Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Saiyuki characters. They honorably belong to Minekura Sensei. Please don't sue me.

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Ayie: Like usual… thanks for reading and reviewing this fic. I hope no one got bored with this so long fic… ^___^". I never thought this fic would end up being so long. I haven't reached the third quarter of it yet but I already got a plan for a sequel… somebody stop me onegai!!! O__o#

Sanzo: Che… baka author… why don't you finish this one first before planning for a sequel… and do you think any readers would read your stupid fic?

Ayie: Nanda'to? take a cushion and whacked Sanzo's head   Sanzo: Shi---Ne!!! took another cushion and slammed it on Ayie's head    Goku: Charrrgeeeed!!! joined the cushion fight a little later    Hakkai: Ma…ma… minna-san…calm down… waving his hand in front of him frantically

Gojyo: Since everybody was so busy with this cushion fight… I guess I'll take over Ayie's task… she would like to say thanks to Azzie-san, GS-chan, Kuroi-san [who reviewed this fic from chap to chap]… Prozact Addict, Imaginator, Sk8er Boi, Crissania, Gallatica, Blackrose, animegurl, UltraM2000… those who have her on their favorite author list, tuthakkai, Rinrei, Saiyuki freak and Lady Lanyara Artemisan [not forgetting GS-chan]…and to all readers who had come across this fic…Arigatou minna-san bowed slightly

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Chapter 19 – The Beginning

500 hundreds years ago, back in Tenkai

A small figure sneaked out of a room and tiptoed along the aisle with his eyes rolling to every side of his way, keeping alert on any sight of Tenkai's guards. After he was sure that no one followed, he started to run into the direction of the garden.

He bumped into someone as he hopped away from the aisle, causing him to stumble head over heels to the ground. The one he bumped into bent down and clutched to her stomach, groaning at the throbbing pain inside.

"Ittai…" Goku moaned softly and clung to his aching head. He leaned on his side and supported his weight with one elbow.

"Yare… yare… Goku?" the girl bent down with both hands at her laps. She looked down to him with a flicker of concern on her delicate face. Her raven black hair swayed freely as the morning breeze blew and swept her face softly. Her lips that shamed the rosy color of the peach curled up into a sweet smile. Her sapphire blue eyes gleamed in the sunlight that shone above them. She reached out a hand to him. "Daijoubu desuka ne?"

Goku looked up and grinned childishly. He took the offered hand and let himself being pulled to stand upright by the girl in white. "Gomen Aki-chan" he apologized as he let the girl swept the dust on his outfit.

The girl he called Aki-chan smiled sweetly. "Be careful next time, you might have hurt yourself you know?" she pinched Goku's chubby cheek and ruffled his spiky brown hair affectionately. The boy giggled in glee.

"Why are you in hurry ne Goku?" asked Akina as she swept away the beads of sweat on Goku's forehead.

"I want to go to the garden and pick up some pretty flowers for Konzen" Goku explained with a wide grin on his face. "I saw some pretty flowers yesterday but they haven't bloom yet so that's why I come again today" He babbled as his forefinger pointing to the garden. Akina looked up to the mentioned spot.

"The flowers sure have bloomed" she approved as she glanced over the meadow. Wild flowers bloomed and colored the wide meadow with pink, green, red, blue, yellow, orange and many other colors that made empty spots were barely available in sight. The flowers grown freely as far as the eyes could see. The wind that blew softly on the meadow made the sea of flowers swayed aimlessly. Akina smiled.

"Why don't we go together?" Akina suggested as she looked down to the chibi itan. The kid's excitement made her heart flattered.

"Honto ni?" Goku's golden eyes gleamed with delight. He stared bewilderedly at the young celestial before him. The young goddess smiled and nodded. Goku jumped up and down in joy.

"I need to visit that brother of mine sometimes and it won't hurt if I bring him some souvenir" Akina reached out a hand to Goku and the latter happily took it in his own. Goku coaxed Akina to the garden and they ran hand in hand as he sang out a happy song.

Akina chuckled merrily and took every steps swift and fast to keep pace with the carefree itan up ahead.

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"THOMP!" Konzen stamped the last document on his desk and shoved it aside. He put down his writing utensil and sunk his face into his cupped palms. He sighed deeply. There was a throbbing pain inside his head. He ran a finger over his forehead and moved it in circular motions to ease the pain.

"Ch!" Konzen wished he never had to do this boring job over and over. He would die of it someday. He lifted his face and glanced around the room. The room was too quiet and too peaceful, which is quite impossible since the saru was put into his charge months ago. 'Where's that little brat anyway?' Konzen rose up to his feet and looked down to the floor over his table.

There were paper planes made out of his old newspaper and some lousy paintings of him in a dress everywhere on the marble floor. Ink blots smeared the floor and emerged against the gleaming jade colored of the mosaic. Konzen grunted. 'Now I need to clean the floor all over again'. But there's no sign of the saru everywhere. The blond celestial slapped his forehead in anoyyance. 'He must have sneaked out of the room when I was not looking'

"K'so!" he muttered beneath his breath. He walked around one side of the desk and headed for the door. Konzen spread the door opened and "Guards!!!" he yelled out loud, making several guards scrambled from their guarding position and darted toward him.

"Look for that saru!!" he ordered as he slammed the door behind him. The guards scampered around in every direction and started to search for their target. Konzen grumbled something down at his throat and headed toward the West Army General's office. He marched grumpily toward the office with veins popping out on his head.

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Kanzeon Bosatsu lifted her face and turned her head to the right side. She looked over the window and spotted his favorite nephew walking along the aisle with a grumpy look upon his reddened face. He was heading to the West Army General's office. 

The Kannon-sama's lips curled slightly. She put down the paper she was reading a moment ago and slammed her back to her throne. The megumi-sama giggled in glee.

"Kanzeon Bosatsu?" Jiroushin looked up to his master with wonders.

"It's a good idea putting the boy in Konzen's care… look how much my beloved nephew had changed since he came" Kanzeon Bosatsu exclaimed, making her assistant turned his head to the right. Konzen, the mentioned man, was marching along the aisle toward Tenpou Gensui's office. It's quite rare to see Konzen in the out considering the fact that that nephew of the Goddess of Mercy never came out of his office before. Now, at least four times a day, they could see him either being dragged away by his 'pet' or marching around Tenkai to look for the saru.

"No more did I hear him complaining about being so bored that he could die since that saru came into his life" Kanzeon Bosatsu smiled. 'Would you be his sun forever ne Konzen?'

"Konzen, Tenpou, Kenren and Goku… they were destined to be together" she anchored her chin on her hand. "Oh… and Akina too… how can I forgot that niece of mine?" the kannon-sama shook her head in disbelief as she chuckled sarcastically.

Jiroushin sweat dropped.

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Konzen pushed the door with a mighty force, causing a loud bang as the door slammed to the wall. A head with dark hair popped out from under the table. A pair of emerald green eyes blinked with astonishment at him as he entered the office, which looked more like a library.

"Konzen?" the young General rose up to his feet, sending several books on his lap to fall down on the floor as he stood up. His exclamation made another man of red hair appeared from behind the bookshelves. The red haired man stared at him with disbelief.

"Ma…ma…Konzen, what happened?" Tenpou asked. He stepped away from his desk and advanced to Konzen. The young general fixed his glasses on the right place and looked at Konzen. 'Must be about the kid again' Tenpou judged it from the number of veins popping out on the celestial's forehead.

"Yada yada! Let me guess, you lost your pet again?" the red haired man smirked.

"Ch! Mind your own business" Konzen snapped back. Kenren raised his shoulders slightly. The blond celestial looked up to Tenpou. "So, he's not here?" he asked.

Tenpou shook his head frantically. "Gomen… but I haven't seen him today" he explained. 'It's quite weird though, where else could that boy be?'

Konzen glanced around the office. The room was a mess. Stacks of books were everywhere on the floor. "What are you guys doing?" he was being curious.

"Mister bookworm here made a mess after blissful hours of reading and desperately need someone's help to clean it up soon after" Kenren sent Tenpou a glare that made the latter chuckled nervously.

"Yare…yare… sumimasen" he apologized as he smiled innocently. Kenren sighed with surrender. Who could win over that pathetic smile? Even the blond celestial standing at the door right before them knew how murderous that smile could be.

"So, he hadn't come here?" Konzen was not satisfied. Who would be? Letting the saru wandering around Tenkai with no one keeping an eye over him was disastrous. Anything could happen. Chaos, turmoil, mess, and all the bad things are likely to happen if the saru was left to wander alone in Tenkai.

Kenren and Tenpou shook their heads, much to Konzen disapproval. But then, Tenpou snapped his fingers. "I just remembered, yesterday Goku said something about flowers that hadn't bloom in the meadow" he smiled.

"He must be there" Kenren added. Where else could that kid go in Tenkai? Knowing the 'hospitality' showered upon him as he stepped a foot on Tenkai, that kid didn't have much choices on places he could visit around the heaven.

Konzen cursed beneath his breath and dashed out of the office. The latter two tailed him from behind as the he headed for the garden. Anger flared upon his face that his head seemed to blow off steams.

"Let's hope Goku was not at the garden…" Kenren whispered to Tenpou, who walked side by side with him. Tenpou nodded and sent his eyes to gaze at the marching blond several feet ahead of them. Konzen looked like as if he could gobble Goku down to his throat with a single gulp. "Or else this blond kami would surely eat him up for his dinner" Kenren added.

Tenpou giggled frantically. "Konzen didn't have that much appetite, he seldom ate dinner" he said with a silly tone. Less that he understood Kenren's silly remark.

Kenren jaw dropped and slapped his head with disbelief. "Never mind, forget it" he gave in.

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Konzen, Tenpou and Kenren halted right under a cherry blossom tree and scanned the area for their subject. Goku was nowhere around the garden. The crimson color on Konzen's face got even more furious. They glanced through the wide meadow, looking for spiky locks of brown hair popping out among the flowers. Yet, they found nothing.

"Hai hai! Looks like he's not here" Tenpou scratched his head as he looked around.

"Where else could he be?" Kenren looked up to the cherry blossom tree. Still, no sign of Goku climbing up the tree.

Konzen swept a cherry blossom that fell on top of his head and cursed annoyingly. 'That saru never failed to trouble me' "Ikkuzo!" Konzen gave out order as he turned around and headed back for the aisle. 'May be he was with that old hag after all'

The three celestials were about to turn back when they heard soft hums coming from the meadow. They looked back to the ocean of flowers and kept their ears at alert.  "There!" Tenpou snapped as he pointed a finger into the edge of the garden, to a cherry blossom tree that stood brilliantly among the rest. The humming sound came from there.

Konzen, Tenpou and Kenren dashed toward the mentioned place. They halted right in front of a figure sat under the tree. The figure looked up to them and smiled.

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"Yukata… now I don't have to go to your place ne o-nii-chan?" Akina chirped merrily.

"Ch!" Konzen grunted. He looked down to Akina, his one and only sister, and glanced to the little brat he searched for. Goku curled up and made Akina's laps his pillow. Akina's hand brushed his hair affectionately as he sunk into his deepest sleep. The soft hums they heard just now must have been Akina singing a lullaby to put Goku to sleep.

Akina followed Konzen's gaze and spotted the subject. She smiled again. "He got stung by a bee while picking up flowers for you… so I healed him and made him sleeps" she explained as she landed a soft peck on the sleeping boy's head. She reached to her side and held out a garland made of the wild flowers. "We made this for you… Goku collected all the flowers and I weaved it out for you"

Konzen looked away but still he took the garland. Tenpou, Kenren and Akina smiled.

"You are not supposed to be here don't you?" Kenren looked at Akina with doubts. As far as he knew, Goddess of Love never had time to hang around Tenkai doing nothing like she was doing right now.

Akina nodded in glee. She chuckled and her dimples appeared on both of her cheeks. "I just need some time away from the task of showering love upon the beings down in Genkai" she brushed her locks that fell on her face and fastened it with a golden clip.

Tenpou smiled. "But I see you still haven't got yourself free from your task… you're still showering your love upon Goku" he exclaimed.

"Anou…" Akina scratched her head and then chuckled edgily. "I did it didn't I?"

"Hai hai! Not forgetting loving someone somewhere…" Kenren said with a sneer as his eyes rolled and then the gaze fell upon Tenpou's face. As soon as he did that, a rock connected with his skull. Kenren looked down to Akina and received another stone at his temple. "Oi! Nande yo?" he asked fumingly.

"I might be the Goddess of Love but I still have the devil inside" she warned.

"You don't have the devil inside" Konzen corrected his sister's word. Akina looked at Konzen with eyes filled with wonders. Konzen turned around and say "You are the devil itself"

Akina's face turned red with anger. She carefully lifted Goku's head on her laps and put him tenderly on the bed of fallen cherry blossoms. Akina rose up and walked toward Konzen with grumpy march. She forcefully turned Konzen around and made him looked at her face.

Tenpou and Kenren watched the scene with fret. They waited for the outcome. Either one of the siblings would surely get the consequences. Knowing the pair, the consequences would turn to be bad, real bad.

Out of the blue, Akina flung her arms around Konzen's neck and presented her brother a soft kiss on the forehead. "That's for your misbehavior upon Goddess of Love" Akina smiled as she released Konzen's neck and pinched his nose playfully.

Konzen smacked Akina's hand away and grunted.

Tenpou and Kenren gawked at the outcome. "That's it…? That's what you get if you misbehaved upon her?" Kenren nudged Tenpou's side with his elbow and raised a brow. At instant, a fist hit his temple.

"Ittai…" Kenren clutched his head with his hands. He rubbed the spot where a nasty lump had started to form. That dark haired guy never missed the target. "Ch!"  He looked at Tenpou as the latter grinned menacingly.

"Akina-sama!!" a voice and loud thumping sound of feet stomping to the ground made the four celestials turned their heads toward the aisle. Several guards from Tenkai's gate dashed toward them with full speed. "Akina-sama" they chanted the name over and over.

Konzen, Tenpou, Kenren and Akina waited for the guards to reach them.

"Akina-sama" a guard halted right in front of Akina and bowed his head slightly. He lifted his head and looked up to the young megumi. "Nataku Taishi-sama had come back from Genkai and he suffered major wound that needed to be heal as soon as possible, Li Touten-sama summoned you to get to his aid immediately" the guard reported while he panted heavily.

Akina sighed. She glanced at the guards and nodded. "You go ahead, I'll be there soon" she agreed. The guards bowed their heads and retreated to the direction from where they came from.

Akina let out a deep, hollow breath from the bottom of her lungs. She swept her raven black hair to the back and turned to look at the three kamis. But then, she looked down to her feet. "One day I will make Li Touten pays for making a killing puppet out of his own son" she whispered. "I'm tired of treating his injured son over and over, I'm tired of listening to Nataku's cries of pain… he's still a kid" she added with a soft sob.

"Akina…" Tenpou moved a step toward the megumi but then he halted right in front of her when Akina looked up to him and smiled.

"But I guess, that's my work as a Goddess of Love" Akina chirped as she clasped her hands together. She smiled merrily. "And I could not run away from it no matter how hard I tried" Akina turned around and headed for the aisle.

Tenpou grabbed Akina's hand and dragged her close to him. The latter didn't make any effort to let free from the man's grip. She looked up to him with a slight curl on her rosy lips. "I have to go, Nataku needs me"

"Just promise me you won't do anything stupid" Tenpou whispered at her ear as he hugged her tightly. Akina was totally taken aback by the latter's sudden act of care. Tenpou never showed his affection out in the open, especially when that red haired and the blond were around. Akina smiled. She gave the emerald-eyed general a loving peck on the cheek and freed herself from Tenpou's hug.

"I'm not good at keeping promises Tenpou" Akina caressed Tenpou's face and smiled. She lets go off Tenpou's hand and looked at Konzen and Kenren then at the sleeping Goku.

"Konzen-nii-chan, please look after Goku? I don't want that smile of his fades away just like Nataku's" she glanced at Konzen. Konzen grunted and let his head fell to his chest for once. He nodded. Akina smile.

"Ch!" Kenren sighed. 'What a hideous smile'

Akina shook her head and laughed softly. She turned around and this time Tenpou just let her go. She walked gracefully to the aisle. "Jaa ne" she greeted as she waved her hand in the air. Never did she turn her gaze back at them.

The three celestials watched the megumi faded away into the darkest part of the aisle.

"Goddess of Love and the War God… they were both Tenkai's puppets, they served Tenkai in order to gain belief and respect from the human down in Genkai" Kenren grumbled as he sunk himself next to sleeping Goku. He leaned against the cherry blossoms tree and closed his eyes. "One fought with his life to assure peace in the world below and the other showered love to enlightened the beings in it… what a nice combination of keeping the faith of the mortals upon the kamis in heaven" he whispered.

Konzen looked at the direction where his sister disappeared. 'Akina… I hope you never accept the position of Goddess of Love from the beginning…' Konzen settled himself under the cherry blossoms and studied the garland in his hand. But deep inside he knew very well that his sister didn't have any choices.

Suddenly Goku stirred in his sleep and flung an arm over his waist. Konzen was taken aback but he relaxed soon after. He landed a hand on the itan's head and patted it gently. 'Please look after Goku? I don't want that smile of his fades away just like Nataku's'  Akina's voice rang in his ears.

Tenpou sighed as he slammed himself to the ground, next to Konzen. 'I'm not good at keeping promises Tenpou' It's hard for him to see someone that he loved so much keeping her suffers inside and was not able to reveal it to anybody.

The three of them sighed at the same time, except for the sleeping one who kept chanting the names of variety of food.

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"You know what's going to happen to Akina, why don't you try to stop her from doing it?" Jiroushin moved his pawn on the chessboard and waited for his opponent's next move. He looked up to his opponent, the Goddess of Mercy.

"It was fated… I could not change it" the kannon-sama scratched her chin and stared at the chessboard, planning for a brilliant move. "After all, Tenkai does need someone who can voice their dissatisfaction out loud" she moved the queen and shoved Jiroushin's pawn aside.

Jiroushin slapped his head in disbelief. He was so close to winning the game.

Kanzeon smirked in victory. "And the one who stood up against the law of the heaven was just happened to be someone from my family, both of my niece and nephew and their comrades" she sighed when Jiroushin made the next move that cost her the queen.

"All I can do was to make them stay together in the coming life" Kanzeon moved forward, bringing her knight up in front. "Check-mate!" she shoved Jiroushin's King and yelled with triumph.

Jiroushin grunted and hung his head low. 'I should have known I could not win in chess… chess and Chinese checkers were totally different'

"No matter how many times they died, I'll make them live again…" Kanzeon anchored her head on her palm and slammed her back to the throne. "After all… I'm the Goddess of Mercy" she smirked devilishly.

"Kanzeon Bosatsu?" Jiroushin rose up to his feet when the kannon-sama stood up and moved toward her lotus pond.

"I'll make sure that they would never get separated" she whispered as she glanced at the image of Akina healing Nataku in the Toushin Taichi's chamber and to the image of the three sleeping celestials and a boy under the cherry blossom tree. A serene look fell upon her face and she smiled peacefully.

"Forever…" she added.

To be continue…

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Ayie: Ma…ma… Azzie-san, don't feel so down about readers not reviewing your fics. Your fics were not bad at all… trust me darling! Yours were the best… but may be because you've being a little slow in updating your fics and there were no new readers lately, so less people reviewed it. Don't ever give up on your fic… and never ever say it bad.

Sanzo: Yeah! She's right… I might never agreed with ayie in anything else but this time I have to say she's right… don't be sad Azzie!        Ayie: whispering mode Sanzo was a bit OOC lately… He's feeling a little bit down himself…

Hakkai: also in whispering mode both of them was feeling down… Ayie-san was sad because most of her friends back in the university decided to quit the course and moved to another university… even her best friends could not make it…  Gojyo: She was totally depressed… not only because of her friends but also about something that happened today… trust us her mind were totally unstable right now and Sanzo was not happy of that… neither of us did.

Ayie: sighed never mind… Azzie-san, please be patient and keep up the good works! Not only to Azzie-san but also to other fanfic writers out there! Good Luck!!! Yosh!

All: Cheers, applause and claps for all FFNet writers Yeah!!!

A/n: Sorry GS-chan, I haven't found out what's Mary Sue is… ^__^"