Roses are Red

Chapter Ten: Pride

Chapter Ten: Pride

The pendant fell slowly, its descent slicing through Krystal‛s heart and crushing both pieces as it landed into her palms. She clenched her hand to a fist around it, and let it drop to her side while watching Sasuke‛s departure to a darker world. The connection between them was breaking, she could feel it. There was no longer any symbolism to personify their bond. The path he had taken was beckoning, tantalizing her to follow, but something pulled her the opposite way, to a light at the end of the tunnel and she closed her eyes, waiting to be awakened from this hell.

The serene texture of grass brushed against her fingertips, being disturbed only by the breeze and she felt it upset her hair, as well. Feeling the sun against her skin filled her with a warmth that was not suffocating; it felt refreshing compared the previous hurt. Had her mouth not been occupied with something, she would have smiled.

It then occurred to her that there was no reason as to why it would have been occupied. What would it be doing now when she had been asleep?

Her lips had molded against something perfectly, like it was doing something it was made to do. A sweet taste, that was not necessarily a taste at all, was flowing in and it was different from anything she had experienced before. Strange how similar it was to how she imagined being kissed felt like, only better.

Something cupped her face, making her chin, neck and cheeks feel slightly warmer than the other parts of her body. Like she was sharing body heat with someone. Also, an alarmingly familiar scent of apples was present.

Apples. When was the last time she had smelled such a scent without any around?

Slowly, her eyes fluttered open, though she kept closing them before anyone was visible as she was not sure she wanted to see what she thought she would see-or rather, whom. She suddenly felt extremely tense and her heartbeat‛s irregular rhythm rang in her ears. Then, she opened her eyes wide, wanting to get it over with and gasped, breaking her and Sasuke‛s kiss.

If Krystal had not seen it, she would not have believed it and wiped her eyes to make sure that she was really seeing what she thought she was. He was really here. HIM. Uchiha Sasuke, in the flesh, with the sweet apple scent she remembered him by . . . .

Tentative and slow was her hand as it reached to his cheek, the pads of her fingers caressing his skin daintily as it examined the contours of his jaw, neck and shoulder; the other hand rested on his chest and registered the pounding of his heart. She looked into Sasuke‛s eyes, forming a small, peaceful smile as she drank in the moment. The mortification of ruining her first kiss had been set behind, and now there was only him and the joy of seeing him again after three, long years.

Three years. He had been gone THREE YEARS-What was she lovingly caressing his face for? Memories of their last encounter were flashing fast; the feelings of pain, sorrow, and a pure sense of anger was overwhelming her. She strained her smile as it morphed to show sarcasm. "Nice seeing you again," she said with a smidgen of difficulty as she had to speak through a tangle of emotions caught in her throat. Her hands now held fistfuls of his shirt. "Been what-Three years and thirty-seven days, right? As if I was counting . . . ."

Sasuke attempted to keep his mask of no emotion, but his trademark smirk broke through, coming more naturally as he covered her hands with his. "Too soon, if you ask me. If I had my way, it would‛ve been longer."

"Well, I didn‛t ask you, and it figures that you didn‛t come back on your own accord. What are you doing here, anyway? You escape from the prison or something?" There was a tartness in her voice when she replied. She had that same tingling sensation in her hand that made her want to smack away that smug smile from his face.