Prologue

Sumara (three weeks later)

I've grown stronger. Since it has been a few weeks since I died, and then un-died, I've gradually gone through a bit of physical therapy and I am almost back to normal. After The Incident (that was what everyone present during the whole beast battle called it) the Leaf Ninja left. I noticed that the petite blond that had been one of the precious ones followed behind them, but not close enough to be noticed. I guess she wanted to find her place somewhere else. A lot of the precious ones had been extremely traumatized from The Incident, but others were just excruciatingly pleased to be free. They hugged Gaara several thousand times, which I could tell made him uncomfortable, which in turn made him go all 'bid, bad Kazekage,' on them. I laughed quietly as I watched this occur.

It's been easier in a way, not being able to read minds. Now people surprise me, and I want to get to know them. My Dream Watcher gift still remains, and I use it regularly to visit Gaara.

After the kiss in the cave, we had walked back to the Sand Village, and my people were sent back to my village. As everyone moved along, some with knapsacks with their few possessions, others with a few suitcases with their initials sowed into them, I searched the crowd for a middle-aged woman who I highly respected. She was also a Dream Watcher. When I spotted her, we exchanged short pleasantries before I got down to business.

"Nia, will you take my place as the new Kage of the village?"

Nia nodded slowly and smiled. "I would be honored, Sumara. Thank you for asking me. I understand you will be staying in the Sand Village?"

I blushed. Did everyone know about what happened? Suddenly, a wisp of sand appeared in front of me, beckoning to follow.

Nia smiled knowingly. "I'll take that as a yes. Be safe, fellow Dreamer." She touched my headband that was wrapped around my left arm lightly. The small outline of a moon shined in the dimming daylight.

I bowed. "I will."

She limped away. I remembered then that she had lost her right foot in a battle. That one weird ninja collected feet. I shivered, that was totally sickening. I pushed away those horrible memories and followed the trail of sand. It led me to a small stream with a pebble beach. All around was surrounded by the greenest of plants, like I was standing in the middle of a field of broccoli. The sand trail ended just as Gaara appeared.

"Sumara, welcome to my sanctuary." He gestured widely to the place in front of me.

"This is an odd place to find in a desert," I pointed out.

He shrugged, a small sly smile playing on his lips. "Yeah, I guess you're right."

We stood there, slightly awkward. His sand came up from behind me and pushed me towards him. It wasn't like I was going to resist. I tripped over one of the many pebbles and fell into him. I felt my face heat considerably in his presence.

He swept back my hair, which was now to my shoulders. "No need to be embarrassed, Sumara. I----I uh, have something to ask you." I pulled him down to sit next to me. Gaara's eyes shifted from side to side, like a criminal caught in a trap.

I held his hand firmly in both of mine. "What is it?"

"I want you to come and stay with me in my village!" The sentence exploded from his mouth. It was the loudest I had ever heard him speak, this soft spoken Kazekage.

"Okay," I answered.

Then he started rambling. "If you don't want to, that's okay. I mean, I have so much to do with being a Kazekage. There would be no time for myself, for you."

I squeezed his hand. He shut up. "Gaara, I said okay, I want to come stay with you in the village."

"Really?" And there it was, the smile. The smile that if anyone saw it, they may begin crying right then and there from the sheer joy, rarity, and beauty of it. I actually felt a slight prickling in my eyes.

I kissed him then. This had been the first kiss since The Incident. I felt the same thing again, the need for him. "Gaara," I whispered, trying to regain my breath. He began to kiss my jaw bone.

"Hmm…" he grunted.

"I can't read minds anymore."

He stopped. "Why?"

"I would have stayed dead if I had not given it up. I needed to be here." I stared into those deep aqua eyes that had once not even seen me. Gaara kissed me again. And then he laughed.

"My thoughts," he stated with pride, "are my own again."

Where had this man come from? When I first met him, he had been cold and distant. But I could see that he had been trying to be better, trying to be a good person. Here he was, the good person that I knew he could be for as long as I was there, maybe even if I wasn't.

The next day, Temari, Kankuro, Gaara and I were called upon by Konoha for help. Some sort of stalker situation with Naruto. And maybe even someone trying to suck out his soul.

Gaara and I packed quickly, well as quickly as a pair of hormonal teenagers who just found who they needed in their lives. He did not hold my hand as we walked out of the boundaries of his village. Even though he was the Kazekage, many people disapproved of him leaving. But we had experience with this sort of thing. So we went.

I learned from meeting him, Gaara, that even though you may have been given such a bad deal in life that you just need to quit, you shouldn't. He had learned that from Naruto, and in turn he had taught me the lesson himself. There was only one person out there for me that would have fed my subconscious need, the one I was not aware I had. Gaara was that person. And until the day I die, again, I will always be that person. Everyone has a tough life, but there is always that one person out there who can change it all in a matter of hours. That person can feed that subconscious need.

THE END (SORTA)

Author's Note: Does anyone sense my forshadowing at all? Well i got a new idea for a fanfic so this will tie into it. Please Review if you enjoyed!!!