It was snowing again, and when Sanzo walked into the room to get another pack of cigarettes he saw Goku sitting on the wide windowsill, hugging his knees and staring out at the snow.

And not staring in a good way. As much as Goku made a fuss over almost every field of wildflowers, forest glen, mountain lake - even the fucking dew on the grass, Sanzo would have thought that Nature Boy would have loved watching snow fall. Sure, he had trouble with it when he was younger, but Sanzo had figured he was over all that. But Goku sat there with slumped shoulders and melancholy eyes.

"What's up, monkey? I thought you liked snow now." Sanzo went over to his bed and rifled through his duffle, searching for a fresh pack.

Goku looked over at him. "Oh, hey, Sanzo." A wan smile came and went, and the teen returned his attention to the window. "Not so much, any more."

The monk peered out the window. "Why not? It's even all sparkly and shit." He rummaged through the duffel again, with no success. Out of cigs. Fuck.

Goku sighed, hugging his legs tighter against him. "I dunno… I look at all this snow an' I keep thinkin' about Yakumo an' all those kids, an' then I start thinkin' about the cage an' how lonely an' cold it was." He gave a halfhearted laugh. "Guess snow bothers me like rain bothers you."

Sanzo frowned. He had forgotten that this was the first snow they'd seen since they had encountered the youkai and the orphaned children he had cared for. Cared for until Yakumo killed them when they lost themselves to the Minus Wave. Until he himself succumbed and had to be killed by the four of them. Goku had taken that whole episode pretty hard, so it really wasn't surprising that seeing snow now would bring those memories back.

Shit. There were some paths Sanzo did not want the monkey to follow him down, and this was one of them. He stood and issued a well-aimed kick at Goku's shin.

"Ow! What didja do that for?"

"Quit moping, moron. Go get me more cigarettes." He tossed the gold card to Goku. "And get yourself a snack or something too." As Goku trudged out of the room, Sanzo took his place at the window and watched the falling snow.

Because the damn monkey had brought it up, their encounter with Yakumo started playing through his head like an old video. It had been the first time that Sanzo had actually seen someone succumb to the Minus Wave, someone that he had known - however briefly - right before the madness took them.

It had been unsettling, to say the least.

Not that he had ever let his guard down, but Sanzo hadn't sensed any threat from the big youkai while they had sheltered with him during the blizzard. Hadn't thought anything of sitting next to him on a pile of logs, talking about how things would probably never go back to normal. And then everything had gone straight to hell.

"I don't even know when I'll lose my sanity. And that goes for your companions as well, right?" Sanzo remembered the man's words to him as they sat watching the others have a snowball fight with the children. Yakumo had been right. He had lost his sanity right before their eyes, and the same could happen at any time with Hakkai, Gojyo, or… Goku.

His gut twisted as he remembered Goku's hesitant, unfinished, yet determined plea to not let him lose himself to the Minus Wave and live. Sanzo had promised the monkey that he would kill him, and he had meant it.

But could he really do it? Could he kill Goku? Could he kill the only person he was truly comfortable with, his almost constant companion of how many years? Six? Seven?

Sanzo grit his teeth. He would do it.

He would do it, if for no other reason than if the Minus Wave took Goku, he would no longer be his Goku. His always hungry, never quiet, pain in the ass monkey.

His depressed pain in the ass monkey. Why did it always bother him when the teen was anything but his normal, cheerful self? Sanzo wasn't sure he really wanted to know. Or, for that matter, just when had Goku become his monkey? He definitely didn't want to examine that one too closely. Sanzo's fingers twitched, craving a cigarette.

He saw Goku's cloaked figure emerge on the road, and watched him start to make his way into town. It would be at least fifteen to twenty minutes before Goku returned… enough time to foment a Plan.

Sanzo got up from the window ledge and went in search of Gojyo and Hakkai.

~.~.~.~.~.~

Sanzo crouched behind the wall of snow he had constructed on the side of the road near the inn and waited. Fuck, it's cold, he thought as he rubbed half-frozen hands against his cloak in an attempt to warm them. He could hear Hakkai shushing Gojyo across the road while they also waited behind a second snow wall. The idiot monkey would be here any minute, so Sanzo checked his arsenal. A good supply for the initial attack, another good-sized pile to use once Goku joined him plus some …special ones he had made just for the kappa. Everything was ready.

Sure enough, he soon heard the clomp-clomp-clomp of Goku's boots as the teen approached them. He snuck a glance around the edge - sure enough, there was Goku, head down with a stick of Pocky hanging out of his mouth, only paying attention to the snow-covered road beneath his boots as he walked closer and closer to where they were hiding. Heh. The little shit had no fucking clue.

It was time. Sanzo grabbed a snowball and hurled it at the unsuspecting monkey.

"Wha-?" Goku gasped as snow exploded against his chest. His head whipped from side to side, looking for his attacker. He crouched into a fighting stance, Nyoi-Bou materializing in his hand. "What the hell?" he yelped as a snowball from the other side hit him in the ass, followed by Gojyo's raucous laughter.

"Goyjo? What the hell-oof!" Goku's exclamation was cut short when a well-aimed snowball from Hakkai caught him in the stomach. Sanzo snorted, then had to quickly duck as a sneak attack from the kappa whizzed past his head. "I'll get you for that, you stinking, cheating kappa!" he yelled. "Oi, Goku! Get your ass over here!" He waved at the teen.

You had to hand it to the monkey - he might be clueless, but he caught on quick enough. Dismissing Nyoi-bou, Goku sprinted over to join the monk, the cigarettes were safely stowed away and after a quick orientation - "save those for Gojyo" - he and Sanzo were lobbing snowballs at the other two like a well-oiled machine. They started running low, so Goku turned his attention to rebuilding their ammunition. Sanzo reached for one of the "special" snowballs, and after scanning for a pair of crimson antennae, let it fly at the kappa.

An angry "Yow!" confirmed a solid hit. "Oi, you shitty priest! What's with putting ice in the snowballs! That hurts, asshole! Who's cheating now?"

Goku laughed. "Serves ya right, stupid kappa!"

An answering snowball winged low over their makeshift barrier, taking a chunk of wall with it, and they quickly ducked and slouched down in the snow. Goku's pink-cheeked face was very close to his, eyes bright with laughter, and he was grinning like an idiot. This is how he should be, always. Sanzo found himself mesmerized by that smiling mouth, and before he realized what he was doing he leaned over and pressed his lips to Goku's.

Goku's lips were cold and, for a second, unmoving. Then Sanzo felt a shudder run through the body beneath his, and a muffled moan escaped those lips as they began to press up against Sanzo's in response, hesitantly at first, then with increasing ardor. When Goku's mouth opened under his, Sanzo deepened the kiss and let his tongue slip into the teen's mouth. Not only did he taste chocolate from the Pocky Goku had been enjoying, but there was also a rich earthiness - a wildness - that was completely Goku, and it was intoxicating. Sanzo choked back a groan when Goku's tongue pushed past his to pursue its own hungry explorations.

"Hey, you two better not be making more iceballs!"

SPLAT! A snowball landed on the back of Sanzo's head, sending chunks of snow under his cloak and down his robes. The impact of the snowball and the melting snow trickling down his neck shocked Sanzo back into reality. He pulled his mouth away from Goku's and stared down at the teen, to find Goku staring right back at him. Gold eyes were wide and dark, shining with dazed wonder, and reddened lips were curving into a dopey smile.

Fuck. I just kissed the fucking monkey. With tongue. How the hell did that happen? And, a small voice taunted in the back of his head, you liked it, too. A lot. Sanzo shoved Goku away and sat up, narrowly missing another snowball. "Shit," he hissed. "Get up, before they come over here!" Sanzo made and threw a snowball while Goku clambered back up, doing his best to ignore the way Goku lifted his fingers to touch his swollen lips, and the way those damn eyes were lingering on him.

Fuck.

A snowball suddenly clocked Goku upside the head, spraying snow over both of them. The monkey jumped up and charged after Gojyo. The ensuing wrestling match went on until Hakkai decided everyone was getting chilled, and the fight was declared a draw.

~.~.~.~.~.~

"Crap, it's snowing again? Hey, 'Kai, tell me once more why Jeep doesn't have a top?" Gojyo pulled the hood of his cloak further down over his face to keep from being pelted with snowflakes as they drove down the newly-cleared road.

Hakkai chuckled. "Now, Gojyo, it's not that far to the next town, and it's not snowing that badly. Just enjoy it." Sanzo hunched down in his seat and burrowed further inside his cloak. He'd enjoy it more when they were in a warm room, drinking something hot and preferably alcoholic.

Goku had his head tilted back, trying to catch snowflakes on his tongue. "Yeah, this kind of snow is fun! All sparkly an' shit." Sanzo heard the echo of his words from the day before and allowed one corner of his mouth to curl upwards. The monkey was definitely not moping any more.

Gojyo snorted. "Hunh, give the monkey a snowball fight and suddenly he loves snow."

Goku let his head drop forward and stuck his tongue out at the kappa. "Well, now I've got somethin' fun to think about when it snows." Gleaming eyes met Sanzo's in the side mirror, and the monk knew Goku was not referring to the snowball fight. Sanzo wasn't sure how he was going to deal with the aftermath of that impulsive kiss, but as the heat in the monkey's gaze sparked an answering warmth in his body, Sanzo decided that maybe it wouldn't be such a pain in the ass after all.

And… maybe this could work for rain, too.