Chihiro and Haku noticed that they were alone now that No-Face was gone. Chihiro blushed and looked down. She knew that they were alone before, but they were in the bath house, not the wilderness. Haku cleared his throat.

"We should get to sleep."

"Uh, yah."

Chihiro moved her sleeping bag towards the fire a bit and climbed in, she fell asleep almost instantly. Haku, on the other hand, couldn't fall asleep. He kept sensing something and it was disturbing him. Finally he decided to just stay up and keep the fire going.

Chihiro was floating, she looked down and waved at the children who were running to keep up with her. Suddenly the winds shifted and it got harder to stay on course. She heard laughter, but ignored it, thinking it was just the wind. She ended up being buffeted until she had to fly lower, as she flew over the ocean a massive wave seemed to snatch her out of the air. She couldn't breathe as the water pushed into her lungs. All she could feel is pain in her chest.

Chihiro was coughing and struggling in her sleep. Haku rushed to her side and tried to wake her up, but she was too far into the dream. He lifted her into a sitting position and shook her to no avail. He called her name but nothing. She was dying, and he was powerless to stop it. He lay her back down and started giving her mouth to mouth. Forcing air into her lungs until finally she threw up the water. She was still asleep though. Haku repeated what he was doing, and again she threw up water. After three of four times she finally made a noise. Her eyes flicked open and she looked up at Haku. She coughed and threw up again. Haku held her close to him. His heart was pounding in his chest, he thought he was going to lose her.

"I'm sorry Chihiro." he kept saying.

He felt guilty, this was his fault that she was being tortured by Soren. She was just an innocent bystander, someone caught in the middle of his issues.

"Maybe we should end this, and you should go home." he told her.

Chihiro's eyes went wide, "What? No!" she winced against the ripping feeling in her throat. "I'm not going to give up Haku. I want this more than anything." she told him.

"But why? You're in danger Chihiro, please, let me deal with her once and for all and I'll return for you. We can try this again."

"What if we can't? What if you never get rid of her? Haku she is going to follow you around until you agree to marry her. That's the only way you're going to get rid of her!"

"If it'll mean your safety...maybe I should."

Chihiro felt as if she had been punched in the gut. No, that wouldn't hurt as much as she was hurting. If he had ripped her heart out and thrown it into a tree then stuck a bayonet in her stomach and twisted it, it wouldn't hurt as much as she was hurting. Just hearing those words made her feel like...like telling him everything. She wanted to confess to him how much she loved him, how long she loved him, and how she would die if he married Soren, or anyone else but her. But she didn't want to scare him. They had a good relationship and if she told him what he meant to her, she would ruin it. Especially if he didn't feel the same about her. She looked at him and didn't fight to keep the tears from flowing.

"Do you want to marry her?" she asked him.

He wasn't looking at her, when he did he was shocked to see the tears. He wanted...he wanted to hurt himself. He couldn't believe that he did it again. He was responsible for the tears in her eyes. How could she not see, how could she look at him and not see how much he loved her. How much he needed her, and how much he wanted to be with her. Just her, no one else but her. But it could never be. Not if she didn't feel the same, and he was sure that she didn't. Of course, Soren was too stupid to see that his feelings for Chihiro were one sided, if she could see that, Soren would leave Chihiro alone.

"You'll be safe if I do." he finally said.

"I didn't ask that." she told him firmly, "Do you want to marry her?"

"It would be good. Her parents want me to...apparently we're a good match." he refused to look at her.

"Haku! Do you want her?" Haku noticed the change in the question.

"She's beautiful, and powerful. What's not to want?"

"Then why am I here? Why did you bring me here? Why didn't you just leave me alone back in the human world. I was getting along fine. I was finally convincing myself that all this was just an elaborate and recurring dream. I was finally on my way to being happy." her voice was strong even though the tears were flowing down her face.

"Do you want that human?" Haku turned it back on her.

"He's handsome and rich. What's not to want?" she threw his answer back at him.

"Then why are you here? You didn't have to come through you know. You didn't have to grab hold of me." he started pacing, "I was focused on you, because you were the only thing I recognized in my river. What were you doing there anyway? Isn't it miles away from your home? I was starting to finally get back to normal, then Lin had to come in and tell me about the storm. All I wanted was to feel my river again, then I felt you in there. You didn't have to grab on! You could have...you were crying. Why were you crying?"

"Because your river looked awful." Chihiro's voice shook.

"Why were you THERE?" Haku kept pacing.

"Because I heard that the river had broken free and I wanted to see if..."

"If what? You wanted to see if it was true? But WHY Chihiro WHY?" he stopped pacing and turned to look at her, "Why would you care if the river that almost drowned you was free again?"

"Because it was also the river that saved my life." she told him.

"Why did you grab on?"

"Because I wanted to come back." she said simply.

"Why were you crying?" he started pacing again.

"Because, I told you, because trees and buildings were falling into it."

"Why did you care?"

"Because I knew it would hurt you!"

"But why do you care what hurts me?"

"Because I just care!" The tears stopped coming down Chihiro's face.

"Why does it matter if I want Soren?"

"So that I know if I have a reason to be doing this!"

"Why does my decision have to do with you being a spirit?"

"Because I'm doing this for you!"

"What do you mean?"

"I'm doing this so I can be with you! All this is for YOU Haku. I came back for you, I want to be a spirit for you, so I can be with YOU," Now it was her turn to start pacing.

"Why though? You aren't telling me why you want to be with me!"

"BECAUSE I LOVE YOU, YOU IDIOT!"

Haku stopped abruptly and Chihiro smacked into him. He turned and his arms automatically went around her to steady her so she wouldn't fall. He looked down at her. Her face showed that she didn't mean to give that away.

"What did you say?" he asked her in a small voice.

"Nothing." she tried to get away from him.

"No Chihiro. What. Did. You. Say?" he held her firm.

Chihiro couldn't believe it. She knew struggling was useless so she didn't move. She hung her head and let herself cry. How could she have said it? Especially like that. So abrupt and in the middle of an argument. She felt Haku take her chin, he lifted her face so she had to look at him. Her eyes overflowed with tears and truthfully she wished that Soren had drowned her. She still didn't say anything.

"Chihiro." His voice was kind.

She closed her eyes so she wouldn't have to see his. She could hear it now. He just thought of her as a friend. They were too good friends to mess it up with a relationship. Or worse, she was like his sister. Her heart hurt just thinking about the last one.

"Chihiro look at me." He didn't release her.

Still she didn't look at him. She knew what she would see, pity. She couldn't take it. Just thinking about it hurt enough, but to see the look in his face and hear the rejection...she knew she couldn't take it.

"Just forget it." she finally spoke. "Just forget I said anything."

"Is that what you want?"

No. "Yes." she felt her heart split in two...no, that wasn't the right analogy. She felt her heart fall on the floor and shatter into a million pieces.

"Are you sure?"

No. "Yes, Haku!"

Had she opened her eyes she would have seen Haku's face just inches from hers. He wanted to kiss her. Every cell in his body was screaming at him to do it. All he had to do was lower his lips to hers.

"Chihiro. Please look at me." he whispered.

She was shocked to feel his breath on his face. He smelled like the peppermint gum he had taken from her. Her eyes fluttered opened and her breath caught. He was inches from her. All she had to do was lift her chin, just an inch more and their lips would touch. She considered doing it. She knew Haku was waiting for the right moment, and probably the right girl, to give his first kiss to. She was hurt, she could hurt him by stealing it right now, at this moment. She didn't know that it belonged to her already, just as her first kiss belonged to him. She looked at his eyes, they were filled with understanding, compassion, and...something else, it was the way he was looking at her. It made her melt inside and made her heart constrict. She wondered what that look was. Fresh tears came to her eyes as she looked at him.

"Please, do you really want me to forget what you said?" he asked her once again.

She felt his lips brush hers slightly. Her heart was jack hammering in her chest. She didn't want him to forget it. She wanted to say it again, and to hear him say it back. His own heart was pounding. He heard her, but she was angry. Was it really love of some other passionate emotion that she confused with love?

She nodded ever so slightly, "Yes." she whispered.

"That's..." his voice trailed off.

He couldn't take it anymore. He had to taste her lips. He leaned in another centimeter. He waited for her to pull back. He wished she would because he would never be able to do it, not now. But she didn't pull back. She didn't push him away. She just stood there waiting. She had stopped breathing. Her emotions were clear on her face. She wanted this kiss. She wanted it more than anything. That knowledge allowed Haku to let his lips to meet hers. Chihiro's reaction was involuntary, just as his lips were going to touch hers she turned her head away from him. She heard Haku sigh and felt him pull back away from her. He kept his head down so she couldn't read his expression.

"Haku..."

"I'm sorry." he said quickly cutting of anything she was going to say, "I forgot myself and got lost in the moment. Forgive me." he told her and turned away.

He mumbled something and Chihiro felt herself grow warm then the feeling left. Meanwhile Haku was dragging his sleeping bag to past the warmth of the fire.

"I put a spell on you so Soren won't be able to hurt you. You'll be safe." he said then crawled into his bag.

Chihiro felt as if her heart was breaking. She couldn't believe she just did that. She wanted to hit herself. All this, all this time waiting and she rejected his kiss. She knew he wanted it to be special and with a special girl. He wanted to kiss her and she refused him.

"Haku, please I-"

"Forget what happened Chihiro and I'll forget what you told me. We can pretend these last few minutes never happened." he said.

She felt the tears sliding down her cheeks and she didn't bother trying to contain the sobs. Haku closed his eyes and clenched his fists in his sleeping bag trying unsuccessful to ignore her. He hadn't meant to do this to her again. He hated himself at this moment. Not only had he practically forced her to say how she felt about him, he almost kissed her knowing that she was waiting for her wedding day, and now he made her cry.

"It's automatic for me Haku. Nagiori has been trying to kiss me for three years now, so I turn my head every time he tries."

"It's fine Chihiro. Just go to sleep" he fought to keep his voice steady.

"Haku please. Come over here"

"It's late. And I'm tired."

"Please." her voice was little more than a whisper.

Haku tried and failed to ignore the plea in her voice. He unzipped his bag and walked over to her. He forced his face to remain expressionless. Chihiro's eyes were overflowing with tears and she was shaking from repressed sobs. Even though her eyes were red, her face was blotchy, and her nose was running, Haku thought she was the most beautiful person or spirit in the Universe.

"Kiss me." she whispered.

Her request shocked Haku and his eyes widened before he could control his expression.

"Chihiro you are letting your emotions control you." he said in an almost cold voice.

"Do you want to?"

"Of course I want to Chihiro." there was no point in hiding it, "Part of my reasoning for wanting to kiss you at this moment comes from you telling me what you told me, but since I am forgetting that you said anything, I am also forgetting that I want to kiss you, or at least I am trying to. You are making it real difficult."

"Why?"

"Because you are standing so close."

It was true, Chihiro had closed the gap between them and was standing only a foot away from him.

"Why don't you just do it?"

"Because you obviously don't want to. Or you wouldn't have turned away."

"I told you, it was an automatic thing."

"Do you want me to kiss you?"

"Yes."

"Why?"

"You know why."

"I forgot remember."

"You going to make me say it again?"

"Yes."

"I love you."

Haku felt the warmth return but didn't show any emotion on his face.

"Ok."

"Ok? A minute ago those words got a reaction out of you and now it's ok?"

"I'm waiting."

"For what?"

"For you to take it back."

"I won't."

"Because you want me to kiss you?"

"Because I mean it!"

"You're angry."

"Of course I am! I'm confused and hurt too. I say that I love you twice and I don't hear it back. Why shouldn't I be angry and hurt if you don't feel the same."

"I do."

"Do what?"

"Feel the same."

Chihiro felt the world stand still. Was he saying what she thought he was saying?

"Wha?"

"Marry me."