Losing Perspective-
(Flash Back)
"What do you mean you can't feel anything? You can feel me poking you, can't you?" The pair sat together underneath the shade of the Sakura tree, overlooking the eastern end of the village.
He sighed. "Of course I can feel you poking me, Sakura. I can feel hurt, pain, and even pleasure…" He smirked.
She blushed at his blatant words. Her brows furrowed, confused. "But… you just admitted that you can feel, so what do you mean when you say that you don't?"
He leaned back in the grass, allowing his elbows to keep him propped up. "You don't get it, do you?"
"Obviously not, babe, otherwise, would I be asking?" Her tone is dry, almost haughty.
"Sakura…" He sighed. "A person can feel everything at once without feeling everything at all."
"R-right… I think…"
"Don't you see; I am all but dead inside? (We all are) He let out a frustrated huff. "People go through the motions of feeling; Love, Anger, Sadness. All of it. That is all our life really is, is us just going through the motions."
She blinked, eyeing him lazily, her lips parted in the act of taking a breath.
He was silent for a moment before speaking again. "We're all expected to cry when we get hurt, to laugh when we're happy, and grieve when we're sad; when a loved one dies. We're expected to find a person to spend the rest of our lives with, to have a family, to worry about them…"
He sighed again, swiveling to meet hers. "Don't you see, Sakura, life is just us running through the motions. That's it, Sakura. That's it…"
She watched as his expression bent askew, pain flaring in his eyes. "Gaara, Wh-why are you–"
"Why am I telling you this, you mean?"
She nodded, watching as he sat up. She shivered as he sighed, stroking her hair, her face, her throat. "Well?"
He offered a wan smile. "Sakura, Sakura; I tell you this so that you can open your heart, eyes. Open your mind and free yourself…"
"From what, the clutches of normalcy?" she laughed, but it never reached her eyes. "Gaara…"
"Just promise me, Sakura," he whispered hoarsely. "Promise me that you won't turn into what life wants you to be; that you'll stay as you are. Promise me, Sakura…" his voice died away on a very faint "Please…"
She turned her gaze away from his pleading, anguished eyes. She was a coward, unable to face him. "Yes," she whispered against the thread bare material of his shirt, her hands clutching at him desperately. "Yes, Gaara, I promise… I promise…"
(End Flash Back)
And that was the end of it.
Yea, I stayed the same, mentally anyways, even after all this time, but he didn't… I'm honestly not even sure if I would recognize him anymore… and I wonder if perhaps, maybe he's forgotten me.
I sigh. "Gaara…"
The storm rages outside, tiny flecks of water sliding down the window panes. I close my eyes against the onslaught of pain.
"Gaara…"