Reality Check: A Deidara Love Story

Chapter 7: Sanity

Deidara and Sasori both settled into the bean bag cushions Rai pulled in front of the couch as she sat on the couch. Deidara was partially laying down on it, sprawled out and experiencing what the small pellets felt like under the thick fabric for the first time. Sasori sat up regally and crossed his arms in front of his chest, quietly complaining about how he couldn't sit on the couch too.

"Okay, so..." Rai started, hands on her knees as she kept her gaze on the floor. Deidara sat up and leaned in towards her, giving her his full attention.

"It happened when I was only eight years old. As you know, Deidara, my parents travelled a lot so they left me alone quite often. Don't worry, they trusted me and I was pretty responsible for a young child... I guess. They didn't leave as long as they do now; they were usually only gone for a few days, a week at most. It seems childish now, I know but - I was having a tea party with my closest friend, my stuffed rabbit, Eia. I had her since birth but now, she's long gone. There was a sudden banging on the door and two men broke in. Their names -" Rai choked a bit, remembering the faces of the men so clearly in her mind.

"Their names were Athon and Titus. It seemed like Athon was someone who serves Titus, but there was an overall boss that wasn't there. They tied me up and gagged me so I couldn't speak or move... then - then they brought in Anila, my best friend from dayschool. Even though I had Eia, it was more fun when Anila actually spoke back to me and made me laugh." Her face softened.

"Then came her parents. They were all tied up and gagged also. Anila's father, he was resisting the bonds and he tried to escape, so - so - Titus had a knife, and -" Her breath caught in her throat and tears sprang to her eyes, but she blink furiously and they dispersed.

"Titus mutilated Anila's father so badly... there was blood, everywhere! Her mother... I've never seen her so enraged. She managed to smuggle in a razor blade and she secretly cut the binds around her wrists and ankles. She was so angry, I remember just watching Anila lay there... and scream... while her mother charged at Titus. But at the last second, he caught her and stabbed her in the side. Blood splashed everywhere. I liked her though, she didn't give up despite being stabbed. She tried to save Anila, but - Titus stabbed her again, this time through the heart - with the same knife that killed her husband."

Deidara and Sasori continued listening in silence, each having their gazes on her face. Sasori's eyebrows were knit, and Deidara's eyes were as wide as saucers. Rai kept her eyes on the floor, for she knew that tears were threatening to spill at any moment.

"And so - Anila, oh my gawd, how terrible she must've felt, watching her parents get slaughtered right in front of her... and not being able to do anything. Then she started screaming. Titus and Athon both got annoyed - and they - they started torturing her, beating up her fragile body." She winced at the memory.

"They quit for a moment and she used that time to sit up and try to get to me, and be by my side. I don't know what her intentions were, whether it was to tell me something or what, but she scooted closer to me. I saw Titus behind her, the bloody knife in one hand. I knew that he was planning to kill her, but... I was so terrified, I couldn't move or make any sounds, I was frozen. I tried shaking my head to tell her to not come any closer, but... the moment she reached me..." She lifted her hands and looked at them. They were shaking, along with the rest of her body. She wrapped her arms around herself to try and calm down, but it didn't work."

"They... they killed her. Her blood, along with her parents were - their blood - was everywhere. The light in her eyes I used to love to see sparkle, it helped me see a bright future - it was gone from her eyes. And I could never relight it again... She fell. On my lap. Dead. Her blood... everywhere. It was everywhere."