the lily

His wife. His Lily. His Hinata.

Prompt: All this time it was her. He just failed to notice. (T, Romance)
For Hinata Week (Tumblr)

Naruto was walking along the streets of Konoha, confused, lost and shaken.

Sasuke just left the village and he saw how it hurt Sakura-chan. Her tears, her trembling voice all showed how much she loved their teammate. It pained him to see her that way, it pained him to see his team fall apart. That's why he promised her that he would bring him back.

Yes, that's right. He would! Then Sakura-chan will be with him. With Sasuke. But something about that happy picture clawed the inside of his chest.

Perhaps it was because he liked, he loved Sakura-chan alot. That must be it! She was the prettiest and the most vibrant girl he knew anyway.

He was down and totally out of his element until he saw the Lilies on display at Ino's flower shop. They were white and plain yet recently, ever since after he defeated Neji in the Chunin exams, Naruto found a sudden and uncanny fondness in Lilies. Every time he would look at them, he would feel like someone was always there believing in him. Someone was always there watching his back. The first moment that he touched one he felt a different kind of warmth in him, it was the purest thing he had ever held onto.

Without any hesitations, though he had only few left in his purse, he bought a stem of Lily. He didn't know, but having one in his hand right now made him feel calm and as hope was again restored in him.

Even during his journey with Jiraiya, he would not hesitate to stop just to admire a Lily whenever there was one in sight. The Pervy Sage was even curious as to why he was so fixated by such kind of flower.

I don't know but it was so pure, so delicate and light that it elevates my spirit. It feels like it believes in me and I just want to protect it.

That's what he would usually answer to which Jiraiya would always infer that Naruto described it like a person.

As time went by, the Lily changed and transitioned for Naruto. He started to realize that, even if it's a bit frail to look at, its stem was strong and it's something that most people fail to see.

He knew this when he saw a Lily on the road as he walked by. It was broken, bruised and crushed. It looked as if it was bleeding, flooding the floor with its blood. He couldn't help but feel his heart being crumpled like a piece of paper.

His pure lily. How could anyone tear it apart?

His hands were careful on it. He never really thought that he'd have it in his grasp in one piece and just the idea that he'd be the one to break it in half caused him a different kind of ache.

However, much to his surprise, the stem still held everything together. It may be a bit creased, but it was strong, it was very strong in its own way. But somehow, holding the precious flower in his hand almost lifelessly didn't take away the unusual hurt.

How irrational of him to shed a tear just for flower?

How stupid of him for a Lily to cause him pain?

Yes, pain. At certain angle, it was another feeling he would associate with the flower.

Pain.

From then on, Naruto built a special space for the Lily in his heart. He never knew that it would make such a big impact on him. Holding a Lily gave him courage. It always made him feel like someone was standing by him all along. Its serenity reminded him of his nindo. And looking at it, he would be enlightened. The Lily always reminded him to never go back on his word and it was as if it possessed a soft voice that screamed its way through his reasoning.

But it wasn't the only thing the flower made him see. It was when Naruto was walking alone at the park, when he saw a couple together-the man was giving the woman a Lily. Love filled their eyes as they both enjoyed the bliss of togetherness.

Naruto then felt the same thing he was feeling for Sakura-chan all along. The longingness. How he wished he would have someone to love him like how Sakura-chan loved Sasuke.

He first saw love through her, on how much she cared for their other teammate. Her devotion, her passion. Ever since he was younger, he wanted that kind of love and he wanted to know how to feel it as well.

At first, he would only have the emptiness everytime he would see Sakura with Sasuke or everytime she would not hold back in expressing how much she loved him. But as the seasons changed, Naruto was starting to feel the same everytime he would see a lovely couple.

Then, he learned, that his love for his teammate was not the kind he was yearning to feel and to know. That having her was an idea. Naruto was in love with the idea of having someone to love him the way Sakura loved Sasuke, the way the other couples showed such connection. An envy, too hurtful for him to feel.

But it was there, a hole on his being that he was trying to fill until the flower caught his attention, beaming with all its white glory. He couldn't help but take a hold of it. He had never seen the Lily in that kind of light before. And it was...

Beautiful.

Naruto realized that he was holding the most beautiful flower. The Lily was blooming in front of him and never had he thought that it was his favorite all this time until that moment.

For a beat, the wind almost took it away. He never thought that he would have it with him, but he knew that the Lily was for him and he would never lose it.

Then, there was the moment he finally knew what it meant.

The moon shone brightly as the cool breeze caused the leaves to fill the air with such melodious lullaby.

Engulfed in his warmth was his sleeping wife. Her head was resting above his chest as he had an arm around her, while his other hand was skimming the skin of her bare arms.

This was the day he would never see coming. The day he would have someone to have and to hold for the rest of his life. The night he would be as one with the woman he wanted to be with until he dies.

Right now, she was sleeping soundly. Probably a bit spent by the amount of passion that overflowed between them. Her breathing was soft, he could hear it. It was sweet and it was pulling him to look at her more.

Needy, he squeezed her body closer to him, wanting to feel more of her warmth and her soft edges as his fingers spelled out her name on her skin.

Hinata.

All throughout, she was his Lily.

It was her, the feeling that someone was always watching his back even if nobody cared. She uplifted him during his lows. It was her strong heart that saved him over and over again. That special connection, he would only have with her. She was the light that showed his path when he was lost. And it felt like a dream that they truly belonged to each other now.

A tear escaped his eye. He was thanking the gods she was asleep and wouldn't be able to see him like that during their wedding night.

Although her skin was now marked by his arduous strokes, he still couldn't believe that he would be holding the purest there was in this world.

Her shoulder flinched a little bit and soon Hinata she was moving to meet his gaze, her eyes opened slowly showing her beautifully pale eyes. She smiled at him like a blossoming Lily. At that moment Naruto knew for certain that nothing can save him if she would ever leave him.

Without a word, their eyes knew what they both wanted as they closed the gap between them.

Naruto couldn't believe that he would have Hinata like this. So pure, so genuine and so irreplaceable. That he was no longer chasing an idea rather he was kissing what's real.

Under the moonlight, the meeting of their mind, body and soul was an assurance that he was finally hers.

In between the sheets, every move, every touch, every collision was an evidence that she was finally his.

His wife. His Lily. His Hinata.