First Date

Persephone landed on the ground with a gasp. She finally managed to scale the grand palace wall. Now to find the gates and go back to the surface. She ran down the trail, hoping it wouldn't lead to Tartarus.

She didn't care if he was a king. Persephone wasn't staying. No matter how much Hades commanded it. She ran for a few seconds, only for her path to be obscured by black flames.

She looked behind her to see the king of the Underworld standing a few feet behind her. How did he sneak up on her?

Persephone glared at him. She refused to be intimidated, by his power or position. Hades looked at her, he didn't yell or hit her, like she expected. He simply wrapped an arm around her and escorted her back to the palace, as though she was his lover.

Sakura sat with Sasuke at the coffee shop. Their coffee shop meet ups had gone on for about two weeks now. They would talk about random things. How Sakura's classes are going, her favorite subjects, her favorite kind of music.

"There's a new exhibit at the art museum," Sakura noticed a flyer posted on the wall of the coffee shop. Sasuke took notice.

"Have you been to the museum before?" He asked.

"No," Sakura admitted, "I've been too busy."

Sasuke looked back at her, "Are you busy this weekend?"

Sakura felt her heart speed up. Was he asking her out?

"Well," Sakura said, "I might be if I finish my essay tonight, why?"

"I thought it would be nice if we went," Sasuke said simply.

Sakura felt giddy, she tried her hardest not to show it. She didn't want to look desperate, "Well, I have always wanted to go, and I guess it would be fun if we both went. So, yeah we should go."

"Okay," Sasuke said, "I'll pick you up Saturday, then we'll-…"

"No." The word just burst out of Sakura. It surprised Sasuke… and honestly it surprised her. She didn't know why, but she recalled that dream.

"I mean," she quickly said, "I'd rather we meet there. Don't trouble yourself on my account." Sakura mentally slapped herself. What was she saying? Was he going to cancel now?

Sasuke didn't seemed disturbed, "Alright, I'll meet you there."

"Okay," Sakura said relieved, "Awesome."

Sakura was looking through her closet. Trying to find the best outfit for her date with Sasuke. It wasn't a meet up at a coffee shop, it was a real, first date… or at least she hoped it was.

She needed something, nice, but not formal, casual but not trashy. She was going to an art museum, so she needed to look decent.

I'll pick you up…

Why did she react like that? She would have been fine with him picking her up and dropping her off, right? However, when he said that, she remembered that dream; where he was Hades and she was Persephone.

What was wrong with her, did she have a secret fear of men or something? Did she think every guy was going to kidnap her? She took in a deep breath, maybe she was just being cautious. She honestly didn't know that much about Sasuke. But that's what meeting up at the coffee shop and going on a date was for. Getting to know someone to see if you like them.

Besides, Sasuke didn't seem to upset about it.

She wasn't going to worry about it. She was going to relax. Spend the day with Sasuke and see what he's like. She was well aware his looks drew her in, but she had to be smart and get to know him before getting into a real relationship or see if he really wanted a relationship. She knew she was overanalyzing at this point.

Right now, she knew that, she was interested in Sasuke and wanted to get to know a little more about him. She would focus on that.

Sasuke parked his car in the museum's paid parking lot, before going to wait by the entrance. He arrived a bit early, so Sakura wasn't there yet. He sat on a bench outside and pulled out his phone.

There were a couple missed messages by the old bat. He deleted those without a second thought.

There was another message, under the label 'kid.'

Did you find her?

Sasuke could practically hear her voice and imagine her face. He wouldn't tell the old bat yet. The kid however…

"Sasuke?"

Sasuke looked up, he was very good at hiding his emotions. He needed to especially now. Sakura was wearing a red tunic like top over a pair of blue jeans. A purse slung over her shoulder and her hair was in a loose braid. She looked gorgeous.

Once again Sasuke had to suppress the urge to gather her in her arms. He needed to show restraint, he didn't want to scare her… again.

"You arrived," Sasuke said.

"Did I make you wait?" Sakura asked.

"Not long," Sasuke confirmed putting her worries at ease, "Let's go," he stood up and they both walked in.

The museum had modern and classic art. Sasuke preferred the later, it felt like modern was just splashing color on a canvas and not putting in any effort. They spent the first half of the date looking at modern art.

The museum had also had small café in it, so that visitors could rest and eat. Although they weren't allowed to take their food and drink into the museum.

They decided to take a break and sit at the café. Sasuke was looking through the menu when Sakura made a small noise, like she was suppressing a gag. Sasuke looked up, "Are you okay."

Sakura's face flushed in embarrassment, "I'm fine. I just saw one of their choices and…"

"If you don't like it, don't get it," Sasuke said.

"I won't trust me," Sakura said, "I really hate pomegranates."

Sasuke's eyes almost widened, "You don't like pomegranates?"

"Well… I don't know," Sakura said, "I don't think they taste bad, but every time I put a pomegranate seed in my mouth, I just… It makes me sick for some reason. I gag and spit them out."

Sasuke went back to the menu to hide his expression. Her current reaction to pomegranates was probably his fault… Okay it was completely his fault.

After their lunch they went to the historic art collection. Sakura was amazed by all the statues and paintings. Honestly, she preferred that to modern art.

Her favorite was landscape paintings. There was just something about how an artist captures a landscape on paint, that was so much more whimsical than when it's captured on a photo. More alive.

They went to an exhibit that had renaissance paintings. As they walked through the halls, Sakura noticed a painting of a busy street. Full of people going on with their day, during a time long past.

"That looks interesting," Sakura caught Sasuke's attention as she managed to lead him to the painting. Sasuke didn't protest, so she assumed he was interested as well.

Sakura examined the painting, this was how people captured moments in their time. An artist stopped and painted his street in his hometown. Sakura wondered why this artist painted this street. Was he trying to be famous? Was he practicing his painting skills? Maybe he just loved to paint and wanted to capture this busy street.

She looked at the people that were in the painting. There was a man carrying a chicken, there was a woman carrying hay, and another woman carrying a basket of apples, she had pink hair too. She kinda looked like…

"Ngh," Sakura grunted when a sharp pain in her head.

"Sakura," Sasuke's voice called out in concern. Sakura took deep breaths, in, out, in, out. Finally the pain faded and she stood up straight.

"Are you okay?" Sasuke asked.

"Yeah," Sakura said, although she couldn't understand where that headache came from. She needed to distract Sasuke, she didn't want to ruin the date, "Say don't you think that woman in the painting…" Sakura trailed off when she realized the pink haired figure was gone.

"Which one?" Sasuke asked looking at the painting.

"Um…" What was Sakura going to say? That there was a woman in a painting that looked like her? That would make her sound crazy, "The one carrying hay, do you think she might had been a farmer?"

"Probably," Sasuke said.

"Yeah, probably," Sakura began to walk away, this was getting awkward, "Let's look at the other paintings."

As Sakura walked away, Sasuke looked back at the painting. For a brief second, his eyes flashed red, and the pink haired figure, reappeared in the spot she once was.

After they finally finished their tour of the museum, they went to the gift shop. Sakura actually wanted to go. Sasuke didn't say much. Honestly, Sakura didn't really know that much more about Sasuke.

Did he not like her? Did he think she was boring?

Sakura still felt awkward around him. She didn't dislike Sasuke, but she wasn't sure she wanted to be around a guy who kept making her feel awkward?

She stopped when she noticed some bracelets. Gift shop, bracelets weren't exactly sparking with gold, but the ones they had were pretty.

The had woven bands, that were adjustable, but what drew her eye was the cherry blossom shaped, rose quartz. It was so cute.

"What are you looking at?"

Sakura was surprised by Sasuke's voice, she nearly jumped. She turned to see him approaching her, "Oh, Sasuke, I was…"

Sasuke looked at the bracelet, "You like things like that?"

"Well, yeah," Sakura said, "I think it looks cute."

After a minute of silence, Sasuke picked up one of the bracelets and went to the cashier. Sakura just stood there and watched him pay for it. Feeling shocked. Once it was paid for, Sasuke went back to her and slipped it on her wrist.

Sakura felt her heart skip a beat. When he adjusted the strap to fit her wrist, he held her hand for a second before letting her go. She couldn't help but miss the larger hand, wrapping around hers.

"Thank you, um, you didn't have to," Sakura said.

"I wanted to," Sasuke said. Then after another moment of silence, "I had fun today," Sasuke's confession brought relief to Sakura. Maybe he was just as nervous as her. She did hear somewhere that, first dates were always awkward.

"I had a nice time today to," Sakura said. She gave him a smile.

Soon, they said their goodbyes, and Sasuke watched her walk away. It was hard, watching her walk away. However, seeing her smile at him, accepting a gift from him… made it worth it. It was so much better than before.

Hades placed the necklace on Persephone. It was made of gold and diamonds, fit for a goddess, a queen. Persephone didn't stop him from adorning her body with jewels and beautiful robes, but they didn't make her smile.

Once it was secured, Persephone took a step back, looking away from him. She never made eye contact, unless she had to.

Hades let out a sigh, she still wasn't happy.

"Are we done?" The goddess asked, trying to be dismissed so she could leave his presence.

"What do you want?" Hades asked, "Just name it and its yours."

She glared at him, "I want, to go back to the surface!"