A/N: Hey everybody! I know I haven't been updating my other two stories as frequently as I said I would-I apologise, but, this is why; I have been working on a Christmas Special for a long-time now, I wanted to make something really good and try it with a character I haven't yet used and this is it! This is 16 pages long *-* lol. I want to say; thank you for everyone that have reviewed my other stories, they have all kept me going this far and I really do appreciate it :) At the moment it is freezing here in England and there is snow everywhere! :D I hope you all enjoy this Christmas Special and I wish you all a; Merry Christmas, Happy Harmonica and a Happy New Year...yeah, I think that's about it :D
"Don't Ever Leave Me Alone Again..."-One-Shot Request from 'RainStarr'.
Amaya looked outside the window of her bedroom from where she sat upon her window-seat, the wind had picked up considerably outside since earlier that morning.
She looked back towards her lap, her kitten was curled up, sleeping soundly, and Amaya smiled and stroked the young tabby between the ears, the kitten immediately began purring, loving the sensation of her owner petting her.
Amaya sighed and stared once again out the window, watching the sand billowing about the streets, as it always did around this time of the day and although it was beautiful, it was rather depressing as well, more than anything she wished to see it rain, maybe even snow, it barely ever rains in the desert and obviously doesn't snow.
Amaya thought back to the hot summer, only a few months back and she smiled to herself at the memories, it seemed such a long time ago...
Amaya was walking with her mother through the market as they did once every weekend, it was a very hot day-which was nothing unusual, there were many people about, the streets were crowded in a bid to finish their shopping before mid-day when it got excruciatingly hot and before nightfall when sand storms of such ferocity would erupt all around the village.
"Amaya, I want you to go and get some potatoes, rice and veg. You know? The ones we usually have, I'm just going to get some fish." Her mother said to her wearing a small smile, handing Amaya the money and leaving her after she gave her mother a firm nod of her head.
Amaya took herself off wearing a smile, the day was lovely and warm, the people around her were friendly and knew her well-enough and most of them called out a greeting to her often accompanied by a small or shy wave of the hand.
But what got Amaya particularly smiling was knowing that her mother couldn't wait to get back home to speak to the recent middle-aged man that'd just moved in the house down the end of their street.
Mr. Miskoa was such a nice man, always whistling, very polite, ever since moving near them, he'd pop round for a cup of iced tea, sometimes he'd bring a small bunch of flowers, since flowers were so expensive in the Sand village because there was no hope in growing such beautiful plants that were found in every other country than theirs and he'd sometimes being some food round, since he lived on his own after his young wife passed away after four years of marriage from septicaemia, her mother had told her all about him after dinner one evening when they were watching TV-having a girl's night.
She got a basket full of potatoes, cauliflower, cabbage, carrots, Brussels and some rice; after paying, she carried the basket close to her, careful not to drop it, however, it was just in the midst of the bustling crowds that she accidentally bumped into a man taller than her.
"Oh, I'm so sorry, it's so busy out here and I wasn't-"
Amaya's voice trailed off as the young man turned around to face her, she gasped when she instantly recognized him, her cheeks rose in colour as the man that was stood before her was none other than the Kazekage himself!
She bowed to him in respect and said "Kazekage, I'm sorry for bumping into you, how are you?"
Gaara's invisible eyebrow rose, as sure as anything he wasn't expecting anyone to be talkative towards him, half the villagers still hadn't taken to him and the ones that had, barely spoke to him, he'd be very lucky to even receive a smile or a shy wave from someone.
"You may stand upright, and yes, I believe I've seen you before? Amaya-I believe?" He wondered aloud, though the curiosity barely made his voice, he could remember her distinctly, though, he couldn't place exactly where it was that he'd seen her before.
She nodded and answered with a small smile "Yes, sir, that is my name, and I've done a few missions before you now, sir."
Gaara attempted a smile and muttered in reply "Ah, that must be why."
Now he remembered, the girl with the long brown hair and the polite attitude, Amaya, she was an oddity-and he didn't mean that in a harsh way, it's just, only his siblings and a select few people that worked within the council held any regard to his feelings and were welcoming to him, it was strange that this girl would ignore the rumours and past events.
Amaya returned the smile, still blushing slightly, partly from the heat, but, mainly because of the young man standing in front of her, she thought he's always good-looking, but to see him up-close and in his personal space, in a perfectly normal environment had her heart beating faster.
Ever since then, Amaya always made sure she saw the Kazekage at least once a week, since she felt certain that he at least liked her a little...or respected her, not only that, but she thought he looked rather lonely when she'd stared up at those aquamarine-coloured eyes of his and she knew she wanted to be his friend more than anything else.
The first few times she felt shy around him and she had a good feeling he felt like that too, since it was rather awkward, her visits didn't really hold any reason as to why she'd pop-in, her excuse was that she wished to know if there were any missions available-that was her first excuse, afterwards, she just admitted that she wished to get to know him better as a friend. To say he was shocked would be an understatement, but, after realising that she weren't at all like a select few of fan-girls that always seemed to take any opportunity to get some time alone with him, he knew he could trust her.
As time gradually moved on, they became more open towards each other, they spoke more often and to her success she'd managed to make Gaara laugh more than once!
To Amaya she felt as though she'd accomplished something big, after all, she'd had a huge crush on the Kazekage for nearly two years, she hoped it weren't too obvious, she didn't want to upset him or make him think badly of her, but the way he looked at her and talked to her, made her realise that he hadn't caught on and that she was a very lucky girl.
However, all good things come to an end...
It was after Gaara had returned from having his Demon extracted by the Akatsuki that he'd become more reserved, the mere idea that he'd once been killed made Amaya cry and tremble, she wasn't dumb, she knew that by having a Demon inside yourself would be very dangerous and being a Kazekage even more so, it was strange, but she'd been left to retrieve Kankuro with Temari and some others when he'd been attacked by Sasori of the red sand, she'd wanted to go on and retrieve Gaara, but, the council, Kankuro, her twin brother: Hiro and Sakura-the pink-haired kunoichi from Konoha had all protested, it seemed they were the ones that knew of her crush for Gaara and that if Gaara was still alive and she died, none of them would ever forgive themselves, they wanted to hold back one of the last things Gaara had to hold onto. Seeing his dead body however, made her cry, her and Naruto had held him as he came to after Chiyo had given her life to Gaara, but it clicked something within her...
Nothing lasts forever.
When he returned back to work as Kazekage and her visits to him becoming almost daily, she noticed that he hardly smiled around her anymore and she wondered whether it was that he was in a state of depression and confusion, she offered him an ear to listen in case he needed someone to talk to, give advise to or simply just to listen.
He merely brushed her off lightly.
After spending a few days at home; thinking about what to do with Gaara's new attitude and how to make him feel better, she managed to gather her courage and decided to go visit Gaara.
She still hadn't told her mother about her crush, she also didn't tell her mother about visiting the Kazekage frequently, in case she disapproved, though she knew her mother would never be like that, one was never certain of someone else's character, instead, she kept it to herself, her twin brother knew about her crush, of course he would, he hung out with Kankuro often, they'd been friends for years, she was grateful that Hiro hadn't told their mother, but he still didn't like the situation any less.
Instead, Hiro kept his distance, watching and waiting for the red-head to make one false move before he'd swoop in and save his younger twin.
Ignoring her brothers' warnings, Amaya had gone and bought some chocolate chip cookies from her favourite sweet shop with her own money, she'd heard Gaara had a sweet-tooth and she'd been more than excited to see his face once she'd give him his present, if the rumour was true, then she knew he'd be grateful and maybe he might just cheer-up a little.
She'd even had her long brown hair trimmed at the ends and put on a bit of make-up, to help her feel that she was presentable enough to visit the Kazekage, she wanted to show him that she was capable of making herself look good no matter who's company she was in, she wanted to show Gaara that she cared enough to dress-up a little for him, though, she knew she didn't have to go out of her way to try, since he'd never seemed to have had a problem with her image before.
She'd raced off towards the office, her cheeks bright, her breath short, a big smile spread across her face and her mind playing over and over of the scene she could easily imagine, she imagined him looking surprised at her appearance and even more so when she'd present her present to him, accepting her gift, smile at her like he used to and then maybe apologise for how he's been or thank her for her thoughtful present, then they'd talk again and be friends like they'd been before Shukaku's sealing.
It was worth a shot and she'd give anything to make him happy.
Luckily the streets hadn't been busy and there weren't much of a sandstorm that night, it was just bearable to go out and visit someone, the stars shone in the distance and the moon was big.
Amaya wondered if Gaara was watching the moon, just like she was then.
Once she'd managed to get to his office after running through the clouds of sand and jogged up three-levels of staircases, she got to his door-very out of breath and when she regained her composure, she straightened, then she knocked nervously.
For a while she heard nothing coming from the inside, she wondered whether he was in there or not, she was about to knock again when the door was suddenly thrust open and Kankuro; Gaara's older brother, was stood there, wearing a surprised look on his purple-painted face, though, he shouldn't look so surprised since she came to see Gaara often, perhaps it was just because she hadn't seen him in the last few days?
"Oh, hello Kankuro-sir, I came here to see if Gaara-I mean, Kazekage was available?" Amaya asked, blushing lightly, embarrassed at how nervous she sounded and felt rather guilty at turning up unannounced, he might be very busy or he might've gone home already...
Kankuro smiled knowingly, he looked over his shoulder and into the dimly lit room and called "Hey Hiro! Look who's here!"
Amaya narrowed her eyes at Kankuro in annoyance, of course he'd be hanging around with her twin brother, the two of them were practically inseparable, always spending so much time together, laughing and hanging out for days on end-she couldn't help but wish her and Gaara's relationship were like that.
Kankuro smirked at the look on her face; and even more so when Hiro marched across the room, he shoved the door wide open and giving his younger twin a sharp look, he snapped "Amaya, what are you doing here?"
She glared at Hiro; trust him to be unenthusiastic to see her, he always got annoyed when she interrupted his and Kankuro's 'down-time', she'd even begun to wonder what it is that they do in their 'down-time'.
"I came to see Lord Kazekage, what are you doing here?" Amaya retorted, she felt no reason to be ashamed that she came to see her friend, but, what was more annoying was that her older, twin-brother always saw it fit to warn her about Gaara at every opportunity he could find.
She didn't know why he bared such a grudge against Gaara, since he does hang-out with Kankuro a lot-if not, all the time and she was sure that Hiro had never once spoken to Gaara for more than ten seconds.
She wondered if she should hide her present to Gaara behind her back discreetly, hopefully, if she did it whilst holding his attention, then he wouldn't notice the gift for Gaara.
Kankuro broke her from her thoughts and let out a short laugh, he gently pushed Hiro out of the room with one hand on his right shoulder, before turning round Kankuro shut the door from the outside, he gave them a funny-look and muttered to Amaya "Gaara should be back soon, I've gotta' go and speak to Temari about some paperwork, see ya' later."
They took no notice of him leaving and still continued to face each other.
"I'm here because I'm going off on a mission in a little while, but, I know what you're really here for; you're here to see Gaara again and by the looks of how much effort you've put in your appearance, I'm starting to think you don't like Gaara-but, love him-"
Amaya cut him off and snapped "Why does it bother you so much, huh? And is it so difficult for me not wanting to look nice once in a-while?"
Completely ignoring her questions, he murmured between clenched teeth "I don't like you hanging out with Gaara, he may be Kankuro's younger brother and leader of this village, but, that doesn't excuse what he's done to so many people in the past."
He finally noticed the small bag of sweets in her hands that she didn't bother to hide from him, he knew instantly they were for Gaara, she'd no doubt spent her pocket money on them and cookies wrapped up like that don't come cheap, his eyes flickered towards her face, noticing her wearing make-up and he felt something small explode within himself, he knew she'd done herself up for the Kazekage and he didn't like it one bit.
"I will be friends with Gaara if I wish, it's none of your business, you don't hear me complaining about you always hanging out with Kankuro, I could easily start saying that you should stay away from him because he has a dirty mind and often slept with under-age girls before you two started hanging out! And from I can still make out of him, he hasn't improved much!" Amaya nearly shouted back at him, feeling rather offended that he wouldn't accept her friendship with Gaara, especially, after his Demon had been extracted from him.
Gaara had saved everyone from the Akatsuki's wrath, he had died from protecting and for his village, despite the fact that half of the village still treated him like trash.
She knew he'd suffered a lot with his Demon and she knew that he'd longed for someone out there to help shoulder his burden, to make him feel as though he belonged somewhere.
That was why she made such an effort, she cared for him and she loved him very much, even if he started killing all-over-again, she wouldn't be able to leave him alone and she knew secretly deep down, he wouldn't harm her.
"Shut up! What do you know? It weren't his fault, his father put him up to it when he was alive, he made Kankuro sleep with young girls because he had such a twisted mind. Anyway, I'm only saying this because I love you and don't want to see you hurt." Hiro blushed lightly, not used to making this confession to his younger twin; normally, they were arguing or snapping at each other constantly, but, when it came to something serious he'd always show that he cared for her and he was always there to look out for her.
Amaya went silent, her anger drained away instantly, it always took a lot for him to say that he loved her, she knew that she was kinda' lucky to have a twin brother like him, not many would bother in showing they cared.
Amaya smiled brightly, she answered "I know you do, thank you, Hiro, but I'm old enough to look out for myself now. I will take things as they come."
She leaned forward briefly and pecked him on the cheek, then ran past him, getting away before he could react, though, she could distinctly hear Hiro yelling to her about catching her 'germs', though, she knew he was only joking.
She already knew Gaara wasn't in his office, for he would've called her in, as he always did when she arrived, so she decided to go off in search for him.
She knew some of his favourite places and some of the ones he often visited, since they'd been to some of them together before and he sometimes spoke of how they reminded him of things of when he was younger and places that made him feel relaxed.
She went over to the park where she had a good feeling he'd be relaxing, after all, it was very late at night and no children would be out playing in the dark, she knew Gaara preferred being out at night, since he'd struggled with his insomnia before, he'd told her once that he'd found it difficult to sleep at night sometimes.
Amaya ran round the corner of the brick wall that would take her into the park itself and smacked straight into a chest, she hit it so hard that she fell down to the ground on her butt, luckily not dropping or breaking the cookies she'd taken so long to pick out for him.
"Ouch!" She'd exclaimed as her butt made contact with the hard floor, she winced and blinked, about to apologise, until she looked up and saw Kankuro stood in front of her once again.
Her eyes narrowed once more as she snapped "Why are you here? I thought you said you had some work with Temari? You could at least apologize or even help me up!"
Kankuro didn't reply, he merely yanked her up from the ground, she was a little confused at his hidden strength, but shrugged mentally, not thinking much of it, she yanked herself from his hold and quickly thanked him, however, when she went to rush past him, he moved in her path.
"Kankuro, could you please move out of the way!" Amaya hissed coldly, if anything, they rarely got on, they certainly weren't friends, and they were just civil to each other because they were friends with each other's family.
She didn't like him because he was so much worse than her brother and always said inappropriate things and had such a creepy mind that it made her shiver to remember some of the things he'd said before.
For example; it was about a month ago when he came over to her house to chill-out with Hiro, she was downstairs in the kitchen getting a drink of orange juice from the fridge, when she saw him sat down behind her at the breakfast table, staring silently across the room at her.
"Why are you staring at me?" She asked aloud; slightly curious, though, had a feeling she wouldn't like the answer.
He smirked and replied in mock innocence "I didn't think you had such a nice arse, you should wear shorts like that more often, though, perhaps not outside, since...others might get the wrong ideas and-well, you know?"
She'd never felt more uncomfortable in her life, they'd rarely spoken before then, but that, had made her realise that she didn't want to be anywhere alone or near him, unless she had a good enough reason for it.
Of course, she told him to not be so sick-minded and had left the room immediately.
Hiro had often said he'd prefer it, if she were to fall in love with someone like Kankuro, of course, she gagged on the mere idea of the pervert even touching her and she didn't have to walk past Hiro's room to hear all the moans coming from within whenever Kankuro and himself were alone in there.
She weren't sure whether her brother way gay-or not, though, she had an idea that they had frequent jack-off sessions...together.
After that, she hadn't been able to look at Kankuro and Hiro the same ever again.
However, now, Kankuro looked apologetic and there seemed to be something more hidden in his expression, Amaya couldn't read it, instead, she went to move around him again and this time his hand latched onto hers, she reacted instantly and slapped him across the face with her free hand, not too hard, but. enough to make him realise; he'd stepped across the line.
"Look, I'm sorry, but why are you trying to get in my way? Well, no matter, I need to see Gaara." Amaya muttered mostly to herself, she pried her hand free, moved around him and walked round the corner of the park, she heard Kankuro call to her quietly "Amaya-wait, don't-!"
She stood still, her mouth wide, her eyes wide and her head was reeling from shock and confusion at the scene before herself.
Gaara was there alright, with another girl, they were tight in each other's embrace and they were also kissing-no; making out, completely oblivious to her presence.
"W-w-what...?" Amaya muttered, her heart sinking down into a bottomless pool of pain and hurt she'd never felt before, she felt the overwhelming surge of tears press against her eyes, her hands now weak from shock and hurt allowed the small bag of sweets to fall to the floor, with little care.
Kankuro watched on with a grim expression, he'd never spoken to Amaya properly before; never seen her cry, but, he'd never bullied her or forced her to do anything or not do anything with his younger brother, for he knew how close they were.
He knew that Amaya had a big crush on his younger brother and he was absolutely thrilled when his beliefs were confirmed by seeing how she acted around Gaara and how Hiro had confided in him about her day-dreaming 'nonsense'.
He; himself, couldn't believe what was going on, he thought Gaara was warming up to Amaya, whenever he spoke of the girl, it was always good things and he'd caught Gaara staring at her more than once-not just at her arse, but at her face, her hands, her hair and legs.
But, this...
She stepped back slowly, unable to do anything else but watch them as they still continued to kiss each other.
Was this what he'd been doing this entire time she'd fallen in love with him every time she saw him? Did he just find her as a good friend? A sister? Had he not known of the love she held for him? Didn't he know that she would willingly give up her life in order for him to live? Was that how little she meant to him?
The girls' hands ran through Gaara's short, red hair; the very hair that Amaya had once dreamed of stroking, though, seeing this, made Amaya want to be sick with disgust and shame.
The tears fell rapidly now, they fell hard and fast down her pink-ish cheeks that she'd made an effort to powder before going to find Gaara.
So, that was why Kankuro had tried to stop her, he'd seen what'd happened and tried to prevent her from seeing it herself, he didn't want to see her heartbroken.
Her brothers face flashed in her mind and she knew now why he had warned her against getting hurt by Gaara, why he'd cared so much, this pain, it was beyond anything she'd ever felt before, she didn't think she'd even been this upset when she'd heard her father died when she was four; she'd barely known her father to understand the loss and the very pain her mother had experienced.
She'd really been a stupid fool, giving her heart away so carelessly...to a-no! She couldn't-wouldn't think that of him, this wasn't happening, it was just a nightmare; it had to be!
She would not call him a monster; never.
She broke off from staring at them, taking in a deep breath, she turned and ran away with a strangled cry, Kankuro called her name, contemplating whether to go after her or not, but knew better than to follow when she needed some time to herself.
The sound hadn't gone unnoticed by a certain Kazekage though.
Amaya wiped another tear from her eye at the horrible memory that always made her sad.
She'd later heard a rumour from her mother that Gaara had dismissed the girl immediately, choosing not to kill her, because of reasons no one else could understand, except herself and a few other people.
The girl may have not been as precious to Gaara as she'd first thought, but, she knew now, more than ever, that it didn't make the hurt go away, the thought that he'd rather be kissing the face off some random girl that she was certain he'd never met before, than kiss Amaya.
She watched her kitten stretch, get up and jump off her lap to the floor and walk out of the room-no doubt searching for its food, leaving Amaya to feel cold and alone once more.
She'd taken many weeks to get over her lose, though, it still hadn't left her entirely, for she knew she'd never love again.
Kankuro had come over to chill-out with Hiro once more, upon seeing her, he looked rather surprised, he asked her if she was ill and she didn't reply, instead, she'd looked down at herself, dressed in her most scruffy clothes that she hadn't worn in a year or so, though, she supposed she was ill, her heart was hurting, she didn't eat much and didn't do anything at all, except sit and stare out of her window for long periods of time; nothing took her interest at all.
He'd told her that Gaara was expecting a visit sometime soon, but she still didn't feel able to walk outside in public and visit him, she was worried what others would think and say of her; 'oh look, it's that girl again, she always used to spend lots of time with the Kazekage, do you think she's entertaining him?' Another woman would reply 'You think so? She looks rather a bit young to be doing that sort of thing and the Kazekage; I heard, is almost seventeen', then the other woman would answer 'Humph! You can never trust youngsters these days; always causing havoc'.
She didn't mind too much about that, though, she was feeling rather paranoid, she was a little worried she'd find him in another girls' arms again if she went to find him.
And that, Amaya knew she wouldn't be able to bear a second time round.
Amaya knew that she wouldn't go and see Gaara and pretend everything was glorious, for it weren't, he'd hurt her deeply, maybe not intentionally, but, he'd hurt her all the same and she knew she wouldn't be able to stop herself from crying or bringing it up.
Instead, she decided to stay away and continue on with her life, as if he'd never been in it.
After hearing what'd happened, Hiro had spent some time with her, hugging her and listening to her crying, he'd never once said; 'I told you so,' or 'I told you this would happen', she was very thankful for his company.
Eventually, their mother found out, Amaya had wanted to keep it a secret from her mother, since she seemed happier now that she had another man in her life and although she found it hard to talk about their father, but she seemed much more livelier.
Even so, her mother listened to what'd happened and sympathised with her, she no longer suggested to go and visit Gaara, instead, she said; "If you don't wish to go out or go on any missions for a while, you don't have too, take a break and you'll perk-up in your own time."
Her mother was the greatest, Hiro and Amaya loved their mother very much, especially, after she'd struggled for so many years to raise them on a low in-come and without their father around.
One evening, when she'd come down for a drink of milk, she'd heard Hiro and their mother talking in the kitchen.
Amaya was just about to open the kitchen door, when she could've sworn she could hear voices coming from the other side of the door.
Her first thought was to ignore it and go back up to her room or knock and go into the kitchen, however, she didn't know whether it was her mother and Mr. Miskoa talking and she knew better than to interrupt in an adult conversation.
However, curiosity got the better of her, especially once she thought she'd heard Gaara's name being mentioned, she knew it was wrong to ear-wag a conversation, since most of the time, she knew that most people would only hear snippets of the conversation and not listen to the rest.
But, she could no longer hold her curiosity at bay any longer.
She leaned down towards the keyhole and listened tentatively to what they were saying.
And to her surprise, she realised it weren't Mr. Miskoa's voice at all, it was Hiro's, what were they discussing?
"Gaara asked me today how sis was..." Hiro told their mum, the sound of a cup being placed down upon the breakfast table could be heard and then their mother's kind voice, asking "What did you say?"
A snort was heard "What do you think, mum? I told him that she was heartbroken at the lack of confidence he'd had in her, I told him that he shouldn't expect a visit from her ever again if he was lucky-"
Their mother's gasp cut him off and she asked in a worried tone of voice "Oh, Hiro, not the Kazekage? Please, don't tell me you said that!"
A groan was heard from her brother as he answered "Of course I did, the arsehole deserves to feel bad, it's his fault for trailing Amaya along all this time, using her for comfort-just to have someone there for him, he didn't even take into consideration of her feelings!"
There was silence before their mother asked "But you did tell him that she won't be going on any missions for a while?"
"Yeah, don't worry, at first he said that I should tell sis that if she wants time-off, she had to go in to see him and ask for it herself. But, I stood my ground and said sis was in no way able to leave the house, that she was ill and didn't wish to see him. He didn't put up much of a fight after that, though, he did say that if she didn't visit him soon, he'd come over himself to see her-"
Their mother interrupted again, sounding nervous "Oh dear! This is such a mess, I wish he weren't so set on seeing her again, it's a shame it didn't work-out between them, but...can't he see that he's hurting her? I don't want Amaya to do anything desperate-"
"Don't worry mum, I'll keep an eye on her, I promise." Hiro's voice sounded very determined, like he was promising to bring back something precious to his loved one from his long voyage.
After that, the conversation changed to Mr. Miskoa and Amaya found herself stood there speechless, she felt fresh tears spilling out silently over her cheeks, of course it upset her, even when someone else mentioned Gaara's name or referred to him, Hiro's words were everything that she'd considered in her head over the past few days.
However, she just couldn't bring herself to think about what'd happened without feeling that unbearable pain squeeze her heart and rendering her speechless.
Instead, she quietly left her twin-brother and mum talking to each other in the kitchen, she trudged back up to her room, wanting to be alone and cry.
Now, her days were spent with Hiro, when he was free from missions and chilling with Kankuro, he stayed with her, comforted her when she accepted him, he'd even sometimes even bring her favourite sweets home after a mission or he'd watch a film with her, both of them pretending to be kids again and snuggling under a blanket as they watched a kids' film they used to love as children.
She knew secretly he was just keeping-an-eye on her, making sure she didn't do anything drastic, but, she could see how tired he was, how much it was draining out of him to try and cheer her up, even their mother smiled less now because she was worried over her.
Amaya felt rotten, like she was sponging off her everyone else, but also that she wished she could tell them to leave her alone; let her suffer.
Nothing could bear her pain now.
Nothing.
She watched as the sand storm continued to blow about the streets rapidly like clouds of dust, just as it had done for many days now.
At least she'd have an excuse for a few more days of not being able to make it over because of the sudden change in the weather, there's no way she or anyone could go out in this sand storm, unless they wanted to be cut into ribbons or swept away.
It still didn't make her feel any better though.
She even remembered the phone call with Temari, a few days before...
"Amaya, Phone call for you!" Her mother called to her outside her bedroom, the door having been shut completely.
Amaya sighed heavily to herself, who would phone her?
Her other two friends were away on missions and she barely saw or talked to them as it was.
Quietly, she opened her bedroom door, her mother gave her an encouraging smile, though, her eyes looked rather worried.
She took the phone from her mother, curious to who the caller was.
Amaya took the phone into her bedroom and after shutting her door once more, then said "This is Amaya, who is this?"
"Hello Amaya, I'm Temari; you've probably heard about me; I'm Gaara's older sister." A slightly more mature, feminine voice answered politely.
Amaya frowned, if anything she didn't want to talk to anyone; especially one of Gaara's siblings, why weren't Gaara on the other end of the phone?
"I have, go on." She acknowledged, the sound of her unpleasant mood making itself clear in her voice.
"I'm phoning on the behalf of my brother; Gaara, he wishes to see you, it's really urgent, he's worried, I hope you understand that this is unusual for Gaara to feel-"
"I'm sorry, I know this hasn't got much to do with you, Temari, but...why couldn't he phone me-no, why couldn't he at least tell me to my face about his little affair?" Amaya hissed coldly.
She still felt in no good mood to talk about what happened and once more felt the tears welling up in her eyes again.
"He had a feeling that you'd dismiss him. Please, I'm sure you're still feeling upset, but if we-"
Amaya interrupted, feeling the violent urge to scream at everyone "You have no idea of what I am feeling, he was a very close friend to me and he suddenly started blanking me out! I don't know whether you've heard it or not, but yes, I did have a major-crush on him, big mistake! I just wanted him to know I was there for him, I tried so hard to please him and show him how much I cared and he-he just throws it all back in my face! I'm sorry Temari, I know it's not your fault, but I'm still not able to talk about it, so please, just don't phone me back. Goodbye."
Amaya put the phone down before Temari could say another word, she didn't care whether she sounded selfish, or childish, or pathetic, she'd just wanted him-or maybe someone to acknowledge her existence and appreciate having her around.
She started weeping again into her pillow, she tried to keep her voice down, though, her mother came up after hearing her, taking the phone from her hand, she helped Amaya into bed to rest for a while and once done she brought her up some warm milk, she saw Hiro staring round the doorway looking in on her in anger.
She knew it was because she was crying again over her love for the boy that would never return it, the boy that Hiro disliked intensely.
Amaya sighed to herself, regretting how harsh she'd been on the phone to Temari, she'd met her maybe twice before, though, Temari never had the time to talk to her properly before she was sent off to do an errand of some sort. Temari probably knew very little of the situation, since Gaara was never one to talk a lot, Amaya presumed that Kankuro was the one to tell her what'd happened in detail.
If someone had spoken to her as she'd done to Temari, she knew she'd be offended.
But, she just didn't want to think about the situation between Gaara and herself, well, there was no longer a situation between herself and Gaara, they hadn't spoken or seen each other in a month, she was determined to not go near him, though, it appeared that he was trying to make an effort.
She knew she was being a coward, but, she just hated the idea that she'd been rejected, that all her efforts had been for nothing, that her luck with guys would always remain the same.
She glanced back outside, aiming to look at the moon, however, her eyes caught something outside, she squinted to look and they eventually locked onto the outline of a figure walking through the sand storm with little ease.
As the figure approached closer down the street and seeming to be coming towards her house; she realised instantly who it was.
She gasped loudly, panic welling up inside her stomach at the thought of seeing him face-to-face right now, both her mother and brother weren't at home and she knew she couldn't leave him out in the storm, after all the way he'd travelled to get here.
No doubt he'd seen her staring through her window out towards the moon.
There just weren't going to be any possibility of getting away from him now, especially in this storm and when she's all alone.
Gaara was finally stood in front of her house, he looked up to her window and noticed the small figure sitting at there, he was sure it was female; it was Amaya.
She was there, he felt slight relief rush through him, but knew it was far from over.
There was no way she could run from him now, no way she could make up any excuses. He was here and she will have to listen to him; he is Kazekage after all.
He disappeared within a whirl of sand from the ground, having decided to not bring his gourd along at such a late time at night, he had the use of the entire desert if he needed to defend himself.
Amaya was most certain he'd seen her, but, when she'd seen him coming towards the house, walking through the sand storm, the golden sand whirling around him; like some protective shield, it reminded her of only one of the qualities she'd loved about him and it hurt.
She wondered what happened to him and whether she'd seen an apparition of some sort, she wouldn't be surprised in her state-of-mind, besides, there's no way he'd come all this way out here for her.
She settled back against the cushions on her window seat, she thought she'd managed to convince herself that it was an apparition, but as soon as she felt shivers go up her spine, felt the hot breath of none other than Gaara's against the back of her neck, she spun round and almost fell off her seat; she managed to kill the blush that was threatening to reveal itself and her eyes were wide from shock.
She wondered how she'd never heard him come into her room or standing there behind her, however, she knew he had great abilities to travel across distances with his sand, despite not having Shukaku inside him anymore; he still could manipulate sand rather well.
"G-Gaara?! What are you doing here?" Amaya asked a little breathless, he was stood so close to her, his chest would touch her nose if she weren't looking up at him in surprise.
His eyes made contact with her own tired ones, she saw something flash in his eyes; something that resembled a great pain, perhaps, similar to her own, she could read much sorrow and regret in those aquamarine orbs, but she didn't drop her guard down, she was still rather determined to not speak to him, her heart; she could feel, had begun beating so fast that she could barely breath without him noticing the grief rushing across her features.
He didn't answer for some minutes, instead, he stood and watched her, before he broke eye-contact with her and slowly sat down next to her and answered "I came here to see you, Amaya. I want to say; I'm sorry. I didn't mean to hurt you like I did, I'm sorry that you feel...used and betrayed..."
Despite how much she told herself to not listen, to not look at him; to hate him, she couldn't.
She also learned something else about him; she knew he would never be able to use people, he couldn't manipulate people to do what he wanted either, he'd definitely not have good marks on that area if he ever became a mass-murderer.
She didn't say anything, she looked away and stared down at the floor, determined to not meet his gaze, but, she couldn't shut-off her hearing, instead, she listened.
"I wanted to feel bonds. The bonds many people have with others they cherish and care about. I learned this from Uzumaki Naruto, he's a Demon-bearer much like I was, I wanted to have the relationship he had with others. There he was; surrounded by friends and accepted, and me...I only had you and my siblings..." His voice trailed off, staring at her intensely, not daring to blink.
Amaya looked up and met his gaze, she stared at him speechless, but that didn't make things any better, well, maybe a little, but, it didn't help the way she'd been hurting ever since he'd been seen by her in the arms of another girl.
She did feel sorry for him, she knew that he didn't have many friends; barely any and what she did was just horrid, but then so was his...actions, he should've known not to betray her trust, anything he said to her would always remain in secret, she'd never squeal on him; even at the cost of her own life.
But...it didn't seem like he understood that...though, something was changing, he wouldn't have come all this way if he didn't care, so, in spite of all the pain she'd felt, she listened to him; let him explain.
The time I was spending with you...I felt funny after a while; Temari told me...she told me that it was love, I didn't understand and I suppose I panicked...I've never felt anything other than hurt and anger, I've never felt 'love' before...before now." He explained slowly.
Amaya blinked once, twice and then she stated "I admit; I was very upset and perhaps I have been childish and a coward by trying to run away from you, instead of sitting down and talking like we are now; like adults...but, I would never have done anything to hurt you purposely, I was rather angry, angry that you didn't tell me about this other girl...I thought we were friends-great friends..."
"I've never had...friends before, after Shukaku left and I died, I didn't know what to do anymore...I thought...I thought that you were only with me because you pitied me...but, I can see now that you actually cared...I really enjoyed the cookies...Kankuro said that they were for me and I couldn't throw them away. They must've cost a lot...?" He shifted his back against the cushions of her window-seat and he saw the briefest of smiles and then the pain that flooded along with it afterwards, his teeth ground in anger at the damage he'd caused.
"Yeah...I heard you liked sweet-things...so, I saved like crazy to buy them for you..." Amaya leaned her head against the window pane and stared out across the desert with sad eyes; completely avoiding his gaze.
"I was wondering...perhaps...if you would like to share some with me next time?" Gaara asked almost shyly, after all, even he couldn't suppress the light blush sweeping across his face, this was the first-time he'd ever asked a girl to do anything with him, he'd never even asked a girl if she could make him some tea.
Amaya noticed this and smiled to herself lightly, he noticed her smile and lifted an invisible eyebrow at her, wondering if anything he'd said made her feel better and maybe get her to accept his apology, for he really was ashamed at how stupid he'd acted.
"I suppose...I was jealous, but, can you blame me? After all, I have admired you for a very long time." Amaya admitted.
Gaara's eyes widened slightly, they both sat in silence as thoughts raced over and over in his mind, before he asked quietly "H-how long?"
She looked across at him and shrugged a little, before her eyes lowered, sighing, she found there was no reason to stop now, better he knew and then they can move on than linger in the past all the time.
"About two years, yes, that surprises you, doesn't it? I liked-no, loved you-even when you were going through a rough-patch...that's why Hiro is so protective of me, he knew you had the power to hurt me like no one else could...and you did..."
After a further couple of minutes' silence, he bent towards her and pecked her on the lips, he pulled back immediately and said "I'm so sorry Amaya, I've been so stupid, let's start again...but...as something more than friends...if you wish?"
The sudden question caught her off-guard along with the kiss and her cheeks were up in flames, quietly now, she closed her eyes and thought for a moment.
Did she want to be with Gaara? Even after all that's happened? Could they be...more than friends?
"Yes, I would like that, Gaara. And yes, I will share some cookies with you, but, you must promise me to never do that again, okay?" Amaya smiled lightly at him, liking how happy she was feeling at that moment and that her biggest wish in the world had been granted that very night.
Well, there's only one way to find out.
He smiled back a little, clearly making an effort for her, his hand reaching out to hold hers in his, their fingers linked together and he muttered "I promise. As long as you promise me something too..."
Amaya cocked her head to one side in curiosity, feeling her heart beating faster, as if it'd suddenly sprung back to life after remaining lifeless for so long and asked "What's that?"
"Don't ever leave me alone again..."
Amaya felt courage build-up within her, she felt lighter than air itself, she leaned forward and pressed her lips against his as she wound her arms around his neck, he responded back by pulling her tighter against him and kissing her back with equal urgency.
After she leaned her head against his left shoulder, she answered in a whisper "I promise."
~The End~
A/N: Well, there it is! The Christmas special I've been secretly working on for a while, I hope you liked it! I enjoyed typing it and was slightly hard to write. This is dedicated to 'RainStarr' from Quizilla. Merry Christmas!
Reviews are appreciated, thanx for reading! :)