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He wants to go after her.
He wants to take these few short steps and grab her arm, her shirt, any part of her. To shake her and make her realize that this time they'd work, that she belongs here with him. To him.
Sasuke's spine is rigid from desire, from raw need, and he never thought it would work out this way. Sakura has never walked away from him before. She has always been...there. She is the most reliable person in his life, someone that he can always count on being exactly where he'd left her.
He realizes that this is no longer the case when she disappears around the bend and a smiling flight attendant closes the gate. His eyes shift to the plane outside the window, to what will take her away from him.
He knows he can call the airline again and, now that he knew what flight she was on, detain her plane. He can even prevent her from leaving the country, if he wants.
He can keep her with him always.
But Sasuke also knows that she will hate him for it. She will hate him and spite him and hide from him, until all they are are two politely distant strangers. And every time they met-on the streets, at gatherings with mutual friends-she will remind him with hard green eyes the way he'd first left her heart broken on the floor and then how he'd proceeded to rip her dreams apart.
He still wants her here, with him, anyways.
Sasuke finds that it is hard to move, to relax his shoulders and unclench his hands. The boarding area is empty now, and he wants to be gone before it starts filling up for the next flight. He also wants to stand still and never leave, disbelieving in the aftermath of her words and her choice. He closes his eyes, thinking that maybe when he opens them again she will be standing in front of him, a resplendent smile on her face.
When he does open his eyes again her plane is already turning towards the tarmac, the space in front of him empty. That is when he knows that she is definitely, definitely gone.
He finally manages to uncurl his fists, if not his knotted heart. The ringing of his cellphone breaks Sasuke out of his stupor. He ignores the call, turns, and walks away without looking back. He leaves something behind, there, at the place where she proves him wrong.
But this, this is the least he can do for her.
Sasuke will give her time, and space-miles and miles of it-and at the end of three long years she will come back. If she doesn't, he will go to her. He will go to her and show her that he can love her in absence just as much as when she is warm and breathing in his arms. He will hold her and prove to her with the strength of his grip and the persistence of his kisses the choices that he will never force her to make again.
Finally, because he understands why she needed to leave, he will tell her in halting words that he loves her, and why.
Even if you didn't love me back, he might say.
And he hopes that it will be enough.