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Bee-uty & the Beast

Kraen

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Chapter Eight

"My Lord, for having what I could only imagine was a pleasant evening – you seem to have a rather gloomy disposition."

Gai smoothed back a piece of hair that had continually mutinied against him since adding the gel earlier that morning. "It's not what it looks like," he sighed.

Oda clicked his tongue, "Well that is a shame. I know there are quite a few things I would sacrifice for such an evening with that woman."

Gai lifted his brows in surprise – he had always thought Oda to be … foppish. "That woman, is vile, Oda. You would be better off sleeping with a black widow in your bed."

The servant chuckled, "A femme fatale is surely man's worst enemy and greatest ally."

Gai licked his hand and forced the stray hairs into submission. "More like greatest fear," he scowled.

How was she able to sneak into his room so easily? As he and Oda walked the hallways, Gai pondered the possibilities. Could she have poisoned him? Not very likely – surely she was professional enough not to do something as drastic as that, just for a prank. Could he have been sedated via some other means? Probably not, they would have to get close enough to him to achieve such a feat and that was nearly impossible. He scratched his chin in thought. It must have been the hot springs. He was in there probably longer than he should have been. Then he did stay up late last night working over the reports Makoto had left him. He brought a fist down into an open palm in realization, "That damnable bed!"

"My Lord?" asked Oda.

Gai fanned his hand at him, "Oh nothing."

Yes, that had to be it – Hakanza's lavish bed must have been the key culprit in his deeper-than-normal-slumber. The bed in Gai's apartment consisted of a wide board and a small mat just thick enough to keep him from getting splinters from the wood. He didn't like to sleep too heavily, especially out on missions where an enemy could attack at any time; but out there he slept on the cold ground with pebbles and sticks poking uncomfortably into his sides. Even when the Hokage had given his team enough of a budget to pay for a hotel room, it was usually at a cheap place. If there was only one bed, it was always given to Tenten, despite her resistance. If they were lucky enough to get a room with two beds, then Neji would get the extra – Gai knowing the boy's blood was too noble to be expected to sleep on the hard floor every time like Lee and himself.

'Tonight, I'm going to stick my second pair of nunchaku under the mattress. That should be uncomfortable enough to keep me from sleeping too heavily.' He nodded curtly in affirmation, "Yosh!"

As he and Oda neared the breakfast room, the hair on the back of Gai's neck stood on end. Both Hani and Makoto were laughing heartily at something shared between them. He could only imagine it was at the cost of his own dignity.

"Ah, My Lord!" called Makoto with a bright smile. He pointed to the empty seat across from him, "Please, join us!"

Gai nodded in greeting and took his seat silently, not wanting to look Hani in the eye.

Makoto was still chuckling, "This woman of yours, My Lord. She is quite the quick wit!"

Gai feigned a smile. 'Almost too quick,' he thought.

Makoto downed his tea in one drink, "She just got done telling me this hilarious story of her first days working at a geisha teahouse!" He caught his breath, "About how she accidently spilt tea onto the lap of a … " his laughter died as he looked between the two. There was definitely an air of opposition between them. "Did I miss something?" he asked.

Gai was surprised that Hani hadn't taken the opportunity to humiliate him – his jonin friends back at Konoha would jump at the opportunity to do so. But that didn't change the fact that he was still upset with her. "Hani, was your little joke this morning really necessary?"

She refilled Makoto's cup. "Nope," she said without so much as a look.

He spoke in hushed tones, "Need I remind you that we are professionals?"

Hani gave him a defiant look, "I could have said the same to you yesterday morning."

With a cheshire-like grin, Makoto looked between the two ninja, "What happened yesterday morning?"

Gai waved him away, "It was nothing."

"Getting woken up with a poke like that is more than nothing," said Hani choosing her words so they would cause as much embarrassment for Gai as possible.

"Ahhh, this is getting good," said Makoto as he watched the scene with wide, excited eyes.

Gai flinched – she was clearly trying to get him worked up. "And how was your little charade this morning any more appropriate?"

Makoto grinned at Hani, excitement brimming – it was like watching a train wreck.

She brought her hands up to her shoulders and shrugged, "It was just a bit of fun."

Gai gripped the table, "I am clearly not laughing!"

Makoto felt the room fill with electricity.

Hani lifted her teacup nonchalantly and took a drink, "That is clearly because you are a tight ass."

Makoto's eyes glinted. "Oh burn!" he whispered.

Just as Gai thought his anger would explode, a sake cup came blazing through the servant's door and crashed squarely into the side of Makoto's head. "GAH!" he shouted.

"HUSBAND!" came the irritated voice of Umeko. "Quit eavesdropping on the Lord and his guest's conversation!"

Makoto rubbed at the swell in the side of his head, "ME?! I'm sitting right here, YOU'RE the one in another room snooping!" He caught a second cup before it struck his face. "WOMAN!" he shouted. "Quit being so ungrateful and stop throwing things at me!" He ducked just in time to dodge a small kitchen knife that flew past him and jammed into the wall.

"She has excellent aim," said Hani in shock.

"It looks like she's had a lot of practice," said Gai, equally surprised.

Makoto looked at the knife with wide eyes and realized now would be a good time to make amends. He stood, using the cups as a makeshift shield, "Sweetie!" he called. "I didn't mean it!" He scurried into the kitchen quickly before she found anything else to chuck his way.

Gai and Hani sat for a moment in silence, trying not to overhear the pleas, and yelps made by Makoto as he tried to console his irate wife in the next room.

Hating the tension, Hani placed her teacup on the table with an audible thunk. "Look," she said, turning to Gai. "We don't know how long we're going to have to stay here – let's try not to kill each other before this is over?"

He eyed her; unsure on whether or not he should take her seriously.

She sighed, "Fine, I'm sorry. OK? If I had known it was going to bother you this much, I wouldn't have done it." She stuck out her hand, "Truce?"

Gai considered her offer of peace before taking her hand, "Truce – but a new rule … "

She lifted an eyebrow, "Oh?"

He gave her a stern look, "You are no longer allowed in my bed."

She smiled, "Done." She held up a finger before he pulled away, "And no more wet-willies."

He nodded, "Agreed."

They gave each other's hands a firm shake before parting.

"By the way," asked Hani. "Why did it bother you that much?"

Gai looked at his untouched breakfast. That was a very good question. Could it be that he was unsettled with the fact that he had been completely caught off guard? That she was able to pull a fast one on him so easily? Or was it the fact that he had dreamt about her and actually enjoyed it? This woman frustrated him enough to want to pull his hair out, but instead he dreams about caressing her? And though he would never admit to it out loud, he kind of yearned for it again.

"I was just caught off guard and it unnerved me." He shrugged, "That's all."

Hani furrowed her brows at him in doubt, but she soon dismissed it. Gai did and said a lot of things she didn't understand and it would be futile to try to figure him out now.

-- / --

Gai sighed as he thumbed through a book. This mission was so very boring. He propped his legs on the cushioned window seat in Hakanza's library. He had tried to read a book called The Way of the Samurai and was struggling to maintain his interest. He let his head fall back and knock into the windowsill behind him. He took off his glasses and rubbed his eyes in frustration.

He hated this downtime. He yearned for the Konoha training grounds – or even Konoha itself; where he could run thousands of laps around its span. He missed the little trail he had started to wear around his hometown – he had spent a lot of good time on that route. He returned his glasses to his nose and let his chin fall heavily on a loosely closed fist.

From the window he could see the grounds where Makoto and he had trained the day before. Gai had hoped for a good spar after breakfast, but Makoto was too busy nursing the injuries he had sustained from his wife's wraith. If anyone was a security risk to this mansion, it was that woman.

As his eyes wandered, so did Gai's mind. He couldn't help but chuckle on his earlier encounter with Hani that morning. It was a brilliant move; he had to grant her that.

He closed his eyes as he tried to remember the events:

The dream, where he felt so peaceful – so … cherished. Did he really secretly yearn for companionship that much? Did his students no longer fill the void he had from not having an intimate relationship? Sure, he had been with women in the past. His last time with a woman was … Anko? Gai shuddered as he thought back on that encounter. Half the scars on his body came from just one night with her. He liked a strong woman, but that girl was just plain psycho. He had feared he wasn't going to survive to see the morning.

Before that, it had been an awkward evening with Shizune. There was a lot of drinking involved – it had been someone's birthday and all of the jonins went out to celebrate. Unfortunately, Shizune had passed out long before anything too intimidate had occurred and even though a few of his male friends scoffed at him for not taking advantage of the "situation" he stood firm in his decision to return her safely to her apartment. Gai may be a man, but he was also a gentleman.

The way she had felt – in his dreams and in person. Her skin was so amazingly soft. He didn't think it possible for a woman's skin to feel so velvety. Her body wasn't hardened like Anko's or Shizune's – with their firm muscles from years of harsh, physical training. Hani was much more delicate – and a great deal more curvy.

He'll admit, Anko had a great body; but Hani's curviness was vastly over-exaggerated by a tiny waist, full hips and a near-hokage-level bust line. He made a ring with his two middle fingers and thumbs to try and guess the circumference of her waist. 'Good grief,' he thought. He could probably wrap his hands around her waist and still have his thumbs and fingers touching. 'How does she not break in half from being so … top heavy?' he wondered. He tried to remember how she had looked, stalking him from the bed, her hips swinging in a dangerous sashay. Her panty straps had been pulled up to her hip bones, making her derriere look even more heart shaped. The little tank-top she wore barely covered her massive bosoms; the bottoms of which had peeked out from under the fabric.

Gai snapped his book shut, returned his glasses to their hiding spot and stood. 'Too youthful – I need a shower,' he thought. He walked hurriedly to the exit, 'A cold one.' Barging through the door, he crashed into the very woman he was determined to scrub from his mind.

-- / --

Hani felt like she had ran into a brick wall; but that was impossible -- she was just headed towards an open doorway.

The force of their collision was enough to knock her off balance and backwards. She knew she didn't have enough time to catch herself before she hit the ground, so she braced for impact. But instead of feeling the sharp pain of cracking her rump, there was a faint rush of air before she landed into two strong arms. She looked to her side and was surprised to see her head only inches from the ground. She turned to her other side, her eyes meeting Gai's. She gave him an approving smile, "Good save."

He helped her up, "I'm sorry, Hani. I didn't see you there."

She craned her neck back to look at his nine inch taller frame. "That's understandable. I'm too short to be seen -- too large to avoid."

He smiled sheepishly.

She gave him a small wink, "Alright Gai, enough flirting. We've got work to do."

His one-track mind ignored her jab and focused on one word, "Work?"

She beckoned him over with a finger, "Oh yes. Please shut the door."

He hesitated, "You are not going to do anything weird, are you?"

She sighed, "You're beginning to develop a complex around me Gai, sheesh." She turned on a lamp for more light, "This is about our mission." Her eyes widened as he almost skipped merrily to her side.

"YOSH! Will there be fighting involved?" he asked, unable to contain his excitement.

"Rein it in, Big Guy," she said trying to be serious while the 160lb man next to her struggled to keep from dancing in place. "I'm afraid this will involve diplomacy, not fists."

Gai was visibly crestfallen.

"Oh, don't be too sad, Gai. I'm sure Umeko will let you smack Makoto around afterwards if you still want to."

Gai frowned, it just wasn't the same.

"Yuuto Saburo has come to the mansion."

Gai gave her a bewildered look and shook his head.

"Saburo, the village headman."

"Oh right!" said Gai, trying not to feel embarrassed at his horrible memory.

"Anyway, he's here – at the mansion." She gave him a concerned look, "And he wants to talk to Hakanza."

Gai's eyes widened. This is what worried him most about the mission. He was no actor, so impersonating a man he barely knew was going to be no small feat.

Hani searched his face, trying to read his emotions, "Gai, will you be able to handle this?"

He flashed a bright smile and gave a thumb up, "No problem!"

Hani looked about the room, did it just get brighter? She shook her head, "Anyway, Oda is there right now." She took his arm and led him to the door, "He'll help you if you are struggling."

"Where will you be?"

"I'll be there too, but don't expect me to talk too much. It isn't usually a courtesan's place to talk at these sort of gatherings."

Gai swallowed the small lump in his throat. He could handle this … right? "How should I act?"

"From what we experienced of Hakanza – like an arrogant prick." She gave him an ornery grin, "So just be yourself."

He growled, "I heard that!"

-- / --

Gai adjusted the robes of his kimono – it was far too cumbersome for his tastes. Give him his spandex suit any day!

Hani stilled his hands, "Don't fidget." She brushed his shoulders off and made sure his obi was folded correctly. "Don't worry, Gai," she said with a smile. "I'm sure you'll do great." She licked a finger then reached for his ear.

He flinched visibly, "You promised!"

She rolled her eyes, "Calm down! You have a piece of hair that keeps falling out." She tucked the strand behind his ear, "Seriously, what is your obsession with wet objects in small holes?" She froze at her very uncouth statement.

Gai tried not to laugh, "Hani, did you just -- ?"

"Shut up!" she snapped. She grabbed his arm and led him to the meeting room where Oda, Makoto and an unfamiliar voice could be heard. "Remember," she huffed. "Be confident."

He turned to the door and took a deep breath. Confidence, Gai could handle.

He swung open the doors and stepped into the room. Makoto and Oda looked at Gai in surprise and felt their backs almost buckle over the shear presence he brought to the room.

"My Lord," said the third man in the room. He bowed deeply in reverence out of respect for his superior. Both Hani and Gai eyed him as they walked to their seats. The man was probably close to his sixties, with gray hair, broad shoulders, rough hands and tanned skin. He had a very square jaw, with a strong nose. His eyes looked like he was squinting directly into the sun.

There was no table in the room; instead there was a semi-circle of pillows. The biggest one had a wooden back with armrests; this is where Gai sat. Hani sat directly to his left, Makoto to his right and Oda took his place behind Gai's seat.

"Saburo, old friend," said Gai in a very convincing performance. He leaned into the back of his seat and rested his elbow on the armrest, "What brings you to see me?"

Makoto eyed Hani out of the corner of his eye – Gai just might pull this off.

Saburo bowed again, "As always My Lord, I am grateful for the audience with you." He sighed very heavily, "I come again, to ask that you alleviate the rice tax on the village and open the store houses so that we may stock our homes with food before the winter comes." He bowed again.

Gai hesitated.

"You know that is not what the Lord wishes, Saburo," spoke Oda. "And yet you come here every week asking the same thing."

Both Hani and Gai shared a look.

"I know, My Lord -- I mean no disrespect." He squared his shoulders, "But desperate times, call for desperate measures."

"The food in those warehouses are needed to feed our Lord's armies," spoke Oda.

"But there is no fighting now – there are even talks of peace. Surely Lord Hakanza could spare a few bushels of food for the families who were hit worst by the weather this year? The amount of food it takes to feed a soldier could easily feed two children here in the village."

Gai gritted his teeth and squeezed the arms of his seat. He would gladly give the shirt off his back or skip any meal if it meant keeping a child warm and healthy. Here Hakanza was literally taking food from his own peoples' mouths. Aside from Gai and Hakanza sharing appearances, they were nothing alike.

"I'm afraid that just isn't an option," spoke Oda. "Until Lord Hakanza deems fit, those warehouses remain locked."

Gai squeezed harder -- his fury building.

Saburo took a desperate breath and fell to his knees before Gai. He bowed till his forehead touched the floor – the ultimate act of humility. "My Lord, I beg of you," he spoke with a shaky voice. "Your people are suffering. I have given even my own limited supply of food to the needy and they are still struggling to make ends meet. There are children who are becoming deathly ill. At this rate, My Lord -- there will be no more farmers by spring to till your lands."

Makoto rubbed his forehead. He was afraid this was going to happen soon. It was only a matter of time before the villagers became desperate.

Hani gave the man a sad look, his plight pulling at her heart strings.

Gai was reaching maximum capacity – he couldn't maintain his anger or this charade much longer.

"Enough!" spoke Oda. "You insult our Lord! Be gone, before we have the house guard throw you out!"

That was the last straw, Gai snapped – along with the arms of his seat.

Everyone in the room, including Gai, jumped visibly as the armrests he had a death grip on splintered under his freakish strength.

Hani balked at the damage and shot a look to Makoto who returned the same worried stare. She had to think of an out. "My Lord!" she laughed nervously. "You must contact the craftsmen who made that seat. The wood was far too young and weak."

Makoto tried to continue her attempts at lightening the situation, "Saburo," he jumped to the man's side and helped him up. "Let's see you to the door and we'll schedule another meeting with his Lordship in a few more days?"

Knowing it was futile, the old man left without resistance. But not before giving Gai the most heart-wrenching look one could ever receive.

Gai stared after him. He wanted to run to the man – give him a huge hug and storm to the warehouses where he would destroy the very fiber of the doors that secluded the food from villagers who so desperately needed it. But he couldn't. He was bound by a law that he respected deeply and that law required he keep the contract Hakanza had signed with his leader, Hokage Tsunade.

Hani frowned at Gai's expression, she knew what he was thinking and she knew it took a great deal of strength for him to restrain himself. His hands caught her eye, "Gods, you're bleeding!" She pulled a handkerchief from the folds of her kimono and grabbed his hand. They were deeply imbedded with splinters from the armrests. She looked at Gai's face; he was still staring at the doors the two men had left through. He was clearly fighting an internal battle.

"My Lord!" said Oda as he came to his side, pulling out his own handkerchief. He squeaked suddenly as a hand darted out and grabbed the folds of his yellow servant's robes; lifting him well into the air.

Gai was oblivious to the splinters he dug deeper into his hands by grasping Oda's robe so tightly. He gave the servant a dangerous glare through thick eyebrows.

Oda pleaded with him, "It's not what you think!"

"How could you talk to him like that?!" spat Gai. "Could you not see he was desperate?"

Oda grabbed Gai's wrist and tried to lift himself against the ninja's grasp. "I don't like it anymore than you!"

"Gai, please!" begged Hani as she pulled on his arm.

"I am only a servant to Hakanza," said Oda. "I don't give the orders – it's just my job to see them carried out!"

Gai gave him a small shake, "Why won't he open the warehouses?"

"I have no idea; it's not my place to ask!"

"Gai, I know you are angry, but you have to get a hold of yourself." Hani was going to give him five more seconds to calm down, or else she would take action.

Gai flared his nostrils before setting the servant down gently.

Oda took a cautious step back as he tried to straighten his robes; a look of fear in his eyes.

"I'm sorry, Oda," said Gai with a heavy sigh. "I know it's not your fault."

"Like you, sir – I'm bound by honor in my job as well," he said flatly.

"We understand, Oda. We're sorry," said Hani. She took Gai's hands and turned them so she could get a better look. She sucked air through her teeth at the damage. It was nothing serious, but digging them out would be a bitch. "We'll be in our quarters," said Hani as she looked at Oda. She took Gai's wrist and led them out of the room, "Come on Gai -- let's get you taken care of."

-- / --

"Oww, that STINGS!" called Gai as Hani pulled another of the wooden splinters from his palm. He was sitting on the sink in his bathroom, trying not to kick a hole in the wall from the pain.

Hani was bent over his hand, trying to be as gentle as possible. "Oh you big baby! That wasn't even as big as the last one," she scolded.

"How many are there left?" asked Gai, his eyes watering.

She looked over his hand, "I don't know – ten maybe?"

Gai moaned, "Ugh!"

"Good grief, Gai. I'm sure you've had worse injuries than this – it can't be that bad?"

He just pouted at her. She was right of course, but it still hurt!

She chuckled.

"What's so funny?" he asked, eyeing her handiwork.

"It's just that," she held up the tweezers she was using. "We've only been here a little over two days and this is the second time these tweezers have caused you pain and suffering."

He instinctually twitched his eyebrows, "I hate those things."

Hani returned to his hand, "Well, judging by how long it took me to pluck those eyebrows of yours, I could tell you two had never met before."

"Full eyebrows are a sign of health, virility and youth!" shouted Gai in his defense.

Hani reeled from the man shouting so close to her ear, "Who told you that?"

Gai opened his mouth to speak but quickly shut it – who did tell him that? He searched his thoughts, was that something he had just made up and said for so long that he started believing it as a fact? "I don't remember, but it's true!" Gai caught himself, why was he starting to sound like a raving child?

Hani shrugged as she gave him a neutral look, "I believe you."

He blinked in surprise, "Really?"

She patted his hand with a bit of gauze, "Sure."

There was a moment of silence.

"Do you know what else is a sign of virility?" asked Hani, a hint of a smile on her downcast face.

"What?" asked Gai, immediately regretting it.

She looked him in the eye and gave him a little smirk, "A 'treasure trail'".

He furrowed his brows, "A what?"

She blanched, how could he not know what a treasure trail was? "You know," she poked him in the stomach at the belly button. "It's the hair that grows between your stomach and your –"

"HANI!"

She shrugged, "You asked." She looked back at his hand, "Oh, this is a nice, juicy one! He's next!"

Gai cringed as she used her nails to pinch a bit of wood from his palm. "Oww, oww, oww, OWW!" he cried.

"Oh, he's a keeper!" joked Hani as she held up the quarter-inch splinter in her tweezers.

There was another moment of silence.

"We call it a 'fuse'," said Gai, a little embarrassed.

"You call what a fuse?"

Gingerly, Gai used his bandaged hand to indicate where she had been talking about moments ago, "A treasure trail."

She laughed, "A fuse?"

He blushed and shrugged simultaneously, "Yeah."

"Why a fuse?" She didn't really need to ask.

He sighed; a little too embarrassed to say. Instead he held out his hand and made a loose fist with it, then popped his fingers open, "Boom!"

Hani brought the back of her hand to her mouth and laughed heartily; she didn't need any more of an explanation than that. "I like it. Crude, but effective."

Gai chuckled with her.

"So who is 'we'?" asked Hani as she returned to his hand to survey her progress.

"We?"

"Yeah, you said 'We call it a fuse' -- Who's 'we'?" She smiled at him, "Your wife?"

He flinched, "I'm not married."

"Your girlfriend?"

"I don't have a girlfriend either – "

"Your boyfriend?"

"HANI!"

She gave him an innocent grin, "What?! I'm not here to judge!"

"No, I was referring to my friends."

"You have weird friends if that's what you get together to chat about."

"We talk about other stuff!"

"Like what?" she asked, trying to force another splinter from his hand.

He cringed at her attempts, "I don't know – our students, missions, social events."

"Do you ever go on dates?"

Gai gave a deep sigh in relief as she extracted another wooden sliver, "Sometimes."

"OK, witch hazel time," said Hani as she held the bottle of medicine over his hand. She poured it generously, trying to be sure to cover all of the wounds.

Gai spoke through gritted teeth trying to endure the medicine's sting, "Why do you care?"

"Hmm?"

"Why do you care about what my friends and I talk about, or whether or not I date?"

She shrugged as she patted his hand with more gauze, "I don't know. Just curious, I guess."

He watched her.

"At least it got your mind of the pain a little didn't it?"

He looked at the hand she was now bandaging, "Yeah, I guess."

"So how are you doing?"

He furrowed his brows, "What do you mean?"

She finished taping his hand, "The event that caused all of this injury – how are you doing? Are you going to be alright?"

Gai looked at his bandages, "It's killing me not being able to help those people."

Hani crossed her arms, "I know."

"Freeing up food, putting a power hungry Lord back in his place – I've had missions just like that. We could just as easily be here to help these people, not getting paid to ignore them."

Hani tented her brows as she regarded his discouraged form.

"Usually, I am overly motivated – but now, this is what really gets under my skin." He blinked back a few tears and looked around his bathroom like he had just appeared there. "Hani, could I have some time alone?"

She gave him a comforting smile, "Sure." She picked up her things and walked silently to his door. "Gai, if you need to talk – you know where to find me," she said over her shoulder. She didn't wait for a reply before exiting silently from his room.

-- / --

Gai thought about his second day as a nobleman with a heavy heart and an even heavier spirit. He had hoped this mission was going to be a simple task: hang out in a mansion for a few days, eat free food and train with a nobleman's expensive exercise equipment. What he hadn't counted on was a self-righteous samurai who cared more about his glory than the people he was suppose to protect. 'Not like our Hokage,' he thought. 'Or any ninja in Konoha – every single one would lay down their life to protect the village.' He smirked, 'And there are probably a fair amount of civilians who would do the same.'

Gai sighed as he rolled onto his side -- sleep just refused to be his friend that night and the nunchaku digging into his side wasn't helping either. 'It's impossible to get any rest when my mind wants to wander.' After a few more futile attempts at slumber, Gai sat up in his bed and buried his face in his itchy, bandaged hands. "Maybe it's not too late to ask Umeko for a cup of milk?"

As if to reply, a beautiful sound cut through the cold, night air. Gai turned his head slightly in assessment as the tune reverberated gently throughout his room. He slid soundlessly from his bed and inched slowly to his door. He used the small crack between the shōji doors to spy outside, but it served no more than to give an opening for the moon to cast a bright line across his face.

Unable to distinguish the music's source from his vantage point, he gently slid the doors open and took a cautious step onto the walkway. He winced faintly as the cold wood sent chills up his leg and spine. It wasn't long; however, before his mind became distracted by the sight before him.

The garden, which was now illuminated by the moon's light, was framed in long flowing curtains. Like silken ghosts, they danced lazily on the night's breeze. One drape brushed over his shoulder in greeting.

A movement behind the semi-opaque barrier caught his eye and with a tender hand, he held back a drifting curtain enough to see a woman sitting in the center of the garden. She was dressed in a dark kimono, the color of which was indiscernible in the low light. The moon's radiance reflected off her hair, giving her an ethereal glow. In one hand she held a long stringed instrument that she rested on her lap. In her other hand was a long bow that she used to stroke across the instrument's strings in very calculated movements. At her feet sat a large cat, with glowing gold eyes that blinked rhythmically to the woman's performance. Behind them both was a small, bubbling fountain that served as her percussion section.

Her lovely tune seemed to take on a life of its own as it echoed throughout the master's quarters and down the hallway into the rest of the mansion. The servants halted their chores, guards paused in their patrols, even the children of a certain Captain stopped their bickering to listen to the captivating melody. All seemed entranced; but none more than Gai, who had front row seats to the performance.

'This is the stuff of dreams … ' he thought. Standing there, he could swear he felt the music surround him and wash away any concerns or cares he had. In that moment, the garden was his whole world.

It wasn't until the woman lifted her face to the moon that Gai was able to recognize the performer.

"HANI?!' Gai whispered breathlessly.

She continued to play, not noticing him. It would seem the garden was her whole world in that moment too.

Gai decided not to interrupt her trance. Instead he looked to the sky through the garden's open roof and watched the shining moon. He couldn't help but smile back at its grinning expression.

Hani tinted her eyebrows painfully as she played the last crescendo in her tune. She had played the entire song with her eyes closed, not needing to look at any sheet music, or see where her fingers needed to be on the strings. She knew this by heart and it showed.

When the song ended, the last note lingered throughout the household, as if to tell its inhabitants, "Farewell".

Hani bowed her head slightly. To whom -- Gai didn't know. After a few seconds of silent meditation, she lifted her head and gave a genuine smile to her little (large) foot warmer. She reached out and scratched him under the chin. He purred in response.

"Thank you for listening, Muta," she said.

He responded with a small, kitty grunt, followed by more purring.

"Well," she said as she gently tucked the instrument under her arm. "I feel much better. I think I'm ready for bed now. How about you, Big Guy?"

Gai held his breath, 'Does she know I'm here?!'

Hani tried to stand, but couldn't with Muta acting as dead weight on her skirts. "Muta … oi, fatso," she said while trying to nudge him off her skirts.

He looked at her slothfully. He was quite comfortable where he was, thank you.

She yanked on her skirts in protest, "Eh! Get off, you big bully!"

Not liking when his bed talks too much, Muta finally decided to let her go. Perhaps he could find a warm, hidey-hole to stow away in till his morning sun bath …

It wasn't until Hani had left the garden, shut her door and turned off her lamp that Gai finally did the same. He crawled into bed, tired and ready for sleep; his mind having forgotten why he wasn't able to in the first place.

--

Thank you, for reading!

(I often worry that I don't write Gai very true to his character. I appologize if that seems to be a case for any of my readers.)