It was a question she'd been asking herself a lot lately.
Where... am I?
In the darkness, she could see a circle of light, but it seemed so far away.
Danna? she asked for him groggily.
Then the wind shifted and she felt as if she were falling into the sky, the world turning around with her.
Deidara found herself on the grass, feeling weightless. She took a step forward, the long strands tickling her ankles. It felt like she was submerged—her body hanging onto life by the smallest thread, waiting to be lifted from the ocean again and into a sea of stars.
Okaa-san? she heard herself asking.
There was a music box, a flute, a woman with the most beautiful hair she'd ever seen—
Her eyes burned with tears and a sob rose from her throat. She lifted her right arm—how? Kabuto made sure to tear me apart—and shielded her eyes with the sleeve of her Akatsuki cloak, the red cloud pattern on the garment fully restored.
Am I dead?
The question swam in her mind before disappearing into nothing.
Musume-chan... Her voice was a ghostly whisper that drew her closer. Deidara, suddenly smaller than she was used to, slumped into her lap. She looked up at her mother's serene face, her eyes half-lidded with love.
Mirai, Deidara wanted to say to her, but no words were coming out. Frustrated, tears spilled out of her eyes and over her cheeks faster and hotter, and she wrapped her arms around her mother's bosom.
Her mother's loving embrace felt so real. So painfully real.
Deep down, she knew it wasn't.
She hadn't thought of her in years.
But now...
Her mother lifted her chin and pushed her hair to one side, gazing into her child's blue eyes. Never forget what's important, but never allow your future to be controlled by the past. It will seem inevitable. But do not be afraid, musume-chan. The life of one is transient, but do not let it scare you. She lifted the flute to her lips. Because there is always the future to look upon.
The first notes of Mirai began to play, and Deidara pressed her face against her mother's chest, where her heart beat strongly beneath her breast. Her tears never reached her mother's skin, but that was okay.
The sound of the flute grew more distant as Deidara found herself lying on the grass, the distance between the earth and the sky slowly closing to meet. Gravity stumbled and so did she, falling upwards for what seemed like the hundredth time.
Voices reached her ears, if only barely.
"Let—go of—you can't do this!"
"Please, she—medical help immediately!"
"Grandson... Release him!"
"Tsunade, she—"
"The war—"
"Sasori!"
Her breath hitched in her chest, her tears falling from her eyes like the stars that surrounded her.
Danna. A warmth filled her frozen heart.
"I love you," he murmured into her lips.
I love you, too.
Mirai, her mother reminded her, look to the future, not the past.
I...
I can't.
Deidara opened her eyes.
