Disclaimer: Once again, I don't own Saiyuki. That honor belongs to the great Kazuya Minekura. I also don't own any Chinese movie whatsoever. I do however, own the names never heard of in here.

*****

"Get out! Get out of my inn!"

Yuen barely registered her mother's words when she saw the figure fleeing through the back door.

That brief glimpse was enough for her to recognize the figure. "Eu-meh?"

The girl was already through the door; Yuen's call unheard. She started to run after the girl when Wen's voice cut through.

"Yuen!"

"Okaasan?"

Wen stormed through several of the kitchen staff overly focused on their work and stopped a few steps before her. "Yuen. Take over Eu-meh's duties. She won't be coming back here."

"N-naze, okaasan?"

Anger flared in her mother's eyes as she spoke with barely concealed rage. "I found out she was doctoring the records and keeping part of the money to herself. So I fired her. You'll take over for her until I find a replacement."

For a moment, Yuen could only gape in surprise. She hadn't expected anyone to do something like this. She and her mother had always treated the staff like they were family. To have one of them betray her mother so...

Wen waited in front of her, sharp eyes flashing with impatience until she finally answered, "H-hai, okaasan."

Her mother wordlessly nodded in satisfaction and left through the doorway leading to the rest of the inn, her brisk pace a sign that she was still seething. As the door swung close, everyone in the kitchen started talking, like a pile of unbalanced dishes falling over at once.

"Can't believe it was Eu-meh of all people!" "Surely she must have a reason-" "What reason is there? She stole and that's it." "Do you think she had help?" "What do you-"

"Yuen!"

She turned at the sound of her name. Luen ran up to her, a towel draped over his arm. He was grinning widely as he spoke. "I heard about you taking over for Eu-meh. Mind switching duties with me?"

"Ne?" She blinked in surprise. "I-I wouldn't mind normally demo, okaasan-"

"I'll deal with her later. Besides, what's the harm in letting me take care of the records for just a few days? Your mother trusts me anyway."

"Anou, but why would you want to switch duties?"

His brown eyes glinted cheerfully. "Because I had the bad luck of being assigned to do the dishes. You know I hate doing the dishes."

"It still won't keep you from that duty for a few weeks or so."

"I know but at least I get out of it this time." He grinned even wider, showing a row of crooked teeth. "So, will you?"

Knowing that nothing was going to make Luen change his mind, Yuen sighed and nodded.

"Yoshi!" Luen pumped a fist into the air. "I owe you one!" he called to her as he dashed off into the records room. Yuen managed to snag the towel away from him before he took three steps.

She sighed again and was about to walk towards the washing area when the inn door flew open.

"Yuen!" Wen's anxious eyes glanced around the kitchen before they settled on her. A relieved smile blossomed on her mother's face. "You didn't tell me Genjo Sanzo Houshi himself came to this inn."

"Gomen, okaasan. I thought you already knew-"

"Never mind that." She waved her hand in dismissal. "I changed my mind. Genjo Sanzo Houshi deserves to be waited on by someone more important than a waitress. No, I want you, as my daughter, to serve him instead. I'll get someone else to take over your duties."

"Demo, okaasan-"

"No buts," Wen's eyes held pride in them as she spoke. "Genjo Sanzo Houshi is a monk of the highest rank. If you serve him well, he might intercede on our behalf and help us gain a better life in our next life. If," her dark eyes looked sharply at Yuen, "you serve him well."

"Hai, okaasan."

"Good. Now go and give him those nuts I keep for special guests."

"Hai." Yuen scurried away to do as her mother asked, all the while becoming more anxious in her movements. She didn't expect the monk to be so highly ranked. She thought he was just an ordinary one, traveling with his friends. They did act like friends, after all.

But her mother knew best. Wen had been a regular visitor to the temples in her days, she must know.

Yuen rushed into the storeroom where they kept their food supplies. She passed shelves of groceries – in cans, in jars, and in packs - until she reached one that was only half-full. A variety of smaller sized jars stood in neat rows at eye-level. She turned and pushed at them, searching for that one jar…

It was standing in between two jars of shelled peanuts, both salted. The jar she wanted however contained more expensive, flour coated nuts. Her mother doesn't always come by this kind of nuts so she didn't allow the staff to serve it to their guests.

Yuen pulled the jar out and hurried into the kitchen where she grabbed a small plate to pour out some of the nuts. She marked the level of the nuts on the jar's side before she entered the inn proper, picking up a steaming teapot from the stovetop and four cups almost as an afterthought. They looked as though they were discussing something when Yuen approached them. The boy was shifting his eyes between the monk and the green-eyed man while the tall one spoke with a casual expression on his tanned face. They really didn't seem so out of place.

"Ano, sumimasen," she greeted them politely, bending down to place the dish of nuts in the middle of the table. "Okaasan thought you might want to have something to munch on while we prepare your food." She set the four cups in front of them and began pouring out the newly heated tea. "She also said that I'll be serving you during your stay."

"That's not necessary-"

"Hai, arigato, Yuen-san." The green-eyed one interrupted the monk.

"Is there anything else I can do for you?"

"Iya, please don't trouble yourself so much."

"Hai. Arigato gozaimashita." She bowed politely and was about to leave when the monk's deep voice caught her.

"Oi, you're the only one to serve us?"

"Hai, Sanzo-sama. I-"

"Why?"

She blinked at his interruption. "Pardon?"

He turned to face her, his dark eyes gazing at her so intently she felt a slight shiver run down her spine. "Why are you the only one to serve us?"

"A-anou…Okaasaan…"

"O-oi Sanzo." The tall man said lazily. "You're scaring her."

The monk continued to stare at her without once glancing in his direction. "Wen Lan?"

"H-hai. Wen Lan's my mother."

"She's been to Chang'An before, hasn't she?"

Yuen nodded, albeit shakily. "She's visited most of the temples in China when she was young. My grandfather was a devout Buddhist. He was a traveling merchant before he decided to settle here."

The blond monk nodded and turned away. She sighed in relief, her knees feeling like they couldn't hold her weight. "I'll be near when you need me."

She bowed again and left, wondering why Genjo Sanzo Houshi would be so interested in a middle-classed woman like her mother.

*****

A/N: Great. I'm blabbering away again.