Chapter 11
It wasn't a three-day train ride. It was a two-day train ride, drop off the Land of Wind's council member, visit with the Land's lord for two days, then another train ride with a transfer the next day. I'm glad I packed for a week instead of five days like I was originally thinking. I wish I was wrong about Gaara's hovering though. I barely had a moment to myself on the train rides or the visit with the Land of Wind's lord, but he was forced to leave me alone when we got to Suna. Thank you Kazekage duties. As soon as we returned, Gaara had to check in with his council about the treaty and our impending marriage.
I was dropped off at the Kazekage mansion early afternoon, while Gaara headed to work. He wasn't supposed to be back until the end of the day which meant a few hours of piece without him hovering over me. Finally, alone at last. "Uh, I think Gaara wants you to unpack into his room." Well alone except for Kankuro. "I think he'll understand that I can't sleep in the same room with him until we're married." We both knew that was a lie. He's probably going to throw a fit, or his stoic version of a fit once he gets back. But even if he does, I'm not moving into his room yet, my reputation is on the line.
"I'm pretty sure he won't understand, and I don't want to get an earful from him." I roll my eyes at Kankuro and finish unpacking my belongings into the guest room drawers. "I'll just explain to him how improper it would be for me to share a room with him and that he'll just have to be fine with it." I hear him tsk behind me, "Your as stubborn as he is. Well whatever, as long as I don't get blamed for this." He sure gave up easily, I wish Gaara was the same way. Better for me but he's right, Gaara's going to put up a big fight about this. I'm just going to have to out stubborn him.
He's been standing in the doorway for twenty-five minutes now and I've been ignoring him the whole time, pretending to read a book. He came straight to the room after walking through the door. How did he know where I was so quickly? There's five rooms in this house. He didn't even check his room first. "Why are you in the guest room?" Ah, he finally spoke. Ok, just got to lay it out straight to him and hold firm. I set my book down on my bed and looked over to him, "It's where I'll be staying while we're engaged."
He crossed his arms while looking at me, "No you are not. I can't protect you at night if you're in another room. You're going to stay in my room engaged or not." I cross my arms to match his posture. Resolve Aiko, resolve. "I'm not staying in your room. It would be inappropriate for me to do that without us being married. I won't do it. I'll be fine in this one." I can feel his annoyance begin to creep higher and higher. I knew he'd be difficult about this. Resolve. Resolve. Resolve. I have to win this one.
He didn't answer immediately, instead staring into my eyes. I always squirm when he looks me directly in the eyes like that. What happened to my willpower when I insisted on repacking by myself back at the castle? Was it entirely because I was mad? I was pretty pissed off, now I'm just annoyed. Can I get that mad again for this fight? He'll probably make it easy. Gaara walks towards the bed, and I stand to meet him. He lifts my chin so my eyes meet his, "I want you stay with me. It will be safer." His eyes look so sincere, ugh, it's only making this harder. I quickly look away from him, "Not until we're married. Besides I'll be safe in Suna, no one can sneak in or out. You won't need to protect me at night."
Honestly its bad enough I'm staying in his house at all. I know how fast gossip spreads and I know what they'll be saying. I'm sure people will already be thinking that we're staying in the same room together, I don't want to prove them right. "I said you would be under my protection while in Suna, I meant it." I pull my head from his grip. He did say he'd protect me while here. He seems to be keeping his promise, in his own way. "You're being really stubborn." Ha! I could say the same thing about him. Stubborn and clingy. Well, its nice that he's doing this because he's worried about me. Other than my parents, I don't think anyone's been this concerned about my safety before, but it's too much.
Looking at the floor I continue, "I can't stay in the same room as you. People will talk." Ugh, I shouldn't even need to have this conversation. If Gaara was more reasonable, then he wouldn't even ask me to stay in his room. He'd immediately give me the guest room. If I hadn't been kidnapped, then I wouldn't even be here. I would be having a proper engagement while I waited back at home. I wouldn't have had to leave my family so soon. If I wasn't the center of a prophecy, then I wouldn't be in this mess at all.
"I don't care that people will talk." Of course he doesn't, it's never as bad for the guys. Girls are sluts and guys are studs. He wouldn't get the same treatment as me. I look him in the eye again and try not to fidget, "I'm staying here." He recrosses his arms and stares down at me. It took all my willpower to keep staring back without squirming. I'm not going to let him think that I'll back down from this. He pinches the bridge of his nose then sighs, "You won't stay here," I strain not to roll my eyes, he really is stubborn. Well so am I. I'm not staying in his room, "you'll stay in the room closest to mine." Oh.
My eyes go wide as I stare up at him. Did I win? "It will be easier to protect you if you're in the room closest to mine." I think I won! Hell yeah! I can't believe it. I did just have to out stubborn him. I think that's the lesson here. Prospects are not good about our relationship though; I don't want our whole married relationship to be us trying to out stubborn each other. "Will that be ok?" Oh yeah, I should probably answer him. "Yes. That works." I beamed at him excitedly. "A perfect compromise."
His annoyed feelings start to seep away but he's still staring down at me expectantly. I wonder if he wants me to start moving now. Hmm, his soft broody face is kind of cute. I should probably be counting my blessings but I kind of want to mess with him first, see how far he'll let me push boundaries. I grasp one of his hands and walk backwards towards the door. He stops a foot away from the bed, "Where are we going?" Didn't get too far, eh? I try to stifle a giggle but barely succeed. I give him another large smile, "It's dinnertime, I'm hungry."
Gaara pulls me back towards the dressers next to the bed, annoyance beginning to creep back into him, "You need to switch rooms first." He does expect me to start moving now. I giggle again and give him a playful smile, "But I'm hungry now." Let's see how he handles flirting. I entwine one hand with his and slide the other up and down his arm. His curiosity is overwhelming. He searches my face for a second, reading it like an open book, then cracks a small smirk himself, "We'll eat after you move rooms." He saw through me almost immediately, am I that easy? How far should I actually play this? I try pull him towards the door again but this time he doesn't move an inch.
My parents always told me I had eyes that oozes defiance at times. Said there was a special twinkle in them whenever I was really rebellious. I wonder if that's what Gaara saw before I dropped his hand and turned towards the door, "Well, I'm hungry now so I'll just go eat by myself." He's in front of me in a flash; him stopping me by placing both of his hands on my shoulders. I snicker for a second but then squirm under his gaze when I look up at his eyes. My confidence started waning. Man, I can't handle him staring me down the way he does.
His right hand slides up my shoulder and neck to cup my chin; his favorite move I see. His left hand slides down and cups the small of my back, pulling me close into him. "You're being really stubborn." I've never been this close to a guy before. It's kind of embarrassing. My hands are pressed on his chest and his eyes are trained on mine. I shudder under him, my breath catching slightly in my throat. This isn't kind of embarrassing, it's extremely embarrassing. If my skin showed blush, I'd be beet red. Still, it's hard to look anywhere other than his eyes; they're captivating.
"What are you feeling right now?" I'm feeling like he's too close for comfort right now. I'm feeling like if anyone caught us like this then rumors would spread. And despite my anger leading up to this, I'm feeling the tiniest bit attracted to him and I just can't deal with that right now. Ok, game's over. "Um…" I try to push us apart, my hands pressed against his chest, but his hands slide to my hips and hold me firmly in place. We're only a modest distance away from each other now. Better than how we were a second ago but still in a dangerous position for rumor factories.
I'm still hypnotized by his eyes. I should say something, anything, but I'm trapped in the gravitational pull of him. Time seems to stop. He tries to pull me back against him, but I hold my arms firm, keeping our distance. His eyes search mine for an answer to his question. I wonder what they're saying. He tries to pull me back against him a second time and it's a struggle to not let him. Instead I push away from him, breaking our contact completely. "I—I should get packing. So I can move rooms." My eyes don't leave the floor as I shuffle around Gaara to reach the dressers. Behind me, I can feel a trace of sadness coming off of him.