Several months had passed since Sanzo's return. Since then, things had become more like it used to be. Because Hakkai and Gojyo moved in next door to Goku when his wife died, and Sanzo moved in with Goku when he came back, the four saw each other very often, resulting in many fights.

The first time that Gojyo and Goku got into a fight since Sanzo's return, the monk did as he used to and yelled at them to shut up. When they didn't do as he asked, he took out his gun and shot above their heads. This was normal for them, and they were used to it, but there was one person in the room who wasn't.

"Now shut up!" Sanzo roared after shooting his gun. As per usual, Gojyo and Goku froze before yelling at Sanzo. They were interrupted however, by a soft sniffle from the corner of the room.

They all turned to see Jyen looking terrified of the blonde monk. Suddenly, Goku was by her side, hugging her and telling her that it was ok.

"He wasn't going to hurt us." He told the young girl. "It's just like… a little game that we play. Jyo-chan and I were trying to get him to do something like that. It's ok, it's just normal for us…" He hoped the young girl would understand. He held her and whispered soothing words.

Sanzo just looked totally shocked. He had never felt so guilty for scaring a child before. He slowly made his way to the sobbing girl and knelt down beside her and Goku. The little girl flinched slightly and moved away a little. "Sorry." He said, not looking her in the eyes.

Jyen sniffed slightly. "You really weren't going to hurt them Sun-chan?" She asked hopefully.

The nickname had been something that Jyen had made up quite quickly upon meeting the blonde priest. She had explained it once. With the stories that her father had told her, she had come to believe that he would indeed look like the sun. And when she saw him for the first time, she thought that, hey, he had yellow hair, the same yellow as the sun, so he did look like the sun. Hence, the nickname 'Sun-Chan'.

Sanzo smiled a little. "No, If I wanted to hurt them, I could've done it a long time ago." He pointed out.

"And if he did hurt them on accident, Hakkai could heal them." Goku told the sniffling child. She smiled a little and nodded.

"Okay then!" With that, she wiggled out of Goku's grip and threw her arms around Sanzo's neck.

After a short time, Sanzo had stopped being surprised when she did that. She was a cuddly girl, and did it often. The first time she did it, Sanzo was totally unprepared and the look on his face was priceless.

However, due to the young girl doing this nearly every day since his arrival, Sanzo was now quite used to it and had even learned that if he tickled her, she would let go.

Since that was the only way he knew how to get her off, he now proceeded to tickle the young girl until there were tears of laughter in her eyes.

Sanzo hid a smile. It wouldn't do to let the others know how much he enjoyed spending time with the young girl. Since he had moved in with Goku, he had (reluctantly at first) agreed to baby-sit every once in a while, so Goku could have some time to himself. He never told Goku how much he actually enjoyed the young girl's company. It reminded him of when Goku was younger, and he would look after him. He didn't get as annoyed with the young girl, and looked to her in a different way than he did to Goku.

With Goku, he had eventually fallen for him, but with Jyen, she was more like a younger sister, or even, dare he admit it even to himself, like a daughter he never had.

After Sanzo had finally stopped tickling the girl, he pointed her in the general direction of the stairs and instructed her to get ready for bed. The girl grinned and nodded before bouncing to the stairs.

He turned back to the others and scowled at them. Each one of them were smirking.

"Sanzo's turned into a daddy!" Gojyo taunted, snickering.

"It does seem like our dear Sanzo has settled down somewhat. I thought you didn't like children." Hakkai put his two-cents in, barely hiding his own laugh behind a not-so-fake smile.

Goku just grinned at Sanzo lovingly. "Well think about it guys… He's pretty much her step-father!"

That statement made Sanzo pale. That was right. He wasn't legally her step-father, but he was the closest thing she had to one. Since his return, he and Goku had been dating…that meant that Sanzo was pretty much the step-father. He had never thought of it like that before, and it was a shock that he suddenly realised it.

Jyen chose that moment to bounce down the stairs. "Sun-Chan, Otoo-san! Can you read me a story?" She asked, as per usual. Every evening, she had either Sanzo or Goku read her a story, or she would have them both do it.

"I will." Sanzo volunteered. He stood and followed the young girl back up the stairs and into her room, leaving behind a smirking Gojyo. Goku and Hakkai were just smiling.

Up in Jyen's room, Sanzo was reading Jyen her favourite story. The young girl was smiling happily, and was soon asleep. Sanzo stayed there for a few moments, just watching her sleep. He had never thought of becoming a father. He had never thought about it in any way, and no he found himself a step-father to a three year old girl. She looked a little like him too. Though her eyes were golden, her hair was blonde, and she seemed to move a little like him too. Sanzo smiled softly before quietly closing the door and walking back down stairs. Just as he reached the bottom of the stairs, a loud smashing sound followed by a scream made him run back up them. Goku, Gojyo and Hakkai seconds behind him. When they reached Jyen's room, they opened the door to find something terrible.

Blood was splattered across two of the walls and covered most of the floor. The window was smashed and a demon was stood by Jyen's bed. It turned to Sanzo and Goku with a devilish grin on it's gray face. The grin stayed on his face, even as he died from a bullet fired out of Sanzo's gun. "Son of a-" That's when he caught sight of Jyen.

The young girl was crumpled on her bed, her eyes open in fear and shock on her still-warm face. Hakkai rushed to her side to try and heal the huge hole in her stomach from which the demon had been eating. With a small cry, Hakkai stopped healing.

"There's nothing I can do," he said with a tear running down his face. "she's gone."

A/N: Dun dun duuuuun. Sorry that its so sad, but my life sucks right now and I need to take my misery out on something. Best take it out on someone who's not technically real…. Anyway, read and review!!! I love getting your responses, even if you're yelling at me for the 'ending'. If I get enough people complaining or telling me I'm doing a good job, I might just write more lol. Hope you enjoyed it!!!