Sakura POV
I didn't grieve.
It's not that I didn't want to, it's that I didn't have time. Life stops for no one, not for Demons, not for Angels. Time just churns on and I struggled to keep up with it. In a span of less than a month, I had been uprooted from my quaint, normal life that I know realize I had taken for granted. Not long ago my biggest worry was living in the shadow of my best friend forever, of never becoming the real 'me.'
Now I can forget about that, I just need to make sure I don't become 'dead.'
They told me I was an angel. I watched a school mate's head twist 180 degrees as she morphed into a monster. I watched her blood spill. I flew in the sky. I was taken on a shopping trip by a guy who was probably a millionaire hitman, with wallets to spare. I was almost killed by people who I couldn't tell if they were human or demon or angel or whatever. Then my parents and brother were killed, burned in the raging inferno of my childhood home.
Everything before that had been a whirlwind.
Everything after that was like sleepwalking.
Why did I join them on that rescue mission? I was a so-called Angel. By that alone you'd think the frontlines were no place for me. My Devil was away, I had no training. But they gave me a gun and some bullets and said "Go." If I was going to learn how to protect myself better sooner than later.
But I wasn't able to protect myself. I froze at the crucial moment and closed my eyes, thinking for the nth time "This is it, this is where I die." Then I was saved again, by Sasuke.
It was the first time I thought about it… but I was his Angel. I was supposed to be his savior, the guardian of his tainted soul. There was an inch of good in him and my job was the wrap my arms around it and protect it from the rest of him that threatened to swallow it up and turn it dark. For that I was dragged into all this mess, for that my family was killed and I had to live inside a musty Church, a target between my eyes should I ever go out into the world.
Maybe this was what Tsunade had meant when she said 'Go.'
It wasn't that I was to learn how to protect myself against monsters. It was so that I would learn of the World I was now up against.
"Promise me that you belong only to me," Sasuke had said when we came to, safe and sound in the Church. There he goes again, making cryptic demands and looking at me with those dark obsidian eyes that I know nothing of what lies in the depths of. But I had promised in the end.
This man took my happiness from me. He appeared in my life and shattered everything just so that I could save him. But he had also saved me, bled for me, shielded me with his own body, stood in the way of harm as though pain didn't scare him, as though nothing scared him but the idea of losing me- No, not me. His salvation.
I think… maybe I hate him. Maybe I hate his existence and his deep obsidian eyes that house only his own best-interest.
But he's all that I have now.
So I kiss him. I seal it with a kiss and resign myself to this conclusion: This man is a sinner and I am going to be his salvation. I told him before that I couldn't be an angel because hate has a pace within me, resentment boils within me- for Sasuke.
Forgiveness is a complicated pipe dream that I'm not sure I can grasp just yet. Even so-
To abandon him would only mean one more evil person.
In the Church where we kiss, no one looks at us. The Angels and Devils are two halves that consume each other, balance each other, watch each other. Only the stoney eyes of the winged statues peer down at us while we reach this agreement.
Slowly, Sasuke parts from the kiss, one foot in my thoughts and in my mind. Then, for the first time the connection goes both ways and suddenly I glimpse a feeling within the depths of those deep obsidian eyes that I can recognize.
Curiosity.
"You're mine," he whispers for like the hundredth time, voice colored by awe as though he can't believe I had conceded. His doubts are correct. I have not 'conceded.'
My brows furrow and I frown at him from where I lie upon his lap on the pews. "No, Sasuke."
You're the one who needs salvation. You're the one whose fate lies in my hands.
"You are the one who belongs to me."
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I'M BACK AFTER EIGHT YEARS. Okay so when I came back to this I had the STRONGEST URGE to overhaul it and start from the beginning but I decided nah, I'll just pick up where I left off. To be honest I don't even remember what plans I had for this and you'll find the writing style has changed a bit. Since the last few chapters were action-packed, I'm going to take the time to try and resolve some previous plot points instead. Sorry if this particular chapter is a bit slow since it's all just feelings since I realized, oh my gosh? Sakura never really got to process anything? It was pretty rushed.
So here I am, trying to build on their characters. It might take a while (like A WHILE) but hopefully I can make more progress