A/N: Won first place in a drabble contest for this one! Theme was Fireworks.
When she was sixteen, she went to see the fireworks.
He spoke sweetly to her, smiled with the sparks reflected in his eyes. She was tired of saying no, and saw the fireworks from the soft grass in the park.
His hands moved like sparklers along her thighs, lighting fires in the pit of her belly. The air tasted of gunpowder and her body glowed with the sky.
A month later, when she told him she was pregnant, he disappeared even though she told him they didn't need to get married…
He came back and her father let him live at the shrine. He didn't stay, brief and fleeting. He was like the fireworks, bright one moment, gone the next.
She had a daughter and was content to see him when he returned. When one of his visits produced a son, he laughed ruefully and rubbed the back of his neck.
Years later, she saw his restlessness reflected in his daughter's eyes.
Standing on her porch, she watched the festival lights in the sky, smiling as she ran her fingers through her young son's hair.
"Mama?" Souta asked sleepily. "Why do you like fireworks so much?"
"I like the sparkle."