"At this rate, we'll reach my community by mid-day." Tripitaka smiled and leaned back on the log, watching the fire in front of her dance and throw shadows across the ground. The darkening sky had no effect on the young woman's optimism, her mind filled with finally seeing her family and friends and her community. However, a small thought plagued her conscious and has been growing since she left the city.

This means…. Monkey will leave…

She glanced over at him, sitting on a stump a foot from her. His face was carefully blank, the way he gets when he's lost in thought. Memories from his own home, perhaps?
She bit her lip, rocking her legs slightly.

What would he say if….

She decided to go ahead and ask him, despite what his reaction might be.

"What will you do when we get there?" She murmured, keeping her eyes locked on the fire. "After I take the headband off?" She waited a moment, then smiled and looked up at him briefly. "Apart from break my neck, I mean."

Monkey didn't even seem to notice. His eyes were staring into the fire as if it held some other significance, one that which Tripitaka was unaware of.

"Go back, I guess."

Her shoulders slumped and she looked at her lap. He'd leave… Of course he'd leave. What do you think he'd do? Stay around and be your personal bodyguard?

"Go back where?"

Monkey was silent for a moment. He hadn't taken his eyes off the fire since they built it. Finally, he sighed. "Wherever. Depends where I can find food and fuel."
He seemed to sense her disappointment and quickly continued. "I-I usually keep moving."

Truth was, he didn't want to leave her. Despite his rough exterior, living alone in the wilds certainly came with a price. Loneliness was one of them. Monkey wasn't usually bothered by it. He kept himself busy, constantly doing errands for traders just to keep his mind from wandering. Besides, he was considered as a feral beast to some people. He just decided he'd cope with being alone, but his heart had other plans.

"Y-You could….. probably stay…."

Trip's hesitant voice made him briefly glance up, only to find that she had her head turned away from him, hiding the embarrassed flush on her cheeks.

"If you wanted…"

She saw him looking over at her from the corner of her eye and her head shot up, panic flashing in her eyes, feeling as if she'd made a mistake.

"I-I'm just saying…. After my father hears about all you've done for me, I know he'll offer you a home."

Both of them were now staring at the fire once more, the silence stretching between them was almost so thick she could choke.

"If that's what you want." She finished, not daring to say anything else in worry she might've upset him.

Monkey still didn't say anything and Tripitaka didn't push him to answer.

He let his mind drift off, thinking about what it would be like to live in a community once more. He could hardly remember his life before. All he knew was it was peaceful and organized and there wasn't crime and everyone had enough to eat and people were happy and care-free. He wanted to go back to that. Before the Mechs, before the fire and the screaming and the chaos and the blood, so much blood. His parent's blood, his little sister's blood, his neighbors, his friends, his relatives….

Monkey heaved a sigh. That was in the past. He'd spent his whole life trying to put that behind him and still hadn't succeeded. Maybe he was hesitant on taking up Tripitaka's offer in fear that it could all happen again. He closed his eyes.

Trip looked at up at the sky, wondering how her parents, Vedes and Ramanyana, would react to her bringing home a handsome, athletic, and completely ripped man. Torah, her sister, would be jealous, that's for sure. Upanishad would go into protective-big-brother-mode, most likely. She smiled as she watched the scene play out in her head. Would Gita, her shy yet vicious little cat, approve of him? Trip had to clamp her hand over her mouth and squeeze her eyes shut to prevent herself from giggling at the image of the small feline latching onto Monkey's face.

It'll all work out well, She told herself, smiling and staring into the dying flames for the 30th time that night. Soon, a yawn forced itself out of her which seemed to snap Monkey out of his trance.

"You're tired. You should sleep."

Tripitaka looked up. "Huh? Ah, no thanks…" She was cut off by another yawn and left gazing sheepishly at him.

"See? Sleep. I'll take watch." Monkey walked over to his motorcycle and pulled a blanket out of the compartment and tossed it to her, before throwing another piece of wood onto the fire and sitting down on he stump once more.

She nodded, put the blanket on the ground and stretched out, staring at the stars in the sky until her eyes fluttered closed and sleep claimed her.

A/N:

HOLY BUTTER FINGERED ICE QUEEN, I actually wrote something other than Resident Evil! :'D
Yes, good sir or madam, I DO plan on finishing this and yes, I DO have everything planned out for later chapters. Which, I must apologize for them being short.
Did anyone notice the cultural references in Trip's family member's names?
And just so you guys know, I'll switch between calling her Trip and Tripitaka alot, so bear with me.

And for any Resident Evil fans…..

Wasn't I working on Common-Place Occurrences?
Well, you see….
I must have ADD, or short/long term memory loss or maybe I was just dropped on my head one to many times when I was younger.
In short, I completely forgot about it. ^^"
And you probably won't be getting a new chapter in a long time,
Long time.
Why? Cause my head is filled with Enslaved and I have no motivation to continue.
Sorry guys. D:

ANYWAY

Next chapter will be up later this week and will actually have interesting things happening it so WHOO! O3o

Till next time, fav, review and all that other business.