Kina let out a sigh of contentment as she watched the stars slowly turn above her head. She felt a nagging disappointment that Gaara wasn't there, she always enjoyed his silent company as she watched the last of the night turn into morning but she forced it to the back of her mind for the moment.
She was laying back on the roof of her small home, staring at the stars just as she did every night after she got off of work, her long black hair was a dark halo spread around her head, her eyes were twin lakes of blue that held the dancing reflections of the stars. She heard a shuffle and turned her head towards the sound, she smiled brightly into oceanic eyes, "Hello Gaara."
She lifted herself up onto her elbows and looked back up at the stars, they were extra bright tonight because of the new moon. It was silent for too long and she felt a frown tugging at the corners of her mouth, she opened it to repeat herself but he interrupted her. "Kina."
That was all he said, but it was enough.
She smiled brightly again, unaware that he was watching her from the corner of his eye. She let out another sigh of contentment, this time without any nagging regrets, as she watched the stars.
She knew who the man beside her was, she knew what he'd done, and she knew what he could do without even breaking a sweat. Was she afraid of him and what he could do? Yes, but that didn't really matter, what mattered was that she also trusted him. Some might ask why. To be honest she really couldn't tell them, it was just something she felt. Just like she felt..."Love."
"What?" She was startled, had she been thinking out loud, did he know the feelings she harbored for him? She turned her head to face him, allowing the confusion she felt to show on her face.
"What do you think about love?"
"Oh...um...do you mean what I think it is? Or what it's like?"
"Yes, to both. What are your thoughts on it?" 'Wow', she thought, 'he seems to be in a talkative mood'.
She turned her face back to the stars, thinking over her next words very carefully. "I...I think love is...a connection...a thing which ties two people together on a level...that no one else is even aware exists." She glanced at him to see if her words made sense, it didn't seem like it.
She sighed, "People are like..." she cast about with her eyes, trying to find inspiration, they caught on the sky above and she smiled. "People are like stars..." she felt him look at her in confusion and she smiled faintly, "Stars can be, if you look at them one way, numerous, they go on and on and on and there are so many and they all seem to be together, none of them really seem alone.
"But at the same time, if you focus on one star and you look at it close enough, it'll get to the point that all you can see is that one star. It'll seem like that is the only star that exists. It's alone." She looked over at him and saw something like understanding flickering in his eyes but he still seemed confused. She blushed when she realized that he was staring at her, she quickly turned back to the stars.
"People are like that too. We are one of millions, one of billions. There are so many of us, we are...numerous." A smile flickered at the corners of her mouth. "But, by the same stroke, we can be completely alone. There can be twenty people in a room with me but all I have to do is close my eyes and my heart and in an instant I am completely by myself."
She turned to face him again, "But love...love is like the light of those stars up there...no matter the distance...it reaches us. Love is what keeps you from being alone. There's no one around you, but you close your eyes..." and she did without even realizing it, a content, though slightly sad, smile on her face, "and they're there. All the people you hold dear are right there with you, tied to you by the love that you feel for them.
"You try, I bet you'll find Naruto; Temari and Kankuro too, now that you're on better terms with them." She knew it was too much to wish for him to hold her in his heart as well. "I kind of think that's what kisses are for. Friends and family hug and kiss on the cheek but I think a lover's kiss...It must be so special because it's the physical form of that connection that ties them to you." She sighed sadly, not even aware that she had begun to cry, as she realized that that was a kiss that she would never feel, a physical connection that she would never make. "At least, that's what I think anyway. I don't really know, I've never...never felt it before." She turned her face blindly back up to the stars, tears still rolling down her cheeks.
She heard a rustle of fabric and turned with surprise to see Gaara kneeling beside her with a contemplative expression on his face. Slowly, as though he were uncertain of himself, he leaned over until his lips were hovering over hers before he pressed them to hers gently. Both their eyes widened as a shock rolled through their bodies. She sat up slowly, her eyes never leaving his, and he straitened himself out, startled by what he had just felt.
She reached up with trembling fingers and touched the mark on his forehead, he winced but continued to stare into her eyes. She smiled, tears of a different sort leaving her eyes, and slid her arms around his midsection, pressing her cheek to his chest before leaning up and pressing her lips to his again in a sweet and loving kiss.
