A Fools Dream
Chapter: 6
They were driving now…or rather; Hakkai was driving now, taking the four of them, plus their temporary passenger towards their destination, and aiming for a stop along the way to a town, some miles away. Despite the crazy way of driving, the receptive youkai had, Gojyo had to be honest with himself, he loved the way the wind blew through his hair, it was a good relaxant sometimes, but not something to rely upon. The sound of light, lilting laughter caught his attention, and he looked to see Ena, a passenger he was not too keen on taking with them, laughing along with Goku, obviously about something the latter had said. He wondered why they were bringing her with them, but Sanzo's word was word, and his reasons were his reasons…something he didn't wish to challenge, unless he was willing to have some cranial ventilation installed any time soon.
He kept his vision set in a way that it appeared as though he was looking off into the distance, when he was actually studying the interaction between Goku and the woman, her soft brown hair blowing in the makeshift wind. The young youkai was sitting in the middle; his back turned towards the half-breed as he spoke animatedly with their new passenger, who listened intently to whatever the teen was talking about. He continued to watch for some time, wondering where on earth she had the patience to listen to the youth's ramblings, when the sudden and subtle turn of her attention caught him off guard. Her deep, brown eyes flashed towards him, and he blinked and turned away, focusing his attention on the darkening horizon, signalling the drawing of nightfall. 'Looks like we're camping out tonight…guess it'll be nice under the stars every so often…' he thought, as he leaned back in his seat, folding his arms behind his head, and gazed up at the reddish-orange of the sky, bearing the slightest hint of purple-blue.
He continued to gaze into the depthless sky above, his thoughts wandering…it was too windy to have a cigarette, considering if he wanted to light one, he'd most likely choke on the smoke and ash, or the item itself would fly out of his hand, carried away, never to be smoked in its short life. Against his will, his mind went back to Sanzo and his odd decision…as far as he was concerned, the woman wasn't worth their time, considering she had lied to them when they first met, then behaved in a very suspicious manner when he had confronted her, and according to Goku, she had waited for Sanzo outside the inn since early morning, and upon sighting him requested his audience, and supposedly apologised for the earlier events that had taken place between them. Now, she was travelling with them to some destination she didn't wish to disclose, 'I don't care if he blows my head open, I need to confront him about this…something's not right, and I need to know what's up with him,' the redhead thought, his mind set on the goal to find answers, even if he had to wait a long time.
The popping crackle of the gathered wood sounded, vaguely heard above the sounds of Goku filling his belly, as they burned, consumed in an effort to keep the dancing, mesmerising orange-yellow flames, which reached towards the sky, offering the warmth it produced to those gathered about the small pyre. Gojyo was eating, what he could manage to get a hold of, in silence, every so often shooting a dark glare towards the young youkai, who seemed to have sprouted a few extra arms, thus leading to a rapid decline in the night's meal. Sanzo sat in silence, having eaten his fill, and was now debating with himself, on whether to intervene with the inevitable confrontation that the two still eating were going to have.
He drew the hand holding his lit cigarette away, holding the mix of flavours for a little longer, then slowly exhaled as he turned his attention to Hakkai, who like him had eaten his fill, and was now tending to his small, winged friend. He studied the two of them, an odd pair…a man and his dragon, sort of raised the question on how the two met, but he didn't feel like troubling himself, and to be honest…didn't quite care, so long as things were agreeable between them. His violet eyes continued to wander, then suddenly snagged upon the sight of grey, against the darkening shade of brown of a tree. He focused on the object, and saw they were robes, which led onto the young face of a woman. She had chosen to sit away from the group, finding a suitable spot under a tree some way away, seeking warmth from a simple woollen blanket, as she sipped at the honey-laced tea she had brought with her in a flask. Her wide-brimmed hat lay beside her, propped upon her weapon that was placed into the earth. She would often look up, gazing through the branches, catching small peaks of the dark sky above, dotted with the white lights of the stars, her expression unreadable from this point of view.
Sanzo continued to watch her, wondering why he had allowed her to travel with them…of course he had sought Hakkai's opinion, but still…there was something…something about her that seemed a bit off, and he intended to find out what it was. His attention was caught suddenly, as the green-eyed man beside him stood up, having been watching the same woman. He watched as the other proceeded to walk towards her, Hakuryuu perched above his shoulders, 'Guess there's always next time…' he thought, then continued to draw on the cigarette.
"Hi," came the pleasant greeting, voiced by one whose tone was gentle and kind. Ena's attention was caught, pulling her gaze from the stars above, and looked upon the smiling features of Cho Hakkai. She smiled in return, and nodded, allowing him to take a seat beside her, as the white dragon moved from his shoulders to his lap, "Nice night, huh…" he said, trailing off as he too looked up. The brown-haired woman smiled, and giggled silently, then nodded in agreement.
"Yep…can't see much from here though…but all the same, it's a nice night," she commented, looking up for a short while, before bringing her eyes down and meeting his kind gaze. She looked away from his eyes, and saw Hakuryuu, it's head cocked to one side as it studied her.
"How come you're here…on your own?" he asked, his tone similar to that of a child coming over to speak with another, who is on their own, while everyone else is together. Ena didn't answer the question immediately, instead she reached out a hand and stroked the fine hairs along the small dragons neck, laughing lightly as it took pleasure from the contact, pushing its head further into her palm.
"It's so cute…" she cooed, then looked up to meet Hakkai's patient gaze, "…I like being on my own…" she answered at length, withdrawing her hand as she placed it in her lap, "…allows me to sort out my thoughts and think about things…tell me…why did you come here?" The green-eyed man seemed to be taken aback by the sudden question, and brought a hand up to cup his chin as he thought.
"Hmm…to be honest, I just didn't like the idea of you being alone…Sanzo has Gojyo and Goku," he replied, and as if on cue, the angered tones of the blond monk resounded, along with highly audible sounds of impact, coupled with cries of pain and protest could be heard, as the two youkai were struck with the paper fan. "Haha, guess they were fighting again…oh well, where was I…ah yes, as I was saying, Sanzo's got those two…and well, you haven't really got anyone, I understand it's hard…being with four men, or rather three men and an adolescent, but…don't isolate yourself, okay…" he continued to say, then drifted off as he caught Ena's kind and grateful smile.
"I appreciate it Hakkai…but that isn't the case…" she replied, the smile still on her features, but wilting slightly as she gazed off behind them, towards the small group, where Sanzo continued to dish out some physical abuse, in order to discipline the two. She lost her train of thought as she continued to study them, finding some source of humour from the scene.
"Then what is it?" the dark-haired man asked, catching her attention once again. Ena paused for a moment, trying to remember what had been said earlier, then the sad smile returned, and she continued to explain.
"I think I'm destined to be alone…otherwise I'll only bring pain, also…we kind of started on the wrong foot, and I don't think I've made up for it yet…" she turned away from his gaze, and chose to look off into the distance, watching the swaying of the branches and listening to the rustle of the leaves, as the light breeze played through the trees opposite her. A gentle hand rested upon her shoulder, and she turned to see the kind man smiling softly, finding humour in her words.
"Nonsense…you lied to protect yourself, don't worry about it…believe me, I'm sure we'd all like to get to know you better…even if it's hard to tell," he said, allowing his hand to move away from her and rest atop Hakuryuu's back. Ena's deep brown eyes looked up at him, unspoken surprise marking her features, as what he said sunk in. He accepted her, regardless of his comrades, and yet…he spoke for them, believing that even if they chose not to show it openly, except for Goku, they would actually enjoy her company…even if it was temporary.
"H-Hakkai…please, don't say such things-" she began to say, but was cut off, as the green-eyed man raised a hand, and placed her with a sad gaze 'A person who has committed as much evils as I…does not deserve the chance I was given…who would ever like to know who I am, or was…I doubt Kanan would welcome me, now…' he thought, then smiled warmly, causing the sad expression to last only a few moments, as he brightened a bit.
"Now… how old are you? How is it that you fight so well? Who raised you, and why do you travel about dressed as a monk? These are questions, which we four are thinking about…" he said, then paused, bringing up a hand to his chin, as he thought aloud, "well…I hope Goku is thinking about the same thing, poor child, usually thinks about food…anyway," he started again, coming out of his moment of thought, "we're curious to know about those main things…so when you're ready, start your introduction by answering those questions, okay," he explained, smiling politely, and ending his small tutorial on what the four of them needed to know. Ena stared silently at him, words failing her as she tried to reply to them here and now. He watched her reaction to his words, and couldn't help but laugh lightly…'Such a beautiful sound…' she thought, causing herself to turn away and blush lightly, "There's no need to answer now, as I said when you're ready, then answer them," he said, then came to his feet, after allowing Hakuryuu to take up its perch upon his shoulder. He dusted at his behind and turned towards the others, who were preparing to turn in for the night, "Anyway, I'll see you in the morning, sleep well," he ended, and then began to walk away, leaving her company.
A/N: Hmm…for some reason I feel that this chapter turned out worse than I wanted it to…maybe a minor setback, considering the exams I have coming up…anyways, hope it was alright