Choices Made
By vez
No matter what people thought, or what they were led to believe, the Sanzo ikkou were not immortal. Yes, they were stronger than the average youkai. They were even strong enough to take on the higher ranked demons. However, they were not the strongest ones around. The universe is always trying to teach someone a lesson. In the Sanzo ikkou's case, it was: no matter how strong you are, there will always be someone stronger than you.
The fight had been going as well as expected. A whole army of youkai had attacked them. What else in new? Instead of the mediocre ones that the ikkou usually come across, this army was slightly different. They came off as being somewhat intelligent and miraculously, actually seem to be following an attack strategy. According to Murphy, anything bad that can happen will happen. Not only did they encounter intelligent and obviously strong youkai, the same youkai or their leader had sat a trap for them. Of cause, they had to fall for the trap.
Being severely battered and bruised, Gojyo found himself separated from Hakkai and Sanzo. The explosion the youkai group set off had ensured that the two wouldn't be coming to his aid anytime soon. Gojyo looked around for the monkey and cursed. This was definitely the work of someone with brains. Divide and conquer.
Meanwhile…All he could feel was pain and heat. He gritted his teeth. Yes, a lot of pain. Too much pain is not good. There was a heavy weight on top of him. If he could only open his eyes. Genjo Sanzo would not let an explosion get the better of him. Summoning every ounce of willpower in his being, he opened up his eyes and tried to sit up. One out of two isn't bad. When he did open his eyes, he saw what the weight on top of him was. Hakkai. There were copious amounts of blood on Hakkai and burns. With a certain amount of trepidation, Sanzo reached out to touch his lover's face.
"Hakkai? Are you alright?"
Before anything could happen, a series of small explosions rocked the earth. Sanzo couldn't do anything except to witness rocks and debris falling on him. All he could do was hold on to Hakkai before all went black.
Too many hours later…Gojyo stood looking out the window as he smoked. Every time he took a puff his damn side ached but he didn't care. He needed the nicotine. Even the corrupt monk would agree to that. Speaking about the monk, Gojyo turned around to look at the monkey. Goku was sitting on the bed not doing or saying anything. He was just sitting there being quiet and looking at his hands.
Silence and Goyjo didn't sit well together. He never liked silences and never will. He went over to the kid and ruffled his hair. "Don't worry, they'll be fine. Sanzo and Hakkai are too stubborn to die."
Large golden eyes looked up hopefully at him. " But did you see them? When we found them buried under all those rocks, they weren't moving at all. They looked…" at this juncture Goku trailed off unable to continue his words. The five hundred year old could not imagine a life without his Sun. What type of world could exist without a Sun?
Their conversation was interrupted by the opening of the door. The healer who was tending to Hakkai and Sanzo walked in. Her tired visage was not exactly what Gojyo wanted to see.
"Sensei? Will they be ok?" Goyjo asked.
She didn't answer and only motioned for both of them to sit down. "Your friends have both sustained serious injuries. I'm afraid I don't have good news." She paused as she looked at their reactions.
" I'm afraid I have to ask you to do something very difficult. You see, I'm the only healer here. I only have two hands and my apprentice can only do so much. Both your friends need me to tend to their injuries. I can't help both of them at the same time. You have to choose who I tend to first."
This was when Goyjo exploded. "You can't expect us to choose! They're our friends! Both of 'em. Aren't you the doctor? Tend to whoever who needs it most."
The healer sighed; She wasn't surprised by the outburst. "In normal circumstances, yes, it's my decision. Your friends have different injuries but those injuries are equally life threatening. I did my best to help them both but I can only concentrate on one patient at a time. Who will it be?"
In other words lady, you want us to choose. Who do we want to live? Hakkai or Sanzo. Yup. What an easy decision.
Hakkai was the balance of the group. Without him, Sanzo would have probably killed all of them with his harisen or the exorcism gun. Either that or Goku would have died of hunger. Hakkai took care of them and was the unofficial mother hen. He cooks, cleans and most importantly protected them from Sanzo's wrath.
But how can you possibly compare Hakkai to Sanzo? Sanzo was the undisputed leader of this journey to the west. What he says goes. He was the great Genjo Sanzo, guardian of the Evil Sutra. It was he that the Gods gave the mission to stop Gyumao's resurrection. Of course, none can forget that this monk was irritable and was in a constant bad mood. He curses, he drinks and gambles. Like it or not he was the highest ranking monk in the world. And the world needs him.
Hakkai was a youkai right? He was real strong. Between the four of them, it was always Sanzo who was injured the most seriously. In fact, more often than not, it was Hakkai who ended up taking care of them.
Fact: Youkai heal faster than humans. Even Sanzos. Besides, Hakkai was no ordinary youkai. Therefore, he would heal even faster than normal youkais. Right?
So, Hakkai, being stronger, should be able to hold on a bit longer that Sanzo. He could afford to be healed second. Right?
The decision was made in a split second. Gojyo and Goku came to the same conclusion. In unison they gave the healer their decision: "Sanzo first."
To be continued….
Author's note: Well, that's it for the first part. Minna san, hope you all liked it. As I always say, if you liked it please review it *smiles* The more you review, the faster the next part will come….