title: true lover's knot
pairing: sasuke/hinata
notes: post-war, in-universe, a story of progression. i haven't written anything in a long time, i hope you'll all enjoy this!
It was like an easing storm the way they came to be Sasuke and Hinata. The war had ended. Problems amended. Rehabilitation a part of daily life. Peace seemingly everlasting. They were all readjusting, praising whatever force out there that had allowed them to live and prosper after a war that threatened humanity.
Konoha was rebuilding, still unfinished from the invasion it suffered by the hands of Akatsuki's false leader. Bonds were being sewn back together, threads blossoming, linking loved ones, sweeping around their fingers.
Hinata had understood and had to move on, her love for the brightest person in her life was unrequited; for he had found love with a blossoming.. blossomed woman. Her side empty, her dearest brother having embraced the veiled skeletal crow of death.
She had to heal. Pick up pieces of her heart and arrange them back together. Every piece recovered by new found love in her life. The love of her fanged comrade, of her tall yellow-eyed bug prince, her brothers in arms. The love of her teacher and mother, the red-eyed woman of dreams and illusions. The woman's child, a dark beauty, his fire burning strong.
And yet, a darkness loomed over her, a persistent pain. A longing, for someone to hold, someone to belong, someone to love and feel loved.
It was when she met him, on the outskirts of the village, in one of the large expanses of land; greenery, twittering birds, soft breezes and rustling leaves, ponds and lush grounds, a slice of heaven in this light of mortality.
He sat across her, lost in thought, darkness looming over him and through him, not a shred of light in his bleak eyes. She stared intently at his reflection on the glazed surface of the still pond, afraid to make direct contact, not wanting to ruin the privacy he obviously sought... and yet. She stands, sweeping her hands towards her thighs, walking and guarded. She padded towards him, stood for a moment, then sat next to him, shoulders an inch apart. They sit in silence, it is comfortable and restless at the same time.
The company is over seconds later, he leaves. But a connection was established and an understanding grew between them.
They met like this and life was slowly beginning to have colour again. They spoke of inner demons, of bonds lost to the veil, of fears and regrets and dreams and desires. A warmth consumed their hearts, embracing it like a velvety caress; for they have found what was lost to them, the deep red passion of intimacy. Two haves of a whole come together again, the red thread between them secured around their hearts.
Her eyes like the moon, shining light on the darkness in his heart, for it is never truly dark, however big or small the moon's crescent.
Years sailed by, their feelings apparent and exchanged.
He walked her home one night, they had spent a pleasant evening at the pond-side where they had first met, and had a picnic, where they ate and had almost made love under the soft glow of the moonlight. It was just as they had come back to the village, just past the large gates and the sentinels guarding the entrance in the dead of night, waved through tight residential pathways where they slowed to a stop in a random area, houses lined neatly, trees dotting the roads.
He set the blanket and basket on the ground and took both of her hands, looking deep into her eyes. The gaze so strong it captured her in a timeless trance, he did not break contact, even as he descended onto one knee, and produced a delicate thin golden band with a perfect half pearl, a peculiar shade of lilac, like her eyes.
She held her breath, as he asked her to be forever his.
Her eyes glazed and droplets collected on her eyelashes, he held his breath, his heart stopping in his chest.
Everything melted away and here only existed Hinata and Sasuke, absorbed in the intensity of the moment. Every doubt, every bit of fear dissipated the moment she released a breath, loud enough for his ears only. His heart drummed hard and true in his chest from the purest happiness in the world.
"Yes."