Blood is Full of Empty Promises

The Puppet Festival went on and Ayaka watched the tournament on the edge of her seat. She cheered and booed depending on the victor. Gaara watched her enjoy herself and that made him truly happy. He smiled and closed his eyes hoping that the night would never end.

"That sure was exciting," Ayaka said as they made their way back to the Kazekage's palace.

"Yes it was," Gaara agreed. There was one more event left and that was the fireworks. Gaara had set up a spot for them on the Kazekage Palace's rooftop. They would yet again have the best seats in the village.

"I'll have to come back next year. There's no way I'll miss it," Ayaka said excitedly. Gaara's heart skipped a beat. He was happy to hear that she would be returning. The only problem was that he didn't want her to leave at all. He was hoping that by showing her that she belonged here that she would give up her journey of revenge and stay with him.

It was only wishful thinking. There was no stopping Ayaka when she set her mind to something. "So where are we watching the fireworks?" she asked and grabbed onto Gaara's arm. She heard a few teenage girls gush at the sight of them.

"How romantic," she overheard them say. She blushed and let go.

"We'll watch them from the palace," he answered and grabbed her hand. Her knees almost gave out from his touch.

Gaara took her to the rooftop of the palace and Ayaka saw the nice silk blanket that was spread out across it. There were a few candles lit around it so that they wouldn't have problems seeing, but that was only ‘til the fireworks started.

"What do you think?" he asked almost too quiet for Ayaka to hear.

"It looks nice," Ayaka said and frowned down at her feet. She still hasn't told Gaara that she was leaving in the morning. She didn't want to bring it up and ruin the whole night for him. She just wanted to enjoy his company and the festival. Maybe it was selfish of her, but that was her way of doing things. She always put herself first. That's how she's survived this long.

Gaara sat down on the silk blanket and then held out his hand to Ayaka. She looked at it for a second, but then placed her hand in his and knelt down beside him. Gaara stealthily wrapped his arm around her and with his other arm he grabbed her hand. "It's about to start," he said.

Gaara was so close that she could feel the vibrations from his chest when he talked. She grew hot with nervousness. She'd never felt this way before and it was so foreign and strange to her. Ayaka smiled at Gaara and then leaned her head into his chest. His heart was beating...fast, almost like he was nervous too.

Gaara let go of her hand for a second only to wave his arm around. The sand from his gourd circled out and put all the candles on the building out before returning back to its resting place. Then the sky lit up with colorful lights and loud booms from the fireworks filled the air.

"It's so beautiful," Ayaka said in awe. This was her first time ever seeing fireworks and she was happy that she got to see them.

"Yes you are," Gaara mumbled and pulled her close to him. He half expected her to reject him and pull away, but she didn't. She just stared up at the sky in awe and Gaara watched her face as it lit up with the different colors from the fireworks.

"Ayaka," Gaara said her name seriously. She looked up at him with her big blue eyes and his heart almost seemed to stop. Surely this wasn't healthy. He decided he'd ask Temari about it tomorrow when he got the chance. "I want to tell you something."

"What is it?" she asked.

"I really like you. I want you to stay with me, here in Sunagakure."

Ayaka looked down at her hands with a sad expression on her face. "Maybe one day, Sunagakure will be my home. But I have a mission and I have to complete it," she replied. She hated how this was making her feel, but she couldn't help it.

"As long as I live, Ayaka, Sunagakure is your home," he said and leaned in to kiss her. She let his lips touch hers and a spark lit up her whole body. She closed her eyes, but then her heart filled up with guilt because she was leaving tomorrow.

Ayaka pushed him away and stood up. "I'm sorry," she said and looked up at the last of the fireworks. She felt a tear escape her eye and anger bubbled in her stomach. She gritted her teeth and ran from the roof.

Gaara sat there in shock. "I shouldn't have done that," he said softly to himself before standing up. All he wanted to do was chase after her, but he knew it would do no good. He had to let her decide things for herself. He had to believe that she would make her way back to him.

___

After hours of walking around the village, Ayaka finally decided to head back. She still couldn’t make sense of what her heart wanted. It was torn between Gaara and Hidan. Walking around hadn’t helped and the only thing left was to go back and go to sleep. She had a long journey ahead of her.

Ayaka walked up the steps to the palace and nodded at the guards. They all bowed to her and she walked passed them still feeling weird about the attention they all gave her.

Ayaka stopped at her doorway. She saw Gaara standing by her bed, looking out the window. He looked sad and she couldn’t help but feel guilty that she had caused it. She took a step into the room.

Gaara noticed and turned to find Ayaka. “I’m sorry…”

She gave him half of a smile. “It’s alright,” she replied softly.

“No, I was out of line. I shouldn’t have said or done-“
As Gaara was talking Ayaka got closer to him and cut him off by putting her arms around his neck. “What are you-“

Ayaka couldn’t stop herself. She pulled his face down to hers and kissed him. She was so sad that she had to leave and he could feel her sadness just from the kiss. “Don’t do anything you’ll regret,” he said softly in a husky voice.

She then pushed him onto the bed and began to pull at his close while kissing him. “I won’t regret anything,” she whispered.