Death
Goku's eyes slowly slid towards the window, and saw the brunette youkai walking up. The pointed ears shook with each step, and the cat-slit of the emerald orbs thinned to a black line when he saw Goku's solemn appearance.
Goku knew that Hakkai had faced his own problems with death several days ago, and gotten over it. His limiter, where ever it may be, was lost, forever.
"Why? Why did you take them off, Hakkai? Can't you put them back on?" Goku had foolishly asked. The fanged smile he had received back was sad, and solemn.
"Because, Goku…" Hakkai replied. "Gojyo told me himself that he thought I looked better this way. This is my own way of honoring his death."
Goku held his legs close to his chest; he wished there was a special way he could remember Sanzo after he was gone.
The sharp rap brought Goku out of his depression and he slowly rose to answer the door. Hakkai stood outside the door, and cocked his head to the side.
"Goku…is he-"
"Not yet. I don't want it to happen. I don't want him to go." Goku's eyes welled up with tears. Hakkai stepped in, closing the door behind him.
"Goku, simply wanting him to not go will not make him better." Hakkai assured the boy. "I myself was not ready. You have to live….because he wants you to."
"But…" Goku nearly sobbed as he led Hakkai down the hall of the house and creaked open the door. He glanced at Sanzo.
The gold had mostly faded to a grayish silver, though a few golden streaks remained. The amethyst eyes sparkled when he saw Goku and Hakkai, though his face did not show it.
"Ah, Sanzo. It's very nice to see you again." Hakkai bowed, and Goku saw the monk's eyes widen considerably when he saw Hakkai was not wearing his limiters.
"…Sorry I couldn't make it to the funeral." Sanzo chuckled softly.
"It's alright. You were there in spirit."
"Were they worried? When you were there….without your…."
"No. I believe they understand how easily it was to love him." Hakkai froze. "I mean, be friends."
Goku smiled weakly and stepped forward up to Sanzo.
"Hey. So….soon, it'll just be me an' Hakkai. I…I don't want it to just be me an' Hakkai. I want you to stay!" Goku tugged on Sanzo's sleeve.
"Goku…I'm not immortal. I'm human. This is pretty long as far as humans go, you know."
"He's right. Most humans don't live to be fifty, let alone eighty. Sanzo must of set a world record by now." Hakkai joked.
"Hakkai…I don't need lame jokes right now." Sanzo growled.
"But…I learned in school that humans live to be a hundred! Why can't you, Sanzo!"
"Goku, he smoked. That shortened his life span considerably." Hakkai gave Goku a pat on the back. He took a glance at the window; it was dark already. "Ah. I should be getting ho-"
"What's the point, Hakkai?" Sanzo interrupted. "Gojyo's dead, so there's no one to go home to, correct?" He paused. "I don't think I'll see sunrise. Goku will need help with handling this. So…stay the night?"
"…If it's not too much trouble." Hakkai smiled.
The moon was full and Goku lay awake on the window seat, simply listening to Sanzo's breathing. So far, it had been perfectly steady, but who knew how long that would last. Suddenly, the breathing picked up, and Goku rushed to Sanzo's side.
"Sanzo? Sanzo, what's wrong!" He gasped out the words. He was too worried to really talk slowly. Sanzo cracked open his eyes and suddenly pulled the monkey on top of him. "Sanzo…"
"Goku…." Sanzo's hand slipped off the golden headband. Goku shuddered as his ears fined out to a point and his nails extended into claws. One frail hand caressed Goku's face. Goku extended one hand to retrieve the limiter, then a firm voice spoke. "Goku, if you are sane enough to want the limiter back, can it not be that you no longer need it?" The realization hit Goku. He knew exactly what was going on, and had not gone insane without the limiter.
He knew that the one who had made him strong enough to do that was Sanzo, and he had also gained courage from the monk. He did not want his teacher, his master, his friend- he did not want Sanzo-kun to die.
"I'm sorry. I'm not strong enough to help you now. I wanted to…just to always be with you, but now I can't." Goku sobbed.
"Goku….if you want to help me, I want you to do something for me."
"Whazzat?"
"Live. I don't want you to fall into such a despair that you consider suicide. It's stupid, and as of late, you've actually been acting like you have a brain. I don't think you want to go back to being a complete idiot. Just live….and I promise….it'll be enough." The hand dropped to the bed, and Goku stood up again. Sanzo was entirely too still to simply be sleeping. Tears welled up in his eyes again, and he ran down the hall.
A pointed ear suddenly jerked to the side in a fast twitch. Hakkai heard something. And it felt to him, like something had just disappeared. There was a loud thumping as Goku burst into the room, sobbing.
"Goku, come here. It's alright. You can cry on me." Hakkai assured him. The boy stumbled forward into the youkai's arms, bawling his eyes out.
"Sanzo-kun….Sanzo-kun finally left!"
"Don't be sad, Goku. I'm sure heaven is a wonderful place for him." Hakkai replied. The boy looked up with a smile on his face.
"I'm not crying because I'm sad. I'm glad….that Sanzo isn't in pain anymore." He paused, and wiped away a tear. "And…Sanzo…kun….told me to live. Live because it'll make him happy. I know heaven will be all the better for him if he can see that."
"Well, Goku. I know one thing." Hakkai patted the boy on the back.
"What?"
"It'll make me happy as well, to see you so strong. I'm afraid….you're stronger than me." Hakkai chuckled. "So then, perhaps you should be lending me your shoulder."
Tenpou shook his head when he saw the two figures from the world below crying.
"I don't understand." A firm hand was placed on his shoulder and the god turned to see Sanzo.
"I do….and I'm glad."