Weasel-chan: Hello lovelies! I am here with another chapter! I hope you all have had a wonderful time with the holidays and such.

Anyways, I hope you enjoy this chapter!

Dark sends her love in shot glasses.

Chapter 15 – A Plan

'These are my words henceforth. As of now, I am most likely the only person to know the truth.

The story of their path…'

Bright gold eyes looked around as the cherry blossom petals flew around him. Usually he would be entranced by the beautiful flowers but he did not recognize this place. He made his way deeper into the cherry blossom forest, hoping to find one of his friends or caretakers.

"Konzen? Yuki? Yun Li? Where are you?" he called out into the air. "Aya-nee? Ken-nii? Ten-chan? Chao Li?"

Goku began to panic a little bit as he heard no response from his friends. Where did they go? Where was he and why was he here? This was so scary.

"Yuki?! Konzen?!"

"Goku," a familiar voice echoed behind him. The heretic didn't want to look in fear that it might be a joke. "There you are Goku. Let's go."

Goku finally willed himself to look behind him and was stunned to see his best friend standing there. The blonde child held his hand out, waiting for Goku to take it so they can leave to wherever Nataku wanted. "N-Nataku?!"

The two boys stood like that for a moment in silence. They didn't know what to say at this time. Goku went to take his friend's hand but a huge burst of wind hit him, causing the blossoms to fly in his sight in a frenzy. He then felt something wet splash on him.

Goku opened his eyes and was shocked to see his friend now covered in blood and falling to the ground. He didn't want to look down at Nataku to confirm what he just saw but something compelled him to do so. His gold eyes slowly looked down and his heart stopped at the sight. He was standing in the middle of thousands of corpses.

How did this happen? What was going on?

And why was his hands covered in blood as well?

Goku's heavy breathing was the only thing that was heard in the office. It was the only thing the group of friends were focused on at this time. The poor boy was suffering from his diadem cracking and unleashing his powers. He was set on the couch in Tenpou's office with Konzen and Yuki sitting by his side like worried parents. Tenpou was shuffling through books to try to find a remedy for the heretic, hoping to find something to help his friend.

Konzen grabbed the wet towel off the child's forehead to dampen it once again. He was worried about the boy. His fever was escalating even more and if it continued, he would surely die. He glanced across the couch to his secretary and saw the look he was feeling. She was worried for Goku and refused to leave his side. Every time the child moved, she would be there to calm him down. Honestly, Konzen was worried about the woman as well. She just lost her bodyguard, someone she knew for nearly her whole life, but she showed no signs of grief unlike her sister.

"Oh Goku," Yuki whispered under her breath as she squeezed the child's hand.

Konzen pushed his thoughts back to continue his care of the boy. He will ask Yuki about the situation later once Goku was out of harm. He tensed up when he saw Goku toss a little bit more. He turned around behind him to glare at the marshal. "Tenpou! Can't you do something about this?!"

Tenpou didn't say anything as he continued to skim through the books. Konzen's anger skyrocketed at the zero response. He was about to yell at him but his secretary beat him to it.

"Tenpou, if Goku's fever continues to worsen, he will not make it," Yuki said in mild annoyance, her natural smile was now replaced with a killing glare. "Please, find something."

Konzen was stunned by his normally cheerful secretary so angry. She resembled her sibling when she looked like that but with a hint more of irritation. He made a mental note not to get on her bad side.

"Yes yes! Alright, I get it," Tenpou finally said, the pressure clearly weighing down on him. "That's why I've been at this the whole time."

The two guardians calmed down a little bit at the man's words. He was like that ever since they safely made it to the room. He was trying everything he could to find something to help Goku.

"I've looked through all the references from all ages and countries," Tenpou said as he flipped through more pages. "Most likely, I think that Goku's strength is losing out to the powers from his berserk Seiten Taisei form. This should undo his transformation somehow but this method is not quite the solution."

The door to the office opened for Kenren to walk in, holding a piece of wood and a few nails in his mouth. "Yo! For the time being, I've sealed all the entrances to this building," he reported as he set the wood down with the nails.

"Great. Thanks for the hard work," Tenpou replied since the other two occupants went back to caring for the heretic.

Kenren noticed the silence from the two. He didn't hold it against them for being silent. Their minds were on the young child and his decreasing state of health. "Just asking for the peace of mind, has Goku regained consciousness?" he asked mainly towards the two parental figures.

Tenpou gave them a moment to see if they would answer. "No," he eventually answered for his friend.

Kenren let out a small sigh. "And Amaya? She hasn't come out of the room yet?"

"No," Tenpou said with a small hint of sadness. Both officers were worried about their admiral. Once they made it to Tenpou's office, she bolted for the empty room next door and locked herself in. Kenren tried to get her to come out but she didn't answer. Kenren let Tenpou know what happened before he began to board up the entrances. Tenpou didn't like the news but he forced himself to focus on finding something to help Goku. They both wanted the woman to be out here helping them but they also knew she needed time to cope with what happened.

"Should I try this next?" Tenpou broke the tense silence. "Boil blood obtained from a living goat and pour it directly into his stomach."

Konzen felt his eyebrow twitch in anger as he glared at his friend and Yuki's head fell in defeat at the marshal's words. Kenren shook his head at his comrade and said, "Do you want to be killed?"

"How foolish," another voice echoed in the room. "Do you really think that you could escape after doing all that? You've made enemies out of Heaven." The group looked at their hostage sitting by a messy bookshelf. His hands were tied behind his back and his eyes showed how angry he was at the situation.

The following five rebels, Field Marshal Tenpou, General Kenren, Admiral Amaya, Konzen Douji, and Yuki are on the run from the Heavenly Lord Palace while defending Goku, who is the root cause of everything. They took me, the Western Sea Dragon King, hostage and occupied the south western building of Field Marshal Tenpou's residence. All the building occupants were gathered in one place and confined as hostages.

The siege began just after one night. Two thousand soldiers from the Heavenly Army were surveying the surroundings of the building for a chance to storm in.

"Well, we are completely like terrorists!" Tenpou jested with a smile like it was a humorous thing. Kenren began to laugh at the joke, agreeing with his friend.

Goujun thought otherwise and yelled, "That's not funny!" Once the laughter died down, Goujun decided to ask another question. "What do you want to do from now on?"

Tenpou pulled out a cigarette from his pocket and lit it before returning to his book. "Well, we just have to do something somehow," he said with a small smile.

Goujun watched his officer with calculating eyes. Somehow he didn't feel like that was an honest answer.

It sounded as if those words were not his true feeling. They are not making a fool of the military. This kind of situation is no different from the fact that there are only six of them – no, only three of them have the strength to fight. They should understand right away that this is nothing more than an act of suicide.

At that time, I was unable to understand them.

Outside the building, there was a quiet rumble of voices and various noises. The building was facing against two thousand soldiers of the Heavenly Army. The men all had their weapons ready for battle. All they needed was the order from their commander to attack. As they waited for the signal, they were casually talking amongst themselves about the situation at hand.

"Hmph, I never thought that Tenpou, Kenren and Amaya would rebel."

"And you guys saw what happened to the two bodyguards, right?"

"Yeah. Poor bastards."

"Well, looks to me they're all just idiots."

A collective laugh was shared with the group of soldiers talking.

"That's not it. With this number of men, there won't be any need to deploy the Eastern Army."

"But if that's the case, the commander is…"

"Li Touten-sama!" a soldier's yell broke through the chatter. The closest soldiers stopped their talking to look at the commotion. "Please stop this! You can't go Li Touten-sama!"

Li Touten let out a heavy sigh, holding his bandaged eye. "If you don't shut up this instant…"

"Please Li Toute-!"

"You're annoying!" Li Touten snapped as he swiftly punched the soldier in the face. "Everyone listen up!" All the soldiers snapped to attention once they heard the yell. "On behalf of the Dragon King Goujun from the Western Army, I will assume the commander role for now!"

The group of friends were taking a small breather or something of the like. Tenpou was still nose deep in his books to find something to help Goku. It was a little less stressful now without the two guardians breathing down his neck every few minutes but he knew they were just worried for the heretic. Kenren was keeping his mind busy, walking around the room to make sure it was holding up. He didn't want his mind to wander anywhere else besides their safety but he found himself glancing back at the door, waiting for a certain woman to walk in.

Konzen and Yuki was still by the sickly heretic. Konzen continued to change the wet towel on Goku's head and Yuki never let go of the child's hand. It seemed like the child's state was only getting worse and they couldn't do anything.

Yuki felt helpless as she watched the child struggle to stay alive but even as this was going on, she also felt selfish. She wanted to focus only on her little one but her mind kept replaying the tragedy that happened only an hour ago. She could feel her eyes prick with the knowing feeling of tears about to show but she refused to do so now. All she wanted right now was to see her sister.

Yuki stood up from her spot and started to walk towards the door but stopped when she heard her boss speak. "Yuki?" Konzen asked, not saying much but knew she would understand his silent question.

The woman turned around towards the blonde with a small smile, "Oh! I just need to walk around for a minute. My legs fell asleep."

Konzen was curious about the suspicious answer but didn't say anything. He simply nodded his head and said, "Ok. Just be careful."

"Of course," Yuki replied as she left the room. She quietly shut the door and began her short walk to the room next to theirs'. She tries to open it but of course it would still be locked so she softly knocked instead. "Aya? Are you in there?"

No answer.

"Aya, please. Come out. We need you out here. I need you out here."

Silence.

"I know you are hurting but so am I. Do you think Chao Li and Yun Li would want us to be like this?"

Yuki's voice began to crack, her strength withering away the more she spoke. She heard a small shuffle on the other side of the door and knew her sibling was right next to her. She just needed another small push.

"I could really use a hug Aya. I know you hate them but I'm breaking apart. Your hugs always mend me back together."

Yuki's voice betrayed her attempt to be silly as her tears fell down her face. She went to wipe them away, thinking her sibling wasn't going to show. She was startled a little bit when she saw the door open to reveal her sister. Her heart broke even more at the sight of the admiral.

Amaya's face was red and her eyes were a bit puffy from crying so much. The death of their bodyguards took a major toll on both of them. Yuki let a small smile break through her tears as she held open her arms for the much needed hug she was waiting for. It didn't take Amaya long before she took a step forward and wrapped her arms around her sister. The hallway was filled with the siblings soft cries as both of them let their tears fall, allowing the embrace to heal their broken hearts.

After what seemed like too soon, they broke apart to wipe away their tears. "Thank you Aya. I needed that," Yuki said, her sniffles quieting down now.

"I did as well," Amaya agreed as the two women took a moment to make sure they looked presentable. They didn't want anybody to see the tears stains and possible snot running down their faces.

"So, will you join us now in the room?" Yuki tentatively asked, hoping for a positive answer.

"Amaya shook her head with a sad smile, "No. I still have something I need to do."

Yuki frowned for a moment but did not pressure her sister anymore. She understood her sibling needed a little more time to recover. She was just happy that Amaya came out for her. Yuki nodded her head letting a small smile show to reassure her sibling.

Amaya saw the woman's disappointment and patted her shoulder. "I promise to show up soon Yuki. I can't let you be around my superiors for too long. They tend to be a headache most days."

Yuki laughed at the insult but saw through her sister's words. "Yeah. Tenpou suggested to put goat blood in Goku's stomach to help him."

"That idiot!" Amaya groaned as she facepalmed. "Why would he think that was a good idea?"

"Who knows," Yuki replied with a chuckle. "So, I'll see you in a little bit?"

Amaya nodded her head with a thumbs up, "You betcha!" As Yuki began to leave, Amaya stopped her once again. "Oh, can you let the boys know I'm ok?"

Yuki already knew the admiral was blushing at her own words. She decided against teasing her this time and said, "Of course." She waved at her sibling as she returned to the room that held everybody else feeling a lot better. She saw Tenpou still going through his books, Kenren patching up a hole by the window, Goujun still silently observing his captors, and Konzen by Goku's side.

Konzen looked up at the sound of the door opening and felt relief at seeing his secretary. She looked happier than when she left aside from her slightly red eyes. Was she crying?

"Yuki," Konzen said to the woman as she took her place by Goku's side. "Are you alright?"

Yuki looked at her boss and smiled brightly, "Yes. I am now."

Konzen didn't know what happened in the time she was gone but whatever it was, she really needed it. He was happy to see her back to her normal self. "Good. I'm glad," he said in a low whisper so that the others couldn't hear him.

Yuki felt her heart stutter for a second at those words. She went to thank the blonde but Goku began to move which caused both guardians to turn their full attention to the child.

As she cared for the boy, her mind replayed what happened since they got here. She lost her best friend and Goku was slowly dying and yet she could smile now. She was still worried about the young child but it felt like a huge weight left her shoulders after talking with her sibling. Now, she can focus fully on her little one in front of her.

"Oh," Yuki smirked as she remembered something. She turned towards the officers and said, "Aya wanted me to tell you guys that she is fine."

The secretary smiled as she saw the men's reactions. Tenpou tried to hide his growing smile and his eyes relaxed a little bit. He no longer looked at the words on the pages with a glare. Kenren also smiled at the woman's words, the tension in his shoulders no longer there.

"That's good to know. I was beginning to worry about her," Kenren teased.

"Please. You're the most worried one here," Tenpou retorted.

The group stayed like that for about an hour, enjoying each other's company. They still looked at Goku as he continued to worsen. His breathing was too short and his fever was increasing. The only thing that signaled he was still with them was his whispers. They were broken but understandable.

"….ki…..zen…."

The heretic was calling out for his guardians as he suffered through his condition. Everyone's heart broke at the sounds. They were all there to help but they couldn't do anything. It was a terrible feeling. The silence was interrupted when a loud bang resounded from the furthest side of the building.

Kenren looked where it came from and chuckled. "Oh, so they're barging in from that side too," he said as he shrugged his jacket on. "Although it is merely a provocation."

Tenpou shut his book and set it down on his desk. "Well, let's go make a quick appearance." Before he left with his friend, he turned towards the two guardians and said, "Konzen. Yuki. I leave Goku in your care."

Konzen nodded his head in acknowledgement. Yuki also nodded her head but added, "Be careful you two."

"We will sweetheart," Kenren casually said as he exited the room. Tenpou gave the two a small smile before he shut the door.

With the two officers out, Goku's intense breathing weighed heavily in air. Konzen and Yuki turned their attention back to the child, his grip tightening in the woman's hold. He was in so much pain and yet they couldn't do anything.

"Konzen Douji. Yuki," Goujun's voice almost boomed in the near silent room. The two guardians glanced at the commander, waiting for him to say anything else. "This might be the first time I exchange words with you both."

"We don't get involved in military affairs," Konzen answered for both him and Yuki.

Goujun quietly scoffed at the reply, his red eyes aimed straight for the woman. "Your secretary is though," he slyly replies.

"She is not your admiral," Konzen retorts with a bit of a bite.

"Yet she is related," Goujun reminds him. He was met with silence from both adults which did not surprise him. He just wanted to hear an answer for his question. "So, if you do not involve with the military, why do you defy them? If you hadn't protected Seiten Taisei, you two might have been promised a ranked position."

"Not really," Konzen says as he wets the towel for Goku again, "This is just helping someone I'm worried about. No matter what kind of formidable enemies that leads to. That's all."

Goujun listened to the blonde, trying to understand what caused the man to come to that conclusion. The Sea Dragon turned his attention to the woman, waiting for her answer. Yuki felt eyes on her and knew the commander was waiting on her response.

Yuki smiled, giggling at what she is about to say. "He's really cute," she eventually said after her small fit of giggles passed.

Goujun was left even more confused than last time with the woman's answer.

"We appeared as per your summons!" Kenren sung in a silly tone as he opened the window to face the Army. "Jajaja~n!" he teased with a small wave to the confused soldiers.

"Careful. Your age will be found out, Kenren, "Tenpou picked at his friend. He earned a friendly glare from the man which made him snicker under his breath.

Li Touten didn't pay attention to the friendly banter going on. His annoyance died down enough to have the two come out. He was curious where the third officer was at the time. "You finally came out. Where is your Admiral?" he asked point blank.

"Our princess is resting her eyes," Kenren replied with a smirk. "She can't look at your ugly mug any longer."

A collective gasp from the soldiers was heard and a jingle of weapons came next. Li Touten put his hand up to stop the men from attacking even though he wanted to join them.

"You rebels sure are spirited. No matter," the man raised his staff to point at the traitors. "Western Army Field Marshal Tenpou, General Kenren, and Admiral Amaya from the same army. You defended the heretic child and attacked many soldiers. You even took a hostage and barricaded yourselves in. This will be treated as an act of treason against Heaven!"

There was a small moment of silence, the air stilling as everyone waited for the officers response.

"…..So, it has come to that," Tenpou mused with a blank stare.

Kenren leaned on his friend to fuel the anger of their enemies and said, "What was that again? We couldn't hear you to well~!"

"You bastards!" a soldier growled out.

"How dare you mock us!" another sneered.

Li Touten let the army say a few words, finding his own to add. He knew how far the two could be pushed. He just had to play his cards right if he wanted things to go his way.

"So, you do not intend to yield to me," Li Touten smirked. "Then you will pay with your lives for your wrongdoings."

Tenpou looked at the sea of angry soldiers with a calculating eye. "Wow, so we've completely become the villains," he hummed to himself. He then allowed a small smirk to show, an idea popping into his head. "How about we say something that sounds villainous?"

Kenren nodded his head, all for the suggestion. "That sounds fun. What should we say?"

"Something like, 'We have hostages here. Why don't you try and see if I'll do anything.'?" Tenpou said with a little more enthusiasm than usual.

Kenren picked up on the enthusiasm and chuckled. "You sound like you're enjoying it," Kenren teased in a serious manner. He always had a feeling his friend had a little bit of chaos in him.

As the men bantered, Li Touten and his soldiers happened to hear the Field Marshal's silly attempt at a threat. Li Touten, however, knew the men meant business even though they sounded ridiculous.

"What are your demands? There's no way that you intend to continue barricading yourselves in there forever. To go so far as to oppose the Heavenly Army, what do you wish for?" Li Touten questioned carefully.

The men were silent once again with their enemy's words. They weren't sure what they wanted right now besides for this to blow over but that wasn't going to happen at this rate. They were definitely enemies of Heaven and Heaven was out for their blood.

"Well then, Generel Kenren," Tenpou interrupted the silence, "What should we do now?"

Kenren grunted in uncertainty, almost shrugging his shoulders at the question. Even he was not sure what to do in this situation. He was hoping his friend had an idea.

The silence lingered a moment more until Tenpou smirked and asked, "Should I wave at them?"

"So tell me, what can you two do?" Goujun broke the silence once again. He wanted to understand why everyone was doing this. It just didn't add up right. "The Heavenly Army regards the six of you as heretics for going against Heaven and will go all out to subjugate you. All this for the sake of defending a single child."

Konzen and Yuki stared at the commander, listening to what he was saying. It was a bit difficult to answer him who did not know the child like they did.

"Lacking war experience, brought up in a sheltered environment, what can you two do?" Goujun continued to push, wanting some sort reaction. "What awaits you is destruction."

The two guardians gave each other a look that only the two of them could read. Their minds went back to when they talked with Tenpou. It felt like then except a bit more hostile. Even then, their hearts did not waver just like now.

"That might be true," Konzen answered, "but we can no longer go back. Nor do we have any thoughts of going back."

As Goujun sat there taking in their answer, his red eyes caught movement behind the two. They widened when he realized what it was. "Seiten Taisei!" he yelled, startling the guardians.

They looked behind them to see Goku standing there, barely holding himself up as his breathing was still heavy. Yuki felt happy to see him awake but her happiness soon died down when she saw the boy's eyes. They were still snake like but no longer as vicious like before.

"Goku," Yuki gently said, taking a step forward towards the child.

"No Yuki!" Goujun yells once again, halting the woman's movement. "He is going to kill you!"

Goku did not seem to hear the Commander's words as he made sluggish moves towards Yuki. It looked like it was taking all of his strength just to move the little bit he was.

"Undo the ropes Konzen!" Goujun ordered, his voiced hurried in a desperate attempt to save the two. "I will fight. You're no match for him! Hurry! Untie me!"

Goku suddenly jumps up, his strained voice yelling in some sort of battle cry as he goes after Yuki. The secretary could not move, her body frozen in shock seeing her child coming after her like this. She barely registered Goujun yelling her name to get out of the way. She was pushed out of the way, losing her balance and landing on her side.

The room went silent as they witnessed what was going on. All eyes locked on the child who was now on top of Konzen, the blonde silently staring at the suffering heretic. He felt a small sting on his right cheek, already knowing he received a small scratch from the boy. He would have felt angry, already yelling at the child but not now. He could clearly see Goku's struggle to stay alive and it pained him to see that.

"….zen…..ki….."

And hearing Goku continue to call his and Yuki's name made his reason to stay so much clearer.

"Back then, the one who reached out first was you Goku," Konzen says as he slowly lifts his hands into Goku's hair. "Seriously, what a nuisance. No matter what happens, I will never let go of that hand again."

Goku's breathing stills for a second as Konzen sits up and pulls the child closer until his forehead touches Goku's. Yuki watched as her two precious people bonded, feeling her heart squeeze in what could only be described as love. She was startled when Goku suddenly shot back a little, his eyes momentarily dull.

"Goku!" Yuki calls out, scrambling to try to catch the child.

Goujun could only watch in shock at what he witnessed. Konzen grabbed the child before he hit his head on the floor. Yuki was next to the blonde a second later, looking over the heretic to make sure he was ok. She was surprised to see what happened.

Goku was asleep with a new diadem on his head.

Goujun gaped at the sight, not believing his eyes. "I-Impossible!" he stuttered out, trying to figure out how this happened.

The wind picked up a little bit more, the cherry blossom petals dancing in the air. Kenren held his hand out, allowing the petals to twirl around his open palm. He smiled as a few landed in his gloved hand, his decision already made up.

"Even the blossoms are free," Kenren said with a small smile. "They are free even though they are scattered."

Tenpou glanced at his friend with his own smile. "Yeah, that would be nice," he agreed.

Li Touten could only stare at the two in confusion. What were they going on about?

"Exile to the mortal world," Kenren declares to the crowd. "That is our demand."

The soldiers gasped in shock to hear the demand. Why would they make such a declaration?

"Indeed," Tenpou said as he pushes his glasses up. "This place is not a 'paradise' heretics would head towards."