The Tūn Jīn Dagger

by WhiteAsh

Before he even started journeying, Sanzo was a collector of items for the Sanbutsushin. What if one of those items was never found!

Opposite Colours

Title: Opposite Colours

Author/Artist: Carolyn Steven

Warnings: PG

Pairing(s): Only hinted at. Goku/Sanzo, Gojyo/Hakkai

Notes: Before he even started journeying, Sanzo was a collector of items for the Sanbutsushin. What if one of those items was never found! Please read!

The Tūn Jīn Dagger.

It was an innocent hobby. Innocent, in the he rarely had time to practice let alone put it to use. Innocent, in that it was stupid, like the words of a child. Still, it was something to do when the sky was so blue and the air was so crisp.

Genjo Sanzo brought his hand back and then launched an orange paper airplane into the sky... only to watch it careen into the ground like a suicidal bat.

"Tch..." he gritted his teeth and stood up from where he'd been sitting on the hood of the jeep, Hakuryuu.

"Kyuu?" Hakuryuu asked in polite curiosity.

"Shut up. It's nothing." Sanzo hated speaking to the dragon. He didn't understand the constant chirps and only vaguely recognized its emotions. Sure, if it was confused he recognized that, but then again, he could recognize confusion in anyone. It was a signal that something annoying would happen, like questions.

He picked up the paper airplane and inspected it. The nose had bent due to its premature crash... but other than that it was flawless. So why had it crashed? He straightened the nose and drew back his arm again to throw it.

"Sanzo!" came Goku's voice. "Sanzo! Come quick! Gojyo found something cool!"

"For the love of... Shut up! I thought you three went down to the river for a swim." Sanzo groaned, having been quite close to being content for once.

"Well, we did... and Gojyo and I were splashing each other, then Gojyo cut his foot on a rock under water and started swearing! He looked in the water and found out it wasn't even a rock! Come look!" Goku called, coming into view. He was wearing his boxers and nothing more, save the golden diadem, but that wasn't hiding much except his underused pate.

"I'd have been happier if he'd bled to death." Sanzo muttered, but began to follow Goku anyway. Hakuryuu transformed back into his usual dragon self and headed along with them.

- River Side -

"Damn it, that hurts!" Gojyo protested as Hakkai finished bandaging his foot.

"My chi healing only goes so far, Gojyo. It was a deep cut." Hakkai smiled.

"Tell me about it." Gojyo groaned. He looked up upon hearing the grumbling complaints of one Genjo Sanzo... vaguely picking out something like 'stupid kappa' from the murmurs. "Well! Seems you do have a heart, Sanzo-chama."

"Shut the hell up. Goku tells me you found something?" Sanzo stated in a half-toned question. The sight of Gojyo in boxers was enough to make him puke... so he did his best to just look disgusted, rather than become overly dramatic.

"Sure did. Looks like some kind of old dagger." Gojyo produced the dagger from the wrappings next to him. It was very, very old. Other than that, Sanzo saw nothing of interest in it.

"And this is supposed to impress me." Sanzo stated flatly.

"Yup! Isn't it cool?" Goku laughed and raced over to Gojyo's side, shoving him over in his attempts to pick up the dagger.

"Uwak! OY! GET YOUR BIG WET BUTT OUTTA MY FACE, MONKEY!" Gojyo shouted and kicked Goku in the back, causing him to throw the dagger. Sanzo caught it, sighing in relief that at least it still had an old sheath to it as well. Gojyo noted Sanzo's interest in it and delivered a quip, "It seems the monkey isn't the only one interested in old things."

"Did you just ask me to kill you? How kind." Sanzo said slowly.

"Shutting up." Gojyo smiled, albeit nervously.

"Sanzo, what do you make of it?" Hakkai asked.

"Hmm... I don't deal in antiquities... but I actually think I've seen a picture of this before." Sanzo blinked.

"So have I," Gojyo stated in annoyance. "It's the same dagger you told us to find all those years ago. The one you said was being held by a merchant?"

" . . . ah?" Sanzo didn't remember.

"Ah, I remember as well. I suppose that merchant left before we did." Hakkai chuckled. "To have made it so far from our starting point... this dagger certainly is quite the traveler."

"Hmph." Sanzo snorted. He didn't remember why he'd been ordered to find the dagger... but perhaps it would come back to him later.

"I still think it's cool." Goku pouted. His stomach growled loudly. "Guh... now I'm starving. It's Gojyo's fault."

"What! How is it my fault, you one-trick monkey!" Gojyo countered.

"Because it just is!" Goku shouted.

Sanzo'd had his fill of being close to the river. He heard voices when he was near rivers. Usually people in distress... and sometimes even...

hhhhh...

"Ah!" Sanzo took a step backward, dropping the dagger. His heart was beating against the walls of his chest like a frightened bird trying to escape the confines of its cage.

"Sanzo? What's wrong?" Goku asked, having sensed Sanzo's sudden panic.

"..." he couldn't find words. The sickly whisper of dying breath in his ear felt so real he felt his skin crawling like maggots over a dead pig. He rubbed his forehead, feeling sweat beading on it.

hhhhhhh...

"Nnhnh..." he heard himself groan slightly as he brought his hands up to his ears, trying to block out the sound. A rasping corpse. Wind whistling through bone. The piercing stare of a skull. Undying breath.

hhhhhhhhhh...

"Sanzo! Hey!" Gojyo shouted, seeing the monk stagger slightly towards the river.

"Sanzo! Stop it!" Goku cried out.

Sanzo couldn't help himself; his legs were moving on their own. He heard himself begging in thought, a voice that he didn't recognize as his own. A child. He sounded like a child. In that instant, he felt as though he was a child being dragged unwillingly towards the water.

Please... I don't want... I don't want to go in there... Not... not there... not in the river...

walk...

DON'T DROWN ME IN THE RIVER!

The slap came hard and fast. Sanzo spun from the sheer force of the backhand and fell to the ground, bringing a hand to his face. The child retreated back into his mind and Sanzo was an adult again... albeit an adult with a bruised ego as well as his face. He looked up in confusion as his blurring vision settled... on Hakkai.

"Hakkai?" he rasped, his throat terribly dry due to panic.

"Sanzo. What happened just now." Hakkai stated rather than asked. Sanzo realized he was mere steps from the river and got to his feet, turning away from Hakkai and the others.

"Nothing happened. Let's get out of here." he said firmly.

"Sanzo...!" Hakkai called after him.

"Shut up and get moving!" Sanzo shouted. His heart still hadn't fully quieted. What in the world had that been?

"Sanzo!" Goku chimed in, racing after him. "Are you okay?"

"Ah." Sanzo nodded. Gojyo and Hakkai soon followed and once the four of them were a distance away from the river, the three who had gone swimming hurriedly clothed themselves.

"It must be the dagger." Gojyo decided, looking at the dagger he now held in his hands. Sanzo had dropped it earlier in his panic.

"What must be?" Hakkai asked.

"Sanzo's little spacewalk. I haven't seen you do that before now, monk. Wanna explain what happened?" Gojyo said through set teeth. He was angry at having his swim interrupted by a stab wound... but seeing Sanzo turn to dramatics like near-swimming was enough to make him puke.

Sanzo looked to his group. Goku had become distracted by something on the-shoot. He'd found the airplane.

"Ehhh..?" Goku made a noise of curiosity. Sanzo sighed. Curiosity lead to stupid questions. He counted down.

3. 2. 1-

"Sanzo, what's this?" Goku asked, showing the paper airplane to Sanzo.

"What does it look like?" Sanzo sighed, not impressed.

"Sanzo. You're avoiding the issue at hand." Hakkai stated firmly.

"There is no issue." Sanzo snarled. "I felt dizzy. That's all."

"But Sanzo... you looked really scared-" Goku started.

"LOOK! IF I SAY SHUT UP I MEAN SHUT UP!" Sanzo screamed at them collectively.

river

"Nuh!" Sanzo's eyes widened. It was happening again. He turned slowly to look at the dagger in Gojyo's hands.

go to the river

"Damnit... let's get out of here." Sanzo said quietly, his hands beginning to shake. Finally, he remembered why he'd been ordered to find the dagger. He tended to forget about things that annoyed him and the dagger had been no different. The dagger was one of a kind and was called the Tūn Jīn Dagger. He wondered if Hakkai and Gojyo remembered the little adventure they'd had trying, and failing, to find it.

"Alright. We'll leave." Hakkai said finally. The protests of Gojyo and Goku couldn't stand up to the serious look on Hakkai's face. They remained quiet.

- Traveling -

go back

"Shut up." Sanzo muttered to himself. He'd been doing this for about an hour now. Goku, Gojyo and Hakkai had tried asking him about it only to be berated once again. Finally, Hakkai slammed on the brakes.

"Tūn Jīn." he said.

"What?" Sanzo asked.

"Tūn Jīn. That's the dagger you have." Hakkai said seriously.

"Tūn... Jīn?" Goku blinked.

"The dagger of death, called suicide by gold. The guy who made that dagger was a nut, right?" Gojyo groaned, remembering thanks to Hakkai.

"It's a sad story. The man went insane while creating weapons for people due to the amount of lead he was using. It poisoned his brain and lead him to try to create a dagger like no other." Hakkai sighed.

go back to the river

"Nnn..." Sanzo clutched his head.

"And what happened?" Goku asked.

"When he finally finished the dagger... he killed himself with it. He thrust the blade down his throat and began choking; drowning in his blood." Hakkai said quietly. "The rumour is... whoever holds that blade is doomed to commit suicide as well."

go back to the river

"In the same way!" Goku yelped.

"Ahahaha... no, not necessarily... the rumours tell of people throwing themselves from cliffs or running into fires..." Hakkai explained but was cut off by Gojyo.

"But Tūn Jīn means death by gold eating." Gojyo maintained.

"It's probably because the dagger has gold in it and its original master choked to death on it." Hakkai smiled.

"I see!" Goku nodded.

go back to the river

"Ghh!" Sanzo reached the steering wheel of the jeep, despite it being parked, and tried to turn it around. He had to get the voice out of his head. Gojyo grabbed him from behind.

"Settle down, monk!" he shouted.

"Let go! I... I can't..." Sanzo tried speaking, but the voice had begun its terrible hissing, rasping once again. The panic in his heart rose and his struggling intensified. All the while the voice in his head whispered about the river and hissed in its rotting voice. Sanzo writhed, descending into a fit. "Nghhh! Agh!"

"But Gojyo stepped on the dagger! Why didn't it get him to commit suicide?" Goku asked, helping Gojyo with restraining Sanzo. "I even picked it up!"

"I'm not sure." Hakkai sighed. "I guess it picks its own victims. One thing is for certain... the Tūn Jīn Dagger has to be destroyed."

- Wú Míng Village -

The group of four had found a village within about a day of the incident. Sanzo's condition had steadily deteriorated. He could barely walk anymore without collapsing to his knees and holding his head while moaning aloud; the voice was breaking him. He'd rather bite off his own tongue and bleed to death than allow himself to be killed by such nonsense, but the struggle for sanity was getting harder and harder.

He felt as if he was reaching into a large hole and scraping for water at the bottom, continually missing the last drop and coming up empty handed.

"Sanzo, come on. We're staying at an inn so you can rest." Goku said slowly, as if to a child. Sanzo looked to the chattering monkey in the back seat which had stayed behind to help him. The brightness in the monk's eyes had gone dark and sweat was beading on his face. He opened his mouth to respond to Goku.

GO BACK TO THE RIVER

"Ghhhnnngh..." Sanzo groaned, clutching his head again. Goku got out of the jeep and came around to Sanzo's side, opening the door for him.

"Come on, Sanzo." Goku repeated. Having no reason to doubt Goku, he nodded and got out of the jeep. He felt almost like he was floating.

THE RIVER

The voice roared in protest and he felt his arm lash out to grab the jeep, but Goku took it firmly in his own. Sanzo looked into Goku's eyes and saw a fierce loyalty blazing like wildfire within them. It was enough to bring the last drop into the scraping bowl... if not only for a moment of sweet sanity.

"This is... so stupid." Sanzo sighed, allowing Goku to help him to the inn.

rain.

Sanzo stopped in his tracks.

pitter patter pitter patter

"..what?" Sanzo heard himself ask, his voice sounding pathetically small.

I couldn't save him.

"Stop it." he said firmly, understanding what was happening.

"Huh?" Goku asked. Sanzo's eyes had narrowed in anger, but terror was wild within them. The voice was digging into his past.

too weak.

"Shut up."

master I'm so sorry sorry sorry so sorry oh master I'm sorry

"SHUT UP!" Sanzo screamed. "GET OUT OF MY HEAD!"

"Sanzo!" Goku shouted, grabbing his hands. "It's okay, it's okay!"

couldn't save him oh master I want to die

"Ghaaaaahh!" Sanzo struggled against Goku's grip, writhing in fury and disgust that something was worming through his past. Just then, Hakkai and Gojyo emerged from the inn.

"Help me, guys!" Goku shouted.

"Sanzo!" Hakkai gasped, hurrying to Goku's side to help restrain the raging monk.

"Cut it out, Sanzo!" Goku shouted, kicking Sanzo in the shin. As it had in the desert, the effect worked like a charm. Sanzo staggered and swore loudly in pain.

"THE HELL DID YOU DO THAT FOR?" he screamed at Goku.

"Well, you were going crazy..." Goku muttered.

"We've made reservations but they only had one room." Gojyo interrupted.

"Then... who gets the bed?" Goku asked quietly. Sanzo had launched into another barrage of verbal abuse against his unseen foe. Hakkai sighed. As much as he longed for the comfort of soft pillows and beds, he also knew that if they had to restrain Sanzo it'd probably be easier if he had the bed.

"I suppose Sanzo should have the bed in his current condition." Hakkai sighed.

"Sanzo should get the nuthouse if you ask me." Gojyo groaned. "Come on you shitty-monk. We're getting you inside."

It took a lot of hard work and patience to get Sanzo under control. He'd begun lashing out wildly in his attempts to escape. Eventually, they managed to get him into his bed. Sanzo continued to lapse in and out of bouts of insanity and Gojyo offered to restrain him with the shakujou if that would help.

"Bastard. I'll kill you." Sanzo snarled at him.

"Sanzo, are you back with us again?" Hakkai asked cautiously.

"For now. Where's the dagger?" Sanzo asked, hoping they'd destroyed it or at least were planning on it.

"Here." Gojyo removed it from his back pocket. "We're going to melt it down."

Sanzo stared at the dagger. He wanted to tell them to hurry up and get on with destroying the dagger, but he felt himself slipping again. The voice rasped in his head and he struggled for words.

hhhhhhhh...

"Heh... and here I thought the voice in my head was the Tūn Jīn Dagger's master's voice." Sanzo confessed.

"There's a voice in your head?" Goku asked. Sanzo hadn't told any of them the reason behind his suffering until this moment, afterall. And despite how obvious it was that he was screaming at an unseen foe, Goku hadn't managed to put two and two together.

"Ah." Sanzo replied simply, his hands tightening on the bed sheets. He wanted to sleep very badly and to wake up from this nightmare. Suddenly, he felt himself beginning to speak.

I need the dagger... just for a moment...

"I..," Sanzo started, his voice being forced from his throat. "I need that dagger... just for a moment..."

"You'll simply have to do without it, Sanzo." Hakkai smiled, understand that it wasn't Sanzo at all. "Gojyo? Goku? Are you coming with me?"

"I'm staying with Sanzo incase he tries anything." Goku said simply. Sanzo had no complaints, seeing as how he'd already tried to do many things and wasn't fond of the idea of committing suicide due to some intangible voice.

- night -

He thrashed about, sweat dripped down his face and a small amount of saliva trailed from his mouth due to his wild ravings. Small hands held his in the night, comforting him. He screamed nonsense. A young voice shushed him in a gentle tone, telling him everything was alright. He threatened. A chuckle was his only reply. He pleaded for release. Goku told him not to give up and that everything would get better soon.

If only things had been that simple.

Gojyo and Hakkai had returned with news of the dagger's destruction... but the voice in Sanzo's mind had not left him. If anything, the Tūn Jīn Dagger was the voice, the dagger only being its vessel. Now it had rooted itself to Sanzo's mind and if the curse of Tūn Jīn wasn't lifted then Sanzo would probably end up contributing himself as its last victim.

His sanity was all but used up and he began struggling again. He needed to get out of the inn. Goku pinned him easily, his strength more than enough for the ailing monk.

"Let... me go... " Sanzo groaned, his eyes rolling in his head, his breath laboured, his heart pounding.

"I can't, Sanzo. You're very sick." Goku maintained, holding Sanzo's arm tighter. It was the seventh time Sanzo had tried to escape. Each time, one of his three companions had taken him back to his bed and forced him to stay there.

choke...

Sanzo's eyes widened. He felt his arms lifting of their own accord.

choke...

His hands had begun reaching for his own throat. He struggled but he couldn't stop them. His eyes widened in terror. He tried to call out but his tongue felt thick. He had to remember how to speak before forming words to shout.

CHOKE...

"Ghhh... Goku!" Sanzo shouted. Goku saw what Sanzo was doing and grabbed his hands once again.

"Sanzo..." Goku whimpered, fearing for the monk's life.

"We have to tie him down. This can't keep happening." Gojyo said angrily.

"First thing tomorrow, we'll go back to the river." Hakkai said quietly.

"What?" came the collective reaction from Goku, Gojyo and Sanzo.

"I have a plan." Hakkai said seriously.

None of them slept that night. Sanzo's constant efforts at freeing himself from Gojyo's shakujou, which was wrapped around the bed and the monk's body, were enough to wake the dead... as well as everyone else in the inn... which was why they were charged extra in the morning before the left.

- en route to the river -

"So what exactly is your plan?" Gojyo finally asked. Sanzo was sitting in the back with Goku, fast asleep. His insanity had taken away most of his energy, considering he'd spent it struggling and raging during the entire night.

"Sanzo kept trying to go back to the river before. I think we should let him." Hakkai said seriously.

"What?" Gojyo asked. "But... the idiot's gonna commit suicide if you let him do that!"

"I know." Hakkai said grimly, his eyes darkening for a moment.

"Hakkai?" Gojyo asked, suddenly unsure as to whether or not Hakkai'd lost it too.

Goku said nothing. He looked down at Sanzo's face. He looked so peaceful when he was sleeping, Goku thought. Running his fingers softly through Sanzo's golden hair was the only thing he could think of to do, considering Sanzo's head was on his lap, facing up at him. When Sanzo's eyes opened slowly to look into the eyes of the monkey, Goku was shocked to see him merely sigh.

"Sanzo?" Goku asked.

"What is it." Sanzo stated rather than asked.

"Are you okay?"

"No."

"It's just... we're going back to the river... so..."

"Ghhn.."

"I'm sorry."

Sanzo didn't want to get angry because he was already extremely drained from his overall lack of rest. They were taking him to the river. Why on earth had they decided to do something like that? Were they complete idiots?

go to the water

"Ghnhnh..." Sanzo clutched his head. "Stop..."

"It's okay Sanzo. It's going to be okay." Goku maintained happily. "Soon enough you'll be back to your old cranky self."

"Shut up, stupid monkey." Sanzo snorted. It wasn't much, but it was a small comfort to hear those words from Goku nonetheless. It was relatively silent for a while, Sanzo's continual mutterings simply being tuned out by his companions. Finally, the river was in sight.

"Look," Hakkai's voice broke the silence, "We're here."

- The River -

An eerie calm descended upon Sanzo and the voice in his head as he got out of the jeep. The others watched him carefully. As he looked around the riverside he felt pain in his heart. A desperate sadness began flooding through him. The sight of the river wasn't the cause of this sadness... it was something else.

"I..." he heard himself whisper. "I can't do this."

Oh God. I'm not saying this. Why in the hell am I saying this? Is this the Tūn Jīn again?

The intense sadness simply got worse. He fell to his knees before the river and held his arms together as one would when shivering from the cold. He wanted to feel angry. He wanted to be able to lash out in fury at the Tūn Jīn for making him go through this. At the moment, however... all he could do was shudder. He felt his breath catch in his throat as if a sob was trying to escape him.

"Ghhh... please let it end..." he heard himself continue.

This isn't happening. I'm not begging like a dog. I DON'T ACT LIKE THIS!

"Sanzo-" Goku started but Hakkai stopped him. Goku looked up into his eyes and what he saw was understanding. Afterall, Hakkai had once wanted to die as well... and he'd gotten his wish. He'd simply been reborn.

"Sanzo needs to do this for himself." Hakkai said softly.

"Are you saying the only way to get rid of Tūn Jīn is to let him off himself?" Gojyo asked slowly. He hated Sanzo, true.. but he didn't want to see him die like that.

"I'm afraid so." Hakkai sighed.

"But-" Goku started again.

"Trust me." Hakkai said simply. "Sanzo will understand what to do when it happens. This will have to be timed just right... and I pray to whoever may be controlling our fates that I'm right."

Sanzo had begun crawling towards the river, tears now streaming down his face. He was disgusted, watching himself from within his mind. How could this sniveling wretch be him? He tried to look away, but his mind forced him to watch as his body slowly got to its feet. And suddenly... he was aware once more of what was happening around him. He turned to look back at the others, not understanding at all... but that was when he felt it.

the water

The tug.

go into the water

The pull of the voice.

River Orphan.

He struggled, his legs beginning to move.

Kouryuu.

His foot splashed lightly as it stepped into the water.

return from where you were abandoned.

"N..." Sanzo struggled to speak, to deny being abandoned.

the truth.

It's not.

abandoned with nothing but prayer beads.

I wasn't.

like a kitten no one wants to look after.

It wasn't like that.

drowned in the river.

I WASN'T ABANDONED!

His legs stopped. He was panting deeply from the effort of resisting the curse of Tūn Jīn... but as he tried turning away from the water, he fe

"SANZO!" Goku cried, seeing the monk fall forward into the water, his struggling form unable to break the surface even once. Goku screamed again, in terror, "SANZO!"

"Hakkai, we have to-" Gojyo started moving but Hakkai stopped him. "Hakkai?"

"He'll survive. We'll stand by the river's edge for when it happens." Hakkai said softly.

"It?" Goku and Gojyo asked in unison.

"When he dies." Hakkai said without a trace of emotion.

"D..." Goku couldn't even manage the word. Gojyo looked as though he'd tried eating a crab while it was alive.

"What are you talking about?" Gojyo demanded.

"Near death experiences. Even if his heart stops and he's technically dead from drowning, we can resuscitate him." Hakkai explained.

"That's INSANE! You have NO idea if it'll work!" Gojyo shouted.

"Sanzo... can't die..." Goku was still stuck on the first part. Dead? Sanzo couldn't die. That was... that was impossible.

In the meantime, Sanzo was thrashing wildly under the water. His limbs wouldn't respond properly and his lungs were burning with need for air. He covered his mouth, hoping to hold in his breath...

drown...

"Ghhhgg!" Sanzo saw bubbles rise from his gasp, then began choking, "Ghlhhbhbhl!"

He thrashed again and again, struggling to find the light... watching the bubbles from his throat leaving him. His lungs tried again for air and filled with water. He gagged, choked, tried to cry out. He was being crushed by heavy darkness, his limbs... were... slowing down. There were no more bubbles now. It was dark.

...and Tūn Jīn left him in a bright flash of light that ended his life like a candle blowing out in t

- ? -

He opened his eyes. It was bright. Very, very bright. He looked at himself. This couldn't be right. He was a grown man... how could he look like a child now?

"Kouryuu?"

Sanzo whipped around to face... someone that he knew could never have been there... and shouldn't have been there. He should have known this would happen. He'd heard about people seeing loved ones when they were close to death... and yet...

Now that it was actually happening... it felt wrong. Out of place.

"Kouryuu! Turn around and leave this place! Do it now!"

"...wh-" he didn't understand. Why was this happening? He had so many questions.

"Return to them, Kouryuu. It's not your time yet. Turn and run, now."

"..." Sanzo said nothing. This was the reason it felt wrong. Nothing more needed to be said at this time. He nodded and ran the other way, not even looking back.

"Goodbye, Genjo Sanzo."

- The River -

Hakkai was forcing his breath into Sanzo again and again, pumping his chest, forcing himself to remain calm and collected. Goku was hugging Gojyo tightly, unable to even look at Sanzo's body. His heart had stopped beating. He was dead.

And then... Hakkai's notion came true.

"Gh..ghlm.." Sanzo's eyes snapped open, his body jerking over onto its side to throw up horribly. He felt as if he'd never stop throwing up. More water seemed to keep coming out of him. Hakkai rubbed his back as he finally finished vomiting and began coughing. He was soaked to the bone and shivering violently. Gojyo went to get a blanket from the jeep, mostly to calm his own heart.

Goku sobbed and rushed to hug Sanzo tightly. He'd been completely and utterly terrified that he'd never get to speak with Sanzo ever again. Sanzo was just too tired to do anything, so he allowed the embrace. His tired eyes looked up into Hakkai's and in that moment, he understood exactly why Hakkai had let him die.

I told him I wasn't about to die until I'd done what I needed to do... I said it ages ago and I meant it. So... so this was all... a gamble.

"Idiot." he sighed.

"You're welcome." Hakkai smiled.

"Here you waterlogged-monk. Take this." Gojyo dropped the warm blanket on his head. Sanzo wrapped it around himself after prying Goku away from him.

"This blanket could stand to be washed." Sanzo sighed, unable to thank any of them. They knew. He knew. Thank you's and you're welcome's simply weren't needed.

"You're okay now Sanzo?" Goku asked.

"Yeah. Stop blubbering, it's giving me a headache." Sanzo sighed, shivering.

"Let's get him out of here already. Wet monks smell disgusting." Gojyo gagged.

"YOU WANNA RUN THAT BY ME AGAIN?" Sanzo raised his voice in an extremely unpleasant manner.

"He just wants you to get dried off, Sanzo." Goku laughed, offering Sanzo a hand to get up.

"How... how did I get out of the river?" Sanzo asked suddenly. He remembered nothing about surfacing.

"There was a bright flash of light from deep below the surface. After that, your body simply floated up to us. We dragged you onto the land and Hakkai started kissing you." Gojyo explained, obviously bitter about this.

"Gojyo, for the last time it was CPR." Hakkai sighed.

"He's territorial." Sanzo muttered. Hakkai laughed.

- Wú Míng Village Inn -

Sanzo lay in bed folding orange paper into planes. Goku sat next to him, smiling. Gojyo and Hakkai were playing cards and Gojyo was losing badly.

"Oh for cryin' out loud!" Gojyo sighed.

"I win." Hakkai grinned like a child who'd gotten away with slipping a frog into his friend's drink.

"Again!" Gojyo demanded. "I refuse to believe you can win in every single kind of card game we play."

"So refuse away." Hakkai offered, dealing out the cards.

"So noisy..." Sanzo muttered. He finished folding the paper airplane and picked it up. Goku watched. Sanzo drew his arm back and was about to throw it when Goku's hand stopped his arm. "What are you-"

"Look... like this." Goku gently moved Sanzo's hand. "Now try."

"Moron, what's that going to do." he gently launched the paper plane... and it soared about the room in a gentle circle before landing on the bed.

"Nice one, monk. You should get yourself a real one and fly away for good." Gojyo muttered.

"Goku, what did you do?" Sanzo asked, ignoring Gojyo.

"You were gonna throw it wrong. Your wrist was bent too low." Goku explained, making a paper airplane himself... or trying to and failing miserably.

"Look, it's like this." Sanzo did it automatically, teaching Goku the proper folding method. He hadn't even thought about why he'd done it until after he'd finished teaching. Goku beamed up at him as if he were the only person in the world.

"Sanzo's weird." he giggled.

"The hell are you saying? I don't understand monkey language." Sanzo grumbled, looking out the window.

"Thanks Sanzo." Goku smiled and tossed the paper airplane. It soared up and around the room, then right out the window. "Oops."

Sanzo sighed and watched the paper plane as a gust of wind lifted it high into the air, lengthening its life and straightening its flight path. He couldn't help but sigh at the sight of the colours he could never forget.

Tūn Jīn - suicide by eating gold
Wú Míng - nameless