tell me what's wrong with your little girly friend coming here." Haku was going to lose it, but he took a brief moment to keep his anger in check, and he felt his claws turn back into the hands they typically are, and his scales retract back into his body. He figured that he should be honest with Rin, who in reality was the closest thing he had to a friend, anyways.

"She's sick, Rin." He took another breath to keep his extremely worried emotions from showing, to avoid tormenting from his worker. "She's terribly sick and not only that, but she has been miserable. Coming to the bathhouse will not be good for her and she will need assistance, which I will provide myself. I'm going to take her to Zeniba's home and we will try our best to nurse her back to health. I'm going to be gone from the bathhouse until we are sure that she is well. I leave today." He took a deeper breath. He came up with this idea while he was speaking, although he had to admit that it was a good one. He felt some of the weight come off of his shoulders as he continued. "She will probably be angry at me for not responding, which, and please cherish this moment for I will not repeat it, you were right about." Rin smirked at the fact that he was finally able to admit that he was wrong. The first time in thousands of years, and there would be thousands of years left until he did it again. It was a satisfying moment and one she will never forget. Haku continued with his plan. "In the meanwhile, keep in mind that once she is at the bathhouse, she will not leave my sight. She will be with me at all times until further notice. Haku stood up, and looked Rin dead in the eye. "I'm leaving now. Tell the other workers and Yubaba. You will be in charge."

Haku knew he wouldn't regret the decision to put her in charge, because even though she furiated him more than anyone else, she was more mature and clever than anyone here. It was safe to say that when he wasn't here, she was the leader. Kohaku shooed Rin out of his study, which she did without arguing. He walked to the beautiful patio that he was supplied when he moved into this study, which was overall, an amazing room, with red walls and mahogany floors, with all the necessities such as a bathroom and a bed, although he seldom slept or used the facilities. But the room was gorgeous and supplied him with a nice atmosphere. He flew away as quickly as his mind raced, because, seeing how dark it was beginning to become, he realized he was in more of a hurry than he initially intended. He didn't mind though, his eyesight was keener than any other spirit and he knew the way to Zeniba's house by heart.

He made it to his home in no shorter than 30 minutes, and once he was there, it seemed she already knew what was going on. She was spying on him and he knew it. Although, in some cases, such as right now, it is a good thing she does. He trusted that she only did it when she sensed something was wrong, anyways. "Kohaku, you're here." She walked up to him in a hurry and brushed the hair out of his face. "It's been so long, you look starving. Come on in, I made you supper." She saw the expression of worry on his face as she sat him down at the dining table in her house. "Don't worry about a thing. I have the room set up for her and everything. She'll be fine." Haku shook his head. He felt comfortable here, and it calmed him down to know that she understood the situation. "I don't want her to leave my sight. I want her bed in my room. This is a dangerous world, and she's fragile." Zeniba gave her non-biological son a strange look and then sighed. "She'll have to be out of your sight at some point." he looked off guard at this statement and before he was able to speak up, Zeniba interrupted him. "I will only put her bed in your room if you make me two promises. Are you listening?" Haku, being the child he was around her, put his head and the table and shook it up and down, nodding. He did this not because the idea of making promises to ensure that his human stayed in the same room frustrated him, but because he only now realized how exhausted he was.

Of course, Zeniba knew this. "First of all, and I trust you to have the common sense not to do this even if I didn't tell you, no sex. If I catch you sleeping with her in this house, you two will be separated and you will be punished. She will most likely be punished as well, but mostly you will because I told you not to and I trust you know better. Understood?" He wasn't sure how she would punish her, possibly giving her a pig nose for a few days, but it was hard to say. However, he knew exactly how she was going to punish him, sending him back to the bathhouse, with, most likely, a pig nose.

Haku nodded his head again, which was still buried in the table. He quite enjoyed his current position and almost didn't want to move. "And as for the commitment I don't trust you to follow," Zeniba carefully lifted up his head, so that his gray eyes met hers, which were almost as big as his head. "She's sick. She'll want privacy. When she asks for it, you are to grant her all the space she needs." Although Haku was initially opposed to the idea of letting Chihiro do what she wished while she was here, he did want her to be happy. He nodded his head once again, this time, looking Zeniba in the eyes.

Zeniba smiled, looking at the exhausted boy. "Good." She got up from her seat, and grabbed a bowl of noodles to Haku. He ate silently and slowly, but ended up finishing. It was a miracle he was still alive, the way he took care of himself was unacceptable by her means. Zeniba sensed how stressed Haku still was. "I agree with you that, as her dragon, you need to look after her." Haku brought his head up from his meal. He has never been called by her or anyone else "Chihiro's dragon", but it was a true statement. If he was to be anyone's pet dragon, he would be Chihiro's. "This is a safe place. No one will hurt her while she's in this house, but I suppose that once she leaves and returns to the bathhouse, she will be in more danger, her being a human. So by all means, if you feel it is necessary, keep your eye on her." She paused, reviewing what she just said. "But once she is adjusted, the same rules apply. Let her have space whenever she wishes for it."

"Once she's… adjusted? adjusted to what?" Zeniba smiled, remarking his innocence. "Sweety, if she stays here, she will be the same as us. She will keep all there is to being a human, except she will not age, she will not smell, and she will not die. Not as long as she is here. Once she leaves, if ever, she will age as usual, and die in a few decades prior to leaving, just like she would right now." Haku was shocked at this explanation. "Don't get your hopes up. She will still be human, and she will still have a disadvantage because of that." But what really struck Haku was, no aging. No death. She won't leave him like that as long as she stays. Yubaba knew what he was thinking. "Again, don't get your hopes up. You'll have to treat her like a queen if you want her to stay. Humans move on from people all the time, and unless you want her to follow that trend, you will have to cherish her more than anyone else, and that will take actually responding to her when she talks to you, which you haven't been doing for the past eight years. Haku was determined to anything to make her stay after hearing this. He brought his bowl to Zeniba's sink and cleaned it out. "Thank you," he mumbled in his usual strict tone, not that he would dare to use that tone with her usually. "I'll be back later." Haku walked out of the house, transformed, and flew to the gates, taking a few berries along with him for her.

Zeniba snickered when he left. "Such a child." she thought to herself. Haku flew to the chapel, and entered swiftly, sitting at one of the pews. Haku sat there in front of the beautiful stained glass and the sunlight that beamed down on his head and meditated for what must have been 5 hours, until he heard lazy footsteps come through the tunnel separating the chapel from the human realm. He sprung up immediately, and rushed to the entrance when he heard the footsteps stop, followed with a soft, pud. He walked slower than before to the opening, where he saw a tiny being with long hair that was tied up with a sparkling purple band with her head nestled in her knees. She was breathing softly, but hard enough for him to hear how quick her breathing pace was, and that she was obviously suffering. He couldn't make it any farther. He couldn't walk up to her and cradle her in his arms and take her home. She was freezing, and that's all he wanted to do.

He kneeled down at the opening, trying to not scare her. He whispered softly, only loud enough for her to hear. "Chihiro." Even with how softly he spoke, she was still startled to look up and see him sitting, waiting for her. She probably didn't recognize him, his hair was much longer, he was very tall and skinny, his cheekbones were prominent, and although he was incredibly handsome, he looked like a man, which is far different from when she last saw him. He didn't want to seem threatening to her, because she had tears streaming down her face, just like she did when he saw her for the first time so long ago. He whispered in the same tone, "It's me, Chihiro." Her eyes got wider, although her expression remained the same. "I'm here." Chihiro started crying harder than before, Haku couldn't see if it was from happiness or fear, or both. "Chihiro I can't make it any farther," he said with a louder voice, "You have to take a few steps forward. Just a few. You'll be ok, I'll help you." Chihiro stood up, it seemed she had to use all of her strength to do so. She only took three steps, until she was almost out, when the same anxiety and fear stuck her once again.

"Prove it's you." Chihiro said in a hoarse voice, she's obviously been sick for some time now. "I don't believe you." Haku stood confused, only then remembering what a conflicting little human she was. "How?" Haku said under his breath. "Look me in the eyes." Chihiro responded, in another soft voice. "Please." Haku did what he was told, and Chihiro smiled with chapped lips. She walked further, until she was able to touch Haku's face, which was almost out of her reach. Haku kneeled down until their faces were level with each other. She was so small and he was so tall that Haku had to be on his knees in order to do this. She cradled his face with her hands. "Hi, Kohaku." Haku brought out one of his rare smiles, just for her. "Hi Chihiro." Chihiro started giggling, and brought her forehead to his as her smile faded away. "I don't feel well, Haku." Haku nodded. "I know, Chihiro." Chihiro slowly started to become see through, and as soon as Haku noticed, he brought the berry to her lips. She had to use everything she had left to chew and after she swallowed, her body slowly came back. She smiled.

"I remember this part."

"I know you do."

Chihiro kissed her dragon on the forehead and passed out, still breathing but needed to be tended to. Haku kissed her forehead back and took her into his arms, tucking her sleeping head into his neck. He transformed once again, still holding her in his dragon claws, with her backpack in his back claws, and safely brought her to Zeniba's, even noticing some color gained in her cheeks. He transformed himself into his ideal form once they reached the door, Chihiro still with her head tucked in his neck and her backpack swung lazily over Haku's shoulder.

Zeniba smiled at the way Haku was still so gentle with his tiny human, and let Haku place her in her new bed, which was now sitting at the other side of his bedroom. He carefully tucked her in and kissed her forehead for the last time before he went back to the kitchen, where Zeniba was still busy cleaning. Zeniba looked at Haku with a soft smirk. "Was she mad at you?" Haku took a sip of water that he took time to pour for himself and shook his head no. She laughed. "She will be when she wakes up." Haku looked at her. "Good. She should be." Zeniba shook his hair with her hand. "Go to sleep, sweetie. She'll wake up in a few hours, and she'll want you to be the first person she sees." Haku wasn't about to argue with Zeniba. He strolled back to his bedroom, taking his water with him, and fell asleep for the first time in a few weeks.