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Of Her Nature IV	By : cupnjava Category: Gensomaden Saiyuki > General Views: 1341 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Gensomaden Saiyuki, nor any of the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
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Part Four: Enter the Little Sheriff

The days faded into weeks. Weeks morphed into months. Most of the time was uneventful, typical riffraff. Just so damn typical and boring. With one noticeable exception. A serious lack of civilization meant a serious lack of inns. One evening, Hakkai found a nice lush spot for a campsite.

�Gods! Why can�t we find an inn?� Sanzo grumbled. Camping outside for any length of time irritated Sanzo. The novelty of being away from people had worn off a long time ago.

Hakkai sighed. �This is a sparsely populated area. It seems the need for rest hits us before we hit the towns.�

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Cassandra knocked on Jorja�s chamber door.

Jorja felt her shoulders tighten, WHAT!? She took in a deep breath and calmly said, �Yes?�

Cassandra looked at her. �I need you to come to the infirmary, there is something wrong with the new one.�

Jorja knew something was special about the new addition. This little girl was rather advanced. She knew that from day one, but the part about the infirmary made Jorja nervous. Jorja looked at Cassandra�s worried face as she laid down her book and stood up. �How serious?�

�I don�t know.�

�What is it?�

�She�s aging too fast.�

Jorja felt the blood leave her face as the feeling of �oh-shit-ness� cascaded down her body.
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Camping outside was getting on everyone�s nerves. It had been too long since they had a decent place to sleep. Goku had a bright idea that he was sure everyone would like, �Why don�t we contact Jorja and---�

The fan pounded down on to Goku�s head. �Don�t be ridiculous, Goku.� Sanzo sneered. He wanted to see Jorja again, but he couldn�t dare admit it. Maybe he could get outvoted and be able to properly grumble about it.

Gojyo looked over at Sanzo, He�s being pissy again, we need to get him laid. �Ya know, man, that�s not a bad idea. A good bed, good company, and a decent bath would be nice.�

Sanzo swung his fan around and smacked Gojyo. Gojyo glared at Sanzo. �Where the hell do you keep that thing anyways?�

Sanzo broke off the eye contact. �That�s personal.�

Gojyo smiled and laughed. �Well, in that case I�ll be sure to ask Hakkai to get some lube on the next supply run!�

Sanzo swung the fan again. �Bastard!�

Gojyo laughed and sneered, �Oh of course, there�s not enough lube in the world for your TIGHT ASS!�

Sanzo swung his fan again. Gojyo caught it before it hit him. Gojyo closed his hand around it. Violet was glaring into red. Red was laughing at Violet. �What have I told you about this thing? Hakkai bring the lube! This puppy�s being put away!� Gojyo�s laugh roared through the night.

Goku looked up at Sanzo. �What�s lube?�

Sanzo stretched his arm out. �Shut up or I�ll shoot Hakkai!�

Hakkai looked up from the fire. �What did I ---� He saw the gun pointed at him. He smiled and closed his mouth around the barrel. �I don�t think you�ll do it.� He said smiling around the metal.

Sanzo looked at Hakkai�s stupid grin and ripped the fan from Gojyo�s grasp. He smacked Hakkai over the head. �I never thought I�d have to use this on you.�

Hakkai rubbed his head and laughed. �That thing really does hurt.�

A twig snapped in the darkness.

Goku�s grin dropped. �Hey guys�� His voice trailed off.

Gojyo stood up. �Yeah, we heard it too.�

Hakkai removed his face from the gun and peered into the darkness.

By the time anyone would look at Sanzo all evidence of the fan would be gone.

Hakuryuu sniffed at the air.

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�What do you mean gone?!� Cassandra yelled at Kyla.

Kyla�s eyes welled up with tears. �I went to get her something to eat. She was so insistent. She�s growing so fast. When I got back, she was gone.�

Jorja looked at Cassandra. �How fast is she developing?�

Cassandra looked at Jorja. �Too damn fast �it�s unnatural. It�s freaky.�

Jorja sighed. �How old is she now?�

Cassandra looked at her. �Around four.�

Jorja did the math in her head. Just like me. �I need to tell you something. We�ve got one special little girl on our hands�...�
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They stood still and silent for what felt like hours.

Gojyo sighed. �It may have been a visitor for monkey.�

Goku snapped, �Shut up! You perv!�

Hakuryuu offered a little assistance to the campfire and nestled back down.

Gojyo turned to sit down.

Goku looked at Hakkai. �Ummm are you gonna �.?�

Hakkai smiled. �Yes, right now.�

�Great! �Cause I�m starving!�

Another twig snapped.

Sanzo glared into the woods. �The hell with this shit.� He stomped off. �It�ll be dinner, damn it!�

Goku walked behind Sanzo. �I hope it�s tasty.�

Gojyo and Hakkai looked at each other. With resignation, they walked toward the darkness. Hakkai had the sense to grab the lantern and light it.

They stood in the forest, scanning the area, looking for signs of movement. Hakkai sent out his aura feelers and came back with a strange response. �Something isn�t right.�

Sanzo gritted his teeth. That�s never good.

Gojyo looked around as he gripped his staff. �All right come on out. Sanzo�s awfully grumpy with out his sleep. Let�s not make this worse.�

A figure jumped out from a bush.

�Hawlt! Who goes dere? � A tiny little voice exclaimed.

Hakkai adjusted the lantern. A small, four year old girl came into view. She planted her feet firmly on the ground. She had one hand on her hip and one arm was out with the hand palm out. She wore a white t-shirt and blue jeans. She also �wore� a see through cowboy hat, cowboy boots and had a bright shiny star on her chest. The additional adornments were obvious illusions. Her eyes were obscured by her curly brown bangs.

Her tiny little mouth shouted at them, �I�m da sheriff in dis here town! I demand to know! Be ye fwiend or be ye foe?�

Goku�s staff was gone in an instant. �It�s a little girl!�

Hakkai giggled. �She is soooo cute!�

Gojyo dismissed his staff. �Too cute.�

Sanzo slammed his free hand into his forehead, gritted his teeth and veins began to pop out on his forehead.

Gojyo dropped to his knees. �Hi, sweetheart. How are you?� Since there were no other women around, he had no fears of losing a date.

Hakkai knelt. �Are you lost?�

Thea gritted her teeth. Her little lips pressed together. �You haven�t answered my qwestion. Fwiend or Foe?�

Hakkai lowered his lantern; the light shifted on the little girl�s face. She was glaring at them waiting for their answer. Hakkai and Gojyo could see her eyes clearly. Her left eye was golden and her right eye was violet. Hakkai and Gojyo exchanged glances.

Goku looked down at her. �Her left eye. It�s just like mine.�

Sanzo tighten his grip on his forehead. Shit! Not another one. He slowly opened one eye and looked through his fingers.

Gojyo smiled at her. �Sweetheart ---, � He gingerly reached at hand out to touch her on the shoulder.

Thea snatched at him. She scored a finger and gripped it in her tiny palm. �Touwch me again and I�ll bweak it. Fwiend or foe?�

Sanzo was beginning to think this little girl wasn�t going to be so bad.

Gojyo�s mouth dropped open and Hakkai laughed. �We�re friends. I�m Hakkai. Cho Hakkai. What�s your name?�

She let go of Gojyo�s finger. �I�m Thea. Da one, da only.� Her chest puffed out with pride.

Gojyo smiled at her. �Well Thea. I�m Gojyo. Sha Gojyo.�

She smiled at Gojyo. �You have pwetty hair.�

Gojyo pointed at Goku. �That�s Monkey.�

Thea looked at Goku. �Dats a stwrange name.�

Goku glared at Gojyo. �Shut up, ya water sprite.�

Gojyo pointed at Sanzo. �That�s ---� Gojyo heard the gun cock.

�Don�t even think about it,� Sanzo grumbled.

Thea looked at Hakkai. �He wreally does get gwrumpy without his sleep, huh?�

Hakkai laughed. �Yes, he does.�

She looked at him. �Well, then, I will call him Gwrumpy-Butt.�

Sanzo debated the morality of killing her as the others laughed.

[The reader should now be familiar with Thea�s speech impediment. In an attempt to ease reading, I will include it only when necessary.]

As the laughter died down, Goku�s stomach grumbled. It was followed quickly by Thea�s stomach grumbling.

Hakkai smiled at Goku and then turned his head to Thea. �Let�s go get you something to eat.�

Sanzo walked back to the campsite behind the others, slowly counting to himself.

Goku looked down at Thea. He thought it was cool to not be the shortest one around.

Thea bobbled more than she walked. Gojyo reached a hand down to her, intending to help her through the brush. She looked at him and smiled. She stretched her hand down too, trying to mimic his movements. Gojyo laughed. Hakkai chuckled.

Gojyo spoke through his laughter, �You�re suppose to take my hand, silly.�

Thea looked at his hand. �And do what with it? Don�t you need it?�

Hakkai pressed his lips closed as his eyes watered. Gojyo giggled.

Goku glanced over at her. �Where are you from?�

Thea looked at him. �From?�

�Yeah, ya live around here, or what?�

Thea tilted her head and blinked at him. She didn�t seem to fully understand the question.

Goku smiled at her. �Ahh, it doesn�t matter.� He didn�t know where he was from, either.

They stepped into the light and Thea saw Hakuryuu. Before Hakkai could react, she bobbled over to the dragon. �Hi! I�m Thea!�

Hakuryuu softly cooed.

Thea bowed. �Thank you.� Thea wore a big grin.

The men exchanged glances. Hakkai shrugged. �Of the mouths of babes.�

Thea sat next to the fire with her little pudgy legs tucked under her. Gojyo went rummaging through their things.

Goku sat across from her, staring at her eyes. His eyes kept darting back forth between them. He didn�t mean to gawk at her, but this experience was odd. The last time they met someone like this it was bad news.

Sanzo sat down in a silence. His robes puffed with his movement.

Hakkai rummaged through the supplies looking for dinner.

Gojyo tossed something at Goku. Goku caught it and looked at it. �Hey, thanks.�

Gojyo sat down next to Thea and held his hand out. �Hey, little girl, do you want a piece of candy?�

Goku nearly choked as Thea took the candy and thanked Gojyo. �I�ve said it once and I�ll say it again. It just doesn�t sound right when you do it.�

Gojyo glared at him.

Thea stared at Sanzo. Sanzo glared at her.

�What?�, he grumbled.

�Why do you dress like that, Grumpy-butt?�

Sanzo pressed his lips together, his shoulders began to rise. One, two, three, four�fifty. He sharply inhaled. �You will address me as �� He almost said �Master Sanzo�, but that didn�t feel right --- no one called him that -- no one that mattered. Anyway, the title �Master Sanzo� belonged to someone else. She wasn�t of the order, so �Master Sanzo� didn�t seem correct no matter how he cut it. Hmmm. Stranger? Yes, that would be good. He didn�t want to acknowledge the familiarity that coincided with knowing a name. He almost let the issue fade and then he remembered Grumpy-butt. He knew if he didn�t correct this now the others would pick up on it and he really would have to kill all of them. He sighed, �Sanzo. You will address me as �Sanzo.��

�Oh, ok, Why do you dress like that, Sanzo?�

�I�m a priest,� he said as he lit a cigarette.

�Oh, ok.� She turned her attention to Hakkai.

Sanzo looked at the little girl. The shoulder length curls on her head flopped as she turned her head. Her illusion-costume slowly faded as she watched everyone with a heavy intensity. She seemed to be trying to take in everything around her. Why didn�t she ask what a priest was?

Hakkai smiled at her. �Where are your parents?�

She looked up at Hakkai with her large child-eyes and blinked at him. She noticed the others were looking at her. She knew she was expected to respond. Her mind raced. Parents? Parents? Ummmm . She shrugged. That seemed like a safe answer.

Goku shrugged. He didn�t know where his parents were, either, or if he even had any, for that matter. Surely, I have parents�.everyone has parents. I had to have been born, I have a bellybutton.

Gojyo, Hakkai and Sanzo exchanged glances. They knew something wasn�t right.

Hakkai smiled at her. Maybe she�s an orphan and she doesn�t know about her parents. �Where are the people that take care of you?�

Thea smiled. She understood that. She was proud she could answer a question. She held her head up high as she said, �I don�t know, exactly.� She was so proud of herself. Her chest was full of pride and her face beamed. She knew she did good and expected the proper praise.

Hakkai began to pass out the food as he knitted his brow. Gojyo smiled at her. Sanzo hummph�ed and Goku looked at her face, trying to read her expression.

She scanned their faces. Her shoulders began to slowly droop and the grin fell from her face. �I did wrong?� Her bottom lip began to quiver.

Gojyo looked over at her and smiled, �No, sweetheart. If you don�t know, then you don�t know.�

The little girl looked downright worried. �Is that bad?� She looked over at Sanzo. He cut his eyes away from her and blinked.

Hakkai smiled. �No, that�s ok --- if you really don�t know. It sure will make getting you home difficult, though.�

�Oh, is that all?� Thea smiled again. �That�s no problem.�

Sanzo looked at the fire, �At least we aren�t stuck with you.�

Thea looked at her plate, �Wow, this is a lot of food! Thank you, Hakkai!� She carefully shifted her position and sat cross-legged on the ground. She balanced her plate between her knees and struggled with her chop sticks. Hakkai leaned over and placed his hand over hers. How long had it been since he�d done this? He showed her how hold and manipulate the chop sticks. She carefully tried to use her chopsticks, it took her several attempts per bite. She took about five bites of food and set her chopsticks down. She looked up at the night sky and then back down to the fire.

Sanzo looked at his half eaten food. �So, you can go home then?�

She looked at him and blinked. �Yeah.�

Sanzo narrowed his eyes. �All by yourself?� Then why don�t you leave?

She blinked at him. �Yeah.�

Hakkai shot a glance at Sanzo. �Sanzo.�

Sanzo looked at Hakkai. �What?�

Hakkai sighed as he picked up the little girl�s plate and gave it to Goku. �It�s late. We can�t allow a little girl to wander alone in the night. It isn�t safe.�

Goku nearly choked as he giggled. �Safer than her being here with Gojyo,� he mumbled.

Gojyo whipped his head. �Say that again and ---�. Gojyo enjoyed seeing that fan fly.

Thea giggled. �Silly Monkey!� She looked at Sanzo. �Do it again!�

It was worth two. He pondered quickly and smacked Goku again.

�Hey!� was the young man�s protest. The pain faded quickly as Goku heard her giggle.

It was a sweet, clear, little giggle, but it sounded big coming from her small body. Her eyes flickered as she laughed. Her cheeks filled with color and her curls bounced.

Sanzo smirked in the darkness, The vexing child IS cute. He�d never say that out loud or even admit that he ever thought it.

Her giggle fit calmed down and she tried her best to hide a yawn.

Gojyo looked over at her. �Tired sweetheart?�

She pressed her lips together as her jaw opened for another yawn. Her face quivering as she completed the supposed clandestine act. �No.� Her eyelids slowly closed and popped back open.

Hakkai saw her sway just a bit. �Are you sure?�

A groggy �Uh-huh,� came from her as she tilted her head.

They watched the fire burn down to embers.

They sat in silence as she slowly tilted over; her eyes slowly closing. Her head on her arm. �Yeah,� she yawned, �I�m not tired�..� Her voice trailed off.

Gojyo chuckled quietly. He walked over to the gear, pulled out a spare blanket and draped it over her.

Hakkai looked at the little girl in the fire light. He sighed, One day--- maybe. �Well, I suppose we should all turn in.�

Sanzo was thankful social time was over and closed his eyes. He tried to push the worries off him.

Goku was asleep before his head stopped falling.

Hakkai curled onto one side and Hakuryuu curled up by his head.

Gojyo looked at the little girl in the glowing embers. She looked so peaceful. He remembered the fear he lived with when he was her age. His only safe haven was his brother. The one person he had always counted on to be there. The one person that defended him. The one person in the whole world that protected him. The one person he wanted to be. The person he swore he would be when the time came for him to have a family of his own. That person was now trying to kill him. He sighed and felt a single tear roll down his cheek as he watched her peacefully sleep. He wiped the tear and wondered how her parents could give up such a sweet, honest, albeit precocious, little girl. Yeah, Sanzo�s right. I am a wuss.

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Jorja looked at Scarlet. �Well, at least we had the foresight to do that.� She paused and knitted her brow. �I�ll tell you what, let�s turn this into a learning experience. Let�s allow her to get cold, hungry and dirty. One night top-side is going to be a scary thing for her. Then, we�ll go get her and I�m sure we won�t have this wandering-off problem again.�

Scarlet nodded. �The pains will start any time now.�

Jorja sighed. �Maybe, that will help her learn her lesson.�
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Gojyo laid down and drifted off to sleep. Sometime in the middle of the night he heard a small whimper. He slowly blinked his eyes open and saw little Thea kicking and rocking under her blanket. He heard her small whimpers and sniffles. He slowly glided over to her. He whispered, �Thea? Thea?� He gently shook her.

She poked her wet little face out from under the blanket. She sniffled and blinked at him.

�What�s wrong, sweetheart?� He looked at her and knitted his brow,

She sniffled again. �My knees hurt.�

Gojyo pressed his lips together and nodded his head. He knew exactly what she was talking about. Being six feet tall, he was up close and personal with growing pains. He didn�t realize that girls went through them at four, but he knew the one and only thing that made it better. The thing his brother did for him. Gojyo sat up and leaned his back against a tree. �Come here.� He opened his arms and she crawled into his lap. He wrapped his arms around her and rocked her. He slid a hand down to her knees and slowly rubbed the pain away.

Hakkai peeked an eye open, softly smiled and went back to sleep. Gojyo�s growing up.

Gojyo, as an adult, knew full and well that rubbing the knees did nothing to help the pain. The contact just seemed to comfort the person hurting. No, the only thing that truly helped the painful growing process was time.

Thea eventually drifted off to sleep in his arms. He eventually drifted off to sleep; all the while holding her, and not letting a single hair on her body touch the ground.
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Of Her Nature IV