"Chihiro," he whispered as though in a trance.
Seconds after he spoke her name, he collapsed on the floor of the elevator. It continued to drop until it came to the to a stop at the end of it's line. The doors opened to reveal Lin, who had been waiting patiently for the elevator to return. Lin gasped when she saw Haku. She knelt down and shook him, attempting to arouse him. However, it was no use.
"Someone help!" she screamed.
At this time, Chihiro was working on the cleaning the bath that she and Lin had been assigned. Unaware of Haku's present state, she worked as diligently as possibly in order to finish before Lin's return. Taking a moment to rest, she couldn't help but think of Haku.
"I wonder what he's doing now," she thought to herself.
After about another hour, Chihiro had finished where Lin had left off. She wiped the sweat from her forehead and gave a big sigh. Finished with the bath meant finished for the evening.
"Still," she thought, "I wonder what's taking Lin so long."
She decided to look for her. She remembered Lin had said something about seeing Yubaba, so she headed in that direction. When she reached one of the upper floors, she noticed that there was a bit of a commotion between all the workers. Weaving her way through the scattered, gossiping spirits, she spotted Lin speaking with Yubaba off to the side. Chihiro waited patiently for them to finish until finally Yubaba left Lin to herself and disappeared around the corner. Chihiro immediately took the opportunity to speak with Lin. Grabbing her arm, Chihiro moved to where she stood face to face with Lin.
"Lin," she said, "what's going on?"
"Sen?" she asked rather surprised, "what are you doing up here?"
"You took so long I was wondering what happened to you," Chihiro replied, "what's all the commotion about?"
Lin stared at Chihiro with a sad expression painted on her face. She seemed speechless for as she tried to answer Chihiro's question, she couldn't seem to find the words to do so. Finally, she took Chihiro's hand and began to lead her back the way she had come.
"C'mon," she said, "lets go back to our room. We'll talk there"
"Uuh…okay," replied Chihiro.
Once in their room, Lin sat on the ground, all the while staring at the floor with a solemn expression on her face. Chihiro sat facing her and waited for Lin to speak. It was quiet. The only sounds that could be heard was the wind rustling through the trees, the water slapping up against the side of the bathhouse, and the train rolling along the tracks on the way to it's next stop. Finally, Lin looked up to face Chihiro.
"Sen," she began, "there was…an incident,"
"An incident?" Chihiro repeated.
"Yes," Lin replied, "an incident…with Haku."
Chihiro was speechless. Immediately she began to panic.
"What do you mean by incident?" she asked, "is Haku all right?"
"Yes, he's fine now," Lin replied, "I found him collapsed in the elevator on my way to see Yubaba. He was unconscious. No one knows what caused it."
"I have to see him!" Chihiro cried, "where is he?"
"You can't," Lin replied, "Yubaba won't let anyone see him."
Chihiro's eyes were filled with tears. She tried to fight them, but her fear for Haku continued to slowly overwhelm her. Lin noticed this and held Chihiro in her arms. Chihiro cried. She cried for Haku, and she cried for herself, and she cried for her friends. She was at a loss as to what to do.
Though in an unconscious state, Haku dreamt. He dreamt of things he would not remember when he awoke. Things that he never would have chosen to have forgotten even if it meant his life. Faded memories that seemed to exist only in dreams, trapped by bonds of hate not his own. Something echoed in the back of his mind. Random taps with no pattern or rhythm. Accompanying it a sound like soft cries of a heart-broken girl alone in her sorrow. Chihiro, they were her tears. Her sorrow sang out the moment each tear hit the floor. Somehow, this song had reached Haku through a bond forgotten but not broken.
This song of sorrow sung through Chihiro's tears was too strong for Haku to bear. He immediately awoke, jerking into a sitting position.
"Chihiro!" he yelled.
He breathed heavily from the shock of waking so suddenly but not having any recollection of what he dreamt which may have caused him to arouse so suddenly. He sat there quietly catching his breath and thinking about the word he had shouted when he awoke.
"Who is…Chihiro?"
