Chapter 15:

"What things that he bought for me are 'necessary'?" Raxiel said to herself out loud in her hotel room as she was going through her 'temporary' closet. She wasn't exactly sure what things she really needed to bring with her to Sunagakure and which things to leave.

"Why does this have to be so hard?" she said now getting frustrated. Finally having spent two hours staring at her closet not knowing what to take, she quickly paced around her room in search for a big bag. When she had found one that she thought was the right size, she tossed it over to the closet and started to dig through her closet.

"I'll fill up the bag, and once it can't carry anymore, I'll be done packing."

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"Curse these mosquitoes!" Gaara thought to himself as he was making his way towards the hotel. He had finally finished all of the paper-work and now had a full day of freedom to himself…

Well, not to himself

Trying to get his mind off of the annoying humming objects that were next to his ears, his thoughts soon traced back to what had happened the other night. What Raxiel had said to him last night had stayed with him. Those few words she had whispered…

"Your happiness, your smile is what keeps me smiling."

"How can I make someone smile?" he thought. "All these years, I've only been a monster. Have I changed that much in only a year's time?"

As he continued walking, he started to "play" with some of his sand, forming it into a rose. Looking at it with a saddened face, he knew he had been hiding something…

Hiding something from himself…

"Her smile keeps me going…"

He didn't want to admit it, but he knew it was true. The only way he had gotten a chance at becoming her friend was because every time she smiled at him, she pushed herself deeper and deeper into his heart, making him open up without even second-guessing if she was trust-worthy or not.

He'd never met anyone like her…

He knew she was one-of-a-kind…

"I can't keep letting those thoughts keep running through my head. We're friends and only friends. I have to leave it at that, or else she might hate me for the rest of my time together with her," he thought.

So he closed those thoughts…

Shut them out of his head (or at least, he thought he had). And he vowed to be only a friend unless she wanted something otherwise.

As he neared the hotel and looked up to see the huge building, something soon caught his attention.

A man…

Dressed in black with his face hidden…

"Is he looking at Raxiel's window?" he thought soon becoming concerned.

When the man finally looked away from the window and out towards Gaara, Gaara stopped walking. Eye contact was the only thing they shared. After a few minutes of staring at each other, the man slowly turned around and walked away.

Gaara did not want to see that man again…

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"Okay! I guess I'm ready!" Raxiel said enthusiastically. She looked down at her bag to see her clothes neatly folded in it all the way to the top. She was quite satisfied with what she had gotten. Although it wasn't much, she knew it was just right and left it at that.

Once she had zipped up the bag and tossed it on her bed, she looked around the hotel room to take a good glance at it. A whole week she had been living in this one small room, and she was glad to be getting out of it to have a place to herself: her own apartment.

That's what she hoped, at least…

"Anything is probably better than this small place," she thought.

As she turned around to shut the window she had opened up due to the rare cool weather they had received that morning, she noticed something on the sill. Once she had made it to the window, she finally realized what it was. When she picked it up, sharp thorns poking at her fingers, she held it up to her nose to smell the beautiful, flawless, red rose.

"I guess Gaara is close," she thought as she walked over to her night stand to put it in her white vase that held the other fake rose he had given her. As soon as she slid the other rose into the vase, she heard a knock at her door. Going over to the door she quietly laughed. "I guess I was right."

Once she had opened the door to see Gaara looking down at the tacky carpet, he looked up at her with a serious face not wanting to say anything. Raxiel smiled cheerfully. "Hey, Gaara. Are you all done with your work?"

"…Yeah."

"Oh, well, that's good."

A long silence was held between the two. Finally, Gaara spoke, his voice demanding. "We're going out for lunch. Hurry up and get ready."

"Oh, okay. It won't take me too long. I guess you could come in for a minute." Raxiel opened the door a little wider and moved to the side, giving Gaara room to walk inside. As he entered into the main part of her room, Raxiel shut the door and walked over beside him.

"Just give me a minute," Raxiel stated as she walked into the bathroom and shut the door.

Gaara didn't even notice her leave because he was busy looking around, examining the room. With almost everything in her bag, Gaara noticed that the space was clean and precise. Even her bed was made, comforter as smooth as could be.

But very quickly his eyes caught onto something else…

Something red

Gaara slowly walked to her nightstand next to her bed to see a white vase on top of the table. In it were his rose he had given her yesterday…

And something else…

Gaara gently seized the red rose that was in the vase, as well. "Who gave her this?" he thought as he was closely looking at the rose.

Just about the same time, Raxiel came out smiling her usual smile. She soon noticed what Gaara had in his hand and walked over to him.

"By the way, I should thank you for that rose," she said looking at the same rose that Gaara was holding.

"What?" Gaara gave her a confused face.

"Actually, I should thank you for both roses. They're both nice."

"…Raxiel, I never gave you this rose," Gaara said, holding the real rose higher.

Raxiel's eyes widened slightly. "Oh, you didn't…" She looked over at the rose made out of sand, the one that Gaara actually gave her.

"No, I didn't," he replied sharply. "Where'd you get it?"

"It was on my window sill. I thought you had put it there…"

"Hmm…" Gaara set the rose down on the stand, and Raxiel could tell that Gaara was upset. Quickly she smiled at him and came closer to him. "Hey, don't worry. I bet it was just a mistake. Someone put it there accidentally. I'll just put it on the window sill where I found it, and once we get back, I'm sure it'll be gone."

Gaara watched as Raxiel reached across him to pick up the red perfection. "You don't have to –"

"No, Gaara," she interrupted. "That's okay. Besides, I can't take this if I don't know where it came from."

She swiftly put the rose back on the sill, and as she did, Gaara noticed the bag that was next to the window. Raxiel soon looked at him and caught onto where his attention was focused. She smiled. "I'm all packed up. I guess you could tell."

"Yeah. That's good," he said blandly. "Anyways, let's get going."

"Oh, right," she agreed.

Gaara quickly walked towards the door and opened it. Raxiel slowly followed him out of the room and shut the door behind her.

Those feelings of love can never be buried…

They'll never leave you alone…

Jealousy…