Reaching the End of the Road

"Soldiers of November Storms"

An ItaSaku drabble.

XX

There she sat, quietly settling herself upon the chilled grey stone. Her eyes; silent as the dull jade reflecting the ghostly mood she cast everywhere.

A man stood on the porch, watching her just outside the shuddering grasp of the icy rain. In one hand, he held a suitcase. In the other, a dark, heavy bomber jacket, showing the rank of a private, and the name 'Uchiha' sewn over the left front. An Uchiha symbol was sewn on the back also.

In her fragile peace, the tiny woman perched upon the rock became increasingly distant. Pale, wet skin grew transparent, and pastel pink hair turned dark as it wrapped her face and neck in a cocoon. The word was caught in her throat, and before she could choke on it…she was forced to swallow it whole.

From his place, the man stared into those glistening orbs. He could almost see the numb plaster on her cheeks, creating an invisible barrier between her pain and the rain. He could separate the tears from the sky water…

In a mechanical fashion, his feet began the short trek forward, though each step weighed ten thousand pounds, and each one took more and more of his heart and soul. He reached his beautiful stone blossom; mounted to the stone she was silently becoming. There they were, in the middle of the yard.

Tilting her face toward the sky, she stared up; unflinching, unmoving, and hardly breathing. She was so beautiful. Even as such a dying stone; she was beautiful always in his eyes.

Also looking to the rain, the obsidian-haired man did not move. He blinked once, and he wished more than anything else to touch her; to hold her in his arms for the last time. But; he couldn't will himself to break such a tranquil moment. He feared he might break her from her perfect, fragile posture.

His blossom, sitting there in this rain…or maybe it was ice. Neither of them could really tell. She was just too numb…and his heartbeats were on hold.

Moments later, after a low growl of thunder, the stone blossom averted her gaze from the crying sky, and those eyes. Those eyes pleaded for him to stay. He could see it clearly more than anything else.

For a second, he could swear he noticed a tiny flicker of terror, regret, and desperate calling. He was leaving…

Where he was going, he could not take her. But; oh! How he wished. He wished every singly night since the mission had been assigned to him. Every night he wished to tell her to pack her things and run away with him. To run away with his fragile, broken stone.

The crimson pools he saw through appeared dark to everyone. Everyone except her. She smiled in the wake of those bloody irises. She saw the brighter color in those eyes; and she had full trust and faith in the color red. After all, her favorite color was red. His red…

A cold hand pressed to his cheek, and slowly; he could feel it fade. He did not fear the numbness. Her numb hand against his numb cheek; nothing to feel. He breathed her scent; of vanilla and mint drawn lighter from the rain.

He touched her now, his fingers curling slowly around her frozen hand, regretfully peeling it away to hold in his hand. It only it was more than her hand…if only it were her heart.

Another hand laid upon him; his chest this time. And his stone blossom turned toward him, awake.

Locked in a sorrowful, damp gaze with one another, two colors met. Crimson slowly intensified the jade crystals burning like slow, molten-lava deep within his blossom's eyes. It was faint, but it was there.

He lowered his face. Careful of his actions, he kissed her lips. It was light; feather-like. And it was cold.

The hand on his chest snaked up to his neck, pulling his head down to hers once more. She touched her forehead against his, biting her lip to suppress a heart-full of sobs.

Instead, tears involuntarily cascaded over the snowy hills of her cheeks. Her hand stroked his long hair, memorizing what silk felt like. The hand held was free to hold his face.

He couldn't take it any longer, she was really scaring him. His lips captured hers with such a level of love both could swear his heart was being kissed away. It was gentle, and both the man and his wife closed their eyes…welcoming the showering thunder that began to quietly bellow once again.

His hands; flat against the stone, one moving to pull her body to his in a chilled embrace that stung where skin touched skin. In his head, he hoped the rain would freeze them like this for the rest of eternity. They would be together…forever.

In desperate need of air, the woman pulled her swollen lips from his. Neither had to say anything; they knew they would rather die suffocating in deprivation of oxygen by kissing one another than anything else.

Still scared for life, the stone blossom began to break, instead creating a frozen work of art; heart and Soul. She wished he would put his suitcase back in the house, and go crawling back into bed with her. To make love to her one last time before he raced to his death. But…she could not.

Her voice, broken and dying; finally she spoke. "Stay." She'd been trying to say for a long time now.

Tears even spilled over the brim of his own eyes and streaked down his cheeks at the sound of her voice. He choked, "I can't." and his voice was wrung with heartache as it cracked.

Her slender hand held his, and she placed it against her stomach. "Stay." Her angelic voice begged again. Her eyes searched his face for a reaction.

A loud, pained sob wracked his throat this time, sending moans of pain ripping past his lips. He shook, squeezing the hand he held tighter, afraid she might be gone if he let go. He couldn't help but lay his head against her shoulder and cry. He finally realized why she was so upset.

His mistake was imminent, and there was little to no time left before he would have to die. He pried himself from her body, whispering 'I'm sorry' through his salty tears and kissing her quickly for one more time before going back inside. His hand left her stomach…

Again, she was alone. Not even beside herself; her own hand didn't rest upon her stomach. All she could do now was cry helplessly into the rain. Every scream muted by the roar of thunder.

Only a moment later, the man emerged from the back door again. Slowly, just as before, he walked to her; staggering like the undead. Finally standing before her, he grabbed his love's shoulders and pulled her from the stone.

His body crushed to hers, and his lips knew their way home.

Once their lips parted for just a second, the woman asked him to stay for the final time, not bothering to listen or look…knowing all too well that he could not.

"I'll stay. They said I can stay. I'm yours…forever." He whispered in ragged breaths. Suddenly, the jade crystals that made up her eyes were there, illuminating her face again, and brushing her icy skin with a flame-thrower.

Strange; how his stone blossom now piled herself into his arms. Holding her forever, he nuzzled her face and whispered, "I love you, Mrs. Uchiha Sakura." And his hand once again found its way to her belly.

"I love you more than anything, Itachi-kun." She kissed him as he carried her inside to make love with the November storm.


so yeah.
new drabble collab up and running.
and it'll get better.
hope you liked it.

btw; sorry i haven't updaed anything else.
for summer..
life is busy as hell.
kthnx.

love,
Razega.