Part 19: A Father's Love

Goku

I bandage Mayu's hand that she injured tackling Gonou. "Why would you do that?" I ask quietly. It's hard to keep the anger out of my voice. I want to shake for being stupid enough to put herself in that kind of danger, but that's not how I deal with my children…even if she isn't a child anymore.

"I just had to!" she cries. Shaking her head, she stares me directly in the eye. "Isn't it what you've always said—do what you have to do to protect what you love?"

"Mayu, I was going to be fine," I say exasperated. How could she doubt me like that?

A blush rises to her cheeks. "I love you, Dad, but you weren't who I was talking about."

Oh God, it can't be HIM! I go through the list of possibilities. "Honey, I hate to tell you, but Sanzo's definitely gay."

"Not him."

"Kougaiji's married."

She laughs at my distress. "You know who I mean."

I can feel a vein popping out of my forehead. Now I understand why Sanzo always had the urge to kill. "Not him! Anyone but HIM!"

A gentle laugh from the door way catches my attention. "Looks like there are child problems everywhere," Hakkai says as he walks into the room. "We haven't been formally introduced. I'm Cho Hakkai, your godfather—or rather one of your god fathers."

"I know who you are," she tells him sweeping him into a hug.

"I just wanted to thank you for helping me." He kisses her forehead. "Goku, you are a very lucky man to have such a brave daughter."

A lump rises in my throat as I remember the past, but I push it down. "Yeah, but she has terrible taste in men."

She sniffs defiantly. "I think he's wonderful! Maybe now that you're back, you can convince him that I'm a big girl."

Mayu leaves us and all I can do is stare at him for a while. "It's good to have you back, Hakkai."

He smiles and offers his hand. "You've become a good man, Goku. It's kind of hard not to see you as a child, you'll have to forgive me on that one."

I pull him to me and give him a hug. "I've missed you so much! And if I'm a good man, it's because you taught me how."

"You always were destined to be a good man, Goku. All I did was offer my friendship," he says.

I watch as he examines every picture hanging in the room, giving names to the faces. Finally, he comes to one of Houmei and I. "That was the last one taken of her," I tell him. "She died a week later in childbirth."

He looks sadly at me. "I know how hard that must have been for you. The children must miss her."

"They do. I'm just sorry Tsuzuki never got to meet her. Hisoka barely remembers her, but at least he knew her. You know, I worry a lot about things. I never thought being a father would change me as much as it did, but now everything matters more. Until the day they were born, I was never this focused on anything, and now I just wonder if I did a good enough job." I look away as his "last" words come back to me. "Hakkai, do you remember what you said to me when you were dying?"

He shakes his head. "Goku, if I said something to upset you I'm sorry…"

"No, it wasn't that. You called me your son and said that you were proud of me. I never forgot that. It made me think if I was being as good of a father as you were to me. You didn't have to care about me. I wasn't really your son, but you always made me feel like I mattered."

I can see the sheen of tears in his eyes. "Goku, it was my honor to be there for you. You are the son that I would have asked for if I could have. Seeing you and your children now is amazing to me. You are an excellent father. Let me tell you something I learned…so long as you love someone with all you heart and let them know it, then you have done your job. And Goku, it shows in your family. Looking around, I can see that you care about them deeply and want to be a part of everything they do. You would die for them, and no one can say that you aren't doing the right thing by them."

This time there is no pushing back the knot in my throat. "Thank you, Hakkai…For everything you've done for me, Father."

He kisses my cheek and tussles my hair. "It is going to take some getting used to being younger than my son."

I laugh. "Well, at the rate I'm going you'll catch up."

"I'll do my best," he says lightly. "By the way, how about I make some lunch?"

"Now you're talking! I'm starving."

"Same old monkey," Sanzo says from the doorway.

Gojyo steps from behind him. "But at least Houmei taught him to chew with his mouth closed!"

I swallow. "Were you there the entire time?"

Sanzo snorts. "Don't even think about calling me mom."