Summer Snow
curiouzkatt: Hello again, the fanfic muse still hasn't let go of my brain, so we are now able to end this fic with thirteen chapters. I'll leave the long A/N at the bottom. Enjoy.
Disclaimer: I don't own Saiyuki.
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Chapter Thirteen: Requiem
Linlin felt a trickling pain on her left hand as she started to sense her body awake. She still had her eyes closed but she could hear people talking nearby. Then the pain on her abdomen hit her slowly, absently moving her hand over it, realizing she was on dextrose, and probably at a hospital. The chatter she was hearing stopped, and someone spoke to her.
"Linlin? Are you awake?" It felt like a vague voice, but it sounded like Mayumi. Slowly, she squinted her eyes open, hurt with the bright light. She shook her head to indicate she was awake, but what was going on? She kept her eyes closed for now and exhaled deeply. "I'll go get a nurse!" It was Mili, and she was off.
"Linlin, can you hear me? How are you feeling?" Mayumi badgered, Linlin only groaned, turning away. Everything was too bright and too loud.
The nurse came in with a doctor and they advised to turn off the direct lights for now to let her adjust her eyes. They gave her some hydrating liquid to get her voice back slowly. Mayumi and Mili told her they'd give her some time to adjust, and they'll be in the hallway if she needed them.
Finally left alone, Linlin slowly opened her eyes to the dim room, trying to make sense of time and her own memories. She glanced at the side of her bed for any clues but only found some flowers and fruits, and possibly a thermos of soup. She tested her limbs, and felt the ache equal to a week's worth of muscle strain. She had cuts and bruises everywhere, and her abdomen burned. Slowly, she removed the blanket to see her stomach and it showed a large patch of gauze. She could only surmise she had more than a few stitches. The memory of Shun flashed in her mind, grinning as she fell over from his attack. She gasped loudly, hyperventilating at the memory. What happened after!? What happened to everyone?
The nurses ran back into her room, alerted by her increased heart rate. Mayumi and Mili followed after, Mayumi rushing over to her to keep her still. "It's okay Linlin! You're safe! Everyone's safe! You're okay!"
After the nurse secured the device and taking note of what happened, they left the three in the room. After a few more minutes, Linlin managed to calm down, slowing her breathing and looking at her friends. She didn't trust herself to speak. Her friends searched her face, looked at each other and nodded.
"You were unconscious for three days." Mayumi began. "You lost a lot of blood after Shun- " she stopped herself, uncertain how to continue. It had been a lot to process since they found out. "-since Shun stabbed you.."
Linlin nodded, showing that she remembered that much. She was afraid of what they'd say next. "Is - is he dead?"
Mayumi and Mili glanced at each other and nodded yes. "Your Uncle Seth shot him." They watched Linlin clutch her hospital gown, as if screaming her grief in that one motion. Tears started falling from her eyes and asked to be left alone for the night.
Feeling defeated, the girls left the hospital walking in the direction of Mayumi's house. Mayumi flicked her hand into the air for a little wind, to activate their communicator. Blue picked up immediately. "She's awake?" Blue asked.
"Yeah, but she told us to leave her alone." Mili said dejectedly. "I don't even know how we can help her... This isn't something we learn in school." She heard Blue chuckle.
"Sadly too true my friend." he responded. "I'll call the Kazuya residence."
"Thanks Blue. I'll drop by later after getting Mayumi home." Mili stated. "Do you want anything?"
"Shawarma would be great."
Mili wrinkled her nose. "Man that food smells. I'll get chased by dogs again."
"Then turn into a bigger bird!"
"Fine.."
x-x-x
"Kazuya residence!" Hakkai chirped, receiving the call from Blue. "Oh it's you, Blue! How are you?"
Blue made an involuntary grimace. "Hakkai, please, you sound like a mom."
"Yes, I get that a lot and I don't mind." Hakkai said not missing a beat.
"Guhh." Blue decided it best not to pursue the topic. "Anyway. I just got word from the girls, it seems Linlin regained consciousness earlier today, but she seems to be in a terrible mood."
"That's understandable."
"Will her family visit her soon?"
"I'm afraid not. They seem to be settling some matters out of town. We aren't privy to the situation as well."
Blue fell silent. Their daughter was in the hospital, but none of them were available, leaving the caring to her friends. It was a stark difference in how they were to her when they had met her earlier that year.
"Blue?"
"Ah yes. Sorry, Hakkai. It just feels.. unusual to not have family when you need them."
"I agree, but.. nothing about this whole thing has been normal. I wouldn't be surprised if they're afraid to face Linlin right now."
"..."
"I'll drop by the hospital later with Sanzo."
"But visiting hours are over."
"Oh it won't be a problem~" Hakkai singsonged. "I'll cook up some dinner then we'll be on our way. Can't leave Goku hungry, he might eat the house!"
"Okay Hakkai, I'll leave it to you then."
Blue ended the call and heard wings flapping and sure enough Mili was at the window oh his apartment with a few shawarmas. He watched the girl shape shift into a human. "I got myself some milk tea, you want some?" Mili offered.
Blue gratefully received the food and grimaced at the thought of tea. Mili rolled her eyes. Come on, it's not poison.
"It's not until it is."
"You hurt me deeply."
There was a moment of silence while the two enjoyed their snack, with the occasional near death gulp of milk tea pearls. Mili scowled at Blue's bemused face. "It's still not poison."
"True, but you've been choking on it."
Blue diverted his attention to his monitors, seeing the signals blip to where people were. He only had Zeia, Mayumi and Mili on his trackers. Linlin, understandably, have no accessories at this point in time, though the girls had made sure she had them handy at the hospital.
He sighed.
"Penny for your thoughts?"
"If we had any." He scoffed, rolling the paper of the shawarma wrap. He leaned back on his chair and tossed the balled paper into the trash. The memory of the sounds of the appartment haunted him a little, if he's being honest. "I'm thinking of just ending my lease here for this school year and I'll probably transfer to a different school or city."
"Isn't that a bit sudden?" Mili asked, nearly choking on the last pearl. "I mean I understand.. but.. you have us."
Blue smiled. "I know.. but everything hurts right now. If anything, I wish I could have died with them rather than living and carrying their memories." When Mili said nothing, he continued. "I don't think I can ever heal completely staying with their ghosts."
"What will happen to your landlord? Isn't he like your uncle or something?"
"He's Gabriel's relative. We were really just a bunch of geeks and nerds that found a common thing together and went all out with it. On my own, I'm just... me, Benedict."
Mili looked at him sadly, with puppy dog eyes and extended her arms. "Permission to hug?"
Blue gestured her to come over and they shared a hug for a few minutes. Neither one wanted to be the first to let go. There was a knock on the door and Mili immediately let go to avoid anything awkward with whoever it was.
"That would be Master Splinter-"
The door opened with a snap and a flying sandal. Blue failed to dodge and was hit squarely in the face. " For the last time Benedict -" he touched the bridge of his nose and looked to acknowledge Mili. "I'm sorry but me and my charge need to talk for a while."
Mili nodded and shifted into a cat and was on her way. Whatever it was, it was none of her business.
She shifted into a dove and landed herself stop a skyscraper, perching there back into her human form, gazing down at Lion Mane City in its quiet, like nothing happened at all. It was as if it was a fever dream. If it hadn't been for their injuries, the school ripped in half, the reality of the deaths and with Linlin in the hospital, she would have tried to pinch herself awake. She wasn't sure what she could do with herself now that things were over. She was a kid with discovered powers. Her friends had powers of their own, and it's as if they were just made to discover their power, suffer from it, and that was that. If she knew better she'd look for some group like the X-Men in comics and maybe live with them.
She was getting too far ahead of herself. With a final look at the cityscape, she decided to fly herself back home for the night.
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Linlin was watching the view of the city lights from her hospital room, staring at nothing in particular. The nurses have just made their final checks for the night. They had finally removed her from the dextrose since she was able to feed herself for the night, and the thermos of soup was helping her stomach adjust to liquid digestion.
It was painfully quiet. She didn't know what to think or what to do, except that once she got out of the hospital, it would be hard to look at her parents and uncle without trying to hit any of them. Her brothers were dead. One even tried to kill her and was killed in turn. All this stupid mess could have been avoided if they had just shown one kid some grace.
A gentle knock came on the door. It couldn't have been any of the nurses. "May we come in, Linlin?" It was Hakkai's voice. Before she could object, Hakkai and Sanzo filed into the room, quickly closing the door behind them.
She gave them a judging look. "I'm not even gonna ask how you got through." She watched Sanzo stand by the window, while Hakkai sat on the watcher's bed. She stared down at her hands. She didn't know what to say.
Slowly and gently, Hakkai held her hand. She looked at him and saw his eyes that understood her pain. Tears started to well up in her eyes, and she felt her chest heave in pain. She grabbed Hakkai into a hug, crying like she had never cried before. Hakkai was taken by surprise, but he held the girl tight, letting her weep as long as she needed.
Sanzo gazed out of the window, watching the stars among the city lights. It felt unfair to think that kids her age had to suffer what they had to go through, and in the least he hoped that before they left, this would help them get through.
After what felt like hours, Linlin calmed down, still sobbing now and then. Hakkai offered her some water which she drank gratefully.
The two men watched her, eyes tired from all her crying. "I just.. don't know what to do after all this." She whispered with a tired voice. "Everything that happened felt unfair, to all of us."
"Nothing is really fair.." Sanzo stated, remembering what their world is going through. "Emotions can sometimes cloud your judgment and make you do things you can regret. You don't stop when the world is unfair. You keep getting back up no matter how many times you get pushed down. And keep moving forward."
"How do you even start?"
Sanzo looked at Linlin. "That's up to you."
Another knock came on the door, and before long, Linlin's mom, dad and uncle came in, and they were surprised to see Hakkai and Sanzo in the room, and their daughter who seemed to have cried all night.
"What are all of you doing here?" Linlin asked, setting her glass of water down on the bedside table. "..and why are you only here now?" she sounded more tired than she wanted to let on.
Hakkai stood up. "Well, since it's past visiting hours, we will let ourselves out and head back to the residence." He stated as their cue for the family to have their time together.
Once the doors closed behind them, Juniper walked over to Linlin and held her hand gently. "Oh Linlin.." she started. Her daughter turned away, making her feel her throat tighten. "I'm sorry for letting you down.." she began, and felt Linlin's hand pull away from her touch.
"You had let down three children, not just me." Linlin stated. She could feel the adults shrink from her words. "No one had to die if it wasn't for that stupid prophecy."
"Linlin.. you don't understand.." Seth began. "Everything we did was to keep you safe."
"Keep who safe, Uncle Seth?" Linlin snapped. "It's like you trained all of us to be bait! You waited until your cards were right so you could take the final blow. What was that about? So no one would die? YOU JUST EFFECTIVELY KILLED THREE CHILDREN." She looked at her hands, as if seeing blood on them. "I've killed people, killed monsters! I nearly died! AND I'M BARELY SIXTEEN, mom, dad, uncle Seth, what kind of future were you even THINKING?" she glowered at them, as if her stare could burn into them. "I can NEVER, live a normal life after this. Even my friends can't live a normal life after this!"
Noah had his fist to his mouth, as if trying to stop himself from crying as well. Seth was unable to say anything as well. As indeed, their path had been unforgivable, at the expense of children's innocence. As Sanzo had said, people have been killed by good intentions.
Seth stepped in, but to declare more of a compromise, than to beg for forgiveness. "I do understand where you are coming from, and everything that has happened. But we want to do right by you and your friends. It might be a little too late, but.. you are all still minors under the case of your parents."
"I know, I still have to put up with you until I'm 18."
"That's not.. what Seth was trying to say," Juniper interjected. "We know no one else will be able to relate to the experience you've had, and we don't want any of you to suffer further than you already have. In the least, please accept our help to go into group therapy, individual therapy and to further hone your skills. For whatever future you choose."
Linlin was taken aback by this compromise. "I will want all of this in writing, and I will be laying down my conditions, once I've talked to everyone involved."
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Sanzo and the gang sat at Neri Park, near the former tree house. They had agreed to meet everyone there before they left that night. After Linlin's last night at the hospital, the gang received instructions to make their way back to Togenkyo, as their support for Earth had been completed.
It was a full moon, just like the night they arrived in this strange world. Gojyo and Sanzo stood a distance off, enjoying a few sticks in the quiet night. "It somehow feels a bit sorrowful to leave this place" Gojyo muttered.
"Big words" Sanzo remarked. "Did you learn that from therapy?"
"What kind of joke is that even.."
An owl hooted nearby, swopping at Goku's head before landing on his shoulder. "Hey Mili!" he exclaimed, and the girl shifted back to her human form. "The others are almost here?"
"Uhuh." Mili confirmed, handing Goku a bento of rice balls. "I figured to give you some snacks now so you wouldn't finish off your rations too soon." She gave the golden-eyed boy a tight hug. "I'm going to miss all of you.."
Goku returned the hug. "Yeah, I'll definitely miss all of you too." He felt the others coming to the clearing and waved to them happily.
"Not fair Mili, having Goku all to yourself!" Mayumi scowled, running over to give the boy a hug as well.
"Oi oi, I don't remember you girls being this touchy." Gojyo mumbled. "Is this a going away culture I'm not aware of?" Zeia was just nearby, but she just shrugged. It seemed she wasn't a fan of hugs either. She just gave a nod.
"Yes, it is. Kind of." Jei affirmed, walking over to Hakkai and handing him some farewell items to the gang. "This is from me and Haku, you'll find that your favorite brand is in there, among other things. Haku assured me that they will be in your favor." He watched the red head grin. "I trust Haku's judgement."
"Oh~" Gojyo took a peek in the bag, not only finding some cans of beer, but some adult magazines as well. "He does indeed understand me! Haha!"
"My senses of perversion are tingling." Hakkai muttered menacingly.
"Geh!" Gojyo backed away at the sudden appearance. "Come on Hakkai.."
Blue handed over his own gifts to the group, tiny gold enamel pins that didn't seem too flashy, no matter what they're wearing. "They're communicators, like the ones I've made for the girls" he explained. "They're not as battle sturdy as I'd hoped they'd be.." he shrugged helplessly. "But, I do hope it becomes useful to you in your journey at some point. Don't worry if it breaks, that's just how things are."
Goku grinned at Blue. "I will treasure this!" he gave the other boy a fist bump and pulled him in for a hug. "Thank you."
Mayumi walked towards Hakuryu, with a traditional Chinese rope. "Mine is more for Hakuryu, a basic charm to keep you guys safe while you're on the road." Hakuryu flashed his headlights in appreciation. "I enchanted it so it turns into a tiny scarf when he's in dragon form." She patted the jeep. "Thank you for keeping us safe as well."
"Kyuu~"
Hakkai looked around, seeming to have missed someone in the group of gathered teens. "But where's Linlin?"
"I'm here, I'm here!" Linlin yelled, panting from running.
"Oi, shouldn't you still be resting? I don't think you're in any condition to run." Gojyo commented.
"It's okay, I just.. dropped one of the things so I had to run back." She took Gojyo's hand and tied a simple red and white friendship bracelet onto his wrist. She then proceeded to give a gold and brown one for Goku, a violet and gold one for Sanzo, and a green and white one for Hakkai. "As Blue said, it doesn't matter if it breaks, but what's important is we have given these at the time of parting."
She held onto Hakkai's hand. "I'm not really into hugs, but, seeing that I'm sure we'll never see each other again.. I deem it necessary." She held the man in her arms as tightly as she could. "Thank you." Hakkai returned the gesture, until he felt her let go. She then moved to Goku, then Gojyo, then paused with Sanzo. "It's okay if you don't like hugs." To her surprise, the monk smiled and patted her on the head, giving her a gentle hug.
The rest of the girls were in awe. "THAT'S NOT FAIR WE WANT A HUG FROM SANZO TOO!" the girls proceeded to pile on the moment, forcing the group to fall to the ground.
"GET OFF ME YOU ROWDY BUNCH OF-" Sanzo yelled to no avail. The girls laughed themselves to tears, and said their farewells once more.
"You don't have to worry about us."
The four men hopped on their jeep, waving as the light from the sky took them back to their own world.
When the light faded, the kids lingered in silence for a while. Jei took the time to go over to Linlin and hold her hand. She leaned on his shoulder. It was finally over. But their life in this new reality was only beginning.
EPILOGUE
The four men sat in silence while the moon rose in the horizon of Togenkyo, suddenly uncomfortable with the silence ringing in their ears.
Gojyo was the first to break the silence. "And what the heck was that about "it's okay to break these!?"" He ranted. "It makes us sound like careless oafs like bulls in a China shop!"
Goku laughed at the complaints. "But they were telling the truth." He peered at the bracelet closer. "I never expected Linlin to be able to make something this detailed.. it's so beautiful."
"The kids were just stating the truth.. with our ratio of demon fights increasing the more we head west, we'd be lucky if these last us a week." Hakkai said pointedly. "Ah, but I'd love to be able to cherish these now, while they're still here. Like when cherry blossoms fall."
Sanzo was also looking at the bracelet, watching it gleam with ever shimmering snow. "Yeah. Things break, things end, but we'll carry their memories with us."
Goku hopped off Hakuryu and inhaled, yelling to the moon. "WE'LL HAVE ALL OF YOU IN OUR HEARTS! LINLIN, MILI, MAYUMI, BLUE, JEI, HAKU, ZEIA!"
The older men smiled. The wind blew lazily through their hairs and through the trees, the rustling leaves breaking the silence.
"THE SANZO IKKO ARE OVER THERE! GET EM!"
"Geh!"
"Thanks to Goku, we are now back to business."
"Less talking more fighting!"
End.
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A/N end notes: Thank you for taking the time to read this chaos that took me 19 years to complete. I would like to thank my 15yo self who decided to bring this to life while writing during classes on scrap papers, daydreaming and doodling the whole design of the house, backyard, and everything related to the characters. It wasn't much back then, and I had a lot of growing up to do from them til now. I'm still growing til now, and it seems the muse will take me elsewhere to write a possible sequel, once I get some life stuff out of the way. More than anything, even without followers or reviewers, I'm continuing to write for me. It's a past time that has picked up from pen and paper, to an old clunky desktop computer, to laptops, and now to mobile and laptop. I have a lot of catching up to do in terms of improving my writing, but I hope, whoever is reading this and wants to write, I hope you don't stop writing, especially for yourself. You can stop writing and the muse will always find you, no matter how many years pass. Thanks and see you again.