Saiyuki: Reborn

Typical fanfic disclaimer: I don’t own Saiyuki so please don’t sue me! Please don’t use any of my characters without permission. This fic was written as a one-on-one RP so the POV tends to change often.

This story takes place in the modern world. After the events of the series, Sanzo, Hakkai, and Gojyo continue to be reincarnated over the next several hundred years, but their monkey friend ages differently. Goku is left on earth to seek them out each new generation.

Italics for thoughts

Please read and enjoy!


Saiyuki: Reborn
Chapter Two:

Goku waited all day at the elementary school, napping in a tall tree just on the edge of the playground. He had almost spent the night there, just in case, but some of the better sense he\'d gathered over the last few centuries kicked in enough to get him to his bed, though even then he barely slept. There was no doubt that Huyen would come, even if Goku feared his memory would be...less than he hoped.

Huyen felt as if his hands hadn\'t stopped shaking since their last encounter when he finally arrived at the elementary school late in the afternoon. He hadn\'t slept the night before, hadn\'t paid any attention to his classes or his gang. He could only see gold eyes and a thin smile, could only hear voices he by now barely recognized. He was strained, he was afraid, and yet...something inside him felt more alive than it had in years. His heart jumped when he realized where Goku was, even if he couldn\'t see him yet. I\'m…such a coward. He sighed, sinking to the base of the tree. \"I\'m here,\" he called softly.

Goku shifted until he was lying on his stomach, hands folded beneath his cheek so he could comfortably see the other. He wanted to drop out of the tree, wanted to wrap his arms around that long neck and touch that soft hair.... But all he could do was smile, because...he wanted to be sure. Perfectly sure. He couldn\'t put his heart on the line again and be wrong. \"Do you ever dream?\" he asked suddenly, taking off his sunglasses to better see Huyen.

Huyen blinked slowly. \"Not anymore,\" he murmured, settling his back against rough bark. He let his hands hang easily in his lap. \"I guess...I used to, a lot. But….\" He kicked at a clot of dust. \"No, not anymore. Not anything I remember.\"

Goku hummed thoughtfully. \"I dream,\" he informed the other. \"Sometimes I dream every night, and then they\'ll stop for a while--couple of months or something--and then bang! They start right back up.\" Konzen would sit like that, he thought with a twist in his stomach. When we\'d go into the gardens, while I\'d play in the stream or the field or the trees....

Huyen closed his eyes. He wasn\'t sure why, but it helped somehow, making Goku\'s voice sound distant and vague. I used to dream like that. \"Why are you asking me this?\" he asked, but he didn\'t have the strength to make his words accusing. \"What do you really want from me?\"

He glanced away. \"I was curious,\" he murmured. \"I wondered...if maybe you ever saw me.\" Goku licked his lips--he felt like the other was moving away from him, and he didn\'t like it. \"If I was…familiar to you. Like we\'d met before. Maybe a long time before.\" Decades. Even centuries.... Please, I have to be right.

Huyen licked his lips; he didn\'t like the way Goku sounded just then; disappointed. \"I met someone a while ago,\" he found himself saying, spilling memories he\'d never shared before. \"He talked a lot like you--\'I dream a lot\', \'you remind me of someone\'.\" He lowered his head, waiting a moment until he was sure the words he didn\'t want to say had left his lips. \"We used to joke about all the damn deja vu. He used to say...he was looking for something.\"

\"That was your friend. Wen Jin,\" he said, nodding to himself. Gojyo, you must have been disappointed--he doesn\'t seem to remember us.... Goku sighed against the bark. \"I hadn\'t expected to find him like this. I should have talked to him like I wanted to....\" If I had, I could have been there. Could have helped him, but…. \"I hope he\'ll forgive me next time.\"

Huyen flinched. \"Next time...?\" He felt his temper start to rise, but it didn\'t seem to be worth it, and he sighed. \"So...you did know him,\" he said dully. \"Wen Jin. He....\" He was all I had. The two of us, looking…. \"He died with his hand outstretched,\" he heard himself whisper. He opened his eyes so he could see his own pale fingers. \"It was...probably the most appropriate thing I\'d ever seen. It was so like him...\"

Gojyo.... \"He was always too bold,\" he replied, voice just as low. \"But then, so was I. So were all of us.\" Nothing ever mattered, because it was always just us. Always. Goku raised his eyes to the other again. \"Am I familiar?\" he asked suddenly, almost anxiously. \"You remembered Wen Jin--you knew him. What about me?\"

\"You….\" What\'s going on? Huyen curled his knees closer to his chest, trying to fight off that sudden chill he felt. I\'m scared. I don\'t want to do this anymore. \"I don\'t know,\" he lied. \"I\'m just...tired of it. Tired of this feeling that….\" He shook his head. That I\'ll never find what I\'m looking for.

Goku couldn\'t take it. He pushed himself up before dropping to the ground, landing with a grunt as he stumbled. Sanzo...please. Please don\'t leave me alone anymore. He knelt in front of the other, reaching out to grab his shoulders tightly. Please! \"You do know me,\" he said strongly, giving the teen a shake. \"Just like you knew Wen Jin--just like I know you both.\" He tried to meet the other\'s eyes. \"Please--I\'ve been waiting so long...so long....\" Alone. All alone, just like I was up on that mountain again....

\"Stop it!\" Huyen said hoarsely, trying to push the smaller boy away from him. He couldn\'t believe it--that all this time, all the bitterness he\'d felt could be wiped away by clear, bright eyes. But he was already gripping slender shoulders, shuddering. \"Goku....\" He forced himself to look away. \"I\'m sorry. I\'m not the same--I don\'t know what\'s happened, but I can feel it. Even Wen Jin said it….\"

\"Do you think I care?\" he snapped back, shaking the teen again. \"Do you think it mattered when I found the others? Do you think we cared that things had changed? Do you think I cared that you didn\'t remember me when you rescued me?\" He choked, abruptly leaning forward to press his forehead against Huyen\'s upraised knees. \"I\'ve been praying for you,\" he whispered hoarsely. \"And you know I don\'t pray. Please...even if I have to win you over all over again...please give me the chance. Please don\'t leave me alone anymore....\"

Huyen stared at him, stunned and a little frightened. \"Goku….\" He gingerly touched thick brown hair, testing the texture of it against his fingertips. He sighed. \"I\'m sorry,\" he whispered. \"I\'m not here to rescue you. I...don\'t know what you want me to do.\"

Goku shook his head, fighting the tears even as a few slipped through his tightly pressed eyes. Please...it\'s not fair.... He pulled closer. \"Just let me stay,\" he murmured hoarsely. \"It\'s been so dark.... Let me stay with you. Don\'t send me away, Sanzo, please....\"

\"San….\" Huyen\'s brow furrowed, but he didn\'t have the strength to fight it anymore. He tugged the boy slightly, not enough to move him, but enough to be an invitation. \"All right,\" he said quietly. \"I...I won\'t, Goku.\"

Sobbing quietly in relief, Goku moved around until he could press his face into a wide chest, hugging the taller boy tightly. He moved as close as he could without actually crawling into Huyen\'s lap, trying to get his composure back. It is him. It is Sanzo, Konzen...my sun. He\'s still my sun. Goku didn\'t speak after that, fearful of breaking the moment on the chance that Huyen might slip away.

Huyen kept his eyes closed, trying not to listen to the quiet, halting breath of the younger boy against him. It was so odd, feeling him shiver when the night before he had seemed so strong…. Hesitantly he wrapped his arms around the trembling shoulders, just enough to keep them close. Goku, I still don’t understand. I just don\'t. But he suddenly remembered Jin\'s laughter, and that was enough to keep him still.

Goku finally pulled himself back together, and with a sigh he slipped away sit at the other boy\'s side, wiping at his eyes. What an idiot. After all this time, I just look at him and I revert back to a child. He scowled down at his knees. I...was never able to force Konzen out, either, when Sanzo didn\'t remember. I can\'t force Huyen to remember now.... The thoughts made him feel slightly ill, but he was nothing if not determined; he wouldn\'t give up yet.

Huyen remained still for a long time, trying to make sense of all that was happening. It means so much to him…and I gave up a long time ago. What is this? Why…does it make me feel so cold? \"Goku.\" He stretched his legs out once more, as they\'d begun to cramp suddenly, making him realize how tense he was. \"Can you tell me what\'s going on?\" he asked softly. \"I still don\'t understand. What…why me?\" He gulped. \"Why Jin?\"

He closed his eyes. \"I\'m...not sure I should tell you,\" he replied at last. \"If you could remember, it would be one thing. I...don\'t want to hurt you.\" But I can\'t just not tell him.... Maybe if I leave out who he was.... Goku nodded to himself, though he still couldn\'t bring himself to face the other yet. \"Do you believe in reincarnation?\"

Huyen knew better than to wonder if he was joking. Reincarnation? I\'m.... He frowned down at his shoes. \"Is that what this is?\" he asked dully. It made more sense than it ought to have--the feeling of searching for something beyond reach, beyond memory.... He shivered. \"Are you saying I\'m someone else\'s incarnation?\"

Goku nodded faintly. \"Years and years ago we were all together--you, me, Wen Jin, and one other....\" Hakkai...where are you now? Are you looking for us? \"I\'ve met the fourth one about two or three times since then, Jin...would have been the third, though I don\'t think he knew about me. You....\" I haven\'t been able to find anywhere. I looked so hard....

\"And one other….\" For a moment, when he thought about it hard enough, he could feel a flash of insight--calm, intelligent eyes, a knowing smile, the tip of slender shoulders. He gasped softly as his eyes flicked fully open. That man…he was in my dreams. My old dreams…. \"He....\" He gulped, but his mouth was dry again, making it difficult to get the words out. \"What was his name?\"

Frowning, Goku considered that question carefully. \"Well...he\'s had a few, though....\" He licked his lips. \"The one you might remember...is Hakkai.\" He dared a quick glance at Huyen, but looked away just as fast.

\"Hakkai….\" Huyen rolled the name around on his tongue, in his mind, allowing an image to form. His fingers curled in the front of his school uniform, and he cringed; he could almost fit a voice to the edge of his vision, like the whisper of a phantom. He choked quietly on a sound of pain. \"I...Hakkai, with...the dragon, I....\"

Goku jerked and turned, eyes wide and suddenly hopeful. \"Yes,\" he said, barely able to keep from grabbing the other. \"He had a dragon--Hakkuryuu. Do you remember?\" Please, please remember. You have to remember us.

\"I....\" Huyen\'s eyes began to sting, and he hid then beneath his hand, the tingle at the edges of his lungs becoming suddenly painful. \"Wait--no. But Hakkai, he was….\"

His sight flared red, and Huyen curled forward suddenly, pressing his forehead into his knees. \"He died,\" he whispered, shivering. \"Hakkai...I think...I do remember.\"

It\'s hurting him.... Biting his lip, Goku set a hesitant hand on the other\'s back. I...don\'t want to hurt him.... \"Huyen...are you okay?\" he asked hesitantly. \"If it\'s too much....\" He couldn\'t even remember Konzen without it being painful, so.... He lowered his eyes.

A few deep breaths calmed him, and eventually Huyen was able to straighten once more. \"I\'m all right,\" he murmured, angry at himself for behaving so weakly. His lip curled in a bitter smile. \"You know, Jin used to say...there was something wrong with me.\" He rubbed idly at his stomach. \"That he didn\'t know why, but that I\'m not the way I\'m supposed to be.\" He turned to stare at Goku. \"Do you think that, too?\"

Goku considered the other carefully, looking for something that might have been \'wrong.\' \"I\'m...not sure. You\'re a little quieter than I remember, though your temper\'s about the same,\" he added with a touch of humor. We\'ve all changed, though. All this looking.... Since there was no one around, Goku felt it was safe enough to move closer. He turned his head so his nose pressed lightly against the other\'s temple. \"Maybe you’re just lonely,\" he suggested, a bit hopefully, since he was lonely, too.

Huyen started to pull away, unaccustomed to the closeness, but then he settled again. \"Maybe,\" he replied moodily. He didn\'t like thinking of himself in such terms--he was independent. He\'s warm. He closed his eyes. \"What happens now?\"

\"I don\'t know,\" Goku replied lightly, pleased that the other remained close, and he turned so his chest was resting along the length of Huyen\'s arm. \"The other\'s all took their time when they were remembering--it\'s actually pretty good that you can remember Hakkai.\" Though I wish it had been me that you remembered. You\'re so warm.... \"I suppose...we\'ll just have to wait until your dusty head clears.\"

\"I think...I must have met him, before,\" Huyen said carefully, fearful that his chest would begin to ache again. He was a bit mystified by the closeness, the easy way in which Goku rested his weight against him, as if with such trust.... \"We...haven\'t met in a long time, have we?\"

Goku closed his eyes. \"No,\" he whispered. \"Not...for a very long time....\" You have no idea how long.... So many years.... He was starting to shake again, still not quite able to believe that he was really here, that he\'d finally found his ancient lover. He nearly expected to wake up and find that it was all some horrible dream.

Huyen was struck suddenly by the smallness of his companion, and without thinking he slipped a hand around behind him, touching the top of his head. \"You\'re different than them, aren\'t you,\" he said thoughtfully. \"You...aren\'t like me. You remember it all.\"

Goku nodded faintly, head tilting just slightly into that touch. \"Yeah. I remember...everything....\" Remember all the years, remember all the nights we.... He wiggled a bit further against his companion, forgetting that he was the leader of the town’s most notorious gang, forgetting that he\'d promised himself years and years ago that he wasn\'t going to be weak again.

Huyen\'s eyes thinned, and he started to reply. But when his lips parted it was only to gasp, softly, as something white and fierce tightened in his chest. He remembered...fingertips, warm and trembling, drawn over his skin--hot, panting breath--gleaming eyes--and he pulled his hand away from Goku\'s hair as if it had been burned. A shudder ran through him. What…the hell…?

Blinking, Goku reluctantly pulled back, watching the other curiously. He\'s hurting again, he realized, feeling his heart drop. If we keep going like this, it\'ll only get worse--I may be too much. \"Sorry,\" he muttered, looking away and gradually easing back. \"Maybe...that\'s enough for today.\"

\"No, I just....\" Huyen trailed off, shivering slightly as he wiped at his brow. Was that…him? Then we.... He glanced at Goku carefully from under his hand, and suddenly felt as if his face were growing warm. He cursed quietly and pushed to his feet. \"I\'m sorry. I\'m trying, it\'s just...a lot to take in.\"

He nodded, standing as well and pulling out his sunglasses. \"I know. Don\'t worry about it.\" Glasses in place, he was able to face the other with a bright smile. \"We\'ve waited this long, right? A bit more won\'t hurt too much.\" I hope. He knocked the other easily on the shoulder, trying to cheer himself up as much--if not more--than the other. \"Might wanna consider some good head-ache pills, though. The other\'s certainly needed them.\"

Huyen looked away, taking that warning all too seriously--he could already feel a sharp ache spreading along the back of his skull, and he knew it was only going to get worse. He shoved his hands into his pockets. \"You must really think I\'m worth it,\" he thought aloud.

\"Oh, you are,\" he replied, taking a few backward steps, looking up towards the sky--the sun was getting ready to set. He paused suddenly before he got too far, fishing around his pocket for a slip of paper. \"Here. This is my cell phone number. You know....\" He shrugged a bit sheepishly. \"Just in case you wanted to talk or something.\"

Huyen regarded the paper a moment as if it were a live creature. When he took it their fingers brushed, sending another wave of heat up his spine and into his chest. He pulled back. \"All right. In case….\" He gulped. \"Do you know where...Hakkai is?\" Jin\'s already gone…if only I\'d remembered then. I….

Goku shook his head, smile wilting a bit. \"I haven\'t seen him for about...jeez, about a hundred and twenty, thirty years, I think.\" He scratched his head sheepishly. \"It\'s hard to keep track anymore. But he and Gojyo usually end up in the same place a lot, so they\'ve said, so he might actually be nearby.\" That...would be wonderful. If we could find him, too...

Huyen stared at him in alarm. \"A hundred and twenty years?\" he echoed. Wait, of course. If I remember him with a dragon.... He glanced at the cell phone number before tucking it away. \"That long….\" Though he should have known better than to ask, he found his lips forming the words anyway. \"What about me? How long has it been?\"

\"Since I\'ve seen you?\" Goku shivered slightly. I don\'t want to think about it. But he wasn\'t about to lie, though he had to look away. \"Maybe…six…seven hundred.\" God, has it really been that long? Has it really been that long since we…. He stuffed his hands in his pockets to keep them from shaking too much, also hoping to warm the numbness from his fingers.

\"Seven hundred....\" Huyen lowered his head and turned away, feeling ill again--but not from trying to remember. To think that someone had been waiting--looking--for him, that long…. It dropped shame into the pit of his stomach. Because here he was, pale and bitter, with empty pride and lost ambitions.... \"I\'ve become a coward.\"

Goku chuckled. \"Never,\" he replied simply. \"You\'ve just forgotten yourself. We\'ll get you back, don\'t you worry, or Gojyo will never forgive me.\" Then, just because he could, Goku darted forward to press a quick kiss to Huyen\'s cheek. \"Call me tomorrow--we\'ll get food somewhere.\"

Huyen cringed, that simple contact quieting some of the uncertainly with a gentle, yet somehow agonizing realization. This boy.... His lips parted weakly. This brash, stubborn, cheerful Son Goku.... He took in a trembling breath. We were....

\"What\'s happened to me?\" Huyen whispered, and though his long bangs were able to cover his eyes he could taste salt creeping into the corners of his mouth. And he hated himself for it.

No--no, don\'t cry. Please don\'t-- Goku came forward before he could think, wrapping the taller boy in his arms and pulling Huyen against him tightly. \"Huyen--Huyen don\'t.\" He closed his eyes, reaching up to hold the other\'s head against his shoulder. \"It\'s okay now,\" he murmured, voice tight. \"I\'ve found you now. I found you.\"

But Huyen shook his head, trying to squirm out of Goku\'s arms. I can\'t do this now. I need…. I need to sit down, and think, and…stop hurting. \"I\'m all right,\" he murmured, scraping his eyes against the back of his sleeve. \"I\'m just tired. I need to sort all of this out.\" He tilted his head back with a deep inhale. \"I\'ll call you.\"

Goku shrunk back, a bit disappointed but trusting his glasses to hide it. \"Yeah, okay.\" He returned his hands to his pockets. I should go. It\'s not like...he\'s going to remember tonight. Still, he managed to smile as he backed away once more. \"Don\'t forget. I don\'t want to have to come to your school again looking for ya.\"

\"All right.\" Huyen nodded vaguely, composing himself once more. \"I\'ll call.\" He turned suddenly, determined not to look weak again. \"See you later.\" With that he trotted off, sure to scrub away the evidence of his tears.

Goku watched him another moment. Huyen.... You will remember, won\'t you? I.... He turned, heading back towards the southern end of town. I don\'t think I can wait anymore. All these years.... Fists tight in his pockets, Goku hurried back to his small apartment, though he didn\'t expect to find any sleep there.

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