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Sorry for the long wait. I've been busy through the Christmas break. Well, here's the chapter and enjoy. Please review.

Chapter 5 - Ever Watchful

Nataku's POV

I watch.

I listen.

I dream.

I breathe.

But I'm dead.

Funny, isn't it? I can do all of the above but virtually, I'm dead. Soulless.

That's what that woman - what was her name again? - told me. She always visits me. At least she is someone who does. No one comes to visit me.

She said that someone has died. Is that true?

I want to meet him. We can keep each other company. We can talk and have fun. We can climb up the trees and swim in the lake. We can go exploring.

For some reason, it seems like I have met this someone that woman was talking about. This person called Goku.

The woman shows me visions of him on the lake. There would be ripples upon that glassy surface. Images appear and fade.

So close. I want to reach out and touch them.

He has eyes like me. I've never seen anyone with golden eyes like mine. Is it because we're both special? Or is it something else?

For some reason, Goku was trapped in this cage. Why though? What has he done to deserve such cruel treatment? I was forcefully reminded of my own treatment here.

But then, a man came. A houshi.

The houshi was nothing like a normal houshi. He carried a gun, smokes, drinks and swears. And at the first meeting of Goku, he threatened to kill him with all the noise he was making.

I almost laughed at the normality of it. I thought all houshi were stiff and emotionless. This one was definetely one of a kind.

What also caught me off guard was the next two. The youkai-man and the hanyou. Both were quite interesting. One smiled too much for his own good, while the other spends too much time with women for his own good.

The bond between the four of them was - there was no other word for it - strong. Stronger than anything I've seen. Together through the good times, the bad, the rain, the fear and the happiness.

It made me slightly envious, seeing them. They had nakama, friends to keep them out of trouble and the will to continue on for another day. No matter how horrid their pasts were, they could smile with relief and joy as long someone acknowledges them.

However, everything was gone in a blink of an eye. Everything that was built up, peace, friendship, laughter, were all destroyed in one day.

I watched Son Goku die in the arms of those he cared about.

He wasn't supposed to be attacked by the youkai. He wasn't supposed to be broken and crushed by the rocks. They weren't supposed to be crying in the rain. They weren't supposed to finish the journey on their own.

And he wasn't supposed to die.

I felt something wet on my cheeks. There were tears I've never knew I had.

That's when I realized, I don't Goku to be with me. Even if we have talk and have fun, even if we climb up trees and swim in the lake and go exploring, he will never be satisfied being here.

Because he will miss his friends.

He has a place he belongs to. And it is with those people. I cannot stop him from doing it.

I suddenly chuckle, the first sound in my mouth since five hundred years.

Even if I did try and bring Son Goku here, I am pretty sure that Genzo Sanzo won't let me.