Hi everyone, here's the next chapter! Hope you like it.

As they approached the unassuming looking restaurant, Yuki stopped Beki with an outstretched arm. "No...this isn't it," Yuki sniffed the air. "Let's go that way."

Beki let out an exasperated sigh and followed her mother further down the road. It was much more comfortable, running around in a sundress than in full armor. It was true that if she were attacked, Beki would helpless, but she was putting her trust in her mother to protect her. The diner Yuki led her to was on the seedier end of the approachable spectrum.

"Get that look off your face," Yuki stuck out her tongue. "The food smells awesome and you're up to date on your shots."

Beki rolled her eyes and followed Yuki inside. She was right. The food did smell incredible. They sat at a table and looked at the single beaten up menu taped to the wall.

"I'm going with the curry," Yuki grinned. "That has to be what that smell is."

"As much as I'd like to, I do have a date tonight," Beki cocked her head. "If I eat that he'll be able to smell me coming a mile away."

Yuki laughed. "I guess being single does have its benefits."

Beki grimaced. Even if she didn't mean it, Yuki seemed to constantly be attacking Beki's relationship. Yuki was her mother and Beki was aware she should respect her opinion. At the same time, Yuki hardly knew Beki. It didn't seem fair for her to walk into Beki's life and start shaming her about her choices. "You really don't seem to like my boyfriend."

Yuki rapped her knuckles on the table. "How I feel about your boyfriend isn't important. As your mother I feel it's my responsibility to prepare you for the life you're setting up for yourself by being married to a kage."

"Gaara loves me," Beki said and instantly hated herself for sounding like such a love struck teenager. But it was fact, and Beki felt it meant more than any argument her mother had presented. "We've been through a lot together and I think we'll keep on working through our problems as we get older."

"Once again," Yuki was having a hard time containing her frustration. Of course Seiichiro would let Beki run wild in regards to her love life and leave Yuki to be the bad guy. "Whether you guys are in love doesn't matter."

"Then what does matter, Mom?" Beki said the word with a bit of venom, her temper starting to flair.

Yuki kept a straight face. That was the first time Beki had called her "mom" since they'd been reunited. It should have been a happy occasion. Instead, Beki's attitude had taken all the joy out of it. "Priorities. What matters is people's priorities."

Beki remained expectantly silent, so Yuki continued:

"Gaara became a kage at 15. Suffice to say that position is important to him, he had to work hard to earn it. Tell me, Beki, does his job come between you often?"

Beki nodded. "My job gets in the way too-"

"You will have to give up your job to marry him. You will have to give up your birthright as heiress to both the Tsukimori and Asou clans, your status as a shinobi, and your citizenship to Getsugakure. Will his job still get between you two?" Yuki stared her down, watching Beki's guard waver.

"I can't say for sure. We aren't there yet," Beki looked away.

Yuki's lip twitched as she suppressed a self satisfied grin. "Your dad and I always put our family first. I liked being a shinobi, Beki. I got a lot of validation from throwing myself in dangerous and impossible situations and emerging the victor. When I found out I was pregnant, I quit. Your father had every advantage to rising through the political ladder: he came from the right family, he had an impressive service record, he was physically intimidating, wickedly clever, and an eloquent speaker. When I got pregnant, he got a desk job as a clerk. He didn't want you to grow up without a father. That's the same reason he turned down the job of ambassador at first-"

"But he became one anyway," Beki shook her head. "Where are you going with this?"

Yuki raised a finger for Beki to wait. "Why did he become an ambassador? His priority was always his family. He was a single parent and the reason was because a dangerous shinobi had come after you. Becoming an ambassador gave him the ability to cart you around with him so you didn't stay in the same place long, gaining him powerful friends and information in the process. He did it for you, not for himself. Your father would have murdered the king with his own hands if you had ever been threatened. Tell me: would Gaara start a war for you?"

Beki blinked. "No. It wouldn't come to that."

Yuki rested her chin on her hand. "I know your father and I were a bit...extreme in terms of our love and protection of our family. It was something we both always wanted and never really had."

"No offense, but I'm not going to base my life over your experiences with your only relationship. That was a different time, a different place, and different circumstances." Beki folded her hands on the table, using her diplomat voice. "You two had a perfect little fairy tale. You were the abandoned damsel in distress and dad rode in like a knight in shining armor. He swept you up and showed you a whole new world of murder and mayhem-"

"I was abandoned because I was naive. I was abandoned, Beki, because I thought love was enough," Yuki scanned the restaurant out of habit. No one was close enough to make out their conversation. She sighed. This was not something she liked talking about. It dragged up painful memories and reopened all her old wounds. She was already depressed about Seiichiro. Revisiting old ghosts was the last thing Yuki needed to do, but it was clear Beki wasn't going to get the point if she didn't sacrifice her own selfish sense of security. "You know how Reika and I grew up on the shrine together."

Beki furrowed her brow in confusion but nodded. She had heard these stories a hundred times. What more could her mother add to the narrative?

Yuki sat up and stretched, keeping her eyes on the table. "We did everything together from when we were three years old on. We knew all each other's secrets, knew all each other's dreams, and because we were both at the shrine we thought we would be spending the rest of our lives together."

"The thing was, we were in competition to become head priestess. I always joked about it with her that I was the clear favorite. My views were more traditional and hell, I had insane ice powers. Reika would laugh and go back to braiding my hair. I didn't realize how much that job meant to her. When those raiders came and I went out into the pass and killed them all, they held that trial. I never told you this, but the vote to oust me was split. The tie breaker was Reika." Yuki looked up at Beki. She could see the realization slowly taking hold. "Reika knew if I stayed, I would be named head priestess. She had the chance to keep me with her. It would have made sense, everyone knew I was her best friend and that we had grown up together. People expected her to say yes, even more so had they known we were lovers. But her priority wasn't us. It was that job, that position, the prestige of being head priestess."

Yuki could feel that old burn. The embarrassed flush in her face, the heartbreak she had felt all those years ago. It was duller now. That was nice. The loss of her first love wasn't as unbearable as the loss of her true love, apparently. That was a comfort in a lifetime of believing she wasn't capable of truly being human. Encouraged by her own response, Yuki continued: "When they asked her what she thought, Reika said 'She is guilty of great sin and unworthy of remaining in these hallowed halls.' Sounds almost rehearsed, right? Like she had been ready for an opportunity to stab me in the back for a long time. Over a job."

Yuki looked up at Beki, their eyes meeting for the first time since she started the story. "So understand this: I'm not coming at you from the perspective of a fairy tale, I had to learn this the hard way. Lucky for me I found your father, someone who actually gave a shit about me and made me his number one priority. No one knew about Reika and I. It was easy for me to sweep that shit under the rug as I remade myself into what I am today. You wouldn't be so fortunate if you were brushed aside by a Kage."

Her mother had tried so hard to be delicate, Beki realized. For two days, Yuki had carefully articulated how being with Gaara might not be such a good idea, asking Beki to consider what her future might be like if she stayed the path. Now here it was, the truth spelled out plainly over a banged up table in a dive. "I appreciate you telling me this-"

"But you're going to be like every other young adult stepping out into the world, believing your situation is different and you know better." Yuki shook her head and laughed bitterly. "Why do you think grown ups always have the same stories to tell? The entire human race has the collective intelligence of a hamster in a cage with electrified corn. We get shocked and go back, thinking maybe this time the corn won't electrocute us."

Beki sighed. "I was going to say I finally understand what you've been trying to tell me. I'll talk to Gaara about it and see what we can do."

"What do you mean?" Yuki asked.

"I'll see if I can get him to prove what his priorities are," Beki adjusted her skirt self consciously.

"That's a smart step," Yuki rested her chin on her hand again. "Just remember, talk is cheap. If you ask him, the answer will always be what you want to hear. He's a politician, after all. He got elected to that seat."

"I'll ask him to set aside some time for me," Beki looked up at her mother. "I'll make sure he understands that I'm not just going to be a trophy wife."

"Have you guys talked about getting married?" Yuki furrowed her brow.

Beki flushed slightly and averted her eyes. "He may have proposed a couple of times."

"Come on," Yuki spat. "You're kidding me! This kid has no chill."

"He really wants to start a family." Beki tugged at her braid.

"At seventeen?" Yuki waved her hand dismissively. "That's crazy talk. Your hormones haven't even leveled out yet and your brain isn't done developing."

"I know," Beki sighed, tired of this conversation. "That's why I've told him I want to wait."

"At least your father taught you the good sense to do that," Yuki scratched at some dried sauce on the table. "A lot of girls would jump at the opportunity to marry a celebrity on the spot."

"I mean, I've jumped on him, not on the marriage," Beki said under breath but Yuki overheard enough to chuckle.

"No need to prove you're my daughter, I guess," Yuki laughed. "I never was very good at doing things in the order I was supposed to."

…

"Do you think I was too short with him?" Gaara watched his last appointment walk across the bridge with a frown.

Kankuro shrugged. "Some people will be offended no matter what you do. Don't feel guilty, Gaara. Everyone has a personal life. We all have things we would rather be doing than working. People just aren't used to that from you. Usually when you're out, you would rather be here."

Gaara looked guiltily at the pile of papers on his desk but shook his head. "It really is good to see her."

"And it's good for you to get out. You're a teenage boy. You have time to be a slumped over business man later." Kankuro folded his arms. "Or is that not what you're worried about?"

The Kazekage rubbed the back of his neck and looked around at his office. "This is somewhere I'm safe, Kankuro. I'm always good at what I do here."

Kankuro shook his head. "You adapt well to change, Gaara. You were a good active duty shinobi. Then you were elected kage, and you've become a great kage."

"But I've been her boyfriend for two years and I still am not confident about what I'm doing." Gaara explained. "The last time I saw her we had a bad fight."

"I remember. You cooped yourself up in here for three days, working without eating or sleeping. Temari was so worried she wore a hole through the rug with all the pacing she did at home." Kankuro said.

"Sometimes I feel like she needs something from me that I can't give her." Gaara leaned against his desk and folded his arms. "I do everything I think I'm supposed to but it feels like there's something else."

"Ask her about it," Kankuro chuckled. "Don't be surprised if the answer is 'I don't know what I want, but I want it now!'"

Gaara blinked. "Did you talk to her about this while she was waiting outside?"

Kankuro shook his head. "No, Gaara. It is the plight of all straight men. We're fixers. If there's a problem, we want to fix it, right?"

Gaara considered his own attitude towards problems and nodded.

"Well sometimes with girls there's a problem but it can't be fixed. Think about Temari. You know how she'll come home and fume about something and we're just supposed to nod?" Kankuro explained.

Gaara nodded out of habit and then shook his head. "Do you think this is something like that?"

Kankuro shrugged. "I don't know, probably. Ask her if she's upset about something. When she's done telling you about it, ask her if there's a way you can fix it. If you can't fix it, ask her if there's something you can do to make her feel better. If she says no, let it go. Beki'll get through whatever it is herself. It sucks because you'll have to do deal with the moodiness in the meantime but that's just the tradeoff in a relationship."

"That seems straightforward enough," Gaara tapped his fingers on the desk. "I can do that."

"Everyone 'can' do it, Gaara," Kankuro laughed. "It isn't as easy to deal with as it sounds. You're in a great position because you're in a long-distance relationship. You have plenty of time to theorycraft and plan out each encounter. Just wait till she's screaming at you because you forgot to put the milk back in the fridge and it's gone bad or she can't stop crying because of an animal shelter commercial."

Gaara considered his brother carefully. "And you've experienced this firsthand with your slew of girlfriends?"

Kankuro shook his head and chuckled. "Nah, bro. I remember mom doing that kind of stuff to dad. It didn't matter that he was the Kazekage once she started storming. Where do you think Temari got that temper?"

Gaara rubbed the back of his neck. "I still really want her to move here. Even if we have been fighting, when we're getting along I've never been happier."

"And I'm happy for you. I think you found a good match," Kankuro adjusted his hat. "Beki really cares about you and tries to help you grow as a person. With your position, there are a lot of girls that would just pretend to like you and put up with your eccentricities to trap you. Do I think she's the hottest or the most well-mannered girl in the world, no. There's stuff you can help her with, too."

Gaara stepped away from the desk. "Do I look all right?"

Kankuro fluffed his hair. "Now you're good. Go get her, killer."

"For the last time, I'm not that angry with her," Gaara shook his head. "Honestly. I'd be more likely to keep her in sand cage than I would be to execute her."

"Maybe I'll talk to her about helping you not take things so literally. I've got seventeen years of work on this but still no progress," Kankuro shook his head. "Get out of here, weirdo."

…

Gaara left the office and made his way towards the inn. It was a beautiful evening; the summer heat had finally broken and it was almost pleasant outside. He flew low, alongside the rooftops, when he noticed Beki walking down the street. She wore a worried expression on her face, her gait slowed by her thoughts. Gaara called out to her and Beki's head snapped up. Her expression softened and she smiled gently as she waved up at him. Gaara landed beside her and took her hands in his. "I said I was going to pick you up. Did something happen?"

Beki shook her head. "No, I just figured you would be done about now. The plan was to meet you halfway."

"Are you hungry?" Gaara looped his arm through hers out of habit.

"Yes," Beki leaned against him. "But we don't have to do anything fancy."

"We're on a date," Gaara blinked. "Of course we have to go somewhere nice."

Beki sighed. "All right, lead the way Kazekage sama."

Gaara shook his head as he started walking. "How would I make Suna look if I took a visiting ambassador to a dive?"

"Well, if you're taking me out as ambassador then I need to go back and put on my armor," Beki turned towards the inn and Gaara yanked her back into place.

"Oh no you don't," Gaara stared her down with mock suspicion. "I know you foreign types. I have to keep an eye on your or you could try to steal government secrets."

"If tonight goes well I'll have you singing secrets to me naked," Beki spoke low enough so only he could hear. Gaara's eyes widened with surprise and a soft pink flush came into his ears. "I hope you're a woman of your word, Miss Tsukimori."

…

It was the same nice steakhouse as last time. Beki waited until after they had placed their orders to bring up what was on her mind. Before she could speak, however, Gaara reached out and took her hand.

"Work troubling you?" He gave her a reassuring squeeze.

"We're going to have to talk shop eventually, but that's not what's on my mind." Beki brushed the hair out of her face. She was usually so comfortable around Gaara but it was possible that the conversation she had with Yukihana was psyching her out. At the same time, Beki was aware of how serious this discussion would be. Once Beki brought this into the air, they wouldn't be dating anymore. They would transition into adult territory: marriage, taxes, kids, and so on. Beki knew she had to grow and adapt as her life demanded but it would be nice if one thing in her life moved slowly. All she wanted was somewhere, or someone, she could be a seventeen-year-old with. Up until now, that was Gaara.

"You know how you've asked me to marry you a couple of times," Beki began slowly.

Gaara blinked and sat up a little straighter. She saw his Adam's apple bob and his fingers twitch. "Yes?"

Beki took a deep breath. "I was thinking about it,"

Gaara leaned forward in his seat.

"I can tell you what I would need before I can say yes." Beki finished. Gaara's face twitched, his muscles pulling into almost an almost imperceptible frown for a moment. She could tell he was disappointed. As usual he kept it to himself.

He let go of her hands and held up his palms in a gesture of openness. "Well, what can I do to fix it?"

The line wasn't Gaara's. Beki could tell he had rehearsed the response. She thought back to the last time they were together, when the had the nasty fight, and wondered if this was how he had prepared for their next encounter. Noticing the formal tone, Beki continued:

"I need you to show me you can make time for me. The whole time we've been dating, the time we have spent together has been a stolen night here, a lunch squeezed in there. If I marry you, Gaara, I'm going to have to give up everything to be with you," Beki watched him for a reaction but Gaara was unreadable as ever. "Your job is important and I understand that. I need to see that every once in a while you can put me first."

"What would you like me to do?" Gaara folded his hands.

"It doesn't have to be now, but sometime soon I want us to spend some quality time together." Beki explained. "Call it a test run of me living in Suna. I'll come out here for a week and stay with you. If you have to go into the office for a bit every day I would be fine with that. Just…" Beki shook her head. "Do you remember that weekend we spent at the beach house together? That's what I want. I want more of that."

Gaara rapped his knuckles on the table and gave a slight nod. "I think we could make that work. That would be nice to come home to you every night." He gave a slight smile. "And if it goes well you'll marry me?"

Beki laughed. "After we've done a few test runs and everything works out, sure."

Gaara narrowed his eyes at her. "Sure?"

Beki blinked. "What?"

"I have asked you to marry me five times, each of which you have shut me down. I finally get you to agree and it's a 'sure'?" Gaara watched her carefully.

Beki shrugged. "I mean, if everything goes well, why the hell not?"

Gaara pressed his palms against his eyes. "You make no sense to me sometimes, Tsukimori. I'm glad I didn't arrange for some elaborate formal proposal."

"Oh, you'll still have to do that when we get to it," Beki grinned mischievously. "I want moonlight and violin music playing softly in the background."

Gaara shook his head and called for the check. "You are going to get it tonight, Tsukimori."

A flush came into her face at the implications of his tone and her heart began to race. "Really? You know I can't back down from a challenge."

"That's what I'm counting on." Gaara leaned in close, resting his elbows on the table. "We haven't played King of the Rock for a while. I think that could settle our differences nicely."

Beki narrowed her eyes. "Where would we be playing?"

"I could fly you out in the desert, somewhere isolated." There was a hungry look in his eyes. "Every round I win you lose a layer of clothes."

"I'm wearing a sundress, Gaara," Beki puffed indignantly. "Let me go get my armor on and we'll try again."

"No," Gaara shook his head. "I don't think you understand: this isn't a game you're going to win. You might as well accept your fate and save yourself some time."

Beki narrowed her eyes. "You just want to do it out in the open again, you voyeur."

"You're the one who jumped me in the woods." Gaara blinked innocently. "Sorry I developed a taste for it."

"I mean you stopped murdering people on a whim," Beki shrugged. "I guess you'd have to thrill seek elsewhere."

Gaara folded his arms and leaned back in his chair. "Or, I could turn you loose and hunt you down. Eliminate the pretense of the game all together."

"Yeah, let me try to run away from you in a desert full of sand." Beki laughed. "I'd rather play King of the Rock. At least I can trick myself into thinking I stand a chance then."

Gaara smirked. "Suit yourself."

…

Beki stared up at the stars, panting and sweating despite the chill of the night air. She looked over at Gaara with a smile. She was shocked to see him pulling on his pants and grabbing for his jacket.

"Don't like being naked out in the open?" Beki chuckled as she pulled her sundress back on.

"No," Gaara shook his head. "I have to get back to the office."

Beki's smile slid off her face and a cold feeling crept down her spine. "You're leaving?"

"I'm sorry Beki," Gaara stood and started to button his jacket. "I left early today to be with you. I have a lot of preparation work to do for my meetings tomorrow morning."

Beki blinked in shock. Slowly, her surprise sank down inside her until it sat in her gut like disgust. "So, you're just going to hit and run? We aren't going to talk or cuddle? Anything?"

"This is what I had time for." Gaara held out his hand to her. "Don't take this personally, Beki. I'm the Kazekage. My work doesn't go away when I leave the office."

Beki slapped away his hand and stood on her own. "It took me three days to get here, Gaara. You're telling me I went this far out of my way so we could have dinner and a quick lay? Please tell me you aren't serious."

Gaara shook his head. "I wish there was more I could do. Look, if you spend more time here I'll be able to fit in more time with you. You could come by and see me every day. We could have dinner in my office and-"

"Dinner in your office?" Beki did nothing to hide the hurt in her voice. "Is that what I am to you? Something you fit in when your schedule allows it?"

"I don't want things to be this way, Beki." Gaara folded his arms. "But I have duties and responsibilities I can't pass off to someone else. When things quiet down, we'll set up that trip for you to come out. We can get some quality time in then, all right?"

Beki shook her head. Gaara took ahold of her arm and formed the sand cloud. As they lifted off in the air, Beki made no attempt to be close to him. He wrapped his arm around her waist to steady her but she remained as rigid as a doll. Beki felt his eyes on her from time to time. She never returned his looks and she never spoke. There was this heartbreaking feeling nagging at her chest that there was nothing left to say. He dropped them off in front of the inn and kissed her on the cheek.

"I'll see you later, Beki," Gaara said as he let her go.

Beki walked inside without a glance behind her. She felt dirty, like a napkin that had been used and discarded. There was this horrible mixture of embarrassment and humiliation writhing around inside her, making Beki want to curl up in her futon and hide from the world for a while. When she turned the key and entered the room, Beki came face to face with her mother in full spa gear. Yuki was in a bathrobe and had her hair in a clear shower cap. The black locks were coated in some kind of creamy concoction and her face was plastered with what Beki could only assume was a facial mask.

"Uh…Hi?" Yuki sputtered, frozen in her tracks. She clearly hadn't been expecting anyone to be in the room.

Beki stared at her mother in shock. Her hair was pinned up and there was a sheen of oil on her skin. "What… are you doing?"

Yuki blushed a bit and threw her hands on her hips. "I may look gorgeous all the time, but it doesn't just happen by itself! And I don't know if you noticed but we are in a desert and there's NO MOISTURE IN THE AIR!" Yuki waved her arms above her head in clear frustration. "What are you even doing home? It's only 8 o'clock."

Beki turned her head away from Yuki, her bitter feelings resurfacing. "Things didn't go as planned."

Yuki smiled a knowing grin. "Oh, I get it. Did it end a little prematurely or did he have trouble "rising" to the occasion?"

Beki flushed with a mixture of embarrassment and frustration. "No! It went just fine! He just…. Left immediately afterwards."

Yuki frowned and thought for a moment. "You must not be very good."

Beki nearly stomped her foot in exasperation. "No! You know what… just forget it. This is why I can't talk to you about anything!"

Yuki discreetly stifled a chuckle and sat on the bed. "I'm sorry, hun." She patted the spot beside her. "No more jokes. Tell your mom everything that happened. I'll allow you to skip some of the less juicy details."

Beki sighed and joined her mother on the bed. "We had a nice night. We had a good dinner and things were going great and we… you know… got together… and then as soon as it was over, he told me he had to go to work and dragged me back to town!"

Yuki was quiet as her daughter vented her feelings. She would nod her head occasionally and give Beki a reassuring pat on the shoulder. Beki had tears slowly sliding down her cheek, but made no attempt to dry them.

"I just…. I don't know what to do. I really like him, but I can't handle how every time paperwork beckons, I get tossed to the curb. We're already juggling a long distance relationship. It isn't fair how I can't even spend time with him when I'm in Suna!"

Yuki smiled and put her hand over Beki's. "Being a kage is no small feat; it isn't some summer job you can just half ass. Your father was that way, too. He never did anything half assed. I am sure that this Gaara kid is a good kage. His father was kage, too, so I'm sure he learned the basics of it young. It would be natural for him to be a leader. Just because he's got it down and he's used to it doesn't mean that a kage can put his people second. It's not just a job, its a lifestyle. You can't change that, no one can."

"That's the problem…" Beki sniffled. "I think that he's really impressive and an admirable person, but… I can't bear to be on the sidelines. I don't want to be second place. You have no idea how much of my life I've spent sitting around, waiting for my time to come."

Yuki shook her head. "Don't misunderstand what I'm trying to say here. There are things in life that are worth fighting for. Your father broke all the rules to be with me. He sacrificed his family ties for our relationship. Your father was a stubborn man and nothing would ever change that. There are things about every person that you will never be able to change. If you want them to be in your life, you either accept them the way they are or," Yuki shrugged her shoulders and held up her palms. "You don't.

Beki was silent for a moment as she regained her composure. "That's some heavy stuff coming from a woman with mud on her face."

Yuki scoffed and sat up. She tossed the robe she was wearing aside and walked towards the bathroom.

Beki shrieked and averted her eyes. "Why are you NAKED!?"

"You weren't supposed to be here, remember? You're lucky I was even wearing the robe."

Beki buried her face into the pillow in a futile attempt to remove the image of her mother's rear from her brain as she heard the shower running in the bathroom. This wild and carefree woman was the Yuki that Beki had come to know. For those few moments, it was nice talking to her like a mom.

"By the way, if I remember correctly, you were walking through town naked when I first met you," Yuki leaned out the door. "So I don't wanna hear it, missy."

"Don't use all the hot water," Beki stared her down. "I need a shower, too."

"A little too sandy, my darling?" Yuki practically sang.

"I'm not answering that." Beki puffed up her cheeks. "Just hurry up already."