Upon returning to my room, I had decided to make sure that if Sanzo was to die tonight, he was

going to have the best day of his life. For once, I would do as he asked without question. Without

hesitation. But first, I needed to tell Gojyo.

"Gojyo," I said softly, shaking him awake. "Gojyo, I need to talk to you. Please, wake up."

"Wadda ya want, monkey?" Came his sleepy voice. "If it's not important, I'll kick your ass."

"Sanzo's gunna, I mean he's not gunna be..." I couldn't help it, I started crying again.

"Damn monkey, what the hell's wrong this time?"

"Sanzo's gunna die!" This got the red-head's attention.

"What the hell are you talking about? If Sanzo was going to die, he'd've told us."

"But he did tell me and Hakkai! He says the doctors say that he's not gonna make it through the

night!" I began to sob harder.

"Hey, hey! Stop that! Maybe it was just a misunderstanding! I'm gunna go talk to Sanzo, get this

cleared up. He's not going to die, you'll see." With that he left the room. He came back ten minutes

later with a dreadful look on his face.

"Damn monk!" The light caught his red eyes and I noticed the moister that was building up in them.

He was crying too. "He's known about this for days, and he wasn't going to tell us! That bastard!"

Gojyo took some of his anger out on the wall, leaving a fist sized hole. Then he sat on his bed and

looked ahead of him, not really noticing anything.

"Gojyo?" The older man looked at me. "Will you help me find a way to help Sanzo?" I saw that he

was going to refuse so I continued to talk. "Sanzo once told me that I shouldn't believe in anything

but myself. This time, I've decided to follow his advice. I'm not going to believe that there's nothing

anyone can do for him. There's gotta be something we can do! And I'm gunna find it! Are you with

me?" Dumbly, the half-blood nodded.

Then it was settled. We were going to help Sanzo, whether he liked it or not.

HAKKAI POV

Where were they? They had been gone all day. Both of them knew that Sanzo wasn't long for this

world, and what did they do? On the day of his death, they disappeared. Perhaps they just couldn't

face him on this day, or maybe they were afraid. I don't know. But it was awfully selfish of them.

Here Sanzo was, fighting for his life against an illness and they had abandoned him.

"Hakkai." Sanzo's voice was loosing its strength. The local doctors told me that he would be dead

before nightfall. I turned to my dying friend. "Where is... Goku?" He asked me weakly. Sadly, I

shook my head.

"I don't know. He left this morning with Gojyo. I've sent Jeep to find them, but he hasn't returned

yet. I'm sorry." Sanzo just grunted.

"You don't think... They've gone to... Pick up women... Do you?" He asked with a bark of laughter.

I chuckled. Suddenly the door to the room opened and our two companions walked in. "Sanzo,"

Goku declared, "I'm not gunna let you die." Behind him and Gojyo, another person entered.

"This is Meimai, she's a healer of the illness. She says she can help." The doctor was young, a little too young in my oppinion. She couldn't have been more than fifteen years old. Her hair was long

and red. It fell around her waist. "I am the only person in the region to have survived the illness."

She looked at Sanzo, and that was when I got my first look at her eyes. Her blood red eyes.

"You're a half-breed?" I asked before I could stop myself.

"Yes. Will that be a problem?" She asked defensively.

"No no no. Forgive me. It was just an observation." I told her, waving my hands infront of my chest

to show I meant no harm. She was Sanzo's last hope, I didn't want to insult her.

"Then you will let me do my work?" I nodded. "Then leave." She looked at our faces. We weren't

going to leave him alone with a stranger. She sighed. "Very well. One of you may stay. But anymore

will disrupt my technique." Goku and Gojyo looked at me.

"I will stay." Goku looked as though he would object to my statement, but Gojyo led him out before he

could do so. When we were alone, the girl sat beside Sanzo. By this time, the blonde priest was

unconscious with a fever.

Meimai spoke from her seat. "As I explained to your friends, I can only do so much. I can help him

rid himself of any other harmful bacteria, but only he can heal himself of the illness." So basically

what she was saying, was that she could let his immune system deal with just the illness.

She raised her hands and put them on either side of his head. She then closed her eyes and began

to concentrate. A pale pink light grew beneath her fingers, mush like the blue of my kii glows blue

when I am healing.

"This may take a while. Soon I shall become unresponsive. Should I fall unconscious or kii glow much

brighter, I will need you to remove my hands from his face. If you do not, we will both die." I agreed.

We sat there for several hours before I felt myself too tired to stay awake. I walked to the door and

opened it. As I expected, Goku and Gojyo were asleep in the corredor. I woke Goku and told him

what to watch for in Meimai. He promised to wake me, should anything happen.

Knowing that Goku would take good care of Sanzo and the healer, I settled down next to Gojyo

and fell asleep.

Goku woke me, not long after I went to sleep. He had tears in his eyes and he was supporting

Meimai. The young girl was exhausted. She collapsed next to me. "I am sorry." She whispered.

"I could give him another day, at most. But I could not save him." With that said, she closed her eyes

and slept. I looked at Goku. His expression was that of determination.

"Hakkai, take care of Gojyo, ok? And..." He paused to look at me. "Take care of yourself." He turned

on his heel and went back to Sanzo's room. He stopped at the door to talk. "I'm gunna need some

time alone with him. And... Good-bye." With that, he closed the door to his friend's room.

Good-bye? Why on earth would he say that... Unless... NO! I tried to open the door, but he'd locked

it, and he'd used the shield technique that I had taught him. There was no way for me to stop him.

"What's goin on?" Gojyo asked from behind me.

I answered without turning around. "Goku's going to save Sanzo. By transferring his life force."

"That's a good thing, isn't it? It means Sanzo'll be ok, right."

I finally turned to face my friend. He gasped at the tears in my eyes. "It means," I told him, "that Goku

will die to give Sanzo life."