My One and Only

Chapter 26

Fall had gone by quickly and the air got even colder. This wasn't strange, Sakura mused, fall wasn't very long anyway. Sakura hummed distractedly as she walked down the halls. Perhaps it's why she didn't notice immediately, but then her wandering gaze looked over to the windows and she immediately froze where she stood. Her breath caught excitedly and she rushed over to the window, finally realizing the small flakes of white falling from the sky.

Despite the cold, she insisted on sitting near the veranda so she could watch the falling snow better. Wrapping herself up in as many layers as she could with a tray of warm tea next to her she'd requested the maids to bring her. It didn't matter that snow fell from the sky every single year without fail, the fact that it only happened once a year made it a novelty to her. She was sure she'd never tire of watching the ground become gradually covered in white. And when it finally stopped snowing it seemed as if entering into a completely different world because spring and winter were just so different from each other.

Sakura took a deep breath and breathed back out just as hard and watched her breath come out misty. It would always amuse her. She continued to watch the snow afterward. The relaxing atmosphere that this activity always invoked didn't shatter even when she suddenly heard heavy footsteps from behind her and an extra garment was thrown over her shoulders. Itachi sat down next to her and asked, "What are you doing?"

"Watching the snow," Sakura responded simply.

Itachi stayed silent. He didn't ask why or what the point was. Didn't comment on how cold it felt either or tell her to go back inside. He just decided to watch the falling snow with her, taking some tea for himself and easily falling in tune with the relaxing ambiance.

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The next morning, before even registering she was awake, Sakura's brain had spurred her to get out of bed and dress quicker than she'd ever dressed before. She seemed to be walking on air as her feet carried her to her destination of the great and cold outdoors.

Sakura faintly registered Itachi walking much more leisurely some distance behind her. She ran out into the snow, sinking to her ankles. She ran a few feet out before throwing herself into it, her back hitting the snow. The extra layers and new clothes, fit for the winter weather,  that the seamstresses had worked all night to prepare for her kept the cold from her skin.

She swept her arms in a back and forth motion, doing the same with her legs. She then stood to look at her work, quite pleased with herself. It was a snow angel.

Whack!

'Eh?'   Sakura stood frozen, not quite processing what had just happened yet. She touched the splattered snow on her face and then looked over to Itachi. He was calmly sitting as he gathered more snow in his hands. 

Sakura gasped. It was him! How uncharacteristic she might add. Before she had any time to gape any further, another snowball hit her straight in the face, strong enough to knock her down on her back. Oh, but she would not go down that easily!

With fierce determination, Sakura gathered snow in her hands as quickly as she could. She threw it with all her might in Itachi's direction. Immediately going back down to ready her next bullet. But Itachi was slightly faster, ducking under her snowball and gathering more snow to throw at her.

A full battle ensued. Sakura lay on the ground by the end of it, covered in snow and her face feeling just a bit sore from all the times she'd gotten a direct hit. Itachi chuckled from next to her and she pouted.

She sat back up and glowered at him. Itachi seemed only amused by her sulking. Deciding to move on, Sakura stood up and tried to compose herself. Not quite wanting to stop playing in the snow just yet, Sakura got the idea to build a snowman. She started gathering the snow. 

Itachi followed her, thinking at first she hadn't given up on the snowball fight. When that proved to not be the case, he asked, "What are you doing?"

Sakura kept rolling the snow into a big ball, "I'm gonna make a snowman," She answered.

Wordlessly, he began to help her. Within the hour they had three large snowballs stacked upon each other. Itachi had taken branches off a nearby tree that Sakura had then gone on to stick into the snowman as arms. It had two eyes of coal and Itachi's black and white scarf he'd donated to the snowman, along with a red button from Sakura's coat as a nose.

Sakura beamed proudly at her snowman. It looked so good, she'd done a great job, Itachi too but mostly her. She was going to name it gray.

Itachi grabbed her hand, "Let's go back inside now, we should warm-up."

Sakura looked at gray for a few more seconds before nodding and they made their way back inside.

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Back inside the house, the cooks had made hot soup and a maid had delivered it to them. They now sat in front of the fireplace as she still finished eating the rest of the soup. Itachi was already done with his.  

Despite the obvious warmth of the soup judging by its slight emitting of steam, it failed to warm her up completely. Sakura looked to the side, where Itachi sat, as she took her last few bites. She gently put her bowl down beside her as soundlessly as possible scooted over to Itachi's side.

He blinked down at her for a moment as their arms touched. Then, he carefully lifted his hand and slightly brushed it through her hair before putting his arm around her and tucking her more closely to his side. Sakura looked up at Itachi's face. Then the fire. She made a small and soft smile as she adjusted her head more comfortably against his collar, thinking Itachi was really nice and warm.