Red Is A Pretty Colour

109

Hiko's pov

A few days after I broke down Gaara had invited me to the Kazekage building to spend time together people watching from the roof as we often did. When I got there Gaara was already stood at the edge of the roof looking out over his village.

"Hello my love, how's work?" I asked, drawing his attention as I approached him.

"Exhausting." Gaara replied as he pulled me into a hug, burying his face in the crook of my neck. "How are you?"

"I'm fine." I said before placing a kiss on his cheek.

"No you're not, Temari told me what happened. Why do you always pretend you're okay? It's not healthy." Gaara said as he pulled away slightly, taking my face in his hands.

"It's just what I've always done, I bottle everything up, hide my emotions and pretend to be okay. It's not healthy and I know that but I don't want to be a burden, I don't want to have people worry about me." I explained. "I'll be okay eventually so everything is fine."

There was sadness in his eyes as he looked at me and he hesitated to let me go but he did. Gaara looked away from me, back towards his people.

"My heart hurts." Gaara confessed as he clutched at the fabric of his clothes over his heart. "How can pain like this exist without injury?"

"Emotions are powerful things Gaara, they hurt more than wounds ever could. The heart always feels the brunt of that pain." I said as I placed a hand on his shoulder. "What's wrong to make your heart hurt?"

"I didn't fall in love with you because I was lonely or lost or broken, I fell in love with you because when I saw you for the first time it was the only time that I had ever wanted to make someone a permanent part of my world. Its because of that I wish I was what you needed but I'm not. I have tried so hard to fix things, to make this work, to make you happy but no matter what I do I can't fix it." Gaara confessed as he burst out into tears, his shoulders shaking as he tried to control himself. "You deserve to live the life you had before I messed it up so this has to be the end of us. It's the only way you'll be able to get away from the council."

I felt my heart sink for a moment. It didn't necessarily hurt nor was it the emptiness I had felt throught my depression. It was more like finally realising something I had always know. I loved him and I knew that but I also knew that not all relationships were meant to last, that sometimes people were supposed to love one another but weren't supposed to be with one another.

I wrapped my arms around him and buried my face in his chest for the last time. Gaara hugged me back, tears falling on my shoulders and hair like rain drops.

"Thank you." I muttered.

I was grateful that it ended like this. I was glad that it didn't end because of a fight or falling out of love with one another. I was thankful that he loved me enough to end the relationship for my sake. Most importantly I was thankful for the 11 months we had spent together because he had been nothing but a sweetheart.

"I'm sorry." Gaara whispered his voice breaking as his body wracked with sobs. "I love you."

"I love you too." I said, hugging him tighter.

Sand began swirling around us a multitude of flower shapes appearing around us. This was the biggest goodbye we'd ever have. With the sand flowers spiraling around us everything felt so real. This was it and finally my tears began falling.

Time skip

Once we had finished crying on the roof we returned to Gaara's house to take all my stuff out of his room. We weren't going to be sharing a bed anymore now that it was over.

"Hey, what are you two up to?" Konkuro asked as he entered the room with Temari.

"Yeah, why are you packing up all your things?" Temari asked although the look on her face told me she already knew.

"Gaara and I aren't together anymore so we're putting my stuff in the spare room." I explained.

"What!? You're kidding me! Why!?" Konkuro exclaimed, pure shock on his face.

"It was for the best. Me being the kazekage just doesn't work with a relationship." Gaara said.

"Jeeze, that sucks." Konkuro said.

"I'm so sorry." Temari said.

Temari pulled me into a hug and Konkuro pulled Gaara into a hug.

"Hey Hiko, thank you for teaching him how to love. It's made Temari and I relationships with him so much closer." Konkuro said.

I didn't know what to say to that and so I motioned for him to join the hug with Temari and I. He gladly joined it, swaying with us in his arms.

"I guess you're going back to the leaf village now then." Temari said.

"I'm going to talk to Kakashi about it and see what can be done." Gaara said.