Alright, next chapter!
Let's do this.
"Your ankle should be fine in a couple of days." The healer said to Ame who looked distraught.
"A couple of days?" She muttered to herself, "thank you very much for your help." The healer, an ageing man with thick rimmed glasses nodded to her.
"It was a pleasure." He stood up and left the room. Ame and Gaara looked at each other, both thinking of what they should do.
"I'll send word to Jin's family." Kaze said wearily and stood to take out paper from his bag to begin writing the letter. Ame and Kaze were in a small bedroom in the house that belonged to the head of the village. The loud, large and happy faced man they had met earlier and his wife, the timid, little lady who was with him. The room was small because it was full of random items that looked like junk to Kaze but Ame marvelled at it all because they were items that dated back centuries. It was as if this one room was trying to preserve the history of the kingdom in this tiny space. The double bed on which Ame was sat on looked like it once belonged to a royal palace for it was a four poster bed with deep red, velvet curtains. Kaze had been sat on a chair that seemed like a throne, gold and far larger than himself it was. Hisa, the daughter of the head of the village, had brought them here and sent a healer, where she was now neither knew. They could hear the goings on outside; the village was busy preparing a feast for them. People were laughing and talking loudly outside their room and eventually the door opened and Hisa's mother walked in. She came straight up to Ame and put a hand on her forehead, the princess was surprised by this; they were strangers and yet she was treated as though part of the family.
"Well you haven't got a fever or any other signs of illness." The woman muttered and Ame beamed up at her, "perhaps over dinner you can tell us where you are travelling to, I'm sure my husband can help you find an easy route," she added as she looked to Kaze. "A letter?" Gaara looked up and blushed; there was something almost motherly about the woman, it was an affection he wasn't used to.
"I must tell the people we are travelling to that we will be set back for a few days." He said and put his head down to continue writing.
"Well you both must come outside in a few hours for the feast." She said comfortingly before turning back to Ame and brushing her hair back from her face, "rest now." She walked over to Kaze and put a hand on his chin to tilt his head towards her.
"Wha…" Kaze began but realised it would be rude to talk like that to an elder, especially one who was so nice. She checked his forehead too and his eyes before nodding in satisfaction.
"You're fine." She concluded. "You both sleep for a while and Hisa will come and get you." She left the room and Kaze put the letter down on a table next to him.
"She's nice." Ame said nonchalantly and Kaze nodded at her.
"I'll ask for a bird to send the letter with a little later." He said and she nodded at him. "For now, sleep doesn't seem so bad." He tried to get comfortable in the throne like chair but looked up to Ame as she laughed. "What?"
"Lie here," she indicated with a nod a place beside her on the bed.
"No," he said simply.
"Why not?" She sounded offended and he almost laughed at her.
"You didn't want to sleep in the same room as me and now you want me to sleep in the same bed? I think you are ill." He murmured and raised an eyebrow as Ame laughed again.
"Those times," she began slowly, wondering how to go on, "I did not trust you." She said bluntly, "but now, there's no one in the world I trust more than you." There was a moment of silence in which Kaze seemed to be thinking this through, "besides," Ame added quickly, "you're more tired than me; you had to carry me all this way." She shrugged and he nodded; he was exhausted from carrying her all the way here without stopping. He approached the bed and sat down next to Ame and all of a sudden both found they were nervous. They looked at each other and laughed; what was there to be so nervous about? Kaze lay down on the bed beside Ame but was so tired that as soon as his head touched the pillow he closed his eyes and fell asleep. "Ka…" Ame fell quiet as she turned to him and saw he was lost in his dreams. And for a moment, or even just a part of a moment, she found herself wondering what it would be like, in different circumstances to be able to touch his porcelain like skin. She shook herself out of it and put her head down to rest too, unknowing that Kaze's dreams were only of that violet eyed princess.
"They are very sweet kids."
"They remind me of me and you when we were young!"
"Keep your voice down dearest; you'll wake them!" But Gaara was already awake and could hear the head of the village and his wife talking above him. But he could also feel a weight on his chest. He was still too tired to open his eyes so put his hand there to throw the weight off his chest. After a moment he heard someone else call out.
"Get off!" Ame cried as someone's hand hit her face. She pushed it away and went back to sleeping.
"On second thoughts, our relationship was never this strange." Ame and Gaara opened their eyes, realising what was going on. They both looked up to see the head of the village and his wife looking at them with identical expressions of confusion and amusement. Then Ame looked to her "pillow" but instead came across the dark red robes that belonged to Kaze, she gulped and her eyes trailed up to his face where she was met with a similar look of horror.
"Sorry!" Ame shouted and sat up, blushing furiously. Kaze sat up too after getting over the shock and both looked up guiltily to the two adults. In the lamplight of the room they finally got a good look of the head of the village. He was still huge, with a loud voice but his face was welcoming and, it was laughable, he was the complete opposite of his wife. He, tall and muscular with dark hair, she, short and thin with fair hair but at this moment both had identical twinkles in their eyes.
"I thought you said you were friends?" The man asked and towered above them with a sly grin.
"We are," Kaze said quickly.
"Nothing more," Ame added. The man was about to say more but his wife put a hand on his shoulder to stop him.
"Well alright then." He said as though they had ended the conversation but Ame turned scarlet as he winked at her. "We have not yet introduced ourselves," he put a large hand to himself, "I am Mamoru, and this," he put an arm around his wife who smiled shyly, "is the love of my life, Uta." Ame silently aww-ed as it was sweet to think they had been together so long and were still so in love.
"I'm Kaze," Ame looked to him as he spoke in a rather deep, mature voice.
"And I am Ame." As Almira said this Mamoru and Uta looked at her with a sceptical grin before beginning to laugh. Kaze and the princess looked to each other for some form of explanation.
"The wind and the rain, travelling together?" Mamoru said and his booming laugh rang in their ears. (A/N: Remember, Kaze means wind and Ame means rain…XD). "That's brilliant." He wiped a tear from his cheek and looked to the doorway as he heard someone enter. "And this is my favourite daughter, Hisa." He said, pointing to her where she stood with an embarrassed smile and she waved from the doorway.
"I'm also his only daughter." She muttered. Ame and Kaze put up hands to acknowledge her greeting and Mamoru laughed again.
"Well, the feast is ready and the rest of the village want to meet you!" He exclaimed and the two teenagers nodded encouragingly; trying to forget the embarrassment of the moment before.
"Come here my dear," Uta beckoned Ame towards her, "I will give you new clothes." And so the general conversation of Ame refusing out of politeness and the woman insisting out of courtesy, ensued as the woman supported Ame out of the room. Hisa turned to the door but stopped, looked back at Gaara, flashed a smile at him and left. Gaara suddenly felt very warm and blushed as Mamoru coughed pointedly.
"You know," Mamoru said after a few moments and sat down next to Gaara, "if you and Ame don't want to be mistaken for lovers there's one thing you should not do." He said and Kaze smiled at his sarcastic tone.
"Not sleep in the same bed as her?" He asked and the man patted his shoulder before standing up.
"No," he said simply, "just stop looking at her like that." He said wisely before moving away, leaving Gaara rubbing his shoulder, wondering what the old man meant.
Everyone in the village was gathered outside under the starry skies and the air was sweet with the scent of flowers growing in random bunches about the place. There was a large bonfire in the middle of the village square and it cast a soothing orange glow onto everything around it. More light was added by lanterns children had hung up in the doorways of houses and the sound of laughter and chatter filled the night air. Around the bonfire, in a semi-circle, on the floor they had placed low tables to eat from and there was indeed lots of food made by the women of the village. Just what there was to celebrate Ame and Kaze did not know, but they were incredibly grateful for the hospitality.
"So you are travelling to see friends?" Mamoru inquired and Kaze, who was sat on his right, nodded. Ame was sat on Mamoru's left and was deep in conversation with a boy of the village.
"It's going to be a lot of hard work but it will be worth it." The boy, two years older than Ame, talked in a deep voice so she had to lean in to hear.
"It sounds like a brilliant idea, but where are your funds coming from?" She asked; the boy had told her of the village's plans to build a school inside the village, rather than have the children travel so far everyday.
"We're not sure," Mamoru joined the conversation and Gaara peered round him to see Ame and the boy. He had to admit that she looked wonderful in the new dress they had given her; almost like her old self. She looked so much like a princess, as she sat with her back straight, eating little, talking quietly as a princess does, that many people had begun referring to her as "your highness," and other such titles. In fact it had only been a few hours but Kaze and Ame had already seemed to have joined the large family-like community. Ame wore a dress of bright pink and, although she'd refused several times, they'd insisted she wore gems the colour of Kaze's eyes. "See, times are tough for little villages like ours." Ame's smile faded as she noted the melancholy tone the man used, "sure we do our part-"
"Ask the Royal family for funding." Ame said quickly and there was silence on their section of the table before Mamoru and the boy laughed.
"You think they will help us?" The man asked and Ame smiled.
"I'm sure of it!" Mamoru patted her back affectionately and when he glanced at Kaze she winced from the pain but stopped as he turned back to her.
"I like you." He said suddenly, "you may stay here until your ankle heals fully!" He announced and everyone cheered. Ame and Kaze thanked him before they heard more cheering happening and looked around the bonfire to see a group of girls walking towards them; the one leading was wearing red and the rest were in dresses of dark blue. (A/N: I'm really sorry for what's about to happen…really sorry. I was having withdrawal symptoms I guess.) On closer inspection the red dress that the girl was wearing was far more decorative, with patterns of white and gold woven intricately into the design. More jewellery than even Ame had ever worn, adorned the girl with red and white stones melted into the gold. "Hisa," Mamoru said quietly and both Ame and Kaze gasped and leant in closer to see that indeed, behind the shimmering stones was the pretty face of Hisa. "You are going to entertain?" Hisa nodded and her father looked rather sceptical.
"Oh let her," her mother said as she walked by, "she's practised all day." Mamoru watched Uta walk away with a surprisingly seductive gait for a woman of her age, before nodding to Hisa. She smiled and ran gratefully to her father before embracing him. She let go and before walking away she turned to Kaze who jumped as she looked at him with an almost hungry stare.
"It is tradition, for an honoured guest to place this bangle," she held up a thin gold bangle, "unto the dancer." She said sweetly and Gaara was taken aback; he'd had affection from girls before but never so publicly. Perhaps, if she knew who he really was she wouldn't try to pursue him. Nevertheless he nodded, moved forwards and opened the catch on the bangle before placing it on her.
"You know," Mamoru whispered to Ame as he leant over to her, "if you don't want people to think you like him you should stop looking so offended." Ame's eyes widened, she looked quickly away from Kaze and shut her mouth as it had hung open when Hisa began to giggle at Kaze's touch.
I'm sorry OK! It won't be another Romancing the Kazekage or Desert Flower, or whatever else I've written where it was a freaking musical. I just haven't written a song/poetry-ness in soooo long and was like- I sure do miss it! And don't anyone say- why didn't you just put it in DF? Because…I just didn't OK? Oh, the shame.
Help me. Review.