Saiyuki Fan Fiction ❯ Shades of Time ❯ Closing The Distance ( Chapter 21 )

 

 

Rei woke with a half scream leaving her. She had gone to take a nap since it looked as though it might be a long night coming up. Her head felt as though it had been stuffed with cotton and her skin was dry and itching. The sure-fire indications that the dream she'd been having was a precognitive one. She'd never liked that particular ability, not only because she wasn't any more capable of controlling it than the others but also because those dreams usually showed her something BAD was about to happen and she could only ever remember bits and pieces.

 

She frowned upon shaking the haze from her sleepy mind, realizing that she hurt in a very odd place. She frowned and rolled over onto her side, lifting the edge of her shirt and peering at her left hip. The scar <i>looked</i> the same but hurt now the same way that it had when it had been made almost a decade ago. She ran one fingertip over it, smiling a little sadly. It was a good thing, she thought. It was proof that someone in her lifetime really had loved her. That someone had looked past her being a former street urchin, fighter, thief, killer and loved her regardless of what her past had been.

 

Xan stuck her head in the door and her eyes narrowed shrewdly. “What's wrong?”

 

“It's nothing. My scar just hurts a little is all.”

 

“Which one? I thought you lost count at close to a hundred,” Xan said, coming in and perching on the edge of the bed.

 

“The one I chose to have.”

 

Xan's eyebrows flew up behind her bangs. “Well, that's all kinds of weird. Ming's been dead for years, it shouldn't bother you anymore.”

 

“It never <i>bothered</i> me in the first place,” Rei said, sitting up.

 

Xan opened her mouth to say something else when a low roar shook the solid rafters of the inn. “That sounds like my big boy,” Xan said, bouncing off of the bed. “Can I give you a warning though.”

 

“About?”

 

“Hakkai.”

 

Rei frowned. “What about him?”

 

“I think he may be more than even you can handle,” Xan said, heading for the door.

 

“I'm not going to be <i>handling</i> him, Xan,” Rei said testily. “He'll be gone in a few more days. I have no intention of setting myself up for that kind of grief.”

 

Xan snorted. “Keep telling yourself that, sister. You're drawn to each other like magnet to steel. If I can tell it, then chances are both of you already realized it too. You can only stay shut down for so long before something snaps. That goes for both of you. I think you can heal old wounds in each other if you let yourselves to go with what's happening. Which neither of you probably will, since you'll both rationalize it to death without really getting anywhere.”

 

Rei stared at her for a few seconds, convinced that Xan had finally lost her mind completely. “I don't think . . .”

 

“That's just the problem. You think too damn much. Both of you do. How many times have your instincts been wrong, Rei?”

 

“That isn't the point, Xan.”

 

“Then what is? That you've only known each other for less than 24 hours? Shun knew Lee for two minutes before he asked her to marry him. That he's leaving in a couple of weeks? He'll be back. You know it, I know it and he knows it. The fact you gave him a whopping good shiner? Well, I've heard of weirder starts to relationships.”

 

“Xan . . .”

 

“For once, don't argue, Rei. He makes you happy. I haven't seen you smile so much since before Ming and Dad died. Just don't over think it. By the way, I fully intend on dragging that Kappa back home to me where he belongs when he's done come hell or high water so you might as well get your hands on his best friend,” she said, walking out the door.

 

 

***

Goku, Gojyo, Hakkai and even Sanzo were standing at the back of the inn staring wide eyed and open mouthed at the massive dragon who had flopped himself onto the grass like an overgrown puppy dog. It had settled comfortably and closed its eyes for a moment, ignoring them completely before opening one again as Hakuryuu had taken flight from Hakkai's shoulder and had settled on the end of the other dragon's nose. Hakuryuu squeaked and chattered at the other dragon while it rumbled and made other odd noises in response.

 

They all had to admit, odd and scary though it was, the beast had to be one of the most beautiful things any of them had ever seen. Red and gold iridescent scales reflected the early afternoon sunlight, the scales around the head being far more intense in color and tipped in black. Truly a magnificent creature.

 

Xan came out the back door and the dragon lifted its head, rumbling in acknowledgement of her as she made her way around the men gathered there. The dragon lowered his head again and Xan patted him lovingly, leaning her face forward and making kissing noises at him.

 

“How is my beautiful boy?”

 

Gojyo looked askance at Hakkai. “Kai.”

 

“Yes, Gojyo?”

 

“Did she just make kissy faces at the dragon?”

 

“I'm afraid so.”

 

Gojyo laughed a little and shook his head. “Dear gods, I'm doomed.”

 

“I beg your pardon?” Hakkai said.

 

“Never mind.”

 

Goku finally snapped out of his daze. “Hey, Xan, can I pet him?”

 

SMACK! “He's not a damn dog, you idiot monkey!” Sanzo said, the vein in his forehead visibly throbbing.

 

“Ow! That hurt, Sanzo! I just wanna touch him. He's so pretty.”

 

“That's up to Diablo. Just approach him slowly and hold your hands out to the side so he knows you aren't trying to hurt him or anything,” Xan said.

 

Goku approached the dragon with more care than any of them had seen him exert in . . . well . . . ever. He did just as Xan had told him to, holding his hands out to his sides. One large golden eye rolled his way, watching warily until he stood next to Xan.

 

“Diablo, be good now,” Xan said as though admonishing a child. Diablo snorted and the force of it nearly blew everyone watching over backward. Xan chuckled a little and smiled at the huge creature. “Yes, I know, I know. You're a thousand or so years old and I'm just a silly little human. Are you going to let him pet you or not?”

 

 

Hakkai shook his head and watched Goku gingerly pat the dragon, who was looking bored beyond measure. He touched Gojyo on the shoulder and said, “I'm going to go ask Rei a few questions about those things Xan said killed one of her dragons.”

 

“Good idea. Gotta be nasty if they took out a full grown dragon,” Gojyo said, lighting a cigarette.

 

“There were probably several of them working in concert. But, yes, that has to be true,” Hakkai said before going back inside to find Rei.

 

***

Hakkai had looked everywhere but the family's private rooms and finally found Rei in what had to be a dojo of sorts. She had her back to him and was moving through a set of complex katas with a grace and skill that belied her small stature. Hakkai knew the strength it took to hold some of those stances for any amount of time yet she made it look effortless.

 

“Don't look so impressed. I've been doing these for the last fifteen years,” Rei said without turning around. “And before you ask, I could feel you from down the hall.”

 

“I'm sorry to intrude.”

 

“It's fine,” she said, turning around to face him and sheathing the daggers. “What did you need to talk to me about?”

 

“Oh. Ah, I wanted to ask you about those modified versions of jiang shi you were talking about earlier,” he said, trying to ignore the way her sweat damp hair stuck to one side of her face. Then there was the fact that the usually loose shirt she was wearing had plastered itself to her skin. It was . . . distracting.

 

“What about them?” she asked, eyeing him suspiciously. She thought she knew why he was asking. “Look, Hakkai, I'm perfectly capable of handling them alone. If not, Xan brought the guns and she can help because she knows where to shoot. We've dealt with them before.”

 

“I understand that, Rei. I have no doubt that you're completely able to handle this on your own. But I can't in good conscience let you go into a dangerous situation alone. Especially not if I'm capable of assisting,” he said. He paused, wondering for a moment when he had gotten so close to her. “Since I am capable of assisting, I'm asking you to let me help.”

 

Rei sighed, looking exasperated. “How do you do this to me?” she wondered aloud, reaching up and laying a hand against his cheek.

 

“Do what?” he asked, leaning into her touch and reaching out to put one hand on her waist and the other on her shoulder.

 

“I've known you all of one day and I think you could talk me into anything,” she said, unconsciously shifting closer to him.

 

“Odd. I feel exactly the same way about you.” He tightened his grip on her, pulling her toward him a little more. He should be keeping his hands off of her completely, the more cautious side of him thought. He would be leaving in a few days and he really shouldn't even be thinking about this sort of thing in the first place. But that darker piece of him, the part he refused to allow out often and preferred to deny existed all together, wanted her with a ferocity that was almost maddening.

 

Her hand brushed up to touch the limiters on his ear. “I'll bet you make a beautiful youkai,” she said, sliding her other arm around his waist. Gods, what was <i>wrong</i> with her? The sensible part of her brain argued. She had paid little attention to men in general since Ming's death and seduction of a man she barely knew certainly wasn't part of her natural inclinations but for some reason she was unable to stop herself.

 

Normally a statement like the one she had just made would have sent him reeling backward and away from her as fast as he could muster. But there was some part of him, perhaps the demon part, that took pride in the fact she thought he would be a beautiful youkai.

 

A strange, almost strangled sound made its way out of Hakkai. “I think, this may be the mother of all bad ideas,” he said, sounding somewhat breathless.

 

“I think you're probably right.”

 

“Then why aren't we stopping?” he said, pulling her tightly against him. Gods, she felt so good.

 

“I'm not certain we can,” she said, stretching up just as he leaned down, closing the distance between them.