The years that Haku spent waiting for Chihiro's thirteenth birthday were unbearable. Even though Zeniba kept him relatively busy, at night all he would do is dream about her. He dreamed about the first time he saw her, when he saved her life, when she saved his. He couldn't get her out of his head. He spent the first year practically curled up in a ball every night. The only thing that saved him from going insane was the fact that he knew he would see her again. The second year became a little easier, he had a routine down. Every morning he would wake up early, eat, do chores, run errands for Zeniba, then be tortured every night by dreams of her. He missed her.

Centuries before he met her, he was relatively happy. He had his river and humans and spirits lived in harmony. He actually had humans who worshiped him like a god. He could go out into the human world and fly around freely there. Then the humans stopped believing in the spirits. They started doing what they wanted to do, Haku found that if he was caught in the human world he would be hunted. Humans started becoming afraid of the spirits. They thought them to be oppressive beings that wanted to control the human race. They made it almost impossible for spirits to pass safely between both worlds. A spirit would never want to kill a human, but humans didn't have the same mind sets. They would try, then they would fail, because the spirit would fight back. Then the others would have more fear, and someone else would challenge and they cycle would repeat again. Eventually the spirits just stayed in the spirit world and only nature spirits visited their forests, or oceans, rivers, etc.

When humans started polluting the earth it became almost unbearable. Luckily Haku never had that problem. His river was on a property that was constantly maintained that's why when the shoe fell in, he noticed it. He didn't know how to react. He got angry at first, then saddened. He thought he would never have to go through this. Then the girl fell in. He was shocked, she was reaching for the shoe. He waited to see if she would get it and felt her struggle. He could see that she couldn't breathe and that she was panicking. He knew he should leave her, if her family found her in time she would survive. Spirits and humans didn't mix anymore. He could sense her fear, then he felt it, her spirit seemed to connect with hers. Of course he should save her! He allowed himself to move under her to carry her on his back she gripped onto his horns with her trembling hands and he carried her to shore, he heard her parents calling her name, Chihiro. As soon as he was sure that she would be fine, he returned to the spirit world and tried to get on with his life. He couldn't. She was in the back of his mind at all time, like a nagging thought.

Eventually he forgot about her, something caused him to forget everything. He didn't know why he was so bitter, but something in him was missing. Like a piece of his very soul. He wandered around aimlessly for a long time until he found the bathhouse. He was a customer there for a while, but never had a place to return to. He had met with the witch that owns it and asked for a job. She told him that he would be working alongside the boiler man. He agreed and worked with Kamajii. One day he almost killed himself putting coals in the fire, so he cast a spell on the soot around the boiler room to bring it to life. Yubaba found out and was impressed, so she asked him to be her apprentice so she could use him to do all her dirty work Kamajii warned Haku against it, but he didn't listen. During a mission with Yubaba, they got attacked and he fell off of her bird form. Later that night a massive dragon appeared in the sky. Yubaba was shocked when the dragon flew into Haku's room, and was more shocked when that dragon turned into Haku. Her excitement grew when she discovered what Haku really was. She wondered idly why he forgot that part of her, then realized it was when she stole his name. She lied to him and told him he was a dragon instead of a River Spirit. She showed him how to harness his dragon form and how to expand his magic. Then, when she realized that Haku was stronger than her, she put a slug in him to control him. Haku's eyes turned steely and he grew cold. The memory of the little girl in the river was just left to dreams.

One day he was just getting back from a mission, just before dark, when he sensed humans. He saw a young girl standing on the bridge, and for a minute he was speechless. It was her, the human girl he had met once before! She turned and saw him and his brain was buzzing, he asked what she was doing there. She looked confused, then he noticed that the lanterns were being lit, he told her that he would distract the workers of the house, and she ran off. He was working to mask her and her parents. When he felt her still there, and he noticed that the ferry was coming, he knew it was impossible for her to get back. He walked to the concession stands and saw that her parents were turned into pigs, he sighed and new that even if she could go home, she wouldn't want to without her parents. Knowing she would disappear if she didn't eat food from the world, he went and got her a berry. He found her scared and crouched down by the water's edge, already going invisible. He leaned down and told her to eat it, she refused but he forced it into her mouth and as soon as she swallowed it, he saw that she was returning to normal. He tried to get her over the bridge without them knowing, but the stupid frog scared her and she gasped, she was upset that she took a breath, but he assured her that it was fine. When he had to go, he remembered her name, Chihiro.

He told her that he was her friend, and she asked how she knew his name. He relieved to her that he knew her since she was very little. He showed her how to get to Kamajii and to ask for a job. Kamajii was one of the few good spirits left in the bathhouse that would help her, even if he made it difficult at first. He was relieved to hear that she had gotten a job with Yubaba, but upset that she stole the girl's name. He didn't know how he remembered it, since Yubaba's curse took away all memories of ones name from everyone that had ever come in contact with the person. So that no one would suspect anything, Haku was cold to Chihiro, he felt bad, but it had to be done. He wondered why he cared so much about hurting her feelings? She was just a human, sure he had met her a long time ago. He shrugged to himself and got her working with Lin. Later that day he took her to her parents. She ran off and he followed her, he gave her back her clothes and instructed her to hide them, telling her that she'll need them to get home. She found a card in the pockets and found her name. Haku told her how Yubaba controls people, and to keep it safe. He revealed that he can't remember his name, but for some reason he remembered hers, then he gave her food that would help her get her strength. She ate and sobbed and he felt bad for her. He didn't know why, but he felt the urge to put his arm around her. He held her as she cried until she felt a little better then he walked her back to the bathhouse. He left her and flew off in his dragon form. He went on a mission from Yubaba to steal a solid gold monogrammed seal from Zeniba, Yuababa's twin sister. Zeniba attacked him with paper birds. He felt weak and injured and flew up into Yuababa's office. He had hoped that Yubaba could help him, only to have the witch try to get rid of him, stating that he was dying anyways. He heard Chihiro's voice begging him to wake up. He also heard Zeniba, she had tagged along by clinging to Chihiro's shirt. She turned Boh, Yubaba's baby, into a mouse and Yubaba's bird into a smaller bird. Chihiro tried to defend Haku when Zeniba told Chihiro that Haku was a greedy thief that just wanted to steal Yubaba and Zeniba's magic.

When the three green headed men, disguised as Boh, distracted Zeniba, Haku broke the spell on the paper bird that let her become almost visible. The energy he used to whip his tail to break the bird, cause him to fall into a long chute. He was barely able to fly, but he knew he had to, to save Chihiro. They landed in the boiler room. Chihiro gave him a medicine from a River Spirit that she helped. Somehow he felt the slug that Yubaba placed in him leave, as well as the curse on the seal. He woke up in Kamajii's boiler room and heard that Chihiro had taken off to take the seal back to Zeniba. He went to Yubaba, who was sarcastic about him still being alive and revealed to her that the baby was not Boh. She was furious and he got Yubaba to release Chihiro if he brought Boh home safe, and if Chihiro passed a test. He went to meet Chihiro at Swamp Bottom, Zeniba's place, and found Boh and the Bird in their mouse and little bird shapes. He was glad to see that she was alright, and was surprised when Chihiro hugged his face. When they flew off, Chihiro remembered something. A story about when she was a little girl and fell into a river. She told him the name of the river, The Kohaku River. He felt his dragon form disappear momentarily, when he finally remembered his name, Nigihayami Kohaku Nushi. He suddenly remembered everything. Her falling in, her little pink shoe! She was the one that he couldn't stop thinking about since he met her. She was the one that his spirit seemed to recognized. When they flew back to the bathhouse, Chihiro passed the test and he told her how to get home. As soon as she passed through the tunnel, he quit working for Yubaba, and went to Zeniba. Zeniba contacted three powerful beings known as the Death and the Twins of Life. They could grant the human a chance to be a spirit, but it was difficult. They could also turn a spirit into a human, which was easier. They gave him the opportunity to become human, to live in the human world with Chihiro, but he had to wait three years.

Every day after that adventure was like darkness. Sure his life was better, but without her, it might as well have been the same to him. He couldn't stop thinking about her and he still didn't have his river, it was covered up and had apartments built on it now. He knew that the three year limit was to give her time to move on. So she could live a normal life without interference, but he hated it. He hated that she could forget him. She was beautiful, even as a child, he knew as soon as boys noticed her they would be flocked around her like moths to a flame. The very thought of her with someone else hurt him. So instead he imagined her seeing him, and running to him. She would be thirteen, so nothing would happen of course. He would enroll in her school and be her best friend. They would spend all day together and hang out over the weekends. As the years continued, he would become her boyfriend. They would go to the movies, or he would take her to dinner. He knew what he was giving up though, he would never again become a dragon. He would never again see Lin, Zeniba, Kamajii or No-Face, but he could live with it, as long as he was with her. He could live with it.