This has got to be my longest chapter yet! Well, I hope everyone enjoys! And sorry if the characters are out-of-character and a little disjointed in places – I had to keep rewriting parts because I wasn't really happy with it.

I do realise that I'm somewhat in between using the original Japanese names and the English names. Maybe sometime I'll change all the Yubaba's to Yu-Baaba and Zeniba to Zeniiba. Anyway…

DISCLAIMER: you know what. I felt like putting it here today.

Kohaku sighed deeply.

For the past year, he had been wandering around, looking for his river, but with little success. He had found a tiny trickle of it up near a mountain, but as the closer it got to human settlement, it slowly dribbled away to nothing, leaving him sadder than before. He also vaguely remembered someone telling him that the humans had filled in his river and built apartments over it. Another reason to hate humans, he thought sourly.

He didn't know why, but all this while, ever since he visited the Great spirits to ask them about something, he felt like a part of him was missing – which was strange, because he didn't know why he was missing something. But all the same, he felt like a lost spirit more than ever.

He gazed out at the steadily pouring rain and the bleary clouds from his perch in a huge tree. The tree spirit was kind enough to give him shelter until the storm passed, and he was grateful for that.

Maybe he should visit Aburaya, he thought. He was sick of wandering around, so it'd be nice to see Kamaji again to keep his mind off his river. Or what was his river.

But Yubaba was a problem, for he was quite certain that even after all this time, she'd still have no hesitations about ripping him to pieces, as she once threatened to do. That was the main reason why he hadn't gone back for a year or so.

Still, it might be worthwhile, as he had nothing to do. In fact, he was nothing more than a homeless wanderer. Maybe Kamaji could give him some ideas on where to find a home. And it'd be nice to see the susuwatari again. So what if he got into trouble?

Concluding so, he waited out the storm before travelling once more.

Kohaku skimmed as low as he could over the dirtier outlying buildings of Aburaya, keeping to the shadows. It was almost nightfall, and Yubaba would be returning soon, he knew. He'd have to make this visit a quick one.

Landing on the concrete platform just outside the boiler room, he quickly changed back and entered the boiler room.

He walked quietly passed the steaming boilers, and stopping at the doorway, he saw the susuwatari already hard at work, along with Kamaji, yelling, "C'mon you runts! We've only just begun!"

Then he caught sight of Kohaku leaning against the wall, a small smile playing across his face at the familiar scene.

"Haku! You're all right!" He scrambled across the room and gave him a four-armed hug.

Kohaku smiled broader, pulling back to avoid being strangled. "I'm fine."

While this was going on, the susuwatari had all dropped their coals and were now leaping up and down happily at his feet.

"Stay awhile – Rin will be along soon. Runts!" he yelled. "Take a break!"

But his order was mostly ignored as the susuwatari had already decided to do just that.

Kohaku wondered if Rin had a makeover on her opinions about him, but he decided not to bring that up.

Sitting down on the timber floor, he said, "How's everything?"

"Everything?" Kamaji chuckled. "Well, Yubaba got another apprentice of course."

Interested, he asked, "What's he like?"

"She," Kamaji corrected. "Her name's Konta, and she's all right so far. Not as mean as you were…yet."

His emerald eyes sparkled with mirth. "That wasn't my fault."

Kamaji continued, "She came a few months after you left, so during that time Yubaba had to do all the dirty work you used to get."

Kohaku openly showed his amusement now. "Good for her."

Just then the wooden panel slid open and Rin emerged, carrying Kamaji's and the susuwatari's food.

"Chow – " she stopped short at the sight of Kohaku. "You!" she squealed, dropping the basket and immediately the susuwatari came swarming over it. Somehow she managed to hang on to Kamaji's bowl while slapping Kohaku in a friendly way on the back. "Where have you been, you idiot? You had the two of us – and Yubaba to some extent – worried sick! Did it ever occur to you to visit more often?"

"I…well…" Kohaku began but Rin cut him off.

"Oh forget it. Straight to the point – how's Sen? Did you find her?"

Kohaku frowned. "Who?"

Rin's eyes widened, and Kamaji drew back a little, along with the susuwatari. "Huh? What do you mean, 'who'? Who do you think I'm talking about, you dope? Sen! Or Chihiro – whatever you want to call her. That's who!"

He shook his head slowly. "What are you talking about?"

Rin looked at him carefully. "This isn't some stupid joke, right?"

Kamaji said, "No, it's something else. Haku, what happened to you after you left?"

He said slowly, "I went to visit Zeniba. Then…" There seemed to be a gap in his memory – he knew he had done something between then and the time he went to the Great spirits. "I can't remember what happened then," he continued lamely, "but next I was going to the Five Pillars."

Rin whistled. "That's quite a way off."

Kohaku asked, irritated, "Was I the only one who had never heard of it?"

"Maybe," said Rin, dismissing the question. "Carry on."

"I asked them if they could help me with…something, and then they did…something, and then I travelled for a year or so, and then I came here." He really couldn't find a better word other than 'something', because that was what it was.

There was a long pause before Kamaji ventured to say something. "There're a lot of holes in that story."

Kohaku gave him a hard look.

He amended quickly, "I didn't mean it that way. But it seems like…someone's removed part of your memory."

Rin agreed sombrely. "Yes, someone removed Sen."

Kohaku pressed, "Who is Sen?"

Kamaji exchanged looks with Rin before they proceeded to tell him the whole story together, the story of Chihiro and Haku.

When they had finished, Kohaku said, "So…Chihiro…she's a human?"

Kamaji nodded. "Yes. She remembered your name, and her love saved you."

"You remember or not?" Rin asked, a little impatiently.

Kohaku thought hard. The story sounded so…right…he knew it must've happened, because from then on he knew his real name. How else could he have known?

He wanted so badly to remember. Somehow he knew it happened, but…

He shut his eyes tightly and searched his mind for anything or anyone that might remind him of this human Rin and Kamaji spoke of.

In his mind, he saw his river. It was small and had an unusually strong current, but it was home. It used to be surrounded by wilderness, but then humans had come and turned it into a reserve. He remembered that he had watched their human activities, the water lapping gently against the shore. That was when he had nothing against them.

He was kind to them, for if they accidentally dropped something into him, he'd carry it back to the shore so that they could get it back. Often the humans dumped rubbish in, and Kohaku had taken that to be an insult. So – he remembered fondly – he had thrown an aluminium can straight back in the offending human's face. Oh, he enjoyed that.

Then he recalled that not too long ago a little human had fallen in, so as he would, he carried her back to shore, as well as her pink shoe. He remembered how happy her parents had been when she hadn't drowned, and how happy the little girl was to get her shoe back.

Soon after tons of rubbish and dirt was poured into his river and… Wait a second…he thought.

The girl…who was that girl? He had met her later. At…here? Aburaya? And he had…helped her to get a job! It was exactly the same story Kamaji and Rin had told him!

Suddenly his mind was teeming with images pouring forth as the barriers holding those memories back broke away into nothing. He saw their retold story in his own mind –when Chihiro was a spoilt brat, when she got a job, of her voice calling him from the darkness, their freefall in the dawn sky, and their parting. He owed everything to that girl he almost forgot.

His eyes snapped open. "Chihiro!"

Rin whooped. "He's remembered!"

Kamaji simply gave him a happy, hard whack on the back.

"That's it!" he said excitedly, feeling like a little boy again. "They – those Great spirits – they made me forget about Chihiro!" Then his face clouded over and he stood up angrily, but Rin pulled him back down again.

"You stupid idiot!" she hissed. "If you go and complain to them about making you forget the girl, you probably won't be outta there alive."

"Oh, they're not that bad," said Kamaji, "they just misunderstand things like this because they've never experienced anything like it."

Kohaku looked ready to kill. "I don't care if they misunderstood or not. I'm going to tell them not to do it ever again."

"And you know they don't like to be corrected."

Kohaku just ignored him, but Kamaji's hand took hold of his shoulder and turned him around so that he'd listen. "If you go running off to fight them, what's that going to accomplish? Nothing. They'd probably remove all of your memories, and then there's no way you and Chihiro will ever be together again."

And then I break my promise, Kohaku thought silently. He hadn't told anyone about it, and he never will. That was one of those things best kept secret. So he conceded, saying, "All right then."

Just then three bath tokens dropped down through the hole in the ceiling. Kamaji frowned, then said, "Oh, damn it, they can wait." He glanced from Rin to Kohaku's amused faces, and suddenly, they all broke out into laughter.

At last, they quietened down, and Kohaku asked, "So how do I get to Chihiro?"

Rin looked as if the question was beyond her, while Kamaji scratched his head thoughtfully. Suddenly he said, "Have you heard of the Trickster?"

Kohaku frowned slightly. "Tsukioukami?"

He nodded once. "Youkai Tsukioukami. He may be a reincarnation of a demon of sorts, but he might help."

"How's that?" Rin asked incredulously.

"Well, he's stolen most of the secrets from the Great spirits, like how to open portals. And that's what you need from him, Haku. Get him to open a portal for you."

Kohaku thought for a moment, then said, "Where do I find him?"

Kamaji chuckled. "That's the question."

"Oh great," said Rin, "we go look for someone and we don't know where to look. The world's a big place, boiler man."

"It shouldn't be too hard. Try around Kagemori – that's where he was last rumoured to be."

"Rumours…" muttered Rin.

Kohaku stood up. He had stayed as long as he dared. "I'm going now." He headed for the door.

"Hurry – Yubaba should be back soon, if not already," said Kamaji.

"Right," he called back.

He pulled open the door and shut it quietly. He was about to transform when suddenly the door swung open and Rin stepped out, her bare feet making no noise on the hard ground. She said quickly, "Take me with you."

It was such a random request that Kohaku was caught out, blinking in the moonlight like an owl. He finally managed to ask, "Why?"
"Because Tsukioukami might help me remember my name."

Kohaku warned, "It's risky. What if Yubaba finds out you've gone? And Tsukioukami doesn't sound like the most agreeable person."

"Ha! As if I didn't know. But I don't care anymore. Don't you get it, Haku? I want to get out of here and find my past."

He shook his head, "It's too – "

"You stupid dragon, so what?"

His eyes flashed in annoyance at her tone.

She continued, "You got your name, and you left the bathhouse. You're free. I can free myself too, and so can anyone else. So don't try and stop me, Haku, I'm coming with you whether you like it or not."

His emerald eyes bored into hers before he snapped, "All right. Get on."

He transformed and Rin clambered on, holding tightly to the horns. Without waiting to see if she was properly settled, he took off into the twilight sky.

Rin gasped. She had never flown before, and from above, even the dirtier areas around Aburaya looked wonderful. As they accelerated to the clouds, she could see further away – the green fields and the train line diminishing to a thin line. Then she tensed at the bird-shape on the left slowly looming closer.

"Haku, it's Yubaba!"

He had seen her. They banked sharply upwards to the right, going faster than Rin thought was possible. The wind howled past her ears and the cold wind bit into her skin. Suddenly they were sailing right through the thick, vaporous clouds. The dragon slowed, staying as long as he could in the cloud for cover. Momentarily, Rin forgot about the danger as she gaped at the white fogginess all around them, wondering if this was heaven. Then she had to grip onto his horns again as the dragon suddenly shot out of the clouds and into the moonlight.

Rin took a moment to take in the clouds rolling beneath them like a beautiful piece of artwork on a scroll. Then she asked, "Did Yubaba see us?"

She felt rather than heard Kohaku say no.

They zoomed over the wispy clouds towards Kagemori. Once again Rin took in everything she saw, silently savouring every moment. Then she said quietly to herself, "I hope the old witch doesn't notice I'm gone."

This time Kohaku offered no reply, so Rin was left to her own thoughts.

They kept flying.

It is pretty long, isn't it? Y'see, I didn't want to split the chapter.

Anyway, review and tell me what you think! I hope the story's starting to move quicker now.

Reposted 17/01/06 for…reasons.