Disclaimer: Would I be writing this if I owned Saiyuki? No. Also if I did, I wouldn't be known as GirlWithNoLife, now would I? I do own Tsuki though!
Summary: Sanzo's secret has finally been revealed! Now that the boys all know Sanzo's a girl, emotions are going haywire! And with Sanzo's death closely approaching, what is she to do? And who are these strange gods that keep appearing? And who of the boys will win Sanzo's heart?
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After Tsuki had dragged Goku out of the bar, he summoned a cloud and flew them to a mountain that seemed familiar to Goku, but he couldn't quite place it. Susanowa had taken in Gojyo and Hakkai to train them in a different sort of magic that he said wouldn't be right for Goku.
Speaking of Goku, he was seriously starting to regret his decision to ask Tsuki to teach him magic. As soon as they had reached the mountain, Tsuki had put him to worry right away, making him carry boulders, stand under water falls in the middle of the night, and he had him stand on one hand a top a very narrow rock in a canyon while balancing two mini boulders on each leg. But what had to be the worst was that Tsuki had turned the whole forest into a large house of torture by setting all sorts of traps, so he never knew what was going to pop up.
"Remind me," he said on the third day of training as he carried a boulder up a hill. "Why am I doing this?"
"Because you're a love sick school boy who's lost his girl and wants to someone win her back." Tsuki said as he sat atop the boulder Goku was carrying while eating Ramen. "You know, they could write a song about you. May I'll do. Yeah, I could do the blues."
"Not that! I meant why am I carrying this huge rock!!" Goku yelled. "And do you have to eat? It's bad enough you're riding, but this is torture!"
"What? Being a sensei is hard work. Gotta keep up my energy." Tsuki said as he took another surp. "And the reason you're carrying this rock is because we need to get your body stronger. Remember what I told ya while back? If you're body can't handle the magic will eat ya and you die."
"Yeah, I remember that, but I'm a demon! I'm already strong!" Tsuki finished his ramen.
"Oh, so you think because you're a demon you should get special treatment?" Then flipped down and kicked Goku from out under the boulder and then, still doing the flip, landed the boulder on the ground as Goku flew into an area where he hid some spikes.
"Whoa!" Goku cried as he barely dodged them. Tsuki smirked.
"Play in there awhile." he said as he watched Goku get hit by a swinging log. Then he looked up towards the afternoon sun.
'We're running out of time. I'm going to have to take it up a notch if we're going to be ready in time.' he turned his attention to Goku, who was now barely dodging the swing pengalum. 'Goku... In the next three days you're going to find out things that are best left forgotten or never found out. But if you're going to have a future with anybody, then you're gonna have to know. I'm not even sure how all this is going to turn out. But... I have to try. This has to work. Otherwise, the mission Kannon sent you on will never be complete and this world is doomed.'
//Meanwhile//
Elsewhere, far across the eastern sea board in a ancient Chinese palace, Sanzo found herself on a pillowly soft bed. When she opened her eyes she saw that the bed was in the center of some kind of garden that held many types of flowers and a peach tree. There was also a small pond where many pink lotus floated.
"I see you're awake at last." a soft voice said from behind her. Sanzo whipped around and saw a woman with snow white hair that glittered like freshly polished diamonds and ruby red eyes. She wore a white kimono with a pink shawl. Sanzo immediately scrambled up, almost stumbling into the pond.
"Who are you?!" she demanded. She reached for her gun only find it wasn't there. The woman calmly stared at her as she walked towards the bed.
"I am Bai SuZhen. You may know me as Madam White Snake." she said as she sat down. "My master asked me to look after you for a while."
"And just who is your master?" Sanzo asked with a fierce glare. Bai was unhindered though.
"My master is Susunowa. The lord of the storm. He is the source of my magic after all." she said.
"Why would he care about me?" Sanzo asked, still not trusting her.
"Because his brother cares so much about you." Then Bai held her hand out to her. "Won't you sit down? I'm sure you're still recovering from our battle."
"Battle?" Then it all came flowing back to her, the woman with the drum, Goku.... She whip her head around.
"He's not here," Bai told her. "None of them are. Don't you remember? You summoned me to defeat the one who hurt your beloved and when the battle was over you ran away from them." Sanzo looked at her reflection. She remembered what happened now. All of it. "They are all fine. Lord Tsuki is with them." Sanzo looked away from her reflection.
"Ch! Like I care about them! I don't care about them. I'm better off without them. And they're better off without me."
"Why is it you can only say that when you're not looking at your reflection?" Sanzo was silent for a moment, then she began to walk away.
"I don't have time for this. I have places to go and things to do."
"But not enough time to do so." At this Sanzo froze and so Bai continued. "You only have two weeks left. You'll never make it to India in time. Especially on foot." Sanzo whipped towards her.
"Then what do you want me to do?! Just stay and die here?! Why are you here anyway?! Why am I here?!"
"Because you need to be." Bai said as she stood and walked towards her. When she was close enough, she reached her hand out to her. "Koumyou would be very sad if he could see you at this moment."
"Shut up!!" Sanzo cried as she slapped her hand away. "What do you know about him?!" Bai gave her a sad look of pity.
"I know he loved you and he would be very sad to see you torture yourself like this." she said. "You love him, don't you?" Sanzo immediately knew she was talking about Goku and she felt her heart tighten.
"No! No I don't! I don't love anyone! He's just a stupid monkey who wouldn't go away!" she cried. She felt as if she was being back into a corner and there was no where to run. "He's... He's a kid! I'm 6 years older than him! And he's a demon! I'm a priest! There's no way I can love him. Not to mention he's a stupid child who whines too much, eats like a glutton, and is always trying to show off his muscles." Every time she tried to come up with a reason not to love him, she began to think of reason to love him.
'He's sweet as hell, completely naive, always dependable... and always, always there for me even when I don't want him to be.'
"Why do you care anyway?! I have nothing to do with you! You can't possibly understand!" At this Bai stared at her reflection in the lake.
"A long time ago when I still just a snake, I dreamed of becoming a goddess, so I took on human form and went to the human realm for the first time. There I met another snake demon, Xiao Qing, Lady Green Snake to you, who caused disasters in the area she lives. Feeling sorry for the people and hoping this would help me in my quest to become a goddess, I used my powers to hold her captive at the bottom of a lake before promising her that I'll come back in three hundred years to free her. Three hundred years I kept my promise and freed her. I then made her my sister, for by that time I had become lonely in the world and wished to have someone I felt 'safe' around me." she said. Sanzo didn't know why, but she felt as if the story was calming her down.
"Then while traveling we met a sorcerer called FaHai who like Rikudo, believed that every demon should be eliminated. But FaHai also knows that I was already in the process of becoming a goddess. He couldn't eliminate then so he vowed that he will destroy us if he sees us again. Back then I paid him no mind, for I thought I would soon become a goddess. But I'm afraid I was wrong.
Qing and I cane to rest in a half world called Ban Bu Duo where we tried our hardest to do good things by bringing rain to a places that hasn't had any water for three years. But Qing causes a great disaster which almost flooded the whole town. Being her elder sister, I took half the blame.
I lost my chance of becoming a goddess, but Lady Kannon informs her that I may have another opportunity if I defeats one of the lord of the underworld.
However when had opened the portal to the underworld we had accidentally brought a scholar Xu Xian and his friend to the demon world and now it was up to me to protect them from the demons. It wasn't that easy I assure you. Xu Xian was such a child and scaredy cat. It was quite annoying. And yet... I came to love him. But I was too afraid to tell him.
Then after the battle with the 8th lord of the underworld, Xu Xian confesses his feelings for me, claiming that from the first time he saw me it was like love at first sight. I was shocked and happy when I heard this, but I didn't tell him I felt the same, in fact I told him that his love was merely an illusion for my looks and nothing more, for I knew that in order for a human to go back to the human world they would have to be knocked by ghosts who would make them forget everything. Xu Xian knew about this so he avoided getting knocked much to my surprise, but... Just when he is about to go into the other realm that accursed FaHai tricks him into being knocked.
Now Xu Xian was back in the human world and has forgotten everything. I told myself it was for the best and returned to my quest.
Soon after I takes the final step to becoming a goddess, though I sees Xu Xian with another girl and I assumes that they are a couple. It was then that I could no longer deny that I was in love with Xu Xian and wished to be with him. Even though it was forbidden and meant I would have to give up all I had worked for. I wanted to be with him.
I confirmed this to Qing who told me that Xu Xian may have gotten knocked by the ghosts, but when Xu Xian saw me again, Xu Xian will again fall in love with me once more. So I turns down the chance to become a goddess and met Xu Xian once again. At first he didn't remember me at all, but I kept talking to him and never gave up. I realized I loved him and never wanted to let him go again. Eventually we got married and open a medicine shop. For a brief time, we live happily like lovers should.
But since demons and humans aren't supposed to marry, the town was struck by a plague and was soon on the verge of becoming extinct. After many hours of fighting, Qing, FaHai and, I finally agree to a truce and obtain the magical herb needed to help the population.
I later realized that I was pregnant. I was terrified at first, not knowing what to do. But Xu Xian talked to me and soon made me feel happy. I was... Happy to be expecting a child. I wanted it. More than anything I wanted to see the child Xu Xian and I had created together.
But Fahai had not given up on trying to eliminate Qing and I. One day while she was out, a follower of Fahai tricked me into drinking wine, which makes all snakes weak, thus forcing me to my true form. When Xian saw my hideous form, he was literally to death. Not wanting to lose him, I retrieved a herbal medicine from heaven and brought him back to life. I then tell him that he had a bad dream. I was so afraid he'd reject me if he ever found out the truth and leave me. I would have rather live a lie... than live alone.
But after giving birth to her son I can't control herself anymore and was forced to tell my husband the truth about my origins. I was ready for him to reject me and my child, but her then to my surprise... he accepted me. For who I was, not what. I was the happiest person in the world at that moment... But then Fahai attacked and in my weakened state I couldn't defend myself and so I was sealed in the Leifeng Pagoda for centuries.
I never saw my husband, or my son again." Bai finally finished. Sanzo didn't look at her. She couldn't for some reason.
"What... does that story have to do with me?" she finally asked. Bai gave her a motherly smile.
"When I met Qing, I wanted a 'sister' cause I knew a sister would be near me, but wouldn't hurt me a lover could. You wanted someone safe too, so you chose Koumyou to love as a father. Now you're afraid to tell Goku you love him, like I was of Xu Xian."
"Ch! If your story is suppose to inspire me, you're wrong! Things still went wrong even after you told you loved him!" Sanzo snapped. She stood and walked back to the bed. Bai simply smiled.
"Yes. Bad things did happen even after telling him I loved him." she said. "But even if I knew things were going to end badly, I would know I still would have told him. Because even though those times were hard, because he was with me... Those moments became bearable. You feel the same about Goku." At the mention of his name, she stiffened but didn't say anything. So Bai continued. "Even though he's annoying, and is always so much trouble, you love being with him. Even though it's painful, it's better than before isn't it? Could you go back to the way things were before you met him." Sanzo knew the answer to that right away.
'No...' she thought. 'No I don't. He's so annoying and far more trouble than he's worth... but.... I like it. It's better than those years I spent wandering alone.'
"E....Even if I did, it doesn't matter now." she said as she turned her head away. "It's only two weeks before the eclipse. By then I'll be dead. Even if I did feel that way, how could I tell him when I would just die a few days later?" Bai gave her a sad look and Sanzo let her touch her shoulder.
"Your path... is hazy and confusing. But still it is a path you must walk. No matter how painful it is. The question is... Will you walk it alone, or will you let someone walk next you?"
//Meanwhile Flower mountain//
"Will you quit whinin' already! Jeeze! You're such a baby!"
"But it's freezing! I'm gonna turn into an ice cube soon!" Goku shivered as he stood under the waterfall. It was the middle of the night and unlike most people who would be sleeping at this time, he was getting a bath!
"Well, then I'll have ice for my ice tea tomorrow." Tsuki said as he worked on his song.
"Aw, c'mon! I'm tired!"
"You got your sleep remember?"
"I hit a frickin' tree!"
"Is it my fault you can't see what's in front of your own face?" Tsuki said as he pocketed his song. Then he hopped on a rock closer to him. "Alright, listen up. Tomorrow I'm going start teachin' you real magic. Hocus Pocus and all."
"Really?" Goku said with big eyes. "Bout time!"
"But first, I gotta tell you some of the basics," Tsuki continued. "First off there three types of magic: Sun magic, Moon magic, and storm magic. Now this where it's going to be kinda hard. See, my magic moon based like Sanzo, yours however is sun based like my sister."
"Meaning?"
"Meaning that if she was here, you could learn a lot better, but since she's not, we're going to wing it." Tsuki said. Then he pulled out a bar of soap. "Now scrub yourself. You stink!"
"I thought this was training!"
"It is. But it's also your bath. Now wash yerself before I give you a rub down." Grumbling Goku began to wash himself.
"Are you sure you know what you're doing?"
"Course I do! And if I don't, may lightening strike me!" Right after he said that though, lightening suddenly zapped him! "Yeow!! Susanowa!!" he yelled looking at his white haired brother.
"Hey, you asked." he smirked.
"Did you want something?!" Susanowa then became serious and motioned for Tsuki to follow him, who complied. "Stay, Saru-chan."
"I'm not a monkey!! Or girl!"
"Tell that to the doujinshi artists." Then the two gods left.
"So what's up? Where Kai-chan(Hakkai) and Go-kun(Gojyo)?" Tsuki asked when they were far enough.
"Back at the tower, sleeping." Susanowa said simply.
"Together?" Susanowa gave him a flat look. "Eh, heh. Sorry! Just kiddin'. But seriously, why you here?" Susanowa looked up at the sky.
"Wherever Amaterasu has hidden herself, it's a good hiding place. I couldn't find her." he said.
"Oh." Tsuki said as he looked at the ground.
"However..." Tsuki perked up. "I did find Uzume. If anyone knows where she is, it's her."
"Ah! That's right! Uzume was Ama-chan's best friend! She'll defiantly know." Tsuki said.
"Yes, she'll know, but will she tell you?"
"She will. I have... ways after all." Tsuki then began to walk in the direction where Goku was hiding in a bush. He grabbed him by his hair. "C'mon, monkey! Time for your rub down."
"Ow! No way let go! Let go!" Goku cried as he tried to escape.
"Hey, I warned ya. Now stop acting like a monkey and take it like a man."
"Nooo!!"
Susanowa sighed as he watched them.
'Konzen must like idiots.' he thought as he watched his little brother. His eyes became sad. 'I wonder... if he knew that Konzen was pregnant when he killed her. If he did then...' He couldn't even finish that thought as the look on his brother's face flashed through his mind when he killed Konzen. That look of despair, turmoil, pain... and complete and utter suffering.
"Hey, Susa-nii!" Tsuki called back. "Could you gimme a hand? Go-chan's being unreasonable!"
"Lemme go! I don't need a bath!"
"Wanna put that to a vote?" Susanowa then got an evil smirk that made both of them stiffen.
"A bath? Alright. I'll give you a hand." He then snapped his fingers a small flood came from the river and towards Tsuki and Goku, who grabbed each other.
"AIIIEE!!Okay! I'll take a bath! I'll take a bath!" Goku yelled.
"Don't just stand there idiot, run! Run! Run for your dirty life!" Tsuki cried, already running. Goku quickly followed. They tried to out run the flood, but as we know that is impossible and so they were washed away. When the water returned to the river the forest was perfectly fine and Goku and Tsuki were so clean they were sparkling.
"Brother has bad personality." Tsuki twitched.
"Just like little brother." Goku muttered. Susanowa just smirked as he walked pass them.
"See you later moron, Moron's student."
//Meanwhile//
Far away in small town, Uzume was sitting atop a roof watching young lovers laughing together. This made her angry as a memory came to her.
"Homura.... If you never leave me, I swear I'll never leave you, okay? That way we don't have to be alone anymore." she said to him as she hugged him back. "So promise you won't leave, okay?"
"I promise."
"Liar... Liar!" she yelled as she slammed the drum on her back into the roof. "Liar..." she whimpered as the shone down on her.
"Does... Does real love even exist? Is even real?" she asked it. Her tears glowed in the moon light and she thought of Tsuki and Konzen. "It does exist. It does and those two have it. And I won't let anyone destroy it. No one!!"
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Well, there's a big supporter of the Tsuki/Konzen love. Let's see, let's see what will happen next? You want to find out? Then you know what to do.
Review!!