Sakura was fuming, Sasuke was late again. All she wanted was a couple of hours a night with him. Was that so much to ask? He could barely manage that and even when he was there with her, his mind appeared to be elsewhere…
Just then Yui announced that his Majesty had arrived. Sakura marched up to him and was about to reprimand him for being late but then he looked her hard in the eye and said, "Sakura, I am in no mood for your complaints right now."
The pink-haired concubine would have argued had Sasuke not looked like he was about to allow tears to fall from his dark eyes. Sasuke never cried, and to see him so close to tears was unnerving. She abandoned her anger and took Sasuke tenderly by the shoulders and guided him towards the sofa. "Tell me, Sasuke. What ails you?"
"I sent word to Reina about our baby months ago, she should have written back by now. This means she either doesn't know that I am having a child that if female I wanted to name after her, or she is trying not to let herself care."
Sakura was sympathetic, but she was rather confused at the same time. Sasuke had never held such a high respect for anyone. Yes he respected Naruto and his brother and Kakashi and many others, but the only people Sakura could think he held in higher regard were his parents. In fact he seemed to care about her opinion even more than he cared about theirs. "Look Sasuke, I know you are hurting ..."
"No," Sasuke said, putting his head in his hands and leaning his elbows on his thighs. "No, Sakura, you don't. Listen, when it comes to my opinions I have never thought about anyone else. Sure I hold other people's opinions in high regard, such as my parents, Naruto and Kakashi." Sakura nodded along, slightly annoyed that she hadn't been mentioned. "But none of them could make me second-guess myself like Reina did. And it wasn't just me; she could do that to everyone. She didn't even have to say anything; she would just look at you with those eyes that held nothing but love, laughter and sadness. I always counted on her opinion to balance out mine, and without her i just..." his voice was getting more and more emotional as his speech continued. "I just feel so lost."
He sounded it too.
He thought back to the last thing Reina had said to him before she returned to the Sky Country the first time, before her coronation. Someone had been flirting with Naruto, and he was getting worked up and was about to march over to his fiancée and the insolent woman who dared to approach him when long, slender yet strong fingers wrapped themselves around his, then his slim forearm. He turned back and was about to demand that he be let go but the smile that greeted him just softened his heart and he calmed down. She silently invited him to sit down on the grass. They stayed silent for exactly four minutes (Sasuke was counting) until Reina finally turned to her younger friend and gave him a gentle yet sad smile.
"I know what you truly want, Sasuke."
"You do, do you?" answered Sasuke, knowing that Reina was about to begin talking about something they had never discussed before but she had made him feel was a long time coming. That was another thing she could do. Another annoying, clever little political habit of hers that never failed to get his attention.
"Remember shortly after I came here, I made friends with the chef's little boy, he was about your age. Aiosh was his name, remember?" Sasuke nodded. "I taught him how to play the Veela Lume, which if you remember correctly translates as?"
Sasuke sighed, she was always testing him and Naruto on their knowledge of the Skylandic language she had given them. "The Rain Whistle."
"Correct," she said with a giggle. "Remember when it came to his birthday and I got him a Lume of his own? He was so excited, he ran around telling everyone," she let her head fall back in recollection; the sun seemed to give her a halo. "And you," she said, turning her head towards him with that same smile she had given him earlier. "You were so mad that someone you loved as much as me could make someone else that happy."
Sasuke looked away; he knew that was true, but Reina continued. "So you demanded that I give you your own Whistle," she paused and stared at him intently, her face now sober. "But you never played it."
Sasuke's knees had brought themselves up into his chest of their own accord, and he couldn't look at Reina. "I warn you, Lambie," she said softly. "Unless you want this Empire to delve into chaos and despair ... don't make Naruto your next whistle."
Those were the last words Reina had spoken to him alone. They had said their final goodbyes, but that was their last private conversation and Sasuke longed to have one of them again, even if it made him feel like the most awful person in the world. He just couldn't stand feeling this lost anymore.
