Rabbit Princess [Gaara] [2]

☾ 20 ☽

Gaara removed his eyes from the dark sky outside and turned to watch as the door to his room opened, revealing Tsukiko's figure. She caught his eyes as she closed the door behind her and leaned against it. For a few moments, the two of them stared at each other in silence.

Both Tsukiko and Gaara were dressed in funeral garb that they had worn for Chiyo's funeral earlier that day. Tsukiko ran her eyes over Gaara's body, relieved to see that there was no need of any bandages and that he was perfectly all right. But Gaara could see Tsukiko's bandages peeking from her black kimono and on her face.

Truthfully, Gaara didn't want to remove his eyes from Tsukiko's face. He was relieved to see her, and not have to wait for years before he could do that. She looked better than she did before – her cheeks had gained their colour and she having some food had done enough to make her look as normal as she could after everything.

"I was hoping to see you before you left," Gaara spoke up finally, breaking the silence in the room. He watched a small smile grace Tsukiko's lips.

"Is that so?" Tsukiko asked as she pushed herself forward to where Gaara was sitting on the couch. "Why didn't you call for me, then? I can't read your mind, you know,"

"I had a feeling that you will come by," Gaara replied, staring at Tsukiko as she let out a small chuckle and shook her head at him. "But I guess I could ask what made you come,"

"Well, I had to give you the response to your last letter," Tsukiko told him as she sat down on the couch next to him and held out the scroll. "I wrote it the night before we came here... My mission to Sunagakure had been delayed due to Naruto's return,"

"I see," Gaara said as he took the scroll from her and pulled at the red string to open it but Tsukiko hurriedly grabbed his hands. Gaara looked up at her in surprise, more shocked to find her face inches from him.

"H-Hey, don't read it in front of me, that's embarrassing," Tsukiko told him. She quickly tied the red string back over the scroll, half entangling Gaara's own fingers into it. Tsukiko gave him a nervous laugh. "Sorry,"

Tsukiko looked back up and her eyes widened when she saw how close Gaara was to her. She swallowed slightly as she stared at his wide green eyes, the black rings around his eyes casting a small shadowing on his face. Tsukiko traced her eyes over to the Kanji for 'Love' on his forehead and then looked back into his eyes.

"Gaara," Tsukiko whispered. "Were you scared?" Gaara stared back at her large blue eyes, swimming with worry, and inhaled slightly. "When you were there, all a-alone... Were you scared? You didn't feel too much pain, did you?"

"I was unconscious through most of it," Gaara told her soothingly, hoping she wouldn't ever know how much it hurt for a tailed beast to be extracted out of you. "So, I do not remember much of it,"

"I see..." Tsukiko breathed out as she looked down briefly before looking back up at him. "I was scared that I would never see you again..." Gaara moved to speak but Tsukiko moved first –

Gaara's eyes widened when he felt Tsukiko press her soft lips against the Kanji on his forehead. He moved his eyes to look at her but her eyes were closed. He felt all the blood in his body rush to his face and he watched the shade of it reflect on Tsukiko's cheeks themselves. She opened her eyes and met his sea-foam green eyes once more.

"I'm so thankful that you are all right," Tsukiko told Gaara, moving her eyes away in embarrassment. "But it wouldn't have been possible if Granny Chiyo hadn't been there,"

Tsukiko got up from the couch and moved to the window to look outside at the darkened Sunagakure. She bit her lower lip to hold back her tears. By now, she was sure that she had dried out her tears but it was strange how quickly they formed.