Chapter 15: Blurred
Little Falcon: Nihao! I found time to update so here it is! Read and review please…
Standard Disclaimer: I only own the idea that's all. If I did own this series I'll be the happiest person on earth!!!
Flashback…
The door quietly opened and soon after, he walked in without meeting anyone's eyes. "Oi, Gaara! What happened to Sakura's mom?" his blond sister asked worried as she blocked his way.
Temari stepped back literally upon meeting his enraged eyes. It had been years since she last saw him looking at her with those unforgiving glaring jade. His brother also got up from the couch as he felt the tension in the air. "What's the matter, Gaara?" he too was concerned as Temari was.
"It was her… it was her mother. It was her mother that took mom away!" Gaara was mumbling at the beginning and was yelling at the end.
"No…no way," Kankuro looked at their sister who was surprised at first but was able to regain her composure at the end. "Temari…"
"Gaara," her hand was trembling uncontrollably as she tapped his stiff shoulder. "We already told you before didn't we? It was a clinical decision that mom wasn't condition wasn't stable enough to receive the heart even though she was the first on the list. The heart would've expired if they waited for her condition to be better so they gave it to another person. Sakura's mom had no fault…" her voice was shaking as tears began to form in the eyes that reflected her broken brother.
"No! No! Mom deserves to live! If it wasn't for me…" her little brother cut her short and looked at her directly… with the eyes that for the first time in a long while… looked like he is the youngest one among them. After a quick second, they returned to his fierce glare… then he walked away… the door slamming shut as he left home.
End of Flashback…
"Sakura?" an older blond female smiled at her weakly. "Can I talk to you?" Temari lead the way.
For some reason, she can't bring herself to meet the fashion designer's eyes but she still agreed to her request as evidenced by her following her to the lift.
They were alone when they stepped inside the elevator. Standing side by side yet there was a huge gap in between them, the two stood in uncomfortable silence.
"Is that…" Temari was the first to break the uneasy tension. She pointed at the paper bag the lady photographer was carrying with her.
Slightly turning towards her, Sakura lifted the bag. "It's the clothes I wore when I rushed to the hospital together with your brother," somehow since the day that person said those cruel words to her she can't bring herself to speak even his name. "I came to return them… and also say thanks," her voice was low but her intention was sincere and still she failed to meet her gaze.
"You can keep them," with her limited look at her blond friend, she saw the light but genuine smile on her face. Temari wasn't asking her to keep the clothes because she no longer wanted them because she wore it but because of something else… "Those clothes chose you the moment you wore them. It's a token of gratitude for being my model that day," Finally, Sakura was able to lift her emerald eyes to meet her friend's.
"Temari…" the growing emotional scenario was broken by the double doors opening to let them off.
In a nearby café, the two sat together with the tension almost dissolving. Soon after ordering, Temari took Sakura's hand. "I'm so sorry…" her hands that enclosed her friend's were cold and shaking as she expressed her deepest apologies.
"…What for?" I should be the one apologizing right? In the back of her mind, the intention to apologize appeared but something held it back. Why should I apologize? Neither I nor my mom did something worth saying sorry for?!
"…a part of that apology was because we weren't able to attend your mom's funeral… but a large part of it was for Gaara…" just hearing his name made her flinch.
Silence accepted her apology but also asked her unspoken question.
"I didn't know what my little brother did or say when he found out but I'm sure it was cruel, that much I know," her grip in her hands tightened as she looked deeper in her eyes. "… He was so young when our mom got sick, Gaara… he gave our mom the strawberry he handpicked from our garden the day she was supposed to have her transplant. Nobody knew that she was allergic to it until she was gasping for air," Temari withdrew her hands only to crumple the napkin sitting on her lap.
"Mom was unstable but it wasn't because of the allergic reaction- that was what the doctor told us. They had to give the heart to a different patient. A compatible heart donor is very rare… so it goes without saying that mom died waiting for a new one to come. Dad blamed Gaara… and somehow we did too. To a kid to be blamed like that without anyone explaining to him anything, he had no choice but to hate himself as well. Through time, Kankuro and I tried to explain it to him clearly but his heart had already formed a conclusion to mom's demise. We're even living together with him just to make him understand little by little but… our words can no longer be heard…"
He's not the only one being held back by childish decisions…
Flashback…
A little girl entered her mom's room, crying. "What is it, Sakura-chan?" her mother was finally awake and was smiling brightly at her.
Her emerald eyes sparkled with delight as she climbed on the bed, just to be beside her. Her mother's loving arms wrapped around her protectively then wiped her tears away.
"Mom… a little boy was crying because… your doctor gave the heart to you and not to his mom. The doctor said her mom came first but you get to have the heart instead," the little girl was honest to the only person she can open her heart to. Lying that time wasn't possible yet… for her age and neither was knowing the consequences of her action.
At that moment, somehow the little girl felt the warmth disappear as her mom's arms withdrew. Her were horror-stricken… "Mom?"
The door opened again to let her father in. "Anata (Darling)… what is it?" he immediately took notice of the difference in her eyes. "Are you alright?"
"Is it true?... Is it true that there was another person first on the list to receive this heart?" her hand clutched her newly operated chest painfully.
As the blood tainted her hospital gown, she continued to ask the same question over and over again.
The doctors and nurses rushed into the room to check her condition immediately. One of the nurses made Sakura and her dad step out for a moment.
"Why did you tell you mom that?" the little girl's emerald eyes looked at her dad in confusion as her father looked at her accusingly.
End of Flashback…
The whisky glass in his hand was refilled for the countless time as it hit the bar again, empty. The bartender looked his red haired customer for any signs of intoxication but found none. His jade eyes were as fierce as the time he entered the bar hours ago.
"When you drink too much, you won't be able to drive back home," a gorgeous lady with long blond hair and blue eyes sat beside him and smiled maliciously.
"Ino… what are you doing here?" Gaara choked back another glass then asked for a refill as he didn't even look at the girl staring at him.
"I'm here to take you home, of course," her hand crept towards his arm without hesitation.
*****
Even without opening the lights in her apartment, she knew the place like the back of her hand. In the dark, Sakura grabbed hold of the phone and dialed someone's number automatically.
"Sasuke-san… I changed my mind. I'll take your job offer for Paris,"
Little Falcon: Read and review please…