For Jivra:

The afternoon sun waned into the surrounding hillside as the jeep pulled into the small forest town. The four passengers seemed relieved to finally be somewhere near food, water and general civilization. They made their way through the village, earning glares, stares and whispers. Hakkai's keen ears picked up words like "car", "Sanzo", and "Youkai". The brunette man sighed, his cheerful smile not moving an inch.

As they pulled up near the chosen inn, they heard a man yelling at them to run. Goku spun in the back seat, staring at the man as if he had gone insane, Gojyo craned his head around lazily – what was this jerks problem? Hakkai smiled politely as he exited the vehicle, and Sanzo merely watched him out of the corner of his eye.

"Get out of here – go on! Get! We don't want your kind here!" His fierce glare was betrayed by his shaking fists and weak stance – a good punch would knock him flying. Gojyo snorted, obviously not scared in the least, Goku continued to stare at the man as if he had lost his mind.

"May we ask what the problem is, good sir?" Hakkai asked politely. "No problem, just get out!" The man puffed, trying to make himself seem important. Sanzo was at his back before he could say another word. "Why would we want to go anywhere else? We've just spent six days on the road – we're not going anywhere." His low growl was countered by Hakkai's apologetic laugh.

"Hurry up and get inside, Buddha, before the sky falls on us already." Gojyo called pointing to the clouds as he made his way inside. Goku yelped, covering his head with his hands, he leapt into the building calling out as he went, "Hurry up Sanzo! I'm so hungry I could eat a whole cow – hooves and all!" Sanzo merely grunted, leaving the aggravated man to Hakkai as he disappeared inside the building after the other two.

"Sir, what, may I ask, is the reason for your demand? We have done nothing wrong here." Hakkai said softly, his polite smile changing to something more… sinister. The man squirmed under that gaze, his resolve melting. "W..well… I just…. There's someone here… who… doesn't want to see you… so... I don't want to see you…. So… please… just leave!" He pleaded one last time. Hakkai seemed taken aback – this man was protecting someone from them? But who?

"Good sir, we may slay youkai, but that doesn't mean we randomly go killing without cause." Hakkai uttered slowly, trying to find the root of the situation. The man gurgled strangely, before nodding and sprinting off as fast as his portly body would allow him. Hakkai shook his head at the strange affair, before heading inside.

Finding the group over by a table near the window of the restaurant, Hakkai joined them, ordering drinks from the waitress after a quick chat with the maiterdie. Sitting down beside the famished men, they all ate quietly, the silence only broken by Goku, who found it impossible to eat silently. Hakkai coughed slightly as he remembered what the doorman had told him on the way in.

"Oh, there is going to be an entertainment tonight." He said lightly, instantly capturing everyone but Sanzo's attention. "It's apparently a stage performance, though they didn't say what." Goku whooped in delight at the thought of a break in his boredom, Gojyo smirked, his thoughts clear on what he thought the "entertainment" would be in a bar like this. Sanzo merely grunted, wanting only to finish his tea and go to bed.

Not ten minutes after Hakkai's announcement, there was a hushing among the crowd, as the small, semicircular stage at the back of the inn drew its curtains, the spotlight beaming down on a single microphone and a chair with an acoustic guitar resting one it. The young men, being at the back of the room, were unable to see all the details of the stage, including the moment when the performer walked out, to the wild applause and wolf whistles of the crowd. So, Gojyo thought, his smirk widening – obviously a woman then.

The group sat quietly, more than happy to listen to the music rather than watch it. There were a few miscellaneous tuning noises as the crowd quietened down. When all was silent, the sound of the hollow, unamplified guitar could be heard, playing an unfamiliar lilting melody. The tune travelled through the air like leaves in the wind, its beauty catching even Sanzo's ear, and causing him to finally pay attention to the sound. The lyrics, that started seconds later, nearly tore the heart out of him, as he finally recognised the music.

"...And I'd give up forever to touch you
Cause I know that you feel me somehow
You're the closest to heaven that I'll ever be
And I don't want to go home right now

And all I can taste is this moment
And all I can breathe is your life
Cause sooner or later it's over
I just don't want to miss you tonight..."

The words swirled through Sanzo's mind, clashing with the painful memories they awakened – memories he wished had dies all those years ago, before everything. Before travelling West. Before Hakkai, before Gojyo. Before Goku. He clenched his eyes shut, hot trying desperately to keep his composure as he felt the truth rip through him with each note she continued to sing.

"...And I don't want the world to see me,

Cos I don't think that they'd understand,

When everything feels like to movies,

I just want you to know who I am..."

Sanzo gulped in breath, as his almost hypnotised friends failed to stop him, as he stood up and bolted from the room, achingly trying to stifle his harsh breathing. He had barely made it to the door, when he heard the singing falter, and the strumming stop, a surprised murmur rising from the crowd. He wouldn't look. He WOULDN'T. Turning in a swift movement, his violet eyes blazing, he stared up at the stage, finally laying eyes on her for the first time in years. Jivra... His mind whispered.

***

Jivra stared, tears forming in her eyes at the accusing look in the monks violet eyes as she held his gaze from the other end of the crowded room. "S...Sanzo..." She whispered, he voice trembling as she raised a hand to her mouth, trying to hold pack her rising panic. Without another word, she jumped from her seat, dropping the guitar with a twang as she raced from the room, her long legs taking her through the back exit in seconds. Sprinting through the kitchen as sobs tore from her throat, she made it out to the back alley, collapsing as she felt the rain pound down on her shoulders.

She crouched there, on her hands and knees her voice breaking as she cried. Sitting back on her haunches, she wiped the hair off her face as she stared at the sky, her tears mixing freely with the icy darts from heaven. Her sobs became a broken laugh, her broken laugh became hysterical cries and she screamed to the sky in her frustration.

"WHYYY?? Why is he here? I don't want to go through that again!" She squatted there in the mud, her long, chocolate brown hair sticking to her back as she closed her eyes, wanting more than anything to be anywhere else but here. "God... why didn't he just let me die?" She whispered, her question lingering in the air, before coming tumbling back to her with the rain.

"I couldn't." The deep, gravelly voice came from behind her. Jivra flinched at the sound, but stayed in her position, not wanting to face him in this condition. "You could have just left me there," She whispered, "After the demons were done with me – you could have just left. You were ... ARE... a great Sanzo Priest – you had no right to pick up my life like so much trash on the road." She accused him, her eyes snapping open as she tried to cover her guilt with anger.

Sanzo, the 31st of China, THE Genjyo Sanzo, twitched, his now soaked blond head bowing at her words, as though the weight of truth in them actually pushed him down. She refused to let him go so easily, "I didn't want anything from you. I didn't NEED anything from you! So why? Why did you have to make it so hard? Why did you have to love me?" Her voice broke on the last words, her chest heaving as she refused to allow more tears to fall, though the sadness in her body seeped from her pores, infecting the night with anguish.

"It wasn't like I planned it." His voice was soft, deep... different. "I never planned to be so close to someone – and I never wanted to cause myself anymore heartache letting that person go. You KNEW how it was. You KNEW I would never have let you go willingly.... so why? Why did you run?" His tone spoke of years of regret, yearning and anger. He was accusing and heartless, just as he had always been with everyone else – but not with her. And it tore a little bit more off her already ravaged heart as he spoke to her that way.

Jivra finally turned, facing him, her eyes practically glowing in the night as the rain thundered down, softening her words and amplifying her meaning. "I left because I fell in love with you, Kouryuu. And it was because I knew you, and what you were after that I had to leave. I would have simply been an obstacle to you in you search for the Seiten Scripture, and I loved you too goddamn much to let that happen, and you know it!" She panted, wanting him to understand why she had left, why she had slipped out the window that night, never to return.

Sanzo gritted his teeth, his anger at her pushing him forward to kneel down in the mud, soiling his robes as he grabbed her by the shoulders. He was mad – no – FURIOUS! "How could I have ever been with someone who could give up that easily?" He growled, shaking her until she bared her teeth and snarled at him in reply, he grinned loving the sight of her like this – the one that he remembered so well. So full of life, energy and no need of anyone's protection. "That's more like it." He whispered, before pulling her forward to his chest embracing her in his arms as his lips found hers, the rain dripping down their noses and mingling with their breathes as Jivra gasped into his mouth and he held her tighter, not wanting to let her go ever again.

***

The next morning, a yawning Goku knocked sleepily on Sanzo's door. "Sanzo, c'mon – haraheettttaaaaa! What time did you even get in last night?" He took a step back as Sanzo opened the door with a snap, in nothing but his low-rider jeans. He glared down at the monkey as he snapped back, "Shuttup! Go find Hakkai if you're hungry!" He slammed the door, but not before Goku caught a glimpse of a bare arm snaking over the top of the covers as a body rolled under the covers.

"This can't be good." He whispered, his eyes wide as saucers as he bolted up the corridor, desperate to find the others.

Yet to be decided....