Haku abruptly regained consciousness just before daybreak, all drowsiness banished by the massive powerful presence of the sun just below the horizon. He slid open the paneled doors and flew, once again, to the bathhouse, and let himself in to the boiler room. Kamaji was getting ready to go to sleep, but he didn't look surprised to see Haku.

"Haku," said Kamaji in his hoarse voice, smiling, "tell me about how my granddaughter is doing."

Haku described the way Chihiro had grown and what her home and school were like. Kamaji couldn't keep the grin off his face. He looked as happy and proud as if Chihiro were his real granddaughter.

"But she can't seem to remember anything. She knew my name, and she tells me that she dreams about this place, but they're wisps and they're just out of reach…Grandfather, how can I get her to remember?"

Kamaji looked at Haku. "It's a powerful magic that made her forget, Haku. I don't have that kind of power," he said in his grave voice. "You should ask Zeniiba. She would be able to help you."

Haku felt Kamaji's slightly disapproving look through his black glasses, and felt ashamed.


Haku flew back toward Swamp Bottom, his long white tail streaming behind him riding the waves of wind. When he had quit his apprenticeship and couldn't wait to get out of the bathhouse, Kamaji was the only one he had said good-bye to before he left. Lin had cornered him in the hall – You still owe me one, Haku. You better take care of yourself or I'll never get that favor – and he had pretended to brush it off, but Haku was pleased that she cared. Then, too, Kamaji had told him to see Zeniiba. Kamaji had trusted Zeniiba ever since Chihiro came back from Swamp Bottom unharmed.

"Zeniiba would let you stay with her," Kamaji had said.

But Haku had disagreed. "Don't worry about me," he had replied. "I'll be fine. I'm free." And so, he had flown off, enjoying the sunshine on his scales and the freedom to be awake during the day and go wherever he pleased. It wasn't until night fell that Haku realized he had nowhere to go. His river was gone, and now so was the bathhouse. He was unwilling to admit that he needed help, and especially not from Yubaba's twin sister, so he just coiled up under a tree in his dragon form to sleep.

Haku remembered only a few days of this – wandering around during the day, sporadically flying, sleeping outside in any kind of sheltered spot at night. After the first day, he grew bored of this newfound 'freedom', and after three, had begun to despair. He had nowhere to go and nothing to do. He had no purpose. Those first few days he thought about finding Chihiro and seeing how she was doing at her new school. He sometimes even dreamed that she would take him in, but with no physical manifestation in the human world, he could not cross the barrier, though he tried many times. The gate wouldn't let him through, and when he flew high above it, he would hit an invisible wall.

The first time this happened, he hovered before it, eyes wide in amazement, and probed it with his claws, feeling a barrier smooth as glass, but his whiskers moved with wind coming from the other side. The human side. He flew along this wall for days, looking for a break or just a weakness, and found none.

In his frustration and despair he threw himself against the wall over and over, until he shook with pain and exhaustion. His usually immaculate scales were battered and some were torn, his mane became matted, his eyes dulled. He had nothing to eat and became too weak to hunt, but he didn't care. The only thing that kept him alive was the thought of his promise to Chihiro, and how he had to keep it. Soon, he no longer had the strength even to fly. Days blurred into each other. He walked until he collapsed, slept where and when he stumbled, and woke only to walk again.

Then there was a period of darkness in his memory.

His walking must have taken him to Swamp Bottom, because when he woke up, he was in a bed – the same bed he sleeps in now – and Zeniiba had come in with a bowl of miso soup and medicine. He was confined to his bed and then to his room for a week, and could not transform or fly for a month; he just didn't have the strength. All this time, Zeniiba took care of him and fed him and cleaned him. It had hurt his pride to have ended up there. He had tried to leave, but Zeniiba had been firm in him staying. She was right. He was too weak to take care of himself.

When Haku was finally up and about, he wanted to work for his keep. It didn't feel right to accept so much from one for nothing. Zeniiba had suggested that he care for the spring that she had created behind her house.

"The spring is the source of water for all of Swamp Bottom," Zeniiba told Haku. "You can exercise your magic there, and you might find it interesting."

And so he had learned the flow of the water and explored the spring, but try as he might, he couldn't get the water to obey him. The spring flowed well with clean water, but it wasn't anything special. There was none of Haku's power in the water – he could only do what anyone who knows water could do. He didn't embody the water. He couldn't understand it, and it frustrated him.

He was a good guest. He made sure that Zeniiba never had to carry water to the house. After he had regained some of his magic and introduced himself to the spring water, he asked the water to help keep Zeniiba's house clean. The spring water had agreed, but Haku knew it was more for Zeniiba's sake than his.

Then one day, Haku found the source of the spring. He followed it deep underground as a dragon, exploring it and widening the cracks as he went. The water grew hot and pressed in on his scales, squeezing him, but it was water, and it did not hurt him. There was one spot where the tunnel shrank and the current was so concentrated that the water blasted him away from the opening in the tunnel. It did not care that he was a dragon, a spirit of water, it fought to keep him away. The opening was so small that he could barely fit, and the current became stronger the closer he came, buffeting at his body. Finally, after many failures and many visits, Haku went through to the other side.

Haku exited the tunnel into a shining lake, where everything was subtly different. The air tasted funny, with the faint tang of metal and smoke. The water had slightly too much nitrogen. The stars were fainter, and the moon orange as it rose.

He was on the human side of the barrier.

Haku had to rest for a night before attempting the return trip, but it wasn't as difficult as he had feared. The current was eager to return him to the spirit world.


Haku flew on. He took a deep breath with the weight of determination. I can't let my pride get in my way anymore. It's about time I talked with Zeniiba.


That night, Haku watched Zeniiba's knitting needles flash before the fire. They reminded him of the scales of fish flitting through his river, glinting with reflected sunlight. "Zeniiba, do you think Chihiro will ever remember me?"

Zeniiba looked up from her knitting at Haku and smiled. She had been waiting for Haku to open up to her all this time. She motioned for him to pull up a chair. Haku seated himself.

"Chihiro hasn't really forgotten you. Once you meet someone, you never really forget them. In fact, I told Chihiro the same thing when she was here, trying to help you."

She stopped to count her stitches, and then continued. Haku noticed that Zeniiba was not as relaxed as she seemed. Her words were filling with some kind of passion.

"The spell on the North Gate banishes memories to the realm of dreams and seals them there, so the humans are never sure if their memories are real or figments of imagination. The human world today is mundane enough that the events from the dreams are unbelievable, impossible, and that's enough to keep them away. Humans will go to any lengths to disbelieve the impossible, even to the point of believing they're crazy."

She looked up at Haku.

"For her to remember you, she has to believe in you."