In These Dying Hours

Chapter Fourteen

Goku was sitting out in the grounds, staring up at the clouds. He was far enough away that Faye, Maye and Nuriko would not be able to find him. To add to that, he had the long grass to cover his form lying on the ground. Chewing on a blade of grass, he watched the clouds move lazily across the sky, feeling surprisingly lonely and isolated. For some reason, he felt like he was missing something, something very important. He had no idea what it was, and this continuing feeling of loneliness and isolation was wearing down on him.

That was when a sharp jab at his mind made him hiss. Sitting up, he grasped his head. It felt like something was probing into his mind. Jabbing at his nerves and making pain shoot to life everywhere. Another jab and Goku saw a flash. A golden haired deity clothed in white. Staring at him soothingly; lovingly.

"Konzen…?" the boy breathed, shocked as the name suddenly came to him. He saw more of this golden haired man. Seated behind a desk. Violet eyes blazing with fury. He saw himself plucking the hair from the deity's head, apologizing before he was struck across the head. The first of many. He saw others too. Kenren, the redheaded general that loved to annoy his keeper. The field marshal Tenpou who always seemed to be hanging around, to give a smile and a witty remark before dashing back to his library, surrounded by books of all kinds. Were these the memories that he was missing? These three men, were they the faceless men that haunted his dreams?

And Konzen. Was Konzen the one he was aching the have back in his life? Because as he watched the memories before his eyes, he had a sudden longing to grasp the man's golden hair. To tug on his robe, to hold him and nuzzle into his warm chest.

Suddenly, the memories took a darker turn. He saw blood. Lots of it. He saw Kenren dead, lying crumpled over Tenpou's body. And he remembered running, holding Konzen's hand tightly as they ran. Then, in a flash, he was clutching the white clothed deity, screaming. Tears were pouring down his face as he clutched the lifeless body of his keeper, his guardian, his sun.

Suddenly he realized he was screaming, clutching the sides of his head and screaching, pleading for the memories to leave him. Was that why he was with Nuriko? Because those three were dead? He continued to scream until his vision went black.

---

They had been searching for leads all day, and kept coming up empty handed. No one had seen Goku, or even heard of Nuriko. It seemed as though they had disappeared off the face of the earth. "Maybe they did," Hakkai remarked dryly. "If they returned to heaven, we have no hope of finding them."

The three had been exceedingly melancholy, though Sanzo showed no signs of giving up. Gojyo could've sworn he checked every crack and crevice of the town before the three of them collapsed on a nearby bench. They were completely exhausted, and with nothing to show for their hard work.

"What do we do now?" Hakkai asked after a long, tense silence.

"What else?' Sanzo snapped bitterly, lighting his third cigarette in the last fifteen minutes. "We keep looking."

Gojyo and Hakkai shot each other a look behind Sanzo's back. They knew it was pointless to keep reviewing the same information endlessly. What could they do? When would Sanzo give up and admit that maybe… they'd finally lost.

"About time I found you!" echoed a voice before a bright globe of light appeared before the three. Suddenly, the Goddess of Mercy herself stood before them, her hands on her hips and her attendant behind her. "Konzen! It's time to get your ass in gear. We need to help your monkey!"

Sanzo frowned, clearly dismayed at the sudden appearance of the merciful goddess. Why the hell did she always have to pop up at the worst times? "What do you know?" Sanzo demanded coldly, taking another drag from his cigarette.

"Your monkey's in Heaven," Kanzeon remarked. "And only you can get him out of there. Because of ancient laws, the only one who can touch him now is his keeper, Konzen Douji. Now hurry up and get off your ass."

Hakkai frowned. He was thrilled at the news but still skeptical. "Aren't mortals not allowed in Heaven?" He asked.

Kanzeon frowned. "Yes. Technically. But we have a loop hole." She smiled broadly, pointing towards Sanzo's chakra. "Sanzo's about a close to a god as a mortal can get. As long as his body can resist the force of Heaven, and he doesn't die, then we should be fine."

Gojyo smirked, raising a brow. "What about all that rules-crap? He's still a mortal."

"Screw the rules!" Kanzeon shouted, throwing her hands up in frustration. "Now do you want to help Goku or not?"

Sanzo tossed his cigarette to the ground, grinding it into the ground with his foot. Staring up at the goddess before him, he said; "Tell me what to do."

---

"This is terrible! This is ghastly! This is… is… the worst possible outcome!" Nuriko screamed as she paced the large room she was seated in. Faye and Maye sat on the bed next to her, both girls watching as she paced the length of the room over and over. Goku sat in a nearby chair, his golden eyes glazed and his body unmoving. The only sign that he was alive was the slow rise and fall of his chest.

"I don't see what's wrong Lady Nuriko," Faye remarked, unsure of herself. "Goku is just… in shock isn't he? He should recover soon enough."

"That's the problem!" Nuriko exclaimed, throwing her hands up and continuing her pacing, meanwhile eyeing the boy out of the corner of her eye. Goku remained unmoving.

"I'm sorry… M'lady," Maye remarked. "I don't understand…"

Nuriko let out a shaky sigh. "Goku entered the sixth stage of the transformation: Mental torment. The curse dug through his mind, trying to find something to cause extreme mental pain. But because I erased his memories of Sanzo and them, his mind had nothing to taunt him with. So it broke through the barrier that had been set around his memories of heaven five hundred years ago. But as soon as he remembered everything, the curse twisted and turned the memories to cause extreme mental pain."

"Isn't that a good thing?" Faye asked happily. "He's in the sixth stage already! He'll be a god soon!"

Nuriko sighed, continuing to pace anxiously. "But that's the problem. The whole project is based on the fact that he'll trust me. But since he's regained his memories from five hundred years ago, he remembers me. The real me." She sighed again. "Once his mind comes out of shock, he'll remember that I killed Konzen all those years ago." She bit her lip, hanging her head. "He won't trust me and the project will fail."

Faye and Maye glanced between each other nervously. Fidgeting and whispering. "Why can't we erase his memories again?" Faye asked, her eyes shining with worry.

"Because then he won't remember the sixth stage, and he won't become a god," she paused in her pacing, only to resume again. "But… but…" her mind was racing as she began tapping her finger on her chin. "Perhaps we can convince him that these memories are false. But..." she frowned. "It won't work unless we have Konzen. No Konzen and our plan with fail."

The door was suddenly thrown open, and Nuriko found herself staring down the barrel of a gun into blazing violet eyes. Nuriko stared, confused and shocked as Sanzo stood in front of her, Kanzeon behind him. Sanzo seemed to be out of breath, and it was taking quite a bit of effort just to stand. Sweat poured down his brow but he managed to keep a glare. "Where's Goku?" he said simply.

Nuriko smiled inwardly, but masked it with a scowl. Well, if Sanzo didn't have good timing or what? Her eyes shot to Kanzeon. "How is he here?" she snapped. "The force of being on Heaven should have killed him instantly. No mortal can survive on Heaven for more then a minute."

Kanzeon smiled victoriously, crossing her arms. "You under estimated Sanzo's ability to live."

Nuriko's eyes trained back on Sanzo, before she smiled cockily. "You can't have him. Clearly he's—"

"Konzen?"

Nuriko's eyes snapped back to Goku, surprised to find the dazed look fading from his eyes. His golden pools brightened with hope and the next second he was clinging to Sanzo tightly, unable to let go. In his weakened state, Sanzo stumbled back against the wall, sinking to his knees. Kanzeon stood protectively in front of the pair as Nuriko growled. "You can't just take him!" she screeched.

"Konzen Douji has reclaimed his pet," Kanzeon stated as she snapped her fingers, and the pair behind her were gone. "And there's not a damn thing you can do about it."

"I swear," Nuriko hissed anger seething from every pour of her body, "That one day I will kill Genjyo Sanzo once and for all. And this time," her eyes narrowed. "He will stay dead."

"Don't count on it." Kanzeon said simply, before turning and heading from the room.

Nuriko waited until she was sure Kanzeon was gone before sighing softly, turning back to the twins who had remained unmoving on the bed. Giving a shaky smile, she said, "See? Problem solved."

"I don't understand," Faye mumbled. "Didn't we just loose Go-chan?"

"Yes, but we can always get him back," Nuriko said softly as she began to pace the room again, her mind already forming a new plan. "Because now that he has Sanzo, the man will convince Goku that his memories are false. Then getting him to trust us won't be a problem."

"But what if he wants to stay with Sanzo?" Maye asked with a pout.

Nuriko smiled deliciously. "Don't worry, I have a plan."

---

As Sanzo began to come to, he found himself in an alley somewhere in town. He wondered why the hell the damned excuse for a goddess had to dump them in an alley, but at the same time found it no longer mattered. Looking down, he found the brunette snuggled in his arms, blissfully asleep. His arms were wrapped securely around the blonde's middle. It was so tight it was almost painful. Sanzo didn't care. He had Goku. Nothing else mattered.

He knew that as soon as Goku regained consciousness he was going to apologize. Damn his pride. Goku needed to hear that he was sorry, and that he loved him. He was damned if he was going to let Nuriko whisk him away again because Goku was too heartbroken over him to say no.

Sanzo ran his fingers through Goku's tussled hair. He missed that feeling. Missed feeling his arms encircle him. Missed waking up to the monkey's earthly smell. Missed the feeling of the boy's lips on his own. Hell, he missed Goku in general. And he'd been so afraid that he'd lost Goku forever. How many times had his heart twisted and tugged in his chest, because this damned Nuriko was messing with their heads? Making Goku do dangerous things, stealing his monkey from him. She was going to pay. Severely. If he hadn't felt so drained earlier, he would've shot her then and there.

Sanzo shifted slightly, to make himself more comfortable. Golden eyes peeled open, and Goku looked up at him, his eyes clouded with sleep. Sanzo could feel his insides melting. He just wanted to kiss the boy senseless, but resisted the urge. "Konzen…?" he muttered in a sleep-slurred voice.

"Shh," Sanzo whispered, kissing him softly on the temple. "Go back to sleep. I'm right here."

Taking comfort in that, Goku closed his eyes, resting his head back against the man's chest and falling asleep almost instantly. Sanzo ran another hand through Goku's hair, kissing the top of his head.

He would protect Goku no matter what, even if the monkey didn't need protection.

And if Nuriko thought she was going to steal him away again, she was dead fucking wrong.

A/N: I really don't like this chapter. The flow seems really choppy to me. I don't know.

Sanzo stole his monkey back faster then I expected, but I'm pretty sure everyone out there is okay with that. But Nuriko has something extra devious up her sleeve, you can count on it. I really like where the story goes from here, and I'm having a lot of fun writing it.

Anyhow, review and such. I expect I should have chapter Fifteen up relatively soon. I love you all.