A/N- I reposted this little bit because I'm dumb and can't add.

Part 6: Bring Me to Life

Sanzo

I gasp for breath. The bitch shot me! I open my eyes. What the fuck is going on? I'm still on the hill but the sun is shining. I look to his grave and see that it looks like it's been filled in again. Wait there are other graves up here. Just to the left of Hakkai's is a small one marked "Hakuryu" and to the right…..no fucking way. I stare at my own name for a minute and think back. The note and the gunshot. So they think I died—or did I die? No, the hell hag wouldn't have let that happen.

Hakkai's grave faces West. I stumble a bit as I stand and walk to the grave facing North. "Dokugakaji/ Jien." Hmm, wonder how that one happened. Doku was a tough bastard, a lot like his brother in that respect. But who is buried at the East? Could it be Gojyo? Goku? Did I sign his death warrant by giving him the sutra? With a feeling of sickness in my gut I approach the headstone. Oh shit….

Here Lies Houmei

Wife of Goku

Mother of Taka, Mayu, Shinta, Ayumi,

Hisoka, and Tsuzuki

My talk with Goku that day comes back to me. I wonder how he's doing? Damn I was a self absorbed bastard that day.

"Umm…Excuse me, sir?" a timid voice calls from behind me. I turn to face a slender girl about twenty with brown hair and large golden eyes. "What are you doing at my mother's grave?"

"You're Goku's daughter?"

She nods. "I'm Mayu. You know my father then?"
I snort a bit. This is fucking bizarre. "We're old friends you could say."

"I'm sorry, but I don't remember you. I feel like I should….say, are you related to Genjyo Sanzo? His son maybe?"
"Uhhh, I'm not sure how you want me to answer that. My name is Kouryuu." I tell her. "How long ago did he die?" I ask motioning to "my" grave.

"Twenty-five years ago. I was three when he killed himself. They never found his body. The stream was high that year and it washed him away. It's so sad. He couldn't live without his lover," she explains. If only she knew.

I clear my throat. "I don't suppose you remember Hakkai?"

She shakes her head. "Not really. He was blind, and I guess I was a little afraid of him. All I remember is that he had a gentle laugh and dark hair. My father loved them both very much. So did my Uncle Gojyo. He told us all kind of stories when we were little," she tells me with a giggle.

"I bet he did."

"I had better get back to the inn and see how daddy's doing. He got pretty banged up in his last fight with Gonou."
"Gonou?"
She furrows her eyebrows a bit. "You mean you don't know who Cho Gonou is?"

Dumbly, I shake my head.

"Gonou is an evil man. He kills anyone who opposes him and his wife, Kanan. My father, Kougaiji, Aunt Lirin, Uncle Gojyo, and Jien went to fight him a month ago. Uncle Gojyo still hasn't fully recovered from the fight, but Daddy and Kougaiji have gone against him two more times, but he's really strong."

Could it be? I push the thought aside. "Mind if I tag along? I haven't seen you father in a while."

"Oh, no, of course not. I'm sure he'll be happy to see you again, Kouryuu." She gives me a coy glance. If I was straight, I'd be a happy man. She's very pretty, looks a lot like her mother. "First, I'd like to tend to my mother's grave."

I nod. "You're mother was a good woman. When did she pass?"
"Thirteen years ago. She was giving birth to my little brother Tsuzuki. My sister Taka and I have raised them all since she died."

She kneels at the grave and arranges some flowers. After saying a little prayer, she turns to leave and I follow her down to the little village. The town hasn't changed much in twenty years. The inn, though repainted and added on to, is still in the same spot with the same beaten sign out front.

"Mayu where have you been?" a voice calls from inside. Goku opens the door and drops the plate he'd been drying. "Sanzo?" He looks like he's only about thirty or so, though he'd be forty-nine. A deep purple bruise on his right cheek, I can see that he's not as quick to heal as he used to be.

My throat goes tight. "Anyone else you know who looks like me?"

"Sanzo!" He wraps his arms around me with his eyes glistening. "How?"

I sit down at the same old kitchen table and tell him everything that happened that night on the hill. When I'm through, he looks away sadly.

"We thought you'd died. I thought that Hakkai's death had driven you insane."

"It did." I stare at my hands. "I'm so sorry I wasn't there for you when Houmei died."

"I was never alone," he says with a shrug. "It's been sixteen years, and I've had things to keep me busy."

"I guess. Gojyo was right…you guys did have to build a bigger in for all your brats."

He laughs. "Yes, we did. Gojyo will want to see you. We should go out there. There's something we should talk about when we're all together."

"Is it Gonou?"

His lips go tight. "Yes, it is."