Author's note: English isn't my first language. I apologize for any inconveniences caused by this.

A special thank you goes to Muki, KarotsaMused and Salmastryon for the beta.

Constructive criticism, feedback and flames (directed at the story) are welcome. However, if you flame me as a person, I'll send Gyoukumen after you. You have been warned.

"Sanzo-sama!"

"Please wait!"

Out of breath, the monks barred Sanzo's way, demanding his attention to solve whatever, in his opinion, useless problem was bothering them.

"What do you want?" Sanzo sneered, but the monks were oblivious to his foul mood.

"It's horrible! Someone stole the sacred peaches we grew for the offering!" one of the monks whined.

"The tree was plundered!" A second monk was close to tears. "Why would someone do such a thing?"

"How would I know?" Sanzo growled. He reminded himself that the only reason he stayed in the temple was to wait until the Three Aspects found a clue as to the whereabouts of his master's sutra. Until then, he had to play the game by their rules. It had been 42 days since his arrival here in Chang'An, but so far the Aspects hadn't done anything to keep up their part of the deal. "Has anyone seen the culprit?"

"No," the monks uttered in unison.

"Do you have any suspects?" Sanzo snapped, and the group cowered in fear.

"No, but..."

Sanzo shoved the monks aside. "Then don't bother me with such trivialities."

"But Sanzo-sama!"

He ignored their protesting whines and strode over to the living quarters of the monastery. No matter how much it hurt to hear what the monks were saying behind his back, or how ill equipped to run the monastery he felt, he couldn't let the situation get to him. If anyone had asked him, it was nonsense to have a seventeen-year-old killer run a Buddhist holy place to begin with.

However, no one had had the gall to even question his presence here. The monks were content as long as someone with a 'Sanzo' title dwelled in their monastery, even if they hated his guts and were scared of him, or so he would've gathered if he'd bothered to listen to their gossip. It made him feel sick to the bone. The only ray of sunshine in this insane world he was trapped in had appeared ten days ago, on a mountain, in shape of a noisy little brat.

When Sanzo reached his quarters, he walked through to the adjacent room that served as Goku's chamber.

Sunlight flooded the small room, cascading through the huge stain glass window to paint patterns on the whitened walls.

Sheets of paper decorated the floor. A huge ink spill surrounded by Goku-sized footprints everywhere was evidence of yet another minor disaster that had occurred. The bed sheets were crumpled and messed.

Sanzo decided to ignore the chaos of the room for this one time only and focus on the important issue at hand instead. "Goku."

Goku was sitting on the ground, as if he was trying to meditate. But a huge, unshapely, brown paper bag that sat between his folded legs quickly persuaded any onlooker that the youth had other things on his mind.

"Yes, Sanzo?" A round object found its way into from the bag into Goku's hand and he pushed it into his mouth until his cheeks bulged.

'Always making a mess when eating, that kid.' Sanzo frowned. "We need to talk."

"Sure, what about?" Goku mumbled around his food.

Sanzo took a deep breath. "About..."

"Mmm!" Ignoring the monk completely, Goku reached into the paper bag again and delightfully finished off another fruit.

Indignation filled Sanzo's eyes. "Oi..."

Goku fished for more food rather than paying attention.

"Will you stop eating and listen!?" Sanzo ordered, his mood getting darker by the minute. "This is kind of important."

When Goku just nodded without stopping his munching, Sanzo's struggling patience died a fast and painless death.

"Ouch!" Goku rubbed the back of his head, his eyes wandering from the offensive paper fan to Sanzo. "What was that for?"

Sanzo ignored the accusing glare. "I told you to shut up and listen!"

"But I can listen and eat at the same time!"

The complaint was too much, and Sanzo's temper flared a second time. The paper fan crashed down with greater force. "Stupid ape!"

"Ow!"

Goku's huge golden puppy-dog eyes blinked innocently and he gave Sanzo a look full of hurt. Sanzo's anger collapsed like a house built on quicksand. "Serves you right. What are you eating there, anyway?"

"Peaches. Do you want a peach too, Sanzo?" Goku beamed and presented his caretaker with one. "They are really sweet!"

Sanzo rolled his eyes. "No, I don't want a peach."

"But they're good!" Goku puckered his lips. "I plucked them myself."

A horrible thought careened around the corner of Sanzo's consciousness. "Wait a second, those peaches are..."

"From the tree in the yard," Goku confirmed proudly.

Sanzo's eyes widened, and he swallowed hard. 'Does he have any idea what kind of problem he causes me?'

"Sanzo?"

"You..." The teenager began, then just shook his head in frustration and sat down on the mat next to Goku.

"Did I do something wrong?"

'Imbecile,' Sanzo grimaced. "Remember what I told you about the peach tree in the yard?"

"Uhhh... That it is special?" Goku examined the fruit in his hands and bit into it enthusiastically. Juice ran down the boy's arm, leaving sticky trails of evidence of the blasphemous act.

"Yes. And why," Sanzo said, speaking with deliberate slowness, "is it special?"

"Because the peaches are so yummy?”

The young offender picked a second peach and finished it to the stone. It earned him another smack with the fan. "No, stupid. Think again."

And think Goku did — or maybe he was just contemplating the flavor of the stolen food, since his eyes seemed to be glued on the contents of his paper bag.

"Because," Goku announced after a minute or two of deep musing, "the cook needs them for making a peach cake?"

Sanzo groaned. "Can't you think about anything else but food?"

"But they are really, really good." Goku insisted. "Why don't you try one?"

"I don't want any bloody peaches!" Sanzo snapped, though he had to admit that the sacred fruits looked very tempting.

"Oh." Goku's expression filled with a mixture of understanding and disappointment. "You aren't hungry! Why didn't you just say so?"

The genuine emotions touched something deep inside Sanzo, and he almost smiled. "Goku."

Huge golden eyes flared with hope. "Yes, Sanzo?"

"Those peaches..." Sanzo began once more. A gentle tinge coated his voice - gentleness that seemed alien after years of disuse.

"What about them?" Goku blinked, before chomping a huge portion out of the fruit in his hand. "Mmmm... so good!"

Despite his attempts to squelch his amusement, Sanzo barely avoided a grin. "You really forgot, didn't you?"

"Forgot what?" Sticky fingers scratched a dirt-stained temple, entangled in messy, brown hair before digging into the next peach.

"The peaches are sacred offerings for Kanzeon Bosatsu," Sanzo explained patiently, hoping that that this time the message would get through. 'And he really needs a bath... again.'

"She likes peaches?"

"How am I supposed to know-" Sanzo bristled, then gave up. "Yes, I guess she likes peaches."

"But she can't eat all those peaches," Goku observed.

"Oh?" Sanzo's eyebrow twitched uncontrollably. "Why not?"

"Because," the boy pointed out, "she'd get a tummy ache, of course."

Sanzo desperately bit his lower lip to stifle his laughter.

"Sanzo?"

"Idiot ape. She's a goddess," Sanzo managed, knowing that any more of Goku's antics would mean the end of his self-control. "Goddesses don't get tummy aches."

"Really? Wow!"

The paper fan found its target.

"Ouch!" Goku complained. "Did I say something wrong again?"

"Ch."

Goku studied the scowl on Sanzo's face, blinked twice and offered him one of the remaining fruits. "You sure you don't want a peach?"

"You're hopeless."

The smile that blossomed on Goku's face was contagious. With a sigh, Sanzo accepted the peach and skillfully divided the fruit in two halves. Then he ate it, and his eyebrows shot up in surprise. 'No wonder they wanted them to be offerings — these peaches are divine!'

Goku followed the procedure, amazed and at the same time curious. When he noticed the delighted look on Sanzo's face, he grinned. "See? Told you they are good!"

"That's not the point," Sanzo grumbled.

"Will you be in trouble because I took the peaches?"

Goku's question startled Sanzo. He wasn't used to others worried about getting him into trouble. Usually, others seemed to create the trouble for him on purpose. 'But this child-monster from the past, he's different, isn't he?' Allowing himself the hint of a smile, he took another peach from the bag. "No."

"Really?" More peaches found their way down into Goku's eternally hungry stomach.

"I won't be in trouble," Sanzo insisted, before focusing back on his original task.

Carefully, he picked the words to break the news to his unsuspecting ward. "Now, listen, because there's something important-"

"You think Kanzeon Bosatsu is angry that we are eating her peaches?" Goku interrupted with a smile, fished the last fruit from the bag and tossed the peach to a flabbergasted Sanzo.

"What?" Sanzo's train of thought derailed, and he scrambled to answer, "No! I mean, I don't think she's angry. She's the Goddess of Mercy, after all."

"Then is it okay if I fetch us some more peaches?" Goku held up the empty pager bag and overturned it. A solitary leaf sailed gracefully down and landed on the floor.

Sanzo blinked, torn between laughter and rage. Moments later, the anger won and he whipped out his paper fan. "Stupid. Ape."

Goku wailed in protest.

"How often do I have to tell you those fruits are sacred offerings?" Sanzo scolded.

"They are just peaches!" Goku glared back.

Sanzo knew he was fighting a lost battle against the skinny kid. "Ch. Keep your fingers off the peaches."

"Meanie. You ate them, too!"

"You're so dead," Sanzo announced and whacked his paper fan over Goku's head a few more times for good measure.

"Sanzo! That hurts!"

The puppy eyes stared up to him accusingly, and Sanzo barely managed to keep the angry snarl in his voice. "Good."

Goku glared at him, then snatched the last peach from Sanzo with a triumphant expression.

"Put away that peach," Sanzo threatened the boy with his fan.

Goku just grinned.

Sanzo's raised the fan, ready to smack it down once more. "Now."

The grin died, replaced by a twinge of sadness on the boy's face. With a sigh, Goku handed Sanzo the peach.

"Good," Sanzo placed the fruit on the top board of the shelf, out of reach of the little munching machine, but it felt like an empty victory.

Goku scratched his head. "So, what?"

"Huh?" Sanzo shot him a surprised look.

"What's that important thing you wanted to talk about?”

"Oh, yes." Sanzo fished a piece of paper out of the depth of his sleeves and handed it Goku. "Here. You're officially under my care now. Memorize it."

Goku studied the writing on the document from all sides, then frowned. It was obvious that he could not make any sense from the neatly written text. "What's that?"

"Your name," Sanzo explained, then pointed at each word as he continued: "Son Goku."

"Son Goku," Goku repeated slowly, staring at the lines on the paper as if they were rare insects.

"I'll teach you how to write it." Sanzo had no idea why he offered to help, but it felt like the right thing to do. "If you learn how to do it before dinner, you can have the last peach."

"No." Goku smiled.

"No?"

The smile reached the kid's ears. "We'll share the last peach."

Goku's earnest, honest gesture caught Sanzo off guard. "Share... the peach."

The evening sun caressed the peach on Goku's shelf, her warm rays defeating the frost in the soul.

Sanzo couldn't help the tiny smile that stole itself onto his face while Goku whizzed off happily to fetch new ink and clean paper. "Share, huh?"

End