Hi everyone! I believe that the quarantine is making me quite productive! I hope you and your loved ones are all safe from this pandemic ^^

Alia Rubrik : Hello again! I hope the beginning of these two's relationship will please you, this chapter is basically entirelly dedicated to them, but from Gaara's point of view (Hinata's will be shown in a later chapter ;)) :3 Please enjoy :D

Chapter VI: The one who was not afraid.

Gaara was sitting at the royal family's table, watching the guests and the members of his own family get up to dance when a movement in his direction caught his attention. It was lord Hiashi Hyūga's daughter, miss Hinata, whom he had caught looking at him a few times, even though she would always look down blushing. She wore a traditional sleeveless dress of her kingdom with several skirts of different colours, many jewels in her twin braids and two snake-shaped bracelets on her upper arms. Only two short locks of black hair were free and shorter and framed her face. He remained immobile and silent as to not frighten her, remembering his father's order. What did she want?

"Prince Gaara, I wanted the chance to greet you myself", she said while gracefully curtsying. "Would you do me the honour of being my partner for this dance?", she asked in a voice as soft as silk.

His eyes widened. Did she wish to dance with him? Why? Had she been ordered to get acquainted with him to manipulate him by her father? The idea infuriated him, and he wanted to tell her to leave his sight, but he could not be as harsh as he wanted to. He ought to find a polite way to tell her to leave him alone and tell her father that his ridiculous plan had failed. As if he were the first one to have this ridiculous idea! Could the rumours about him not keep the fools away from him and allow him to be as solitary as he wished?

He was about to tell her he felt ill and, to his great dismay, would not be able to dance with her when the minstrels began a new song. The eyes of the young lady immediately shone, and she clapped her hands, a smile as beautiful as a fool moonlighting her golden face. She glanced at the dancers before facing him again and extended a hand to him. Gaara watched her hand and her face for a second. Doubt filled him. Was she truly trying to manipulate him? If that was the case, he had to admit that she was gifted. He thought back to the earlier blush on her cheeks. She was mayhap honest. Almost moved by an external force, he got up and took the offered hand. She beamed again, her pure and resplendent smile still illuminating her soft-looking face.

"Thank you, my prince", she said as they approached the other dancers.

"I'm a poor dancer, you will regret these words", he replied, trying to be as amicable as possible.

"In that case, allow me to guide you", she said while taking him in the middle of the other dancers, humour glinting in her eyes.

If he was a pitiful dancer, she was an unbelievably gifted one. She was gracious and agile, correcting all his mistake and smoothly avoiding his feet when he threatened to crush hers. She twirled sometimes her eyes closed, sometimes gazing in his own. He could not help but enjoy the moments when he could drown into the diamonds adorning her face. They were so pale but so expressive; he had never seen such eyes. Or no one had ever looked at him like this, at least.

A dance turned into two, into three. He lifted her and spun her around on the rhythm of a faster song and noticed that she weighed almost nothing. She was lighter than a feather in his arms and he was suddenly afraid to crush her bones with the superior strength inherited from the monster. He put her down a bit fast and she giggled, her laugh sounding like the tinkling of a thousand small bells.

"I apologize. I was afraid to hurt you", he confessed.

"Oh, it's because of my weight, isn't it?" she replied. "It tends to surprise people. The Hyūgas are fast but to attain such speed, we are light, and our bones a bit fragile", she explained.

"I see. The Hisunas have been gifted with levitation by the gods, but it had no influence on our weight", he said, slightly cocking his head to the side, intrigued by the consequences of hereditary powers on bodies.

"The Mother of All blesses us differently."

He nodded, swallowing a harsh reply. He had no deep love for the gods, who had sealed their voiceless brother in a human body, dooming one of them to be a prison for each generation. He could have debated with her about the gods without telling her the truth about his prisoner, but the true and soft smile she had worn whilst talking about the Mother of All had stopped him from doing so. He did not want to see this smile disappear. She was the only one who was not trying to manipulate him in one way or another.

Gaara wanted to hit himself at the though. Had he suddenly become dim-witted? A few dances meant nothing; she would run away like the others once she would learn who was sealed in him. She would look at him with the same scared eyes that had been aimed at him since his birth. Miss Hinata was mayhap as kind and lovely as she looked, but she did not seem stupid; she would walk away as soon as she would learn the truth. She would be right to do so. He was dangerous and cursed.

After a number of dances Gaara had not cared to count, they looked around and noticed that they were amongst the last dancers. Gaara blinked a few times. Had they truly danced that long? By his side, miss Hinata blushed furiously and put her hand on her cheeks, muttering some words he did not hear. She glanced at him, surely feeling his eyes on her, and smiled, her cheeks still red.

"These dances were marvellous, prince Gaara, it's been so long since I enjoyed myself like so. I hope you've enjoyed dancing with me", she said, her hands joined on her belly.

"Yes, it was enjoyable", he replied before looking around. "It seems your father has already left", he noticed.

She allowed her eyes to wander around the room and nodded.

"I understand; the journey was tiring. I should do the same."

"I can only imagine. Has someone shown you your chamber?"

She slightly widened her eyes. What an expressive face! It was fascinating. People around him always refrained himself from reacting or showing the slightest emotion out of fear of his own reactions. But miss Hinata shamelessly smiled, giggled and frowned her thin eyebrows, parading her feelings like a fanfare on rain season.

"Sadly, no. I look quite foolish before you!", she sighed.

"You don't look foolish", he replied, cocking his head to the side. "How could you guess where your chamber is?"

She blushed and seemed at loss of words. Gaara offered her his arm. He wanted to keep seeing this face changing along with the conversation and the events. It was such an incredible display; he wanted to caress it and see for himself if the golden sand skin was as warm as it looked. He gulped; what was happening to him? Why did this lady fascinate him so much? Had he inadvertently drunk a wine too strong for him? He was suddenly brought back to reality when she took the offered arm.

"Allow me. I will show you the guests' keep. Your chamber will be there", he quickly said, glad he had enough wits to swiftly come up with something.

"You're too kind, my prince. I'm indebted to you", she replied, following him.

"I am not kind, miss", Gaara sighed as they walked in the nearly empty corridors.

He could feel the Hokage following them. The old man remained in the shadows to watch over the young lady oblivious to his presence. He was not trying very hard to remain hidden, surely mistaking him for a normal child, but Gaara knew exactly where he was. Nevertheless, he did nothing, listening instead to the melodious voice of miss Hinata.

"Why would say that?", she asked. "You accepted to be my dance partner, and you walk me to my chamber."

"If I told, you'd run away screaming, and you'd be right to do so", he coldly replied, hoping she would not ask any further questions.

She remained silent for the rest of their walk. Gaara bit the inside of his cheeks. He had probably scared her, he only meant to change the subject! Exactly what his father had forbidden. What would his punishment be? Would he be starved? Locked outside for an entire day, his shadows desperately trying to protect him from the sun? He was but a fool, or rather the worst of them! He prayed the Mother of All miss Hinata told nothing to her father, or assume it was because of tiredness. They finally found the chamber which had been attributed to her. But rather than politely bid him good night and disappear in her chamber, she turned to him, a mischievous smile on her face and a hint of bravery glinting in her eyes.

"I fear nothing. I'm a Hyūga, I can flee everything", she proudly announced. "Why do you think you're not kind?", she asked after a few seconds.

He looked at her for an instant and saw in her eyes that she would not give up. This stubbornness would surely kill her before her time, but he could not find in his heart to deny her. The sooner she ran away, the sooner she would be safe, the sooner he would be solitary again. He raised a hand, palm toward the roof. Answering his call, shadows blended, created a ball of pure darkness floating into the palm of his hand. Her eyes widened and then, an enthralled smile appeared on her face.

"You're a mage! The Nine have blessed you!", she exclaimed, amazed.

"No, they've cursed me. You and I know which god commands to the shadows, and I've been made his prison before my birth", he replied in a low voice.

Her eyes immediately left the ball of shadows and landed on him, widened, as she understood his words. He was the living prison of the destructive god, of wrath incarnated, of the One of Wrath. Yet, instead of stepping back with terrified eyes, she stepped toward him and smiled sadly.

"Why would I be scared of you, my prince? You're not responsible of the One of Wrath's corruption or the actions done by criminals", she said in a tender voice. "I would never judge one for being but a victim of the powerful."

Gaara took a step back; it was impossible. She had to be scared of him, they were all scared of him! It was impossible not to fear him! He was a monster, a prison, a failed experiment, a weapon in Suna's service. She was lying, she could not be telling the truth. He hated lies. Why could they not all admit their fears? Why hide it behind masks? An animalistic growl escaped him, and he aimed his eyes at her, expecting to find falsehood painted on her face. He only found compassion and sadness, but he did not care.

"Don't lie! I know you're afraid! Everyone's afraid! I'm the prison of a good. How could you not be afraid of me?", he growled.

"I trust my heart", she simply said, delicately putting her hand on her chest.

"You're dim-witted, or insane!"

"My cousin often says so", she giggled. "Stubborn comes back quite often too. I don't mind, it doesn't change anything. I would never impose my presence to anyone, but don't believe I'm afraid of you, please", she added.

He stared at her in silence, detailing her appearance. She, whose body was so frail he could break her like a twig, whose black hair reminded him of the shadows and her eyes of the full moon, was a mystery akin to the night sky. A mystery blessed by the sun which had kissed her amber skin. Why was she different? His fists clenched. He had never been fascinated by a human the way he was at this precise moment. She seemed to glow like the sun.

Akin to the sin, he was in awe before her. Her difference enthralled and scared him at the same time, and his stomach twisted uncomfortably. Arms dangling, he stared at her in silence as she patiently waited for him to speak. She did not seem to want to force him, or even wait for him to reply.

"Everyone is afraid", he said dumbly.

"Not anymore", she replied with a soft smile.

An arrow pierced his mind and he gasped in pain, a hand shooting to his skull. Miss Hinata held her hand up toward him, her face worried, but he harshly slapped her hand away. She yelped in surprise and he froze. He had hurt her. He was nothing but a monster, and she would now surely be afraid. His throat tightened, he took a step back before running away as fast as he could, ignoring the pain in his heart.

As he reached his chamber, he spotted his mother and froze. She saw him and tenderly smiled at him before walking up to him. It was then that he noticed that her smile was different from miss Hinata's one. The Yggalën lady's one was tender and true, he could see the cracks in his mother's one, the slight dread hiding behind love. He had never noticed it before. His fists clenched. He could not tolerate this kind of lies tonight. He wanted to be alone.

"Gaara!" she called out. "I was looking for you –"

"I was walking miss Hinata to her chamber; apparently, no one had shown it to her", he said, cutting her sentence.

"Oh!", she exclaimed, surprised. "I didn't you had been acquainted."

"We danced together for a large part of the night", he announced, and he saw guilt in his mother's eyes. "Don't feel bad for not noticing. It doesn't matter."

Her mother slightly gulped and forced a smile to appear on her face, but Gaara would not be fooled. This smile was not true, it was only a mask to hid fear.

"Is she of good company?", she asked.

"She claims not being afraid of me despite the One of Wrath", he said.

Karura's eyes widened, pleading, and she grabbed her arms. Gaara remained still, keeping his eyes plunged into hers. He was not scared of her.

"You cannot talk about it to strangers!" she exclaimed. "If people know –"

"Then Suna would lose its secret weapon", he said, cutting her off. He pulled away and watch fear creep in her eyes as a cruel smile appeared on his face. "Mother, I don't doubt that you love me, and I think I love you too. But between your fear and your love, who would win?"

After these words, he walked past her and went to his chamber, leaving her with her thoughts. As soon as the door was closed, he fell on his knees, panting. The pain he had ignored and pushed at the back of his mind up until now was now reappeared harshly. He grabbed his skull, his fists grabbing his red locks as he groaned in pain. The One of Wrath had been silent the whole evening, but the god was now taking his revenge, roaring in his mind.

Heaving, he dragged himself to his bed, hoping that the softness of the sheets would help him to calm down. He undressed and fell on the mattress. His eyes stared at the roof and he groaned as the pain grew worse.

I enjoy this girl! Her beliefs are amusing, don't you agree? If you bath in her blood, I'll leave you alone for six months. What do you say?

The idea was truly desirable, and Gaara knew that the god would not offer another deal of this kind. It was the first time he seemed ready to negotiate. Yet, miss Hinata's smile illuminating her face, the softness of her voice and her faith made him decide. The memory of the young maiden invaded his mind, and he could almost feel her warmth.

"No. I shan't give you her blood, you can torment me as much as you desire", he groaned.

Don't tempt me, kid!

The god laughed on last time, before calming down and falling asleep. Gaara gulped, unable to understand what had seemingly calmed down the One of Wrath, but he did not dare think about it. It might awake him, and the prince wanted to sleep. He closed his eyes, but slumber did not come to him easily. The young lady he had spent the evening with had taken residence in his mind. Her radiant smile, her melodious voice, which he would surely never hear again after hitting her hand. His jaws clenched. Why had he done that?

He was but a monster.