MORNING REPOSE
for Sammie
...
Sakura awoke Sunday morning to the sound of birds chirping outside her window. Sunlight filtered through her curtains in iridescent rays that stretched across her floor in streams of gold, dust danced in the air along to an unheard tune. She needed to do some spring cleaning.
Sitting up, Sakura eyed the clock for a moment, before sighing and pulling herself from the sheets. Yawning, she rose to stand on the cool floor with a small shiver. Out of habit, the woman turned to make her bed, glancing fondly at the tidy side. It'd been at least three years since anyone had slept there; since he'd slept there.
Still, it seemed sometimes as if he'd only left just that morning.
After a minute, she came back to herself, moving to pick up the clothes littering every surface of her bedroom; today was a day off, and she planned to take advantage of it. She'd been taught there was really no such thing as a day off in her line of work, and though it was true, Sakura had grown to love this kind of work. The simple kind that could've taken all day or a few minutes, depending on just how long she wanted to sit and stare out the window. Or how much time slipped away in a daydream.
Once, she had a life she wanted to live. Those things were now reserved for the corners of her mind, where she kept her happiest memories tucked away for quiet days.
"You awake?" A familiar voice called from somewhere close; light and amused over the audible morning murmur of the streets below. Sakura paused, immediately searching for the source while blinking back a few nostalgic tears. When a quick walk around her apartment proved fruitless, she returned to her pile of dirty laundry, thoughtfully listening to the birds that had nested on the fire escape.
Someone cleared their throat, the sound coming clear through the thin glass of her window.
Sakura pulled a shirt over her head, padding across her bedroom with careful steps. Who would be out there this early? She opened it, noting the absence of the birds as she leaned out the window, looking around with bated breath.
It didn't take long to find him at all.
She gasped, scanning the face of the man before her; his mismatched eyes, free of the usual protector covering them. He looked as he always had to her, from twenty-six to thirty-two; as if not a day had passed since the day they had first met, so many years ago.
Kakashi was reclining on the stairway up, forearms resting on his knees. His smile teasing as he lifted two fingers in a mock salute. "Yo."
Her heart leapt suddenly, slamming against her ribcage in a flurry of emotion,"You're dead."
"Am I?"
For a second, for the most precious second, she believed it. She believed him.
Sakura awoke Sunday morning to the sound of birds chirping outside her window.
