Sorry for the late update! Thanks so much for being patient and a HUGE thank you to everyone who has been reviewing the story for me!!

I hope you like the chapter, I know it's short, but hopefully, the questions it brings up will leave you in a state of eager anticipation as to what the story's outcome will be!

Enjoy! R&R to let me know what you think!! Thanks!!

-Keita

A Flame in the Desert

-25-

Admission

Aimi spent the rest of the day with her young charges and her white horse; she had missed them so much and she felt a little guilty about leaving them behind for as long as she did, but the open desert was no place for them and she had been grateful that it was only her and Gaara there when the Sound ninja had attacked.

Gaara stayed with the little family for as long as he could before being torn away by his work. Kankurou and Temari had managed to hold down the office for the most part while he had been away, but there were a couple of issues that only he could deal with and that needed to be addressed.

When one of his assistants came to find him and beg him to take care of the business that needed to be taken care of, he rolled his sea-green eyes and sighed in annoyance.

"Guess there's no more putting it off," he groaned, "I'll see you later." He kissed the girl horse master's black hair before stalking off with his assistant.

A tiny, faint smile remained on the girl's lips as she watched him go. The three children around her noticed the interaction between the two adults and they immediately began to question their guardian.

"Aimi," Kyoukou began.

"Hm?"

"Do you and the Kazekage love each other?" he asked casually.

She was caught off guard and didn't respond right away. "Well," she said slowly, knowing that she had to choose her words carefully. "We care about each other very much…" she thought back to the night in the desert when they had each made their confession of love for the other, "And…well, I- I guess we do love one another…"

"Ha! I told you!" Puchi said triumphantly to her older brothers.

"Oh, man, I didn't think it was true," Hogosha said, slightly put-off that his baby sister had greater observatory powers than he did.

This shocked Aimi beyond belief. "Puchi…you…how did…what made you think that…?"
The little girl giggled as she hugged Kumo's clouded muzzle. "I saw you two making lovey-dovey eyes at each other. And you were all like, 'Oh, Kazekage-kun, I looooove you!'" The small girl animated her voice to sound like an overdramatic, love-struck woman and she chose Kumo's nose to represent Gaara, and she squeezed him tightly before planting a kiss on him.

Aimi was mortified; she blushed tomato red and groaned as she covered her eyes in embarrassment, but she couldn't help a large grin from spreading across her face at her youngest ward's antics.

The small girl and two boys laughed at their guardian's reaction and continued to question her about her relationship with Gaara.

"So does that mean that you're getting married?"

"Can I be the flower girl?"

"Are we gonna live here in the desert now?"

"Aimi, when you have babies, we can take care of them just like you take care of us!"

At this, the horse master stopped the chatter. "Whoa! Hang on, slow down a sec! First of all, Gaara and I haven't been in love long enough to get married and definitely not long enough to have children. Secondly, we're not staying in the desert forever; as soon as I finish up with Kaen, we're going back to the Waterfall Village, like we always do."

The kids were quiet for a moment. Then Puchi said sadly, "But I wanna be the flower girl."

Aimi smiled and ruffled the small girl's dark hair affectionately. "Tell you what, when I do get married, you will be my flower girl, no matter what."

Puchi's deep brown eyes sparkled with joy. "Really? You promise??"

Aimi laughed. "Yes, I promise. Now, what should we do next?" she asked, hoping to divert the focus from the issue of her marriage.

"Ninja skills! Ninja skills!" The three children chanted, running in the direction of the training area that they had used when Temari had been teaching them.

A giggle escaped the horse master. "Alright, show me what you've got," she leaned in to whisper to her cloud-white horse, "You've been watching them; how scary is it?"

The horse huffed and shook his head, his long mane flying out as he did.

"That's what I thought," Aimi sighed, patting Kumo. "Come on, let's go." The white horse walked placidly beside his rider as they followed behind the overly-energetic, eager children.

The kids had surprised their guardian with a fairly impressive display of ninja fighting. Temari hadn't taught them much more than some basic punches and kicks, as well as blocking and defense tactics – all taijutsu.

As she watched them, she couldn't help thinking about the questions that they had put to her earlier. When Temari had sought her out to help with Kaen, the horse master had thought it was just going to be another job; she would go, get the horse under control, then go back home, like always. She certainly hadn't counted on romance springing up.

She also hadn't counted on her charges becoming so accustomed to the drastic change in environment so quickly; they really seemed to enjoy it here. She knew that they had taken a strong liking to Temari and they loved tormenting Kankurou; the heat didn't seem to bother them much – their skin was already much tanner than it normally got in the summer in Waterfall – and she knew that the sand kunoichi's influence and instruction left them all with the desire to be ninja of Suna.

She wondered what Gaara would do when she left. She wondered if he thought she was going to stay, or if he expected her to leave like planned. He had told her he loved her; she knew of his past and from what Temari had told the horse master of her brother, that he didn't throw the term 'love' around lightly, so she assumed that his feelings were sincere. If they were, then would he just let her walk away, even if it meant that they might never see each other again? More importantly, if he tried to stop her from leaving, would she stay? Could she leave everything that she had grown up with – the memories of her family and her past life – behind to start a new life in the desert?

Aimi's thoughts were interrupted when she heard Kyoukou yelling out a challenge to two older boys who were passing. She smiled to herself; sometimes, that boy was too over-protective for his own good. She stood up and walked over to stop him before his insults infuriated the two Suna boys enough to actually take up the little green-eyed terror on his challenge.