DISCLAIMER: I do not own Saiyuki or any of its characters. All I own is their manga.

Edit 8/21/17: Fixed spelling errors and and character grammar.

~Chapter 3; Second Son~

Both sides stared at each other, waiting to see who will speak first.

"Umm…" Goku made to speak, but quickly stopped himself.

When he spoke, the girl slightly backed away. Hakkai kneeled down until he was at the girl's eye level and gave her a warm smile.

"So," the girl cringed as he spoke. "Are you the one who called out to me?"

The girl slowly shook her head.

"No…"

Hakkai's eyes showed confusion, yet his warm smile stayed in place.

"I…haven't been callin' to anyone at all. Who-Who are you?"

Hakkai chuckled a bit, an act that confused the girl.

"You don't have to lie…" he said. "Well…now I'm here, so no more calling, ok?"

The girl only stared back at him, her head filled with questions and her eyes revealing them. Goku and Sanzo stared at the two, stared at each other then back to Hakkai and the girl.

'Why does this look so familiar?' Goku thought.

'Déjà vu…' Sanzo thought as he placed a hand on his forehead.

Hakkai held his hand out to her.

"Come." he stated.

She stared at him, utterly confused.

"You want to come out…don't you?" he asked.

Her eyes sparkled when he spoke those words. She smiled widely and became excited. She crawled closer and reached out to grab his hand until-chains rattled noisily. Her smile disappeared and her face showed desperation. The chains on her ankles, wrists and neck held her in place and didn't let her go no more than two feet, yet the bars were three and a half feet away. The two struggled to grab each other's hand. Slowly, however, the two hands inched closer and closer until they held onto the other. As Hakkai pulled her towards him, the chains and bars slowly disintegrated into the air, finally setting her free. She stumbled and landed into his arms. Silence floated around everyone, as she lay still. Hakkai was about to say something, until he heard a small sniffle. She hugged him and he heard a muffled,

"Thank you…"

He smiled sweetly at her when she looked up at him.

"May I ask your name?" Hakkai asked her.

"Gota. My name is Son Gota." she sniffed.

All except Sanzo stared at her in silence and confusion. Then they looked at Goku.

"What?" Goku asked them.

Hakkai turned back to Gota.

"Gota-chan, are you related to Goku, by any chance?"

"Goku-niichan is my twin brother." she stated like it was the very obvious.

With this, the group looked back and forth between them. Gojyo then walked up to Hakkai and whispered,

"They do look a lot alike…"

"They look exactly alike."

Hakkai looked over at Sanzo, who was standing on the other side of the cave. He took a drag of the cigarette he was smoking and blew out.

"Sanzo?"

"What do you want?" he responded fairly fast.

When Gota heard the name Sanzo, she tensed and dared to look in the direction Hakkai was facing.

"Sanzo?" she asked Hakkai her face hidden.

Hakkai looked at her, confused as to why it seemed like she somewhat dreaded the name.

"Genjo Sanzo?" she continued her voice shaking a bit.

Sanzo glared in her direction from the corner of his eye. She noticed and glared at him directly.

"It's all your fault!" she yelled at him.

Hakkai, Gojyo and Goku stared at her, surprised. She stood up and tried to walk towards Sanzo.

"It's your fault I'm in here in th—Ack!" she cried.

As she walked toward him, she stumbled and fell.

"Gota!" Hakkai ran over to her. "Are you alright?"

She shook her head, her face hidden.

"Nii-chan?"

Goku responded to the new nickname, who now carried Gota on his back. She has told the group that so many years trapped in a small and compact cell, disabled her to walk for the time being. Sanzo, Gojyo and Hakkai were way in front of the twins, but Hakkai was still somewhat in earshot.

"Why are you still with him?" she continued to ask.

"What do you mean?"

"Do you still think you owe your life to him?"

"Who Sanzo? Of course I do."

"…Have you forgotten?" she buried her face in his back, loving the fact that she's reunited with her brother again.

"Forgotten what?"

"So you have…" she lay her head on his back.

"Forgot what?" he became more anxious to know.

"You've completely forgotten about me, have you?"

He didn't answer. Finally at the entrance of the cave, stood a waterfall yards away from them. The only way to get back on track was up and the only way up, was the snow-white dragon that saved Goku earlier. The dragon, who stayed close to the twins, flew up and rested on Gota's shoulder.

"Hello, Rin." Gota smiled and giggled, as the dragon rubbed his head against her cheek.

A sign of affection. Hakkai observed the whole scene. So that's the reason it took such a liking to Goku…

Rin transformed and let everyone on its back, before flying upwards. Gota, however, refused to even be near Sanzo. When they landed on the soft soil near the waterfall again, Rin transformed and rested on Hakkai's unoccupied shoulder. Hakkai smiled at it.

"Does this mean you have warmed up to me?" he asked it.

Rin squeaked and lowered its head, indicating it's resting. While Hakkai talked to it, Goku had walked up next to him, with his sister still carried on his back.

"He said he warmed up to you a little since you saved me, but he's still lookin' out for you." Gota replied, then rested her head against Goku's back.

"I'm happy he's warmed up to me…at least a little." Hakkai replied placing a hand on Gota's head.

She tensed a little as he did so and then relaxed. She kept her head on Goku's back, a bit afraid.

'I haven't been out of the cave for so long…' she thought. 'Everythin' looks so scary…'

Goku noticed her uneasiness.

"Somethin' wrong?" he asked.

She lightly shook her head against his back.

"It's nothin'."

"Sure?"

"I'm just a little scared."

"Don't be. We're all here for you." he replied smiling.

'That's what you think…' she thought poking her head up a bit to look at Sanzo.

When he felt eyes on his back, Sanzo slightly turned his head and stared at her from the corner of his eye. When he did, Gota retreated and lay her head back down on her brother's back. Then she closed her eyes, trying to relax herself.

'Why is Goku still trustin' this guy?!'

When they finally exited the forest, Hakuryu went ahead and transformed in front of them. Gota was a bit surprised.

"Oh, how cool! It transforms, too!" she cried looking over Goku's head.

Hakkai chuckled a bit.

"Yes, there are countless other dragons like yours and mine, who also transform." Hakkai explained.

"Really?!" she asked and then she gave out a small gasp. "I wanna see 'em!" she exclaimed as Goku put her in the back of the jeep, beside him.

At this, Hakkai laughed and started the jeep, as Gojyo unconsciously smiled at her innocence. Seeing this, she smiled back at Gojyo, who then gave her a small confused look. She ignored that look, as she noticed she was getting more and more exhausted. She lay her head on her brother's shoulder and closed her eyes. Hakkai watched her quickly fall asleep in his rear view mirror. As the jeep continued on, her head started to slide off Goku's shoulder and ended up on his lap. He didn't mind and tried not to move her as to not wake her.

"As promised, Sanzo…" Hakkai started.

Sanzo didn't answer, but it was obvious he was happy to be on track once again. Maybe now they can continue what they started.

"We're back on track and it didn't take long."