Stay Long

sorry for the delay in posting. my dad had the laptop for the last two weeks, which was where the full version of this chapter was. hopefully there won't be any more huge delays like that again.







It felt weird to have Lirin’s arms around him comfortingly, rather than trying to crush his ribs, but Gojyo more than welcomed the comfort. He hadn’t realized how out of touch with his own emotional state he was until the youkai girl gave him an outlet for his grief. Being the strong man was just too damn hard when there was no one there to lean on when the others weren’t looking.



A moment later, a second pair of strong arms wrapped themselves around him. The accompanying sobs told him that Goku had joined the healing embrace, both comforting the kappa and grieving with him.



It never ceased to amaze him how Goku could do the right thing at the right time without ever needing their advice.



How long they sat like that, Gojyo didn’t know. But he actually felt a little better when his tears finally dried up. He didn’t know how long that condition would last, but he was grateful for it while it was there.



He gave Lirin a broken smile. “Thanks.”



She nodded solemnly, but didn’t release her hug. He was oddly grateful for that; it gave him time to decide when he no longer needed her comfort. He gave her one last squeeze and let go; Lirin responded in kind.



“Hey, monkey!” Gojyo reached back and rapped his knuckles against Goku’s diadem. “You better not have gotten snot in my hair.”



Goku released him almost immediately with an annoyed “Hey! My nose doesn’t get all gross when I cry, you perverted water sprite!”



The exchanged a look and gave each other almost genuine smiles at their bout of normalcy. The grins faded almost as quickly as they had come, but Gojyo knew they were real progress.



Hakkai would want us to heal like this. We can’t spend every moment dwelling on his... Even in his own thoughts, Gojyo still couldn’t say that Hakkai was dead. He closed his eyes against the recurring pain and knew that he still had a lot of healing to do.



“Gojyo?” Dokugakuji’s single word question conveyed a dozen emotions and confused thoughts. The strongest of them was that something was very wrong with his little brother.



The kappa looked over at his half-brother. “Yeah?”



“Are you…” Dokugakuji was infinitely grateful for Yaone lacing her fingers through his as he struggled to find the right words. “Are you okay?”



“Okay? No.”



Goku blinked wide eyes at Gojyo’s statement. How much did he trust in all of them to let him just admit that? He couldn’t imagine letting his enemies see him that weak.



He stopped that train of thought almost as soon as it started. After all, he had just been crying on Lirin’s shoulder as much a Gojyo. They had a strange relationship with Kougaiji and his followers.



The half-breed climbed out of the jeep to face his brother. “I don’t know if I’ll ever be okay again. But I’ll get better. Thanks for caring.”



Dokugakuji gave the kappa a serious look. “Is there anything I can do?”



“Yep. You can make dinner; I’m starving.”



Goku laughed at the elder brother’s expression. A moment later, he realized that he was hungry too.



_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_



Prince Kougaiji and Genjo Sanzo returned to a campsite that could not have been the group of broken people they had left behind. Their companions were sitting together around the fire, laughing and telling stories. Hakuryu was sitting on Goku’s lap, eating tidbits from the monkey’s fingers like he had always done with Hakkai. Yaone was dishing up something from a cooking pot over the fire. Gojyo looked like he was telling some kind of lewd story, judging by his hand motions. Judging by Dokugakuji’s laughter, it was even a funny story. Lirin was sitting next to the monkey, eating with an enthusiasm that should be reserved only for the really good things in life.



As Kou stared in shock, Sanzo charged forward in anger. “What the hell do you losers think you’re doing!?”



Yaone smiled at him, completely nonplussed. “Would you like something to eat, Sanzo-sama?”



“No, I don’t fucking want anything to eat! What the fuck are you doing?”



“Having dinner,” Goku replied. “Gojyo and I were hungry and Yaone said she’d make something.”



“Kou!” Dokugakuji called to his prince. “Come on over!”



“What is going on here?” Kougaiji asked as he moved to sit next to his apothecary.



“Healing,” Yaone replied simply, handing him a plate of stew.



Neither the prince nor the priest could argue with doing that. Both he and Sanzo sat down near their companions, each taking some of the food Yaone offered them.



Sanzo picked at his plate, watching the good humor of the others through skeptical eyes. Gojyo and Goku were both too hurt by Hakkai’s death for this to be real; in the morning, they’d be moping and crying again.



But some part of him told him to enjoy it anyway, because even moments of false happiness could heal.