Heaven on Earth

Disclaimer: As we all know, I don\'t own Saiyuki. But I\'m like.. forced to say it. -__- Hell, if any of us owned them, would we like.. be here? o_O

Anyway. I loved the reviews from you guys. Thanks a lot. ^_^ So, as promised, I\'ve added another chapter. Sorry it took so long, though. >.<

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Whatever was going on last night, he didn\'t want to know. If it had come to a fist fight, he didn\'t want to know. If it was a tremor that just happened to hit the next room over, he didn\'t want to know. He was content enough in the cubicle of a wooden chair, pre-claimed as his throne, the usual cancerous stick trapped within the corner of his mouth, half-rimmed frames perched beneath the bridge of his nose, the folds of the daily newspaper in hand.

\"Sanzo!\" That annoying childish voice began to ring within his ear like the pounding of a kettle drum. There he went again with the continuous, never-ending drawl of nonsense. Blabbering about one thing or another.

\"Kami-sama, what was going on last night..\"

Cannons couldn\'t drown this monkey out. Violet shaded eyes watched in moderate disinterest as the heretic pranced around the room like a madman, leaping about the wooden flooring, as if the repetitive motioning of his legs were going to make him sound any smarter.

\".. Could barely sleep with all that racket..\"

The priest wasn\'t even sure what that child was actually saying half the time, only that it was practically screamed into his eardrum. Yet, stolid as ever, he listened. Silent. Unmoving.

\"I mean, I knew Gojyo tosses and turns a lot, but- Whoa, what time is it, anyway? I\'m starving.\"

A sudden jerk of movement from the high priest\'s arm was a mere blur through the air as the infamous fan made an appearance, slamming down upon the cranium of the smaller male, followed not long after by the ear-splitting crack that was made by the connection.

\"Ow..\"

\"Damn it, you annoying monkey. You\'re stuck on one topic, THEN you notice that you\'re hungry?\"

The child in question began to rub his head, golden eyes faintly visable behind the flinching eyelids that rested before them.

\"What can I say? I\'m easily distracted.\"

Sanzo scoffed.

\"Please.\"

Orbs of glistening amethyst drifted back to the articles in his palms.

\"Rabid wolves couldn\'t distract you.\"

Goku never fully understood why Sanzo was so intent on reading that damnable paper. What was so interesting in the rest of the world, anyway? He never bothered to ask. Eh. He shrugged. It didn\'t matter. All he knew was that the rumble in his stomach was increasing, and the more his abdomen growled, the more his voice began to sink into that infernal whine.

\"Sanzo.. Can we go get something to eat? Please?\"

\"Not until Gojyo and Hakkai wake up.\"

Goku groaned with thorough discontent, coiling his arms around his stomach, almost protectively.

\"But they\'re lazy asses! They take FOREVER to get up!\"

\"Just shut up and wait. Complaining isn\'t gonna wake them up any faster.\"

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Neither one, nor the other of the pair had faltered from their positions throughout the night, content to stay within each other\'s arms. Legs were entwined, torsos locked against the other, snugly wrapped within a valley of sheets, leaving the small, silver dragon to accompany the bed across from that which they had shared. Hakuryu didn\'t seem to mind, however. Instead, finding a perfect nesting place in the midst of the coverlets, comfortably curled into a ball, his eyelids dropped to show his state of slumber.

Gojyo had awoken quite a while back. An hour, maybe two, he wasn\'t sure. However, he wasn\'t without something to do. He was perfectly at ease with simply sliding slender fingers through locks of a dark, earthy brown, transfixing crimson optics upon the finely etched features of his new lover\'s face. Gods, if only it were possible to stay locked in that silent, peaceful moment. Things had been all but serene lately, so the dramatic change of pace was most definitely a welcomed feeling. The kappa couldn\'t remember the last time he\'d felt so.. \"happy\". He was actually happy. For once in his tortured life, he was accepted. Loved, even. And that, especially coming from his beloved Hakkai couldn\'t have made him feel any more elated.

The tranquility within the four walls of their temporary residence was short lived from that moment, however. Soon, Hakkai began to stir, his slim embodiment giving a slight, momentary fidget as he came back into himself from the silent state of unconsciousness. Previous slumber had partially fogged his vision as eyelids began to part, revealing the glimmering emeralds that lie behind them.

The half breed grinned, first taking a moment to comb wayward strands of sepia from the forehead of his lover, leaning into him to press a soft kiss upon the cleared flesh of his forehead.

\"Morning, love.\"

Whilst bringing up a hand to rub the sleep which had plagued his heavy eyelids, Hakkai gave a smile, weak however, due to the remaining waking up he still had to do.

\"Good morning.\"

It took a moment for his eyes to adjust to the adjascent lighting; Seeing as how the sun\'s unforgiving rays were harshly beating down within the glass pane of the window nearby. But after a moment, the healer inched himself up a little more, level with the protective red-head, who, in turn, more firmly brought his arm around his waistline.

\"Did you sleep well?\"

Gojyo chuckled lightly at the query, pecking a tender kiss against Hakkai\'s jaw.

\"You tired the hell outta me last night. I slept like a baby.\"

The still-shy brunette could feel a faint heat coming across each of his highly raised cheekbones, which were soon stroked by the pads of partially calloused thumbs.

\"You sleep alright?\"

He nodded as his question was reversed, rising a hand to plant atop Gojyo\'s as it rested upon the side of his face. Smiling more widely while slender digits were entwined with the other\'s, the slits placed between the appendages were perfectly filled. The perfect match. The one each of the once lonely pair had been searching for.

\"Gojyo..\"

\"Hm?\"

\"Can I ask you something?\"

\"Of course.\"

Hakkai hesitated. The blush became a bit more bright and visable. Gojyo\'s brow arched in curiousity, but awaited the question.

\"When did you fall in love with me?\"

Having expected a bit more difficult of a question, Gojyo\'s thumb shifted to the back of his lover\'s hand, tenderly caressing the flawless flesh beneath his finger. Bright orbs of crimson seemed to illuminate.

\"You really wanna know?\"

A nod was his reply.

\"I really couldn\'t say when, exactly. I spent too much of my time trying to tell myself I didn\'t feel anything more than friendship for you. The closest I can come to is when that creepy fortune-teller started fucking around with your mind. I couldn\'t stand it..\"

Gojyo\'s fingertips were carefully ran through strands of an earthy brown, sifting through soft follicles in a tender caress. A worshipping manner of sorts, performed in pure adoration.

\"All I could focus on was the fact he was trying to drive you out of your mind with grief, and that much was enough to push me to the brink. To see you in that kind of pain.. I couldn\'t do anything for you.. I could only watch and I felt so.. helpless. I can\'t begin to tell you how many times I wanted to tear that bastard apart for causing you so much heartache.. \'Kai, I\'ve never felt like that before. I never cared about anyone enough to bother. Not until you. And I never will again.. I don\'t want to.\"

Never before had Hakkai heard such a confession of the heart. And to think it had come from the infamous Sha Gojyo. That made it all the more flattering and heartwarming. His smile was warm and caring, as it always had been, but this time, the grin wasn\'t to mask the pain and torture that crusted around his heart. No, it was different this time. Even Gojyo could see it. There was an added glimmer to his perfect emerald optic. For the first time in an incredibly long time, Hakkai could smile because he meant it. Because finally, his heart had found a home.

\"You were my best friend for so long. Years went by and we became as close as brothers. But it wasn\'t until Qing Yi Se\'s manniquin attacked that I realized how close we really were.\" Hakkai began, lightly running slim fingers through the mane of crimson that lay beside himself.

\"You were fading away.. Right in front of me.. I saw how close I came to never seeing you again. Never listening to your senseless arguments with Goku or Sanzo, never fighting by your side, never hearing your voice. I never wanted to be your cause of pain, and when I realized that your life could\'ve ended that night, all for someone taking their revenge on me.. I don\'t think I\'ve ever felt that pain before.\"

The half breed flinched. The events of that night suddenly became painfully clear to himself, and he relived those moments at an excruciating pace. The lifeless fortune-teller taking Hakkai\'s very heart for his target and burying a deadly seed a hair\'s width from his own.. Goku reluctantly restraining him while the priest took aim for the object which had lodged within him.. The life draining from his body as the bullet struck.. Hakkai\'s pain, as well as his own were blended. Their hearts were taken from their very bodies and thrown into a merciless web of revenge, intended to be devoured. Never to be whole again. After that night, things were never the same. And they both knew it. The night where true love was a game to be played, and both lovers involved were nearly lost.

\"I never want to see you hurting, Gojyo. Physically, or mentally. I don\'t think I could take it..\"

\"Hakkai..\"

The healer drifted silent. A gaze was locked between scarlet and emerald, each blending within the other to meld a glance of an emotion neither had managed to feel in ages.

The owner of jade hued eyes began to relive that fateful night in his dark, unforgiving past.. The night where Cho Gonou had begun to fade away into death. The night where he had walked through hell and fountains of blood to rescue the woman he loved, only to watch her slice into her own flesh and take her own life. That smile on her lips as she faded.. Her blood on his own blade as her lifeless body fell to the floor..

Orbs of vermilon faintly glazed while the water sprite\'s memories began to flood his mind. His youth was hardly a time worth remembering; Filled with endless heartache and suffering. The tears his mother had shed while she looked upon the crimson color which clung to his hair, as well as his eyes. The endless shouting, the beatings, the pain.. Until finally, the hands of his brother were stained with his mother\'s blood, for the sake of saving his beloved little brother..

Memories noone should be plagued to return were filling the already-heavy hearts which lie there that morning, reminding each of what they had once longed to achieve.. And what they had found.

Love.

The love which Hakkai had lost, and the love that Gojyo could never win. Everything else in the world was irrelevant, except what they were now desperately clinging on to in each other. The idea of never being alone again seemed too fortunous to be true.. But it was. Almost unknowingly, fingers became fisted into tussled manes, mouths fused together and the battle between tongues begun, melding into a molten desperation of being reminded why either had ever bothered to live.

As suddenly as the moment had started, it was quickly ruined with the forceful pounding of the door. It was only too obvious who was the source, as soon as that familiar, whining little voice broke through the cracks.

\"Gojyo! Hakkai! C\'mon, would you guys hurry up? It\'s time for breakfast!\"

Groaning as their lips were forcefully pried apart, two pairs of eyes darted to the door in question. The halfbreed\'s eyebrow raised, retorting to the incredibly rude awakening which Goku had intended for them.

\"Can\'t you ever think about something other than food, you stupid monkey?!\"

\"I would if I wasn\'t so damned hungry.\"

The faint sound of a rattling doorknob rung to Hakkai\'s ears, and he immediately turned to Gojyo, who seemed to be a bit on edge of the current situation. The grin which crept upon the healer\'s lips somewhat expressed his growing nervousness.

\"Don\'t tell me you didn\'t lock the door.\"

Gojyo chuckled.

\"I guess in the throes of passion, I forgot.\"

The thought had struck at the worst possible time. Sharing a brief glance between one another, the realization of the lovers\' current position took place. Clothes had been discarded onto the floor the previous night, and just out of their reach.

\"Come ON, you guys! I\'m starving out here! UGH, and why won\'t this door open already..\"

\"Well, it won\'t work with you constantly hitting the damned thing.\" Sanzo\'s voice overpowered Goku\'s near-silent muttering.

\"Look, we\'ll be out in a minute, just chill the fuck out!\" Gojyo snapped.

Immediately throwing his legs over the side of the mattress, Hakkai reached down to snatch up whatever he could find, not bothering to match the shirt with their proper trousers, given the situation.

\"I don\'t think Goku is going to listen to that.\"

\"Stupid monkey..\"

The two men frantically pulled on what they could in a moment\'s time, becoming somewhat thankful of the door\'s inability to open correctly at the moment. Just as pants had been brought around their legs, Goku finally managed to pry open the knob, throwing the door open and bounding in to come across a perfectly casual sight. As planned.

\"Jeez, can we go eat now? I think I\'m dying of starvation.\"

Gojyo scoffed, bringing himself to sit upon the edge of his bed, briefly running a hand through his crimson mane.

\"We all know that\'s impossible for you.\"

Scanning the two for a moment, eyes of violet slightly narrowed upon them, a painfully obvious aura of tensity hanging around them like an odor. Just what it was for, he couldn\'t pinpoint. He wasn\'t sure he wanted to. His better judgment told him to stay out of it and wait for it to unfold, but there was that incredibly annoying faction of his mind that just had to know. It took every ounce of patience and self-control in his heavily robed body to hold himself back from commenting.

Goku, however, was far too absorbed in the rumbling of his stomach to care less.

\"Shut up, you pervy water sprite! Get dressed already, so we can go eat!\"

Gojyo merely leaped up from his seat to give a firm swipe of his hand upon the back of the child\'s head, scooting him through the doorframe to the waiting Sanzo.

\"Well, I can\'t get dressed with children\'s eyes watching me. Now, beat it.\"

Hakkai chuckled, shaking his head in a solemn fashion as he began to rummage through his small pack.

\"We\'ll be ready in no time, Goku. Promise.\"

With a slight groan, Goku tightly grasped the priest by the arm, beginning to haul him down the corridor.

\"We can at least order appetizers while we wait for \'em.\"

Sanzo took a final glance to the pair within the room, before unwillingly continuing to be dragged down the hall, the sound of his threats and groans being echoed down the walls.

Heavily sighing with a deeply felt relief, Gojyo closed the door, making his way back to the mattress and limply collapsing to sit upon it.

\"That was..\"

\"Too close.\"

Nodding in agreement with each other, the two men couldn\'t help but to chuckle in slight amusement.

\"Eh, well, you know me. I live for risk.\"

With an amicable grin, Hakkai abandoned his bag for a moment, bringing his lips in a brief embrace upon the kappa\'s.

\"No kidding. But, do me a favor. Next time we decide to throw caution to the wind, lock the damn door.\"

Gojyo snickered beneath his breath, nodding as he feathered a kiss upon the mouth of his beloved.

\"Deal.\"

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

\"Wow! Look at all this food!\"

\"Just shut up and eat already.\"

\"Don\'t have to tell me twice.\"

The heretic made a dive into the \"appetizers\" which he had ordered. Appetizers to him. The entire menu to anyone else who was looking on. The child continually piled food onto his plate, until the stack came up to his chin, and only then beginning to shovel it all into his mouth.

Shaking his head, Sanzo refused to peer to his companion, instead taking a solemn sip of the tea placed before him, not causing a rush for himself. Goku could make up for that on his own.

~\"Still. I wonder what\'s up with those two. They were acting strangely, even for them.\"~

Dismissal had passed in a mere moment, before the aforementioned pair waltzed down the staircase and into the diner beneath the inn. They appeared normal. They were always the hands-in-pockets type, and without so much as a word, taking their seats across from Sanzo and the stomach-on-legs, the ever-optimistic Hakuryu taking his usual perch upon Hakkai\'s shoulder.

If only for a moment, Goku glanced up from his careful attention to his plate, managing to mumble through a mouthful of food, \"Gojyo, Hakkai. What took you losers so long?\"

His partial reply came with a loud thump on the head, delivered by the resident kappa.

\"So sue us for feeling like sleeping in.\"

With a groan, Goku began to sink down within his seat, grasping his skull within his hands.

\"OW! Jeez, you\'re gonna give me a concussion one of these days, you idiot!\"

Hakkai couldn\'t help but chuckle at the sight, the usual dining amusement starting to form before his eyes.

\"You two never fail to entertain.\"

Breakfast was just as normal as it had always been. Gojyo and Goku went head-to-head for the biggest portions of the meal, leaving a string of shouts and smacks in their wake, Sanzo simply looking on and making his usual death threat every now and again, leaving Hakkai to smile, laugh and shake his head on occasion, commenting on the situation when it was called for while he fed broken-up portions of food to the chrome hued reptile faithfully residing at his side. Scattered glances were shared between scarlet and jade through the course of their meal, along with the silent chuckle that followed as they went back to their business. True, it was a near unnoticable event, yet it did not slip past the wary amethyst eyes of the priest. Through the normality, there was an unspoken glow hanging about the pair. And as annoying as it was, he couldn\'t put his finger on just what the damn thing was. Well, he had an idea. Gojyo would constantly act this way after..

\"Sanzo?\"

A single word from Goku was the only coaxing needed to draw him from his trance-like state of contemplation, and in stepping back into himself, he shot a questioning glance to the child, an eyebrow raised.

\"What?\"

He had already thrown at least half the menu down his throat in the given time, so now was as good a time as any to talk. At least until Gojyo started stealing from his plate.

\"We\'ve been spending a lot of time on the road lately.. Don\'t you think we can take a break and stay in town? Just for today?\"

Silently grunting, Sanzo shook his head.

\"No. We don\'t have time for that.\"

Hakuryu stretched out the length of his neck to the priest, giving a light nudge of his nose against his shoulder to grab his attention, his small head beginning to tilt off to one side, giving a quiet chirp of protest.

Hakkai chuckled, idly beginning to stroke the small creature\'s spine.

\"Come on, Sanzo. We\'ve been at it for days now. Surely we can manage to spare a day.\"

Sanzo growled. That damned persuasive attitude of his was so annoying..

\"Stop being such a hardass, monk.\" Gojyo chimed in, joining the group\'s dead-set decision to stay where they were.

\"Fine,\" Was their only reply.

Immediately jumping up from his seat in a joyful manner, Goku began to cheer. Not an uncommon sight to the remaining members of the party, but entertainment nonetheless. The water sprite couldn\'t help but grin, once more he directed his vision to that of his beloved, catching him in a quick gaze whilst he began to ponder.

~Maybe today won\'t be so wasted after all.~

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

\"Ugh.\" Gojyo groaned, crumpling the empty pack of Hi-Lites that rested within his palms, absent-mindedly tossing it over his shoulder, and as if it was entirely intended, the package landed in a nearby trash container. A man with his kind of luck would be fortunate enough for that. He shrugged, making his way across the streets, carefully scanning his surroundings for any signs of Hakkai.

\"I hate when he does this. Just has to have those Hakkai moments.\"

Shops lined the pavement, yet he didn\'t bother to pause in his pace in order to pick up another package of his cigarettes. The women were calling out to him, using those commonly stirred up names they came up with by the color of his hair which he was so used to hearing, and for the first time in his life, he didn\'t respond. The town was of a fairly decent size, and with the constant twists and turns of the streets, finding a particular person would be like pinpointing the exact location of a needle in a haystack. He probably would\'ve had more luck in actually catching Hakkai before he left, had Goku not insisted on shopping. Again.

\"Stupid monkey..\" He scoffed at the thought. He ditched him somewhere around the ramen stands, anyway. Monkies could find their way home, right?

As if he cared. Sighing, he finally reached the limits of the town, where the shops and houses no longer stood, instead dissolving into trees and brushes.

\"Damn it.\"

Spurring from the bushes, Sanzo nudged against Gojyo\'s arm, earning a slight jolt from the kappa as he took a step back.

\"What the- You could warn a guy, y\'know.\"

The priest shrugged.

\"I could.\"

The red-head shook his head, slipping his hands within his pockets.

\"Heh. So. To what do I owe the honor?\"

\"Well, I certainly didn\'t come out here just to see your pretty face.\" Sanzo retorted, inhaling a dose of nicotine from the cancerous stick hanging within his lips.

Gojyo smirked.

\"Now you\'ve gone and fucked up my self-esteem.\"

\"I doubt that\'s possible.\"

\"Damn.\"

Sanzo rolled his amethyst optics.

\"So what is it you want, monk?\"

Said monk gave a light shrug, adding a casualness to his appearance. How many times had he reprimanded himself for so much as thinking about asking, he wasn\'t sure. He just wouldn\'t be able to sleep if he didn\'t. Then he would be more of a tightass than usual, blame it on them, and start the little circle of life they tended to follow with the rising and falling of the sun. The faint lingering of a particular idea began to spring to mind once more. Perhaps he was right, and things were as they seemed, to himself, if noone else.

\"Nothing important. You\'ve been acting particularly \' off \' today, and it\'s getting on my nerves.\" Maybe it could\'ve passed for mere annoyance, rather than actual curiousity.

The halfbreed fought with himself not to either laugh or choke, whichever was coming first, and instead raised an eyebrow in false question.

\"Oh?\"

\"Yeah. Care to tell me what\'s up, or do I have to pull out the big guns?\"

Inaudibly gulping, Gojyo shrugged.

\"I don\'t know what you mean.\"

Sanzo scoffed, finishing off what he could of the cigarette between his maw before simply flicking it away, grinding it into the dirt by means of the sole of his sandal.

\"As difficult as I know it would be for you, don\'t be an idiot. Both you and Hakkai have been acting strange, even for yourselves.\"

Gojyo chuckled, shaking his head as he peered off to the sun hanging overhead, which had just begun to fall.

\"That a good thing, or bad?\"

\"A little bit of both.\" Sanzo grunted.

\"All I\'m saying is that things are a little different. That\'s. All.\"

That sealed it. No more questioning himself now. Sanzo knew.

\"With Hakkai, am I right?\"

The water sprite turned to glance to the priest, pausing in preparation to speak as he received a stern look from violet eyes. Taking the time to further delve into the gaze which he received, he managed to pinpoint a familiar glance. After all, it was one he\'d gotten so frequently when he\'d dated two sisters simultaneously. In Sanzo\'s eyes, he could see that he knew more than he let on. How Sanzo could\'ve come up with the mere idea, he had no idea. Maybe it was those momentary glances? Again, he wasn\'t sure. He could only guess.

\".. What is it that you\'re thinking, man?\"

Sanzo paused, and Gojyo fell silent.

\"Let\'s just say that your emotions had become somewhat obvious over recent time.\"

\"Oh, yeah? How\'s that?\"

\"Gojyo, just shut up and admit it.\"

~\"Oh, great. Here it comes..\"~

\"Admit what now?\"

\"Don\'t play dumb. A blind man could\'ve seen this coming.\"

\".. .. ..\"

Was he really that obvious? He mentally scolded himself for just whatever it was that he had done to give himself away.

\"I.. But how-\"

Sanzo couldn\'t help but to give a low chuckle, though in itself, it was doused in more sarcasm than anything.

\"Eh, alright..\"

The priest raised an eyebrow. He had never actually expected the infamous Sha Gojyo to come clean with his feelings, yet it seemed as if that was what was headed his way. Still, he retained his usual stolidity, silent in awaiting an answer, though he had already predicted this particular outcome.

Gojyo hesitated. Sanzo was the last person he\'d expected to vent to. However, now, it didn\'t matter. He had already started, so he might as well finish. Besides, Sanzo would most likely make good of his word and \' pull out the big guns \'. Bringing a hand to slide through follicles of vermilion, he began.

\"I guess you\'re not as stupid as you look. Hakkai and I are.. in love.\"

Inwardly, Sanzo grinned with triumph. He knew he hadn\'t been wrong..

\"Now, was that so bad?\"

The half demon nearly found himself in shock. Of all people, he\'d expected Sanzo to flip his lid. Mind you, he wasn\'t complaining, but this came as an initial surprise.

\"And here I thought you were gonna crack.\"

\"Why would I do that? Your relationships are your problem, not mine.\"

Gojyo sighed with relief.

\"I\'m just glad that what I heard last night wasn\'t an earthquake.\" The priest fought desperately not to burst into laughter, though it was awfully tempting once Gojyo\'s jaw practically hit the dirt.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~


Yes, I know. No lemon yet. =P I\'m leaving you on edge for now. BUT I PROMISE, the next chapter will be up sooner than the last one. -.- Bear with me, people. And for the love of Kami-sama, please R&R!

-Krystal-