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VI. Epilogue

Sanzo stood in the darkness of the forest listening to the distant sounds of argument as Gojyo turned his rage on Hakkai. The Kappa could be extremely creative with his swearing when he was angry, but the monk wasn't paying much attention to the words that were being screamed a ways away from where he was. He was too busy trying to gain control of his own feelings. Sanzo was having trouble understanding what was going on inside of him at the moment, but he knew that he didn't like it. What he also didn't care for was the whispering voice telling him things about himself that he didn't want to accept.

Goku was gone. This was a fact that he could do little to change at the moment. The gods had made a decision, and there was little he could do to alter it, but though it was a hindrance to their journey, the situation was nothing more than that. Things would probably even go easier now that they wouldn't have to spend so much time stopping for food. At least that was what Sanzo wanted to believe. He didn't want to accept the gnawing pain in his chest, or the sudden hollowness inside of him the moment that the saru had been snatched away. He didn't want to accept the fact that Goku had been important to him because it would mean admitting once again to failing to protect something precious to him, and that was unacceptable.

It was better to just keep going. He wasn't done yet, not by a long shot, but they had to deal with the problem at hand. It would be fairly difficult to kick the asses of whatever kami decided to take his property while fighting off armies of demon assassins, so they would move on; continue west. And once they were done with Gyumao, they would deal with heaven. Goku may have been an annoying idiot, but he would not stand for anyone else taking the idiot away. Sanzo threw away his cigarette butt and turned to rejoin the others.

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See what happens next in the continuing saga! The sequel to this tale is called Control. Look it up in my archives! Chapter 1 is up!