~*Raining Monkeys*~
+Seas Spilled from Cups+
Pancake
Disclaimer: Before I forget again, like I did in the first chapter (^^;;), I definitely do not own Saiyuki. If I did, I would be a very happy Pancake, and it would doubtfully be as good as it is. All thanks of the show and it's characters goes to the wonderfully talented Minekura Kazuya, all thanks of the plot of this fic and my one or two inserted characters (just Koryn so far) goes to the not-so-talented me, all thanks of grammatical accuracy goes to Ashley-sama.
Rating: PG-13
Warnings: Houston, we have established shounen-ai in this chapter (just a wee bit, though), so if you don't like it, I'm sorry, you can skip the last few paragraphs or not read at all, 'tis up to you. Language, thanks to our lovely Baldie Sanzo, and the first mentions of an OC. (Don't let this scare you off!! She's going to be in the fic minimally, and will establish no more than a friendship with the Sanzo-ikkou, I just need her to link certain events together.) Er... that's all for now, I think.
Notes: Yay! Another chapter! Thanks to all the loffly reviews I received, I decided that the show must go on. 'Thank you's to reviewers will be posted in my live journal (), there were just too many to list here. I would once again like to thank Ashley-sama, for continuing to beta my fic despite her dislike for both yaoi and Saiyuki. I hope I don't utterly disappoint you all with this chapter, it took me a lot longer to write than the first, because I kept trying to make the characters as non OOC as possible. I know I failed there. I'm terribly sorry. I also must ask apologies for how long it took me to get this chapter out. I'm going to try to make it up with a quick update (hopefully by Saturday). We'll see how that goes! Anyway, I've rambled enough. Please enjoy this next chapter of Raining Monkeys.
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"He brought me a world brighter than the sun..."
There was no greeting for the monk as he stood outside the tall, ornate doors that led to the chamber of the Three Aspects. That, in itself, was unnerving. It had always agitated him how long it took for those ridiculously huge doors to swing open, and even more so now that something – someone – so important was waiting just beyond.
Wait a fucking minute... When the the hell had that damned chimp become so important?!
"He's the one who saved me from the prison of darkness..."
Finally the sodden monk was granted entrance, and with a slight snort, he crossed his arms over his torso and proceeded into the chamber. The rain, still pouring, had gotten him beyond drenched since he had no way to hope to stop it, and he was ready to give the monkey a good beating. A very good one. Yet, the only person he saw in the room was a ebon-haired youth adorned in silken robes, with his back greeting the monk. His grip on the harisen loosened, and his trek forward came to an unsure end.
Where the hell was his monkey?
"He's the one who showed me the light of the world..."
The god must have sensed him because he turned toward him slowly, an almost grim grin dancing across his lips as he did so. In turning he answered Sanzo's unspoken question. Cradled in his arms was a Goku that looked far too thin and pale to be the monkey he had let leave years before, his chocolate hair spilling down and around his shoulders and dressed in robes that could almost hide how much he had grown. He seemed just as lanky as the god who held him, but surely he hadn't gotten so tall. Growing could explain why he looked so emaciated, if it weren't for the absence of that blissfully peaceful look that usually accompanied Goku's sleep.
Violet eyes lifted to look at the ebon-haired god when he had lifted Goku slightly in his direction, searching the guarded golden depths for the answers to the questions that had formed from such a sight. Something was obviously out of place, disconcertingly so, and he wanted answers. "Your charge." Nataku's voice was even when he spoke, and he looked expectantly at the other.
Sanzo easily slipped into the incredulous reaction that was expected. "You took him out of my charge three years ago."
"He's a light far, far brighter than the sun..."
Nataku nodded, that same smile on his lips as he looked down to the boy – a brief emotion that Sanzo couldn't immediately place rippling across his golden eyes. "I'm afraid that I must ask it of you again."
"And just what makes you think I'll agree?"
Nataku looked back up at him, his smile broadening slightly, as if he knew some kind of secret that he did not. "You've missed him."
Fucking gods... "What the hell makes you think that?" He couldn't help the angered growl that slipped into his voice, making him sound defensive.
It all seemed to amuse Nataku more. "There is nothing that you can hide from the gods, priest Genjo Sanzo. You should know that, better than anyone else." His smile faded, his eyes taking a slightly more stern look. "My time here is pressed, so I mustn't waste it trying to convince you to take something you already want. He is your charge now, and it has been decided so by Lady Kanzeon Bosatsu and myself."
"Che... That old hag." He gave a slight roll of violet eyes before fixing them back on the other. "Tell me what happened."
"I have this feeling..."
"Of course." Nataku nodded, shifting the bulk of Goku's weight from one arm to another. "I will tell you what I know, but the rest, most of it, you will have to ask him for." When Sanzo said nothing more, the young god took it as acceptance, and gave a soft sigh, moving his eyes from the priest to a wall beyond. "I will admit, from the beginning, that I unwittingly led him to his fate. I apologize."
"After I took him back with me," he began, taking the brief moment of silence that Sanzo gave him as a sign, "I was informed of what would happen to him. I know you don't remember who you were, but as in this lifetime and the last you were his caretaker, and because of that, he was able to live amongst us in Heaven. I thought that Goku, having done so much for the world already, would surely be able to stay free, and if not that then perhaps he would get to stay with Lady Kanzeon, or myself even." He gritted his teeth as his arms tightened around the boy, a brief moment of anger passing over him. "I should have known better."
It took only a moment for him to get his emotions back under control, and the tension he had was released with a simple exhalation of air. "My father had decided that Kanzeon had failed the first time, in choosing Konzen, and that putting two heretics together would only cause more trouble, and so he simply gave him to whatever god would benefit him the most. There happened to be one with a daughter our age, and so Goku went as some kind of dowry, to a god with a bad enough reputation as it was."
Golden eyes narrowed in helplessness and anger, once again clutching Goku more closely to him. "I cannot say for sure what happened to Goku within the three years he was there, but there are scars that tell enough. Koryn, his daughter, who stayed there the three years Goku did and tended to him, told me only what her father did to her and other servants. She would not relate Goku's fate to me, but it must have been similar, due to the stories and the scars." The anger melted from his eyes as he bowed his head in defeat, ebon wisps falling wildly over his shoulders to both frame and obscure his features. "I can only imagine the humiliation that he must have felt, for so many years, and there was absolutely nothing I could have done to save him."
He lifted his eyes to look directly at Sanzo, which caught the monk slightly off-guard. He quickly fell back to indifference, however Nataku's look of utter despair struck a cord deep within him. "I am the prince of Heaven, and his claimed 'first friend,' and both times that he's needed me, I have been unable to save him."
"That's stayed with me from a time long, long ago..."
"How was he freed?" Sanzo spoke smoothly, despite the anger that had welled from the story, trying to coax the god out of his despondent state. When Nataku's head bowed again, he let out an inaudible sigh, relaxing once again.
"I suppose that one day it all just built up – the anger, the humiliation, the despair. He broke, and showed his true form. Out of the god's palace, Koryn was one of the only survivors. Lady Kanzeon replaced his limiter, but it was the second time, and there was no way that they would have pardoned Goku again. I could not let him be locked on some mountain, and so Lady Kanzeon and I knew we only had one option left. That is why Lady Kanzeon made sure the Three Aspects did not know of my coming today, because the less they know, the safer you and Goku will be." Nataku had once again reverted to his look of indifference, though his eyes held a grave look.
"So not only are you dropping an annoying monkey on me, but a fugitive as well." It was a thought that he spoke aloud, giving a hard look to the other.
Nataku bowed his head once again, his voice dropping, making it almost impossible to hear. "He asked for you, almost every day, for the first year or so."
Sanzo gave another soft snort, though first the first time he reached out for Goku, easily lifting the slight weight into his arms. "Damned stupid monkey."
Nataku looked up at him with the same, knowing smile. "If I may suggest something, I would suggest that you give Goku time to heal, and then take him to your friends' house. I will do what I can to buy you time."
"I don't need your help." And with those words, the monk began to retrace his steps, impatient to get Goku to a place he could rest and awaken.
Nataku watched them go, waiting until they were long gone before he made a move, fading back to his own realm. "No. I guess you wouldn't, Konzen."
"I just want to hold on to it!"
The first thing that he noticed upon coming to was a scent invading his senses that he had not smelled for three years – violets and nicotine. But it was probably just some cruel trick that was being played on him by his mind, or perhaps his master had ordered it to be so.
His master did things like this a lot, taunting him with things he knew he could never have again – taunting him with memories of Sanzo. Even if Sanzo was no longer his master, he would always be his sun, the light of his world. Even if he never saw Sanzo again, there would never be any way that he could forget him. He couldn't let them take away his memories of Sanzo, and everyone else. So he would have to endure this torture, this violation of his being.
Sanzo would never respect that, though. Goku knew that he had turned into something that Sanzo despised. If there was ever any chance that Sanzo could have felt the way that he did, it would disappear if he found out. That's why he never could. That's why it was best this way.
"Stop it..." Goku murmured, turning onto his side. "Stop messing with my mind."
"It's about time you woke up, you damn monkey."
Golden eyes shot open, and for the longest time he could only stare at the wall, a wall that he hadn't seen in years. How had he gotten here?! Now that he thought of it, what had happened to him? The last he remembered he was with his master, and he had said something that had really gotten to him. Something about Sanzo maybe, or Nataku, or even Koryn, and then he had just... Had he lost his limiter?
He pushed himself up, bringing a hand to his temple when he found that his world still spun. The room was dark from the rain that pounded against the window that Sanzo sat by, though the bleak weather cast a silvery glow upon him. Goku had always appreciated the rain for that reason, though at the same time he loathed it because Sanzo did.
Gods, it had been so long since he had seen him. His hair had grown enough to put it in a short ponytail, only slightly though, and he looked slightly more weary. They had both changed, they both looked different, but Sanzo was still Sanzo, even if Goku himself had changed. He could still captivate Goku for moments at a time – he was still his sun.
"What do you want, monkey?"
Goku, for once, didn't shy away from harsh words, his gaze still intent on the monk. "Do you know what happened to me?"
Annoyed violet eyes moved from the window to stare directly at the brunette. "If you mean: do I know if you were given to some god who abused you? Yes. If you mean: do I know that your limiter broke and you went on a killing spree and are now a fugitive? Yes."
The blonde sighed and laid his head back against the wood of the sill, staring up at the shadows that the rain etched across the ceiling. "But if you mean: do I know what happened to you, and to your mind? No, I have no fucking clue." Violet eyes moved to look at him, to study him carefully. "But I've been waiting a day for you to wake up and tell me."
Goku turned his golden eyes downward, carefully hiding the embarrassment of having Sanzo know, and of being so weak as to have Sanzo show that tiny sliver of worry. He should never have left, should never have given in. "How did I get here?"
Sanzo's brow furrowed, unhappy that he had changed the subject. "Your god friend brought you."
'Nataku?' Goku's brow furrowed briefly, still confused as to the happenings that led him there. He hadn't seen his friend at all over the three years, though Koryn told Goku of his continuous interest in his well-being. If she had told Nataku the truth, though, then why hadn't he come to rescue him before? Why had it gotten to the point where Goku had lost himself and despaired so greatly that his true form had surfaced to take the vengeance he could not?
"I see." His words were short and clipped, his tone void of any sign of emotion.
'Why the hell is he acting so distant?' The monkey always showed some level of emotion, great or small. To have him like this was unnerving, and the monk didn't care for it at all. He had tried to protect Goku from losing the ability to so clearly show emotion and the innocence that seemed to connect with it – the side of Goku that Sanzo grown to appreciate. It now seemed that he had failed, though it was still Goku that sat before him.
"I want to hear it in your own words. I want you to tell me what happened to you." Sanzo insisted, his eyes never once leaving the youth's features in hopes that some spark of the old Goku would show.
Goku's eyes stayed intent on his hands, which clutched at his ankles through the sheets. He couldn't tell Sanzo, he just couldn't. Koryn was easy to talk to, since she had gone through the exact same thing he had. He even guessed that talking with Nataku or Gojyo or Hakkai wouldn't be so bad either – awkward, but not bad.
But Sanzo, someone he held in such high regards – he could never do that. "I'm really tired, and I have a real bad headache. I think I might sleep some more."
Sanzo cocked an eyebrow at him, surprised that he would so blatantly ignore his question. However, it proved to annoy the monk more than surprise him, and so he was quickly on his feet, moving to sit on the side of the bed. One hand moved to balance himself while the other reached out to take a firm hold of the youth's chin, forcing his face upward to try to catch his gaze. "Tell me," he ordered, when he was able to pin the monkey under his gaze.
Goku was determined, though, and it showed in his eyes – guarded now, but still expressive enough. "I don't want to."
Sanzo's eyes narrowed as he scrutinized the boy, searching for the key that would make him open up. "What the hell has gotten into you, you damned monkey?"
"You're the one who made me go! You can't be mad at me because you're the one who made me go." He needed any excuse, any validation, anyone to blame.
"What the fuck are you talking about?"
"If you hadn't've made me go, he never would have done those things to me! So you can't be mad at me for letting it happen. I tried to stop him, I did, but then he stopped feeding me and he would beat me. I had no choice." Goku looked frantic, as if he was trying to validate himself for some huge crime, his golden eyes wide.
Sanzo was taken back by this, though he quickly recovered and his face softened when he realized just what Goku was talking about. The hand that held his chin moved to his hair, and with a sigh, he pulled the boy close to him. "Of course it's not your fault, Goku, and the bastard deserved what he got." There was still a roughness in his voice that he couldn't get rid of, but for the most part it was more gentle than normal.
Goku stiffened at the initial contact, not completely unfamiliar to the rare affection Sanzo showed, but it had been so sporadic that it always surprised him. Especially now, after the three years he had been forced to spend away from his sun. If there was one thing he had learned, though, it was to take advantage of such moments, because there was no guarantee there would be another.
Thinned, tanned arms encircled the waist of the monk, pulling himself closer to his savior. He turned his head into the crook of his neck, closing his eyes in contentment. He still wasn't exactly sure how all of it had happened, but he was graceful. With his luck, though, he would wake and find that it had all been some reverie of his; it had happened before. However, something told him that this time it was real, that it wasn't a pillow he was hugging, but an actual person. Sanzo.
After a moment of reveling, Goku's eyes opened and he sighed. "Sanzo?"
"What?"
"I missed you." He could already feel the monk's arm loosen from around his shoulder, a sign that the moment was over, and so his arms fell away, allowing him room to leave.
Sanzo snorted softly, pulling away from him. "Stupid monkey."
He was about to stand, about to leave Goku for the windowsill again, to wallow in the memories brought by the rain. Goku could feel the bed shift, could almost see his muscles tensing in preparation to stand. "Sanzo?" He wasn't ready to let him leave just then, he wasn't ready for the moment to end. Just as he thought, Sanzo froze in his spot, and Goku didn't have to look at him to know that his violet gaze was looking expectantly at him.
With his gifted speed the monkey leaned forward, his hands fisting into the off-white robes as he craned his neck, bringing his chapped lips to Sanzo's smooth ones for the briefest of moments, the softest of kisses. Expecting the fan he quickly moved away, putting plenty of space between them. His golden eyes bore stubbornly into the monk's, as if daring him to say something.
Sanzo merely shook his head and resumed his standing, his eyes showing the slight smile of amusement that would not reach his lips. "Stupid monkey," he repeated, before heading for the windowsill. "We're going to Hakkai and Gojyo's tomorrow. Rest."
"He is my sun, my savior, and I will never leave his side."
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Notes (again): I took most of the italicized Goku quotes in the first half of this chapter from episode 21, though the first and last were ones I made up for the sake of things, and I altered one somewhere in between. This chapter was so hard to get out, because any affection from Sanzo just seems so OOC to me. ^^;; I once again hope I didn't disappoint anyone with this chapter. Please review!! Tell me what you think and such, and give me any thoughts y'all (I'm from Texas, what can I say) have on the future of the fic. I could use suggestions from you guys, because I want to please my readers! ^-^
*Hugs and Love*