Ch. 4-
A shrill, piercing scream ripped through the air of the temple. Gojyo and Hakkai shot out of bed, the same word falling out of their lips, "Mao!"
Between grabbing for clothes and the door and trying not to run into each other as they pushed through the suddenly too small door of the room they took maybe three breaths.
"Mao! Mao, what's wrong hunny?" Gojyo was kneeling by her bedroll, but it was Hakkai that she ran to. Flinging herself into his arms she cried hard, racking sobs, "Daddy! Daddy!!"
Kai crawled up and into Gojyo's arms, clinging to him and watching his sister at the same time.
"Shh…it's ok, you're safe, it's ok, we're here now, shhh…" he ran vine covered hands and claws over her head, pressed feather-light kisses into her hair and just held her as she cried, rocking back and forth on his knees lightly.
*hic* *sniff* *hic*
Kai was pressing small hands into his eyes, wiping the tears away messily. Gojyo pulled him in against his chest and patted his back, rubbing small circles and letting the low rumble of his voice wash over the boy.
"Saru."
Goku turned quickly at the voice. Glancing back at the heart-wrenching scene he hiccupped lightly and reached out a hand. Gathering up the folds of Sanzo's robes he followed the gentle pull out of the room and down the hall.
"You can stay here tonight; I think those four need a little family time."
"O..k…"
Goku looked around the sparse room and scrubbed at his eyes before noticing that Sanzo had left the sheet turned down beside him on the small bed. He smiled softly and crawled in beside the monk, reflexively curling in against Sanzo's chest. As he slipped off to sleep he felt the warmth of hands pulling him in closer, and sighed contentedly as he snuggled in next to the black clad chest.
***
Mao and Kai had finally stopped crying a few hours before dawn. Gojyo and Hakkai were exhausted from the lack of sleep, but as the sun rose and they went to detangle themselves from the small bodies they found rebellious, terrified eyes soundlessly begging them not to go. Which led to the very sweet scene Goku found when he finally came to check on them.
Inching back out of the room he jumped ten feet at Sanzo's harsh voice behind him.
"What the hell are you doing, bakasaru?" Sanzo stood there, fan on hip, like he was just itching to slap someone, and Goku really didn't want it to be him.
"But Sanzo," he whispered, "You can't wake them up now, it's just too cu~te!"
"What the hell are you talking about, move."
Sanzo opened the door angrily and stopped dead.
Leaning against the wall were Gojyo and Hakkai, shoulders and heads resting together, an exhausted look weighing their faces down even in sleep, a small child curled up on each of their chests, faces pressed into rumpled sleeping shirts, one hand clutching hair, the other reaching out and holding the other twin's, one of their make-shift parent's arms wrapped protectively around them.
Sanzo's eye twitched as he pulled the door closed and stalked back to his room.
"It's too early for this shit. We're going back to sleep, now!"
"We?"
"Don't ask stupid questions before coffee."
"Yes, Sanzo!"
Stupid monkey was way to chipper about this, is what he thought as he crawled back into bed and pulled the sheets insolently over their heads.
***