Youru-chan: I do not own anything related to Saiyuki, except for their manga. Also, I would like to thank all those who have reviewed my story. So, thank you very much! *bows*

Gota: *pulls on author's sleeve* Hey! Start the story already!

Youru-chan: *pats Gota's head* Patience, Gota-chan, patience...

Goku: *smiles* On with the story!

~Chapter 4; New Beginning~

When the group got to the next town, Gota was still fast asleep. Hakkai decided not to disturb her, so Goku just carefully picked her up and carried her on his back. While they looked for an inn, Hakkai started thinking about taking care of Gota's old clothes, especially since people stopped, stared and/or whispered to each other as they passed. He saw small clothing stores and decided to head there after they checked into their rooms and leave Gota to sleep in peace.

"Hello and welcome to our inn!" came a warm greeting from a young woman behind the inn's registry counter.

"Hello, five rooms please?" Hakkai replied.

"Ah yes. Just a moment, please." she replied checking the registry book.

After a while she said,

"I'm sorry, but we only have four rooms left. You don't mind if one room is shared?"

The group paused, then stared at the twins. Goku stared back at them, looking between Hakkai and Gojyo, who were on his left and Sanzo, on his right.

"What?" he asked after a moment.

"You're her brother; you share the room with her." Gojyo simply stated.

Goku put on a confused expression.

"Why don't one of you guys share?!"

"No." Sanzo simply answered when Goku looked at him.

Goku turned his head to look at Gojyo.

"Trust me, you don't want to share a room with me." he replied.

Goku then faced Hakkai, who gave him his usual smile.

"Sorry Goku…" he shrugged.

"Aw, c'mon!" Goku cried.

"That's three votes against one. You're on your own, kid." Gojyo said.

He then took the key to his room that was lying on the reception counter and walked up the stairs near the counter that led to the inn's rooms, with Hakkai and Sanzo following his action soon after. Goku stood in place for a second as his sister stirred a little against his back. Then, he took the remaining key, walked up the stairs, opened the door and rested his sister on the bed. Once Gota was on the bed, Hakkai's voice was heard.

"Be back in a bit."

Goku opened the door and saw him going down the stairs.

"Hakkai!" he called.

Hakkai stopped and looked back.

"Yes?"

"Where ya goin'?"

"Out. Do you want to join me?"

Goku thought for a moment, looking back at Gota, then he jogged toward Hakkai, who headed down the stairs again.

"Wait up!"

Hakkai and Goku visited the clothing stores they passed on their way to the inn. Goku had a couple of intriguing and helpful tips, like:

"Well, these are her size; she'll probably like 'em."

And…

"She doesn' like skirts, period…"

…When they headed back, they had four bags worth of clothes. Enough to last Gota a good long while. Before they headed out, however, Gota was half-asleep and heard Goku and Hakkai's conversation. She was drifting off to sleep when they walked out the inn's entrance. As she slept, she saw something…

~Nightmare~

Gota was staring at the lush, green scenery before her in a dull, gray rock cave. The scenery around her never changes and she was quite tired of it overall. Beside her sat a boy, about the same age, long brown hair and golden eyes; exactly like her own appearance. He was staring at nothing in particular; his head slightly hung down and was sitting crossed-legged (Indian style). Gota kept staring until a small, yellow butterfly came up to her and rested on her nose. She didn't mind or care about it, but she sneezed, startling it and slightly startling Goku. It gracefully floated away, as silence once again settled in. That is, until the silence was broken once again.

"Goku-chan?"

"Yes, Gota-chan?"

Their voices sounded dull, empty and utterly depressed.

"Have you ever thought about someone savin' us?"

"Yeah…"

"Do you think it'll ever happen?"

"I don't know…"

Suddenly, a shadow towered into the cave; over them. The twins stared at the figure, as Gota grasped her brother's hand—who held her hand back—in a bit of fear. The figure was wearing white robes and a crown-like hat that was attached to a cloth; non-see through veil that went down to the sides of his face and onto his shoulders. The figure's mouth moved, but she couldn't hear what he was saying. His eyes were also hidden from view. Goku stared at him in confusion, as if he could hear him. Then, the figure held out its hand and Goku—still holding his sister's—reached out and took the figure's. The chains of both twins and the rock bars disintegrated into air. As the twins stood up and made to walk forward, the bars and chains suddenly came up again, trapped once again. There's just one other problem…

"Goku!" Gota cried in desperation and helplessness.

Goku was on the other side of the bars, his eyes completely empty. The figure, with shining golden hair and purple eyes, had his hand on the now mindless Goku's head. Almost as if demonstrating that with one touch Purple eyes can control just about anyone. Purple eyes turned his back on her and with Goku following every action, they walked away, fleetingly.

"No! Wait!" Gota cried tears streaming down her face.

She stuck out an arm, as if waiting for someone to take it and set her free.

"Please! Please don't leave me behind!"

There was a short pause, as the figures continued to disappear from view.

"Goku!" she continued. "Nii-chan!" her head hung, her tears soaking the ground below her. "Please…" she whispered.

Then there was a strange, yet warm, white light that shrouded over her. After she was sure she could see at least a bit, she opened her eyes, squinting. But what she saw was a red ball attached to a little boy—his face completely hidden, regardless of him looking directly at her—with soft, dark colored hair.

"Gota? Are you feeling alright?"

Gota was sitting upright on the bed, breathing heavily and sweating a bit. She looked over to the owner of the voice to see Hakkai standing at the door way, holding two bags, with a worried expression on his face and Goku, who had his head poking into the room. Gota nodded, answering his question.

"We've brought you some clothes," Hakkai stated walking closer to her and putting the bags on the bed next to her. "Why don't you try some on and tell me how they fit, ok?"

She nodded, as Goku put the rest of the bags next to her and they left, closing the door behind them for Gota's privacy. She took a shower and tried on some clothes that caught her attention. After that, she went downstairs into the inn's waiting room, where the group was relaxing. She quietly walked up from behind Goku and leaned in close to his ear.

"Whatcha thinkin' about?" Gota chirped happily.

Goku jumped a bit, as the rest of the group whirled their heads around. From toe to head Gota wore dark colored boots with a little white ribbon on the rim, tan pants, dark, fingerless arm-warmers, a dark sleeveless shirt with a small white ribbon on the collar and a big white ribbon to tie her hair back into a ponytail. The group stared at her transformation. After a minute of staring, Gota got a bit uncomfortable and a big sweat drop rolled off the side of her head. She gave a nervous and uncomfortable smile.

"What?" she asked.

Finally, they smiled at her.

"Wow, Gota, you look pretty!" Goku complemented.

"I agree, you look very nice." Hakkai agreed.

Gojyo just smiled and Sanzo neither looked at Gota nor spoke what-so-ever, ever since they arrived at the village. Everyone had noticed this, but decided against saying anything about it.

"Oh yeah! By the way…" Gota turned to Hakkai and Gojyo. "I haven't your names yet. The only name I know so far is Nii-chan's…"

She completely ignored Sanzo and the others noticed.

"Ah yes, that's right…" Hakkai realized. "My name is Cho Hakkai."

"...Sha Gojyo."

Gota smiled at the response.

"Gojyo-san…" she repeated.

"At your service."

"It's nice to meet you." she nodded. "Nii-chan, let's go look around town!" she suggested taking his hand and pulling him to his feet. "Ne, Hakkai-sama?"

'Hakkai-sama?' he thought.

Then, he gave her an adoring smile, almost as though inviting her to say it again.

"Of course." he replied.

With that response, she returned a happy smile.

"C'mon, Nii-chan!" she urged pulling him.

"Okay!" he replied running out of the inn with her, still holding hands.

After the twins left, silence groped the room. Gojyo was just about finished with his cigarette and Sanzo was quietly reading his newspaper. Hakkai stared at the door that the twins had left out of a minute ago, until he spoke up.

"Sanzo?"

"What?" his voice sounded agitated and a bit angry.

"Is something the matter?"

"No."

A pause.

"Don't look like it to me..." Gojyo said.

"It's none of your business!" Sanzo snapped.

After another minute, Gojyo finished his cigarette and put out the remains in the ash try near him. Then, he got up and went for his room, stating, "Well, I'm gonna take a well deserved shower.". A moment after, Hakkai retraced Gojyo's steps and left for his own room as well. After they left, Sanzo stared out the window he was sitting next to. For some reason, ever since Gota joined their group, he couldn't get her face out of his head. Each time she spoke, the same scene popped up in his head. She was gripping the rock bars of the cell, tears streaming down her face and her eyes clenched shut, screaming,

'I hate you!'

That memory was one he thought he had locked away, never to be reminded of again.