Ch. 5-
By lunch time everyone was finally up, slightly red eyed and grumpy, but mostly functional. Sanzo, Hakkai, and Gojyo were setting out for the three-aspects leaving the twins in Goku's care at the temple. Basically, the whole situation terrified Hakkai to no end.
"Are you sure they'll be alright?" Hakkai asked worriedly, glancing back over his shoulder as the door closed loudly behind them.
Gojyo ran a hand through long crimson hair and flashed a devilishly handsome smile at his mate, "Yeah, even if he is a monkey, he's probably good for them, you know? All that energy and loudness, they'll be fine with him."
"Actually, I was talking about the monks, they seemed absolutely terrified at the thought of being left alone with Goku all day." He smiled shakily and looked over at Sanzo.
"Hmph! Like I care." Sanzo lit up and kept walking, mumbling to himself about stupid monkeys and hogging all the blankets. Gojyo and Hakkai exchanged knowing grins but wisely said nothing.
***
The Sanbutsushin were annoying as usual; their being all floaty and stuff. Gojyo hated the place, reminded him of the being called to the principal's office.
"Screw that! Why the hell should we leave them with a bunch of people they don't know?"
"You are not capable of dealing with those children. You couldn't even find a way of getting out of the fire without releasing his limiters."
"Yeah, well, if you saw them being burned alive why didn't you make it rain or something? What kind of floating head are you if you can't even save two kids!"
"Gojyo..."
"No Hakkai, I'm tired of having our lives dictated by a bunch of freaks who can't even handle a fraction of our lives! First they condemn us for being us, then they send us on that shit 'hole of a trip, and then they go off and try and take the kids from us all while basically telling you off for not wearing your God damn limiters! Screw this! We don't need you telling us how to live our lives!" he was spitting with fury, how dare they?!
"Go...jyo..." Hakkai got up and walked over to the hanyou, placing a strong hand on his shoulder he pressed in gently.
"Hakkai..."
Hakkai turned and faced the three aspects, "Of all the people out there who could take in these two, I think we understand them best."
"How so?"
"We have both experienced what it is like to live without families, we know what the orphanages and streets are like. We've experienced loss and rejection and we know what it means to love someone. And we truly care for those two. Quite frankly, you would be hard pressed to find more suitable parents."
"And what shall you do to support yourselves and these children?"
"Coffee shop..." Gojyo mumbled.
"Eh?" Hakkai's eyes went wide at the soft voice.
Gojyo straightened and placed a reassuring hand on Hakkai's, "It's about time we finally had that coffee shop you wanted. Obviously we can't go back, but we can go forward."
The Sanbutsushin looked to each other before turning back towards the two youkai before them.
"Very well. There is a town three days journey to the south of here that has a large human/youkai population. The relations between the two have been holding steady for the last few years; it should provide a stable environment for you." Gojyo tightened his hand on Hakkai's and smiled widely.
"Genjo Sanzo, we wish to speak with you further, please stay."
Hakkai and Gojyo turned and looked at Sanzo who merely nodded as they left and started back towards the temple below.
***
It was late evening when Sanzo finally returned. Hakkai placed his paper and a cup of tea on his desk as he sat down wearily.
"Is there anything you want to talk about, Sanzo?" he asked gently.
Sanzo glanced up at him stonily.
"Should I take that as a 'no', then?"
"Hmph!"
Leaving the monk to his thoughts, a look of concern crossed his face, something was wrong, but he could do nothing if Sanzo didn't talk to him. Hakkai filed the thought away; deciding he'd talk to Gojyo about it later.
Rounding the corner he was sent flying, a dirty Goku and small red planets colliding with his chest, "Umf!"
"Uh-oh. Um..are you ok, Hakkai-papa?"
"Eh?" his vision swam for a minute.
"Mao, go get Gojyo-papa, I think we broke him." Kai poked his nose a few times experimentally.
"'kay!"
Mao scrambled off of him and ran back the way they'd come.
"Hey, Hakkai? You okay? We didn't break you or anything, did we?"
Hakkai coughed and looked up through chestnut hair, Goku's face was upside down, his brow furrowed in concern.
"Ah...I...I think I'll live, thank you." Kai slid off of him as Goku pulled him to his feet. He was leaning against the wall holding his side when he heard the unmistakable patter of small feet rounding the corner, Mao holding tightly onto Gojyo's fingers as she pulled him onwards.
Gojyo scooped her up as he skidded to a stop. She leaned out towards Hakkai and waved her arms back and forth, "Hakkai-papa! Not broken?"
Hakkai took her squirming form from Gojyo and carefully set her on his hip, canting it slightly out of alignment to accommodate the change in weight.
"No, I'm not broken, but you three need to not run in the halls anymore, ok?" Mao nuzzled in against his chest, pushing her shock of red hair up under his chin.
"Okay."
He glanced at Kai and the boy nodded his head contritely, "We're sorry. We promise we won't run inside anymore."
"Alright, now, I have a question for you two." He kneeled down and placed Mao beside her brother, Gojyo imitating him and sitting cross-legged on the floor beside him.
"We were thinking of going south soon. There seems to be a town that's in need of a good coffee shop." He grinned at Gojyo, "We wanted to know if you wanted to go with us?"
Kai looked at them searchingly, "All of us?"
Gojyo blinked, "The four of us, you and Mao and Hakkai and me. The monkey has to stay here and keep an eye on that droopy-eyed Ojii-san." He jerked his thumb back at Sanzo's door.
"Mao?" Kai turned to his sister and the two exchanged a serious look.
Mao walked over and grabbed a fistful of Gojyo's hair, tugging it hard, "Mao, wanna go with papas." She looked up at him sternly, tiny fangs biting into the tip of her chubby little thumb.
Gojyo sucked in a quick breath, he was so screwed. In that one look he realized he'd never be able to deny her anything. Shit. He was going to turn into one of those fathers he used to hate. You know the overprotective kind that wouldn't let a punk like him anywhere near their kids.
Hakkai did one of those mind-reading things he was so good at and smiled brightly at him, yep, he was screwed.
"I'm not giving up smoking though." He sighed at the glitter that sparkled deep in Hakkai's good eye.
"I guess that's an expectable compromise." Hakkai smiled brightly, that real smile he pulled out for special occasions and the kids lit up, bouncing over to him and pushing his cheeks up and down squealing like they'd found a secret treasure.
He sat back against the wall and just let it wash over him.
"So, you got a real family now, huh?" Goku hunched down beside him and tilted his head, laughing as the kid's enthusiasm toppled Hakkai again and the three laid there sprawled out across the temple's hallway.
"Yep. Guess I do." He was probably grinning like a fool the entire time.
And a few days later, as they pulled out of Chang'an and the kids waved furiously from the back seat, Gojyo yelling at them to be careful or they'd fall out, he figured he was still smiling.
And again, when they were handed the keys to their new house over the small shop that would eventually house a bustling crowd of humans and youkai and he'd be running around with coffee and pastries, the giggling of two small red-heads blowing in through the open window overlooking the porch, Hakkai pouring dark, steaming cups behind the bar, he figured his face would break in half from all the smiling he'd be doing.
And late at night, with Hakkai curled up beside him, head cushioned on his shoulder, the soft sound of banging coming through the ceiling as they kids jumped on their beds, way after night had fallen, he'd look up and stare at the wooden floorboards above their heads and smile again.
He was starting to get the hang of this smiling thing he thought. Real smiling.
Fin.