Test of Time
Blubelle
Ch. 6 The Cycle
AN: "Let's give them something to talk about." Okies, sorry about the updating issues. Really I've had no time to actually write anything. Proverbial list of things I'm doing (really it's become a must): Diving, homework (papersessayspapers), SATs, Grad. Project, work, and another story that I'm working on, on the side. Either way, this was a fun chapter for me so tell me if you enjoyed it too. Thank you!
Disclaimer: Standard disclaimer applies.
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Ch. 6 The Cycle
It was yet another nice day at the great temple. On an unfamiliar side of the temple stood our gossiping monks, tired and looking sickly while sitting under the wooden table.
The older of the two was currently looking intently at his tea and at all sides of his cup, suspicious and scared. The other was shifting uncomfortably under the table, looking as if he was about to make a run for it at any moment.
"Master Sanzo is angry it seems." The younger said as he shifted his sitting position for the fourth time, all while looking at the sliding door to his side.
"Yes, he appears to be taking it out on us." The older one commented, finally taking a sip from his tea and setting it down on the table as quickly as he could. As if the cup was going to bite him at any moment.
"Unfortunately, I agree." He wrenched his head to the side, seemingly have heard something from within the hallway. He stayed that way for a few seconds before looking at his companion once again.
"Well, uh. Yes." The other monk looked nervously as his young cohort glanced back at him. His expression exhibited his fear clearly.
Just then a dull scraping could be heard from the hallway, and in a flash, the two monks were on their feet. The table and their cups fell over with a crash and splash against the wood of the floor. They looked at their mess momentarily before the sound reverberated against the walls once again. And, in a mess of tangled robes and appendages, the two scattered out the other door as fast as their scrawny legs could carry them.
They never did find out what the noise was. Perhaps it was just another monk walking clumsily down the hall, or perhaps it was all in their imagination. Either way they were seriously reconsidering continuing gossiping as a pastime.
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After lunch, the four of them headed off of the temple grounds to a large open field. It was a slightly windy day, the suns rays making shadows as it cast through and around the few clouds within their span of sky. The field was relatively large, with a couple of ancient and grossly large trees were scattered throughout the area, shading it some parts and letting the sun warm the grass everywhere else. Hakkai, Goku, and Sanzo stood under one particularly large and gnarled oak tree, only outside at the insistence of Nishi.
"Come on Go-kuu!" Nishi yelled, pulling forcefully on Goku's arm toward the sunny open part of the field.
"Okay okay. . ." Goku mocked reluctance. When Nishi actually started believing that he didn't want to play with her, he ran up behind her and scooped her up over his shoulder.
Sanzo and Hakkai watched from under the tree. After a few seconds of staring, Sanzo promptly sat atop one of the large tree roots that had somehow escaped the confines of the dirt years and years ago. Hakkai followed suit but instead picked a nice grassy spot and leaned his back against the rough bark of the tree.
"Goku! Lift me up!" Nishi yelled. She was sitting on the ground in defeat with Goku towering over her. She giggled and raised her arms over her head towards Goku.
Putting both hands under her arms, Goku heaved her up and over his head, letting go at the top so that she was airborne for a few seconds before he caught her again. Laughing as he did so.
Nishi's excited giggles echoed throughout the area, "higher! Higher!"
Off to the side Sanzo and Hakkai sat underneath their hugely grotesque tree. Hakkai was attempting to make small-talk while Sanzo lit his mangled cigarette.
"So, where's Gojyo?" Sanzo asked nonchalantly.
"Unpacking, remember? Sorry, I thought we'd already gone over this." Hakkai retreated a little at Sanzo's sidelong glare.
"Weren't you two both unpacking?" Sanzo sighed, he hated having to explain himself, and he especially hated looking incompetent.
Hakkai began to blush slightly, moving his arm behind his head to scratch an imaginary itch. "Well, um- we got a little distracted and couldn't seem to get anything done. So we decided that it would be more productive if only one of us worked on it."
Sanzo wished he hadn't asked and a pregnant silence fell over the two. So they occupied themselves with watching Goku and Nishi.
At the time, Goku was currently helping Nishi climb one of the trees. Although as soon as he was done with this she would jump out of it again in all different directions making Goku run quickly around the tree to catch her. It was a tall tree and it was evident that the activity was making Goku a little nervous. But Nishi was having fun and that was all that mattered. Besides, there was no way that Goku was actually going to let her fall. He was usually waiting for her by the time she began to jump anyway, even though the base of the tree was a few yards thick.
Sanzo couldn't see how it was a fun game for either of them. He was contemplating about how weird a game it was when Hakkai broke him from his thoughts.
"So, Sanzo, how have you been these last few years?"
"Don't waste my time with questions you already know the answer to." Sanzo snubbed his cigarette butt out on the side of the tree before flicking it into the wind-blown grass.
"I'll take that as an 'it wasn't great'". Hakkai smiled and blew a couple of stray hairs out of his face, looking up into the massive branches of the tree as he did so.
"Try sticking around this place for five years with these idiots."
"Would it have been better if he had stayed?" Hakkai looked over at Sanzo out of the corner of his eye, his head still tilted toward the top of the oak. He noticed the change in Sanzo's posture and his expression was one of utter surprise. He obviously hadn't expected Hakkai to be so forward about his situation.
Sanzo sighed, almost angrily, and looked out onto the sun-filled grassland. He stalled for a moment, organizing his thoughts as he watched Goku and Nishi play tag. After gathering himself he looked deep into his almost empty pack of Marlboro Reds and pulled out another cigarette. "I told you not to ask stupid questions."
Hakkai didn't think it was a dumb question but he let it drop knowing that Sanzo wasn't going to answer either way. "Didn't you ever leave? I mean, you're not the type to just stick around one place, especially if you don't like it."
"Now I have a type?" Hakkai laughed at the memories that flooded his mind at Sanzo's words. "I did leave, a lot of times in fact. But, I always came back-"
"Alone. . ." Hakkai finished. Sanzo crumpled up the empty cigarette carton in his hand and threw it to the side in disgust. His eyes followed the sound of laughter and he watched as Goku snuck up behind Nishi, tickling her and declaring that she was 'it'. Goku then ran off at a sluggish pace compared to what he's capable of, only to trip over his own feet. Purposefully letting her catch up to him. And when she did, she jumped up and landed hard on his stomach. He coughed and rolled over on her just to continue their tickle fight once again.
"He's changed a lot Sanzo. Goku is almost completely different, but at the same time he's still the same Goku we know." Hakkai reiterated Sanzo's thoughts as if the monk had said them himself. "Since he found Nishi, he's grown and he's been forced to be more responsible." Hakkai finished his tone remaining somber and almost forceful.
"I noticed. How did he find her?" Sanzo asked gruffly.
"Goku didn't tell you?"
"He. . . never got around to it." Sanzo answered with a sigh. He glanced almost longingly toward the two playing ahead of him but quickly suppressed it and turned toward Hakkai for once.
"Oh, I'm not surprised. It's something that really gets to him. He wouldn't even tell us for awhile." Hakkai flashed that smile of his as he chuckled lightly.
For the first time all day, Hakkai had Sanzo's full attention. Sanzo put the remnants of his cigarette out and continued to look at Hakkai expectantly. "Was it really that bad?"
"Yes. It's understandable that it would bother him. I was astonished when he actually told Gojyo and I their story." Hakkai splayed his hands together and stared at them intently.
"So-" Hakkai turned his head slightly, just so that he could see Sanzo's blank stare.
"Well, I think that it might be better coming from Goku." Hakkai stated nervously.
"Sucks. Hakkai. . . tell me now." Sanzo grabbed one green-clad shoulder in a tight hold. Hakkai looked shocked for a moment. Sanzo's moment of desperation was a little more painful than expected. Hakkai looked at Sanzo and then at the iron-grip on his shoulder. The priest stiffened and retracted. His expression was almost apologetic.
Hakkai sighed and looked out at Goku and Nishi playing. "Okay, okay. Goku told us that one night while he was still a vagabond he was coming near a small village surrounded in forest. While on the out-skirts of town, he heard something from a cabin just within the line of woodland. Getting closer he could distinctly hear whimpering and even crying. Like someone was calling his name, but at the same time, not."
Sanzo nodded in understanding before Hakkai continued.
"He said that for some reason he'd been almost pulled toward the village. And so, after following the voice, eventually he smelled blood. He traced the scent and found himself in front of a small cabin. He kicked the door in, he said that the smells were so horrible that he gagged. It was dark and dank and there in the corner was a little girl. She was crying and her clothes were torn and tattered around her feet. She was sobbing and covered in blood."
Sanzo looked slightly astonished at this. He didn't know what to think about what he was hearing.
"But the worst part was. . . she was locked in a small cage." Hakkai straightened his glasses on his nose and slowly looked over at Sanzo. "Since then, they've been inseparable. I think that they live with a connection I can't even comprehend. You may be on a better playing field however."
An array of emotions crossed Sanzo's face in an instant, shock, anger, sadness, and confusion. He returned Hakkai's glance and then turned his attention toward Goku and Nishi.
Nishi was currently lying on top of Goku, who was relaxing with his arms behind his head while they talked. Sanzo couldn't make out what they were saying but they both seemed very relaxed.
"Goku said that when he first walked in he could have sworn that she reached out to him. But that his mind was moving so fast and in so many directions that he can't remember. He freed her immediately and realized that her captors had fled, just left her there to die. He took her to a nearby doctor who could describe what exactly had been done to her." Hakkai continued.
"And?" Sanzo asked, slipping back into nonchalance as he pulled another pack of cigs out and unwrapped the plastic covering almost frantically.
"Goku wouldn't tell us. I'm guessing it was really bad though. The doctor almost couldn't save her, and even now she is still covered in scars. Both emotion and physical." Hakkai watched as Sanzo struggled with the wrapper that he'd been rushing to rip off. He chuckled and grabbed the pack out of Sanzo's hands. He slowly pulled the tab wrapping around the top off and slipped the lid open before ripping the silver paper that covered his revered drug.
"You packed these right?" Hakkai asked laughingly as he chucked them the two feet needed to reach Sanzo.
"You spend way too much time with Gojyo." Sanzo uncharacteristically smiled as he put the pack away and turned his attention back to Hakkai.
"So does she remember any of this?" Sanzo asked with a curious air to his speech and posture.
"She was young. She knows it happened but she has other things on her mind right now. She loves Goku so much that nothing else matters, and I know that Goku feels the same. They've made each other happy even through their darkest times."
Sanzo felt a small pang of jealousy at his words. It was a feeling he hadn't felt since he was a kid, it was odd but he didn't try to suppress it.
"And her real parents?"
"My, my, Sanzo, you sure are inquisitive today." Sanzo grabbed for the pack he'd put away as he glared at his source of information. "Murdered. Goku is her legal guardian now. He signed the paperwork and everything."
"That seems a little excessive, especially for Goku." Sanzo lit the cigarette in his hand and breathed in, deep.
"Goku wanted it to be official. Have you noticed that Nishi calls Goku 'Dad' at night, and only at night?"
Sanzo nodded, his line of vision locked on Goku and Nishi as they laid together, their eyes closed. It was a calming affect on his unsteady nerves. "It's odd."
"Not really. Nishi becomes the most vulnerable at night. I'm guessing that her parents murder as well as her capture occurred at night. Goku is all she has and for a long time Nishi was all Goku had."
There it was again. That sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach. Sanzo almost put his hand to his abdomen to try and repress the feeling but stopped himself.
"Hey! Uncle Hak-kai! Where's Uncle Gojyo?" Nishi asked as she walked up and climbed onto Hakkai's lap.
"Probably still in our room. Do you want to go see him?" Hakkai asked looking down into her big ecstatic eyes.
"Yeah! Let's go!" Nishi said, beaming her enthusiasm throughout the area.
"Are you guys up for some cards? Like old times I guess you could say." Hakkai asked smilingly.
"Sounds great." Goku said, laughing as he watched Nishi writhe in Hakkai's lap. She seemed uneasy about something, but he wasn't sure what.
"Sanzo are you in?" Goku turned his attention toward Sanzo, almost pleading him to give in with his mere expression.
"Yeah, sure." Sanzo said with a sigh as he flicked his still lit cigarette butt and stood up to leave. As he turned toward the direction of the temple he was suddenly stopped. A small pudgy hand had him by the back of his robes in mid-step. He turned to see Nishi staring up at him eagerly. At that moment, Hakkai's words rang through his head, 'Goku makes Nishi truly happy', and for some reason he wanted to too.
So when Nishi held her arms out to be picked up, he didn't hesitate to lift her up under her arms. He rested her against his hip and held her close. They looked at each other momentarily before Nishi buried her head in his robes, possibly to hide her blush. She nuzzled deeper into his robes as they walked through the temple and toward Hakkai and Gojyo's room. All the while sitting on Sanzo's hip, his arms wrapped securely around her, almost in a protective manner that he didn't mean to exude.
Behind them, Hakkai and Goku looked at each other every so often in amazement. Goku leaned a little closer to Hakkai as they walked and whispered lightly behind his hand.
"Am I seeing things? Please, tell me I'm not seeing things."
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Well, that's that! I mean, it certainly isn't it. . . but we're getting there. Longest chapter yet! I think I clocked in at about 3000 there. I hope you enjoyed it. I'm running out of things to do to the monks, I'm at a complete lack of inspiration now that I've actually gotten this far. (They were never part of my original planning). Oh yeah, just a quick, little thing here, I have Hakkai with glasses like in Reload instead of his monocle like in the beginning of the series.
Oh, and I apologize about the cliché broken past bit, but really that's all I could do to describe the way that they came to be together. This was my original idea, so I decided to go with it. For awhile there, I even thought of having her kidnappers come back and take her again (I have it written up and everything), but in the end, I think it'll be a little too excessive and it'll go too far away from the main focus. . . Sanzo and Goku of course!
Next Chapter: "I like it here Goku." Nishi said seriously as they walked down the long corridor.
"Yeah, it is really nice. What do you think of living here for awhile?" Goku asked smilingly, looking down at her as she walked beside him.
"That sounds great!" Nishi said excitedly almost jumping up and down as she walked.
"Good, now come on. Let's get back so you have time to do Gojyo's nails."
(Subject to change)
Thanks and please review, only if it's just a few words, let me know you're out there! Flames, corrective criticism, shout outs, anything and everything is accepted so don't hesitate, but please be honest.