It had been only natural that Rock Lee would start to feel affection for her. She was as beautiful as anything he'd ever seen, she was as lovely as any flower, powerful enough to match his strength, strong in mind as well as in body, and she could heal him when no one else could. Who couldn't love such a wonderful woman?
And she wasn't just that. At first it had been the way she knew things about the world, about love, about his own body that he had never been aware of. She healed his body but she also healed his heart- she gave him hope and strength again. Those early days were more about lust between them than love, he'd been in so much awe of her mind, strength, body, and she loved the way he stared at her with open delight everytime she pulled him aside and captured his body with her arms and legs. And although she never let him see her naked in those early days, he didn't care.
Love came later. He first felt love, real love, when she started to let him past her barriers. When she was naked in front of him the first time, he'd been so taken back by the expression of vulnerability on her face that he'd never seen before that he'd embraced her and held her. They'd never understand, she had whispered to him then, they'd never understand the feelings between us now. She'd looked as if she were drowning then. Drowning in her own fears, fears that she'd hid under her clothing till now. And he'd felt a strong urge to protect her, to squash those fears, to hold her and hold her and hold her till she wasn't afraid anymore. From that night on, their taboo relationship became something so much more to them both, and there was a trust between them. They had unbreakable faith in each other.
Sometimes Rock Lee was sad about the relationship. He wanted to tell the entire world of his love for this wonderful woman. He wanted to tell Gai-sensai that he had found the woman he loved, the woman he'd marry if it were possible. Gai-sensai knew he was in love, but he'd just smiled and hit Rock Lee on the back. It wasn't unusual for shinobi to keep relationships secret, if they could manage, till the marriage was inevitable. Duty before love. No regret.
And yet... he was dying now, he'd been unable to complete the mission, and all he could think about was her. Who would hold her when she was afraid, when she was stressed, when her bottled insecurities built up till breaking point? who would love her like he had? How could he not feel regret for leaving her behind? She would become lonely again. She would start to drink too much again. He couldn't protect her anymore.
"I'm sorry..." He rasped, eyes half glazed, vision focused past Neji, TenTen, Gai-Sensai, barely aware that the three held him and pleaded for him to hold on. Tears, real tears, leaked out of his eyes and fell down his face to mix with the steady flow of blood that streamed out of a hole in his neck. He could feel it, death, rushing in for him, and with the last of his breath, he murmured, "Tsunade."