Psycho-CJ: I am so sorry it took me so long to post this chapter. I rewrote the beginning of this four different times and this is the best I could come up with. Sorry.

Raven: I'm afraid you might be getting writer's block on this fanfiction.

Evan: Oh the irony. You first started writing this to relieved writer's block.

Psycho-CJ: That's only because this is so different from the original. The last four chapters have been completely new. And then the Esca Yugi incident happened…

Evan: Oh, god, not that again. My creator had to re-post that because of a certain someone and in the process lost all her reviews for it.

Psycho-CJ: My beautiful reviews...

Sanzo: Not much happens in this chapter, but knowing this baka, this is the calm before the storm.

Psycho-CJ: (smiling) You know me so well.

Goku: Psycho-CJ does not own me or anyone else from Saiyuki…

Hakkai: But she does own the characters from the Daycarthro Chronicles.

XXX

Chapter 9: Finally Reunited…

The rain soaks down into every pore, his clothes feeling like they weigh twenty pounds. He pulls Evan closer to him, wishing he could shield his brother from the watery bombardment. To his great surprise, Evan has fallen into a coma like sleep. The boys face seems serene and innocent as he sleeps with his head resting against Raven's chest. Evan innocent? Raven wonders. Half the time he's up to mischief and acts like he doesn't give a damn about anyone, but then there are times when the smile is gone and the pain is eyes…Deep down he's too much like me. They have both endured hardships that Cassandra and Warner could never understand. I won't let the same things that happened to me, happen to you.

The town they have entered seems ordinary enough, way different from the modern cities he is used to seeing. Instead the town has a quaint medieval look to it. The townspeople are tucked away in their houses and because of the time, most of them are probably asleep. Sleep, Raven sighs. All I want to do is curled up into a ball and sleep for the next hundred years. But first he needs to find where Cassandra is staying, then he can catch up on some much needed sleep.

A small smile forms on his lips when he sees the inn Cassandra and Warner are supposed to be staying at. The place looks decent enough, except there is a person camped out on the porch. A woman. Long blonde hair and a slim body…

"Cassandra!" Raven calls, breaking into a run. Her head shoots up and she sees Raven coming towards her. The second she reaches him, she wraps her arms around his neck and embraces him, careful to not wake Evan.

"You and Evan are soaking wet," she pulls them into the inn. As they walk upstairs, she quickly explains to him what has happened since he has been gone, including the condensed version of her meeting with the Sanzo-ikko. Raven informs her of his encounter with Kou Gaiji and why Evan is worn out.

The inn seems rather dead, that could be because of how late it is, or maybe because Warner decided to go out for drinks with Gojyo, if not the Vaerire would be giving Raven some smart-ass remark and starting a stupid fight with Evan.

Inside Cassandra's room, Raven sets Evan down and gently wakes him up.

"What do you want?" Evan mumbles as Raven goes into the bathroom and grabs one of the towels in there.

"Here, dry yourself off," Raven replies. Evan sleepily nods his head. "Please tell me they have hot running water here," Raven asks Cassandra.

"You're in luck this time," she laughs.

"Thank Eslanla," Raven says gratefully as he heads back to the bathroom to take a much needed bath.

XXX

In Hakkai and Goku's room, Goku is snoring contently, once in a while mumbling something about food. Cooing can be heard from Hakyruu who is sleeping on the edge of Hakkai's bed, but the dragon's master is finding difficulty letting himself go to sleep. Hakkai sits on his bed, gazing out at the window as raindrops smack against the glass. The green-eyed youkai's usual smile has faded into a look of pain. He hates the rain, the gray skies are enough to bring back memories he would rather forget.

A knock on his door breaks him out of his self-pity.

"Come in," he calls, knowing nothing will wake Goku up. Cassandra steps in and smiles at Hakkai.

"Raven finally got here and Evan's passed out on my bed, so I was wondering if I could borrow a pillow," Cassandra asks.

"Of course," Hakkai hands her the pillow next to him.

"Thanks," she stops for a second, getting a close look of his face. "Um, are you okay?" she asks uneasily.

"I'm fine," Hakkai tries to force a smile on, but she can easily tell he is putting on a show.

"No, you're not." She sits on the bed next to him. "So what's eating at you?"

"It's nothing really," he tries to reassure her.

"I live with two guys who like to keep their feelings bottled up, trust me, I can tell when something is wrong," she laughs. Hakkai smiles faintly, knowing he won't be able to brush her off without some sort of explanation.

"I lost a woman who was very special to me on a night like this," Hakkai replies.

"I'm sorry," Cassandra whispers.

"It happened a long time ago," Hakkai says, closing his eyes.

"But it still hurts." The two become quiet as they watch the rain fall. "The weather has a way of bringing back painful memories." Should I tell him about what happened to me?she wonders. I feels like I can talk to him. "I hate cold winter nights, especially if it's snowing."

"Why?"

"A few years ago Raven was possessed by a third-class demon during a time like that. Evan told you what that is right?" Hakkai nods his head. "Most of time when one of those demons possess a human body, the person usually goes mad. A Hybrid's body is different."

"Hybrid?" Hakkai asks.

"Raven is a descendent from a distinguished bloodline. A first-class demon had a child with a Daerenh-Waeruock, something that had never happened before. The children had immense power and at a young age could master both types of magic, they were marked with one blue eye and one violet one."

"A Child of Taboo." Like Gojyo.

"That's one way of putting it. For the past thousand years a secret war has been going on between the Waeruocks and Daerenhs. The first time I had met Raven he had just lost his family, it wasn't until eleven years later that I saw him again. My boyfriend at the time screwed around with a spell, which released a third-class demon. He went insane and tried to kill me, but Raven found me and we ran away together. Things went fine until three months later when my ex-boyfriend found me, that's when I got these scars." She lifts up her sleeves to show the thin slash marks, running along her upper arm. "Raven managed to defeat him, but when a possessed human nears death, the demon will flee the body. It was just our luck it decide to possess Raven." Cassandra bites her lip, the memories flooding back to her.

"What happened?" Hakkai asks.

"The demon took full control of Raven because his body is like a demon's, so the demon did not conflict with the Hybrid's body like it would have with a human one." Cassandra hugs the pillow she is holding. "One draw back is, a person, who a Hybrid cares for may have the power to release them from the demon's hold. The demon figured out Raven loved me and tried convince me to join him, so I couldn't stop him," she lowers her eyes as she thinks of what happened after that. "When I refused…he tried to rape me," she says the last part barely above a whisper. Hakkai stares at her in shock. The same thing that happened to Kanan almost happened to her!

"What happened?"

"Raven wouldn't allow it because he cared for me too much…"

"And you were able to free him," Hakkai finishes.

"Actually, Raven managed to become the dominant soul and took his body back. That demon is still inside of him, but because Raven is the strongest Hybrid ever to exist, he is able to keep the demon dormant. And that's the way things have been since then."

"How can you stay around him after what he tried to do?"

"It wasn't his fault. Raven would never hurt me," she smiles at the thought.

"You love him, don't you?" Hakkai realizes.

"Ever since the day we met." She realizes Raven should be done getting cleaned up soon, hopeful he finds the clothes she left him. Cassandra stands up from his bed. "I'm probably boring you with all of this."

"Not at all," Hakkai says. A strange silence falls between.

"Mmm, chicken…" Goku mutters. Cassandra and Hakkai bursts into laughter.

"Speaking of food, Raven is probably starving right now."

"You will have to ask Sanzo. He has all the food in his room so Goku wouldn't eat it all."

"I don't want to wake him up," Cassandra says thoughtfully.

"I'm sure he is still up," Hakkai smiles at her.

"Thanks, Hakkai, good night." She waves goodbye to him and she slips out of the door.

"Goodnight Cassandra," Hakkai whispers. He stares at the door for a while, thinking of everything he has learned about her. In a few ways she reminds him of Kanan, but besides that, the two are completely different. If Kanan had been more like Cassandra, would things have turned out the way they had? Hakkai closes his eyes and lays back on his bed, pondering the question until eventually he drifts off to sleep.

The smoke from Sanzo's cigarette drifts in the air, above his bed. His mind plays back the memories of when his mentor was slain before his eyes. He was thirteen when it happened, but time has done little to heal the wounds.

A soft knock on the door causes him to curse under his breath. Probably the stupid ape, Sanzo thinks as he looks at the door.

"What?" His voice slices through the silence.

"Sanzo?" Cassandra asks. Sanzo's face softens slightly.

"Come in," he replies. Cassandra opens the door and looks at Sanzo.

"I hope I didn't wake you up," Cassandra apologizes.

"I wasn't sleeping," Sanzo watches her, wondering what she wants.

"Raven finally made it here, he brought Evan too. I guess as soon Daycarthro shows up, the four of us can go back to our world." She tightens her arms around the pillow. I have to be careful what I say around him, Cassandra thinks. He seems more agitated than usual. "I'm sorry for the trouble we have brought you."

"If you didn't cause trouble, the other idiots would have," Sanzo says, referring to Goku and Gojyo.

"At least Raven's here, he's the only one Evan will listen to." Okay, here I go. "Speaking of which, do you think I can take something for Raven to eat. He hasn't had anything to eat for three days and…"

"It's over there," Sanzo points to one of his packs.

"Thanks," Cassandra replies. She quickly grabs some things out of the bag and hurries out of the room. "Oh, and if you're having trouble sleeping, I'm sure Raven wouldn't mind whipping up a sleeping potion for you."

"I'm fine," Sanzo says, taking a drag on his cigarette.

"If you change your mind, you know where to find me." The door clicks shut behind her. How did someone like her end up with two idiots? He wonders. This Raven better not be as annoying as Evan and Warner or I'll shoot all three of them dead. He remembers how the two days are up and still the god has failed to show up. By the way things are looking, Sanzo might be stuck with those people longer than he wants to.

XXX

Psycho-CJ: Thanks MystiquePixie for finally reviewing. I told you this was different for the original. I changed Cassandra's, Warner and Raven's introduction. Yeah, sis, I know you liked that whole scene with Raven, but I thought people who are not used to his character would not find it as amusing as we did. Maybe when I'm done with this, I'll post the scenes that I cut out.

Evan: And Pixie, don't you dare try to change this. I don't want the Esca Yugi incident to occur. And don't look at me strangely, you know what I'm talking about.

Psycho-CJ: I finally finished introducing all the characters. I hope I was coherent enough and if you have any questions, don't be afraid to ask. Till next time, and thanks Rook for always reviewing.