Sasusaku Month, Day 04: The Great War
Sasuke was an idiot. He let himself fall back into her eyes in the middle of a war.
Sasuke lays on the sterile hospital bed, shrouded in the same silence that has been his constant companion for so many years. The sheets feel foreign against his scars, as if the world is remolding itself around him, giving him comfort he does not deserve. He's damaged – though, aren't they all? - but alive. For reasons he struggles to decipher, Sasuke's mismatched eyes keep straying, his over-controlled body ignoring his strict instructions.
His mouth apologizes. His weight is carried. His torso accepts the bandages. His throat laughs. His mind remembers the cruelty of war. And his eyes… Sasuke's eyes never stop following her.
Tonight, the moon bathes his room in Konoha's Intensive Care Unit in ethereal light, making the setting feel unreal. Sasuke feels a flicker of warmth sparks within Sasuke when he catches Sakura slipping through his door. Her spring breeze chases away winter's cold grip on his soul, strengthening the stifled fire ready to burst with passion.
'This world is cruel but still very beautiful,' his heart whispers to him, completely entranced by the way the moonlight caresses Sakura.
Her slight figure flits around him, a guardian spirit, her delicate hands skilled as she tends to his wounds. He traces her movements around the room, mindful of the unspoken but visible changes to Sakura's body. Like him, Sakura has matured. Her confidence shines like there was never a very of her that was timid in front of Sasuke. Her body swells at her hips like there was never a childhood to shed. Her smile breaks across her face like he never left her behind. And her eyes adore him like always.
That look of hers makes Sasuke yearn to speak: to tell her, to explain, to apologize once again. Yet, the hurricane within him refuses to turn into words.
Sakura sits beside him. There's something about her, a gravity that tugs at the very fibers of his soul. He watches her face, how the moonlight plays with her hair, how her voice fills the air, and wonders if she understands how cruel the world is, too.
"Sakura," he rasps, beckoning her closer. His heart weighs heavy on his tongue; he's a ship at the mercy of waves.
She leans in, her jade eyes holding galaxies full of love within them. "Yes, Sasuke-kun?"
"I need to ask something from you," he murmurs. His mismatched eyes meet hers, and he's lost in them. Forests he would happily get lost in with her by his side. "It's... Would you... can you... wait for me?"
His voice is a leaf, trembling before the storm. He's baring his soul, cracked and beaten. His thoughts run away from him, hoping against hope Sakura herself doesn't run away from further pain, from further cruelty, from all of him and his still-beating heart.
"Sasuke-kun…" her voices hangs between the two of them, making the air crackle with potential energy.
"I can't come home yet," he says, his voice so laden with regret it's almost tangible. "But please, if I still have a place in your heart, wait for me. I promise I'll come back."
She places her hands over his, and Sasuke's rebellious nerves clutch at it with all the strength of his remaining five fingers. He holds on. Mismatched eyes getting lost in the green and his fingers keeping her close. It feels as though they're promising to anchor each other through lifetimes. Through thunderstorms and dark clouds and the cruelties of the world, they'll find their way.
'This world is cruel, but I'm still yours,' his eyes call out in a voice only Sakura's heart can hear. The words hang heavy between them, an unwavering oath.
Their eyes are locked, two celestial bodies caught in each other's gravity. This isn't a fairy tale, but two warriors finding solace amongst the ruins of a great war.
They don't kiss. No, not tonight. That would leave such a bitterness on his tongue of tonight, and he wants the taste of Sakura to be unmarred in his memory. Instead, they hold on, knowing that Sasuke will leave again and Sakura will wait again. But tonight, she is in his arms and she holds on.
'This world is cruel but I still love you.'
THE END.