Emerald and Amethyst

A/N (10/3/2003): Replaced the first story with minor changes in the Hakkai/Yaone thing. And I still realize Hakkai was rather OOC but hey, I did warn you! ~_^

A/N: Please note this is my first Gensomaden Saiyuki fic. So if everyone here seems wildly OOC, I need to say that I've only just started to watch the anime series and this based on what I managed to dig up on the Internet and on what I've seen. So...with that in mind, please review and thank you for reading the story. Hope you like it.

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Pout. "Ne…I'm hungry…"

Smug smirking. "You're always hungry, bakasaru!"

"Stop calling me that! Ero kappa!"

"Who're you calling ero kappa?! Baka!"

Huge sweat drop. "Ma, ma, minasan…"

Former peace making words were duly ignored. "You just wait until I beat you senseless with my staff!"

"That toothpick?! What'cha gonna do? Pick my teeth?!"

"Why, you-"

THWACK! THWACK!

"URUSAI!" Vein throbbing subsides as the two shut up.

It was another normal day in the journey of Genjo Sanzo, Son Goku, Sha Gojyo and Cho Hakkai to the West. They had just left a village and were driving along with Gojyo and Goku arguing as usual. Naturally, the infamous paper fan that Sanzo produced out of nowhere had made impact with both their heads more than four times in just five hours of traveling. Hakkai just shook his head and concentrated on the road.

Muttering something about an "annoying saru" and a "brainless baka with pink hair", the golden haired priest tried to read his newspaper again. It was quite amazing how he could actually read in the fast moving and often bumpy jeep without throwing his head over the side and puking.

"Is that today's issue or are you rereading that for the hundredth time?" asked Gojyo lightly. Sanzo sent him a glare that could make ordinary man go running for his mommy. Gojyo just lit up a cigarette and grinned. "One day, I'm REALLY going to kill you." Said Sanzo before he turned back to his newspaper.

"You ALWAYS say that. You never mean it."

The specific click of Sanzo's gun as he released the safety (A/N: Is that right?) was heard. "Of, of course you mean it, Sanzo! Ehehehe…." He audibly gulped and decided the scenery outside would be much more interesting. Goku sniggered while Hakkai, trying to be polite, stifled his laugh. No one noticed the smirk that covered Sanzo's newspaper hidden face. The jeep rolled on.

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Night fell and there was no town, village or even a small hut where they could spend the night. Pure thick forest surrounded both sides of the dirt road they'd been using and Hakkai was wondering if he'd driven the jeep off course. An owl hooted in the distance, making Goku think of fried chicken, which in turn got him thinking of food in general. His stomach let out an audible demand to be filled with food of any kind. Gojyo let out a disgusted yet weary sigh. "Looks like we're sleeping in the jeep, AGAIN." Goku bounced off in search of food. While he was gone, Hakkai pulled out a map and tried to read it in the dark. Squinting, he looked at the map so close it was a mere millimeter from his nose.

"Forget it, Hakkai. Even if you wear that monocle, you'd only make yourself blind trying to read in this darkness." Commented Sanzo dryly as he wiped his gun on his sleeve.

"Good point." He folded the map and put it away.

Gojyo took out a hidden meat bun after making sure Goku was nowhere in sight. Sanzo raised an eyebrow but stayed silent. Ever cheerful, Hakkai said, "You do know Goku's going to kill you for not telling him you had something other than fruit to eat."

Gojyo snorted. "The little runt can go get his own meat buns. This is mine."

Just as he was about to bite into it, a shadow came rushing at such a speed; it almost flew, towards the jeep. Before anyone could react, it snatched the meat bun right out of Gojyo's hand and started munching on the bun. "GOKU! BAKASARU!" He just kept on eating even when Gojyo's fists rained on his head. Curses and promises to feed the monkey to the next youkai they met were ignored as Goku gulped down his last mouthful. Meanwhile, Hakkai picked up some of the fruit Goku had dropped to the floor of the jeep. He tossed one to Sanzo who looked bored. Hakkai looked over at his other friends and decided they were too busy to eat. Gojyo was busy cursing at Goku who cursed right back at his taller friend.

Settling into the driver's seat, Hakkai drifted in and out of his daydreams, sometimes hearing Gojyo and Goku yelling at each other, sometimes staring at the sky. He didn't notice the curious twitching in Sanzo's forehead. Suddenly…

BLAM! BLAM!

Hakkai jolted along with Gojyo and Goku at the familiar sound of Sanzo's gun being shot. They turned to look at Sanzo. He looked royally pissed off, the gun facing skywards. "Another word, Goku, Gojyo, another word out of you two and I can't promise that I won't shoot the both of you. Now, shut up and eat!" With that, Sanzo continued munching sullenly. "Corrupt, droopy eyed monk…" muttered Gojyo audibly before taking a fruit off the floor. Dusting it off, he bit into it noisily. Goku did as he was told. Soon, the four fell asleep. Sanzo in the passenger seat, Hakkai in the driver's seat while Goku and Gojyo snored in the backseat. The dark blue and black sky was a perfect background to the tiny stars that dotted it. It was peaceful and quiet except for the chirping crickets and the occasional owl hoots.

But Cho Hakkai's sleeping face had contorted into one of pain, anguish and loss. Beads of sweat trickled down his face and his fingers curled and uncurled into a fist, gripping the seat. His eyes were squeezed tight and he bit his lower lip so hard, blood came out.

"NO!"

The clutches of the nightmare suddenly released Hakkai's mind and his eyelids snapped open revealing frightened emerald eyes. He was breathing heavily as he looked around. None of his friends had awakened and he was strangely relieved. Silently getting out, he walked without destination, questions swirling in his troubled mind. Why was he having that nightmare again? Hadn't he defeated Qing Yi Se? Hadn't he ripped out the mahjong tile?

Yes.

Then why? Why did he keep seeing the love of his life die over and over again? Why couldn't he just let go? And be free? Hakkai suddenly realized he'd come to a small fast running stream. Hoping the cold water would help him calm down, he splashed some onto his face but didn't notice the metallic taste of blood in his mouth. It did help but only a little. He sat cross-legged beside the stream, trying to find answers to the questions that kept on repeating in his head. He was so deep in thought, he didn't notice the violet eyes that observed him from behind. Two boots silently made their way near him and a stranger sat itself beside Hakkai, still quietly looking at him.

"You are troubled."

Hakkai nearly jumped six feet into the air at the sudden quiet soft-spoken voice. He turned to face the stranger.

"Y, Yaone-san?!"

The purple haired girl smiled. "Good evening, Hakkai-san."

Although stunned, Hakkai still remained polite. "G, good evening…what're you doing here?"

"We were traveling. Then Ririn decided to she needed to wander here on her own." She chuckled. "Kougaiji-sama gave her the chewing out of her life. But, she never listens to him anyway. Sometimes that little youkai is even fiercer than her brother." In spite of himself, Hakkai laughed softly. "Anyway, by the time we found her, it was nearly dark. So, we camped out here." She looked at the sky. "I couldn't sleep somehow. I went for a walk then…" she smiled at him. "I found a familiar face."

Hakkai smiled back. "I couldn't sleep as well."

"Judging by your face, it was a nightmare that kept you awake."

"Hmm."

Yaone looked back at the sky for a while. "Was it your past?" she asked finally.

Hakkai jumped like he'd been electrocuted. He stared at Yaone for a long time, bewildered. "How did you know?"

"I used to have the same haunted look. When the past just couldn't be forgotten. When you couldn't let go even though you wanted so badly to."

He nodded then put his head in his hand. "You used to…what do you mean?"

"Kougaiji-sama saved me from the 100 Eye creature. It was horrible then before he came. Even after I was saved, nightmares disturbed my sleep. Horrible images flashed through my mind each time." Involuntarily, she shuddered.

Hakkai looked a little guilty. "Sumimasen. I didn't mean to bring up bad memories."

Yaone turned her violet eyes onto him and smiled. "And that's only what they are. Bad memories."

He blinked as she continued. "Everyone of us has memories. Whether good or bad, they're only memories. Of the past. What has gone has gone. No matter how hard we want to, we can never actually change it. We never can forget what has happened even if it fades with time. So all we can do is look forward."

"So…what you say is…"

"Let time pass, Hakkai-san. It heals and maybe in those bad memories of yours, you can hold on to the good ones." She looked back to the sky, a smile on her face. Hakkai stared at her for a while then smiled. There was truth in her words. "If you can't go back to sleep though, here." She looked into the bag she had with her and pulled out a smaller one. She handed it to him.

Confusion played across his face as he took it. "What is it?"

"A minor sleeping drug. It puts you into a deep enough sleep so you do not dream. I used it for quite a while." She suddenly grinned. "And don't worry. It isn't poison or anything. I'm sure Goku-san can tell with his nose."

Hakkai laughed. "Yes, he could. He even smelled Gojyo's meat bun from inside the forest."

"Uh…meat bun?" Hakkai recounted the story to which Yaone had laughed heartily. "It sounds so much like Son Goku."

Both sat in companionable silence even though they were both supposed to be enemies. They stared at the sky, each one lost in their own thoughts. Finally, Hakkai spoke.

"You know what?"

"Nani?"

"I think I'm ready to finally let go. Like you said, what has happened, has happened. Maybe I was too afraid of losing my memory of Kanan…"

Yaone's smile was rather wistful. "I'm sure she must've been a wonderful woman."

"She was. But, she wouldn't have wanted me like this." He smiled his usual smile at her. "Arigato, Yaone-san." She nodded then started at his bloody lip. "Eh? Did you get in a fight?"

Before Hakkai could reply, she'd whipped out a cloth and dipped in some stream water. "Hold still." She wiped the cloth on his lip, removing the blood. Hakkai was taken aback as she carefully moved the cloth over his bottom lip. "You must have bit it when you were having that nightmare." Yaone put the cloth back into her bag.

"Uh…I suppose." She reminded him so much of Kanan. Yaone was beautiful and kind. She's the enemy, Hakkai. You must remember that. Sanzo and Goku and Gojyo would kill you if you so much as mention her name. But…

Yaone was busy entertaining thoughts of a certain young man with emerald eyes and a kind smile. Yaone, Kougaiji-sama would simply kill you. Ririn and Dokukaiji would probably help as well. No…it's impossible. Still…

"Ne, Hakkai-san…"

"Yes?"

"If we're camping out here and you stayed here as well along with Goku-san, Sanzo-san and Gojyo-san, wouldn't that mean they're going to fight again?"

"Only if they wake up and find both of us…"

"HAKKAI?! OI HAKKAI, BAKA! WHERE ARE YOU?!"

"YAONE! WHERE ARE YOU?! YAONE!!"

Both Yaone and Hakkai winced at the sudden yells of recognition between Sanzo and Co. with Kougaiji and his group.

"YOU!"

A dry "What about me?" came back.

"Hand over the sutra, monk!"

Goku's voice immediately resounded. "OI! Watch who you're calling a monk!" (It must be noted that everyone sweat dropped at this)

THWACK!

"Itai!"

"I AM a monk, bakasaru!"

"Hey, oniichan."

"Gojyo."

"SANZO-SAN! Wanna play?!"

"No."

Yaone and Hakkai sighed as sounds of arguing and fighting began.

"Yaru, yaru desu ne…" mumbled Hakkai. "Well, I suppose we better go and help…"

"Agreed." As the two got to their feet, Yaone suddenly stumbled. "Ah!" Hakkai caught her quickly. Two seconds promptly passed before both had a slight blush staining their cheeks and Hakkai let go after making sure she was all right. "What happened?"

"We were practicing and one of my explosives went off by accident. It caught me off guard and somewhere along the way, my leg got hurt." She smiled. "A small thing really. I can still walk on it."

Hakkai smiled. "Allow me to return the favour for the sleeping drug." He put his hand over her leg and it healed quickly.

She wiggled her leg, found it to be painless and smiled brightly. "Arigato."

"You're welcome. Now, I think we better show ourselves before they do something stupid."

A huge crash that sounded like a tree falling reverberated across the huge forest. "I think we're a little too late." Yaone said with a grin and they both started to run swiftly back to their friends. Just before they reached them, Hakkai stopped. Sometimes words of thanks weren't enough.

"Yaone-san, please don't be alarmed. I mean you no harm, all right?"

Yaone gave him a confused look mixed with a little suspicion. "What do you mean?"

Taking a huge breath, he stepped nearer and pulled Yaone into a gentle hug. She had never been actually hugged before and stood as if frozen. For one fleeting moment, she remembered someone holding her in the same way. Someone saying they cared about her always. It was her parents, her family. Before the terror, before Kougaiji-sama.

Then, she felt the slightest brush of Hakkai's lips on her cheek.

In a second, they were a few feet apart. It happened so fast Yaone would've thought she was dreaming if it weren't for the blush Hakkai had on his face.

"Arigato. What you told me helped me more than you know." She blushed as well and nodded. At that, both separated and ran back to their friends. As always, Goku was fighting Kougaiji, insults flying at each other along the way. Dokugaiji and Gojyo were doing the same only both were exchanging wry comments. Ririn was sitting on Sanzo's shoulder. Amazingly enough, the priest hadn't shot her yet but was trying his best to get her off him. Hakkai stood on standby watching the fighting that was going on. He looked on the opposite side and saw Yaone who smiled. He winked at her.

Arigato, Cho Hakkai. For the company, for the memories…and the kiss.

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A/N: Yes, the kiss was VERY OOC but I couldn't resist...really, Yaone and Hakkai must be one of the most puzzling couples in anime. ^_^;;; Thanks again!