002 / second chance
"Do you still want my heart? Because I sure as hell still love you."
"You've always had my heart. I never stopped loving you."
Somewhere as mundane as the convenience store two blocks from his apartment building. Of all the places in the world, it just has to happen in the convenience store. There she was, still as beautiful as she was three years ago, hell– he was sure that she looked even more beautiful standing there choosing a goddamn frozen sandwich and she still never failed to take his breath away.
It's half past ten in the morning and for the first time in Sasule's life, he slept in. It's been three weeks since he arrived here. He can hear the waves, the chirping of the birds, he can smell the sea breeze from the opened glass door, and he can feel Sakura's body intertwined with his, wrapped in nothing but their thin blanket. Sakura's face was buried in his chest and Sasuke thought that he could get used to this. This feeling of warmth– completeness.
Her hair is longer than he last saw it, and Sasuke cannot see her face properly as he is still stuck standing in the middle of the aisle but he was damn sure that her green eyes are still sparkling as ever. The very same green eyes that pulled him in and the very same green eyes that haunted him in his dreams.
Sakura looked at anywhere but him, her eyes filled with unshed tears as she was trying her hardest not to cry out because she knows she'll lose her resolve once she sees the hurt and confusion in his eyes.
"You can't keep doing this, Sasuke. Back and forth from the city and here. You… You have a life in Konoha and I have mine here, on this island. It's never gonna work."
"I told you, I can make it work, Sakura. We can make this work." It took everything in him not to grasp her hand and hold it tightly, desperate for anything.
"We both knew this…" Her hand making wild gestures between them, "whatever this is between us was doomed from the beginning. The distance would've killed us, you'd be exhausted from the long flight just to get here then fly back again the next day."
"Look at me." Sasuke grasped her chin, making Sakura look at him, "It doesn't matter. I'd do anything for us, Sakura."
"No." She gazed right back. Her green eyes, once filled with warmth and passion, were icy and dull, and it broke everything inside him. "This is just a summer fling, Sasuke. We both had our fill and the seasons are changing."
Sakura, finally choosing a tuna sandwich, turned and she stopped dead in her tracks.
"Sakura." The universe must be playing a joke on him. He was sure he just dreamt of Sakura last night, reliving their blissful time on the island together. "How– What are you doing here?"
"S-Sasuke." Sakura looked up to him, clutching her bottled coffee and sandwich. "Uh… I live here now." There he was standing a mere feet away from her, dressed impeccably in black and holding a goddamn shopping basket.
Sasuke took one step towards her, "Since when? How about your café on the island?"
"I closed it." She took a deep breath and gazed into his deep, dark eyes. As if he was pulling her in, she unconsciously took a step closer.
"What?" Sasuke scrunched his eyebrows and leaned down to put his basket by the side. He took two steps closer, "But it's your passion. It's what makes you happy, right?"
Sakura can feel him, heck she can smell him– oh god how she missed everything about him. "I guess… It doesn't make me happy anymore. I was missing… something– someone."
She couldn't stand it anymore and took that one last step towards him. Towards the man who she was missing all these years, the only man who made her feel alive. The man whom she'll only love with every beat of her heart.
Sasuke still couldn't believe this was real so he reached out and held her face. "Do you–" He softly ran his thumb on the expanse of her cheeks. "Do you still want my heart?" He tilted her head up, those green, green eyes so clear and so bright with raw honesty it blinded him for a split second, "Because I sure as hell still love you, Sakura."
Sakura reached up and wrapped both of her hands over his hand that was on her face. She can feel her eyes tearing up because finally– finally she feels complete. "You've always had my heart, Sasuke." She deftly ran fingers over his knuckles, clutching his hand tighter and turning her head so she could plant a soft kiss on his palm. "I never stopped loving you."
fin.