Happy Accidents

Chapter 26: Belle Âme

He loved to see that look in her eyes. He could tell by the way she talked about parties that she really wanted to go to; he could also tell she was hesitant to leave him behind. He was warring with himself once more, debating. This could be his chance if he dared to take it. Maybe he needed to. Maybe he needed to at least try to be happy. He hadn't seen or heard anything in years... so it was possible he didn't have to live in fear of him any longer.

Maybe he was already dead. Maybe that was why every lead he followed turned out to be a dead end.

But that look on her face... the way her whole expression lit up, like a child on Christmas morning rushing down the stairs to open presents. How could such a small thing make a person look so happy? He wondered how she found such joy in these things.

Well... if it meant he got to see her smile, it was worth it in the end. If it meant she laughed and had fun, then he'd done his part. Happy and safe. That was all he wanted—no matter what he had to do to ensure she got that.

He saw her rush out, towed by her blonde best friend, and it made him chuckle. He'd give them the space they needed. He wouldn't need much time to get ready once it was time to go.

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One quick and efficient trip to the mall later and Sakura found herself steered into a chair that had been hauled up to the main bathroom of the house, seated in it as Ino stood behind her, various hair tools in hand. Luckily for the blonde, Sakura had done the duty of washing her hair that morning, making it easier to work with. She was carefully separating Sakura's hair into sections.

"Hey... Can I ask you something, Ino?" Sakura asked, staring at herself in the mirror.

"Of course you can," Ino replied, working on the braid she was creating.

"I... Do you really think I'm the kind of girl he'd go for?" The more she stared at herself, the more she wondered. She'd never had much confidence in herself, at least not compared to other women; having been single all her life, never even asked on a date until recently, she had very little motivation to even consider herself on any sort of level.

"What do you mean by that, exactly?" Ino had a feeling she knew where Sakura was going with this, but she asked anyway.

"I just mean... well, look at him. The more I think about it, the more convinced I become that he's totally out of my league. There's prettier girls out there, girls with nicer curves, with jobs that aren't obscenely morbid, that sort of thing." She was too used to being the weird girl. The smart girl. The bookworm with glasses. The nerd. Geek. Brainiac.

"You think being in any kind of 'league' matters to a guy like him? Sakura, sweetie, you are in a class of your own. You are both smart and beautiful. All those girls who picked on you? They're just jealous you have brains and beauty. It's hard to have both. And girls like that tend to be a little full of themselves. Myself included," she proclaimed proudly.

"You're not full of yourself," Sakura defended.

"Compared to you, I am. You're way too modest about how you look. I mean, the modest style of dress suits you, don't get me wrong, but you don't give yourself enough credit. So stop. He wouldn't do all of this if you didn't mean something to him. You just have to find out what." She pinned the braid in place, looking proud.

"And trust me, if he doesn't at least think about you tonight, he's a fool, because you're going to be the prettiest thing at that party. Without a doubt." Ino was finishing up with her hair, putting a few pins in along the braid to add some fake cherry blossom accents to the look. She topped it off with a single cherry blossom clip to hold Sakura's bangs in place at the side, clapping her hands with satisfaction.