Nightmares and Chocolate II

Chapter Two: Hakkai

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Hakkai rolled over as he felt a disturbed chi enter his room. He sat up as soon as he saw who it was. Goku was standing in the door to his room, golden eyes wide and terrified. "Goku, what happened?"

"I had a nightmare. . ." Goku muttered, shuffling over to Hakkai.

"Are you okay?" Hakkai asked, looking the child over. He knew from experience that nightmares could get violent and one could hurt oneself.

"I'm not hurt." Goku sat down on the bed next to Hakkai, who wrapped an arm around his shoulders.

"All right. Do you want to tell me what happened?" Hakkai asked gently, looking down at the young child who was staying with Gojyo and him while Sanzo was on a trip to see the Three Aspects. Sanzo hadn't wanted to leave Goku alone at the temple, since the monks were cruel to him, so he had asked Hakkai to take him in.

"I was in the. . . the cave, you know. . .where Sanzo first found me?" Goku looked up at the older man, who nodded, encouraging him to continue. "Anyway. . . I was in the cage an' all alone, an' Sanzo came to find me, just like he did. But. . .this time. . .he reached out for me an' I reached out for him, but. . . a demon came an' attacked him. He got rid of the demon, but suddenly there were hundreds. . . hundred of thousands of them an' they started torturin' Sanzo. They took his scripture an' his gun an'. . . an' tortured him. . .an' I couldn't stop 'em." Goku paused, drew a shaky breath and continued. "An' then he died. His face pressing against the bars, he died."

Hakkai could feel the young man shivering in his grasp and he smiled gently at him, trying to calm him down. "Goku, Sanzo's fine. It was just a nightmare."

"I know. . . but still. . ." Goku buried his face in Hakkai's shoulder, shivers wracking his thin form.

Hakkai smiled gently, rubbing Goku's back, trying to comfort the child. "I know, Goku. Nightmares can be horrible. Believe me when I say that I know."

Goku looked up at Hakkai, pulling back, rubbing a sleeve across his face. He sniffled, then rubbed at his face again. "Really?"

"Yes. I've had many nightmares."

"You have?"

"Yes." Hakkai smiled sadly, looking down at the boy. Goku was about fifteen, but he still acted younger. I guess that's because he was in the cage so long.

"What were they about?"

"I'll tell you, but first, shall we make some hot coco?"

"Yeah!" Goku's face lit up and he started out of the room. Hakkai smiled to himself, following at a slower pace, grabbing his glasses from the side table, sliding them on. When he got to the kitchen, Goku was already digging in the cabnets for a pot. "Sanzo made me coco once. . . but he kinda burned it. But I didn't tell him that, 'cause he was bein' nice."

Hakkai laughed softly. "Well then, I won't burn the coco."

"Good."

Hakkai pulled the pot out of Goku's hands, setting it on the stove, pouring in milk, then stirring in coco mix. He watched carefully as it heated up, slowly adding nutmeg and cinnamon, sliding in chunks of chocolate, melting it. When he was finished, he poured the thick coco into two mugs, setting them on the table, along with a plate of cookies.

"What were your nightmares about, 'Kai?"

"My past." Hakkai replied simply. "The events that led up to Sanzo coming after me."

"Oh." Goku looked down at his hot coco.

Hakkai smiled at Goku, taking a cookie and dipping it in his steaming coco. "Are you feeling better?"

"Yeah!" Goku imitated Hakkai, dipping a cookie in his coco, stuffing it in his mouth.

"I'm glad." Hakkai smiled, taking a bite of his cookie. "We'll finish the coco, then you should go back to bed."

"Um. . . okay."

"And if you have another nightmare, you know where my room is. Feel free to wake me up if you need to talk."

"Okay! Thanks!"

Hakkai smiled, watching the child eat cookies and drink his coco. He had only known Goku for a little over a year, but he was still glad he had met the young man. Goku brought light and laughter into a once dark life and he didn't know what he would do without him.

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A/N: Well, there ya'll go! Chapter two!! ^_^

And thanks a bunch to orangevbnin and chibibook for the reviews! They keep me going! ^_^

Chapter three up soon. . .