Friends! I now present to you the latest chapter! Yay! Now, as I mentioned early, the story itself was based off a picture I saw, but then most of the chapters were also based off of different pictures. If you would like to see, leave a review for this or the next/last chapter saying you'd like them, and I'll send you an e-mail with the attachment of the pictures- of course, this means I'll need a SIGNED review so I can see your email on the profile. Also, THANK YOU REVIEWERS! You all get an e-cookie of your choice of flavor! So let's take it away. Scribble?

Scribble: We do not own Saiyuki, awesome as it is. If we did, it would not be so awesome. We also stole the title of this chapter from a song with the same title, which we also do not own.

Lost Lives

Chapter 6: Welcome to the End

Hakkai stood there, mixing together the dinner he was preparing for himself and Gojyo, feeling very irritated. It had been almost a week now, and he couldn't even begin to remember where he had heard the name Konzen, and it was bugging him to no end. He was so sure he knew….

He looked over at his companion, who was playing solitaire on the table. It was the kind where you lay four cards down in a row, and the only way to remove them is to use the highest card of the same suite. Aces are highest, and the object is to remove all cards until there is just a row of aces after going through the whole deck. You can't move any cards, except aces move when they are uncovered and there is an open row. (What2callmyself: I so totally taught you that game. And now everyone else knows too! :D) Gojyo told him it was a difficult game, and he had only won a few times, and right now he looked like he was losing, as he couldn't seem to stop scowling. Maybe he knew?

"Gojyo?"

"Yeah?" His friend replied in a monotone without looking up, obviously paying more attention to his game than his friend, which Hakkai didn't really mind.

"There's this name I recently heard…Konzen."

Gojyo's hands froze. Hakkai continued. "I'm sure I heard the name before, but I can't remember where. Would you happen to know?"

Gojyo's eye twitched. "Isn't that what that bitch called Sanzo?"

Hakkai's eyes popped as the memory started to resurface. "What?"

"I'll always remember exactly what happened, no matter how much I want to forget. First she puts Goku's diadem back on, then kisses me, which nearly kills me, then goes over and kisses Sanzo too, but she calls him Konzen. I always thought that was kinda weird, don't you?" (Not to mention not being fully female…)

Hakkai froze as he realized what it meant. "Maybe we should visit them next weekend," he murmured.

Elsewhere

Goku and Sanzo reached near the top of the mountain and saw what looked like an archway into something; perhaps the rumor about it being a shrine was true? Goku and he stopped and just stared at it a second. "Is this where we have to go?" Goku asked softly.

"Only one way to find out," Sanzo murmured and the two walked in.

They walked until they got to a large cleared out area inside the cave. Sanzo looked around at the top near the ceiling. There were pictures of what he guessed heaven should look like, but from the story the pictures told, it sure didn't seem like heaven. The people in this paradise were being imprisoned, tortured, banished…it seemed more like hell to him.

He was about to tell Goku they should leave when he heard footsteps coming from where they had just entered, and the aura he felt that was coming towards them was definitely not friendly. They couldn't go back now. He noticed a small door on the other end of the room. "Goku, go through that door and get out of here."

"What? No! I can't leave you behind! I'll stay and fight with you!"

"Just go! This is your only chance to find out about Konzen! Don't worry about me, I'll be fine."

Goku looked like he didn't want to go at all, but he listened to Sanzo and ran to the other door and went in, disappearing from sight.

The footsteps were getting closer and closer. Sanzo turned to face whatever was coming for him. Soon there stood a man with long dark hair, a chakra on his forehead and a smirk on his face. "So tell me, what do they call you down here?" the man asked.

"I'm the 31st of China, Genjyo Sanzo," Sanzo replied, giving him the title he gave everybody. "And who are you?"

"A Sanzo, of course, I should expect no less from you. A shame you don't remember me, my name is Li Touten, however, there's no need for you to remember it, after all," he waved his hand and Sanzo was sent flying into the wall behind him, and finished, "I will be the one who kills you."

Sanzo fell to the floor, coughing a little. The force that had sent him back winded him as well and he struggled to catch his breath. Li Touten gave him no time, and was immediately in front of him, lifting him by his robes and throwing him across the room again. He smirked. 'He's no match for me in his human body.'

Sanzo managed to rise to his feet. "Tell me what it is you want. You're the one who's been trying to kill us, I know that much, but why?"

"Kill 'us', you say? Oh no, I'm not trying to kill Goku. He's VERY important, you see, after all, it's partly his fault we need another war prince now. Since he's been causing the trouble, it's only fair that he take responsibility for it. However, you're in the way, just as you always were, so I'm afraid I will have to get rid of you. Then I will take Goku back to train him into a war prince."

"Over my dead body you will," Sanzo snapped.

"As you wish, although I would've done that anyway."

Sanzo fired at him, but he was too fast and dodged all the bullets. He was suddenly right behind Sanzo and the monk felt a sharp pain in his side as he tried to move. He looked down to see that there was now blood, and turning a little around, he saw he had been stabbed with a small knife.

The knife was wrenched out and Sanzo was thrown to the floor, gasping. His side hurt way too much to move, but he couldn't just sit there. As the figure approached he fired another shot.

Once again, the shot missed, but this time the man made 'tsk'-ing sounds. "Such poor manners you have. Don't you know how much it hurts to get shot? Maybe I should teach you."

The bullet he had fired suddenly changed its course away from the wall and hit him in the shoulder. Sanzo let out a small cry and fell back, clutching his shoulder, hissing. Now blood was flowing from his shoulder as well. He was lifted up again. "Now tell me, where is Son Goku?"

"Bite me," Sanzo snapped, and he was thrown into a wall. He collapsed there, struggling to breath, trying to stand again. The man laughed. "You still just don't know when to give up, don't you?" He walked until he was right in front of Sanzo, and waving his hand, the vines inside the cave wrapped themselves around him, lifting him off the ground, squeezing tight, but at least cutting off the blood flow. "You probably have no idea, do you? Very well, I will tell you exactly what Goku is."

Elsewhere

Goku ran and ran and as he did, he couldn't stop himself from crying. He never should've left Sanzo there all alone.

He also noticed he had a headache. It had been small at first, but it seemed to get worse and worse with every step he took, until he finally saw a room at the end of the hall and stumbled into it, falling over.

As he raised his head, he saw a statue of a man with long hair, looking serene and calm. He looked so majestic Goku couldn't help but stare at the statue. He looked down and saw a small plaque, so he crawled over and began to read.

"Konzen Douji. A high ranking deity, Konzen was the nephew of the merciful goddess and held great power. His downfall occurred when a small being was put in his care…which he named…" Goku could barely bring himself to finish the sentence, "Son Goku."

Memories flooded back. He remembered the first day he met Konzen.

"Wow, your hair's so pretty! It's shining just like the sun!"

"Ouch! What did you do that for?" Konzen yelled soon after Goku accidentally tugged a little too hard at his hair and ripped it out.

"Konzen, I need a name!" Goku whined.

"Goku. Your name is Son Goku."

"So the blossoms at the top of the tree live differently, huh? I'd like to see that," Konzen said as they sat under a sakura tree.

"If I'm being weird, then take responsibility and stay here," Konzen said, his own indirect way of telling Goku he wanted him there with him.

The memories stopped. Goku looked back down at the plaque again. "When it was decided Goku would be made into a war prince, he fled with the boy, but was killed by…Li Touten. Son Goku has never been found."

More memories came flooding back, all bad. From his dreams, running in the rain with Konzen dragging him along. Konzen staying to fight this Li Touten, fighting a battle he knew he would lose. Getting to his Aunt's temple and trying to get her to help, while she just stood there, and then…

He couldn't remember any more, and he didn't want to. He buried his face in hands and cried. Konzen…he was dead, and it was Goku's fault. And now that he had dragged Sanzo into this, Sanzo would be dead soon as well. Why was it he only seemed to bring misfortune to those who took care of him? Was it too late for Sanzo now too?

He heard something behind him and turned around. There was a man standing there, dressed in light colors, with long blonde hair, and Goku knew who it was immediately. "Konzen…I'm sorry. I'm so sorry," Goku sobbed out.

Konzen said nothing, but made a motion for Goku to follow. His image started to fade, and Goku could see there were small orbs of light flying around that had made Konzen visible in the first place. Then they all scattered and started flying down the hallway from whence he had just come.

"Konzen, wait!" Goku cried, chasing after them as if he could convince them to come back, as if they could somehow bring Konzen back. He continued to run until he got back to where he had left Sanzo, and peeked in.

Sanzo was a mess, covered in blood, and being held up in vines. He was still alive, which was some relief to Goku. There was a man smirking up at him, and Goku could just barely hear him.

"He's not a demon, or human, yet he's not quite a god either. He's a heresy, a monster. He doesn't belong here, or anywhere else, and he only will bring chaos and misfortune. Did you think that just because he wears that diadem that the one you know as Goku- that's his true nature? That's only what's left after suppressing the Seiten Taisei. You should've made it easy on yourself and just given him up to me. After all, you've seen what color his eyes are. Deep down, you know full well what he is."

Goku slumped down against the wall. It was true, all of it, and Goku knew it. He had only brought trouble to his caretaker, and now he was going to die. Maybe if Goku just gave up and went with him now, maybe he wouldn't kill Sanzo.

But then he saw Sanzo's lips twist into a smirk. "Do you think I'm stupid? I've always known what he is- he's a stupid, bottomless pit of a brat, regardless of whether his eyes are gold, red, blue, purple…they could be orange for all I care. Do you honestly think any of that matters?"

Goku almost couldn't believe it. Sanzo…Sanzo had known, and was still defending him? He remembered…that was what Sanzo had told him that night…and he still believed it was true, that the Goku he knew was what he truly was. He knew what he could be, and yet kept him all along. He said he realized he was the only one who could take care of him…but why?

A small orb of light brushed past his face, and it felt like someone's hand. "Konzen?" he called, but all the orbs began flying in slowly, and they settled around Sanzo, and Goku could see a faint image in front of Sanzo…the image of the man who had cared for him so long ago. But as he looked, he realized the hair style and length of hair were different, as were the clothes, but the color of his hair, his eyes, his face…all those features were exactly the same. It was the same face. The same person, and he raised his head up to glare murderously at the man, and the words he said were all too familiar from his dream. "Goku's mine! I won't let you take him from me!"

Goku began to cry, but his tears were now of relief and joy. "Konzen…it was you…Sanzo…it was you all along. Konzen…you came back. Sanzo came for me. You were always by my side. Sanzo, it was you all along." He had caused Konzen trouble, but it seemed that must've been what he wanted, because he would not allow even death to separate the two of them. And Sanzo never cared if Goku had caused him trouble, just the same. He remembered the words he heard long ago. Konzen was reincarnated as a human, and he found the boy, and the two were reunited. His story did have a happy part. Konzen became Sanzo, and came to him, and as Sanzo, he stayed always by his side.

Goku had two different lives, but in each he always had the same sun.

Meanwhile Li Touten was shocked. He was certain he had just seen Konzen, as an image over the man held there. 'No! That's impossible! It can't be!' he thought as Sanzo began to chant, and his scripture flew outwards, breaking him free and ensnaring Li Touten, who was still in too much shock to move. By the time he realized what was happening, Sanzo had raised his gun. "Let's see how well you dodge when you can't move," he said and then fired.

Li Touten realized he could only escape now back to heaven, but the Jade Emperor was sure to be returning right now. However, if he stayed, he would die. He had lost his chance. Just before the bullet hit him, he vanished and the sutra fell to the ground.

"Che," Sanzo made a disapproving sound as he saw he hadn't killed him. However, he was still pretty sure that he wouldn't be coming back any time soon. As he turned around, something ran into him, calling "Sanzo!" and Goku jumped into him, hugging him.

Needless to say, Sanzo was pretty shocked. But he had made his decision right as he had fought. Goku was his. He wasn't going to give him up without a fight. He asked, "Did you find what you were looking for?"

Goku looked up at him, tears in his eyes but with the biggest smile imaginable on his face. "Yeah, I did. I had it all along." He began to pull at Sanzo's arm. "Let's go back now."

Sanzo couldn't believe it. Goku still wanted to go back with him? He was happy to hear that, although he couldn't understand why. But then Goku's smile faded, and a look of fear flashed in his eyes. "Sanzo watch out!" he screamed, pushing him and a large rock that was about to hit Sanzo hit Goku's head instead, knocking him out. Another rock fell close to where Sanzo was standing. He looked up at the ceiling. Rocks were falling. The cave was about to collapse.

Sanzo picked up Goku and ran, carrying him out of the cave just before they would've been crushed. As soon as they were safely out of harm's way, he gently shook the boy. "C'mon Goku, I know something like that wouldn't kill you, wake up."

Goku groaned and opened his eyes. "Sanzo, I'm hungry," he whined. If Sanzo hadn't been so relieved he would've smacked him with the fan right then. Goku looked around blinking. "Huh? Where are we?"

"Outside the cave."

"What? Why? What happened to it?"

"It collapsed, and you made it so I had to carry you out." Sanzo paused. "What did you learn in there anyway?"

Goku opened his mouth, but then realized he didn't remember anything. Every memory he had retrieved inside was gone again. "I…I don't know. I don't remember."

Sanzo stared wide eyed. "What do you mean you don't know?" He seriously hoped that rock hadn't damaged Goku's memory.

"I just don't remember now."

Sanzo sighed. After all they had done, and now Goku didn't even remember? But Goku smiled at him. "Well, just like you said, it means it's probably not that important anyway."

Sanzo didn't even want to deal with this right now. "Let's just go."

"I'm really tired."

Sanzo was going and he didn't care. And so he picked Goku up and started walking, and soon Goku fell asleep, resting his head on Sanzo's shoulder as Sanzo carried him.

(A/N: I decided to put a few things at the end of this chapter instead of the next one, because the last one will be really short.)

Meanwhile

Kanzeon could not stop laughing, rolling on the floor, as she watched what happened. "THAT IS TOO PRICELESS!" she managed to scream between laughs.

Jiroshin sighed. "All that work and this happens. Oh well, it's probably for the best anyways."

Kanzeon managed to sit up. "Well, that was certainly an interesting chapter in his story, don't you think so? And Li Touten came back here, just in time to greet the Jade Emperor," she said, stepping outside to see the Jade Emperor returning, and Li Touten standing a little while off with a scowl on his face. She turned to him. "What's wrong? Couldn't find a war prince? Couldn't get Goku away from a little human? Oh how tragic. Whatever will we do now?" she mocked.

He continued to scowl. "Just you wait," he mumbled. "I will get him someday."

"Try it and my nephew will stop you every time," she murmured back.

The Jade Emperor was greeted and fawned over, and the merciful goddess got bored as she usually did and went back to her temple a little early. "Wait, what are you doing?" Jiroshin asked.

"Oh, just one more thing before the final part of this chapter." And she closed her eyes to see the inside of a dream.

Meanwhile

Goku was having one last dream.

In his dream, he was watching as his younger self slept inside the cave, and just outside the cave, Konzen was kneeling down, looking in on him and invisible to his younger self. "Just be patient a little while. I won't leave you here forever. I'll come back to you, I promise."

Time passed, and Goku remained asleep as Konzen watched. "I know it is lonely and cold," Konzen said. "Just wait a little while. I will come. I won't leave you here alone."

Then once more, Konzen stood up. "It's not much longer now. I'll be here very soon, just as promised. I'll get you out of here and we'll be together again." Then Konzen changed in the slightest bit, and it was Sanzo standing outside his cage, and the Goku inside woke up and looked up at him just as he did the day Sanzo came, and Sanzo asked, "Are you the one that was calling me?"

The scene vanished, and Goku heard something behind him. He turned and saw the fortune teller he had met not so long ago. "I take it you went to find Konzen."

"Yeah, Sanzo and I went."

"And?"

"I don't remember much, but then again, I don't need to. What I really wanted was to know who Konzen was. And I know now. Konzen is Sanzo. I already know who he is because I know who Sanzo is. And I'm ok with knowing just that."

"Just as well," said the fortune teller as she vanished with a smile. "Just as well."

Scribble: And the day is saved!

Me: Yes it is. And so, the next chapter will be the last. Thanks to all those who have been reading, who just came in, who continue to read, and especially to those who review. After this, I'm taking a vacation because I have lots of new mangas that I have been ignoring (what's wrong with me?) which are dying to be read. But I'll return someday! So see you all next chapter, coming very soon to a website new you aka here! Long Live the Sanzo-ikkou!

-titangirl161

(What2callmyself: Yes, yes, awesomeness. Now we just have to get you to stop worshipping commas so much… :P)