cornerofmadness (cornerofmadness) wrote in journeywest, @ 2008-01-04 22:32:00 |
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Current mood: | crappy |
Ficlet - Holding Starlight In Your Hands
Holding Starlight in Your Hands
Author – cornerofmadness
Disclaimer – not mine. All rights belong to Kazuya Minekura et al, no profit made, just a little fun
Rating – pg-13, work safe.
Pairing – none, Sanzo pov
Summary – Sanzo learns that sometimes the little things mean the most to Goku
Timeline – very soon after Goku is brought back to the temple
Author’s Note – This was written for the holiday request meme for moshesque. Among her prompts where Sanzo/Goku and fireflies. Goku refused, however, to tell me an adult story. Instead he offered up this (it was the first idea out of the box and the only one that would gel) Thanks to evil_little_dog for the beta.
X X X
Sanzo sat on a bench set up to have a lovely, tranquil view of the koi pond; tranquility was overrated, Sanzo thought idly as he lit up. Usually, watching Goku playing in the temple grounds was cause for concern. The little monkey was still very busy learning things. Unfortunately, his curiosity led to a lot of breakage. Maybe removing the boy’s shackles had not been Sanzo’s best idea since Goku was moving even faster now. The rate of breakage was bound to go up.
As he watched Goku darting to and fro, Sanzo realized the boy was chasing fireflies. A huge grin on his face, Goku ran over to Sanzo with cupped hands. “Sanzo! Sanzo! Look.” He parted his fingers just enough to show the glow. “So pretty. What makes them glow?”
Sanzo half expected the question. Goku was nothing else if not very curious. Sanzo had no clue what made fireflies glow but he wasn’t about to share that lack of knowledge with a monkey. “Does it matter?”
Goku considered the response. “I guess not. I want to keep them.”
“They’ll die,” Sanzo said, sensing he hadn’t heard the last about keeping the fireflies if he didn’t stop Goku now. Goku’s face fell and the light dimmed in his amber eyes. Sanzo regretted his hasty words. Goku had eyes like no one he had ever seen, eyes he couldn’t imagine existed before finding the boy. Depthless innocence brimmed in those golden eyes. Sanzo might only be nineteen, and unready for the responsibility Goku represented, but the young priest knew one thing for certain; he had never had Goku’s innocence
“I don’t want them to die.” Goku peered into his hands. “But they’re so pretty. Can I keep them just for a little while?”
Sanzo took a deep drag off his cigarette, thinking back to when he was the age Goku appeared to be. He remembered Koumyou’s kind, if quirky, way of handling him. “Hold tight. I’ll be back.” Sanzo went inside and found a glass lantern and tossed a thin rag inside the top to block the holes, yet let it breathe.
Taking it back outside, Sanzo presented it to Goku. “Put them in here, monkey.”
“I’m not a monkey!” Goku protested with his usual loudness. The boy put the fireflies into it then hefted it for close inspection. His own eyes lit up with gold fire. “So pretty.” Goku thrust the lantern back at Sanzo. “Hold it. I wanna catch more.”
Bemused, Sanzo took the lantern and watched Goku chase down more of the gaily-flashing insects until he had a fair number behind glass. Full night had cloaked the pond in black velvet by the time Goku seemed satisfied with his haul of fireflies. The boy sat on the grass, lantern held before his face. Sanzo was about to give up and go in out of boredom because Goku sat still for so long and so quietly, staring at the blinking insects. Instead, the priest remained, basking in the golden silence.
“It’s like holding the stars in your hands,” Goku said at last.
Sanzo allowed himself a soft chuckle, staring at the dim intermittent light from the lantern. “I guess it is. Come on, monkey, time to go in.”
Goku sprang up, lantern clutched tight. “I’m hungry.”
“There’s some fruit left in your room,” Sanzo said. He and the rest of the priests figured it would be easiest on the storerooms and the gardens if a steady supply of food was left for Goku so he wouldn’t be tempted to go foraging. Hell knew what the boy might get up to then.
Goku’s expression drooped at the mention of fruit. “Meat buns?” he asked hopefully.
“Fruit.”
Sanzo herded Goku back inside to his room where the boy made short work of the fruit while Sanzo went about his evening rituals of drinking, smoking and reading whatever was left of the day’s paper. He got ready for bed then Sanzo checked after Goku to be sure the boy was where he was supposed to be. Goku was curled up on his side, snoring softly. He obviously had fallen asleep watching his fireflies winking on the bed stand. Sanzo gently ruffled the boy’s thick, soft hair then emptied the fireflies out the window. He watched them blink off into the distance, remembering what Koumyou had predicted would happen when Sanzo heard the one person in the world who would call to him, how that person would come to dominate his world. Smiling in the dark, Sanzo looked back at the sleeping boy. Damn, if Koumyou hadn’t been right.