A/N: This wasn't supposed to be out until later, but I needed to get it out of my head. Plot bunnies...and I will be uploading more stories soon. While reading Saiyuki Gaiden, this plot seed fell from the sky and landed on my hand. Hope you all like it.

Feedbacks and critiques will be loved.

Disclaimer: I do not own Saiyuki...

Chapter One

A big yawn escaped the mouth of the hermaphrodite Goddess as today was just like any other day, dull. Hopefully soon it won't be as they were all expecting the return of a certain man who is to arrive any minute now. Like always, silk hugged her body, accenting her curves and womanly figure, draped on her in a manner that would make her look more like a female then a cross between the two genders. Long wavy hair flowed from her head, tied up to keep it fixed.

Hanging form her neck is the large ornamental flower, a mirror placed on the center, held by thin chains around her chest and neck. Clasped around her waist is the wide golden band, acting as a belt for her dress. As for her face, the word 'bored' was written all over it. To resolve this, she had decided to go and fetch her dear nephew herself.

Not bothering to knock, she walked right in. "What are you still doing here? The ceremony will begin soon, once they arrive." she asked, amused that he was stubborn enough to keep himself here at his office. Lately, this place has been without any excitement especially since they are still on the search for someone to take the position as their God of War.

His desk was neat as usual, two stacks of papers on each end. He's through with one pile so far and is now working on the rest, stamping his seal without as much as a glance on the documents, then sets it on the pile of already 'approved' files and reaches for another one. It just seems to pile up limitlessly, as each day he has something to be read and signed.

Settled on the chair behind the desk is her ever infamous nephew. Hair golden as the sun, shining brightly once hit by the light, contrasting perfectly with his eyes that resembled purple amethysts. A long sleeveless tunic of the color lilac over his torso, the hem stopping somewhere below his knees with gloves of the same hue, silver rings adorning the ends and black pants wrapped around his legs. Around his neck is the silver choker and like his dear aunt, he has a wide band, silver this time, around his waist.

Her voice snapped him out of the trance of continuous shifting papers and stamping. Konzen glared at his aunt. He rather hated to be bothered, and didn't like to busy himself with pointless work. "These endless papers don't take care of themselves... Besides, what do I care for house guests...They come and they go." He scoffed at the low chuckle he received from the Merciful Goddess.

He went to stamping again, and shuffling through the endless papers. "I have to drop these papers off to Tenpo's office, and then I will be down..." The excitement on his face was apparently and painfully absent. He focused on making the stack of papers neat and evenly beat into submission.

"Oh this isn't a mere house guest." she said slyly. Obviously he doesn't know yet who it was they were welcoming and why. Excited she was, unlike Konzen who doesn't give a care at all, so like him. Still standing in front of him, she started to finger some strands of her dark hair between her slender fingers. "Actually, a very interesting man who you might know."

This caught his attention and paused, still holding the papers in his hands. An eyebrow was arched in curiosity and it took quite a while before it finally dawned on him. "Don't tell me that he's already returning?" he sneered.

Kanzeon pretended to be impressed but was merely diverted inside. "Oh? You finally remember?" She gave him a shrug. "Come on, you two have known each other for a long time and yet…" Her voice trailed off, her dark eyes focused on her nephew before they closed. "Well, this will be the perfect opportunity for you two to catch up on the old good times."

"Like there were any 'old good times' between us." He huffed, returning to even the stack of papers. When it occurred to him that she was still there, he frowned. "What? Don't you have to monitor the preparations or something?"

His aunt was known for searching things to add some excitement to this rather dull place. Regretfully, he has to agree. Everything here was dull and downright boring. Also, too quiet, too peaceful. All these were too much, and overused that he has grown tired of them. Sadly, he has to endure for all eternity, a downside of having the lifespan of a holy deity.

She tilted her head a bit to the side, the smirk glued to her lips. "Fine, I'll leave you and your documents alone." She joked, waving a hand and turned to the door. "Anyway, you're going to be spending some time with him." Kanzeon glanced over her shoulder, her prediction on his reaction coming true.

At the last sentence, the papers nearly slipped from his grasp. "Excuse me?" His amethyst eyes narrowed into slits, not completely comprehending what she had just said. "Are you expecting me-"He firmly placed the papers down and pushed himself out of his chair. "To act as his tour guide?"

"Very good, now if only you would be willing enough to just put those papers down and join me in heading over to the main hall." Kanzeon clapped slowly, clearly mocking him. "Who else? You two are very close indeed." She nodded in agreement to herself.

The frown on Konzen's face deepened, detesting this day more and more each passing millisecond. "Listen here, I refuse to be even within an inch of-"

To his dismay, she was not paying any attention to his words; the fact that another shall be joining them today preoccupied her. Noting that he had placed those seemingly important documents down, she snapped her fingers. "Alright, let's go as the others are waiting." She ignored his retorts as she turned on her heels to the door, confident that he will be following her.

He was, with the prediction of another gruesome day gripping him.

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Seated on a handsome steed, a man with an air of authority and great aptitude surveyed the grounds outside the giant gate. Beyond the archway, people gathered at the sides, eager to welcome this warrior from his long journey down in the world below. The atmosphere full of the soft buzzing emitting from them, impatient that he has yet to enter the palace grounds.

Outside, within their line of vision, they could see the army trekking up the path towards them.

"Master Long, shall we?" asked one of his loyal soldiers, bringing up his horse to his side. On stand-by somewhere behind him is a line of other soldiers, patiently waiting to make their entrance back to their home. Heaven, they have returned, after long agonizing months of staying in the under heaven. Now, they had just recently accomplished their goal.

This is their day to celebrate to their heart's content.

He gave a curt nod and pressed his legs gently on the side of his horse, thus making it go onward. Slowly, they trotted past the gates, a wave of applause and cheers rose from the onlookers. It was a miracle that this wave of euphoric voices did not knock him off his horse. Up ahead, in front of the massive doors leading inside the building, stood the Merciful Goddess and a rather cranky-looking God.

Waving to their long-awaited guest, Kanzeon playfully elbowed her nephew, only to receive another death glare from the man, but brushed it off. "What are you doing moping around for? He is your cousin after all."

"Tch…" Konzen looked off to the side. But out of simple curiosity, he glanced sideways at his relative.

His fair yellow hair was tied back; the string that kept it tamed resting on the back of his neck. A smile was etched on the man's lips, yet did not completely reached the corners of his eyes as he acknowledge their yells and shouts, a sign of how happy they were that he has returned. His sienna-hued eyes, no sadness nor malice present, but not vibrant with happiness either. Like the other soldiers, he was clad in black, the uniform signifying his status in the army, also accentuating his lean and muscular body.

His cousin has returned.

One of God's subordinates stepped forward and held out his arms. "Silence!" he said in a booming voice. The voices died quickly, all eyes on him as they held their breath for his next words. He cleared his throat. "Jian Long." He said curtly, and the said warrior slid off his horse with expertise. Posture straight as ever, he approached the speaker and went down on one knee.

"I have returned from my mission and I am honored to say that I have succeeded." Jian said, with his head bowed in respect. More cheers erupted from the spectators, but this time no one ordered them to cease. Finally, he rose from his knees and faced the crowd, welcoming their loud joyful voices with his arms outstretched.

His eyes may not hold the amount of happiness and pride like most would usually have, it did seem pretty evident that he was grateful for all of this, the welcoming committee, the shouts of joy and support coming from the fellow deities.

"Oh my, seems like he's matured a lot since he left." Kanzeon said, clearly impressed with her other nephew. From the corner of her eye, she could see Konzen merely looking at Jian, not at all fazed or interested by this.

"As if I care." He said flatly, folding his arms over his chest. Now he just wants to return to the silence of his office and get some work done. It was not common knowledge that these were related, despite it being obvious as it was not a secret that the hermaphrodite deity is his aunt as well.

Because of this, he labeled the other Gods as nitwits.

Jian smiled amusedly at Konzen, but spoke to the Merciful Goddess first. Bowing, he said, "It's lovely to see you again." In spite of the metal breastplate, his movements were smooth, almost as though the iron plate on his chest was made up of a softer material. A smile crossed over his handsome features, reeling in squeals from the female viewers amidst the crowd.

Chuckling, she clapped a hand on his shoulder. "So, welcome aboard and it seems like you have a lot of catching up to do. A lot has changed since you left." She winked at him, a mysterious glint in her eyes, but went unnoticed by the warrior whom has averted his attention to Konzen.

"And dear cousin, it has been quite a while since we last met hasn't it?" he asked politely, a genial smile directed at Konzen.

"Has it? Sorry, but I didn't bother to keep track." He said sarcastically, though now that it was mentioned, it really has been years since they last saw each other.

The crowd had dispersed, many went off to prepare for the banquet that was to be held later this evening and the right-hand man of God had already taken his leave to deliver the report. Only a handful, including them, was left outside the palace doors. The vicinity was quiet as it was before the audience had arrived to greet this one man and his fellow companions.

Several seconds of awkward silence had passed before Jian finally opened his mouth and inquired, "So, you still in charge of stamping those files?" Konzen's eyes flickered to meet his, pondering on whether he should snap at him or just reply to get it over with.

The Goddess of Mercy immediately took this as an attempt to strike up a conversation between family and for the sake of staying in good terms with each other. Delighted by this, she gave each of them a pat on the back. "Alright, I'm off to find my assistant. Konzen, take Jian for a walk."

Konzen was about to protest when Jian cut in. "Why not?" He turned to Konzen, smiling genially at him. "There's still some time before we are to be summoned to the feast tonight."

Two against one, he was beaten.

"Whatever…" he grumbled, and turned to the open doors. "Let's go, if you want walk then walk." Inwardly ranting, he went ahead.

Kanzeon was quite pleased with herself. "Both of you are in good hands, in each other's hands." Her gaze then trailed off to Konzen, deeply intrigued by what possible events will take place with Jian and him together. "So, I'm off then." With a wave, she walked off in the other hallway.

Meanwhile, Konzen has yet to put a halt to the string of ramblings that was going off in his head. When it dawned on him that no one was at his side, he stopped in his tracks and whirled around to find the soldier casually walking towards him. The same good-natured smile on his lips and surprisingly, it seemed that a notch of it had reached his eyes. The frown creased his face even more.

"Hurry up will ya?" he said irately. "You took up her offer, so you might as well use it."

A soft chuckle escaped from Jian's lips. "Why should we hurry? We still have a few hours or so." Once he had reached his cousin's side, he let out another laugh. "If you keep that face on, you're only going to get more wrinkles." Jian joked, but Konzen was not amused.

"Why should you care?"

This time, Jian did not reply as the two started strolling down the long winding corridors, the view of the gardens on one side and the thick walls on the other. The clear light blue horizon above, puffy clouds here and there, lazily floating by as the sun allowed its mighty beams of light to fall from its fiery sphere. Flowers in bloom, butterflies and other various insects fluttering in the atmosphere, faint murmurs of people bustling about echoing down the passageway and the soft aroma of the flowery plants laced in the air.

"Odd, I was expecting you to be more different…" Jian said out of the blue, his hands folded together behind him and taking interested in a nearby bush of rose buds.

Konzen raised an eyebrow, mildly intrigued by this. "What do you mean?" he turned his head a notch sideways.

Jian mused for a bit, letting his head fall back a bit, absentmindedly staring at the ceiling. "I'm not sure, but this whole time, I was thinking that a lot would have changed while I was gone." He tore his gaze form the ceiling and shrugged innocently at him. "I don't know...it's been on my mind lately."

Even after years of not having seen Jian, he knew that something was up, and he was not going to let it drop. "It seems to me that it's you who has changed." The frown had faded away, but his face remained emotionless, with a hint of annoyance there, although there was no reason for him to be annoyed.

"You've noticed?" Jian lowered his gaze to the floor, a small smile edged on his mouth and waited patiently for a reply.

His reply took Konzen by surprise for it was a mere guess, a theory, but no, he was right that something in his cousin had been altered, that he had changed during his absence. Fortunately for him, the look of surprised wasn't apparent as Jian made no comment on this. This puzzled him, and up until now he had no interest in what was happening in Jian's life. Ever since the day he was ordered to venture into the world below, he has not thought of him since.

"Seemed obvious to me…" replied Konzen, hiding his perplexity and kept his eyes transfixed on the path ahead of them. Fortunately, there was no Goddess of Mercy to rub it into his face that he really did know Jian's true personality, something that was shared to him a long time ago.

And to him, it was unimportant.

Smiling sheepishly, he started to scratch a part of his cheek with a finger, an old habit of his; this obviously meant it still hasn't died out. "I see, but then again, it might just be the side of me that only you know of." Jian peered at Konzen, waiting for any reaction that he might have been opting for.

There was none.

"Well, I guess I was wrong then. You haven't changed a bit." Jian sighed heavily, but the pleasant smile never once left his lips.

Both of them turned at a corner, this corridor same as the last one. Felt like they were walking in circles, but they didn't care at the moment.

This had Konzen thinking again, he knew that Jian's father raised him to be upright and be serious about practically everything, but it seemed that his old man had failed, despite his son's accomplishment in rising to a high position in the army. Nothing can change the bright side in him.

The tension between the two had evaporated, no longer were they bothered or uneasy as they leisurely strolled around the building. Bits and pieces of conversation being made as they aimlessly walked around, slowly reverting to how they use to get along years ago.

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"Ah! Lady Bosatsu! There you are!" exclaimed Jiroushin, fumbling with some folders in his arms as he ran up to the Merciful Goddess. "I have been looking for you everywhere! Do you have any-"

Kanzeon waved it off. "What are you saying? I was outside acclaiming my nephew." She arched an eyebrow as she let her body tilt to one side, both hands planted on her hips. "And where have you been? You were supposed to accompany me and Konzen." The corners of her mouth were tugged back into a smirk as guilt spread all over the wizened man's crinkled face.

Jiroushin quickly recovered and tried to change the subject. "Anyway, is it true?" he asked, yearning to receive her confirmation as he balanced the pile of work in his arms.

"What's true?" she inquired, sincerely confused this time.

"That the son of Master Long has finally returned unscathed?"

She stared at him, clearly baffled by his lack of knowledge on this news. "You mean nobody has informed you? I didn't tell you?" she asked, and tried to recall whether she left him a note or not. Kanzeon eyed him curiously. "Strange…maybe you forgot…"

"I would never forget something as important as this!" Jiroushin said hotly, sheets of papers slipping from his grasp. "Ack! The files!" Momentarily forgetting about it all, he scrambled to pick up each sheet, mumbling under his breath on how unorganized people can be.

While he does his routine in picking up his work, Kanzeon started to ponder on what kind of events will take place after this day. Many ideas and guesses spun in her mind, battling each other as to which are true and which are not, but majority of them had a chance of occurring anytime. Often times has she been able to find out what will happen before they

Besides, anything was possible in this life.