What Does Heaven Look Like To You-Saiyuki Gaiden AU

"Hmmm." Kenren looked up at the sky for a moment and then nodded his head. "Are you afraid of water? Or anything like that?"

"No actually, not at all. Funny, considering I'm Fire, but I enjoy swimming and waterfalls and the like." Ran smiled, "Lead the way to whatever place you have in mind."

~*~

The wall dented and spider-webbed outwards from the point of impact where his fist hit. How could his father ask him to do such a thing? Kill his own friend?

'Does Heaven really need two unclean beings?'

'Kill him.'

No!

Nataku gripped his head. The hurt on Goku's face when he turned away. It ripped at his heart. Why?! Goku wasn't a threat. He wasn't hostile. He was only a threat to his position because without his shackles, without his diadem, he was more powerful than him. Was that it? He defeated /Goumou/! He could hold his own, and he doubted Goku would fight him, anyway. Goku wouldn't take any position of power. He fight against the forces that be so he /wouldn't/. Goku was too kind, to happy, to hold the same responsibilities he had had since birth. Didn't his father see that?!

No, no of course not. He would have to avoid Goku at all costs now. Yet, how long would that last? It broke his heart and he wanted to cry. What about Kaede? Would his father want him to take care of her, too? Or would there be something worse? "Please...please just let this /end/ without me killing either of them." He whispered into the cold, dark, lonely room.

He would rather kill himself than hurt either of them.

()

"We're going out!" Mai said happily as she flung the door open into Riko's and Kaede's room. Kaede was in the middle of braiding Riko's hair, and Riko had dressed down for the evening. Not quite nighttime attire, but close enough. "Come on. You can just wear that. No one's gonna be paying attention."

"Mai-chan, it's late." Riko frowned deeply but waited till Kaede was done with her braid to stand up. "Where are we going?"

"Kenren's in the mood and Tenpou's looking for some fun. We're grabbing Konzen and Goku too. I'm sure he'd love to have Kaede around, yeah?" Mai beamed. "Come on, let's go! Ran's gonna be bringing the good stuff too."

"It's been a while since I've seen Goku. He was really upset last time that Nataku turned away from him." That had been at least a week ago. "This sounds exciting!"

Riko sounded grumpy, but she was just tired and Kaede knew it. They followed Mai, being joined by Ran midway, and apparently Ran knew where they were going, too. When she saw the cherry trees glowing in the full moon, she gasped and awed at it, then spotted Goku in a tree, "Goku! We're here!" she called waving her arm enthusiastically.

Ran saw Kenren also in the tree, but not nearly as far up, "You having fun up there?!"

"It's a blast! Hey ladies, looking good!" Kenren said, waving his hand at them. "You can distract Konzen and Tenpou from their boring talk. They won't stop."

"Oh that's a shame." Mai laughed as she sat down next to Tenpou and smiled at him. "The cherry blossoms are beautiful. They don't last long, though I suppose since this place has no seasons, they last longer than they look."

"Kaede!" Goku waved back excitedly, the branch wavering precariously, but he didn't notice it. "Look how high we are! You should come up!"

"They bloom every day, it's practically permanent. However, beauty is in the eye of the beholder, is it not?" Tenpou held an empty glass out to her, "I trust Ran brought with her her own sake?"

"Kenren told me what he drinks, so I have a bottle of that!" Ran beamed.

"Well then, let me just pour you some." Tenpou had the bottle between him and Konzen, so instead of getting Ran to open he bottle quite yet, he used what was already available.

"You look comfortable." Konzen commented as Riko sat down with a sigh, "Didn't want to be here?"

"I'm not a monkey, but I could try!" Kaede called back, jogging over to the tree.

Riko shook her head from side to side, "I didn't know I was going to be invited late out. Mai said it was alright for me to wear what I was wearing, no one would think twice." She tugged at the night attire with a soft smile on her face. "But I am glad to get out of the place. My head would just be spinning like crazy otherwise."

Mai beamed happily as she was poured her own cup and passed it to Riko before getting one for herself. "So whose idea was it? Kenren's?"

"I was bored and it's too good of a night to just sleep." Kenren said, his legs dangling from the branch. "Besides, when have you all looked at the flowers and actually enjoyed them."

"Ah, fair enough." Riko laughed warmly. "Though looking is quite an understatement for me."

Before Kenren could open his mouth to say something, there was a loud crack, and Riko felt a strong sense of wind come from above and she looked over just as there was a thud on the ground. "Goku?"

"Awwwaah! I'm sorry Konzen!" Goku cried out. "I didn't mean to!"

Ran covered her mouth but she was snorting laughter behind it, and Kenren was balancing precariously as he cracked up above in the tree. "Great catch, daddy." They echoed together, and Ran looked up to grin at Kenren.

"What the hell do you think you're doing, falling on me like that?! Your shackles make you weigh over 100 kilograms! You could've killed me!" Konzen grabbed Goku in a headlock and dug his knuckles into his head, "You need to be more careful!"

Riko was laughing at first but then her laughter cut off. "What do you mean the shackles weigh 100 kilos?"

"Uh oh momma bear's coming out." Mai giggled from her spot, covering her mouth. "Ease up, Ri-chan. Goku's alright. We'll figure out a way to get those things off of him when Heaven stops freaking out about things that don't matter."

Goku was a little surprised that Riko had gotten defensive about the shackles. They hurt a little, they were cold, but they were mostly in his way. The way she sounded though, made it sound like that the shackles were supposed to do a lot more than that...or maybe not. "I'm alright." He said cheerfully. "Ne, ne, Ri-chan. Do you  know how to sing?! Mai-chan do you?"

"Singing all of the sudden Goku? We're not that drunk yet." Mai laughed, taking a sip of the cup. "But a song huh? Do you think if we're loud enough, we could disturb the peace?"

"It depends on how raunchy the song is." Kenren grinned.

"Oh hell no." Mai cracked up. "Not with kids around, damn Kenren."

"I could come up there and sing for you instead." Ran smirked up at him. She was ready to take some sort of risk tonight, and if that risk was kissing Kenren, then she'd do it.

"The calm before the storm is the best time for anything." Tenpou smiled at Ran knowingly, "Go up there, then! You have your own bottle of sake." Ran stuck her tongue out at him and he laughed, watching her run to the tree and hop up to grab the lowest branch.

"We get to watch Ran do some acrobatics!" Kaede laughed as she wrapped her arms around Goku when he managed to escape from Konzen, "Are you okay? The fall really didn't hurt you?"

"No, I'm fine. It was just startling." Goku said spinning around. "See?"

Mai clapped her hands as she watched Ran go up the tree. "Up, up, up you go!" She shouted to her friend. "You know, I was just thinking." She turned to Tenpou. "I remember telling you about the mountains up in our district and I just remembered. I /got/ to show the water fall when we get there. There's one /right/ underneath the town. Legends say it can cure anything to everything."

Goku perked up at the story. "Really?!"

"Yeah. They don't know how or why the waterfall flows under the town, there's no river or anything that leads into it. Almost everyone that's found it and went in, was cured of something." Mai explained to Goku.

"Can it cure Riko's blindness?" Goku asked.

Riko shook her head from side to side. "It doesn't need to be cured."

"Huh?" Goku turned his attention to Riko who was calmly sipping on the cup. "You don't wanna see?"

"Oh I would love to see," Riko corrected. "But I like being blind more. I don't know. I'm more comfortable. Sure, seeing is wonderful. I'd love to know what you look like Goku. But at the same time, I'm happy and content exactly as I am. I don't need my eyes. I have my hands and they're just as good. Come here." She gestured for him to come close and she placed her hand in his. "You have a strong chi. A stronger sense of will and innocence. You're one of the few who is content to be as is. A lot of people would die, would kill, to change even one aspect of themselves. But you're pleased to be exactly as you are, flaws and everything and that's good. Because of that, you see things us adults can't see. So, even though I'm blind physically, we're all blind in some way. It seems to me you're our eyes. We're going to rely on you for that."

Goku didn't understand a lot of what she said, but he understood that he was important. He was important and that she was telling him that he was reliable. He knew that was an important thing to be. He grinned, "That's so cool!" He hugged her suddenly, making Riko gasp in surprise at the weight. Konzen wasn't kidding. He pulled away quickly and ran off with Kaede, "Kaede did you hear all of that?"

"I did! Riko's real good at readings! It's probably why she swept Ran from her wandering." Kaede giggled. She latched herself back onto Goku's arm, "Tell us more about your home, Ka-san, Mai!" She'd never been there, but she loved hearing about it.

"But first, before I get beaten to the punch..." Tenpou grabbed Mai's hand and took her sake cup from her just so he could bring her in and he cupped her cheek tenderly but swiftly, pulling her into a surprise kiss.

"Aw, Tenpou!" Ran mock pouted, but she laughed and looked at Kenren from her branch. It was an easy jump, but she still grinned when Kenren gripped it tightly as she made it shake with her landing, and then when she plopped down on it, "You know how to pick 'em! This is a great view!"

"They just kissed didn't they?" Riko asked amused as she listened to Kenren's laugh.

"Isn't it?" Kenren gestured to the tree branch that was now broken. "Goku had it better, but I like places where I can easily jump from. Hey Tenpou, you should use a little more tongue."

Mai made a squeak that sounded either very encouraging or horrified and it made Kenren laugh again. "Your friend is so easy to tease." He told Ran. "Though I gotta admit, I'm curious to know a little more about that home town too. I want to see Tenpou a kept man over there."

"Kept." Riko laughed. "What about you Kenren?"

"I'm saying nothing till after the storm's over." Kenren winked, knowing too well she couldn't see it. "Though what about you and Konzen over there. You already have two kids. You're /way/ ahead of us."

"It's none of your business, you letch." Konzen snapped at him, when all he got was a laugh he growled and pushed his hair off his shoulder with a humph. "Whatever stories you have to tell about your district are no doubt a lot more exciting than this one."

Oh. Would kissing him be a bad idea, then? Should she wait? Ran's smile faltered a bit, but she took the sake bottle from her hip and held it out to him to cover, "You made Konzen mad."

Tenpou gave Mai back her sake cup and chuckled when she drowned it. Tugging her close, he kissed her cheek next, "I hope you weren't opposed to that."

"Of course not. I wasn't expecting it, is all." Mai said, her cheeks red. She hoped that Tenpou hadn't thought that her drowning the cup was supposed to wash off the kiss or anything! She didn't know what to do, she hadn't expected him to kiss her. But it felt nice and bold.

Kenren noticed that Ran was debating over something, but he wasn't exactly sure as to what. He wasn't about to open his mouth and ruin a moment. Maybe she needed to get her mind off of things. He looked back down to see Goku and Kaede sitting in front of Riko, both of them ready to listen to whatever Riko had to say.

She was quiet. Gathering her thoughts and stories. "In our district," She said after a moment. "We have something called "rain" and we have something called "thunderstorms"."

"Ah?!" Goku perked.

"Mai is usually apart of it, but usually sometimes the three of them get bored. When the kids want to play or when it's been particularly bad for crops and farming, Mai will do a sunshower. Or she would ask me to help use my wind to make clouds and create a rain storm. The thunder and lightening are actually twin siblings. They're fantastic at it. One of them has a powerful drum that they use to single that a lightening bolt is going to strike. Some of us put bets on where, who or what. The lightning up where we are isn't as dangerous, or as fearful as the rainstorms and thunderstorms down below. No one gets hurt, and it's basically just a way for farmers to get water to plants that are harder to reach. As for the purpose of a lightening or thunder, it's usually because the twins are bored and they want to have a show. Sometimes, if we're really feeling it, we turn it into a little festival. Just because we all want to relax, to have a bit of fun. It's not every day Mai and the twins will go out and do their thing like that. And it's definitely not every day I indulge them with my wind to have clouds that'd hold enough rain to do a downpour. Takes a lot of energy to do that."

"Ah, maybe you could get us to meet whenever we manage to get over there!" Tanpou smiled wide, "I'd love to meet these thunder and lightning twins. They sound like a lot of fun. Also sounds like people Kenren would get along with."

"If they get bored, we can show them how to have fun! Isn't that right, Kenren?" Ran grinned at the man beside her and she popped the lid to the sake, taking a swig right from the bottle, not bothering with a cup.

"Yeah! We could all play in the rain together!" Kaede looked at Goku excitedly, "Can you imagine? Rain! Seasons! I'm surprised you didn't take me there before, Ka-san!"

"That'd be so awesome! I'd want to meet the twins." Goku agreed, "Nataku would get a kick out of them. Are there places to pick berries? And do other things?"

"All sorts, but we'd be here all night telling you." Mai laughed. "But berries are definitely around."

Kenren leaned back, his smile wide. "I can't wait to see your district. Do you have a military yourselves?"

"We do and we don't." Riko said after a moment of thought. "We all know how to fight, but those who are /really/ into it are war gods. You'd have to talk to them about joining. They're not particular. You'd just have to jump a few hoops."

"I see, so a transfer wouldn't work." Kenren sighed disappointed.

"No. A transfer would just make them laugh really." Riko shook her head fondly. "They like watching. Knowing what they're getting. You thinking about trying to get into the military there? Or do you think you'd take another path?"

"Dunno. I'm good at what I do. Tenpou?" Kenren looked down at his friend. "You're good at what you do too."

"Perhaps I'd simply go full bore into reasearch?" Tenpou contemplated, "Just because I can fight, and fight well, doesn't mean I want to. I wouldn't serve with anybody else, so if you can't be in the military, than neither will I."

"You do love your books. I'm sure Mai's district has a big, big library! She does love books a lot, just like you!" Kaede giggled, her arms wide to show the size.

"It is probably a lot bigger than ours." Tenpou smirked at Mai, "I might have my work cut out for me, even."

Konzen snorted, "I'm just good at writing and signing paperwork."

"But you also have Goku." Mai pointed out. "You're smart, you know what's going on in this district. You'd be able to find your path, even if it's something you never thought of before. There have been other gods who felt like they lost their purpose, or lost their sense of self that'd come to our district to visit and come back with ideas and inspiration. I'm sure you won't be immune to it.'

"Tenpou as the Book Keeper. Finally." Kenren whistled. "That'd be something that'd be you all the way through. You're practically one anyway, with your damn stealing."

"It's /borrowing/, thank you!" Tenpou scoffed, but he smiled mostly to himself.

"I don't know nearly as much as I should, or that I would like. I'll take your word for it, however." Konzen drawled, and looked over at Riko, popping his Ki to get her attention without having to reach over and touch her from his comfortable position leaned back with a barely drunk sake cup in his hand, "Why did you leave?"

Riko was kind of surprised by the ki, and she turned her face to look over at him when he asked his question. A thoughtful look crossed her face as she thought about the answer. Why did she leave her district when it was clearly a lot more colorful than the one that they were in right now? "I hate to be a cop-out, but I was needed elsewhere."

Goku perked. "Elsewhere?"

Riko turned her face towards the noise, "Yes. See, I'm the Goddess of Divine Hearing, and a lot of people take that as how well I hear and how far my range is. I'm not sure how to even describe my range of hearing, but we'll just say that it's probably just as good as yours Goku." She took a sip of her sake. "But I'm not really a very good Goddess. In fact, I'd go as far as to say that I'm a pretty horrible one. I meddle too much. Way too much. I don't really agree with the idea that all I do is "hear" so I do something else. I listen and when there's unrest or when I know someone needs my help, I step in."

"You knew about the military then, and what was going on." Kenren mused. "It reached all the way to your district?"

"Actually I was quite a ways a way from it, I was in another person's district trying to determine of one god was overstepping boundaries." Riko confessed. "But when I heard of Goku arriving, did I notice a shift of direction. So I came here, and apparently gained a bodyguard in the process."

Konzen actually took a sip of the sake now, and he watched her, "You've been here for some time, you also gained a daughter. It wasn't just Goku. I understand what Divine Hearing means. Hearing beyond what a person is saying, between the lines."

"Confirmed! I was complaining about the stars when she found me and I didn't say it out loud." Ran pointed down at Riko and took another sip of sake.

"The words in the heart." Kaede nodded with a grin.

"You were complaining about the /stars/." Kenren gave Ran a look. "The sun I understand. The new moon I can understand, but what on earth could a /star/ do that'd cause you to get upset about it?"

Riko started laughed. "You know, when you put it that way...I should've been more curious about it. I was taking it abstractly. You know, a metaphor."

"Maybe I'll tell you the reason some other time." Ran stuck her tongue out, "It doesn't even matter now. Riko fixed it."

"Well, that's good." Tenpou smiled, and he looked between all of them. The laughing, the stories, he kissed Mai, but he felt maybe it wasn't quite enough. "I did say in the calm before the storm..." he mused under his breath and as Mai looked at him confused, he finished his cup and set it aside. Standing, he reached out to Mai, "If you and Riko aren't quite ready to sing yet, maybe we could dance to our own tune instead?"