a/n: Happy Holidays.
Loop
He found her in an unlikely place at an unlikely hour and in the most unlikely circumstance. Barely an hour before midnight, there she was, stationed at his favorite corner of some hole-in-the-wall pub he had incidentally taken a liking to. He wasn't the socializing type so he thought the place to be the haven for people of his kind, those who wanted to stay under the radar as much as possible as they wallow in self-pity and self-loath. Just that self-destructing wasn't also his thing. He just happened to really love the place because he wanted to liquor up every now and then and he never saw the need for company.
But there she was with her half-finished cocktail, her once-unruly hair now held up in a single bun with some parts dyed green – a notch darker than the color of her eyes. He could still remember even without her looking at him. After all, he used to know her. Used to because once there was a Temari he knew who wouldn't be found dead in such a place doing things so casually, whose hair wasn't painted with such a strange color, and who wasn't dressed in a gray long tee with a print that says "Take Me Home."
He wasn't supposed to make a move, but someone else did, and it was probably instinct that drove him to her. The random stranger was obviously making a pass at her, and his protective nature insisted that was simply . . . illegal.
Coming from behind, he laid a hand atop the man's shoulder. The man glanced at him, and he stared back firmly.
"I'm sorry but it's past my sister's curfew so I have to take her home."
The guy awkwardly murmured something in assent and shied away, giving a final nod to Temari. Shikamaru had expected her to be shocked or to show disgust at his sudden appearance, but Temari, in turn, just regarded him with a detached, almost bored expression, as she took a sip of her drink.
After a while, she spoke. "So that's also part of your duty now. Protecting strangers."
"Protecting civilians."
"Protecting ex-girlfriends."
He didn't miss a beat. "I never had girlfriends."
"Oh."
He thought he saw her lost for a moment before she reached up for her bun and pulled it out of the band's hold so that her hair now dangled freely in a ponytail. He realized that her naturally blonde hair blended well with what looked to be streaks of green and its gradient. The contrast against her rather drab outfit was rather smart, and she looked stunning.
She jiggled her head for a bit before focusing back on him.
"But you see, that was unnecessary. I was flirting with him."
He wanted to laugh. She was too innocent to know the art of what she claimed to be doing. Not that he could be bothered to know better.
"You should already be home by this hour."
"You're not my father."
"And you're no longer a child."
"Exactly why I'm here. Go away."
"It's already past your curfew."
"You're no longer my bodyguard and curfew is so yesterday. I'm 23, just in case you don't know your Math."
They never really parted amicably, and he decided they needed this. He needed her to quell his guilt over what he did.
"Temari, about that day. . . "
"Are you sure you want to talk about that?"
Her smile caught him off guard, and he was suddenly not sure about why he appeared in front of her in the first place. He was always the mature one. He should've been done doing his part.
Temari quickly paid for her drinks and in the next moment, she was holding his arm familiarly, pulling him along. She'd always do this before whenever she wanted to show him something. Once, she dragged him down a slope to the edge of the river to show him the poppies which she claimed to be magical simply because they were the only patch of life in the marshy wasteland.
Temari was always magical, someone who would always be at the tip of his fingers because he was a successful bodyguard and an incorrigible coward at the same time.
"So where's your new car?"
He barely registered the sudden distance between them. She was few steps ahead, turning her head from side to side as she probably made an attempt to find a parcel of him around the sparsely occupied parking space.
But she wouldn't recognize his car because once, there was also a Shikamaru that she knew by heart, and time had passed.
He walked past her and straight to his car parked at the far corner of the area.
"A Jaguar? And . . . black? God, Shika, this is too sleek and refined and . . . too formal. So not you!"
He thought so, but it was worth buying and showing to her for that rare prize of seeing her rolling her eyes at him just like that time she did when he took her out for cloud-watching, and he claimed to see a shooting star in the midst of the afternoon.
He regarded her for a moment before he signaled the doors open, and they both went inside.
"I liked your recon green jeep back then. It had that lazy vibe which is so you. But thrilling, nonetheless."
She shrugged despite the subtext, and he just had to bring it back to the surface.
"That's why you ran away and stole it."
He recalled that early morning he woke up from the vibration of his phone. There was a missed call from the Suna patriarch with a message about her missing daughter and then a selfie shot from her, with his jeep as the background.
"To teach you a lesson."
They were lying on their favorite spot along the riverbank watching the clouds together when she asked him to take her elsewhere. They had been on the road for a couple of hours before she told him she wanted him and asked him to never turn back. But he did. Oh, he did.
"I had to bring you back to your father. You were only 17 and – "
"You didn't want to be charged with kidnapping."
"It's not that – "
"Of course, not! I ran away with you and you ran away from me."
She laughed with those glassy eyes of hers, and he wondered at the strange things that alcohol does on one's system. Definitely a boon and bane at the same time. He'd probably survive this confrontation if he had some pints in his bloodstream.
"You didn't love me at all so I stole your car and ran away with it."
And then she sneered, that same expression he had imagined her having when she called him that day she'd gone missing and told him he'd never see his car again and that she loved him. He had asked her where she was, and she promised him she'd return if it meant she'd never see him again. Right away, he turned in his resignation, and her father happily welcomed her back later that evening of the same day. Together with her father, she thanked him for his satisfactory service as how a client should, and he did his role as a professional just the same– he bade her goodbye.
But his goodbye didn't mean he'd stopped caring.
"So you're saying you stole my car because you thought I didn't love you?"
"I just said so. You were more interested in watching the clouds than me."
"What kind of a sick joke is that?"
"It's not a joke. I did steal your car and I did love you."
She sighed audibly and threw her head back against the headrest. She then turned on the radio before looking back at him.
"But it's sick that I still do."
A song started playing, that one which irritated him to the bones because he'd almost memorized the whole of it.
"You were young."
"But what I felt for you was real."
He really wanted to mute the radio for a while because it was all about getting closer which was completely irrelevant and almost desecrating what was supposed to be their closure.
"So where's my old car?"
"Rotting away in our garage. I know Dad can summon you anytime but . . . I don't know. I didn't want him to call you. Actually, I never wanted to see you again so I don't know why you had to be in the same bar as I am at this friggin' hour."
"Can I have it back?"
"I doubt it'd still work."
"It was my first car."
He also wanted to add that she was the first and the last girl whom he would ever allow to be inside his car, but just like that annoying song, it was utterly irrelevant.
"Shika, I didn't think you were the sentimental type."
She sounded like that time from the past when he bought her a roll of cotton candy, and she made a remark on how he didn't look like the sweet type of guy but was exactly just that.
"I'm not."
Because if he was, he'd keep her.
"Will you let me steal this car, then?"
He looked at her inquisitively, and for one beat, they held each other's gaze.
We ain't ever getting older.
She sang the instrumental part and bobbed her head for a bit to the melody.
"I'm getting married. So, I'll take this as your gift for my upcoming wedding."
Temari had always had the better humor, and she'd made him smile and laugh over her jokes for so many times before, but this particular joke wasn't in the least bit funny.
"You must be kidding. I won't find you here if you're getting married."
"I wouldn't find myself here either. I'd probably be there in his bed if I loved him."
He immediately cast away the undesirable mental image her words had created. But she laughed again, and it was so forced it almost complemented the superficiality of the song that was thankfully nearing its end.
"Who is he?"
"Well, definitely not you."
She sounded positively amused, and it irked him even more. Damn, that alcohol and the song.
"Some nephew of a business partner. We dated once. But I thought he'd rather date himself. I've dated a lot of guys ever since you handed me so graciously back to my father and I dumped all of them because I just can't like them enough the way I wanted you. So, so troublesome, isn't it? But this guy probably promised my father a lot of things and well, at least everything has been arranged for me. I won't have to worry about being left behind this time around."
The song finally ended, and he turned off the radio. He needed to think clearly although the lyrics of the song were still mercilessly dancing around in his head.
He can't stop.
"Troublesome."
"Very."
"And you're not running away this time."
"Nope. Because adults don't run away."
She quickly smiled at him before she pushed the door open. "Although I have to run from you now."
Again, it was probably instinct that urged him to pull her so hard that he'd also managed to make her close the door which in turn gave him the chance to automatically lock it.
He didn't have any alcohol messing up his system, but he had no idea what he was doing. All he knew was that he had to get out of this place as soon as possible with her beside him.
He started the car and pressed on the gas pedal.
"Where are we going?"
If they were the Temari and Shikamaru from six years ago, it'd be easy to provide an answer to that. She'd always ask that, and he'd always have an answer because those were harmless excursions with a destination in mind. At the end of the day, he'd always bring her home.
"Taking you home."
"I told you I'm not running away this time."
"We'll have to see your father."
"You're cruel, Shika. Are you seriously returning me again to – "
"I have to. And then I'll properly ask for his permission."
Her father trusted him a lot before. After all, he was a top-notch private bodyguard hired to protect his daughter. Shikamaru needed not ask for permission to take his daughter to places because he was always assured that Temari would return safely.
But this time, Shikamaru had to break that promise. He needed permission to take her away.
He noticed the silence of the woman beside him so he pulled up for a moment and found her looking at him with a smile spread over her face.
"Let's go watch the clouds again sometime."
He could only smirk. "Sure. And then I'll be watching you."
A faint blush dusted her cheeks, and it took him back to that time when he had first asked her to go cloud-watching with him.
"You sly fox."
And they laughed together like good old friends running into each other and realizing there had always been something more.
...
Fin.
(Heavily inspired by Chainsmoker's "Closer")