Okay all, here's the next chapter. This chapter was a little more difficult to write. Trying to keep the two in character was really tough. Many thanks to AiryAquarius for helping me straighten things out! As always, reviews are appreciated. They let me know what my readers are thinking and feeling. Please review if you like the story. Or even if you hate it! Tell me what you all think.

Warnings: none

Chapter 6: Reactions

Sanzo's awakening was a violent one. He sat straight up in bed, gasping for breath, limbs flailing about in the sheets. The bedding felt too much like those restraining hands in his dream-like state and the blonde fought to free himself. As he returned to awareness, Sanzo noticed the rumpled mess he had made of his sleeping arrangements and felt the sweat that lightly coated his slim frame. This nightmare, occurring just two weeks after the last nightmare of this kind, had disturbed the monk badly enough for him to not yet feel the disgust such an intense reaction would normally bring up.

'The hell was that about?' he thought to himself, trying to calm his desperate panicky breathing. It was unusual for him to have this kind of dream. Hell, until two weeks ago, Sanzo hadn't had one in over a decade. Such stupid nightmares shouldn't be coming to him. Nothing had happened in his life that suggested the act that his dream self was so obviously fearful of.

Looking over to the other bed in the room and to the person lying in it, Sanzo was happy that he had caved into the monkey's whines to room with someone other than Gojyo. If Hakkai had been in the room, the monk's abrupt rousing would have woken the human-turned-demon as well. The green eyed man would have asked Sanzo about his dream and it was something the blonde really didn't feel like thinking about right now.

Goku was still fast asleep. Being the heaviest sleeper Sanzo had even known, the monk's vigorous stirring hadn't even disturbed him from whatever dream he was having. The gold-eyed teen was still snoring loudly and contentedly mumbling requests for meat.

Sanzo snorted and turned his focus back to his lap. This dream had felt so real, but the monk knew that nothing like what had been implied at the end had happened. Sanzo shuddered at the thought of people getting away with touching him in such a perverted manner. Sure, every now and then some drunken sop would grope his ass, but the offending hand was immediately wrenched away and held in a vice-like grip, nearly breaking their wrist for good measure. Sometimes, if they were particularly 'friendly' a gun was shoved in their face. Once more, Sanzo cursed his deceiving feminine looks.

A headache had formed after the retreat of his stressful nightmare. Sanzo reached up to rub at his temple and felt something that caused him to widen his eyes. 'Are those...tears?!' The blonde immediately ripped his hand away from his face and stared at his fingers in the moonlight that filtered in from the open window. Sure enough, there was wetness on them.

Alright, now that was just pathetic! How could a dream move him, who hadn't cried since the day his Master passed, to tears. Furiously, Sanzo scrubbed at his face, ridding himself of the offending drops. Now that he was aware of it, his eyes burned like they had that night when his Master had saved him from the demon thieves. Disgusted with himself, Sanzo got up and grabbed his cigarettes. If he wasn't going to get back to sleep, then he was going to go out and smoke. Leaving his charge to his dreams, Sanzo grabbed the sutra and a lighter and stealthily made his way out of the room.

Once the door closed and the light footsteps receded from his hearing, Goku gave up feigning sleep. He had awoken earlier, when some vague feeling of unease had entered his dreams. Trusting his instincts, the earth spirit woke up, peered around the room, and extended his senses to look for what was off. He hadn't sensed the presence of demons and was just about to fall asleep when a soft groan hit his ears. Turning swiftly towards the other occupant of the room, Goku was fully woken by the sight of his sun twisting restlessly in his bed. Soft groans of distress and a slightly salty scent in the air caused Goku's golden eyes to widen. Sanzo, the Sanzo who always seemed so strong and resilient, was crying. Goku could just make out the faint tracks upon the pale skin of the monk's cheeks. Torn about what to do, his decision was made for him when violet eyes had snapped open and limbs wind-milled about as if in an attempt to get away from something.

Knowing that Sanzo would not want to be seen in such a state, Goku had immediately faked sleep. He had heard the slight movements that his sun had made, had felt the amethyst orbs glancing at him in the dark, and heard the revolted sound that Sanzo made when he discovered the tear tracks. When the monk grabbed everything he would need to smoke the night away, Goku had been dismayed. This would be the second time in such a short while that Sanzo had gave up a night of sleep.

Thinking back to the last instance not so long ago, Goku wondered if a similar occurrence had happened to make Sanzo give up on rest. On that night though, the blonde had not cried. Perhaps a different nightmare then? Goku was not as stupid as the others held him to be. He could recognize the signs of a bad dream as well as anyone else he knew. It did seem strange that Sanzo would have nightmares, outside of the ones that he had on rainy nights reminded him of his Master.

Maybe this, whatever it was, was what the monk was trying to deal with on that night by the pond. Obviously little to no progress had been made. He wasn't really sure what he had expected from the monk. Maybe for a little more progress to be made in such a long time. But knowing Sanzo as he did, Goku figured that the stretch of time since his last nightmare had lured the blonde into a sense of security. No need to think about one random nightmare after all when so many other things: their journey West, the assassins after them, and dealing with the effects of the Minus Wave to name a few, were in need of immediate attention.

As much as Goku wanted to stay up and think of ways to help his sun, his body refused to give in to his wishes. While falling asleep, Goku resolved to keep a better eye on Sanzo and to try his best to solve whatever issue the blonde was having.

Whether Sanzo knew about it or not.