Chapter 14 : Interlude

Kerri woke up her dreams were darkened with what she had seen influenced by the demon. She shook. Hakkai sat across from her, watching her and his fingers were trembling. "Hakkai? What-" He looked up at her, his arm covered in blood. "Hak-" he pressed his finger to her lips. "Shhh, please do not wake the others up." She stared at his bleeding arm her face very pale. "I dreamt about you. You and Ebony and...Kanan..." She stood up and shuffled over to Hakkai, weaving through the sleeping bodies.

She retrieved bandages from her bag and clean water. "Ebony mentioned Kanan once." She said quietly cleaning the wound. "Did she?" He smiled. "I loved her" he said. Kerri nodded, a little hurt that he said this to her. She didn't know why. "But in the dream...I chose to save you." She stopped what she was doing, tears in her eyes for some unknown purpose. He wanted to touch her hair or say something which would make what he had told her make some kind of sense. But he couldn't find the words.

"Why don't you heal yourself Hakkai?" She asked. He blinked. "Kerri, do you understand what I have just told you?" Kerri forced herself to look at Hakkai. "I don't think I do" She said, shivering a little. He nodded "Me neither." He stared at the blood seeping through the cloth around his arm and shook his head. "Please forgive me" He said quietly. "For what?" He looked to her, tears absent from his eyes. "For telling you that." She watched him concentrate his chi on the wound and wince just a little bit.

Goku woke with a loud yawn and stretched his arms out. He looked over to Gojyo and gasped, the memory of what had happened the night before flooding into his mind. The pain of the wounds throbbing in his limbs. "Goku" Hakkai helped him to his feet and healed the wounds carefully. Goku tripped on his words, stammered apologies. "Don't be sorry you stupid monkey..." Goku turned to Gojyo, who had woken in time to hear Goku blabbering about his mistakes. "...you didn't actually do anything wrong for once." He finished. Goku rushed to Gojyo, wrapping his arms around the other man's waist, his ear at his chest listening to the rush of the heart. Gojyo darkened with a blush and pushed him off "What're you doin' chibbi chimp? Don't touch me." Goku could almost cry. "...Gojyo?"

Sanzo had been lying awake for a while making sure he didn't look at anybody. Especially Ebony. He dreamt of her, the dream was white. She held him and kissed him and loved him openly. And he lay there in the warmth of the dream just enjoying the moment. When he woke up, the warm moment disappeared and he was again in the chilly forest of their previous imprisonment. His wounds throbbed and caused him pain, but he ignored it. Although the others could not know what he saw in his dream, he still felt humiliated.

Somebody touched his arm, it was Kerri. "I am sorry to have to wake you, but Hakkai says that he needs to heal you as soon as possible." He nodded and pushed himself up off of the ground. Hakkai healed the wounds of his friends and looked to Sanzo. "I think we need to get to another town as soon as possible for proper rest in a proper bed." he said Ebony nodded "I agree, geez, that took a lot outta me." "hakuryu!" The dragon transformed into the jeep and Hakkai smiled. "Come along everybody, we have a while to go and I am sure I am not the only one who needs a bath." Everybody looked at Goku "What!"

They all piled into the jeep and prepared themselves for a long drive. Kerri a little uneasy about sitting on Goku's lap but did it none the less. Sanzo and Ebony exchanged glances, she decided to make this hard for him to hide whatever feelings these were that were developing within her. "No guns against my leg today please Snazzy." She sneered. He glared at her "I will kill you" He said simply. "Don't lie, you love me too much" He fell silent and crossed his arms. She shifted a little in his lap and looked to Kerri. Shot her a reassuring smile. "Would you like me to hold on to you?" He asked, though it was more of a statement really. "What's that snazzy boy?" He gritted his teeth, "The road is really rough here." She leant back against him. "Hold me if you want preisty." He glared at her and then at Gojyo who seemed to be overjoyed that Ebony was teasing him again.

Hakkai remained silent for the entire trip. He watched Kerri now and then, looked to Ebony. Guilt piercing his mind that he didn't choose his sister in the dream. They reached the town by night fall uninterrupted - surprisingly. Hakkai led the group to the first inn they could see. Once the rooms were rented the group divided. Ebony took Kerri into her room, needing to discuss her dream with somebody. She sat on the bed and described it in great detail, scared that her friend would judge her about the events within it. Kerri shook her head "they were your deepest fears Ebony. Not something that might happen later on in life. Not a mistake you made. We can only help one another by overcoming these fears by supporting one another." Ebony looked up at her friend, eyes glossed over by tears. "What did you dream about?" She stammered. "I..." She trailed off and bit her lip. "What was it? Tell me Kerri." She sighed and explained her deepest fears to her friend. "I think I trust these people. Somewhat. And I am scared that they'll betray it. That they'll hurt me like those monsters did." Ebony smiled at her and touched her hand. Kerri didn't flinch. "My brother would never hurt you like they did. Snazzy...I have my suspicions that he's a homosexual in denial. I think Goku has strange orgasms over food and Gojyo may act like a sleaze, but deep down he is in love with the monkey he claims to despise." Kerri laughed, which surprised Ebony. "How do you gather that?" She giggled. "Oh you see the way he looks at him. I can sometimes tell about these things." They laughed together and for a moment the fears disappeared completely.

Sanzo knocked back another shot of alcohol and watched Hakkai from across the table. He was quiet and distant. As usual. Gojyo's face was slightly flushed with blood. He had consumed more than the other two put together. Goku ate his dinner and went straight to bed. Gojyo swayed a little on his feet and nodded to his friends. "I think I've had enough now." "How do you know that?" Asked Hakkai with a smile. "Because there are two Hakkai's and two Sanzo's." He replied in slurs. Hakkai looked across to Sanzo and cocked his brow. "What is bothering you Sanzo?" He asked carefully. "The nightmares." He replied without thinking. Though drunk Sanzo's mind was void of all usual logic. "What about them" Hakkai pressed. "I dreamt about your sister. Had a nightmare about her and then a dream about her, I cant figure it out. I don't even really like her much. She pisses me off." He said and then he took a swig of his frosty beer. "I think you do know Sanzo. I think you're lying." Sanzo felt insulted. "Do not call me a liar." He growled. "Alright, perhaps 'liar' is a little too strong. But I do think that deep down you know what is going on in you heart." Sanzo scoffed. "I don't have a heart" He retorted, the cigarette smoke a sinister kind of barrier. "Yes, you do. And I think my sister inhabits it right now." Sanzo slammed the bottle down onto the table so hard the glass smashed "What do you know" He demanded angrily. "I think I know that I am in love again. And I also know that it scares me." Hakkai politely excused himself and left the table. Sanzo sat alone with his alcohol.

Ebony and Kerri slept in the same room that night to make sure that neither of them were as afraid. The morning sunlight spilled into Gojyo's room. His head was drilling. "I shouldn't have drank so much last night." He groaned to himself. He shifted and froze when he noticed a feminine looking hand on his chest. He grinned /well at least the night wasn't a complete disappointment even if I don't remember it/ He turned with a grin to the body slumped beside him.

The scream of surprise mixed with horror could have possibly woken everybody in the village. Goku jerked up "What? What is it?" He had his staff in both hands. "Is it Youkai!" He demanded in a panicked tone. "N-no. What am I doing in bed with you?" He demanded equally panicked. "You don't remember?" Innocent tears in his eyes. "NO MONKEY, I WAS DRUNK!" He screamed. Goku drew away from him. "S-so last night was a...a mistake?" He glared "YOU'RE DAMNED RIGHT IT WAS A MISTAKE" he located each item of clothing and was putting his pants on as Sanzo opened the door. His face was completely void of emotion but Gojyo could sense the shock. And possible disgust.

Sanzo closed the door behind him. "What was all that about?" Hakkai asked. "You don't want to know." He replied. "Sanzo, about-" "Forget it" He continued walking.

Elendur – well there's a little more comedy.

Shy-phantom – just wait until next chapter…

Elendur – SHHHH don't tell them anything…that'll ruin all the fun.

Shy-phantom – fine, fine, but we must deliver this ultimatium, we want reviews, or we stop updating…we have how many hits?

Elendur – 711 last time I checked…

Shy-phantom – and only 5 reviews.

Elendur – 3

Shy-phantom 3? No, 5

Elendur – two of them were you so they don't count…anyway, please can people review a little more, we know you're reading…and it's not like you're only reading the first chapters we had 26 hits on chapter 12. So please…it doesn't take long, or much effort…

Shy-Phantom – or no more chapters…and they get good so you better begin reviewing…

Elendur – oh…and about the two different writing styles, that may just be because there was two of us writing this, and we write in different ways…yes shy-phantom may write a little different but please…just bear with it…it's really your choice to continue reading.

Shy-Phantom – what did you say about the way I write!

Elendur – nothing, sorry…never mind…sighs