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Chapter Twenty-nine


It had taken her longer than the process had with Kankuro. Her skills had manifested beyond expectations with her age, but the poison had also lingered in Ken'ichi longer than it had Kankuro. Nonetheless, as soon as she had finished, she stepped back with a loud, triumphant sigh.

"That's all we can do for him right now," Sakura announced. "Go ahead and send some samples of the poison we collected to the greenhouse so that I may analyze it there."

Sakura wiped the moisture from her from hours of work off her brow, but stopped when an eruption of applause suddenly rang around her. The nurses were smiling and commending the young woman with their clapping.

"His blood pressure is dropping," one of them announced. "It's lowering to better levels."

"His heart rate too is getting better!" another called out.

Sakura smiled softly upon hearing those facts, yet knew deep down that this was only the beginning to saving Ken'ichi. The reminder came ever so much clearer when the doctor sneaked up behind her, placing a hand on her shoulder.

"Sakura-san, will you be aiding Chiyo-sama with the antidote as well?"

She recalled the process with Kankuro, and tried to remember what all she had used at the time. Trial an error it would need to be again, especially since this poison was a little different, but she remembered the basics to it at least. She had a starting point at least, where as she imagined Chiyo and the others were going on with false starts that would eventually lead them away from the ultimate goal. To the doctor's question, Sakura only blinked in thought for a second before cocking her head back to answer him.

"Of course," she replied. "I leave Ken'ichi in your care now."

The doctor nodded before ushering Sakura to follow him. The doctor was filled with questions as they made their way towards the hospital's greenhouse, and Sakura answered what she could. She had a teacher, she told him, but did not reveal a name. She had been studying since she was a little girl, but did not share which village it was she devoted herself to. She told him she had done this many times before, but left out that Kankuro had been a patient of hers once like Ken'ichi was now. Yet, the one question she struggled most with…

"Why are you not working in our hospital, Sakura-san?" the doctor asked. "We could really use your expertise. I see you as someone who is on par with Chiyo-baasama… Maybe even greater."

Sakura twisted her lips to this question.

"Rasa has assigned me to watch his son, Gaara. Nothing more," Sakura finally confessed.

Her words led the man to stop his steps and turn around to face her. His face had fallen, surprised.

"You're his caregiver? You watch his son instead of saving lives?" he asked.

Sakura nodded, confirming to him that indeed she was, and for the first time since she arrive her, aside from Gaara, there was repulse in Rasa's decision.

"What a waste," the doctor commented.

Sakura said nothing. Did she think her skills were being misused as a nanny? Absolutely. Did she regret being placed to watch Gaara? With time, she had learned the answer to that was no. In this world, if she would have to choose now, she'd much rather guide Gaara through his hard times than be placed in Suna's hospital.

"That's the second time I have to disagree with you tonight, doctor," Sakura commented then.

She smiled at him as his passive eyes stared at her, but he nonetheless eventually turned from the rosette and led her outside.

Sakura stared up at the twinkling stars, wondering how late into the night it actually was as they approached the brightly lit building. Sakura could hear a small stream, passing outside and into the building as it flourished the small bushes that laid out around the building. No doubt, they were simply décor, but nonetheless the sound of fresh water, and scent of greens, made Sakura close her eyes for a moment in contentment.

'Reminds me of home,' she thought, trying to picture in her mind Konoha's lavish scenery.

"Ah… Perhaps, you'll be alright to escort yourself from this point on?"

Sakura opened her eyes then, surprised to see the doctor suddenly retracting backwards. An unknown fear came to his face, though he eyed the greenhouse instead of her. Following his gaze, Sakura caught sight of three familiar people just outside the entrance. The older two were Baki and Chiyo conversing, while a few feet behind Baki was Gaara dragging a stick against the ground.

"Gaara!" Sakura smiled before lightly jogging towards the group.

The doctor got no second thought from Sakura, and he watched her make her way towards the group before turning back towards the direction of the hospital.

As Sakura approached Gaara from behind she could see he was knelt with his back towards her. She shuffled his hair from behind, causing him to shoot up in an instant, yet as he turned around and saw who the culprit was he relaxed before returning Sakura's own smile.

"You're still awake?!" he asked excitedly.

It made Sakura blink in confusion before she looked back up towards the bright moon. She realized then how late into the night it really was.

"Of course," she murmured, pulling the child close to her and stroking his locks. "You know I wouldn't go back home without you first."

The boy leaned his head to where her hands traveled against his scalp, and smiled all the more to show off his missing tooth.

"You should just stay up all night with me," he commented.

Sakura chuckled to his request before eyeing Baki and Chiyo again some feet away.

"You may just get your wish tonight," she murmured.

"Really?!" the boy beamed, even pulling back from Sakura's touch to gaze up at her excitedly.

Though she smiled, she still shook her head at him.

"Not to play though," she added. "To work."

"Work?" Gaara pouted. "What work? You're not suppose to work. You're suppose to take care of me."

"Brat," she called him. "You're constant work."

Gaara's eyes had widened to Sakura's words, yet before he could try to find the meaning behind them, Sakura lowered her face to his and patted the top of his head.

"But I do it because you're my friend," she told him. "There's nothing else I'd rather want to do than to be with you."

The boy grinned then, and Sakura could see the stain of red against his lips.

"Messy child," she told him, dragging her thumb hard against the corners of his mouth to rid the stain.

He laughed to her ministrations before pulling away and licking his lips.

"Thank you for behaving for Baki. Did he get kakigori as well?" Sakura asked the little boy.

Gaara sniffed before looking towards Baki.

"No," Gaara commented as he shook his head. "That's alright though, it wasn't tasty tonight."

"It wasn't?" Sakura asked with a tilt of her head.

She was surprised to hear such a claim, and wondered if Gaara was beginning to grow bored of the constant treat.

"The old man wasn't there tonight," Gaara revealed. "A girl made it. It wasn't as sweet, it just tasted like ice."

'Tsutomu wasn't there? That's a first… I wonder why.' Sakura thought.

Gaara's teal eyes turned back up towards Sakura, and his old, passive gaze returned before he spoke his next words apathetically.

"She was afraid of me."

Gaara's voice was carried off by a small breeze, and the boy's stare did not falter in linger as Sakura took his words in. It was an old, demeaning look she hadn't seen for a while, and with a few blinks of his did the frown disappear as he turned his head away from her. His face wrinkled then, as if he was confused for a moment.

"Are you alright?" Sakura asked him.

He turned to her again, but with a bright smile this time that contradicted his previous grim features. To her question, he nodded his yes.

"I'm alright," he told her with a smile.

As the boy turned his head, back to drawing the sand under him, Sakura had to wonder again what it was exactly went on in the boy's mind.

'A constant battle,' she reminded herself. 'My teachings against the Ichibi's.'

She was sure the monster in his head had just spoken to the boy then, paining the kakigori girl's fear of Gaara into something much more detailed than need be. In a way, for Sakura, she often would forget a power, that was a being itself, resided within Gaara. He was a little boy with a quiet voice, but he homed a loud, heinous beast. If it tried to constantly encourage the boy to kill Sakura, did that mean Shukaku could view her as well? Could it hear her words of encouragement when she relayed it to Gaara?

Did it listen to Gaara's tears?

She understood Shukaku's distaste in mankind came from the chains that constantly bound it, but did the beast have absolutely no heart for the boy it tormented? At the time, she wished she had gone to Naruto before all this and asked him more about Kurama. She had seen them all once before, watched a few of them depart to destinations of their heart's desire after Naruto and Sasuke's fight. Yet, she did not once acknowledge them or bid them farewell. She just felt it wasn't in her place to do so, and instead she had stood back and watched Naruto, Killer B, and Gaara give their goodbyes. They at least had some connection to the mysterious creatures to stand in front of them and watch them leave with their blessings.

Now she wished she had taken the initiative to step forward.

"Can it hear me?"

Gaara turned from his drawing to look back up at Sakura curiously. He was surprised to see her serious face.

"Can what hear you?" he asked innocently.

Sakura said nothing, and simply stared at the boy. She was teetering in dangerous territory again, she knew that, yet something inside of her could not stop. Perhaps it was another connection to Gaara she was searching for, or at least a means to know if Shukaku could hear her. If she could just make his dark echoes stop somehow…

Her stare became long, and even if her lips were pursed, Gaara ultimately realized who it was she spoke about. He slowly narrowed his eyes towards her, but eventually turned his head and gaze away from Sakura and back to the dirt under him. Perhaps she was asking too much of him, Sakura thought as Gaara began writing in the ground under him again, but eventually his voice came.

"Always," he whispered.

His voice led Sakura to continue to believe that this conversation was taboo. She wondered if Gaara saw her and him as a duo pair that would shun away all that tried to hurt the both of them. Rasa was territory they tried to avoid, the talk of pain and suffering in the past was replaced with hugs and play instead, and Shukaku's name was never uttered unless it was Sakura convincing Gaara to overcome its voice. Yet, it was the rosette pressing forward, and even revealing something she shouldn't to the little boy.

"I know Shukaku, I saw him once before."

Gaara's head whipped fast towards Sakura then, and he even stood up to face her fully. Not surprisingly the boy's eyes narrowed again towards her as confusion flashed across his eyes. His mouth continuously opened back and forth with words he was trying to speak, but were left unspoken. No doubt he wanted to call her a liar, words the beast in his head was ringing in his mind right now, but fell short remembering who the woman in front of him was. This was Sakura, another part of his mind told him, she wouldn't lie or play jokes like this with him. So, he remained quiet, eyes focused on the rosette and waiting for her to explain herself.

"It was a while back," Sakura continued, eyes narrowing as she tried to recall the sand tanuki. "...It was loud. It spoke like it was above the world."

Gaara's eyes widened then with recognition before they slowly narrowed again. To those words, Gaara found a voice.

"It says your lying," Gaara murmured.

Despite the boy's warning tone, and dangerous eyes, the rosette instead looked down at Gaara in surprise.

"Oh? It can hear me now?" Sakura asked before leaning down to Gaara's level. "Tell Shukaku it's nothing but a kibitzer."

Sakura knew then the messenger wasn't necessarily needed, and that her voice reached the deep end of Gaara's mind as the small boy winced and cradled a palm against his head suddenly. Sakura instantly reach for Gaara then.

"I'm sorry!" she quickly apologized. "I didn't mean for it to hurt you. I was just..."

Yet, she was surprised to see Gaara shake his hand towards her to not pay him any mind. She continued to watch as the boy drew in a deep breath, before relaxing his tense shoulders to the release. His hand returned to his side, and he even forced a reassuring smile towards Sakura.

"I'm alright," he murmured. "It...it just didn't like that."

Sakura's eyes widened to this, but was most surprise that Gaara had been able to control himself to the monster's rage. Sakura was in awe that the small boy was able to push away whatever words were spoken, and smiled as Gaara's eyes continued to shift back and forth between her and the emptiness in front of him.

'He's hiding something,' Sakura thought.

She brought a finger up to press against the boy's shoulder.

"That's not all it said, is it?" Sakura asked.

She could see Gaara's lips purse then, and even pink painted his cheeks as he tried to keep silent.

"Tell me what all it said," Sakura ushered him.

"No..." the boy whined. "It isn't nice..."

Sakura laughed then.

"It's alright," she told him. "I know it's not from you."

The boy shifted his eyes again, but sighed as Sakura's stare waited on him.

"Fine," he mumbled and turned to face her once more.

He let a breath go once more as he brought back his stoic features to latch on to Sakura's own look.

"It called you a liar," Gaara repeated. "It says you have no business speaking to it and labeling it since you are a worthless human, and that the first one it is going after, once it gets out, is you."

Sakura's eyes nearly bulged, but as she recalled who the beast was, she realized then she should have expected nothing less.

"It also says that you're the meddler here, and that you're just some old hag whose too ugly with that pink hair to find a man of your own and start a family, and that's why you're stuck here babysitting."

Silence followed then, and Gaara's pink cheeks only deepened as the words left his mouth. Eventually he turned his eyes away from Sakura's own, ashamed she had asked him to speak such words to her. Yet, his eyes went back up to Sakura as she suddenly stood straight up.

"Sakura?" he asked.

His eyes widened as Sakura narrowed her eyes down towards him and pointed a finger towards his head.

"You bastard!" she cried suddenly.

Gaara took a step back from here then, surprised the rosette had such anger in her suddenly.

"It-it wasn't me!" he told her.

"I know that!" Sakura yelled back. "I'm talking to that stupid tanuki!"

At this point, to Sakura's loud voice, Gaara covered his ears. He was trying to drown out Shukaku's own amused laughter in his mind.

"Let him out, Gaara," Sakura told him.

"W-What?" Gaara asked, hands still clasped over his ears. "No..."

"I'll show him what this old hag can do! How humiliating for him that he only has one puny tail while his brother's have magnificent multiple ones. What the hell is wrong with him just having one?! I bet his brother's laugh at him. Let him out, I'll shut him up permanently!"

Gaara took a step back as Sakura approached angrily and with rising fists. His hands still covered his ears, but he could hear the beast within his mind riling up as well to the mention of his tail, he too demanded to let the boy give him control and that he would shred the woman to pieces, ending her voice.

At this point Gaara sought refuge, and the closest one came from the man a distance away. Baki and Chiyo were staring at the commotion at this point, and were surprised to see Gaara racing towards them suddenly.

"Don't, Sakura!" he cried as he ran towards Baki. "You're scaring me!"

The small boy placed himself behind Baki, using him as a shield as Sakura raced for him.

"I'm not going to hurt you, Gaara," Sakura said, though with fists still high. "I just want to pulverize the thing inside of you."

Baki cleared his throat then, earning Sakura's angry gaze.

"Sakura," he whispered in her direction. "Control your temper. Kazekage-sama asked you to watch Gaara-sama, not attack him."

Sakura looked aghast to Baki's words.

"I'd never hurt Gaara!" she cried. "He's my friend!"

She lowered herself then, to Gaara's level, and tried to make eye contact with the boy while he continued to use Baki's body as a shield.

"No..." Sakura drawled with clenching fists, "the one I want to hurt is that sand bastard, Shukaku."

It would be Baki and Chiyo sharing a concerned look then. Their quick glance silently asking the other if Sakura had really just proposed she fight the feared Ichibi.

"Sakura..." Baki began, but was cut short by Chiyo.

"The Ichibi doesn't work like that."

Her voice had made Sakura stand back up then, staring at the woman curiously.

"Fists would do nothing against the Shukaku," Chiyo continued. "Your best attempt would be to imprecate the foul beast, but even that would look hopeless."

Sakura said nothing as she took in Chiyo's words, and in time it was Baki coming to her side to change the subject.

"Chiyo-baasama was just telling me the progress you've made with Ken'ichi," he began. "Your assessment turned hands on it seems."

Sakura shrugged at the man.

"I expected as much that it would," Sakura spoke. "You obviously didn't bring me here just to watch one of your men die."

Baki's eyes seemed to waver in front of him, and he said nothing for some time while lost in thought.

"I suppose that is true," he murmured to himself. "It just baffles me..."

Sakura's eyes narrowed then, not following what he had to say as his voice trailed off.

"What does?" Sakura asked him.

She was answered with a shake of his head.

"It's nothing," he murmured.

Sakura's gaze hardened more. She disliked when she was kept in the dark, and her facial features spoke to the older woman, Chiyo.

"It's baffling to him because here you are, a person within this village solving a problem everyone else here, including myself, couldn't figure out. Doing it nonetheless within hours while we've been struggling for days."

"I don't see how-" Sakura began to explain herself, but was cut off by the woman again.

"Why is it Kazekage keeps you tied to his child instead of putting these extraordinary, medical skills to use? Is it because you're an outsider?"

"Chiyo-baasama, Sakura is not an outsider. She has always been a citizen here," Baki explained.

"Poppycock," Chiyo hushed the man. "I've been in this village for years, and not once have I seen such pink hair strolling around the streets. Rasa isn't fooling anyone saying this girl has been with us always. He keeps her away, and you know exactly why."

Baki could only grimace to Chiyo's words, the truth kept his lips sealed. They all knew why it was Rasa did not use Sakura's expertise to her full potential. She wasn't one of them, she was still a danger to the eyes of this country. Rasa kept her in hopes that maybe, one day, she would be of some use somewhere much greater than in Gaara's room. However, Sakura knew Rasa's trust in her faltered every time she came to him arguing about Gaara. Surely knocking the Kazekage back didn't help her case either.

In a way, Chiyo's words barely fazed Sakura. Gaara himself consisted most of her time, while the rest was spent seeking a way back home. The thought of Rasa asking her to work in the hospital, while properly placed, would be more than she'd want to handle at the moment. She assumed it would tear her and redheaded boy apart, and that was something she definitely did not want now.

"It's embarrassing to see the other village medics so far advanced from our own," Chiyo spoke again. "So, so disappointing."

"I-I'm not from another village, my family were travelers and-!"

Sakura's voice cut short as Chiyo turned her back on the group. Instead of Sakura's words, she chose to return to the greenhouse. To her departure, the young woman's heart ached some. As uplifting as it was to see Chiyo alive again, the old woman's backwards teachings hung heavy still in her heart. Chiyo was yet to become the woman who bettered herself through Naruto's acts, and it was like a whole different women Sakura now interacted with.

"She means well," Baki spoke, trying to break Sakura's gaze.

Sakura blinked a few times before turning her head towards.

"R-Right," she answered him. "It's fine. It's just been a long day."

From this, Baki gazed at the child behind him.

"Shall I escort Gaara-sama home? I could watch him for the time being as you work for an antidote."

"No!" Sakura and Gaara spoke in unison.

The rosette smiled to the child's voice then, and that smile grew as Gaara pulled himself away from Baki to go next to Sakura. As he drew close to her, she placed a hand instinctively on his head.

"Sorry I scared you earlier, Gaara," she told him.

His eyes blinked up towards her.

"You're all better now? Not crazy anymore?"

She chortled to his question. Some may argue on the crazy part, but Sakura nonetheless nodded to the small boy.

"I won't do that again. I promise," she told him.

Gaara locked his hand within hers as Sakura led the two of the towards the greenhouse. Once inside, she was surprised to see Baki had followed.

"You're not tired?" she asked him.

"Chiyo may have claimed responsibility on you," Baki explained. "But the reality is I should be the one keeping an eye on you."

"It may take all night," Sakura murmured.

"I'll return home once you are finished," he replied.

Sakura shrugged once again. The more she thought about it, the more she realized another pair of eyes set on Gaara wouldn't be so bad as she knew she would preoccupy her mind soon. Baki stood back as Sakura led Gaara through the greenhouse and into the different rooms. She wanted to show the boy the new place before beginning her work.

"It stinks," Gaara murmured, and Sakura was surprised to even see the boy cover his nose. "It feels funny in here too."

"This is a greenhouse," Sakura explained to him. "Every village has one. These are plants from other parts of the world."

"Why are they in here?" Gaara commented, finally letting his hand fall from his nose.

"This house keeps them safe," Sakura replied, now walking Gaara along the rooms hand in hand and showing of the plants. "They can't survive outside in the sand and heat. They're used for medical purposes, and study."

Gaara said nothing, instead turning his head around the room they were currently in.

"Can I see the cherry blossoms?" he questioned.

Sakura smiled then towards the boy, amused.

"What?" she asked him. "You remember what I told you about them?"

Yet, as the rosette glanced around the room, she realized in time that the plant had no real purpose here. She gave the boy an apologetic smile.

"Sorry," she commented. "Looks like they don't keep any of those."

Gaara's eyes traveled the room as well in search.

"There," he said, pointing a distance away. "I see one."

Before Sakura could follow his eyes, the boy jogged from her side and across the room. Sakura's feet were slow, but they nonetheless followed him, and she watched as he knelt down towards the section of the room that held cacti. She was quiet as she watched him stare longingly at one of the cactus blossoms before reaching out towards its pink petals. Before the women could stop him, his sand instead came up to shield the little boy from the plants in front of him. From his grains, to his fingers, the boy stared curiously until he murmured.

"What happened?"

Sakura knelt down to him then.

"Look," she said, rocking the tip of a spike on the cactus carefully with her index finger. "You can't get near the blossom because of the spikes here."

Gaara stared hard at the plant, clenching his hand back and forth.

"They'll hurt you?" he asked.

"Yes," Sakura answered, pressing her finger harder against the spike.

The young woman didn't flinch as she broke skin, but the sight made Gaara gasp, and his eyes were intent on her finger as she showed him the small pearl of blood that followed.

"The spikes can pierce your skin. It's not a good feeling," Sakura continued.

Yet, she wondered if Gaara had heard her words, for he had brought his palms up suddenly to gently cradle Sakura's bleeding finger. He was quiet, blinking once, twice, thrice, in a trance while staring at the blood.

"Your blood smells so good, Sakura," he finally admitted, his voice as passive as his longing gaze.

The rosette grimaced to those words before shifting her healing chakra towards her finger. It only took her less than a second to seal the small hole back closed, and she pulled her finger away from Gaara to wipe the small pearl of blood away.

"Maybe you would do well in the medical field," Sakura told him to lighten the mood. "A lot of people avoid that route for fear of blood."

Gaara only blinked up at Sakura in wonder before he turned back to the magenta petal on top of the cacti. Sakura's eyes followed.

"Also, that's not a cherry blossom," she continued. "This is just a flower that grows on cacti. Just because it's pink doesn't make it a cherry blossom."

Gaara was quiet, but Sakura watched fascinated as the boy attempted to reach the flower again. Carefully, this time, he avoided the tall spikes to reach the magenta blossom. As the boy began brushing the petals lightly with his fingers, he grinned.

"Pretty," he whispered.

Yet, all it took was a wrong twist of his arm, and his sand once again came to shield him away from the flower. He withdrew his hand then, eyes narrowing and pouting slightly, frustrated by his automatic aid. His sand shielded him from harm, yet it also blocked him from the his ultimate goal. How could he earn the reward he sought if his sand held him back from the dangers of attempt?

"Can I have it?" he turned to Sakura then. "Will you get it for me? ...Please."

Another sympathetic smile from the rosette. Whatever remained in here belonged to Suna, not Gaara, and the woman shook her head to him.

"I'm sorry," she told him.

"Why?" he whined, a desperate look coming to his face now.

Sakura sighed to his small tantrum, staring once again towards the magenta petal. She eyed the tall spikes, a familiar story coming to her mind then. Where was it again she had heard this tale, she wondered.

"Because the cactus loves its flower," Sakura began. "It grows tall spikes to protect the fragile flower from being stolen away. The cactus won't let anyone take its flower."

Sakura smiled then, eyes back to Gaara's mesmerized ones. To him, she poked his stomach playfully with her finger.

"Including little boys like you."

The boy seemed to appreciate the story, for his frown formed a smile and he turned his twinkling eyes back to the petal.

"I could just break it," Gaara commented then. "I can rip the cactus apart and take the flower for myself."

His choice of words made Sakura's eyes nearly bulge, and her jaw even dropped for a moment.

"Gaara!" she cried, surprised. "How could you say that? After what I just told you."

Sakura shook her head as the boy looked playfully back towards Sakura, and he even embraced her in a hug as he laughed lightly. It seemed the boy teetered his approach with a joke, but Sakura still hoped the lesson of the story sunk in to him. She lifted his chin with her hand, making sure the boy took her next words seriously.

"Love can be a dangerous thing," she told him then. "Don't try to come in between love, you think you could break cactus, but for flower, it may very well defeat you instead."

Gaara's smile fell then, and he eyed the cacti as if it were now challenge.

"It's weak," he replied.

"Love is strong," she replied back.

He frowned hard, eyes narrowing still to the cacti. Gaara became quiet as he lost himself to his thoughts though he embraced Sakura still, and eventually the rosette stroked his messy, red hair.

"You know," she eventually told him. "If you want, we can go out and buy you a small cactus. You can grow your own flower to keep then."

The boy looked back at Sakura, his small frown growing into a smile as he stared up at her.

"I want a cherry blossom," he told her.

Sakura rolled her eyes, still amused though, and shook her head.

"Cactus don't grow those. I told you already. If you want to see a cherry blossom you should go to..."

Yet, as Sakura spoke those words, another idea suddenly came to her mind that made her voice stop. One that she had to pause for a moment, and recollect past events that had led to this point. Her hand had stopped suddenly, tangled in Gaara's hair, and her face must have morphed so quickly that Gaara picked up his head to stare at her.

"Sakura?" he asked. "Are you alright?"

His small voice rocked her, but she kept her eyes distant, and past him. Her look of surprise suddenly morphed into a smile of her own.

"I promise..." she murmured before stopping.

"Hm?" Gaara asked with a tilt of his head.

To that, Sakura shook her head and grinned back down towards the boy.

"I promise," she told him suddenly. "I'll take you to see the cherry blossoms. Soon."

Gaara's eyes widened then.

"Really?" he asked, unsure that was a promise she could keep.

Yet, the girl defied much of his doubt in the past already, so it came as no surprise as she nodded her head towards him with a giant grin of her own.

"I promise!"