The days were the same. In the morning I woke with Lee in my arms. I pretended it was all the same. When I woke again the next day, the sky was black. No sign of the previous days sunlight. The joy I could see in the air had vanished. Orochimaru grew stronger by the second.
As Lee entered the 'kitchen' with his empty rice bowl in hand, we said nothing. He may have looked my way once or twice. From the moment our eyes met at the doorway, I focused my attention on the ground. He must have stood there in silence for some time. I left and came back and hour later. He was still at the 'sink.' Starring into oblivion. Thought it may not have been so long as I thought. Time was hard to tell in those days, and my memory is getting foggier.
It had been long since the trauma of the preliminaries, but as Lee moved about the shelter from day to day, I noticed something. A limp in his right leg. There had obviously been no reason for Lee to be hurt after so long. It was two and a half years later, and we were trapped inside a shelter. Harm Free.
I realize now what I had been unknowingly doing to him. With every second I doubted him, turned him away, he grew weaker. With every glance I avoided, his limp grew stronger. Soon his arms began to ache. He lay in bed all day, wondering why he suddenly couldn't move.
I didn't know what to do. Naruto and I took turns in keeping him company. Bringing him meals. Elevating his painful limbs. For 3 months his physical condition deteriorated. I was running low on morale. He was running out of time. I woke one morning to find myself in complete darkness. A small candle was lit by Lee. I headed over to him in the pale light. He was awake as well, but by the looks of it, it had been long since he had slept.
I laid my body down next to his. I could feel his arms as they barely mine. We were without tangency, but we felt connected. My hand found his. Lee's body faced mine. We were now eye to eye, and our noses were only seconds away. The look in his eyes told me what he wanted, and I wanted it too.
Giving up Sasuke was hard. Over the years I had to remember him, his memory faded. He became a distant ghost. As if he meant nothing to me anymore. I was moving past mourning, and got onto forgetting. Something I never thought I could do. Forget about Sasuke Uchiha. The man I once called the love of my life.
Now Lee was before me. Our hands were still together. One simple movement could take Sasuke out of my heart forever, but I wanted it. I craved it. I needed it. I needed Lee. I needed him to hold me in his arms and tell me it's going to be okay. I needed to be with him. Than and forever.
Our lips brushed gently at first. His were soft and dreamy. Everything I ever could have imagined. It was perfect. We laid there, lips locked to one another, when I felt his arm around my waist. He had gained feeling again. Soon I found myself removing his jumpsuit. My headband fell to the floor as my dress was lifted high above my head.
That morning I could see the sun again. Lee could walk. For every moment we were together, the sun shone an extra sparkle through the morning dew.