"I'm sorry. If...if I said something back there to hurt your feelings."
What?
How could she know, he thought quietly. How...could she see? There was nothing he could hide. Bare, naked- when did he become like this? His emotions tattoed on his flesh in such a welcoming manner-
No.
That wasn't it. The indescribable burts shooting inside him, they weren't welcoming- not even close...were they? He didn't want her to see, he didn't want her to see his conflictions! Sitting there, under such a blue sky- far different from his region of Earth Kingdom...He sat, covered his face with his hands.
He knew...
He had changed. As they had sat, in the stone garden, minutes before he had suddenly up and left...as they sat- as he sat watching the breeze carress her cheeks, flushing with, what he hoped would always be, love for him...
But then: when she had begun to describe a group, a team she had been a part of... in her years- why did such confusing feelings well up inside him? He was over that! He had left behind...all that.
But he couldn't stop feeling guilty. He remembered telling an old man, suddenly:
"I'm just looking for a second chance."
-And he had thrown so much away for that chance, and by doing so he had gotten the chance to be with her. So why...this feeling he couldn't describe; why then, did it pain him to think of a team? A team...of fighters.
He had left that behind! Did he regret it? Did he regret leaving his longtime pals...comrades...for her? She sat beside him, and took his hand- Her hand was so soft! So much smaller than his...How did it come to be? From the tone of their skin to the tone of their eyes; one gentle, caring, the other: determined, trying. When did they fall in love? Did it happen the first time their fingertips touched? Did it grow as their hands touched now?
Yes, he thought, that must be it...and...No...but...Such a hand, it intensified his brutal feelings now...Her serene smile, her smell...that smell of herbs; it all:
She was peace. Yes...That had to be it. This unfamiliar feeling, as he reflected...he had to say it aloud, make it real:
"Peace."
She turned to him, puzzled. He laughed carelessly...kissed her.
"You don't have to apologize." And she rested her head on his shoulders, blushing, with such a secret smile. Silently, he glanced up at the sky: clear...blue...and peaceful. His mind slowly fell into ease. He had no regrets, as he tenderly squeezed her hand.
"Both of us," he whispered, "are bare."