Disclaimer: Sadly, Idon't own Fushigi Yuugi or any characters, not even Tasuki.

I'm back, guys! It' took a while but here it is - the so awaited 7th chapter :D

I hope everyone enjoys reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it, even if some stuff might be a bit too much like the anime this time.

Anyway, good reading!

Fushigi Yuugi: "How I fell in love with your silence"

Tasuki/Genrou x OC

"Being Deeply Loved By Someone Gives You Strength,

While Loving Someone Deeply Gives You Courage."

- Lao Tzu.

ooo

Chapter 7:

When the morning came, Miaka decided they should take Sakura to see the village doctor. Shouka told them she was showing all the symptoms of the plague but they should make sure. Sakura had gotten severely worse during that night. Her temperature had risen and she was coughing a lot more frequently. They could only imagine what kind of pain she was going through, even if she was stubbornly keeping it to herself.

They made it to the doctor's place but he refused to see Sakura.

"What do you mean you won't examine her?! What kind of doctor are you?!" Miaka yelled, her face red with anger.

"It doesn't matter if I examine her or not, I can tell it's the Shikkonki illness and there's no cure for it," the old man said. "Well... Myojuan might be able to cure her but I don't think he'll be much of a help..."

"Well, where's he now?" Genrou asked as he impatiently shifted his weight from one foot to another, tightening his hold on a shivering Sakura. This is bad, he frowned. She was already wearing his jacket and a shawl yet she was still cold as ice.

"He left about a year ago to live in the mountains," the doctor answered. He got off his chair and unceremoniously kicked them all out the door. "Now get lost! I don't wanna catch that damn disease!"

"Yer nothin' but a sheister!"

"Let him be Tasuki," Hotohori replied trying to maintain calm. Genrou grumbled under his breath, clenching his jaw. "At least we found something. Let's go find that Myojuan."

They climbed a flimsy flight of stairs, heading towards the mountains. A man carrying two baskets full of fish over his broad shoulders walked by. As he sped past the group, he dropped a nice looking fish that immediately caught Miaka's eye. She was going to grab it when a scruffy man reached for it at the same time.

"Get your hands off! That's my fish!" she cried.

The intimidating man glared at Miaka with stone hard brown eyes. Sakura and the others sweat dropped as they watched them fight over the fish.

"She's pickin' up a fight with big guy there 'cause ov' one lame trout?" Genrou shook his head not only amused but also mildly impressed. He felt Sakura shaking, she was chuckling against his chest. It made him smile as well.

"Onee-chan would fight for food even if she was on the verge of dying!"

Nuriko laughed. "I hear you, Sakura-chan."

The man ran off with the fish. Miaka went after him up the hill and they followed, calling hr out. They wounded up outside a little house at the top, with the windows wide open and a beautiful patch of herbs in the front yard.

Miaka put her hands to her mouth and shouted, "you are surrounded! Come out now with my fish! I repeat: you are surrounded! Come out now with my fish!" There was no answer.

"Let's go take a look," Hotohori offered. They peeked over a windows. He was working on some sort of unguent. Theere was a small white and brown cat with his torso wrapped in bandages and he was eagerly munching on the trout. There were several medicine pots and utensils beside him. "Could it be that this man is the Myojuan we heard about?"

"He might be," Nuriko answered.

Genrou kicked the door open and barged in with Sakura without a warning. "Oi ojii-san, are ya that Myojuan guy? If ya are, can ya take a look at her?"

"Please, she's very weak." Miaka came up to his side.

Myojuan looked at Sakura. She was having a hard time breathing, her cheeks were flushed and her knuckles white as she gripped the jacket around her. The corners of his eyes softened when he met her lavender gaze and found nothing but a strong willed determination and bravery.

He gulped, struggling to harden his voice and his heart. "I'm not a doctor anymore. Leave now."

"What? But you take care of animals!" Nuriko cried out fiercely.

"I don't care about humans! Now get out of my house!"

"Why you-"

Sakura stopped him mid-sentence, shaking her head, "it's okay, Genrou. Let's just go."

Genrou clamped his teeth shut, wishing he could get his hands around that man's neck and knock him out for refusing to help Sakura. Instead, he gave into her request, lashing out his anger once they stepped outside.

"That bastard! How dare he kick us outta the house without as much as lookin' at Sakura?! And you, Sakura, you shoulda let me get my hands on him! I would've burnt him down to ashes if ya woul've- Oi, Sakura? Sakura!" Sakura had suddenly gone limp in his arms.

Hotohori touched her forehead, jerking it back as he felt it close to boiling. "She's burning up. We have to take her back quickly."

It hurts!

It hurts so much!

Sakura trashed her head wildly against the pillow. Every single bone, muscle and fiber in her body felt like it was on fire. And her chest… it felt like it was being stabbed over and over again. Her throat was aching. Her eyes were hurting. Even her toes were in pain.

Nuriko was trying to ease some of her strain by dapping the sweat off her forehead while keeping her head over his lap. Miaka was holding Sakura's hand close to her face, her eyes were closed as she prayed. Hotohori was standing in a distance but he wasn't any less worried; he was furrowing his eyebrows, gritting his teeth, clutching his hands. Genrou… he was concerned beyond his mind. He knew she was ten thousand times worse than what she was letting them on to and knowing that was slowly eating him up. Sakura had a frustrating habit of keeping everything to herself, even when everyone was willing to share her pain. She was painfully like him in that aspect.

Genrou bit his lip harder.

"Keeping her this way is torture," Hotohori muttered somberly.

"She's not getting any better... I can't even-" Miaka stopped, clenching her fists as tears threatened to spill out of her eyes. "She's part of me. There has got to be a way to put an end to this, to save her..."

Shouka walked up to them and brought a hand to Miaka's shoulder. Her face was deadly serious. "There is only one way," she began, "you must kill her immediately. If I bring her back to life right away she'll be able to recover her health again."

"No," Genrou snapped back immediately.

"Please, there has got to be another way!" Miaka clutched the older woman's hands pleadingly.

She shook her head. "I'm afraid there is not."

"We ain't doin' that," Genrou declared. Nuriko agreed.

Genrou would never let her die like this, not now and not at the hands of anyone. It mattered little if Shouka brought her back to life afterwards. What if what came back wasn't Sakura at all, but a zombie? A shadow of what she had once been? He couldn't bear the thought of Sakura not being his Sakura. He couldn't handle it if she didn't smile like she always smiled, making his heart race like an unbridled horse.

A pale hand slowly touched his cheek, a soft feathery caress making his skin tingle pleasantly. Genrou leaned onto her palm, looking up at her. "Do it, Genrou. It's the only way." He shook his head vehemently. It brought a half smile to her chapped lips. "I know you don't want to, but it'll be easier this way… I'm hurting and I don't think I can handle much longer..."

"No! Don't talk like that! Yer gonna get better!"

"I won't, don't fool yourself."

"Damn you, Sakura, stop sayin' that! I ain't doin' it!" He nearly roared, taking her hand in his, intertwining their fingers. "I can't kill you, not when all I wanna do is listen to you breathe… I wanna feel your heart beatin', and I wanna watch your eyes shinnin' like stars… I want you lookin' at me with that face you make when I'm makin' a fool ov' myself, which is y'know all the time..." Sakura chuckled faintly. He gripped her harder. "I need you, Sakura…"

Sakura stared at him with eyes full of love. "Genrou…"

Hotohori couldn't help but to be deeply emotionally moved by the two. Not only because of the injustice of the situation, but also because he could relate to the bandit's feelings. If Miaka was in that bed right now, he would say exactly the same, he would never put an end to the life of the woman he loved. There has got to be another way.

Hotohori touched Genrou's shoulder, this one glancing up from his crouching position near the bed. "Let's go try again with the doctor. This time we will not leave until he gives up, alright?"

Genrou nodded gratefully. As he turned back to Sakura, searching, she flashed him a smile. "I'll wait for you, Genrou..."

That was enough for him.

That night they went back to see the scruffy man one last time, hoping to change his mind. They found him exactly where they had left him, cross-legged on the floor sorting through his myriad of medicine pots and boxes. Everything was quiet, the only sound in the small house being the soft purring of a little white cat moving around him, rubbing against him.

Both the man and his cat jumped when the group burst the door open. As soon as he recognized them he rolled his eyes.

"You again? Give up already-"

"Please save Sakura," Genrou cut him off immediately as he fell to his knees in front of the stone-hearted man. "I'm beggin' you, ojii-san – please save her!"

Myojuan stared at him baffled. He could easily see this was a man who didn't bow for just any simple thing, he carried himself high and proud, like a leader. Yet there he was, begging to him, all but a humble and good-for-nothing healer, to help that litte girl. His resolve faltered even more when the others followed his action.

Miaka met his gaze, pursing her lips nervously. "Please, she's my baby sister and there's no one else who can heal her. Shouka-san told us she can't do it either-"

He stumbled back. "Did you just say Shouka?"

"Eh...? Yes... uh, we've been staying at Shouka-san's house."

"But that... that's impossible! Shouka died a year ago!"

"What?!" Miaka stomped to the man and gripped him by the collar of his green shirt, "if Shouka is dead, then who the hell is in that house with imotto-chan?"

Genrou took a hold of his Tessen with snarl. "Who cares? We gotta go back, Sakura's in danger!"

Back in the village, Sakura had finally fallen asleep after hours of excruciating pain. Shouka grabbed the opportunity. She walked into the bedroom quietly, stopping beside the bed and staring at Sakura's sweaty and restless sleeping face before bringing a cold hand to her hot forehead.

Her strength and resolve was admirable, Shouka thought. That courage would prove to be a delicacy, and the love burning inside her heart, the fuel of her chi, would be even tastier, even more fulfilling for the demon. Shouka pulled a knife out of her robes and held it above Sakura's chest. She was about to plunge it when Sakura's eyes fluttered open. She stared at her assailant with pure innocent eyes, two amethysts which had never wished for harm to come to anyone in her whole life.

Sakura was suddenly enveloped in light. A blinding red glow shining from within her heart. Compelled by an unknown force, Sakura opened her mouth and she was surprised when her words came out as clear as they sounded in her mind: "Shouka-san?" The sound gave Shouka a fright that made her drop the knife into the floor. "I'm sorry but I can't let you to take my life. You see, Genrou would be very mad if I did and I would also make my sister very sad…"

"Urgh!" Shouka struggled for words.

"I understand that you can't use your powers unless I'm dead, and I'm in so much pain that I would gladly let you kill me but I'm not ready to die just yet. There's still a lot I have to do, there are many things I still have to tell to the people I love." Her warm voice full of love and faith made Shouka stumble on her feet as she moved back from Sakura who was now sitting up.

Shouka was struggling to contain the monster which had devoured almost the entirety of her soul, she was fighting to keep it away from Sakura. She crawled further into a corner and curled herself into a ball. Worried and slightly confused, Sakura tiptoed towards her and reached forward to touch her quivering shoulder. Shouka stared wide-eyed at the extended hand, the red glow encircling it reflecting in the blue depths of her eyes.

The door was suddenly burst open. Genrou ran in growling, yielding the iron Tessan, ready to pounce.

"Get the hell 'way from her, Sakura!" he cried, "the real Shouka died a year ago!"

Wha... Sakura felt something cold claw at the crown of her head.

"It's too late, I'm not letting her go now. I will devour her whole, even her bones."

"What?! No, Shouka-san, why would eat me?!"

Genrou gasped when he heard her. Was that really her voice? It was real? He was forced to push that thought into the back of her mind when the 'demon Shouka' gripped Sakura harder. He raised his weapon threateningly, snarling, "you let Sakura go right now! I'm gonna kill ya, damn demon!"

"No wait!" A tall handsome man walked through the doorway with Hotohori, Nuriko and Miaka trailing close behind. He balled his hands into fists and clenched his jaw at the sight in front of him.

"Juan-san!" Sakura called. The celestial warriors dropped their mouths open in shock. Who in their right minds, would've known that such a grumpy old-looking geyser was in fact such a handsome young man?

"Shouka... are you the one who's been plaguing this disease over our village?" Myojuan questioned angrily, "have you become a soul-eating demon?"

Shouka snarled just as furiously. Some of her minions tried to sneak in through the window to get them but Hotohori and Nuriko quickly closed it shut.

"What the hell are those?!" Nuriko cried.

Myojuan closed his eyes disappointed. "They must be the villagers brought back to life by Shouka. They look alive but, in reality, they're not. Isn't that right, Shouka? Why?"

"How can you ask me that? One year ago I was sick, facing the gates of death. It didn't matter how long I waited, you never came. I waited... and I believed... it hurt, but I waited until the very end..." Shouka's hold on Sakura's head tightened, making her cry out. Genrou moved another step closer. "Yet you never came! You have no right to judge me."

They loved each other, Sakura thought sadly. Shouka had been dying and she had wanted only for the love of her life to come and save her or at least see her one last time. When he didn't, her heart broke, and she fell a victim of her own desperation and misery, allowing the demon to feed on her negative emotions and take over her body and actions, fooling everyone. It was awful.

Shouka grabbed her neck. It was too tight, too painful and Sakura was soon short out of breath.

"I will kill this girl first and then... then I'm going to kill you next!"

Genrou acted in the blink of an eye. He opened the fan and stepped forward to burn both Shouka and the demon possessing her but Sakura stopped him. She surprised everyone by breaking free from Shouka's iron grip, standing between the two of them.

"Please don't kill Shouka-san!"

"What're ya talkin' 'bout? She's a frickin' demon!" Genrou yelled angry and confused, trying to ignore the stubborn racing of his heart when he realized Sakura really had been the one talking before.

"No!" Sakura shook her head. "Shouka-san's not a demon. She came back to find Juan-san and see him again... isn't that true, Shouka-san? You love him with all of your heart, he was your lover, right?" Shouka's eyes widened, a tiny speckle of humanity igniting inside of them. "I'm sure it must've been very hard for you to be so far from the one you love for so long… and then even when you were nearing death you still wanted to see him... that's why you're here, you came back because you wanted to see him one more time..."

Shouka slowly eased back into the kind woman whom they had met previously, the demonic aura fading away. She looked into Sakura's eyes with her heart swelling. "Oh Sakura-chan..." She lost her balance, Sakura reached out to catch her even though she was frail and week from her illness. "She's right, Juan... I have been waiting for you. Please... please save me!"

A red monster with long sharp fangs and one eye sprouted from her back. It lunged straight for Sakura, grabbing her legs and arms with its tentacles, hanging her upside down. "Juan, please use your power to defeat this monster before I am completely destroyed! If you don't, then Sakura-chan will..."

"Shouka, you..." Myojuan staggered, hesitating in his sizzling with anger. "This is the demon that hunted you?!"

"I'm sorry!" Shouka cried, tears trailing down her face.

"I've had enough ov' this! Yer gonna get yer ass barbequed fer even layin' one filthy tentacle on Sakura!" Genrou launched himself at the monster with Nuriko and Hotohori. They failed and the demon grabbed them all as well, strangling them. Genrou struggled, frustration and panic starting take hold of him.

Shouka cried harder, "please, Juan, kill me! I'll be free from this demon and everyone will be safe! Hurry... quick, KILL ME!"

Myojuan clenched his fists. In two quick long strides, he stood in front of Shouka and the demon. He untied a piece of cloth from around his hand, it started glowing green as he chanted, "Dai Juryokku... Yoma Messhou!" The demon was engulfed by the glowing light, slowly dissipating. Everything vanished as well, the dead villagers, the house, the village itself.

The warriors fell back on the ground with a loud thud. Before Sakura could crash with her head Genrou moved quickly and shielded her, catching her in his arms. He settled her down against his knee, bringing one hand to the crook of her neck grasping her face as his eyes scanned her for wounds.

"Thank Suzaku…! I thought ya were done fer..." he breathed, holding her close in a tight embrace.

"We all did!" Nuriko added, exhaling in relief with a nodding Hotohori. Miaka crouched down next to them, touching her face gingerly. Weird, she thought, she was still feeling warm. Just as that crossed her mind, Sakura's head fell back and her eyes snapped shut.

"Sakura!" Miaka gasped. "Sakura, hold on!"

Myojuan joined them using his hand in a similar way as he had with Shouka. He held it above the crown of her head, murmuring in a quiet voice, casting a green glow over her.

"How is she?" Hotohori asked concerned.

"She's fine. All I have to do is absorb what's left of the demon's curse that is still inside of her."

Finally, her eyes fluttered open again. The first thing she saw, hovering above her, was the red character for "Sadness" on the palm of his hand. She bolted up in an instant grabbing it. She waved it around frantically, trying to get her friends attention.

"Oh! It's Suzaku's mark!" Miaka exclaimed excitedly, taking the hand from Sakura to observe it a little more closely.

Genrou looked at the man with a new found respect. Not only had he saved Sakura but he was also one of their companions.

"You must be...?" Nuriko trailed off uncertainly.

"My celestial warrior name is Mitsukake. I have the ability to cure, that's why I became a doctor," he told them. Mitsukake walked away to the lifeless body of Shouka, embracing her against his chest, stricken with grief.

As the other watched with sadness, Genrou turned his attention to the red-haired girl in his arms. He stared at her closely. "Sakura..." Genrou began in a whisper, "can... can you really talk?"

She bit her lip. "I did back there, didn't I?"

He nodded frantically. "Yeah! Yeah, you did!" Genrou held her cheek in his hand. He knew he hadn't imagined it. "I heard yer voice clear as day! C'mon, try again!"

Sakura opened her mouth and forced her throat to make a noise. It itched, like it always did, yet nothing came out. When she shook her head sadly, she noticed how disappointed Genrou looked and she couldn't help but to feel like it was her fault. She had always been such a failure. Sakura casted her gaze down in shame. "Gomen, Genrou..."

"What?" He snapped out of it, fixing her with a look of surprise. "What're you talkin' 'bout? You got nothin' to apologize fer." Genrou put a finger under her chin so that she could face him directly. "I couldn't care less if you talk or not… I just want you to be happy, I know how much it would mean to you if you could..."

Sakura broke into a soft and heartwarming smile. "I'm happy as long as you and Miaka and everyone else stay here with me."

Genrou chuckled, nodding. He didn't think he had ever felt so relieved in his entire life to have a woman in his arms, nor to feel her heart beating rapidly against his.

So? What did you think? Please be not afraid of reviewing - cosntructive criticism is always welcome.

Love, Moon Princess.