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For this chapter, you get to see more of the type of person Hikari is rather than what you would usually see on the surface, so I hope you enjoy!

I'd like to thank xxlottexx, xImperfectAngelx, DidiTwitches, Aiko, Starrynight91331, and ThE sLeEpInG DrEaMeR; thank you everyone for eoncouraging me to continue this story, so I hope you enjoy the new chapter!

Chapter 2: The Meeting

Choices; they drive our everyday lives and whether they are ones that are too little to make an impact on us or they're ones that are so influential, we make them everyday. It's the choices that we make in life that lead us to where we want to get in life; sometimes we look deep down inside and try to understand what our heart truly wants. It's that small tug on your heart that causes you to make the decision that you make, and maybe, just maybe, my heart would lead me towards the right direction.

The week passed by quickly; too quickly for my own liking and as I stood before our front entrance, I was nervous to meet the Mizukage's son. I had been dressed in my finest kimono decorated with silver hummingbirds and as I stood before the door, waiting beside my father, mother, and brother, to welcome them, I tried to keep my composure. It was hard for me because I was the one that was going to be in the spotlight; meeting a mere stranger and knowing that that person would be your husband is a scary feeling. I was always afraid of strangers as a child, and as I tried to not to have a panic attack, I almost forgot how to breath. Tightening both my fists, my firm grip almost made them turn white and as I saw our doors open, I prepared myself for what was to come.

Taking another deep breath, I quickly bowed as I saw the Mizukage, his son, and some guards enter into our home. Well, this was it I suppose, and as I turned my gaze towards our new guests and took a deep breath, my green orbs meet up with four men. Two of the men were dressed as guards and as I saw another older man dressed up in kage robes, I knew that he was the Mizukage. Turning my gaze towards the younger man standing beside him, I saw that he closely resembled his father. Both had the same jet black hair and while the Mizukage had pale grey eyes, his son's was an iridescent blue color that I became lost in, so lost in that I almost forgot to bow.

As I was broken out of my daze by a mere soft cough from my brother, I rapidly bowed to both men and remained in my place as I took my time to gaze at my soon to be husband. He was wearing standard ninja wear with some navy-colored armor over, and upon closer inspection, I noticed he was calm in his stature as he stood before us with his hands behind his back, but I could tell that just merely by his demeanor, he held an air of pride; he seemed different from the men of this village and as I took another look at him, just by his gaze and presence, I could tell that he was a man of authority and power along with being a great catch; his appearance probably got him several women that would wish they were in my situation and as I saw him tune out of the conversation between my father and the Mizukage, I decided to do so as well.

As I paid no attention to the conversation, I decided to study him even more; it wasn't everyday that our village gets visited by foreign shinobi and as I took in the interesting symbol he held on his headband, I also noticed his other features as well. He was well built and taller than most men and as he held a soft smile on his face, my green orbs met with his smoldering blue eyes, and I couldn't help but blush and slightly avert my gaze from his.

I'm sure my brother saw this and as I saw him smirk from the corner of my eye, I was about to turn to him and give me a piece of my mind before I realized that my father and the Mizukage had just finished talking.

As I felt everyone's eyes on me, I silently gulped and watched as my father introduced myself to the Mizukage's son. As I watched him step forward and bow before me, I slowly approached him and bowed in return. I saw him quickly reach for my hand and as I hesitantly gave him my hand, he took it in his own and softly kissed it.

I tried my best not to blush at his kind gesture and as I retracted my hand from his touch, I was frozen in my place as I watched him carefully as he introduced himself.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Lady Hikari. I'm Hamasaki Makoto, the Mizukage's son, and a Jounin of the Hidden Mist Village." The black haired shinobi said as his gaze met mine.

Nodding at his introduction, I was quick to also introduce myself as I curtsied and stood before him as I replied back with, "It's also a pleasure to meet you as well; I'm sure you already know who I am, but I'm Tsutano Hikari, daughter of Lord Izanagi." I had said as I gave the stranger a kind smile.

He returned my smile with his own and as we both now stood before each other in silence, the moment was slowly broken as my father and the Mizukage approached us.

"Hikari, I'm sure you both would like to get to know each other better? Why not show him around while the Mizukage and I discuss some things together?"

"Hai, otou-san." I replied as I turned towards the Mist nin and signaled for him to follow me.

As I felt him closely follow me from behind as we both left the room, I was surprised to see him catch up to me, and as I almost shrieked from the shock of him appearing beside me, my heart slowed down to it's normal pace as I reminded myself of his shinobi status.

Looking at him with widened green eyes, I saw him smirk at my own shock and as I regained my composure, I saw him from the corner of my eye continue to walk beside me as we continued our way throughout my home.

Well this was going to be a long walk and as I tried to not show any displeasure in showing him around, I was abruptly stopped as Makoto stepped in front of me. Silently glaring at him and raising my eyebrow in confusion, I waited for him to explain himself to me.

"You aren't that talkative are you?" he asked as he looked down at me.

Seeing that I was about 6 inches shorter than him, he seemed to tower over me and as I looked up at him, I replied back with, "Actually, it's quite the opposite."

As I said this, I pushed past him and as I felt him follow beside me again, I tried to ignore his presence. I noticed that he took my behavior in and left me alone as we both continued to walk throughout the area and kept quiet throughout the whole trip.

After showing him around my home, we both reached the backyard and I saw him slowly become mesmerized by the small pond located near the left side. The pond was a decent size and I usually went there to think because it was peaceful and it was situated under a cherry blossom tree, which were one of my favorite kinds of flowers.

I watched him as he gracefully made his way over there without causing a sound, and as I tried my best not to cause too much noise either, I realized that I had clearly failed when I saw him turn around and smile back at me as I almost tripped over a grey stone. I felt a bit foolish when I tried walking like him, but as I stood back and watched him admire the koi pond, I somehow felt at peace with him here.

Something about him caught my attention and whether if it was his good looks or just his calm demeanor, I couldn't help but try to get along with him. Usually, I try to keep my distance from new visitors, but he was different from most people; he didn't try to grab my attention like most people nor did he try to impress me in any way. Maybe I was finding myself being secretly impressed by him trying to not impress me, but whatever it was, I was driven to find out more about him.

I saw him sit down on a bench near the pond and as I boldly decided to sit next to him, we both looked out towards the pond in silence.

My green orbs continued to skim the surface of the water and as I watched a fish's scales reflect off from the moon, I decided to break the uncomfortable silence. As I bit my bottom lip in nervousness, I quickly sighed in defeat and I said, "I usually come here to clear my head; it's nice out here with the cherry blossom tree and the koi. I guess you could call it a safe haven."

As he nodded in response, I saw him slowly turn to me and I saw some small glint in his eyes and as he smiled at me again, I quickly realized that he had planned this, this whole time. "You did this to get me talking didn't you?" I stated as I already knew his answer.

Seeing him giving me a smirk, he replied back with, "Perhaps, but it's nice to see someone start a conversation; it helps me see what kind of person you are."

Raising my eyebrow at him again, I was a bit hesitant to ask my next question and as the black-haired nin noticed this, he was quick to interrupt; "Go on, you're probably wondering what my first impression of you was." He said as he ended with a smirk.

If only I could wipe that smirk off his face because truth be told, it was becoming slightly annoying, but I supposed every male had his own trademark smirk to show his own pride. Quickly sighing in defeat, I nodded my head and waited for his response, and for some reason, I was drawn into his words as I waited impatiently to hear what he thought of me.

"When I first saw that picture of you, I was blown away by your smile, rather than your looks, but now that I'm meeting you face to face, it's quite refreshing to find that you're not the shallow girl that I thought you would be. You seem genuine enough and although you do bit you bottom lip when you're nervous, you don't have to be nervous around me; I won't hurt you."

"I'm like an open book, aren't I?" I questioned him as I saw him nod at my response and turn his attention back to the pond.

As I quietly thought over his words, I couldn't help but feel saddened at my own show of my emotions; looking back at him, I could see he had good control of his feelings and as he now portrayed a stoic expression on his face, I was shocked to hear the next few words come out of his mouth.

"But despite you being an open-book to me, you're interesting; you're different from most people, that much I can tell, and perhaps, that's what I need. Someone who's different and beautiful, like you."

I blushed at his compliment and as I was glad that it was too dark for him to see the red on my cheeks, I replied back with, "Arigatou; I guess I should tell you my first impression of you."

It seemed like I had caught his attention with my statement and as he turned towards me and held his blue-eyed gaze on me, I paused a moment before bravely continuing; "You seem like the type of man who holds a lot of pride and power over others; you seem like someone who's strong and maybe difficult to get along with, but you're different from most men over here. It doesn't seem like you would treat me as a material possession and that's all I could ask for. I can't tell you how many people who have visited here have tried to treat me that way, and to tell you the truth, I'm sick of it. I don't expect you to treat me like dirt, but not like some sort of trophy either. You seem to have a good head on your shoulders and the aura you hold around you is commanding and towering; the enemies you face must cower before you, I assume."

Slowly nodding, Makoto didn't say anything for awhile, until I heard him slightly chuckle; it was as if he was mocking me and as I continued to look at him as if he had just gone crazy and grown a second head, he responded with, "You're quite accurate with your impression of me, but I think you've just skimmed the surface."

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"That's the façade I show as a shinobi and if you are going to become my wife soon, you should know more about me than just by my appearance." Explained the Mist nin as he continued to have his gaze on me.

Nodding at his response, I replied back with, "Then tell me about yourself like your likes, dislikes, dreams, and hobbies."

He paused for a moment, as if shocked I would ask something like that, and as I was about to take my question back, I saw him return back to his calm composure. For some reason I couldn't look away from him and it was as if I was mesmerized by him and as we continued to sit there in peace, I was calm in his presence and felt more comfortable than I ever felt in awhile.

"I'm the type of person that's calm and collected, who likes to train and do what I can for my village; I don't really enjoy eating sweets and I prefer more bitter tasting foods. In my spare time I usually enjoy spending it in quiet places like this and my biggest dream is to become the next Mizukage and to carry on the work of my father."

As I listened carefully to everything he said, I noticed how passionately he talked about his village and the status of Mizukage and as I became more entranced by his words, I found that he was an interesting person to talk to.

"And yourself?" he asked as he waited for an answer.

I was still in my daze when he asked me this and as I quickly broke out of it and blushed as I saw him smirk, I nodded slowly and continued with, "I like lots of things, like this world, my family, and my village; I enjoy reading in my spare time or spending my time here or painting and I dislike how overprotective my brother is and how stressed out my father becomes from his job. I love eating dango and I'm not a fan of bitter things and I dislike the color of my hair."

As I finished, I waited for his response and as I waited for his approval, I chewed nervously on my bottom lip; his face looked as though he was deep in thought, but as he still continued to look at me, I became frozen in place as I saw him slowly touch my cheek with his hand.

I surely wasn't expecting him to get this close and as I almost cursed myself for letting my guard down, I quickly shut my green eyes as I felt his touch. I was lowly drawing back from him, and as I slowly tried to open one eye, I was cautiously watching him to see what his next step would be. I saw him press his thumb against my cheek and as I blushed from the contact, I opened both my eyes and realized that his face had come closer as well.

Still frozen in my place, I widened both my eyes in shock, but quickly calmed down as I saw him slowly put a strand of my white hair back in its place. I felt him closely examine me and as I took this time to observe him too, I saw that he had a strong jaw line and a great bone structure.

As I came out of my daze, I realized my heartbeat was becoming erratic and as I returned back to my normal pulse, I waited for him to pull his hand away from my face. I still felt slightly uncomfortable under his gaze; his blue eyes were staring directly at me, as if they were staring right into my soul, and as I became lost in them once again, he slowly backed away and gave me one of his genuine smiles.

As he smiled at me, I could tell that it was real, and as I noticed his own smile, I thought it fit him perfectly; it only further enhanced his eyes and as I silently thought in my head that he had one of the nicest smiles I've ever seen, I quickly heard him chuckle.

Looking at him once again as though he was the crazy one, I realized that I had said my thought aloud and as I quickly covered my mouth with my hands, I was quick to turn away before he could see me blush from embarrassment.

I tried hiding my own embarrassment and although I miserably failed, I felt him turn my head towards him and as that only caused me to only blush a darker reddish color, he only smiled at me and tried to calm me down.

"No need to feel ashamed; thank you for that, and you shouldn't feel ashamed of your hair, it's beautiful, just like the snow." Makoto said as he looked at me and quickly turned away.

Seeing that he was genuinely saying this, I tried to turn and see that he was hiding his very own blush from me and as I saw the small hint of pink of his cheeks, it meant a lot to me for him to say something like that. While growing up here, I always felt like an oddball because of my hair, and to hear someone else besides my family compliment me on it was startling, yet amazing at the same time.

As I still felt his hand touching my cheek, I slowly took his hand away from my face with my own, and held onto him. I couldn't help but smile at his compliment and as I saw him widen his eyes at my bold gesture, I whispered a quiet thank you as we both spent that moment in silence.

I had spent the whole day with him, and as the day quickly ended, I wished it lasted longer. Despite barely even knowing him, I felt as though I've known him my whole life and as I stood there at the exit watching him leave, I couldn't help but wait to see him again. I saw him slightly smile and wave back to me, and as I gave him my own smile and wave in return, something about him caused my heart to skip a beat.

I think the thing I liked the most about him was the way he talked to me; he didn't judge me like most people and he somehow seemed to understand me. Truth be told, I never opened up to people that much, and to think that I've only known him for a few short hours, it was amazing to find someone like him. He listened carefully to what I had to say and it meant a lot to me, especially since I was just a small voice lost in a large town. He saw me underneath my family name and as I saw his form slowly disappear from the dark horizon, I hoped our relationship would grow even further.

Maybe I was making the right choice when I saw the real him; someone who stood out from the pack and was kind enough to not judge a book by its cover. Life's always about the choices we make, and at that moment, having someone like him as a husband didn't seem too bad and I didn't know how far this would lead me, but I had a feeling it would lead to my happy ending.

Please review and tell me what you think of it; like I said before, they help me become a better writer and encourage me to update and to continue.

-Katara