A storm of sand and blaze (Gaara fanfiction and The Love Story He Deserves)

Chapter 19: The size of the moon

When Feza opened her eyes from what seemed a very long dream she remembered everything.

It was as if hundreds of pages that were torn from a book had been finally put back into its place. She knew in an instant that she had to escape since she had now all the answers they were looking for. In fact, she had them all along. But now, by realizing where she was laying, she confronted her past as if she had quickly revived an old but latent nightmare.

However, unlike the first time she lived that situation, this time she knew how to control her chakra. By breathing deeply, she tried to focus. But the fear inside her gut gave her chills. Her skin was was so cold and her palms were sweating. Her father could appear at any moment and then...

Focus!

Some seconds in silence and then, she released herself from the water cage her father had her captive. It felt so easy and yet when she tried it years ago it resulted impossible. As a child, no one ever taught her how she could use her power. Step by step she found the exit of the room, finding a long corridor outside. The silent darkness made her feel uneasy. She could try to illuminate her way by rising some flames from her hair, but if her father saw her it would be her end once again.

With furtive steps, she tried to slip unnoticed pressing her mouth with her sweaty hands to avoid any murmur. Had the corridor been always that long or was it her young perception of the reality? It was so confusing, knowing that she was already a woman and yet being a little frightened girl once again.

Gaara...

She wished desperately he was there, to save her. But the reality was he did not even know her yet. She was alone and she had no choice but to deal with it by herself.

Finally, after what seemed to be an eternity, she could see a hint of light at the end of the corridor, an exit. Eager to reach the light she moved her barefoot feet faster and faster provoking a deaf noise like a splash, but instead of water, she was stepping on the sand.

Her hand reached the door when suddenly her ankle got caught by a whip of sand.

Feza howled with terror and, at the same time, another tiny voice cried.

Some tears rolled on her cheeks, but she barely noticed because, in fact, she was petrified. The cry continued as she realized there was a baby, somewhere in that den. Had this baby been there, right next to her, in the past as well? Certainly yes, but she had been crying so loud for herself the first time that she could not hear another lamentation but hers.

"How could you escape from that cage?" The voice of her father rumbled in the walls as he dragged her slowly to the darkness once more.

"Whose crying is that?" Feza asked lowly almost hypnotized by the sound. "Is that... Is that my brother?"

"Shut up! You agreed to stay in the cage. Someone already paid for you..."

"No!" Feza shouted with bitter anger as if she had awakened from a dream. "You are nothing but a coward! Using a girl for your perverse plans, your own children! You were going to erase my memories; I know it now!"

Feza felt the sand squeeze her ankle even harder but she would not succumb to her fear. Her leg ignited in a blinding blaze and the sand around her glassified, allowing her to crush it and break free at once.

"Impossible..." Haru Kaito whispered. "There is no way you could have known that!"

"Perhaps I got a second chance". Feza's words sounded fragile, almost dreamy as she stood up but this time with no intention to run.

Her father noticed the transparent gleam that emerged from her wild look and gave a step back. He knew that shimmer of madness well, the same he saw in his wife's eyes before she decided to destroy with her flames everything he had tried to build for her. At the same time, he wondered how his daughter could have managed to control her chakra in such a crucial moment but found no reasonable answer. And perhaps, it was just not important anymore. What really mattered now was to find a way out of that corridor before she decided to do something impulsive.

Is it too late?

The darkness began to fade as the hair of the girl went from blue to an incandescent white. He gave another step back and used some seconds to estimate his possibilities. She was just a girl, but in that state of craziness, she could blow all the place like nothing. He needed to fool her in order to get a chance to flee.

"If you incinerate this place, you will kill your brother". Haru declared loudly.

Feza did not reply immediately. Instead, she tried to analyze her surroundings. He could manipulate sand, and yet she could glassify it with a weak flame. He could also use some water jutsu and yet he did not try to capture her again. No, he did not want to apprehend her anymore, he wanted to flee. His chakra was scant.

"If you give me my brother, I will let you flee". She replied still thinking of a tactic to defeat Haru Kaito. He could have less chakra, but he was a clever shinobi.

"That won't be possible, Feza. You know that, unlike you, he has a vital role in all this. He represents my future. While you..." He spoke with despise "You are just a mistake, useless and worthless".

A couple of sand hands dragged Feza towards the ground and covered her body in the sand like a coffin. The girl gasped but her voice was silenced by the layers of soil. Quickly, with his last breath, Haru Kaito ran towards the room where his son was and in a matter of seconds, he prepared the seal for his baby. He caressed the forehead of the newborn knowing only he could stand by him one day. Then, with both hands, he sealed him in a scroll.

There was a moment of total silence and then, the sand rumbled under his feet.

He knew, in that precise second, that he would not accomplish his plan, as his weak knees began to tremble. Yet, he tried to reach a sand clock that was on the table. However, the cracking in the mosaic of the room almost made the clock fall from it. The room got ignited as if the sunbeams from the morning had just reached it.

"Where is him?" Feza asked relentlessly.

"He is gone".

The girl looked around and saw the scroll next to her father. She understood that he had sealed him in a time and space that were unknow and maybe far away. A dimension she could not reach.

"What is that?" She wondered now staring at the sand clock that his hand wanted to discreetly reach. "You want to seal what's left of you there, in that black sand."

He did not deny it. Instead in a quick move, his hand tried to hold it. Fire coming out like an arrow from the girl's hand reached the glass of the clock first, breaking it into pieces at once.

"So that was the plan all along," She said with a soft tone as her flames increased, and the walls of the room started to melt.

The temperature had risen abruptly but Haru Kaito could not move. His chakra was weak but his will was broken. He had lost against a lunatic and desperate child. But how could she have mastered this power?

Perhaps, she got a second chance... He repeated in his head the same words she had said. After all, it had not been the girl's fault to be born in such violent times, with such terrible parents, in such a cruel place. Perhaps, he deserved to be burnt alive and leave no legacy but a murderous child that would be a monster for the rest of her life.

Finally, he looked at her trying to guess what was inside those eyes iridescent like an inferno.

Vengeance

She looked away as she listened to the howling of her dying father. Something inside her throat felt like a burning pain as well, but no tears could roll from her eyes since they evaporated with the blaze. When the screams went silent, she again turned around. Her eyes noticed the scroll and out of curiosity, she took it. When she opened it, Feza could finally find the name of her baby brother, but the paper and the ink were consumed by the fire fast.

Shinki... Feza put her hands on her head and the blaze from her body came out like a wave of heat that burned all the den and it's corridors. Shinki...SHINKI!

Finally, the fire stopped, and the place was again under deep darkness. The moon that night seemed bigger in size and shined brighter than usual. Without saying anything she rounded her back and began to walk through the desert. She felt pain and sorrow, but her tears were dry. For many hours, she walked until finally, her legs collapsed.

"I wonder how big the moon was yesterday?" She whispered staring at the sky, recalling that her wedding had been last night, although it seemed like a different life.