Saiyuki Reload Fan Fiction ❯ You Were Meant To Be Mine ❯ Deep Thoughts ( Chapter 5 )

CHAPTER FIVE Deep Thoughts

 

An hour later they were loaded up and on the road again. Sanzo sat up front as usual, his mind awhirl with all the thoughts and memories Layla had stirred up. Layla sat on Gojyo's lap, so exhausted by her tears that if she wasn't really asleep, she was so close it made no difference. Gojyo kept his long arms around her, supporting her to keep her comfortable despite all the bumps and rocks and gopher holes. After a while Gojyo started to doze, his head resting on Layla's while she leaned on his shoulder. Goku fretted and hummed to himself, his liking for Layla keeping him quiet. Hakkai was off in whatever mental realm he retreated to while he drove.

 

Sanzo cherished the rare quiet. It gave him time to think over the morning with Layla. He still couldn't quite believe her insane courage and loyalty to Gojyo, the way she'd stepped between him and Sanzo's pistol then had the gall to mouth off at Sanzo in a way that would have gotten anybody else drilled instantly. Sanzo flinched, recalling how he'd pressed the muzzle to the place on Layla's forehead where the chakra mark would appear. What Sanzo's master would have said about that display of temper, Sanzo couldn't bear to imagine.

 

Worse yet, Layla had stared him down and answered his scorn with her own contempt, far colder and cutting so much deeper. The profound truth in what she'd said to him about killing the burden and not the man had been the final insult. There he was, highest ranking priest in Buddhism, and this know-nothing peasant girl, fresh from the slave market, had shamed him, making him lose face in front of his divinely chosen companions. Such monumental vexation should have been grounds for shooting Layla the instant another opportunity came along.

 

And then, as if matters weren't already infuriating enough, Layla had met his master, Koumyou Sanzo. Met him when she was old enough for his master to read her karmic record and see what kind of life lay ahead of her. Years later, she still carried the memory of Koumyo Sanzo in her heart like a precious treasure. She had seen the light that blazed within him, a light that Genjo Sanzo had only dimly perceived. Most important of all, the news of his death had shattered her. She knew what the world had lost when Koumyo Sanzo closed his eyes forever.

 

No wonder she wouldn't let Gojyo touch her that way. No wonder she and Hakkai were like family already, when Hakkai lived under partial monastic vows. It was already obvious that Goku had formed a serious attachment to Layla. The fact that he was keeping quiet so he wouldn't disturb her proved that. He'd probably start following Layla around all day, if he didn't adore Sanzo first and best as the one who freed him. That made a smile twitch on Sanzo's lips. Layla could charm Gojyo and Hakkai, but nothing could pry Goku from Sanzo's side.

 

Sanzo's thoughts turned gloomy again. Layla had seen enlightenment. She had seen the holy light that filled Koumyo Sanzo. She didn't know its proper name, but her heart and soul had recognized and thirsted after it, just like the other innocent children who gathered around his master. A thousand little moments rose in his memory, moments of closeness between master and disciple that had made them look much like father and son. Sanzo scrubbed his sleeve across his eyes, cursing the sting of sentimental tears.

 

The things of this world were being stripped from Layla to free her once her time came. Would she recognize the moment when the powers of Heaven called her into service? Would she accept what awaited her, or would she fight it and try to cling to some stupid worldly attachment? Not for the first time, Sanzo thought he'd had it easy, knowing no other home than the temple, no other life but that of a monk. It was much harder to abandon the world if one had tasted the good things it offered, sometimes unto addiction. Sanzo regarded his cigarette and ground it out with a muttered curse.

 

Layla. Who was she? Who had she been, and who would she become? She and Gojyo clearly had some kind of tie. Brother and sister, perhaps. If she was tied to Gojyo, could she also have ties to Hakkai, Goku, even Sanzo? Goku was unlikely. As with everything else, Goku was in a category all by himself. Sanzo had no clues to point him toward the possible relationship Layla had with Hakkai. As for Sanzo himself....

 

When Layla had first seen Sanzo, she'd been shocked. Had she thought she was seeing the same Sanzo, now miraculously younger? He and his master didn't look anything alike aside from the chakra mark and the regalia of a Sanzo priest. Perhaps Layla had been shocked to see a Sanzo, one so "pretty," without the light shining from inside him. How Sanzo hated himself for the way he'd cowered when she'd revealed her ability to see enlightenment. None of them would ever guess he'd cried out to stop her from touching him not to preserve any sanctity of his own, but to keep Layla from soiling her hand by touching the proud, stupid, unworthy fool who had come within a breath of killing her.

 

She'd stood there, calm, no fear of death, ready to die for Gojyo. Would she have done the same thing for Sanzo if Gojyo had been the one holding the pistol? She'd die for that stupid drunken hanyo, that perverted playboy, but to the Thirty-First of China, Genjo Sanzo, she'd spoken words that sliced through his defenses, leaving him naked and exposed and bleeding.

 

His resentment faded before the memory of how she'd wept at the news of his master's death. He'd never met anyone else who felt the loss of his master as deeply as he did. The knowledge that Layla had preserved the love in her child's heart for Koumyou Sanzo went a long way toward cooling Sanzo's temper toward her. He hadn't told her any of the grisly details of that hellish night. What he had done shocked Sanzo himself even more than Goku, Hakkai, and Gojyo, who'd stood around with their jaws hanging open when Sanzo rushed to hold Layla in his arms and let her tears soak his sleeve.

 

Under Hakkai's supervision, Gojyo and Goku loaded up the jeep while Sanzo took Layla to a quiet table in one shaded corner. He listened to her talk as she recalled more moments from her time with Koumyou Sanzo. Now she spoke to Sanzo as if they'd been friends for ages, sharing memories of a beloved teacher, his strange little quirks and funny mannerisms. Layla still used the title "-sama" when addressing him, but some of the distance and awe had gone out of her tone. Sanzo found himself feeling better than he had in some time. Layla had eased the ache in parts of his mind and soul steeped in bitterness and pain.

 

Then he'd had to watch and say nothing while Layla climbed into the back of the jeep and sat down on Gojyo's lap, leaning back against him while his arms closed around her. Gojyo would spend the long hours on the road enjoying the pleasure of having Layla resting in his embrace. Just as he had the night before, when Layla had been wearing that nightdress that managed to be both maidenly and provocative all at once. Even when he knew that Gojyo and Layla would never be lovers in this life, Sanzo still felt a foolish stab of jealousy. Sanzo had the horrible feeling that he, the Thirty-First of China, Genjo Sanzo, might be developing some kind of crush on this pretty little slave girl.

 

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