Well, I changed Chapter Two so the lines between scene changes are italicized. The formatting was different in the preview... (sighs) Please be warned that there's a sort of spoiler about Gojyo and Hakkai's past. I wrote solely from memory, so the scene might conflict with the episode.
To tigermink and everyone else who found the scene transitions confusing, I apologize. I hope the new formatting will help. MikaSamu, I appreciate the encouragement. Thank you.
Disclaimer: Saiyuki is not mine. The story is fictional and all similarities to people and events in real life are coincidences.
Those Beautiful Green Eyes
Chapter Three
I could feel a question mark drawn on my face as Kanzeon Bosatsu tried to explain what had happened to me five hundred years ago.
"When a soul believes its body is dead, it has to be reborn. When you were executed, you believed you were dead and so you were reborn in another body," somehow, this whole thing still entertains her and I could see it clearly on her face.
"And how did I get back here?"
"Your other body died," she replies as if it were the simplest logic in heaven.
I picked myself up from the floor so that I could talk eye to eye with the goddess. "But this body died. How could I go back to this body?"
"I had some influence in that."
"Why?"
"Heaven is just too boring without you guys here."
I groan. "So we're entertainment now."
She just smiles at me as if it were the most obvious thing in heaven.
I roll my eyes and they happen to land on Tenpou's sleeping form. "So why hasn't Tenpou woken up yet?"
"It's either one of two things," Kanzeon Bosatsu strokes Tenpou's hair lovingly and I could only do so much not to swat her hand away. It just got on my nerves for some reason. She laughs at my reaction. "Maybe his other body is still alive or he went to another body."
"Would you like to look for him, Kenren?"
And do what? Kill him so Tenpou can wake up? That makes a lot of sense. "I don't see why I have to," I look at Tenpou and wonder how the next few years would be without him. Well, I survived the few centuries before I met him, why should a few more years make a difference?
Kanzeon Bosatsu taps her chin thoughtfully, "If his soul is lost, then Tenpou Gensui might never wake up."
"And why would that concern you?" I raise an eyebrow, though the thought of Tenpou never waking up just made the thought of living an eternity unbearable.
"The right question is: why would that concern you, Kenren?"
They told me you were dead. At first, I couldn't believe it. You weren't the type who would die so easily. Then, I remember the tragedy that graced every single aspect of your being. Even your laughter was full of sadness. Then again, why in the world should your fate bother me? You weren't with me long enough for me to care, right? Why should I be concerned about you? You were alive to do just one more thing and when you finished it, you left me.
You left me...
I find that funny. It sounds like something one of my past lovers would tell me after a few nights together. Now, isn't it ironic that I am the one accusing you of leaving me like a thoughtless lover?
You...
...who I know to be the most devoted of lovers.
...whose life revolves around another.
...whom I invested a few weeks of and my whole life on.
Shit. I couldn't sound more pathetic if I'd tried.
But then, it isn't every day I find someone who understands me the way you do. It isn't easy for most people, and even more difficult for someone fate decided to throw shit at. I learned a lot when I was with you, the most compelling lesson being that blood is not the only red thing in the world.
I remember that lesson as I wander through the marketplace of the town we once lived in together. It feels like the distant past, but the last time we were in this town together is a few short weeks back. Some red apples catch my eye.
Without thinking, I pick one up, wondering if it would feel anything like my hair... or maybe like the blood I washed off your body. No, of course they don't. I feel like laughing, but memories of you stop me.
And then, you're right there beside me. You're smiling at me. You're buying apples. The same apples I'm buying. I look at you in disbelief. But I am more surprised by the relief I feel at the sight of you.
I'd hate to admit it, but I missed you.
"If you want me to go down and look for him for you, you should just tell me," I snap. I don't like games when I'm the one being played with.
Kanzeon Bosatsu's eyebrow rises in amusement irking me even more. "Oh? You'd like that, wouldn't you?"
I don't really like it when other people are right about me so I end up pouting.
"Stop sulking, Kenren," this is Konzen coming into the room from behind me. "You're going down to find out where Tenpou is and that's final?"
I glare at Konzen. It's no secret in heaven that I don't like the guy, and I am in a crappy mood from being thrust with so many memories of torture and death, so I make no effort to be nice to him. "And why the hell should I follow your orders?" I challenge Konzen.
Konzen hands me some papers, which I know I won't bother to read. "The Emperor wants his best strategist back."
What the fuck is this? "Why me?" I ask. Not that I don't want to go look for Tenpou, but it's the way that idiotic blonde ordered me around. He isn't the boss of me!
For some reason, I instinctively ducked, trying to avoid a fan that never came.
Kanzeon Bosatsu snickered in the background, while Konzen ignored my actions and proceeded to answer my question, "Because you're his general and you know him best."
No shit. "But you're his childhood friend. You should know him better. Why me?" I ask again.
Konzen becomes irate. For someone who has the whole of eternity to live and pass by, Konzen can be so short-tempered. "Because you're the one from the army."
"Then, why not send someone else?" I ask, pretty much just to annoy him a bit more.
"Because you're the one in the army who knows him enough to be able to pick him out from..." Konzen pulls out a small device from his pocket. "...Three billion, five hundred and forty three million, seven hundred and fifty eight thousand, nine hundred and two people."
Ting!
"Oh, make that nine hundred and six," Konzen corrects himself, then smiles at me almost sweetly. "And counting," he added.
I get it, the world's population is growing and I have to go find Tenpou's soul among them. It will be like looking for a needle in a haystack. Damn cliché. "All right! I'm going!" I throw my hands up in defeat and walk out of the room. "If you need me, I'll be packing my things."
"Just look into their eyes," Konzen reminds me before I get myself out of the room.
I pause and give him a questioning look. "Hm?"
Konzen sighs. "There's an old saying in the world below: 'The eyes are the window to the soul'. If you want to find Tenpou, find the person whose eyes are like his," he explains with little attempt at sounding patient.
Eyes are the window to the soul, huh? I've heard that before. I wave my hand dismissively at Konzen and continue my path to the door, "Yeah, yeah, whatever."
"Why don't you try to be more honest?" Kanzeon Bosatsu challenges me.
I shrug, "I'm perfectly honest."
I know I sound unwilling, but truth be told, I'm not. I would never admit it to Kanzeon Bosatsu, though, but the idea of finding Tenpou is more than a bit enticing to me...
... It's important. I want to find Tenpou.
No. I need to find Tenpou.