My Sun, My Supernova

Chapter 2

Warming Up

At first, Goku is led to believe that his hopes of convincing Sanzo to agree to the free reading are totally dashed beyond all hope of repair. There is a brief moment of expectancy as he stands earnestly clutching Sanzo's hand in his own, and then, to Goku's great diappointment, the stubborn monk brusquely and roughly disengages the contact.

However, Goku isn't downcast for long. He suddenly perks up his attention, focusing on the blond with renewed interest. Now, He hasn't been observing Sanzo, like the devoted admirer he is, since first they met for nothing. He knows that slightly abrupt turn of the head,
that miniscule sneer of disdain quickly chased away by a look of totally bored indiffrence. He is equally familiar with that particular note in the sigh Sanzo releases as he again turns Goku's way.

Sanzo has agreed to his request!

Internally he is grinning, although Goku knows better than to let on to his secret knowledge. He simply holds his breath in anticipation, and...

Sure enough...

"Goku, what are you doing standing in the street like the village idiot when we have business to attend to?"

Sanzo begins a dignified and purposeful walk towards the fortuneteller's door!

Success!

Feeling quite pleased and proud of himself for his rather significant accomplishment, Goku takes a moment to witness Sanzo's imperious entrance across the lady's threshold. And as he does so, his boyish pride slips over into something quite different. He finds himself wondering, in dreamy fascination with his eyes glued to the other man's retreating form, just how Sanzo manages to look both so delicate and yet so dangerous at the same time.

When Sanzo stops just inside the door, turning back to glare at him, Goku's stomach actually does a little flip. A strange sense of embarrassment makes him swallow hard even as it reddens his ears. He suddenly worries that maybe Sanzo can read his thoughts in much the same way that he can read Sanzo's body language. But he is confused. Just what is he thinking, anyway, and why does it seem to make him feel so flustered?

Before Sanzo has a chance to throw any more harsh words his way, Goku quickly dashes to catch up, and they both enter the little building together, followed by the strange lady in green. Behind their backs, a secret smile of satisfaction crosses her lips, as she quietly shuts the door on the night.

XXX

The interior that greets Sanzo and Goku is an enchanting mixture of soft candlelight, exotic scents, and soothing simplicity of arrangement. Oils and dried herbs decorate the shelves, and the walls are hung with cloth in varying shades of green. Overall the effect is a calming one, and surely meant to put visitors at their ease.

They find themselves led through a curtained partition into an adjoining room, where, with a smooth flourish of slender hands and a respectful bow of the head, the lady indicates to Sanzo a comfortable looking reclining chair.

Somewhat hesitantly, Sanzo accepts the invitation to sit, although one could hardly call his use of the chair relaxed. Goku can't suppress a giggle at the sight of Sanzo perched tensely on the edge of the cushioned seat. There's just something funny about the thought of Sanzo being put through the obviously torturous ordeal of having his fortune read. Heaven forbid! As if already regretting his decision to agree to this, Sanzo does not look at all pleased. The lady regards Goku with a mildly stern look, and he manages to stifle his mirth.

"Young Sir, if you please, would you mind waiting in the other room? This is a very private matter regarding Master Sanzo's affairs. As well, it will require our undivided attention."

"Ah, no fair! I wanna hear the fortune too! Sanzo, I can stay, right?"

"There's no point in you staying, stupid monkey. This will only take a minute."

His comment, spoken more like a threat, is directed with menacing clarity at the fortune-teller, who bows in response. Growling and pouting, Goku turns sulkily to leave the room, Sanzo's voice following him out the door with a last-minute command.

"While you're at it, wait all the way outside. Better yet, down the street!"

The last thing Sanzo needs is Goku eavesdropping on this crackpot session and bringing back loads of ridiculous garbage for Gojyo to make use of in his Sanzo-aggravating obsession.

Once Goku's grumbles of protest fade out of earshot, the lady goes to work.

Quietly, she moves about the room, preparing and lighting a dish filled with some type of scented herb. Sanzo taps his foot pointedly as he waits, watching her progress. Soon, she begins to speak slowly in a soft, almost musical tone.

"Master Priest Sanzo, a fortune can offer insights into the past, the present and the future. It can see through the mists of the mind, the waters of the heart, down to the very depths of the soul. It can begin to make sense of the twisted roots of the self, untangle the knots of confusion and uncertainty that hinder us on our paths through life. Do you believe this can be so? In your
position, you yourself surely have many insights into matters of the occult. Perhaps this is not so strange to you as you would have me believe. Perhaps, your reluctance to accept my gift is due to a subconscious denial of that which troubles you."

As she speaks, she kneels upon a cushion at Sanzo's side.

"You are a priest of strong-will, are you not? That willpower may very well wage battle with your inner desire to know the truth. The truth can make us stronger, certainly, but the process of bringing it to the surface can be a painful one. It may expose many old wounds, long concealed. It can seem to weaken us, at least temporarily. Such is the price of knowledge. A precious gift, indeed, but a difficult one to accept."

Sanzo finds, despite himself, that he is beginning to relax. The actual words matter little, but the sound of the woman's voice is soothing, and the atmosphere in the room calming. The scent from the lit incense seems to lull him further into an easy, pliant state of mind. Unintentionally, his body begins to relax into the chair in which he sits, and his eyes fall gently shut.

The lady continues her gentle commentary, observing his response. After a time, she seems satisfied and another small smile flickers across her features. Tenderly, almost cautiously, she takes one of her guest's hands in her own and begins to examine the lines on the palm. At her touch, she is rewarded with a flinch of protest from the now half-asleep monk, but upon her soothing assurance,she is allowed to continue.

"I see... misfortune at birth, followed by a difficult childhood. Ah, but there was also love. Tragedy. Sorrow. You are troubled by memories of the past. Rain and darkness. But... something came into your life and changed everything. Something important. Things are still changing, even now. This concerns you, for you are aware of it, but confused as to the nature of this change. There is something else, as well."

She frowns in concentration, leaning in close.

Sanzo's breathing is even. His head has tilted to the side, allowing his hair to fall across his face in a soft caress upon one smooth cheek. All traces of tension and agitation have been erased, and he appears almost angelic in his repose.

Pursing her lips, the mystic places her hand lightly on his forehead and closes her eyes, focusing intently.

Yes, there is something else. She can feel it. Something mysterious and vague, but unwavering in it's insistency. Perhaps this is the key that she is looking for, the weak link in Genjo Sanzo's chain mail armour of spiritual strength. But it is buried so deep, as if from long ago in the past.

She shakes her head slightly, puzzled. Sanzo is still a young man, his past does not run this deep.

Straining her abilities to the limit, she begins to probe deep within Sanzo's soul. Just a little further, and the information she seeks will...

Sanzo suddenly goes tense. Through the hypnosis and drug-induced sleep, his subconscious has begun to sense the intrusion. Body unable to respond, his mind reacts by putting up mental walls of resistance, barriers of will.

"Hush, hush... Just a little more time, now. Relax."

The lady resumes with the mesmerizing effects of her voice, close to psychic overload with the extent of the workout her skills are receiving from this stubborn man.

Deeper, deeper...

Long ago...

A past life, perhaps?

This new realization strikes her suddenly and she grasps it.

Yes, that would seem to make sense in the circumstances. How unusual. If correct, something has apparently triggered a memory of events from a past life, events so significant, so powerful, that they have carried over into this reincarnation. How this is even possible, she has no idea, but the ethereal wisps of an elusive and unobtainable memory are winding their way around this man's soul and cutting into his awareness like poisonous barbed wire. No wonder his mind is so troubled, then, if this is what he must endure.

But she can make no further progress tonight. She is exhausted, Sanzo's resistance too strong, and the extent of the situation just too challenging. She must break for now. The concern is whether or not he will relent to more sessions, enabling her to continue her work.

It shouldn't be too difficult, she hopes. She has already loosened the seeds of his doubt, so perhaps the temptation to unearth the answers will persuade him. Whatever it takes, she must succeed. If she fails in this
mission, Lady Gyokumen Koushu will not be pleased.

Reluctantly, wearily, she rises from her position and goes to extinguish the burning of the herb, replacing it with another that will help to rouse Sanzo from his trance. Then she reseats herself to await his awakening.

It does not take long for him to come back to his senses. Momentarily disoriented, and then quickly regaining his composure, he silently rebukes himself for giving in to sleep. He does not like the fact that he has allowed his guard to drop so easily. Now, he's had enough of this. Time to go pick up the monkey and leave this nonsense behind.

Suddenly, it hits him.

As soon as he latches onto this passing thought of Goku, it sets off a domino reaction of unbidden memories and images in his head. Vivid memories of his first meeting with Goku, and of the time when the voice was calling him into the mountains, suddenly surface in his mind. Even from before, long before he ever had so much as an inkling of Goku's existence.

No. Even further back. Before Goku, except, Goku is still there. These images are like distant memories of Goku, except that they don't seem real. It is almost like seeing images from a dream that never was. And they are
relentlessly, unceasingly, bombarding his mind until he begins to feel dizzy with the intensity of it all.

All Sanzo can do is grit his teeth, press his hand to his eyes and wait for the barrage of visions to pass.

"Are you all right, Sir?"

As the mental onslaught gradually subsides, he looks sharply at the woman in green, and stands from the chair to tower above her kneeling form.

"What... did you do?"

Placing a mock expression of surprise and concern on her veiled face, she shrinks slightly away.

"Honourable Priest Sanzo! I... I'm sorry, you fell asleep, I felt it was all right to continue, since I had your consent."

"Continue what?"

"Why, the reading, of course! Please Sir, let me tell you what I discovered, I'm sure it may shed some light on whatever effects you may be experiencing."

"Effects?"

There's something about this woman that puts Sanzo on edge. How could he have allowed her to lure him into her little games? As a result, his anger is rising quickly.

"What you're feeling now, the discomfort, is it related in any way to the issues which were troubling you as you came into this village? You see, I feel I have begun to touch upon the cause of your concern, and the answers you seek, but I was not able to continue due to mental fatigue induced by the effort of concentration."

Impatient now, Sanzo interrupts her to demand an immediate explanation before his temper explodes.

"To the point, woman."

"The answers you seek, they lie deep in the past, in a past reincarnation, a past life from long ago. I have seen this truth, but was not quite able to reach it."

"Past life? Bullshit! What kind of insanity is this that you expect me to swallow?"

Insanity. If it is not truth, then it can only be insanity. Perhaps his grip on rational, stable thought is finally starting to give way. Perhaps it has already been slipping for some time now, ever since that day...

Perhaps this was inevitable all along.

Or, perhaps what she says is true. What he is experiencing are memories from a past life, breaking into his mind and clouding his thoughts with confusion.

"Konzen, ever since that time, five hundred years ago..."

Images of Goku from a time beyond memory...

Goku imprisoned in a cave for who knows how long, desperately calling out to him...

Sanzo stands rigid with shock and disbelief.

He has to know.

"When will you recover enough strength to continue the reading?"

Face hidden in a bow to the floor, the green mystic smiles in triumph and relief.