Disclaimer: Saiyuki is not mine. The story is fictional and all similarities to people and events in real life are coincidences.

Those Beautiful Green Eyes

Epilogue

Kanzeon Bosatsu peered over her shoulder and into her beautiful lotus pond, clear, calm and perfect as natural things in Heaven tended to be. But it was not the perfection of her pond that she was looking at, instead, she was watching a scene that, in her eyes, was more perfect that almost any scenery in Heaven.

"Oh, it looks like Kenren has finally found Tenpou," she comments to none of her companions in particular. Then, she smiled at the beautiful blonde in front of her who, despite his appearance of indifference, was actually very much interested. "Don't you think it all worked out for the best, Konzen?"

"Hn," the blonde god grunted.

"I understand how Tenpou might not want to return to Heaven and therefore needed someone to summon him, but I still don't understand why you erased Kenren's memories as Gojyo," Jiroushin mused out loud, but quickly added when he caught himself, "Not that I'm questioning your actions, Kanzeon Bosatsu." He nervously picked a tile from the wall.

Fortune was with Jiroushin as Kanzeon Bosatsu was in a rather good mood that day and his comment was not taken offensively. The mischievous sparkle in the goddess' divine eyes did not go unmissed as she said, "Well, memories are often taken for granted. Do you think Kenren would have come to the realizations he came to had he not had a hard time searching for Tenpou?"

"Draw your tile," Konzen said in a deadpan voice that hid both his irritation and his relief that the only people he considered decent company in Heaven were well.

"Don't act so unconcerned, Konzen, I know you're happy for them." The Merciful Goddess laughed before reaching over to pick her tile out of the wall. It was a wind tile. "Sha..." she thought for a moment realizing the coincidence that she picked the wind tile called "Sha". The tile did nothing for her current hand, though, so she quickly discarded it.

The player following her did not even smile, "Pon." His red eyes narrowed for a moment, and then. "Dai Su Shi," he announced revealing his hand to his opponents. "Forty-eight thousand points."

"Goujun-sama!" Jiroushin exclaimed, surprised by the sudden win.

"You really shouldn't meddle in other people's private affairs," Goujun addressed the Merciful Goddess pointedly, but not too harshly as the goddess still outranked him, strictly speaking.

"Well, congratulations, Goujun," Kanzeon Bosatsu grinned, though the vein twitching on her head showed her true emotions about the defeat. "With you being the Dragon King, I should have known that the lucky dragons would be at your side."

Goujun said nothing at this, not willing to dignify the goddess' wounded pride's remark.

Jiroushin, however unwittingly, added insult to injury, "Well, Great Goddess of Mercy, since you were the one who discarded the last tile Goujun-sama took, then it means that you have to pay him."

"Fine, Jiroushin!" the unhappy deity snapped.

Konzen grinned, his normally dour expression brightening up a shade at his aunt's loss. Whoever thought that the Merciful Goddess was a sore loser? He certainly knew that. He almost laughed at his own joke, but outwardly, his face remained carefully neutral.

Goujun caught the change in Konzen's mood. "What are you planning now, Konzen douji?"

Konzen stood up from his position at the mahjong table, "I have other matters to attend to. Would you mind lending me the marshal and the general?" he said without even bothering to give specifics knowing full and well that Goujun was already aware of whom he was talking about.

Her irritation at her loss immediately dissipated at her nephew's statement and Kanzeon Bosatsu quickly prodded the blonde god. "And pray tell what matters are most pressing right now?"

"I have to go pick up a monkey."

And Kanzeon Bosatsu smiled. Things were going to remain interesting for a little while longer. And maybe, just maybe, they would remain interesting for all eternity.

Author's Notes:

Woohoo! That's done! Excuse me a moment while I dance for joy.

Okay, here are my responses to the reviews of the last few chapters. So sorry if I keep cutting the chapters at the worst possible places. Like I said, endings, whether story wise or chapter wise, are not my strongest point. This is the reason why I welcome flames and more constructive criticisms.

Anyway...

Chris-Redfield26, I certainly hope you like the way it developed and closed up to the end.

kurri-chan, so sorry for any confusion. The preview option is a bit difficult to use if you're using a dial-up connection, which is why I rarely use markers and the like between scenes. Red eyes and white hair? Hmmm.. I hope that was explained well enough in the story, if not, feel free to tell me and I might post a side story to explain just that.

ailiel, so sorry for the chapter title mistake. I probably forgot to change it when I posted it. I tend to be like that sometimes. Also, I'm not that familiar with Nataku's character so I can't really write about him...not that I'm very familiar with Goujun's character. I was just banking on Hakuryu being his reincarnation.

Marron-chan, I actually had the succeeding chapter all written out, but someone borrowed my flash drive and didn't return it until yesterday. Then, while reading your reviews, I realized that I had forgotten about Goku sleeping in an upstairs bedroom! That's why I wasn't able to post until now. I had to think of a way to remedy that.

FairyMage, it's actually flattering that you found that chapter sad. I have never really encountered death so I wasn't sure how the characters should respond.

ennui deMorte, you're right about not minding that my friend wanted to kill me afterwards. So, here's the epilogue. Love it or hate it, you can tell me. Maybe, maybe...seeing Goku again could wake Nataku up, but I doubt that he could still see in that state of his... I thought of that seeing you in Heaven line when I remembered that Hakkai was convinced that he would end up in Hell.

ShadowKat-Shidobukatsu, there you go. Here's the ending. I hope you like it. If I had insisted on dragging it on any longer, you would have hated me, anyway. Better quit while you're ahead, ne?

LilCheekyAngel, sorry I couldn't update sooner. My schedule doesn't really allow me to do much writing. I will do my best next time, of course.

Rnij and Mysterious A, sorry for making you cry. I don't like making people cry. But I'm glad that I got the mood that I wanted from the tragedy chapter.

ChoHakkai941, I really do find your words flattering. You don't have to thank me for doing something I love doing, I would have posted this whether you hated me for it or not. Rather, thank you for reading my work.

VG Terra, thank you so much for making me realize that I had forgotten about Goku! Don't worry about it, a short review is still a review and thank you for taking the time to write it.

MikaSamu, I hope this ending is happy enough for you. I know, they didn't all end up together in Heaven, but, at the risk of sounding like Kanzeon Bosatsu, I would say, Where's the fun in that? An open end like this would keep creative juices flowing, right? Although the juices are not necessarily mine.

Attiqah Gensui, well, I'm going to go hide now before you kill me. :-) And here's the epilogue.

Thanks to all you guys who reviewed earlier chapters. My apologies to anyone I might have missed.

Once again, thank you to everyone who read up to his point. I am honored that you did just that.

Sincerely,

paris