Chapter 6:

As they walked into town, Raxiel looked around in awe at what she saw. It was like a huge, crowded market place; Raxiel had never seen such a place. Gaara glanced at her, noticing her eyes wide with excitement. He couldn't help but smirk at her facial expression.

Their walking in the village was peaceful and nice until a familiar voice was heard from afar. They both stopped and looked over at the ramen shop where it had come from to see the blonde-haired boy by the name of Naruto eating… or demolishing large bowls filled with ramen. Raxiel smiled at him and started to head towards him. Gaara quickly noticed and followed, making sure he was right behind her the whole time so he couldn't lose her. When they got to Naruto's chair, he looked up at them and finally saw the two. His mouth gaped open in surprisement.

"Hey! You're that girl Iruka-sensei was eyeing!"

In a heartbeat, Raxiel blushed unconsciously. Gaara noticed and became angry.

"Still eating, I see," Raxiel said trying to calm herself. Naruto smiled at her. "I'd offer you some, but I only have enough money to pay for all of mine…"

Raxiel laughed as he looked around at his bowls he had "cleaned" out. "That's okay. It was nice seeing you again."

As they walked away, Gaara couldn't help but look at her curiously. "She's still smiling," he thought to himself, "even though he had just made her embarrassed, she still managed to keep her smile…"

Suddenly, Gaara's thoughts were interrupted as a little girl ran over to them. Raxiel realized that it was the same girl she had talked to in the park. Raxiel smiled at her as the little child made her way towards the two teens. When she reached them, Raxiel kneeled down to be at the same level with the girl. Gaara watched as the little girl smiled at her and held out a flower to her. Timidly, the girl spoke to Raxiel, "Thank you for helping me save the bird." Raxiel's smile grew bigger as she gently took the flower the little girl was offering to her. "Aww, I should thank you for giving me the flower! We sure did make a good team, didn't we?" Raxiel said kindly. The girl smiled shyly and nodded.

Gaara's eyes were still hooked onto Raxiel's smile…

The smile that was haunting his head…

And now the smile that was haunting his eyes as he was being hypnotized by it…

With more confidence in her attitude, the girl faced Gaara with a beaming smile on her face. She held out a flower to him, as well. Gaara suddenly noticed. His eyes widened.

"Here you go!" the little girl said in a cheerful yet calm voice.

Gaara looked down at the red flower she was holding out to him.

Red…

The flower brought back memories… unwanted memories of his past… memories of love… memories of hate… and memories of death. He started to glare at the girl in hate, blaming her for bringing back those painful memories to him. As the little girl waited patiently for him to take it, Raxiel looked at him and noticed his painful expression. She nudged him in the shoulder, making Gaara snap out of his mesmerization and bringing him back to reality. With his glare subsided, he looked at the girl again. As tenderly as he could, he took the flower from the girl and shifted his gaze to somewhere else, not wanting to look at the girl again from fear that it might bring back more memories. Raxiel sensed his strange behavior and examined him curiously. "Gaara?" she asked, confused about his attitude. Gaara gave her a blank stare. Raxiel studied his face, trying to find the answer as to why he was acting so different.

Gaara knew that stare…

It was her stare of concernment…

And he didn't like it…

Finally, she spoke to him again, "Aren't you going to say 'thank you'?"

Gaara looked at her, his eyes widening by the second. He glanced back at the girl who was waiting, once again with patience, for a "thank you".

"Why should I thank this girl for bringing back painful memories?" he thought as he looked down at the rose. Raxiel noticed his sudden change in his behavior. Trying to ease the situation they were in, she cleared her throat loudly and started to speak to him, this time with a more cheerful attitude. "Oh, Gaara! Yours is so much prettier than my flower! Do you want to trade? I know you like white better than red, right?"

Bewildered by her sudden change in attitude, Gaara gave her a confused look, but all Raxiel did was smiled.

"Does she know how I'm feeling?" he thought, shocked by what she had just said to him.

After calming down for a few seconds, Gaara nodded slightly at her. As they switched flowers, Gaara noticed her hand accidentally caressed his. Never feeling anything so soft before in his life, he wondered if her whole body felt that way…

Suddenly, he could feel Raxiel's hand gripping him. She nudged at him, whispering to him softly, "Say 'thank you,' Gaara."

Gaara did not like that she was telling him what to do again, but no wanting to cause a crowd, he bent down to be eye-level with the girl. The girl smiled at him, knowing exactly what he was about to say. Gaara quietly spoke to her, "Thank you." The little girl nodded and happily ran off.

Gaara stood up and glanced at Raxiel who was smiling at him and laughing quietly. Finding her laughter intriguing ,Gaara smirked at her ever so slightly. Raxiel noticed and gasped quickly at the rare expression he had just made. Gaara suddenly looked at her with concernment.

"You smiled!" she stated kindly.

Realizing now why she had gasped, Gaara turned around to look at something else. "So?"

Raxiel looked down at the ground. "I don't know…" she said softly. "I just think you should smile more, since you have a nice smile."

Gaara's eyes snapped back onto her. "Did she just say that?" he thought in total shock.

Raxiel unexpectedly looked up and shot a quick smile at him. Soon her eyes were looking around the place, and seeing that it was so noisy and crowded, her face became troubled. "Do you want to go somewhere quiet to we can talk?" she asked him. Gaara nodded in agreement, and they soon started to walk out of the town side by side.

When they had reached the outskirts of the village, Raxiel took the flower she had acquired from the girl and put it next in her hair beside her ear. Gaara watched her as she gently pushed it through some of her hair so that it would stay in place, and soon his eyes widened in shock that he would be watching such an absurd scene. Soon afterwards, Raxiel pointed to a bench, and they both walked over to it and sat down.

Gaara would never forget the way she looked up into the sky as she watched some birds fly past them. He'd never seen anyone so carefree… so worry free… It almost ticked him off, but, on the other hand, he wanted to be a part of that carefree world…

Her carefree world…

He was caught off guard, jumping a little when she started to speak to him. "So, I'm taking it that this is not your home-town."

Gaara glanced at the flower in her hair. He nodded. "I'm from the Village of Sand, Sunagakure."

Raxiel laughed. "So that's how you got the sand, huh?" Gaara only looked at her without moving or making a sound. Raxiel looked at him, noticing his sudden seriousness that hadn't been there before. She stopped smiling and looked away.

"Sorry..."

Apologies…

Gaara sensed her uneasiness. He tensed up, as well, knowing that she was not as relaxed as beforehand. Trying to get her smile back, he started to talk to her again, hesitantly. "What about you? Where are you from?"

Raxiel glanced at him. "Huh?" She thought about it for a while, wondering what she should say to him. "If I told him, would he understand? Would he understand what I've… been through? -"

"Gaara, I'd rather not say. It's too long and complicating."

"Darn it! I've hurt her!" he thought, looking down at the white flower that had been traded for the red flower.

"…You don't have any money, do you? No place to go, right?" Raxiel nodded slowly. Having an idea in his mind, Gaara looked around, and, seeing that there was no one around, he ever-so-slightly leaned towards her, not wanting anything else but her to hear what he way going to say.

"I'll pay," He said softly, yet strictly. Raxiel shot him a shocked glance. "Gaara, I can't let you-"

"I'll pay. It's no big deal for me. My…family is rich. It won't burden me at all."

"A- … Are you sure?"

Gaara nodded in response. Smiling at him shyly, Gaara knew he had won her smile back.

It made him feel…

What was the feeling?

Content?

"Thank you… very much," Raxiel said very politely.

The more she smiled, the more Gaara felt at ease with himself. He looked down at the white flower again, and with another idea in his head, he stretched his arm out towards her with the flower in his hand. "Here. I have no need for this. Please, take it."

Raxiel smiled even more and gently took the flower from his hand. Gaara watched her as she began to study the flower's off-white pedals.

"You know," she began to speak, "white represents peace."

"Yeah? so?"

"Hmm… I feel like I'm kind of at peace right now."

Gaara's face soon turned into eagerness and curiosity. "You do? You don't' feel scared or angry?"

"No, why should I?" She looked at him with curiosity, as well.

"His memories must be submitting to me. Everyone was scared when they were by me. Especially when Shukaku was inside me" he thought to himself.

Gaara shrugged his shoulders and looked out a ways towards a tree where a squirrel was climbing up and down on it. Raxiel looked up at the sky again.

"So what brings you to this village?" she asked having the need for conversation.

"I had to give this country some paper-work and sign a contract stating my home-town would be allies with this village," he said bluntly.

Raxiel nodded. "It sounds like you're important to your village."

Gaara glanced at her, his eyes widening. "Well, um… you could say that."

"And they let you go by yourself?" she asked curiously.

"Why not? I don't need an escort or a body guard," he told her.

Raxiel began to think of a good comeback. "Hmm… sometimes, even the most ready people need the most help."

Gaara grunted. He did not like where this was going. Raxiel, now excited about this new conversation, turned her body to face Gaara. "Take me, for example," she said. He looked at her confused. "I'm always ready to face precarious, noxious moments, but, the other day, I was caught off guard."

Gaara looked down. "Are you sure you're really as good as you think you are?" he asked, bored to death with this conversation. Raxiel laughed, stirring up his attention to her. "One of the best. Unfortunately, everyone has their weak moment."

"Are you saying I can't take care of myself?"

"No, I'm saying you can't take care of yourself all the time, and that's why, if you're so important, it would seem more logical to have someone else go with you."

"True… but what if you and your ally have that weak point both at the same time?" Gaara asked, hoping he had nailed her down into a corner so she could stop with this conversation.

"One of you can go for help," she stated simply.

Gaara looked away, refusing to lose to this conversation. "Well, I'm a loner."

"I guess so… but, you know, friends can also be your ally, and sometimes, it's not even when you're in a battle between two people."

"I don't have any friends. –"

"That's not true. I'm your friend."

Gaara's eyes widened with shock. "Did she really just say that?" he thought.

Still flabbergasted by what she had just said, Raxiel noticed the sudden change in his face and smiled. "So now you do have an ally, and I have one, as well."

The conversation…

He'd lost…

Gaara didn't know what to do. No one had ever called him "their friend". The only intentions he had was getting to know her and buy her lunch so they could talk a little longer.

Apparently, her intentions were stronger…

Much stronger…

Simply the thought of someone calling him "friend" made him believe he was dreaming an almost impossible dream; a dream he had wanted and had been waiting for all of his life. A smile suddenly crept from his heart to his mouth. Raxiel laughed, and with eagerness in her voice, she changed the subject. "So let's get lunch, huh? I'm hungry again."

As she stood up, her hand reaching out for his, he finally nodded in agreement and took her hand. She helped him up, and they started making their way back towards the busy village.

Dreams…

Reality…