Genre: General/ Slight Romance

Summary: How I thought Haku saved Chihiro when she was little when she fell
into his river, trying to retrieve her shoe.

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One summer day, Chihiro's mother decided to take her on a small picnic trip
to a local river. The young four-year-old had a little bounce in her steps
as she clung onto her 'Kaa-san's arm in excitement. Yuuko looked down at
her daughter with a questioning gaze. Little girls were full of energy, but
this was just weird. What's so exciting about eating near a river? She had
a feeling something big was going to happen, but she dismissed the thought
instantly. What's there to happen, but a warm peaceful lunch? A voice broke
her trail of questions.

"Okaa-san? Look! There it is!" Chihiro gushed.

Chihiro let go of her mother's hand and bolted for the ever-flowing river.
Yuuko ran after her daughter, tugging their lunch along.

"Chihiro, onegai, chotto matte!"

The little girl turned around and waited for her mom to catch up. The older
woman led Chihiro to a clean patch of green grass and placed the blanket
down for them to sit on. Chihiro smiled in content, letting the sun's rays
bathe her cream colored skin. Oh she just loved it!

Yuuko opened her back-sack and pulled out two bento boxes, napkins, drinks,
and two pairs of chopsticks. When she opened the lids, Chihiro's hazel
brown eyes widened with delight. Their lunches were fresh sashimi rolls,
and sushi! Her favorite!

"Arigato gozaimasu, 'Kaa-san!"

Her mother beamed at her choice of food, "Well? Dig in, sweetie."

"Itadakimasu!"

The two enjoyed themselves on their special mother/daughter day. Chihiro
wiped her mouth with her napkin and stood up firmly.

She asked her mom, hoping for a positive answer, "Ano, 'Kaa-san, can I go
play in the water?"

Yuuko looked up. She saw the pleading in Chihiro's eyes and pondered for
her answer, "Umm, okay. But be VERY careful, Chihiro. Just for a bit, you
hear?" Chihiro's never been near a river before, so this may be of a good
experience.

The little girl nodded fervently, her brown bangs and ponytail swinging.
She walked close to the water's edge and rolled up her capris higher above
her knees. She took her pink the shoes off and put it beside the riverbed.
She waded a little into the chilling clear water and explored everything
she could touch and play with. Without notice, one of her pink shoes was
swept away by the current.

Chihiro glanced at the pink color that caught her eye while floating right
by her. She reached over to get it, but missed. Panicking, Chihiro got out
of the shallow water and slipped by behind Yuuko's back without stirring
attention. She didn't want to get in trouble for losing her shoe.

She surpassed the current and kneeled on the grass hoping to catch her
target. Reaching a little too far, Chihiro's grasp on dry land loosened and
she fell into the deeper water, letting out a sharp yelp of surprise and a
loud splash when making contact with its surface.

Yuuko recognized the voice and jerked her head to see her young daughter
fighting for air and screaming for her. The woman paused her eating and ran
for Chihiro, "Chihiro-chan, daijoubu, I'm gonna try to reach for you! Grab
my hand!"

Chihiro's arm shot desperately from the under the water for Yuuko's
outstretched one. Yuuko grabbed it, but Chihiro's wet fingers slipped from
her clutching grip. The little girl disappeared into the dark depths of
never ending water, leaving the remaining breath bubbles form on the
surface.

Chihiro could hear her mother's muffled screams and cried only to have her
tears mixed into the surrounding liquid and more water squeeze down her
throat. After a few seconds of fighting with the forceful waters, she
stopped and let herself be pulled away quickly.

Right when she thought that her life was coming to an end, something with
an aqua colored mane and a long pearly-scaled body gently placed itself
under her. Instinctively, Chihiro's hands grabbed for the two long horns in
front of her.

Her eyes widened, absorbing how suddenly her surroundings seemed to calm.
It was like she was safe for once under water. Crystal blue liquid brushed
smoothly against her legs and body. So pure and eerie at the same time.
Transparent bubbles flowed out her agape mouth as she continued to take in
the views.

She soon became tired and weary and feeling rather light headed. Finally
realizing that she hadn't taken one breath of fresh air since she fell into
the welcoming hold of drowsiness. Resting her head on the beautiful
turquoise mane, Chihiro fell asleep. She didn't notice the gleaming emerald
eyes of the river dragon. His bright orbs shone with a strange likeness for
this young human girl...she was different somehow and her mere presence
made him feel better than how he thought of the other nigen.

~*~*~*~*~*~

It was already evening when Chihiro opened her eyes slowly. She didn't
adjust to the light in the all-white-room. A nurse acknowledged her waking
up and helped Chihiro into a sitting position seeing how the little girl
struggled to sit.

Chihiro rubbed her eyes from the fatigue left behind. She took in her
surrounding more carefully and realized that she was wearing a white
patient nightgown. She jolted abruptly and asked, "Where's my clothing from
this morning?"

The kind nurse smiled, "You had to be changed out of your clothes because
they were wet and you would have gotten a chill, dear."

When the words sunk in, Chihiro reminisced, "I remember drowning. How did I
get here?" Once again, the nurse replied, "According to your Okaa-san, you
drifted back to shore. You're lucky to be alive."

"Okaa-san? Where is she? Can I go home?" the confused girl bombarded the
lady with questions.

"It's a little late, don't you think? You can sleep over night and tomorrow
your parents will come pick you up, ne?"

The four-year-old nodded tiredly.

"Now go to sleep and I'll check on you in the morning." The nurse left,
switched off the light and closed the door behind her. Chihiro slumped into
the white pillows and fell asleep quickly. Her last thought was, 'Oyasumi
nasai, Kohaku kawa. Thank you for saving me...today...'

~*~*~*~*~*~

A/N: Thanks for reading! Please check out my other works! Review please!
^^0...(12/6/2003: I did this fic a really long time ago, so I hope it isn't
very cruddy. Just don't flame please! If you didn't like it, then please
don't humiliate me because of it...it's happened once, and I don't want it
to happen again.)

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Vocabulary:
Oyasumi nasai = good night
Arigato gozaimasu = thank you very much
Itadakimasu = let's eat!
Onegai = please
Chotto matte = wait a sec.
Kohaku = amber (Part of Haku's real name. Real name is: Migihayami Kohaku
Nushi)
Kawa = river
Ano = umm...
Okaa-san = mother
'Kaa-san = mom, short for mother
Daijoubu = don't worry (there are other meanings for this simple phrase)
Nigen = human(s)
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