Saiyuki Reload Fan Fiction ❯ You Were Meant To Be Mine ❯ Journey's End ( Chapter 15 )

[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]

The travelers reach the next town and get settled at a fancy inn. Sanzo is determined to have some privacy with Layla after dinner, but dinner itself proves to be a considerable obstacle.

Anime/Manga: Saiyuki Reload Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Romance / Psychological / Hentai / Adventure | Type: Other | Uploaded On: 09.17.2006 | Updated On: 10.02.2006 | Pages: 8 | Words: 7.2K | Visits: 198 | Status: Completed

CHAPTER FIFTEEN Journey's End

They reached the next town in mid-afternoon of the next day. Sanzo didn't know whether to feel relieved or depressed. Tonight would be the last night Layla would spend in their company. Then they would leave her with the family Hakkai would find and continue on their mission to stop the revival of Gyumaoh. Sanzo knew he should have been relieved. That he wasn't told him just how big a fool he'd let himself become.

Hakkai pulled up in front of a likely-looking inn. Goku leaped out. Gojyo helped Layla step down, then grabbed their bags and carried them into the inn, leaving Hakkai and Sanzo sitting side by side.

"Do you want me to take her with me," Hakkai asked, "or shall I find the likeliest people first?"

"Leave her here," Sanzo said. "She still needs more rest than she'll ever have time enough to catch up on."

"True. All right then. I'll get settled, then I'll be on my way."

Sanzo nodded. Hakkai would return in time for dinner with the results of his search. Whether the news was good or bad, Sanzo would then face the painful process of sorting out the last night he and Layla would ever spend near each other.

"Sanzo! Sanzo!" Goku beckoned to him from the inn's doorway. "Come on! This place is great! There's a late lunch buffet!"

Groaning, Sanzo got out of Jeep. After four days on the road, he was more than willing to spend the money on that particular inn, with its decent beds and private baths. Keeping his mind fixed on his own plans for the evening, he handed out the room keys wearing the glare that warned against any argument.

"Hakkai, try to keep that stupid kappa from causing me any serious grief while he's on his latest binge."

"Yes, Sanzo," Hakkai murmured.

"Goku, you're rooming with me. My gun is loaded and I just bought a new harisen, so keep quiet."

"Sure thing, Sanzo!"

Sanzo turned to Layla, who stood behind the others, off to one side. "Layla?"

"Yes, Sanzo-sama?"

"Here." He held out the key to her room.

"For me?" Layla stared at it. "My own room?"

"Unless you really want to sleep on the floor again."

Gojyo snorted. "Only you would make a girl like her do that, Sanzo."

"Better than making her sleep anywhere near you."

With a loud sigh, Layla took the key from Sanzo's hand. "Thank you, Sanzo-sama. I could use some alone time, after all that's been happening."

Sanzo nodded. "Then we'll see you at dinner. Come on, Goku."

***

An hour later Sanzo felt at least somewhat better after a long bath and some time lying on his bed. Riding in Jeep day after day was enough to drive his spine up through the top of his skull. He tidied his robes, ran one hand through his still-damp hair, checked his sleeves for his gun, harisen, cigarettes, and lighter, then opened the door a crack and checked the hallway. He'd sent Goku downstairs ten minutes earlier so he'd have at least a little time to think over what he was about to do.

The hallway was empty. He stepped out, locked his door, then crossed the short distance that brought him to Layla's door. When he knocked, she answered almost at once.

"Sanzo-sama. Is it time for dinner already?"

Tonight she wore a different dress, this one made of richer fabric the color of good wine. Tiny round bits of mirror had been sewn all over the yoke, forming the centers of the flowers embroidered there in silvery thread. The long generous sleeves and longer skirt draped nicely around her arms and legs, moving with her, giving off a soft swish. Layla wore a pair of barrettes also set with tiny mirrors. They glittered and twinkled against the darkness of her hair.

"Is something wrong, Sanzo-sama?" Layla asked. "You're staring at me."

The heat of a blush warmed Sanzo's cheeks, sparking his temper and making him speak in a harsh voice. "I want to have a word with you after dinner. In private."

"Oh, Sanzo-sama, I don't know." Layla looked away, twisting her skirt in her hands. "I don't think that's a good idea."

"Layla." Sanzo moved closer, making her back up into her room. He followed, stepping through the open doorway. "You and I have unfinished business."

"Sanzo-sama, please. Tomorrow I start a new life with a family of strangers. In fact, I'd planned on asking Hakkai to take me to them after dinner. That way I can get settled in and start my duties first thing in the morning."

"Layla, this is our last night together. The last night we may ever have."

Sanzo reached back to shut the door. Layla gasped, making the little mirrors on the cloth over her breasts flash and twinkle. She took half a step back. The wine-colored gown moved with her, emphasizing her curves, sparkling with every breath. Sanzo stood there, struggling against the sudden need to lock the door, sweep Layla up in his arms and make straight for the bed.

"Please, Layla," he said. "For the sake of the blood and pain and pleasure that you and I have shared, grant me this one request."

"All right, Sanzo-sama." Layla met his gaze, her blue eyes full of suffering, then came to him and put one hand to his cheek. "If you put it that way, I can hardly refuse."

"Thank you." He laid his hand over hers. "The garden, then?"

Layla nodded. "I'm sure I'll have no trouble finding you. I'll just follow the smoke."

Dinner turned into a game of cat and mouse that provided some amusement to counter Sanzo's frustration. Layla did her best to avoid looking at him, but her respect for his rank forced her to meet his gaze when they traded what few words passed between them. The occasional smoldering look from him kept Layla's complexion rosy with endless blushes. Sanzo kept his own feelings hidden, as always, but she knew what he was thinking. His concentration on Layla did lead him to neglect his usual reactions to Goku and Gojyo when the two of them got out of hand.

"Hey, Blondie." Gojyo kicked the leg of Sanzo's chair under the table. "What's eating you? No talking, no shooting, nothing."

Sanzo drank a slow sip of beer. "Just because I'm capable of being quiet, unlike some people, why is that any cause for concern?"

"You look like you have something on your mind. That's usually a bad sign."

"Yeah," Goku piped up. "What'samatter, Sanzo? It's not even raining out. Something bothering you?"

"Yes. You two!"

Out came the harisen before they could duck. Two good solid whacks across each thick head settled that point. Sanzo tucked the fan away and went back to picking the bamboo shoots out of his food. Why anyone ate them, he couldn't understand. It wasn't as if he was some fucking panda, after all.

"Hakkai," Layla said. "Would you be kind enough to drive me to the Henshaw house after dinner?"

Sanzo's grip tightened on his chopsticks until the wood cracked. So the little tease really did mean to run out on him after all.

"What?" Gojyo looked from Layla to Hakkai and back again. "You can't be serious! Are you in that much of a hurry to get away from us?"

"I just think this is safer, that's all." Layla wound a length of Gojyo's long crimson hair around her fingers, then watched it uncoil. "If I stay, I just know strange things will happen in the middle of the night."

Gojyo clasped her hand in his and pressed a kiss to the inside of her wrist. "Honey, all you have to do is ask."

THWACK!

"Hey!" Gojyo scowled, rubbing the back of his head. "Damn, Sanzo! I know you're jealous, but--"

THWACK! This time the fan caught Gojyo from the other direction, knocking him away from Layla.

"Keep your hands to yourself, baka," Sanzo snapped.

Hakkai coughed. "If that's really what you want, Layla, then of course, I'll be happy to--"

"No." Sanzo cut him off. "We will deliver Layla to the Henshaws tomorrow."

Hakkai fixed him with his one good green eye. "Do you have some plans you haven't made us aware of, Sanzo?"

"Always. It's the only way to get anything done without you idiots causing all the usual trouble."

"Please do enlighten us, Sanzo-sama." Layla set aside her chopsticks, wiped her mouth with her napkin, then gave Sanzo a look every bit as suspicious as Hakkai's. "How can I sleep if you leave me in suspense?"

Sanzo sent her a slow, molten look out from under the fringe of his golden lashes. Oh yes, he knew just how beautiful he was. He'd long since learned how to use that knowledge. The catch in Layla's breath and the sudden flush coloring her cheeks made him want to knock all the dishes off the table, then drag Layla across it and hold her prisoner on his lap while he kissed her with all the heat and longing that churned inside him. Knowing what that would do to Gojyo almost made Sanzo laugh out loud.

"I want to see this place for myself," Sanzo said. "Once I'm satisfied you will be safe there, then, and only then, will I leave you in the Henshaws' keeping."

Layla's rising temper crumbled into confusion. "Oh. Well. I see." She took a sudden gulp of tea. "That's very kind of you, Sanzo-sama. Really."

Hakkai nodded. "Sanzo is the soul of thoughtfulness."

Gojyo snorted. "When he feels like it."

"Don't you have some woman to ruin, kappa?" Sanzo drank more beer, contemplating his next move. "Time is passing and the evening is getting old."

Gojyo shrugged. "Plenty of women. Plenty of time."

Goku made a face. "Pervert."

Gojyo smiled. "Expert."

Sanzo turned to Hakkai. "What are your plans for the evening?"

"The innkeeper has a particularly fine mah jong set. He was complaining to me earlier that the pieces don't get handled often enough. The ivory has begun to age."

"So you volunteered to oil the set?"

Hakkai smiled. "The human body is an amazing thing. The natural oils of the skin are good for so many things."

"True," Gojyo said, giving Layla a wicked smile. "Very, very true."

Layla drank the last of her tea and stood up. "Tomorrow will be a very important day, so I believe I'll go put my things in order before I turn in."

Gojyo rose to follow her. "Is there anything you need, Layla?

"Sit down, kappa." Sanzo glared at him. "She doesn't need your help with folding her laundry."

"Piss off, Sanzo. I'm asking a serious question here. We didn't do all that much shopping before we left town last time." Gojyo turned back to Layla. "We could still hit the marketplace here. Sometimes the evening dealers give better prices."

"You are so kind, Gojyo. Generous beyond measure." Layla wrapped her arms around Gojyo's waist, hugging him. The sight of that made Sanzo's teeth clench.

"Let me get organized," Layla said. "Then I'll have a better idea of what I might need. Will you be down here for a little while before you go out?"

"I'll wait as long as you like."

This wouldn't do. Not at all. Sanzo looked at Goku, whose frantic consumption of everything set before him was finally slowing down.

"Goku," he said. "You wanted to go to the arcade, didn't you?"

Those big golden eyes lit up. "Oh yes! Yes, please, Sanzo! Can I?"

Sanzo nodded. "Sure. When Gojyo leaves, you go with him."

"Hey!" Gojyo yelped. "I'm supposed to be the monkey wrangler now?"

"You have a problem with that, baka?"

Gojyo matched Sanzo's glare for a long moment, then grinned. "Not at all. Maybe it's time our little Goku had a guided tour of the kind of arcade a grown man plays in."

Sanzo shot straight up out of his chair. "Don't even think about it, you fucking half-breed pervert!"

"Sanzo!" Hakkai glanced around at the other diners, some of whom were staring at Sanzo in open-mouthed shock.

Goku looked back and forth between Gojyo and Sanzo, confused. "But Sanzo, that sounds like fun. For once Gojyo's trying to be nice to me. Shouldn't we let him?"

Hakkai lost it. He leaned back in his chair, one hand to the back of his head, laughing his quiet laugh so hard his monocle fell off. Hakuryuu pounced on it, then scurried under Hakkai's chair.

Sanzo glared daggers at Gojyo's smirk. "I will kill you for that, kappa. I will drill you so many times not a single bone will remain unbroken."

Gojyo's grin got even bigger. "Y'know, Sanzo, all you ever talk about is drilling me. I'm starting to wonder if maybe I should give you that guided tour." He swung his hair back, put his head to one side, then looked Sanzo up and down, licking his lips. "Maybe what you need is a private tutor."

Sanzo's hand plunged into his sleeve. Before he could draw his pistol, Layla stepped between him and Gojyo. She put her arms around Sanzo's waist, trapping his hand inside his sleeve and pinning his arm between their bodies.

"Layla," Sanzo said. "Once again, you are in the way."

"Sanzo-sama." Layla looked up at him, those sea-blue eyes capturing him as always. She took a slow, deep breath, making Sanzo realize his forearm lay directly between her breasts. "How many times do we have to have this conversation?"

Gojyo laughed. "My own pretty little bodyguard."

"Stop teasing Sanzo-sama," Layla snapped over her shoulder. "Just because you're free to play this 'plenty of women, plenty of time' game doesn't mean that's how every man should waste his time."

Sanzo allowed himself a smirk. Gojyo had been stupid enough to show too much playboy swagger in front of Layla and now he'd pay for it.

Gojyo stared at her, his mouth hanging open. "But Layla, I just--"

"Be quiet, Gojyo." Layla shook her head. "One minute you flirt with me. The next you brag about how you can have any woman you want. Then you turn around and practically throw yourself at Sanzo-sama, and he's a monk! More than that, a High Priest!" She looked up at Sanzo. "Let's go take that walk in the garden."

Sanzo relaxed his grip on his pistol. He stared over Layla's head at Gojyo, savoring the triumph of having Layla choose him over Gojyo, right in front of the entire dining room. He took his hand out of his sleeve and laid his arm around her shoulders.

"Remember what I said, baka erokappa," he snapped. "Take Goku anywhere but the marketplace and the arcade and I'll be using you for target practice."

"Oh!" Gojyo wailed. "This can't be happening! A woman choosing His Holiness over me? Mr. So-Cold-He-Pisses-Snowflakes? I can't believe it!"

Once they were out in the garden, Layla ducked out from under Sanzo's arm. She stormed away a few feet, then turned back to face him, arms crossed and face set in a frown.

"Tell me something, Sanzo-sama. Why for Tenkai's sake are the four of you traveling together? You can't stand each other!"

Sanzo lit a cigarette. "I was wondering when you'd finally get around to asking." He savored the first few puffs. It was a cool, clear evening, the air so sweet it made the tobacco taste even better.

"Well, Sanzo-sama?" Layla asked. "When do you suppose you might get around to answering?"

Voices passed by along the walkway bordering the garden. Sanzo took Layla by the arm and pulled her along with him as he followed the pathway of stepping stones farther into the garden.

"We're on our way to India. We have some business to take care of there."

"India?" Layla's frown deepened, this time with puzzlement. "But that's so far away. It will take years to get there."

Sanzo sighed. "It feels that way." He took another drag and blew a thin stream of smoke into the night. "Now you tell me something. Why haven't you asked about this sooner?"

Layla shrugged. "The four of you were willing to treat me well and keep me safe from the slavers. That was all I needed to know."

"I've never met a woman yet who could control her curiosity."

"How many women have you met, Sanzo-sama? How many have you really talked to, instead of just dismissing with one of those nasty little noises you like to make?"

Sanzo stared down at her over the glowing end of his cigarette. "Somebody's in a bad mood tonight."

"Why shouldn't I be? Tomorrow I move in with strangers, to begin a life I was never meant to live, too far from whatever's left of what I can no longer call my home. How would you feel if you were in my place?"

Sanzo thought about the day his master had waded out into the shallows of the river to scoop him up and carry him back to the temple. Sanzo had stopped wondering a long time ago who he would have been if whoever threw him in the river had left him to grow up with the mother who gave birth to him. He was who he was, the man he'd been raised to become, trying to become the man his master had wanted him to be.

"I'd feel angry, and frightened, and bitter. I'd hate everything that stole my rightful life."

Layla's frown softened. She turned away, rubbing her hands up and down her arms. "Hakkai says they're decent people. I can only hope he's right."

"He is. He'd no sooner abandon you to the wrong kind of people than I would."

"Why? Why do you care so much about a stranger, a girl you've only know four days?"

"Four days can be a lifetime."

Sanzo dropped the stub of his cigarette and crushed it out. He closed the distance between them and wrapped his arms around her, breathing in the scent of her hair. "Come upstairs with me. I have things to say to you that I don't want overheard and turned into gossip."

"Upstairs? You mean - your room?"

"Yes. My room."

"Sanzo-sama." Layla stood there, head bowed. "This is not a good idea."

"Why not?"

"Because. The last time we were alone together, things almost went too far."

"I didn't hear you complaining."

"You wouldn't hear me complaining this time, either. It's because I know that about myself that I have to say no right now, before it ever gets that far."

"What are you afraid of?"

She struggled against his grip. "Don't Buddhists preach the virtue of remaining free of attachments? Free of desires? Free of all the things that chain us to one place, one person, one state of being?"

"Answer me. What are you afraid of?"

"You."

"Me?"

"You, Sanzo-sama. I already said too much when I told you my heart wants you. Tomorrow this daydream ends. I start a new life and you go on living yours. We live as we began our lives, without each other."

"Layla...."

"Do you think he knew? When he met me, do you think your master ever had any idea that one day you and I would meet?"

"There's no way to know what without asking my master himself. And that's not possible."

"No. So many things aren't." Layla tried again to step back. "Please, Sanzo-sama. Let me go. Let me go do my packing and cry myself to sleep and then wake up with my heart broken and my mind made up."

Sanzo took her face in his hands. "Are you so willing to embrace the pain without even allowing yourself what little pleasure you might have?"

"Pain is honest. Pleasure can lie to you. I already hurt as much as I can stand. Any more and I'll go completely mad."

Sanzo combed his fingers through her hair, savoring the silky feel of it, then gripped it just hard enough to pull her head back. His lips touched hers, a slow sinking down into her softness. He lingered there, tasting each second of pleasure, making himself feel every moment as it slipped through the hourglass that measured out his time in this world. When Sanzo finally raised his head, Layla clung to him, her cheeks flushed, her eyes glazed, her breathing a little ragged.

"Don't be a coward, Layla," he whispered. "Not now. Not when there's so little time left."

She sighed. "All right. But just for a little while."

"Go, then. It's better if we aren't seen together."

Layla nodded. She followed the stepping stones back out of the garden. Sanzo watched her for a moment, then turned and headed out the other way.