Chapter 2

On The First Night

"Oh Gojyo…" Hakkai frowned at his best friend as the man arrived at the breakfast table. His eyes sported dark bags and even his hair was a little tangled. The Hanyou obviously hadn't slept well if even at all.

"Gonna be a long day on no sleep." the woman snickered, "Coffee?"

A coffee cup hit the table and Gojyo jumped, quickly looking up at the waitress who for a second looked like Nai until she smiled and swung a blonde ponytail as she turned to walk away. Sanzo watched the exchange with a raised eyebrow, "See something disturbing Kappa?"

"I'm fine."

"You obviously didn't sleep well Gojyo. Maybe we should stay another night, you won't get rest in the car…"

"We're not staying." Sanzo started.

Goku looked up from his food for air, "I don't know Sanzo. He looks like he won't be much use in a fight."

The redhead had enough energy to bite back, "Shut it Monkey."

"Damn." Sanzo stood from his seat, "We're staying."

Hakkai watched the man rub his red eyes and droop further into the table. He knows why the man did not sleep–the guilt that swam in the pit of his stomach… Poor Gojyo. Poor Gojyo.

"Poor Gojyo, poor Gojyo…" Nai mimicked out into the air, sitting on the table, her ghostly presence not even disturbing the buzzing fly occupying the same space.

"Stop feeling sorry for me Hakkai."

"You know he wont…"

"I'm sorry Gojyo."

The man stood abruptly and headed upstairs. Pity didn't exactly make him warm and fuzzy.

Nai followed him up the stairs, "Oh Gojyo, why don't you know that she doesn't blame you." her voice was again Hakkai's as she spoke.

Gojyo turned to her at the top of the stairs, "Do you?" She shook her head and he sighed, "I still feel like crap."

Someone exited their room in time to catch the hanyou talking to empty air. He rolled his red eyes and retreated to his room with the ghost in tow. "Well, i'm here so you can stop feeling like crap."

"How so?"

"We're going to confront your issue with my death."

"There's no issue if it was my fault, girly."

The woman huffed, "That there is the wouldn't even acknowledge me last night."

"Why couldn't you just let me sleep?"

"Because you need to get over this. And if I have to damn near kill you to wake you up, so be it."

Gojyo wasn't expecting the strong gust of wind to whirl around the shut-off room and knock him haphazardly into the bed. Nai approached him and laid atop him, her hands on either side of his head. His expression changed to yet another of deep pain, "I can't even feel you."

She sighed, "You will."

"Where are we?" Gojyo looked around the vast and empty dessert area where he now stood with a very real Nai.

"Where I died."

"But nothing is happening."

She nodded, "I know. This is almost two hours before the fight." she turned and pointed into the distance, "We were all preparing to leave that town, remember?"

Someone walked through the hanyou as they were now in town and he jumped. "Am I dead?"

"No, we're observing." she walked away from him towards an inn, "Hakkai's checking us out of that room we had to share."

"That sucked, the monkey and I had to sleep on the floor while you cuddled up with Hakkai and Sanzo got a bed of his own."

Nai rolled her eyes, "That's beside the point Gojyo. Pay attention."

"Damn, my back is killing me."

"Not my problem." Sanzo lit a cigarette as Gojyo tried to stretch awkwardly and relieve the pain in his back.

A yawning Goku bopped down the stairs with a woman behind him. Nai ruffled his hair, "You should have gone to bed instead of finishing that manga."

"It was the last chapter!"

She chuckled a bit until she noticed Gojyo struggling with his back. She approached him wordlessly and rubbed his broad shoulders.

On the other end Gojyo felt the hands and realized Nai was now rubbing his back, "Can you feel me now?" she smirked.

He nodded. It was the same touch he was watching; up his spine, across his shoulders, and down again, moving to his belt a bit. Then around his waist and a small pressure on his spine, then nothing.

"You kissed me."

"I kissed your back yes. You didn't even notice." Nai rolled her eyes as she walked out of the inn and looked out at the dessert.

"What now?" Gojyo questioned as he joined her, getting used to being walked through as two giggling kids ran past.

"We ate breakfast, our hands brush over the last blueberry muffin and you let me have it." she sighed, "I help Hakkai with the shopping, we load into the car then…well…"

"We touched a lot."

"That we did."

He reached out and brushed a hand through her hair then down the side of her neck. Damn if he didn't want to cry, "Now I'll never get to touch you again."

She jerked away, willing back her own tears, "No. Stop. We aren't done, we have to go further back."

"How far?"

"Our first winter together."

Her tanned cheeks flushed a bit, "Sounds good to me."

"Bum bum bum bum. Paging the following two people, Mister Stupid Monkey and Mister Stinking Monk of Chang An. The tall, handsome, and super cool Sha Gojyo is requesting your presence."

The window to Sanzo's office swung open to show the blonde's scowling face, "I don't know anyone by that name."

Across the yard Nai and Hakkai chuckled as Goku joined the monk in the window, "What are you guys doing out there?"

"Gettin' Sukiyaki."

"That was a good day. Was I always such a ham?"

Nai nudged him, a smile splitting her face and lighting it up, "You will always be a ham." For a moment she heard herself encourage the boy in the background, "It's strange for me too you know. I don't feel dead."

The man's smile faltered, "Yeah, well, you feel dead to me."

She grabbed his hands and walked backward through the snow with him, "Let's go a little further into the night."

"…and she stands up on the bar, throws back a shot, and plants one right on Hakkai's mouth!"

The woman covered her face with her hands as it turned pink and Gojyo cackled at the end of his story. Across the table Hakkai is blushing profusely and Sanzo is actually chuckling. "I was drunk!" she defended.

"Very drunk indeed." Hakkai added.

"Damn that story."

"It was pretty funny."

"No, what's funny is the fact that you'd gotten so upset you confronted me in the kitchen later and demanded I make it up to you, like a child."

He looked down at her, "And you called me and idiot then ran away."

She smirked, "You left that part out when you told the story."

"Are we out of hot sake?"

"You don't need anything else to drink girl."

"Oh hush." The woman teetered as she stood and headed for the kitchen, Gojyo following after her.

The apparitions followed, "Oh…"

"Yup."

"C'mon Nai don't do that."

She pushed against him as he pressed her back to the fridge and his pelvis to hers, "Gojyo you're the one who told the story and embarrassed me. Maybe I should have told about what you did after!" she hissed.

"Not one of my finer moments." he chuckled making his red cheeks even redder.

"Let go of me Gojyo, the Sake is gonna overheat."

"So what?"

"Gojyo sto-mph!"

"Ooooohhh…"

"Yeah, that happened."

Gojyo watched himself kissing her and eventually pulled his eyes away, "I don't even remember that."

"You were drunk."

"But you..?"

"Not drunk."

"Damn."

Nai nodded, "You cared about me Gojyo. Even if it was just the physical me you cared about-"

"No." he cut her off, "It was more than physical, it is more than physical."

"I have a hard time believing you."

"But why girly?"

"We'll go over that tomorrow night."

Gojyo sat straight up in the bed and whipped his gaze around the room. Not a thing out of place, just the clock on the nightstand reading 7 pm. It was hardly dark outside and the sounds of merriment coming from the lounge downstairs were signaling dinner time.

She'd put him to sleep around 10:30 in the morning so he did manage to sleep all day although that quick visit to the past didn't feel like much.

He yawned.

Still tired though.

"Girly?"

No answer. Not even a cold wind to signal the presence of a ghost.

"Damn."

He got up from the bed and left the room and she sat down in the warm spot he left and wailed.