Credit to Qualapec the She-Wolf for starting this story and writing chapters 1-5.

Chapter Content Warning: language, non-descriptive nudity

See below for possible trigger warnings.

Chapter 16

Cleaning the blood off the dragon and putting it up had gone as smoothly as Yaone could hope; however, she knew that whatever she was going to run into and face inside the castle might not be. She evaded the Lady Koushu's guards easily enough, but when she saw the prince making his way towards the stable in a barely contained fury, she knew facing him was going to be difficult.

"Prince Kougaiji," Yaone said as she bowed.

"Yaone! What happened?"

The prince sounded incredibly concerned, which puzzled her until she realized her clothes, or what was left of them, were covered in blood. "Lord Kougaiji, I must urgently speak with you and Dokugakuji – in private." She acknowledged the two soldiers that stood by his side.

Once they were inside a side room, Kougaiji began to look less concerned and more upset. "Ok Yaone, please tell me you have a good explanation because I was just ordered to hunt down an escaped Sanzo priest, and you look like hell. Are you hurt?"

"Only some bruises and mild burns, my Lord." She took a deep fortifying breath. She had plenty of time to think about what she was going to say to Kougaiji on her flight to the castle, but now her nerves were getting the better of her. "I told you before how Dr Nii had been acting towards me, and well, things got a little extreme tonight. I had taken some extra soldiers along with me and a new healer to take over Sanzo's care because he had warned me that Nii had threatened harm to me directly."

There was a warning look in the prince's eyes, but before he voiced his objection, Yaone continued. "I know I should have told you, but you had been so busy yourself and I thought I was handling it. Well, once I got to the Outpost, Nii killed the others and took me hostage. I was locked up with Sanzo and Nii had placed a bomb inside the room. He left, and Sanzo saved me, but was wounded. The blood is his. I was closer to the blast though and was knocked out for a minute. Long enough for Sanzo to get away."

"That bastard. I'll kill him!" The air around Kou began to sizzle as he let his fire powers seep out in his rage.

"No, my Lord, you can't! Please, he is strong himself, but think what would happen if you did kill him. Lady Koushu controls too many of our forces and she won't take kindly to anyone attacking him. Plus… What about your mother?"

Her words seemed to reach him, but what had been anger turned to frustration. Clenching his fists, he turned on the wall and punched through it.

"She's right Kou," Doku said, finally speaking up. "However, Yaone; this puts you in a very bad light as far as Nii and Lady Koushu are concerned. You are likely to be blamed for Sanzo escaping. You were the only one to make it out besides the priest."

"Yes, I know. And because of that, I also need to ask for your protection, Lord Kou-"

"You already have it," he said, cutting her off. "And you would have had it earlier today if you would have told me how serious things had turned." It was said in kindness but also with reproach.

Yaone felt ashamed she had not gone to Kougaiji sooner, but he had been off on a mission most of the day. "I'm sorry, my lord. I'll try to be more mindful next time."

Placing a hand on her shoulder, Kougaiji tried to comfort her. "I'm sorry too, Yaone. I don't mean to put you through any more than you've already been through today." He dropped his hand and turned serious. "But hear me now, Yaone; if that man so much as touches you again, I will have his head. Screw Lady Koushu; you come first… Even my mother," he paused for a deep sigh, "can wait. I love my mother more than anything, but you are alive now and one of my dearest friends. If it came down to your life or Nii's, then I'll just have to find some other way to revive my mother."

Tears welled in the healer's eyes over her prince's words. She wanted so badly to hug him and cry in his arms after everything that happened today, but she held back out of respect for their positions. Bowing deeply, she thanked him from the bottom of her heart.

A heavier hand than Kougaiji's was felt on her shoulder, and she stood up to see Dokugakuji next to her. He gave her a comforting smile before facing Kougaiji. "Kou, if you don't need me to accompany you on your search, I would like to stay and guard miss Yaone. You know as well as I do, we can't let them get their hands on her for questioning – if Nii does not try and kill her directly for whatever sick reason."

A chill of fear ran down Yaone's spine at the thought of being 'questioned.' The interrogation methods of the Youkai – especially under Lady Koushu's rule – were especially cruel and often resulted in disfigurement or death.

"I would be especially pleased if you would guard Yaone, Doku. I can handle the search myself with a few men. I'll also have you take a few yourself to help you keep her safe." He placed a hand on Dokugakuji's shoulder but faced Yaone. "I wish I could guard you myself, but I have to go now. I'll check on you later though," Kougaiji said just before storming out the door.

"Come on, Yaone. Let's get you to your room. You look like you could use some sleep." Doku wrapped his arm around her shoulder in a side hug. "I'll keep you safe."

Turning to embrace him in a full hug, Yaone almost burst out crying right there, but kept it down to just some sniffling. "Thank you, Doku." She was very lucky to have such good friends.

When they reached her room, Yaone dissuaded Dokugakuji from following her inside to fix her some tea by telling him that she really only wanted to take a bath and go to bed. It was sadly true, but that had to wait.

As Yaone turned from the doorway after wishing Doku a goodnight, she was shocked to see that the bleeding monk she had left inside her room was nowhere in sight. "Sanzo?" She stage-whispered so no one could hear her through the locked door.

"Took you long enough." A gruff voice sounded from underneath her large bed.

The healer walked over to where she had left him just inside by the balcony doors and traced his path to where he was now, then looked under the bed. "How did you get over here? And where is all the blood?"

Underneath the haggard exhaustion pulling at his features, Yaone saw the slightest look of embarrassment on the monk's face. "I used the frilly blanket thing on the end of your bed and made sure I would not be so easy to spot in case you weren't the only one returning. Hope you didn't like it too much."

"No, that's fine…" That 'frilly blanket thing' had been her favorite throw, but it could be replaced. "I can't treat you very well under the bed though, so you'll need to come out. I'd appreciate it if you let me help you." She smiled sweetly, but she hid a threat behind it.

"Hmph, whatever."

Yaone knew that was Sanzo-speak for 'I hate how humiliating it is for someone to help me, but I can't do it on my own, so I will ungraciously accept.' At least he was becoming a little more cooperative these days.

"Very good," she said as she grabbed for his ankles again and slid him out. His ankles were the safest place for her to grab, but the force of being pulled across the floor still caused the man to grimace.

"I need to clean your wound and stitch it up better. I only could do enough to stem the bleeding earlier." She peered under the bed again and was satisfied to see only a small amount of blood had accumulated there. She would have to clean that later. Turning back to face him she added, "I ran into Kougaiji, and Doku is guarding me just outside in case any of Lady Koushu's men come looking for me, so you'll have to be quiet."

Sanzo snorted. "What did you tell them?"

"Pretty much everything, except I left out some of the worst details. And I told them I had been knocked out by the bomb and woke to find you already gone. I don't know if the story will hold though. Nii is going to watch that video and find proof I helped you escape."

"Hmm. It's anyone's guess what that bastard is up to. Can't say he will come after you or not, but it's just as likely he won't. Better to not worry over it. We either live or we die."

"How do you stay so nonchalant about something like that?"

Sanzo's eyes softened a little as he said, "Practice."

Sadly, Yaone knew what he meant by that.

"I'll go get my medical supplies again and be right back. Do you have a preference for tea? I was thinking I'd make chamomile myself."

"I usually drink green, but I'll take chamomile tonight."

Yaone smiled at the courtesy and then left to start the kettle and gather what she needed.

The chambers she had been afforded with her position as Kougaiji's apothecary were rather large and, being a part of Houtou Castle itself, it was also very lush. The king size bed sat in-between the door to the balcony and the bathroom. Across from the bed, there was enough space for a sitting area with a chaise lounge and a couple chairs, a modestly sized dining table, a small kitchenette, and plenty of walking room to spare.

Having always kept her kettle on the stove top since she was an avid tea drinker, Yaone only had to fill it with water and turn on the stove to start it. She sighed at the thought of a much-needed cup of chamomile to calm her nerves and help her sleep. Making her way over to the bathroom for her medical supplies, however, she had to fight the tears which begged to fall. Not yet, she told herself. She had a job to do. She had time for tears later.

Once she had gathered what she needed and prepared two steaming cups of chamomile, she returned to the resting priest. He was not quite asleep though, and he opened his eyes to track the healer's approach.

Setting the tea and supplies down, she said, "I'll let the tea cool down for now while I get your shoulder in better shape, but here is some poppy milk for now." Yaone handed him a small, measured vial and then began removing the old stitches to take another appraisal of the damage. It was a grievous wound for sure and under normal circumstance she would have him in for surgery with a hole like that in order to repair the damage better. Unfortunately, she again had to do almost the same thing, but with her patient not sedated and without as good of a facility and supplies.

Fully assessing the wound had the monk writhing under her exploratory touch as he tried his best to stifle his moans. Miraculously, the major blood vessels were not damaged; the large amount of bleeding was due to the size of the wound. However, upon closer examination, Yaone found Sanzo's clavicle to be fractured. It was a simple fracture and one that would not be difficult to set, but it would hurt like hell. The apothecary's stomach lurched realizing what the man had done in order to free himself to save her. He must have broken it when that barb was stuck, or it had already been broken by Nii and he had to jostle a broken bone around to get it unstuck.

"What's the damage?" Sanzo eyed her with suspicion and a hint of concern at what must have been a rather alarmed expression on her face.

"Sorry. I'm afraid your collar bone is broken, and I'll have to reset it."

"I could have told you that. How bad is it?"

"Honestly, I don't know. I can tell you there is a lot of tissue damage including tendons that will need repair, but your main blood vessels weren't damaged. You should live if you don't get an infection that is too severe, but I don't know what kind of recovery you are looking at. If we can heal you enough to fly you out of here and to your comrades, Hakkai's chi would certainly help you regain better function of that arm."

"Hmm, guess I'll only be shooting with my right for a while."

"You are left-handed?"

"No; ambidextrous."*

Add one more thing to the list of surprising facts about Genjo Sanzo. It was beginning to become quite a list – which was another thing to add to the list: how surprisingly long the list was. Yaone chuckled to herself at the thought.

"Something funny?" Sanzo said in his typical, irritated tone.

"Not really. You are just full of surprises is all," Yaone said as she poured some antiseptic on his wound.

"Fuck! Ow, damn it… You could learn to have less of them yourself," he groused, mindful of the volume.

"Sorry." Yaone chortled a little and smiled before she set to work stitching some of the inner tissues back together. It had been for just a minute, but she had somehow managed to let go of some of the stress and forget about the fact they had just been through hell. How did the monk manage to do that? Make her forget and smile at such a time. She really appreciated how easily the priest made her feel comfortable.

With the inner stitching done, Yaone took Sanzo's advice and did not surprise him with resetting his bone. "Here comes the fun part, Sanzo. I should be rather quick, but I need to reset your collar bone now. Do you want a leather strap?"

"Just be quick and I'll be fine."

"Ok." She held his gaze as she counted. "One, two, three." On three, Yaone deftly pushed the bones into place with expert precision.

Sanzo groaned.

"Sorry. Hopefully, the pain meds start to kick in soon." Picking up her needle and thread again, Yaone began stitching the rest of the wound together.

"Yeah, anytime now would be great," Sanzo said before hissing at the tug of the healer's thread.

There was a long, comfortable span of silence as Yaone worked and Sanzo put up with her sewing before Yaone chose to break it. "You know, I haven't actually thanked you yet for saving me back there. What you did was beyond heroic, so thank you."

"Hmph, don't mention it." He dismissively waved his working hand.

"Hey, I mean it. Not just the part where you ripped your collar bone through a freaking metal spike from hell, the other part too. What you were willing to go through before Nii said he was just toying with you. That took more guts than most men have." Yaone noticed the faraway look that clouded his eyes just then. "Sorry, I know that was awful, but it meant a lot."

"No, it didn't. It wouldn't have made a difference if I refused. He would have gotten what he wanted eventually, and you would have been dead just to forestall the inevitable. Just forget it alright?"

"Sure, yeah." Yaone told him, but she was not likely to ever forget that moment. The horror she felt for him willing to sacrifice himself in that way to such a perverted monster. Though, she would have been willing to do the same. In fact, she had wished to the gods it would have been her instead of him. There was no way she could have bore witnessing that happen on her account.

The relief she felt at having made it out of that whole situation began to form tears in her eyes. She was a mess of emotions though. She felt relieved, but also shook up and horrified. She had never been held hostage before, not like that anyway. Let alone forced to watch someone be tortured and herself be tortured to illicit compliance in another captive. Gods, it was so messed up.

After failing to stifle a sniffle, Yaone hoped Sanzo had not noticed. However, when she looked at him, she saw him watching her with his impassive violet stare. Surprisingly for any normal person, but not for Sanzo, he said nothing. It helped sober her up to feel the cold scrutiny on her. She was thankful for it because she was trying to be professional, but she could not help wondering what was going through his head. She dared not ask though, since she would only be given a curt, if not rude, response.

Once she finally finished treating Sanzo's shoulder wound and applied the necessary herbs to help prevent infection and inflammation underneath the patches of gauze, Yaone checked his other wounds and reapplied bandages as well as treated the puncture wounds on his right arm. The long gash in his leg from the night before needed a few stitches redone, but otherwise was doing as well as could be expected. No signs of infection in any of his wounds currently, but with the filthy conditions he had been in and no way to bathe, it could be only a matter of time.

"I'm done with your wounds. Think you could shower?"

"Hell yes. A shower sounds almost better than a smoke right now."

"Here, I'll help you up," she said as she reached for the priest. Making it to the bathroom was almost just as slow and difficult as it had been getting out of the Outpost together, but at least this time Sanzo's pain was at a more manageable level.

Sanzo told her he was able to shower on his own, so Yaone left after helping him remove what remained of his jeans but leaving his boxer-briefs for him to take care of.

However, after only a few minutes Yaone heard a thud coming from the shower. Rushing inside the bathroom, the healer found the monk face down on the floor of the walk-in shower, apparently having fallen from the stool. She gasped and rushed to her patient. If she had not been a healer and categorized medical nudity differently than sexual nudity, she would have blushed beet red at the sight of the chiseled monk butt-ass-naked in the shower. Shaking him gently by his less injured shoulder, she quietly called out to him, "Sanzo, are you alright?" Certainly, he was far from alright, but she wanted to see if he was awake and responsive.

"Hmm," he moaned before coming-to. Slowly, he blinked the water from his eyes. As soon as he gained awareness of the situation, he flustered, and a deep shade of crimson rose in cheeks. "Gods, woman, don't you know how to knock? Get out!" he almost shouted, but he was quiet enough no one would hear from outside her room. Scrambling up to a near sitting position, the monk set his back to her so she would see less of him.

"Good grief, I'm your healer, I don't care about seeing my patient's anatomy."

"But you are a woman healer, and I'm a monk."

Yaone rolled her eyes and snorted. "You're a monk that smokes, drinks, cusses, and kills. You expect me to believe you keep the rules of chastity?"

"… yeah, something like that anyways," he said quietly.

Wait what? Was the man actually a virgin? Now she was too curious about what the priest was alluding to. "What do you mean 'something like that'? You can't seriously mean you've never…"

"None of your goddamn business! Now, would you be so kind as to get me a fucking towel already?"

"Touchy, geez." Yaone went for a hand towel so the man could cover himself, but she was not letting him out without finishing his shower. There was still plenty of grime on him, but it looked like his hair had been washed at least. When she handed him the hand towel, the glare he shot her was murderous. "You can cover up with it, but I'm going to help you finish washing off." The glare intensified for a moment but then slowly relented.

As Yaone lathered her bath sponge and started carefully cleaning around the almost healed lash marks on the man's back, she said, "I don't know why you are so defensive about the subject of sex. It's not like I would care if were a virgin or a whore; I was just surprised since it's a lot more typical of someone our age to have 'been around' already."

Sanzo growled. "You have no idea what you are talking about. If it's so easy, why don't you lay out all the details of your sex life."

"Sure, it's no big deal. I had a boyfriend for a couple years when I was twenty, and he was my first. After that, just a few other guys I dated."

"Hmph."

"Hey, that's some juicy gossip, and all you are going to say is 'hmph'?" Yaone teased.

"You want a medal or something?" he asked rhetorically, then winced when the sponge crossed over the wounds on his right arm.

Yaone sighed. "No… I just… well, never mind. I'm sorry." It was not really his tone or words that hurt her, but rather that she felt guilty at having brought up something that was obviously a really sore spot for the monk. He definitely protested too much for having had sex before, but she did not understand why it would bother him to admit he had not. Unless…

"Oh, shit!" she said, dropping the sponge as realization hit her. "Damn it, Sanzo. I'm so sorry." Boy, she really fucked up. How could she not have seen it sooner? His standoffishness, how he hated being touched, shutting people out, and a whole shit ton of trauma symptoms like barely taking care of himself above bare minimum survival.

Yaone's frantic thoughts were interrupted when a sponge came into her view, held by a shaking hand. "Don't get any stupid ideas in your head." Sanzo sighed. "It was just a conversation. You didn't do anything wrong."

"Yeah, ok." Yaone said as she nodded – even if she did not really agree. After cleaning the last of where she could reach from behind the monk, she halfway climbed into the shower to the side of him and rubbed the newly soaped sponge down his leg. When she saw he had not reacted much to her encroachment on his more of his personal space, she looked up at him, hoping maybe he had softened up to the idea that she was only acting as a healer and not a predator. All she saw however, was a man too bone‑tired to care.

"I'll be quick," she told him, and was acknowledged by a slight nod.

When she had finished washing his legs and his torso, Yaone handed Sanzo back the sponge refilled with fresh soap. "Here, you can finish cleaning up, and I'll be back in a minute." If there was a reply, it was too soft for her to hear as she left the bathroom to give him some extra privacy. She hated to leave him when he looked ready to fall over again, but the sooner she got him to bed, the better off he would be, and she knew better than to clean anymore of him than she had.

A minute went by quickly, and Yaone cracked the door, asking Sanzo if he was ready to get out. There was a quiet affirmation, so she helped the monk dry off and gave him her oversized bathrobe to wear until tomorrow when she could bring him some clothes that fit. Fortunately, her bathrobe was unisex and not a frilly pink thing, so he did not look ridiculous.

On their way back, Sanzo stumbled a lot more and collapsed on her bed. His pallor was worse, and he shivered as he adjusted to lay on his back.

Now that he was cleaned and in a place he could rest, Yaone wanted to get an IV in him to regain some fluids and elevate his blood pressure. By the time she set it up, Sanzo had passed out. Covering the priest with her feather filled comforter, she looked longingly at her bed. She wanted so much to fall asleep in it, but she really needed a shower herself and she had already decided to sleep on the lounge to give the monk some space.

Yaone picked up the teacups from the floor and set one on the table by where Sanzo was sleeping and took the other with her into the bathroom. It was a pity the tea had become cold, but it would still be somewhat effective. She gulped it down too fast to enjoy and ran the water for her shower. A bath would have been so much nicer for her aches and pains, but she probably would have fell asleep in the tub. The apothecary numbly washed and then let the hot water run over her an extra minute to feel some warmth.

Finally, after what had to have been the longest night of her life, she was showered, clean, and dressed for bed. Tiptoeing so she would not wake Sanzo, Yaone fetched a spare blanket and went over to the vacant side of the bed to grab her pillow. As soon as she clutched the thick fluffy pillow, a blond head turned in her direction. There was no threat or hint of emotion in the monk's eyes, but the way the moonlight reflected his purple irises made her gasp.

"What are you doing?" he asked, eyebrows furrowed.

"I was just taking my pillow with me to sleep on the lounge," Yaone hastily said.

An obvious eyeroll even in the dark followed. "I can see that. Why? This is your bed, isn't it?"

"Uh, yeah?"

"Is there a reason my presence would prevent you from sleeping in your bed?"

"Not really, but I thought you'd rather have a place to sleep by yourself."

"If that were the case, I would sleep on the lounge. If you don't have a problem with sleeping on the same surface with me, then just do it."

Watching him suspiciously, Yaone climbed onto the bed with trepidation. She could not tell if he was saying he wanted her to sleep next to him, or he just did not care and did not want her inconvenienced. His not saying things in so many words schtick could really get on a person's nerves. But it was also Sanzo. She would not want him to change because it was part of what made him… him. It was kind of endearing?

When she turned her head to look back at the man sleeping next to her, Yaone had to sigh at herself for thinking such things. It was now clearly obvious that she had feelings for the tough-as-nails monk. She could not help that they kind of bonded through all this… Well, at least she had. Sanzo might have warmed up to her, but it might be too much to say he ever bonded to anyone. He was also tremendously attractive; she just never let herself see it before the Outpost, never got close enough to notice. Plus, he was actually a really kind person underneath the rock hard exterior. If he really did not care about people as much as he pretended, she knew he would have just let her die.

Thinking back on that, she shuddered. The raw emotion in his eyes that he tried to hide when Nii had threatened her – that was not something a person felt if they did not care about them in some capacity… right? Or maybe she was reading into it more than she should.

'Letting you die… would simply be a waste,' he had said. What did that mean? If she in particular died it would be a waste, or if just if anyone died it would be a waste?

Ugh, now she was just spinning circles in her head. What did it matter if the priest liked her in that way or not? If he lived through all this, he would go back to his comrades and they would be enemies again.

But did they not have a common enemy now? She did not know how she was going to survive in the castle with Nii having painted a target on her back.

Dear gods, what had she done? How could she serve Kougaiji when her very presence put him at even worse odds with the youkai kingdom's counterfeit ruler and her right-hand man? She would give her life to protect him, yet she was making him risk his life for her sake. She was now a useless burden to her lord because of all this.

Gods, everything was so screwed up now. Yaone had no idea what to do, or what was in store. She had been through hell and there was a sick madman that could kill everyone she knew and loved at a whim while pretending to be on their side. Finally, all the tears Yaone had held back began to fall, and she could do nothing but sob into her pillow. What she would not give for her father to still be alive and wrap her in a tight embrace, to tell her it would be alright like he always used it. Crying alone sucked.

Without thinking she turned over. There was someone there. She was not really alone; not if she could feel him here with her. The moonlight caressed his pale cheek, and she watched as he breathed evenly, seemingly at rest. As much as it might have been a horrible idea destined to backfire on her, Yaone could not stop herself, and she sidled up to the sleeping monk. She just needed to feel someone and not feel so alone right now, so she hoped he would stay undisturbed.

As she continued to cry, an arm came around her and held her closer. It was so much of what she needed that Yaone became overwhelmed and began to openly sob, but this time it was more of a good cry. Not a happy cry, but the kind that actually released the built-up emotions and drained them out.

Trigger Warnings: Yaone non-descriptively comes to her own conclusions that Sanzo was sexually abused.

AN: On the note of what Yaone believes happened to Sanzo in his past, keep in mind that it is just her own conclusion. And it makes sense. But I will neither confirm nor deny any trauma to such nature actually existing for Sanzo in my story.

According to the fandom wiki, Sanzo is ambidextrous. It levels up Sanzo's coolness factor just that much more!

Such a touching scene with Kougaiji. You'll start to see more of the Prince's feelings towards her and vice versa in upcoming chapters. Doku is a good bro.

With Yaone fighting to hold back her tears through the whole chapter, I feel it shows well that she is "human." Even having to deal with life and death on a regular basis in combat, having something that traumatic happen would still shake her. Plus, the whole uncertainty of a future facing against a deadly madman only adds to it. I totally feel her.

Yaone is finally admitting her feelings! Progress!

Aww, the feels when Sanzo wraps his arm around Yaone when she is crying! :3