Author's Note: I know I said this was going to be a oneshot, but Goku is a persistent little monkey and wanted to have his say.

Waking and Dreaming

Goku's POV

It wasn't a nightmare that roused Goku from his sleep. It was the silence. For a sleep-hazy, panicked moment he thought he was back in the cage on Mt Gogyou. The panic faded quickly when his eyes adjusted to the faint starlight that filtered through the narrow window, illuminating his tiny bedroom in Chang-an. He lay back on his futon with a relieved sigh and snuggled down under his blankets.

Now that he was awake, sleep seemed far away. He lay there in the darkness and stared up at the ceiling, alone with his thoughts. He could almost feel the silence of the temple closing in around him and he was surprised at how disconcerting that feeling was. It had been only a month since he'd left the cage for the temple and it seemed strange to him how quickly he'd become accustomed to the presence of other people when he'd been alone for so long.

No, 'accustomed' was too weak of a word. Goku was addicted to people. He craved the presence of others as proof that his solitude was at an end, especially the presence of one person in particular.

Sanzo had been the one to reach out and pull him from that place and it seemed only natural for Goku to cling to him like the lifeline he was. It was Sanzo who had saved him from the silence and isolation.

Thinking about the cave sent a shiver up Goku's spine. Suddenly his little room was too small, too silent. He knew that people surrounded him. He knew that he could leave the room whenever he wanted. He knew that there was food, sunlight, trees and flowers beyond the room. That did not stop the sudden terror that this was all a dream and that he was still trapped and alone with only the endless blue sky for company.

Goku scrambled out of his bed and lunged for the door, half expecting it to turn into stone bars under his hands as he shoved it open. When the door slid open with the ease it usually did, Goku's knees went weak with relief and he felt silly for even thinking that it would be otherwise. Sanzo would have called him a baby monkey for being scared of nothing.

He glanced up and down the corridor, giving his eyes a moment to adjust to the dim moonlight that poured through the window at the end of the hall. He padded on silent feet to the room across from his. Placing his hand on the door, he hesitated. If Sanzo woke to find him sneaking into his room, he'd be pissed. He'd smack Goku with the fan and send him back to his own room. Goku really didn't want to return to his little room, and decided that no matter what Sanzo said, he wouldn't. He'd found that if he was really annoying, Sanzo would sometimes give in just to shut him up, but only sometimes.

Very rarely.

Almost never, actually.

Bracing himself, Goku slid the door open and squeezed his eyes shut in anticipation of the scolding.

Silence greeted him. He opened his eyes to see Sanzo's sleep-mussed blonde hair peaking out from under his covers. Goku inched further into the room and slid the door shut behind him.

The only motion from the sleeping monk was the steady rise and fall of his chest. Goku crept closer until he was standing at the edge of the futon. Still no reaction from Sanzo.

Moving slowly, Goku sunk down and slid under the corner of the covers, but not close enough to touch. He'd gotten away with this so far, he thought actually snuggling up to the monk would probably be pushing his luck and earn him more than just a smack with the fan. He'd learned pretty quickly after meeting the monk that Sanzo Did Not Like To Be Touched. Ever.

Goku wondered if Sanzo wasn't lonely like that. Goku hadn't realized while he was locked up how much he'd missed human contact until the day Sanzo reached out for him. People needed to touch and to be touched, and he didn't think that Sanzo was any different. Goku couldn't understand why someone would forgo touching, or even avoid it. He wouldn't let Sanzo get lonely, he decided. Even though the monk would get mad at first, Goku refused to let him feel the same isolation that he'd felt.

That settled, Goku curled up under Sanzo's blankets and let out a contented sigh. He could feel the warmth from Sanzo's body across the small distance between them. He could hear the soft sigh of his breath, rhythmic and soothing. He could smell the soap the monk had used during his bath and the unique scent that was all Sanzo's that hovered under it.

Goku closed his eyes and let all these things lull him into a gentle sleep. He was not alone. He was not trapped. Sanzo was there.