Authors Notes: Before you yell at me for my choices of honorifics, I must have my say. I know that this story is set in China (Or what it is perceived as China), and I know that I used Japanese honorifics. But most of the people, if not all, who read this story will know the Japanese honorifics, not the Chinese. So I'm just going to stick with what I know.

As we walked across town towards Lei's inn, I watched her with curiosity. I hadn't seen her in ten years, but she was still the girl I had known. Her hair was the black of angry thunder clouds, and fell to just below her shoulder blades in waves. Eyes the color of lightning brightened her pale face. She was tall and of an average build, not obviously strong or weak. But her movements were graceful and languid. Lei's voice was rather low and husky, and her laughter sounded like the crackling of thunder. She wore a simple dark blue yukata with a grey obi. But none of that was what was making me look at her so intently. There was something off about her. Something was missing.

I was snapped out of my reverie by Goku's annoying voice, "How much farther is it until we get there onee-chan*? We've been walking for half an hour." He and Lei were still holding hands, and he had even started calling her sister. With that annoying thought, I took in my surroundings. We were definitely not in the main part of town anymore. It wasn't run down or ruined, just empty. No one was in sight.

Lei seemed to be unfazed by the question. She just asked, "You guys must have heard about the recent youkai attacks in the outskirts of town. Welcome to the outskirts of town." That is when I realized what had been missing.

Gojyo seemed a little worried at that. "Why are you still here? It is dangerous if there are youkai affected by the minus wave out here. You could be hurt."

She brushed off his concern. "If you mean youkai affected by the madness, then you have nothing to worry about. I'm perfectly capable of protecting you if they come around, kappa-kun**." Lei smirked at his indignant manner. With his pride hurt, and finding no intellectual come back, Gojyo backed off.

"Onee-chan," Goku said, tugging on her hand, "I'm not trying to be mean, but how can a human woman defend herself against a whole bunch of youkai?" This time, I responded for her.

"Lei's a youkai, dumb ass."

"Oh. That explains it. However, Miss Lei, how aren't you…" Hakkai began, but was cut off when she reached up and touched the three cuffs on his ear.

"You and otouto^ aren't the only ones with power limiters, Hakkai-san." She put her hand up to brush back a stray strand of hair, allowing her sleeve to slip down. On her wrist was a bracelet made of red wooden prayer beads. At the site of them, I almost choked. She kept those all this time?

Lei continued, oblivious to my reaction. "And I know that Gojyo is a half youkai as well. Doesn't take a genius to figure it out. Okay, here we go. My home sweet home." She gestured towards a gated wall. When we walked in, I saw a simple 2 story building surrounded by grass and plum trees that had almost ripe fruit. It wasn't overly ornate, but it had a comfortable feel to it. A sign at the front gate said The Zhen Li Dian***.

We were ushered through the modestly furnished main room and up a pair of stairs. There she showed us to our rooms. "You each take one of the rooms for yourselves. Just don't go near the one at the end of the hall; it is mine. I'll call you down soon for dinner." Hakkai offered to help, but our hostess refused it and left us to our own devices.

I chose a room at the entrance to the stairs on the left side of the hall. It had a window facing the west. The view was nice. There were also some plum trees, but these were much younger than the ones in the front; they were not yet old enough to bear fruit.

I set out my things and put the scripture on the stand by the bed, slipping the upper part of my robes down. A newspaper had been left on the small table in the middle of the room. Pulling up one of the two chairs and taking out my glasses, I began to read. Just when I was thinking that I was thirsty, there was a knock on the door.

"Enter." I murmured, and Goku waltzed in with a couple cups of tea.

He was grinning to ear as he put a red mug down on the table. "Onee-chan told me to bring this to you. She said that you would probably be too lazy to come and get something if you were thirsty." I just grumbled incoherently and took a sip of the steaming tea.

Goku continued excitedly. "And guess what. Lei-chan is making sukiyaki for dinner. And she's even making dango for dessert. She says that you used to love dango, but only the kind with the sesame seeds. Then she said for lunch tomorrow, she'll make meat buns and almond cake. Isn't that great, Sanzo? Onee-chan is so nice. She calls me a monkey, but that's okay. She calls Gojyo kappa-kun. Isn't that funny, Sanzo? Sanzo? Sanzo?"

I couldn't take his blabbering anymore. "Damn it, Goku! Shut the hell up. And stop calling her that. She isn't your older sister. God, you're annoying." The stupid monkey looked distraught.

"But, she called me otouto first. And she said she doesn't mind." He mumbled, scuffing his feet on the floor.

"Fine. I don't care. Just go away."

For a moment, it looked like he couldn't decide whether to smile or cry. But with a good pounding on the head with the fan, he shut up and left, taking the other 2 cups of tea with him.

It is hard to think that she remembered the dango thing. But I can't believe she kept that bracelet all this time. I wonder how she got all this way west, and how she got this inn. I mean, she is only 23, like me. There so many things I want to ask her. Never thought I was going get them answered. I thought she was dead.

There was a knock. "If it is you again, Goku, I'll shoot your head off. I already told you to go away."

The door opened and yellow eyes were looking back at me. But they didn't belong to the monkey. "I'm glad I'm not Goku then." A slight crackly chuckle came from Lei, whose hair was now up in chopsticks. "Dinner is ready. Goku said I should probably get you. I can see why."

I stood and readjusted my robes and the Maten scripture was placed back on my shoulders. She was already checking the other rooms, bringing Hakkai and Gojyo down.

In the kitchen, there was a huge pot of sukiyaki filled with tons of beef, tofu, shirataki noodles, and vegetables. There were place settings for six. I looked around to see who the sixth person would be, when Hakuryuu said on top of a stack of books on a chair.

"Dig in guys. Wait. Is Hakuryuu a girl or a guy?" Lei asked, motioning for us to sit down at the circular table. I sat on her right, Goku on her left. Hakkai was by me, with the dragon beside him. Gojyo was between the monkey and Hakkai's pet.

"Hakuryuu is a male. This smells delicious, Miss Lei. I can't believe you got this entire meal cooked in less than an hour." Hakkai said appreciatively. Goku tried to mumble agreement, but his mouth was already stuffed to the max.

Lei waved off the comment. "It is nothing. Before the rest of the staff left in fear of the youkai, they felt obligated to restock the kitchen. All I had to do was prepare it. And I'd rather you not call me Miss Lei, Hakkai-san. It makes me feel old. Lei is quite fine."

Hakkai smiled sweetly. "Then I must insist you just call me Hakkai."

"How does a girl like you not have every man in town flocking to her inn despite the youkai threat?" The red head smirked as Lei's attention turned to him.

"It seems not many men, youkai and human alike, seem to like the way I can take care of myself. I've taught everyone here that I'm perfectly capable of doing what I so choose." Goyjo shivered slightly, remembering how he had been 'taught' earlier that same day.

The conversation was kept light and happy. Well, as light as it can be when I'm around, I suppose. Hakkai and Lei talked about the best way to prepare sukiyaki. Gojyo and Goku fought over the meat to the point that our hostess stood and put more in the pot. I stayed relatively silent; answering what my favorite ingredient was or hitting the two idiots.

Then Goku said something that I rarely heard at all. "Whoa! I'm stuffed." He patted his belly with content. Lei laughed and got to her feet. "If you'll excuse me, I'll go prepare everything for your bath."

Gojyo stared at her ass as she left, making me want to kill him for some reason. Finding no logical explanation for it, I restrained myself. The freaking kappa seemed to sense my anger. "Mmm, I want a piece of that. I still don't get how a beautiful girl like that even remembers your name, Sanzo."

Now finding grounds, I started to pull out my banishing gun, but a hand on my arm stopped me. Green eyes looked at me with concern. "Please refrain from using out your weapon, Sanzo. Lei is kind enough to let us stay here, and bullet holes aren't a good show of gratitude." I took his hand from my sleeve and stood.

"Tell that to the kappa. It is his fault for pissing me off. And if she is anything like she used to be, Lei will kill him long before I do." I walked off to the room to grab my things for washing. By the time I came back down, Hakkai was already cleaning up after dinner. Goku even helped out by drying the dishes. Gojyo put them away.

Lei walked back into the kitchen a few minutes later, wiping sweat from her brow. Once again, I saw the wooden prayer bead bracelet dangling on her wrist. Her sleeves were pulled back with a sageo****, and long gray hair was still up with chopsticks. She practically had a heart attack when she saw all of the dishes were cleaned.

"You didn't have to do that. I could have cleaned up myself. You are friends of Kouryuu, which makes you friends of mine." She protested, shooing the three helpers away from the kitchen. All three just shrugged, since they had already finished.

"Friends don't let friends do all the work." Hakkai countered.

"Especially if those friends are as gorgeous as you." Gojyo winked.

"Onee-chan is really nice, so I wanted to help too!" Goku piped in.

"Okay, okay. I give. Thanks for helping out." Lei conceded. "The bath is ready. Follow me." She grabbed Goku's hand with her left. He didn't even protest.

Gojyo commented on it. "Why do you keep holding his hand, Hun? There is a lot more handsome stuff around here."

"Really? Oh, you're right." She reached out towards him. His eyes shone for just a moment before his hopes were crushed. Hakuryuu had landed on her outstretched arm. Placing him on her shoulder, she pet him with her right hand. "This little guy is absolutely gorgeous."

Said little guy 'kyuu'ed, glad for the attention. I could help but smile at her teasing, but I covered it with my hand. Hakkai laughed wholeheartedly, trying to console the downtrodden Gojyo. "Cold hearted woman. I'll never win." He garbled.

"Not that I mind, onee-chan, but why do you hold my hand?" Goku asked innocently, eyes glowing. Though I would never admit it, I wanted to know as well.

She got serious for a moment. "I never had anyone to hold my hand. Life might have turned out different if I had, although I can't complain because I had Kouryuu." Lei leaned down and gave him a quick peck on the cheek, causing him to turn a bright red. "And 'cause you are the cutest otouto I've ever had, of course!"

With that, she shoved us past the noren*****and into the changing area of the males side of the onsen. "Just yell if you need me. Hakuryuu will keep me company."

All three of my traveling companions looked at me. Gojyo's red eyes seemed to burn with jealousy and fury. Goku was as naïve as ever, his eyes glazed over with stupidity and embarrassment. Hakkai's gaze was curious and intense. I could tell that he wasn't going to let the comment slide without poking and prodding for more information.

Ignoring them, since they said nothing, I undressed and put my clothes into one of the baskets. With a towel wrapped around my waist, I made my way out into the washroom. They followed suit. We scrubbed ourselves down in relative silence.

"I wish I could be the one keeping her company, not that damn dragon. What I would do for mixed bathing." The kappa mused as we entered the roten-buro. ****** I could blame my blush on the steam rising from the water.

It really was a very nice hot spring. Oil lanterns were up to bathe the area with a soft glow, fending off the darkness of the night. There were 3 different pools, each lined with stones that had been polished and smoothed. The first pool steamed very slightly, and you could see the bottom. The second looked like someone had slipped milk into the water. The steam rising from it was relatively thick. It was also the largest of the three pools. The last pool was a murky yellow-brown, showing that it had a high content of minerals. Only the bravest of people went into those; it was so hot you could see bubbles.

The view was spectacular. There were a few small plum trees scattered around the area. But that wasn't what caught my eye. Behind the fence on a slightly raise hill, there was a giant plum tree. It's red and pink petals swished softly in an imaginary breeze. The moon was above it, casting a soft glow onto the area. By the way it was positioned, I knew that the view from the girl's bath was just as excellent.

I went into the hottest bath, gingerly setting myself in. It was so scorching, I almost yelped, but kept my poker face on. Hakkai tested the water with his foot, and decided it was to his liking. The heat didn't seem to bother him at all. Damn youkai.

Goku and Gojyo chose the second bath. Of course, they couldn't stay quiet for long. "Hey! Get off of me you stupid monkey!"

"You were the one who dunked me under the water before I was ready."

"Oh, boo hoo. Go complain to someone who cares."

"Maybe I will. ONEE- mhmhmhmhmhmmmhmhmh!"

"I would appreciate it if you kept your voices down. Lei doesn't need you guys squabbling like a bunch of kids." Said the ever present voice of reason, leaning over to the other pool and clamping his hand over the monkey's mouth.

"I don't mind, really. It is like you have your own traveling comedy routine." Lei's voice rang out. We all turned in the direction it had come from, behind the fence.

"So you wanted to take a bath too, huh. Why don't you join us in here? We don't mind. If not, I'll join you over there." Gojyo asked huskily, making slapping the water gently.

There was a chuckle. "No thanks. I'm just checking on the trees. One was hit by lightning a couple of weeks ago. I've had to check on it every day to make sure it isn't dying. I'm surprised it didn't burn to a crisp."

Gojyo was still too stubborn to give up. "Oh, come on. The water is nice and warm. You should relax a bit. I can definitely help you with that. Women say I have magic fingers. They reach all the right places."

I snorted. I couldn't help it. Gojyo's perverted antics just made we want to laugh hysterically. There was not a chance in hell that he could snag her, but he wouldn't let it go.

"No matter how tempting, I think I'll pass. I can feel a storm coming, and it is a big one. This whole place needs to be weather proofed before… I'd say 3 am." Lei said casually, and I heard her voice get closer. "It won't take too much longer, but I want to do it before I take a bath. Once your done, I'll check on your side. And before your offer, I really don't need any assistance."

Then she was walking away, muttering something about checking the front gate.

"What was she talking about, Sanzo?" Hakkai asked, turning towards me.

I thought about it for a moment before it clicked. "Lei's demonic power is linked with the weather. But I don't remember her ever being able to pinpoint a storm." I didn't mention her combat abilities with her power. The tree probably wasn't struck by natural lightning.

"Ah," my friend nodded in understanding. "By the way it sounds, as she matured, her power must have developed. You haven't seen her in ten years, so she could easily have harnessed it completely by now. But if there is a huge storm, Hakuryuu won't be able to drive. What are we going to do?"

I sighed, partly out of defeat, partly out of happiness. "We'll just have to stay here to ride it out. I want to get back on the road as soon as possible; we don't have time to lose."

The moment it left my mouth, I knew I shouldn't have said the last sentence. "So, you aren't glad that you met Lei again? No, that isn't right." Hakkai began. I tried to zone him out as best I could by looking at the giant plum tree. Just behind it, I saw a thin stream of blackness that must have been the tempest. My mood soured.

"You are the happiest and most relaxed I've seen you in ages. You haven't had a single cigarette since we met her." I hadn't even realized it, but I hadn't felt the need to smoke all day. Of course, until Hakkai just mentioned it. As I went to stand, he added his final comment on the issue. At least for the moment.

"It might be good for you to talk. You never say anything to us. Maybe it will be easier with someone that is from your past. The two of you should catch up." I huffed at his stupidity.

"I don't need to talk about anything with anyone. I'm going for a smoke." Re-wrapping the towel around my lower half, I went back through the bathing area and into the changing room. There, I grabbed a yukata that was on a rack and some geta. Slipping those on, I silently made my way through a hallway past the kitchen. Lei was there, her back towards me, preparing the dango and tea. Since it seemed she didn't notice my presence, I continued on to the front door and stepped outside.

Though the view wasn't as breath taking as from the roten-buro, the sky overhead wasn't obstructed by steam. The moon and the stars were out in all of their glory. The surrounding walls weren't a prison. They were a shield protecting this small haven from the sadness of the outside world. Sort of like the walls around the Kinzan temple. Those walls didn't last long against a horde of demons, did they?

After I finished 3 cigarettes (2 extra to make up for the ones I didn't smoke earlier), I decided to head back to the mineral pools. I snuck back in just as quietly as before, passing everyone enjoying tea and dango in the sitting area. And again, I wasn't noticed. Once back inside the steamy onsen, I was able to relax. I just sat there, only my head above the water, and watched the swaying plum trees. I know why she named this place the Zhen Li Dian. Slowly, I drifted off into sleep.

*Onee-chan=Sister

** Kappa-kun= Water sprite in an endeared form

^ Otouto= Little brother

***Zhen Li Dian=Red Plum Inn

****Sageo=Strings that hold the sleeves back of a kimono. Look up a picture of it and I'm sure you've seen one.

*****Noren=Curtains in a bathing house or hot spring that indicate which side is for which sex.

******Roten-buro= the name for area containing at hot spring.

And if you forgot, an onsen is another name for a hot spring in general. Sometimes it is used to refer to an inn that has a hot spring and others for the actual pool of water on its own.

Sorry for using the ^ symbol for otouto. I had finally gotten all the stars right when I went through and found that I hadn't used it.

Any others words I may have used are either unimportant or most people should know if they watch anime. And yes, I know that if you enjoy Saiyuki, you would know what a kappa is. I never knew how you could figure out Gojyo is a water sprite. It may be in the manga, which I didn't read.