Impossibility 7

A mote of light, flickering on the edge of perception.

An idle thought; a bemused contemplation: How strange the concept of boundaries in endless darkness.

The light grew.

From spark to ball, ball to star. Divided: twin sports, then four, eight. A galaxy, spinning slowly upon its axis. A sphere, of countless specks. A sphere within a greater ovoid. A wash of brightness.

Lines.
Plains.
Shapes.

A flash of recognition: A man, walking.

He watched with a dreamer's patience as the figure neared, moving towards him in this place where there were no distances. It halted, eyes upon him, then turn away.

Movement ceased. Black became gray, became white, then shattered in a shower of brilliance.

He awoke.

--

A man stood in a doorway. Before him lay a bedroom: a plain affair of off-white plaster peeling from the walls, and cracked and dirty floorboards of wood. In this room was a table, a chair, and a bed.

The man waited. Upon the bed another man stiired, on the very brink of awareness. Eyes darted under closed lids. Lips moved, formed words. A soft sigh, a wisp of breath that echoed in the silence. Then a blink, to reveal eyes a unique shade of iridescent green.

A pause.

"Good morning," the man on the bed said at last. His fingers crept, almost unconsciously, to brush the surface of three cuffs upon his left ear.

The man in the doorway made no reply. Stillness radiated from him.

"You shouldn't be able to to stand there like that, you know," the man on the bed said. "...unless I was unconscious for several weeks without knowing it." He chuckled softly and sat up, but did not look round. He did not need to.

Silence pooled in the room. The man on the bed turned his attention to the bandages across his right shoulder. Peeling back a corner, he studied the wound below -- 3 deep gashes, swollen and red against the skin. "Still, from the look of these," he commented, "I couldn't have been out for more than a day." Deftly, he rebandaged the shoulder. "Which means that some miracle must have happened. Right, Sanzo?"

There was a whisper of movement as the man in the doorway slipped into the room and seated himself on the single chair. The door clicked shut behind him. Again, Hakkai did not turn to watch. He could sense the other's movement across the room, could map a trail of golden light, clear as if he had behld it with his own eyes.

"I take it that you don't understand what happened either," Sanzo spoke quietly.

"No," Hakkai replied. "Although I can guess -- I must have inadvertently mended your legs while attempting to heal the rest of your injuries."

"You know that to be impossible."

"I know that I haven't fixed bones with ki alone before. There is a difference."

"Nevertheless." There was an undercurrent of warning in that tone -- a trace of anger, impatience, and below that, masked almost into invisibility... uncertainty.

Hakkai knew without looking that Sanzo had moved, even as he instinctively reached up to grab the chopstick that the priest had flung at him without warning. This time he did turn, a flash of anger of his own fighting to the surface. "What--"

"Explain that, if you will," Sanzo replied. He gestured sharply, and Hakkai moved even before he saw the action; the second chopstick flew past him and hit the wall beyond.

"I'm not sure I understand--"

"You moved before I did. Twice. I don't believe it's coincidence."

"I have no idea," Hakkai murmured.

"Almost a day ago, Hakuryuu found us in the forest. How he brought us back I don't know, and frankly, I don't care. The other two are lost. Presumably they're somewhere in the village." Sanzo paused, as if collecting his thoughts... or finding the strength to concede to something he didn't want to believe. "I awoke several hours ago, with barely a hint of residue stiffness. The injuries were gone, even the ones from the previous attack." His lip curled in a sneer. "I would put it down to divine intervention, except for one thing."

Hakkai looked away. An ... indescribable sense of Sanzo continued to linger. "You can feel it too?" he asked. "A .... knowledge of where I am...?"

"More than that. Every movement you make. The general shape of your thoughts." Sanzo tapped his own shoulder sharply, and Hakkai felt a corresponding twinge.

"I suspect...." Hakkai murmured, and fell silent. He could, if he concentrated, sense the impatient curiosity radiating from the other man. He could even sense perplexity and the annoyance that engendered. He could not put it down to mere perception on his part any longer.

"Suspect what?" Sanzo snapped.

Hakkai carefully allowed his mind and face to go blank. "I suspect that we should look for Goku and Gojyo."

Sanzo was suddenly standing beside the bed, the chair falling to the floor behind him. His anger was almost palpable now. Hakkai winced as he felt an echo of pain shooting through both his legs -- this was evidently what Sanzo brushed off as 'residue stiffness'.

"Don't play games with me, asshole!" the priest growled.

"I'm not playing games," Hakkai shot back.

"Then tell me what you think!"

"You can't tell?" Hakkai asked, vaguely surprised."You can't gather it from my mind?"

Sanzo frowned. "I feel an echo of a stubborn lack of cooperation on your part. Nothing more." The frown deepened. "You overrate this... thing. I gather nothing more than your stronger feelings." He shot Hakkai a sour glare. "Besides, I don't relish having to root around in your head, and you had damn well keep out of mine."

Ah, Hakkai thought quietly, the words of a person... of people... who have soething to hide. "I believe that... during the healing, I might have overstretched myself." He paused. "It would explain how I managed to mend your bones. And... I might have transferred some of my ki to you in the process." He paused again, waiting for a response. "I could be entirely wrong, of course."

Sanzo's emotions flashed from annoyance to thoughtfulness, then promptly became inscrutable. Hakkai looked up warily, bracing himself for the storm.

It never came. Sanzo turned away, walking stiffly and slightly unsteadily towards the door. His words echoed back to Hakkai. "If the two idiots are not back by this evening, send the dragon to look for them. And... say nothing of this. To anyone."

Hakkai felt Sanzo's presence diminish as he wakled down the corridor to the next room. There was a thump of a door closing, and the ache in his legs eased up. Then... silence.

--

Evening came upon him suddenly. Hakkai blinked, to find the walls of the room turned pink and orange. There were rays of light from the evening sun across the floor, and voices in the corridor.

Rubbing the sleep from his eyes, he sat up. He'd been having the strangest dream-- no, it was no dream. He could feel a presence in the next room, as certain an extension of himself as an arm or a leg. No thoughts or feelings came through, and for that he was grateful.

He returned his attention to the noise outside his room. There were footsteps now, clattering up and down across the wooden floor. Someone was giving orders, shouting for tea, food, water.

The door slammed open. A muddy figure half stumbled in. Hakkai raised an eyebrow in surprise. "Why, hello Gok--"

"Hakkai!" Goku yelled. "You're safe!" He grinned, carelessly tracking mud across the room as he leapt to the bedside. A basket of meat buns were already clasped in one hand.

"What happened?" they demanded of each other at the same time.

Goku paused in confusion for a split second before launching in a jumbled recollection of events. Hakkai gathered that he'd found Gojyo, fought off a team of youkai, and subsequently been found and taken in by some nice villagers who had fed them lots of meat buns, but not naerly enough, so as soon as Gojyo had gotten up, they'd asked for directions back to the inn, and the villagers had even given him a bento for the road, wasn't that nice of them, and he'd been meaning to save some for Sanzo only he was really really hungry and so he'd eaten it--

"And how is Gojyo?" Hakkai interrupted gently.

"Doctor's looking at him now. He was hurt pretty bad and he's asleep again but the doctor said he should pull through although he's going to need rest and stiches for a while... Oh, and the doctor said that you're not to try healing him at any cost, 'cos you've already overtaxed yourself and need the rest twice as bad."

Hakkai watched the room walls darken from pink to a deep purple. "I see." Even within the doctor's admonishment, he doubted if hec ould have done anything. He was thoroughly exhausted.

"And what happened to you and Sanzo?" Goku asked.

"I had to fight off a number of youkai to reach. It was Zakuro, like we'd guessed, behind the attack... I didn't manage to kill him, but I doubt he'll be back for a while." Hakkai smiled, a small thin smile quite unlike his usual placcid one. "I do believe he's run out of minions."

"Is Sanzo ok? His door is locked so I think he's sleeping. And what happened to our rooms?"

"Sanzo's condition is much improved. I did a spot of healing on him. Perhaps you'll see him over dinner." Hakkai glanced at the dividing wall, then looked away sharply. "Our rooms were wrecked, or at least the one Sanzo and I were sharing was. Yours is fine."

"Awww, man! Does that mean I have to continue rooming with the kappa?"

It was what Hakkai dubbed a 'reflex-complaint', without any real thought behind it, so he chose to ignore it. "You should finish the manjuu before they get cold."

"Oh yeah! I'll see you over dinner... gonna get a bath before the kappa hogs it." He sprang to his feet.

"Goku-- wait, were you injured?"

"Nothing serious!" with a cheerful wave, the boy had disappeared out of the door. There was the sound of retreating footsteps. Then a pause. Then the sound of someone running hastily back, and Goku appeared momentarily by the door which he'd forgotten to close. He gave Hakkai a grin and shut the door behind him.

Hakkai returned a distracted smile, but his mind was miles away.

--

"You shouldn't be out of bed," the physician said, shaking his head. "Still, it's too late."

Hakkai nodded politely at him, and took a seat around one of the dining tables. "How is everyone else?"

"The boy Goku had a minor concussion but even that can't keep him down." The physician made an annoyed gesture. "He's crazy! He must have youkai blood or something... despite getting knocked out and lying the rain for hours, he's none the worse for it. Not even a chill."

"Ah," Hakkai replied. "The toughness of youth. That is good to hear. How is Gojyo? I understand he's still resting."

"He was definitely in bad shape by the time I got to him. That gut wound is deep and nasty, and could very well get infected. Not to mention the fact that he's lost a lot of blood and he spent several hours out in the cold too. I hope you lot aren't planning on running off on this journey of yours for a while. He's in no state to travel." A 'tsk' of frustration. "He'll be out for a while. I gave him a strong sedative before I stitched up the wound."

Hakkai nodded. "My thanks on behalf of both of them. Have you... incidently... looked in on Sanzo today?"

"His door has been locked all day. I sincerely hope that that midnight jaunt didn't worsen his condition any further--"

"--Your concern would be better directed towards someone else," a curt voice interrupted. Sanzo appeared at the top of the stairs and, grasping a rail for support, limped slowly down. The physician stared in amazement. "He shouldn't be able--"

"I performed some ki healing on him last night," Hakkai said, by way of explanation. "His condition is much improved."

"But... but that's--"

The man's words were choked back as a click sounded. Sanzo raised the Smith and Wesson, one finger on the safety. "Obviously, it succeeded. And if you have any sense, you'll attribute it another little known fact of ki healing and leave it at that."

The physician straightened, and nodded sharply. "Very well. I'm glad to see you up and about, Sanzo-san." He spun and left.

Hakkai leaned back, slowly and deliberately.

"Oh, is that how you feel?" Sanzo snapped.

"The doctor has been of immense help. Or would you rather be dead?" Hakkai said sweetly. "That was no way to return the favor."

"He will be paid handsomely for his services," Sanzo replied coldly, returning the gun to his sleeve pocket.

"A verbal apology generally does more good than money," Hakkai pointed out. But he knew that Sanzo never apologized. It was one of those things in a long list of annoying and occasionally infuriating things about the man...

...Hakkai strangled back his anger and the impulse to throttle the priest. Sanzo was watching him carefully, unaware that he'd raised one hand protectively to neck level.

Both of them took a deep breath.

"Will you sit down? I've ordered dinner," Hakkai said. He watched without seeing as Sanzo crossed the floor to pull out a chair opposite him.

"Goku and Gojyo are back," Hakkai stated, by way of filling the silence. "Both are hurt, but should recover. Gojyo sustained a bad gut wound, from what I hear... so I'd opt to stay a few more days."

Sanzo's eyes narrowed in irritation, but Hakkai sensed that he would cede this by way of unspoken apology for his earlier behavior.

"Besides, it'll give us some time to.... sort out this... situation." Hakkai looked up calmly.

"There is nothing to sort out. We will simply have to live with it until we can find a way to reverse it."

"Of course. I've been thinking about that, but I confess that I don't know how it could have happened, let alone how it can be undone." Hakkai thanked the waiter who delivered tea and sake. Sanzo ordered beer. There was a momentary lull in the conversation.

"Perhaps after a day or so of rest I could experiment," Hakkai suggested. "Ki has, well, lines and connectors.... channels. Perhaps those are simply entangled and can be untangled. Or severed."

"Perhaps," Sanzo replied. He did not sound convinced. "In my experience, nothing is ever that simple."

"That's true," Hakkai replied amiably.

They paused again, staring at the bottom of their glasses. Food was served, but neither of them touched it. Hakkai emptied the sake bottle. Uncomfortable silence reigned. Sanzo brooded, clearly deep in thought.

"Sanzo," Hakkai said abruptly.

The priest started, caught by surprise. In that moment, Hakkai felt a flash of confused emotions from him, before mental walls seemed to descend and cut off the sending.

"What?"

Hakkai shook his head. "Nothing. And it shouldn't be discussed here, anyway."

Sanzo stared at him. When Hakkai replied with a bland, polite smile, the priest sighed and stood. "Let Goku finish this." He headed for the stairs, clearly deep in thought.

Hakkai watched the white clad figure ascend the stairs, overriding pain with sheer willpower. In his mind, he carefully sorted through what he'd last felt from Sanzo, examing and sifting through the various emotions. The smile on his face faded away.

--
TBC