Heeeeellllllllooooooooo!!! I know, I'm way too cheerful right now ... blame it on sugar. The
votes are in, and they are, drumroll please ::enter long drumroll::

Goku/Mako-5
Sanzo/Mako-3
Gojyo/Mako-2

and nobody voted for any other pairings ... looks like you've all set Sanzo up to have his little
bitty heart broken, but I've got something planned to fix that.
Here's chapter nine, enjoy!
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Much, much later, after Goku had dragged Hakkai, Makoto and Rei down to the inn restaraunt for a
three course meal, the two girls sat in a room of their own, which Hakkai had rented for them.
Rei sat on the window sill, looking out, letting the warm breeze into the room. Makoto lay
sprawled on her bed. The world for her was upside down, as she hung off the bed so that her head
was nearly on the floor.
"Ne, Mako-chan, what is going to happen to us now? This is not our world, we do not
belong here. We have to get back home somehow."

Makoto glanced at Rei, whose back was still turned toward her. A small smile wound its way on
her lips, knowing that the girl was worried about her grandfather and Yuichiro.
"I'm sure they're fine, Rei-chan. If we were truely needed home, someone would have come
for us, don't you think?"
"I suppose so ... "
"You're right 'bout this not being our world, Rei-chan, but we're gonna have to do
*something* before we can go back. That's always how it goes in movies."

Rei looked over her shoulder and Makoto and gave her a look that suggested the other girl was
insane.
"Movies? This is not a movie, this is life."
"It may as well be a movie. How many people you know have to fight with long clawed
monsters on a daily basis? And don't say that we do, you know what I mean."
"Not many," Rei admitted.

Makoto winced as she felt all the blood rushing to her head. She raised a hand and gave Rei a
hopeful look.
"A little help here?"

The Senshi of Mars laughted and moved to give Makoto a hand up. They sat on the bed, hands
clasped, smiling for a second or two. Even after being apart with no memories, they still found
it easy to confide in each other and be at ease with themselves.
"We will get home somehow. Back to our princess, ne? She must be worried ... unless she
has lost her memories," Rei sighed, "I miss her eating habits already."
"Goku's a good subsistute," Makoto quipped with a grin.
"Iie. He is not messy enough," the other returned with a grin.

A loud *thud* sounded on the wall, coming from next door, and a faint "I heard that" came
through. The girls looked at the wall, blinked, and fell over laughing. They laughed until they
found it hard to breathe, and so were forced to stop laughing. As soon as the pain passed,
though, they looked at each other and started laughing again. Eventually they sobered up and sat
silently for a while, each girl making sure that she could talk without falling back into
laughter.
"This is the way I wish life could be like all the time," Makoto sighed wistfully, "Lots
of laughing and stupid jokes and, oh hell, even the fighting. A normal routine in which I *don't*
have to worry about when my next death will be."

Rei shot Makoto a look of surprise and opened her mouth to interrupt, but was silenced by a wave.
"I do miss our princess. I would still give my life to protect her, but I want to know
when someone would give their life to save *me*. You know what it was like for me to try and get
a boyfriend back home. I know it sounds selfish, but every time I saw other couples ... "
"Oh, Mako-chan ... You will find someone. I believe there is someone for everyone. You
may just be looking in the wrong places."
"I am *not* like that."
"I did not say that!" Rei said with a small smile, "You just take my words too much to
heart."

Makoto opened her mouth to protest, but no sound came out. She closed her mouth and looked deep
in thought, then re-opened it and raised a finger, but thought the better of it and did not say
anything. She put her finger to her mouth and frowned slightly, then her eyes lit up and she
smiled, opening her mouth ... but no sound came out. Finally she shrugged and nodded.
"I guess you're right."
"Of course I am right. I am always right."

The Senshi of Jupiter stared slack-jawed at her friend, unable to tell if the miko was joking or
not. Rei kept up a wonderful straight face ... for about a minute. Then she broke down laughing
and Makoto realised she had been kidding.
"Mou ... Rei-chan!"
"Gomen ne, Mako-chan."
"Iie, daijobu," the brunette grinned, "You had me worried there, though. I though you'd
gone all self-righteous on me for a second, like our dear Sanzo."
"I'm not *that* bad! That man could freeze icicles if he wanted to."
"A-ha! She speaks like she used to!"
"You're just a bad influence for a 'proper' lady, Mako-chan."
"You know I try."
"Don't remind me," Rei rolled her eyes with a smile.

Makoto grinned delightedly. This was the Rei she knew. The firey temepered shrine maiden who
shunned regular boys and lived with her grandfather and harbored a crush on Yuuchiro, which she
thought she kept secret, but really did not.
"Ne, ne, what's going on with you and Goku?" Rei suddenly asked.

The brunette looked at her friend, shocked.
"Be-betsuni!" she stuttered.

Rei looked at her with a knowing smile.
"Suuure. Come on, Mako-chan, tell me! I've seen the way you look at him."
"Kare o kawaii, hai, demo ... "
"Demo nani?"
"I don't think he likes me. Either that, or he's oblivious."

The Senshi of Mars wrinkled her nose.
"I'm betting on oblivious. All men are," she grinned.
"Am I allowed in, or will I be interrupting girl talk?" Hakkai's voice asked through the
door.
"Come in, Hakkai," Makoto called.

The door opened and the said man walked in, a smile plastered on his face. He closed the door
and sat on Rei's bed, studying the girls.
"Sanzo wants us to move out. If you are not going to come with us, then you are free to
stay here. Otherwise we're leaving in precisely two hours."
"Hai. We'll be ready."
"Yoshi. ... I'm glad you're staying, Makoto. And I'm glad you have a friend *other* than
the four of us. Welcome to the Sanzo party, Rei."

Rei smiled at him. She liked this man already.
"Arigatou, Hakkai-san. I'm glad to be here."
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

If the car had been crowded with five bodies in it, then it was now a trash compactor. The four
occupants of the back seat of Hakuryu were totally squished together, and more often than not
Makoto found herself halfway on Goku's lap. Not to say that she truely *minded* being shoved
into the lap of her crush, but it was still uncomfortable.
Gojyo seemed to be better now. He was not as tired as he had been and was eating again, for
which they all were glad, though only Makoto and Hakkai showed it. Rei, of course, did not know
what had happened before she had joined up with them, and so could not be expected to be worried
over the red head.

"Are we there yet?" Goku asked.

Sanzo groaned mentally. He knew what was coming, and he did not like it, not one little bit.
"No, we are *not* there yet. If we were there, than we wouldn't be *here*," he snapped.
"Oh ... " Goku paused, "So, are we gonna be there soon?"
"If Hakkai drives faster."
"I'm afraid I can't," the healer sighed, "This area is much too rocky to go any faster."
"So ... when are we gonna be there?" Goku asked.
"In an hour or so."
"But that's so *long* ... "
"Goku!"
"Nani?"
"Urasei! I'm trying to sleep here!" Makoto boinked him on the head.

Then she snuggled down into his warmth, which was increasingly more comforting now that the sun
was setting. That, of course, immediately shut the Earth youkai up and she giggled. Rei snorted
and moved closer to Gojyo, not out of a crush, but out of her being cold. The red head knew
this, though he thought she was beautiful, and allowed her to. Sanzo growled under his breath,
how *dare* Goku let Makoto sit on his lap?
Would you, Almighty Sanzo-sama? ... That's what I thought.

The monk cursed himself. He had made himself so impossible to reach, how could he expect Makoto
to ever try and get him to open up? He sighed and resigned himself to the fate of being forced
to watch as she and Goku grew closer.
Who knows? One of these days I'll probably wind up having to push them together. he
snorted, Oh the wonderful life of me.
"Sanzo?" Hakkai asked.

That was all he needed to ask, really, Sanzo noted. Hakkai had a way with words that just a
single one could mean a whole sentence. For once, the monk was appreciative of that talent, for
he did *not* want Hakkai to ask him what was wrong out loud.
"Maybe later."
"Aa."

Hakkai smiled at him, and Sanzo nodded. At this point he did not think he knew *how* to smile.
"Minna-san, we'll be there shortly. Makoto, don't get too comfortable back there, I will
*not* carry you through town."
"Meanie."
"Precisely."

Inwardly Sanzo smiled. He would not say that he was sorry, not outloud, but he would find a way
to get that point across.
Even if it takes away your pride? a cold voice whispered in the back of his head.

The monk was startled, but did not show it. He *did* however, show the tiniest of smiles.
Hai.

~Owari, chapter 9~

Gomen nasai, minna-san. I know this isn't my best chapter out to date, but I *promise* the next
one will be better. Things around here are crazy and ... I WANT MORE REVIEWS!!! *Please*! I'm
*begging* you to review!