Tired, sweaty, short-tempered, they'd driven for days across dusty, arid land. Sanzo's ire flared painfully. Even Hakkai snapped.

Finding an unexpected lake, they tossed aside stinking clothes, entered blissfully cool water. Gojyo floated in hedonistic delight. Hakkai quietly bathed, then washed their clothes, hanging them to dry on straggly trees. Goku splashed, chasing fish. Isolating himself behind reeds, Sanzo meditated.

They ate Goku's fish, broiled over a tiny fire. Hakkai leaned back against Gojyo, whose arms wrapped around him; Goku curled, dozing, at Sanzo's side.

Sanzo felt something loosen in his chest. Perhaps this journey wasn't so bad after all.

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