Attachment's Upside
"I'm not the sun…" Sanzo whispers. "…you are."
Sanzo's lips are on Goku's before the chimp can even speak, think, or properly breathe. His eyes remain wide, his heart pumping painfully in his chest. This kiss is different. Wholly different. So…tender. Sanzo's tongue is moving with his own in the sweet, wet, wonderful lip-lock, but it isn't driven by passion as it was before. Lust is an afterthought; Sanzo's kiss is filled with emotion. Emotion that keeps the stream of Goku's tears steady because he has waited so long to feel it directed back at him.
The pain leaves his chest but the beating barely stills, Goku's whole body feeling light as he coils his arms up around Sanzo's neck, finally closes his eyes, and kisses back. He does not care that his still falling tears are starting to tickle his chin as they gather there, some managing to drip onto his bare chest.
For the first time, Goku is speechless when his and Sanzo's lips part. The pair remains close since Goku cannot bring himself to release his hold on the blonde's neck, and the smallest of smiles is twitching at Sanzo's mouth, having a hard time stretching into anything truly resembling a smile since the monk's eyes are still radiating a good amount of fear.
"Maybe that's why this makes sense…" Sanzo mumbles, violet eyes darting over every detail of Goku's adorably giddy and bewildered face.
Not understanding, Goku tilts his head, still unable to form words.
Sanzo's mouth twitches again, fighting to find his smile. "You are an idiot. But so am I." he explains, and there are traces of humor in his voice even while it retains a bit of what it held before, as if he too is crying. "How could you ever think of me as the sun? Because I freed you? No. The sun is warm and loving and full of life. That isn't me. It's never been me. It's you…Goku."
Hearing the monk say his name--his NAME--has Goku certain he is floating. It is the only thing that can explain how the rest of the world has faded away.
"All this time…you're the one who's been my sun." Sanzo continues, his voice steady and soft, his trembling finally starting to still with Goku's arms holding onto him so tightly. "I didn't want to be anyone's sun and I didn't want anyone to be mine. But you were right. You had won before we even began this mess. You're the attachment I never wanted to have, the home Koumyo hoped I'd find. And damn you, stupid monkey, I swear I'll never forgive you if you leave me now. If you…ever…are stupid enough to get yourself killed…I...I just can't...I...can't...not again. You hear me?"
Staring so deeply into violet and hearing the grief dripping from every one of Sanzo's words, has Goku wondering when he is finally going to see a tear streak down one of those pale cheeks. But it never happens. The fact that even now Sanzo can still will such visible weakness from coming out reminds Goku that in so many ways Sanzo is always going to be Sanzo.
That thought stills his own tears at last and has him positively glowing.
"I'm strong, Sanzo." Goku says, keeping his eyes locked with the monk's. "And I'll keep getting stronger everyday. I promise. I'm never going to leave you. Not ever. And…and I promise…just like I did that first time you got hurt so bad…that there's no way I'm dying before you."
Sanzo's smile has lost itself somewhere, but all the emotion Goku sees on that beloved face remains. "That better mean you won't jump in to save the day when someone comes after me with a killing blow." the monk says, his words sounding very much like acommand. "No one dies for me. You understand?"
The monkey's brow furrows; he doesn't like where this has gone, but he doesn't want to upset Sanzo when he is finally making true, lasting progress. His hesitation, however, seems to answer for him, and Sanzo's face soon portrays unease and sudden anger.
"Damn you, Goku, you better understand that." he hisses, his hands coming up to grip the boy's forearms hard. The space between them lessens even more as Sanzo speaks on. "Do you get what you're asking of me by making me feel this way? Do you really get it? If I lose you…it'll be Koumyo all over again. I can't live with that a second time. I won't. If you want me to give in to you, I…god damn it…I already have, haven't I?" Sanzo sneers, his gaze ripping away for the first time to glare downwards at nothing. "Why do you have to make me feel this way? Why…?"
A gasp escapes the monk's throat. Suddenly Goku is pressed against him, holding him tight with his head beneath Sanzo's chin. "I'm sorry, Sanzo…" the boy whimpers, his stilled tears threatening once more as they glisten at the corners of his eyes. He can feel the monk's pounding heartbeat and shallow breaths, and even the heat of violet peering down at him. "I'm really sorry. I'm sorry you lost your master, and I'm sorry I…I'm sorry I'm still going to save you if I get the chance, even if I die doing it. Because…because it's you, Sanzo. And I'm supposed to protect you."
"Idiot. I'm the keeper here. You're my responsibility, not the other way around."
"No, Sanzo. We're each other's responsibility. You don't have to save me or anything if someone tries to kill me, but…I will. I wish I could make you feel better and say I won't, but…I will. I won't be able to help it. I love you too much." The last line is breathed barely above a whisper, muffled slightly as Goku digs his head into Sanzo's chest.
A million dissentions boil up inside Sanzo, but…he knows voicing them would be pointless. The monkey is too stubborn, just as he is. This argument, much as it pains him, will never end as he wishes it to. He knew that from the beginning really, which is why it took him so long to give in.
Finally, however, he is not going to allow the fear of loss, the fear of feeling as he did when his master died, keep him from embracing what has been waiting right on his heels for over half a decade.
"You are a stupid monkey…you know that?" Sanzo whispers, wrapping his arms tightly around the boy curled in so close to him. Everything between them is skin, and it feels so good. It feels open and raw and right.
Sanzo's chest tickles a little when Goku nods in answer to what he said, the brunette's hair moving lightly over sensitive skin.
"A stupid…monkey." Sanzo says again, laying his head on top of Goku's as he squeezes the boy in his hold. "And damn you…damn you…for making me love you this much."
Goku's arms tighten around Sanzo, a gasp escaping him as if in sudden pain. Sanzo would be worried…if he wasn't feeling the same way, with pain shooting up his body. No, it isn't pain exactly, but a restriction, like being compressed or torn out of time. The feeling lasts only long enough for both Sanzo and Goku to realize they are clinging to one another with all the strength within them, before it stops and neither is clinging to anything.
-----
Hakkai's foot almost slams on the breaks, his body feeling heavy and tired as if having just ended a very long day's travel. The scenery in front of him--endless desert and a sun just starting to lower from being directly above them--is not the sight he remembers looking at moments before. In the end, he does not press down on the breaks, too afraid his mind is playing the worst of tricks on him.
Behind Hakkai, Gojyo is feeling just as pained and panicked, part of him wanting to scream or at the very least say something since he would swear he must be dreaming if he is indeed sitting in the jeep right now.
Goku's heart is still racing, his arms feeling strangely empty as they rest in his lap. For a moment he can only stare at the blonde head in front of him. When he finally finds the strength to move, he turn his head to look behind them, where he would swear he caught the last traces of a swirl of sand settling back to the ground.
Back in front, Sanzo's hands twitch, his arms feeling much like Goku's--empty. Unfairly empty. He swallows hard, his eyes unfocused on the desert scene in front of him as the jeep drives on. He doesn't have to reach into his robes to know his fan, his gun, and his cigarettes are safely tucked within them. He knows they are there. Strangely, he feels no desire to reach for a cigarette, despite feeling as if he has not lit one for several days.
Even at times when most of the them are sleeping in the jeep it is never as quiet as it is right now. A tension, an anxious air floats about them all, hovering over them and causing all of their muscles to tense, as if expecting a battle. When the pulse in the air very much feels as if it might at any moment ignite and explode around them, someone at last manages to speak.
"Stop the jeep, Hakkai."
Hakkai listens to Sanzo's command immediately. He turns off the engine, and slowly four pairs of tired and disbelieving eyes turn to meet in the center of the jeep. Violet, gold, emerald, and crimson. They meet…and it is almost hard to breathe.
"Am I crazy…or were we somewhere else two seconds ago?" Gojyo says in a low voice, hoping the response he gets is not looks of confusion.
There is no confusion; they all remember where they had been.
"How…unorthodox." Hakkai mentions with a strained smile, expecting the varied looks of irritation that turn towards him. "I only mean…it seems rather strange that we would be released so suddenly without ever knowing why we were taken and shown those things. It would seem…barely any time has passed at all in the real world, just as we assumed. But I wonder…what could it have been that triggered our return? Gojyo and I were in the basement talking. When we shifted here, our conversation had turned rather…common really. Was something more important happening between the two of you?" He shifts his gaze between Goku and Sanzo, awaiting an answer.
Violet and gold meet without meaning to, locking a little uncomfortably. Their admissions and revelations had called for time, but they have been robbed of that. Forced so early to think of what passed between them from a more outside perspective has both of them wondering what to say, what to feel even.
Gojyo and Hakkai exchange glances, coming to their own conclusions to explain the silent interaction between their friends. Though they assume something good and possibly life-changing went on upstairs while they were sitting in the basement, they do not even begin to suspect just how far Sanzo and Goku went.
"This is going to drive me crazy." Gojyo grumbles, when the silence of Goku and Sanzo's staring match has grown to be even too uncomfortable for him. He sits back in his seat, seemingly annoyed. "What the hell was that? Some random phenomenon? I mean…come on. No way. It had to be someone playing with us. So…who was it?"
"And what was their goal?" Hakkai adds.
Sanzo and Goku finally look away from each other, both their gazes becoming distant.
Hakkai pretends not to notice. "Hmm…it would seem, judging by what we were shown, that our captors wished to elicit our desires and to force us to…accept them." He lifts his eyes to meet crimson briefly, passing a shared look of devious intent. "At least, that is what I would guess since we are now back in our own world after Gojyo and I came to terms with one another, and…well…I suppose I can only assume something similar happened between the two of you a few minutes ago."
Both Gojyo and Hakkai are looking a little too devious now as they look to their companions for some sort of response. But Sanzo is unreacting, turned around in his seat now to stare out at the road ahead. Goku, staring at theblonde's back,is also unreacting, largely due to his keeper's lack of response.
The deviousness in Hakkai and Gojyo fades. Their gazes meet again, this time in distress. Whatever did pass between their friends seems to have been left in the dream-world, in limbo, and though Goku clearly wishes to protest it, he does not. Goku seems regressed back to his more appeasing self, willingly allowing Sanzo to say nothing and to act as if nothing has happened.
As deviousness turned to distress, distress turns to anger. Hakkai opens his mouth to speak.
"Drive." Sanzo commands, before any other words can come.
Gojyo gives an audible growl.
Hakkai clearly wishes to voice disapproval.
Goku…looks down at his lap, saying nothing.
"Drive." Sanzo says again, staring forward. "We're back where we belong. We don't have time to wonder what anything meant. We have a mission to complete. So unless you have forgotten why we are heading west, I suggest you drive."
"Sanzo…" Goku speaks at last, sounding strangely tentative in comparison to his resent overconfidence.
Everything else is silent.
"Sanzo…I…"
"Not yet." the monk breaks in, his voice a whisper that is barely heard. In fact, Gojyo and Hakkai are unsure they know exactly what he said, but the person it was meant for has ears that can hear almost anything.
"Okay." Goku replies, giving a small nod, even though it is clear the monk cannot see it since he is still staring ahead.
Whatever just happened seems to be enough for the two, a sign that Sanzo has been given leave to think things over. Gojyo and Hakkai may not like this, but they understand it, and since Goku is not protesting, nothing is said against it.
Hakkai peers over his shoulder to look squarely at Gojyo for a moment and smiles.
Gojyo smiles back. They know where they stand.
A moment later, Hakkai has started up the jeep, and they are heading once more into the west.
-----
"Finished then, I guess. He'll probably make me look over this three days of footage for the next month." Hwan grumbles, chin resting on her hand as she scrolls quickly through the footage taken from the Sanzo-ikkou's collective mind. Though it took only moments to acquire, it does indeed have three days worth of things to look at.
Somewhat disinterested at first, several things catch Hwan's eye as she scrolls, causing her to stop and watch before remembering each time that she does not have three days to devote right now. What she has stopped to look at by the time she gets to the end, however, has been enough for her to have a pretty good idea what her research will show. She has discovered the ikkou's greatest desires and gotten them to not only admit to them, but to embrace them.
Whether or not she wants to share this information with Nii, since he was the one who ordered her to work on this project, is up for debate. She never imagined the ikkou's greatest desires would be…each other. It reminds her that everyone fights for something personal but that it is not always self. In fact it is rarely self, even when people believe they are only fighting for their own cause.
She doesn't think she has it in her to take that away from someone else. Not again.
"Damn you, Nii…"
"Hmm...perhaps. But I don't think you have the authority to do that, my dear."
Hwan feels her skin crawl just at the sound of Nii's voice calling from behind her. She does not turn, even as she senses him walking closer. "Don't call me that." she growls, staring at the screen. Her hand twitches for the control to move it from the place she has ended on, but realizes the futility since Nii is most likely already looking at it.
"My, my…now what do we have here?"
Leaning forward beside Hwan, Nii looks over the image left on the screen with a little too much eagerness as far as she is concerned. Even the monk and heretic deserve a little privacy, she thinks.
Nii's grin turns a little more sinister than usual, and even though his stuffed rabbit is held safely under his arm, his attention is focused entirely on the screen. That is, until he turns his dark eyes onto Hwan. "Good work. Better than you may realize. This might just prove more useful than I thought."
Hwan forces down a shudder, leaning back to escape the warmth of Nii's nicotine touched breath. "What do you mean?" she presses, trying hard not to sound too eager for an answer, despite how much she is indeed anxious to hear one.
"Hahaha…" Nii laughs, and the bunny under his arm is suddenly remembered, brought up to be held out in front of Hwan as if Nii's voice is meant to be coming from the toy. "Because Hwan-san, now they have even more to lose…" Nii's eyes peer over the top of the bunny's head. "…when they fail."
-----
A couple hours have passed with no interruption. The jeep has remained uncomfortably silent the entire way. Goku has not once complained of hunger, Gojyo has not once voiced any jabs or teasing remarks to start a fight, Hakkai has not once laughed in his polite manner, and Sanzo has barely even moved. Even Hakuryuu has started to feel the tension, occasionally voicing a plaintive little 'kyuu' as if to ask what is wrong.
Hakkai has yet to think of an answer.
After sighing for what feels like the millionth time, the healer's eyes focus again on the road before them. He is not sure whether he is pleased or annoyed at the sight that soon greets him.
"I hate to have to state the obvious and inevitable…but it seems we have some company."
Normally such a thing would at least earn a groan if not a few sounds of excitement, but no one is in the right state to even respond. The jeep is brought to a stop, weapons are summoned and readied, and one by one the ikkou removes themselves from their seats.
The riffraff before them is a common lot, none really appearing all that threatening. When they speak, the total expectedness of their words serves only to grate on the ikkou's nerves more. "Hand over the sutra, Sanzo-party, or prepare to die!"
For once not even Gojyo shouts back. The four men merely take up fighting stances and dive in, ridding the area of their opponents only too easily, even without any of their hearts really being in it.
There are only a handful left when suddenly, Sanzo and Goku find themselves looking up across the field of battle to unexpectedly meet gazes. The moment is enough to distract Goku from seeing the youkai about to attack him, but when Sanzo instinctively calls out a warning, and Goku proves to easily react and dispose of the demon, the anxious feeling around them seems to lessen. Goku looks back at Sanzo and smiles reassuringly. Somehow, Sanzo understands the words Goku is too far away to say.
I can't promise you something won't happen to me one day, Sanzo, but I swear I won't die without a fight.
Right now, that is all the answer Sanzo can hope to get for his questioning heart, and really…it is all he needs.
Soon there is only one youkai left and Sanzo has his boot lodged tightly in the crook of the demon's neck, holding him down and cutting off just enough air to make a point. Sanzo towers above his opponent on the ground, but though his gun is at first raised, it soon disappears back within his robes.
As the other three members of the ikkou make their way to Sanzo's position, all are quite taken aback that the monk has put his weapon away.
Sanzo, however, knows exactly what he is doing. "Who ordered you to come after us?" he questions, his voice as commanding and threatening as ever, even without his gun in his hand.
The youkai seems confused at first and doesn't answer, but the increased pressure of Sanzo's boot into his jugular quickly helps him find his voice. "I…" he gasps, eyes filled with fear but also the hope of somehow getting out of this alive. "…I…was…sent by Lord Kougaiji."
"As I thought. Then you will be expected to report back to him, yes?"
Hakkai, Gojyo, and Goku exchange glances, wondering if this is heading where they think it is.
The youkai on the ground darts his eyes to the others, but Sanzo presses tighter with his boot again to remind the demon just who he should be paying attention to.
"Y-yes…" the youkai stammers, practically pleading with his desperate look.
"Good." Sanzo says, and suddenly his boot has been removed completely and he is stepping back, giving the youkai room to stand up. Hesitantly, the youkai does. "You are going to report back to Kougaiji." Sanzo continues, his hand hovering near the opening of his robes to remind the youkai of just how easily he could have his gun again. "And this is what you are going to tell him. You are going to say…that Genjyo Sanzo requests an audience. He'll know how to find us. He's never had any trouble before. And tell him that this is urgent. I'm not a patient man."
Hakkai, Gojyo, and Goku refrain from commenting on that, but all of them are wearing rather large smiles by now. Their expressions prove only to unnerve the youkai more, which can only be a bonus, since all of them are rather eager for the demon to scamper fearfully off and do as requested.
Though the youkai is hesitant, unsure if he is only being tricked, he nods and turns to leave. He moves slow at first, certain a bullet will be following him, but when Sanzo only glares steadily and gives a short nod, the demon is soon sprinting away to wherever his group's dragons had been left.
"Sanzo…I don't suppose you are considering what I think you are?" Hakkai questions, after the youkai has become a distant dot and they have stood silently for some time.
Having waited to turn until one of his friends spoke up first, Sanzo finally faces them. Part of him is deeply craving a cigarette right now, though strangely…only a small part. He meets Gojyo's grin, Hakkai's bemused expression, and even Goku's blinding joy with ease. Well, with as much ease as he has ever been able to meet them before, especially now that he is no longer willing to bow down to the fear inside him.
How could he allow such a thing, after all, when he knows he can have something so much better?
A smirk works its way onto the monk's face. "We want the same thing. What's it matter to me if Kougaiji wants to use the sutra to…free his mother, wasn't it? I was only ordered to stop Gyumaou's resurrection. And I was told to do it with whatever means necessary. In this case--"
"An alliance." Hakkai finishes, his bemused expression having a little difficulty not turning into the same excited look of joy as is currently spreading through Goku.
Sanzo huffs in amusement, and violet turns to meet gold. "Law of averages. That's all. I'm not saying we'll be friends."
"And…you think he'll agree to this?" Gojyo asks, voicing his concern even while he is still grinning.
Still, violet remains on gold. "Why not? If we can believe any of what we saw in that dream-world then Kougaiji has no love for the real villains behind all this. He doesn't care about Gyumaou. If we agree to compromise--his help to stop the resurrection in exchange for borrowing the sutra--there should be no reason for him to say no."
"Does that mean you do believe the things we saw then? The things that…happened?" It is Goku speaking now, addressing his keeper directly for the first time in what feels like ages.
For the briefest of moments, Goku is almost certain Sanzo's normal smirk shifts into something like a true, honest smile. "I don't see how that's any of your business." the monk says, his voice betraying him just as he means for it to.
A moment later and Sanzo is heading for the jeep, not even bothering to look back and see whether or not the others are following him.
Goku is frozen at first, unable to follow.
Hakkai and Gojyo turn to each other with looks of surprise that quickly turn into those of pleased triumph. Something clearly happened between Sanzo and Goku that they may never fully come to know, but whatever has happened it reminds them that they too have gained something in all of this. Adding to that how things between them and the Kougaiji-tachi might actually find a point of sense through the chaos of this mission, and the pair feels like they could take on Gyumaou this very moment.
Knowing they must return to the jeep, and yet not wanting to miss out on this moment when it is right in front of him for the taking, Hakkai reaches out to grab Gojyo by the front of his shirt and tugs. The kiss he pulls the kappa into is much more passionately driven than any they have shared thus far, but still it remains gentle and loving, something that will always be apart of what they share.
When they break apart, Gojyo looking a little cross-eyed, Hakkai blushing madly, and both breathing a little heavier than they were before, they realize rather suddenly that Goku is staring at them with the cutest look of goofy bliss. Turning to head back to the jeep, the three of them find it rather easy to slip into shared laughter.
That laughter dies the second they return to the jeep.
Sanzo is sitting in the back, in the spot normally reserved for Gojyo. An unlit cigarette rests between his lips, though he seems disinterested in lighting it. Although he is at first looking out at the horizon, he quickly turns to meet the many flabbergasted looks regarding him. "Are you idiots going to stand there all day? Let's go. Or do you want to end up spending the night out here?"
No one really has anything to say to that. Hakkai and Gojyo have difficulty keeping snickers at bay as they both climb into the front, Gojyo eagerly taking up the monk's abandoned seat. Goku, half wondering if he died of shock during their lovemaking--or long before it--scrambles into his own seat without once taking his eyes off Sanzo.
The jeep starts up and Sanzo tosses his cigarette over the edge, not feeling up to lighting it after all. Gojyo does light one once they get a little further down the road, but doesn't smoke it long, growing bored with it rather quickly. Hakkai and Goku don't mind this out-of-character choice one bit.
A few minutes pass in silence, though not uncomfortably as before. Gojyo and Hakkai seem to be sitting a little closer than should be possible while the brunette is driving, and looking ahead to notice this, Goku quickly gets it into his head to want the same thing. Or at least…to want something.
A quick look at Sanzo shows that the monk is not particularly focused on anything, looking ahead, but seeming distant, as if meditating with his eyes open. Remembering his confidence in the dream-world and not wanting to abandon it when it proved to serve him so well, Goku decides to take a risk. Considering all that has happened, he knows it isn't nearly as much of a risk as it would have been before.
Scooting closer to the blonde beside him, Goku reaches up to turn the monks face towards his, meeting slightly surprised violet with a grin. He leans forward without an ounce of hesitation, claiming Sanzo's lips as if they have belonged to him since birth.
Well, in so many way…they have.
The kiss is slow and deep, pushed forcefully deep by Goku's searching tongue. Sanzo kisses back with equal passion, meeting that tongue with his own, and releases a small moan when Goku pulls back. Violet and gold remain locked for perhaps a moment before they are reminded that they are not the only ones in the jeep.
"Gross. Still not used to that." Gojyo says, shaking his head while the red of his eyes peers back at Sanzo and Goku through the rearview mirror.
Hakkai's green eyes are smartly looking forward.
To everyone's great surprise, in response to this Sanzo only smirks. That is, until his hand is moving with lightening speed into his robes.
THWACK.
"Ow!"
Ah, the thrill of triumph. "Well, well, would you look at that." Sanzo says, tapping his fan on the palm of his free hand after having indulged in something he was robbed of for far too long. Goku and Hakkai try not to snicker. "Seems I have all of my possessions again, eh, cockroach. Another comment from you and we might have to see what other possessions I can use on you." Sanzo places the fan back in his robes, reminding everyone that he now has cigs, fan, AND gun within easy reach.
Gojyo does not mention how the hit to his head had actually been rather weak compared to past ones, but that is something he knows to keep between him and Sanzo.
Hakkai chuckles politely but stifles it quickly, reaching a hand over to pat Gojyo's knee in sympathy. He quickly finds that hand clasped in another's but doesn't really mind having only one hand free for the steering wheel.
Goku, chuckling happily at Gojyo's expense and even more at Sanzo's antics--because they had been so Sanzo and yet…different somehow--feels rather like he did a few hours ago when Sanzo looked deep into his eyes and called him his sun.
Though he never thought he could feel even more as if he was back in that moment, Goku soon does, because Sanzo, after securing all possessions inside his robes, makes the comment of wanting to take a nap and is suddenly laying down with his head on Goku's thighs. If Gojyo and Hakkai can see this in the rearview mirror, neither says anything. Goku is stunned into silence himself because Sanzo is at first looking right up at him as he looks down.
Sanzo, the pissy priest with no love for anything, is lying with his head in Goku's lap, gazing up at him with a look that speaks the same impossible words Goku heard just before the dream-world ended.
Hakkai and Gojyo, trying not to spy too often by using the mirror at their disposal, are content to hold hands, after awhile switching from that to having a napping Gojyo curled against Hakkai's side. In the back, Goku is soon napping along with Sanzo, the monk's head still resting on his charge's thighs while Goku's hand runs through blonde hair, even in his sleep.
Hakuryuu no longer feels a need to give a plaintive 'kyuu' though he does give one questioning 'kyuu' to which Hakkai answers, "It's a long story, my friend, but as you can see, it may prove to end rather well."
Even being the only one awake, Hakkai does not begrudge his friends their slumber. He knows that they, just as he, has thoughts filled with possibilities they never would have entertained before their little side-trip. Asleep or awake, all of them know just how blessed they are, even if things may become more difficult in the journey ahead. It will take some time before Kougaiji responds to their summons, but that too Hakkai believes to be a blessing soon to come.
When the lights of a distant city finally start coming into view, the healer is most certain that although things will never be easy for them, they are finally starting to get a little better.
THE END
A/N: (falls into hysterical sobbing) Omg, I did it again! I'm...done. Another fic behind me and I love it! I love YOU! You amazingly supportive and wonderful people. (sniffle) These are tears of joy believe me. I LOVE how I just ended this, I love it to DEATH, and I can only hope you feel remotely the same now that we have reached this end together.
Okay, folks, here's the deal. I WANT to write you a sequel. This fic begs for one. Here is what it will include: dealing with the Kougaiji-tachi, practicing with Goku's limiter, furthering both pairs' relationships, and possibly...getting them west. Sound good? You tell me. If the response is positive, I shall do so. Not until AFTER Christmas break, but once I am settled back at school in January, I will begin it for you.
Sorry to anyone especting a little more smut for the 58 in the story, but it didn't seem right. I know, it's crazy, it's me and Gojyo and Hakkai didn't have sex. (what the hell) What can I say, I write where they take me and Gojyo and Hakkai weren't ready. They're moving slower. After all, Sanzo and Goku weren't really READY for sex, it just happened because things got so heated and Goku was desperate. Believe me, having already had sex will be an issue for them in the new fic. (must think of a title)
Ummm...okay, hmmm...well I am certainly open to requests if anyone has something they really want me to consider for the sequel. I may not use them, but I'll consider them all. I have a pretty good idea what things I want to explore. The great thing is, this sequel will give me the chance to go into things I have wanted to anyway, and this way instead of just making a whole new fic, I can work from this one, which so many of you have joined me on. (sigh) I'm deliriously happy right now.
I would like to apologize again for my behavior the other day, but the responses I got back made everything better, and I am now much happier with how chapter 17 is. Thank you, everyone.
Okay, I guess that's...it. It's late, I'm tired, and I need to post this for you, so...LOVE YOU ALL, and...as always...see ya next ficcie!
Crimson