AUTHOR'S NOTE: Hey guys! I hope you're enjoying so far! I've got some biiig things planned. :) Just a little explanation (even though I'm sure you figured it out by now), Sen cannot actually remember Haku right now, but her heart recognizes him, as silly as that sounds. That's why she keeps feeling that loneliness. Her heart is reaching for something her mind doesn't recognize yet. HOWEVER, a small part of her knows him. That's where this scene comes in to play. Usually you wouldn't be comfortable with someone you just met, but her heart realizes it has known him for a very long time. Hopefully you guys will find this all as emotional I did while writing it; I definitely had some moisture in my eyes!

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Just as she thought, the room was empty.

Sen slid the door closed quietly behind her and set the silver tray on a small chestnut table that sat next to the door. Since Master Haku wasn't here, she felt safe taking some time to looking around; after all, if she was going to be cleaning this place more than once, and knowing Yubaba she probably would be, then it was important for her to know all of the things he had in his room, right? She didn't have to look around much though, because even though the room was large, it was very simply decorated. The walls were paneled with the same dark, red-brown wood as the hallway, the flooring was tan tatami, and the same cloth lanterns hung from the ceiling and casted a warm glow over the entire room. Directly across from the door was what she assumed was the balcony, partitioned by two sets of the standard Bath House sliding shoji. In the space between the two shoji was his white shikibuton, the gold kakebuton and makuras strewn chaotically on top of it. Right above the shikibuton hung a small scroll, a large white dragon with turquoise hair painted on it. To the far left, there sat a large fireplace flanked by two floor-to-ceiling bookcases in dark chestnut, matching the two small chestnut tables that flanked the door. In front of the fireplace sat a low table with four cushions that was almost entirely covered by papers and books. To the right was a half-open shoji that revealed a small bathroom and a fusuma near that balcony that could only be a closet. Between these two doors were three large potted plants.

Being in this room felt so intimate, she couldn't help but feel embarrassed.

Sen could feel her face grow hot as she walked over to his shikibuton. She looked up at the painting on the wall, her fingers aching to touch it. She reached out her hand, something about that dragon was awfully familiar…

"I've missed you, Chihiro."

She froze, her arm halfway outstretched towards the painting. The river's affectionate words resounded in her head, that beautiful voice seeping through her body like Haku's had when she first met him. That horrible aching loneliness that she didn't understand ripped through her heart again, causing her legs to give out beneath her. Sen landed on the shikibuton with her head in her hands. Why was she so sad? She finally had her memories back and she was finally back to the only place that ever felt like home. She should be happier now than ever before.

So why did she feel like something huge was missing?

"Sen?" A gentle voice came from the balcony's shoji doors behind her. "What are you doing here?" There was the soft sound of bare feet sliding across the tatami before he knelt in front of her. "Sen?"

When she looked up at him, he could see she was crying. There was no stopping the tears that were stemming from that unbearable sadness she felt inside. It was finally too much.

Haku was immediately alarmed. He grabbed her left wrist and put his other hand on her cheek, "Why are you crying? Are you hurt?"

Are you hurt? It was such a simple question and yet she had no way to answer. She was hurt, but had absolutely no idea why. Sen found herself leaning her head into his hand, closing her eyes. She should be uncomfortable being this close to a man she only met yesterday but she felt like she knew him. She felt so many things for this man that she didn't understand.

At first, Haku's seemed shocked at her sudden closeness but after only a few seconds, he softened. He put his forehead against hers, "Sen… talk to me."

And for reasons she could never explain, she knew she could. She knew he would never get angry with her. "I just have to tell someone," Sen said, her voice soft. "I can't keep feeling like this."

Haku waited, simply stroking her cheek.

She sat up and moved back just enough to grab his hands and hold them in her own as she looked at him, "Why do I feel like I know you? When I see you…" Laughing lightly to herself, Sen stopped and looked down at their hands. "Let me start from the beginning. I was here before, when I was 10. My parents were turned into pigs for eating food meant for the spirits and I knew I had to save them. So I did. And after I left, all of my memories of my time here were gone but my life was never the same. I grew up empty. I never felt like I belonged in my own world anymore. Do you know have any idea that's like?" Her chocolate brown eyes bored into his desperately. "Do you know what it's like to feel like you're just drifting through life, missing something you can't name?"

His eyes were sad, "No Sen, I don't. Tell me what it was like."

Sen gripped his hands tighter, looking down at them again, "It was horrible. I didn't make friends anymore; the friendships just felt forced. I didn't really talk to anyone. I just kept to myself. But I developed a love for art and I started drawing things constantly, things I didn't understand. Now, I know I was drawing No-Face and Kamaji and Rin and Yubaba. But I also drew a boy. I drew him more than any of the others, but I still don't know who he is."

"Is that what makes you sad?" Haku asked, searching her face.

She shook her head, "No. At least, not at first. When I was 12 I started having dreams about being in a river." Sen blushed. "This is going to sound ridiculous but… at first we were just friends, and I valued the sense of companionship I got from those dreams. The river seemed to understand me and value my company too. But as I got older, I developed feelings for it. I would hope and hope during the day that the river would come to me when I went to sleep. And more often than not, it did. I remember being so upset when I would wake up, wishing I could stay asleep just to keep the river with me. But every day following one of those dreams, I would draw that boy. That made me sad. It felt like I was losing it, like I was just creating that boy to give the river in my dreams a physical form. I felt so pathetic."

His face looked as though it was on the edge of crumpling in pain. This time, Sen put her hand on his face, "Should I stop?"

Haku shook his head, "No, please. I want to know it all. I want to know what's hurting you."

"I don't know what it is. I should be happy now that I'm back where I belong but…" Sen could feel the tears budding in her eyes again. "When I see you, I feel like something's missing inside me. I don't know you, but I feel like I do. When I hear your voice, it feels like there are tiny fissures in my heart threatening to shatter me. There's something about you on the edges of my mind but I can't figure out what it is. I've never even met you, Master Haku, but when I see you I want to run and throw myself into your arms. Even when I dream of my river now, I only think of you and I don't know why."

He cupped her face with both hands, "Sen, I'm so sorry. Please." He begged, tears brimming in his own eyes. "Please forgive me. Please."

Sen didn't know why he was apologizing, but it only made her pain worse so she pulled away from him. She gripped the area above her heart fiercely, uncontrollable sobs ripping from her chest, "Who are you that you can make me hurt like this? Why do I want you so badly?"

Haku broke. He couldn't stand seeing Sen like this, not when he was the one who hurt her so much with nothing but good intentions. He pulled her off the bed and wrapped his arms around her tightly, burying his face in her shoulder. There was nothing more he wanted to do than apologize to her and spend the rest of his very long life making it up to her. But once again, Haku was being pulled in two directions; now that he knew how much Chihiro was hurting and that her heart clearly still recognized him, he wanted to kiss her to bring her memories back so she would finally understand. On the other hand, a very large part of him knew how cruel Yubaba was and knew that she would take advantage of Chihiro's feelings for him. Either way, Chihiro would get hurt somehow.

He couldn't win either way.

"Master Haku," Sen buried her face into his shoulder and gripped the front of his kimono with both hands, "tell me who you are, why I feel like I know you. Tell me why you make me feel like this."

Yubaba be damned. He couldn't hurt her anymore.

Haku turned his face to her neck and whispered, "Chihiro…"

When he said her true name, her skin prickled with goosebumps, "M-master Haku…?"

He cupped her face again and put his forehead against hers, "There are so many things I want to say. So many things I don't have words for."

Her pulse quickened against his fingers.

"I don't want you to hurt anymore," Haku wiped her tears with his thumbs. "I can't stand it, Chihiro."

Her eyes fluttered closed as he moved closer to her, "Only my river… is allowed to… call me that."

He smiled, his lips barely brushing the corner of her mouth now, "I know."

...

Sen was sitting on the balcony with her legs dangling off the edge when Rin returned with dinner.

"There you are, Sen!" Rin shouted. "I was looking for you all day! Where have you been you dope? You really had me worried!" When she sat next to Sen on the balcony and noticed the look on her face, she just set the two bowls down. "Whoa Sen, what's up?"

Sen turned to her friend, a blush in her cheeks, "Master Haku almost kissed me today."

Rin's eyes were like saucers.

"Yubaba assigned me as his attendant today, that's why I wasn't cleaning with you. When I brought him his food, he wasn't there so I decided to look around since I was going to have to clean anyway. Then he showed up on the balcony."

Her friend scooted closer to her, now shoving generous helpings of rice and fish into her mouth as she listened.

Sen looked back out over the seemingly endless sea that extended from the Bath House, "I told him about the memory spell and everything I went through since I lost them. I didn't mean to get so emotional, but I couldn't help it. And then when I started to cry, Mas—I mean, Haku put his arms around me and just kept apologizing. He never did tell me what for. There are a lot of things he said that I didn't understand."

Rin managed to swallow her mouthful of food, "So what happened?!"

She blushed deeper, "He was just about to kiss me when someone came knocking at his door. There was a problem with the water for the baths and they needed him to fix it. So, he apologized and left."

"Aghhh!" The weasel spirit groaned in frustration. "So what did you do?"

Sen let out a deep sigh, "What else? I did his laundry and cleaned his quarters like I was supposed to. By the time I was done with all of that, Haku wasn't back yet and it was almost time for our dinner. So here I am."

Rin huffed, "Ugh, what rotten timing! But don't worry about it Sen, I'm sure Haku will find you again." She winked.

"I certainly hope he does," Sen chuckled.

For a long time the two women ate in silence on the dusk-bathed balcony.

"I really missed you, Sen," Rin said quietly, setting down her empty bowl. "I can't tell you how glad I am that you're back."

Sen put her food down and hugged Rin tightly, "I know exactly how you feel. I missed you, too."

Just then a woman appeared at the door of their quarters, "Rin? Sen? You've got customers."

They both sighed.

"Should we go?" Rin grabbed both of their empty bowls and started to get up.

"I guess so. Do you think Haku will be around tonight? The Bath House is awfully busy."

Her friend laughed, "Don't even start, Sen. He'll kiss you soon enough."

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FUN FACT: I listen to the exact same song on repeat every time I write something pertaining to Haku and Chihiro. :)