A Silent Love
By Sand Witch (Shizuku Seta)
Message from author:
This is my first serious fanfic I have ever written. I was used to writing humors and I hope this would have turned out fine. I was inspired by the numerous love stories I have read in our school magazine and I thought it would be challenging to do my own. Since I never experienced a real life love story before, I decided to use a character, which is Gaara, a perfect character for my story considering the fact that he had a lonely background in life. It is a short story about the thoughts of a secret admirer wishing she could meet the person she loves. It was written in the first person point of view. I hope you like it. /\\
His name simply says it all. Gaara means "I love death," a name given to him, a son born of hatred. He's known to be a cold-blooded monster feared by the villagers. Just the sight of him makes everyone frightened; all of them scampering and running away like mice. But somehow I find him different from everyone else, not the type to be scared of but one who needs love and understanding the most.
I never saw him smile or laugh. He's always all alone with no one to talk to. I may see him together with his brother Kankuro and his sister Temari, but neither anyone of them gives a hint of closeness between them. Even his dad never showed him fatherly love. His mother died when he was young and everyone blamed him for that. What a lonely life could that be! If I were in his place I would gladly think of suicide, but somehow he managed to live with it, yet sowing hatred among everyone else. I couldn't blame him for that. No one has showed him a bit of affection. No one even seemed to care.
Those past memories kept on coming back to me. I wished I could've eased his pain or at least stopped it from worsening. I was just six years old when I saw him crying alone on the swing. He was in the same age as mine and I thought it would be nice to invite him to come and play with me. Suddenly, my mom grabbed me away with force.
"Don't ever go near that cursed child again! He could have harmed you!"
I was shocked. It was the first time she scolded me like that. At first, I thought they were just words of concern, but I never completely understood why.
Seeing his tears falling down made my heart melt. That sad face was carved in my thoughts ever since then. It was his misery that made me realize he doesn't have a stone heart. I promised that one day I would come up to him and tell him how I feel. But being a shy person myself, I knew it would be difficult for me to start the move. What if he rejects me? What if he doesn't like me? Will he think I'm just like everybody else? I couldn't stop myself from doubting. There's always something that hinders me from doing it.
I used to hide in the shadows while watching him. It has been an awkward habit of following him around. I had to admit the fact that I was a bit nervous. He just might have caught me looking at him, called me a spy, got mad at me or have done something even worse. And if that time had come, I wouldn't have known what to say or do. But I just couldn't help it. I couldn't stop.
It stayed that way. I prayed every night and day for fate to do its work for me, hoping that our roads would meet someday.
One day, something unexpected happened. It was a hot, sunny day and the air was still. I was coming back home earlier than usual from my daily community tasks, when suddenly I noticed I lost my diary. Sweat dropped from my face and my world suddenly turned topsy-turvy. My thoughts were all mixed up. My mind didn't let me rest so I decided to start searching for it.
The sun started to set. I should be home by that time. I found no trace of my diary and I gave up hope. I sat on rock while thinking it would have been better if its pages be torn apart into pieces or burned rather than have someone read it and reveal my secrets. I felt so devastated that I wanted to cry.
Suddenly, a hand held my shoulder. At first, I thought it was just one the neighborhood kids, but my eyes widened and my heart beat faster when I saw it was Gaara. I started to speak but my voice was a little shaky.
"Ah…uhmm…Hi, w-well, I-I lost my diary… I-I-was, you know, looking for it…"
Before I got the chance to finish my words, he handed me what I was looking for. All my uneasiness left me. My face lightened up and I thanked him without asking where or how he found it. I saw him smile back at me in a shy way. That was the first time I saw him smile. We both started to blush. I turned my head away and he bowed his head a little to hide his red cheeks. I looked at him again when I heard him speak.
"I'm the one who should be thanking you."
"For what?"
"Through all these years, I never thought somebody would care for me that much. But, I was wrong. I never knew you were always there loving me secretly. Thank you for loving someone like me."
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I was planning to submit this to our school's newsletter. But before anything else, I thought of sharing it in the net. I wish to know what you think and I would gladly appreciate reviews and comments from readers like you. Thank you!