Ancient City of Hoi An

Towards morning, the screeching of passing trains eventually became so invasive that Jasmine could no longer sleep, drugged though she had been the previous night from medicines administered by Aunt Tien Ha to calm her stomach.

She rose from the bunk bed and reached out for the cool bottle of water that was set at her bedside.

"I see you have awakened. I hope you are better this morning."

"Yes. Thank you Auntie." Jasmine took a sip of the water. She did feel much better after sleeping through the night. "Are we there yet?"

"We are nearly at the Da Nang station. Perhaps we can find a place to clean up and shower before moving to our next destination." Aunt Tien Ha threw out with a hopeful air.

By the time they reached the small ancient village of Hoi An, it was well into the afternoon. A driver had been waiting for them at the station when he train finally pulled in.

He identified himself with a flag and escorted Jasmine and her Aunt to the parked minivan where he drove the ten minutes that it took to get them to the Royal Phoenix Hotel, deep in the heart of Hoi An.

Since they had left on a wing and a prayer, they had traveled across the world with no luggage other than Aunt Tien Ha's hobo bag which she kept around her shoulder.

Jasmine carried nothing. The only thing she had on her was her passport and a couple of credit cards that she had managed to snag from the bank vault before running to the airport.

Despite such a grand-sounding name, the Royal Phoenix was anything but royal. It had been constructed well over a hundred years ago to house the Japanese when they had occupied the place and did not age well.

There had been numerous renovations throughout the years, mainly to keep the structure from falling to the ground and to add critical amenities such as air conditioning and internal plumbing.

The place looked quaint and museum like on the outside, especially around the courtyard area, but rather strange and hacked together on the inside.

"Stay here and rest for the afternoon," Aunt Tien Ha had suggested after they had checked into their spacious room with two double beds. "I will be out for a bit and will be back before dinner."

Jasmine nodded.

"Where are you going, Auntie?"

"The front desk has given me a message from your Great Uncle that we are to stay in this city for today and tomorrow, and then he will meet with us.

"I need to visit a few of the temples around this area and pay homage to the monks and nuns, and then I will be back."

Jasmine nodded.

"Be careful out there. I'll just scout around the hotel. I saw a tourist gift shop in the lobby that sells various things including clothes and such."

"Good idea. You need some clothes." Aunt Tien Ha nodded. "Meet me at the Japanese restaurant across the street at six o'clock. We can have dinner and then make plans as to what we need to do next."

As soon as Aunt Tien Ha left, Jasmine grabbed her shoes. No time like the present to go shopping!

"For a woman, you sure travel light." Blake joked with her as he hovered on the ceiling, staring down at her long dark curls.

"I normally travel light, but it has never been THIS light." She grimaced. "I don't even have a toothbrush other than the one that the airline gave me. I need to change out of this outfit and I need a shower badly."

"You coming?" She looked up at Blake and Roy.

"If you don't mind, I think I will skip the shopping spree." Roy sighed. "I'm not a big shopper kind of guy."

"In that case, I'm your escort for the afternoon, my lady." Blake grinned and sank to the ground.

"Awesome! Let's go!" She opened the door and stood, waiting for him to walk through.

Blake laughed and exited the room. He was so real to her that she had forgotten he could walk through closed doors. He didn't know quite how to react to that.

The hotel boutique turned out to have quite a bit of clothing, most of which fit Jasmine's small figure quite well.

"That yellow would look good on you." Blake pointed to a cheerful sun dress with printed daisies on it. "Get some sunglasses too. Can't have you squinting so much."

He hovered on ahead and indicated at a pink skirt.

"Get this one too. And that white blouse would go well with it. And see if you can find these shoes in your size. Don't forget a purse!"

Jasmine laughed as she grabbed the clothing choices that Blake pointed to. He had always been a sharp dressed man and his choices were spot on.

"I want to keep you as my fashionista adviser."

Blake smiled.

"I could be persuaded to act as your fashion coordinator. It's going to cost you a bit though."

"Yeah I bet you're expensive."

"Yep. You're going to have to keep me living in the style with which I have become accustomed."

Jasmine laughed.

"And pray tell, exactly what is that?"

"Well, for starters," Blake ticked off on his fingers. "You are only allowed to feed me ramen noodles once a day. I can't handle ramen three meals a day."

Jasmine grinned.

"Okay, I think I can handle that."

"For dinner, I want steak, or pork, or chicken. Maybe even shrimp. As for veggies, I like snow peas and carrots. I'll eat asparagus too but please no Brussel sprouts."

As they moved around the shop, he continued chatting with her and she responded with hushed laughter.

The shop keeper kept glancing at her as if she was mentally deranged as she walked around talking and laughing to herself.

The fact that she was obviously a foreigner and hauling a large payload of clothes in her basket was the only thing that kept the shopkeeper from throwing her out of the boutique.

An hour later and about a hundred dollars lighter, Jasmine had bought enough to tide her over for the next two weeks. Things were far less expensive here than they were Stateside.

Once shopping was done, she showered and changed into the yellow sundress.

As she sat at the dressing table, Blake brushed her hair with the new brush she had just purchased. Then he pinned up one side with a new hair clip.

"There. You look perfect for your dinner date."

"With my aunt." Jasmine laughed.

"I will also be there."

"Will you?" She smiled in the mirror at his vague shadowy form behind her.

"Yes." He assured her with a smile.