Give and Recieve ~Gaara~

Chapter 11

As Gaara and I walked back to the other side of town, back home, I was still in awe and shock of this man. He has done an amazing thing for two unlucky souls today. Before we left the apartment I sat with Imani and cried along with her, happy to know her and Chela could finally be free. Now they can live normal lives, be out of the slums, be safe from the man who is after us. She kissed my cheek and ran in back to help Chela, telling us to head back before anyone noticed Gaara there. My heart was thumping hard in my chest and I absently played with my necklace.

Finally my voice seemed to break through all the shock, letting out a short breath and looking up at Gaara incredulously. "You are absolutely amazing Cutie."

"How?" He asked, glancing down at me.

"You have no idea what this means for them do you?" We stopped walking.

Gaara looked down at me with a clear face, giving nothing away. "The way they were living was obviously not a way they wanted to live, so I gave them a way out and some help. That's all."

"Gaara, you saved their lives." I put my hand to his shoulder and gave him an earnest gaze. "You really have no idea what you did for them."

He touched my hand gently and took a deep breath. "You're the one that made me think of it." My eyes widened in surprise. "It's what you said to Temari when you were fighting. You said, 'you have no idea how someone like me lives.' I had never thought about it until then, and realized I had been ignoring an entire class of citizens." I stared at Gaara with disbelief and wonder. This man... "I made a promise to protect the people and make life in this village comfortable. I've been going back on my promise by not realizing there is a group of people living lives they don't want in horrible conditions, but not knowing anything different and not knowing their way to a better life. It took you to open my eyes."

My heart hammered harder in my chest, my face suddenly felt extremely warm, and weirdest of all, I suddenly felt very shy under his gaze. Kisa Masoki is not shy. What the hell is this? Gaara only smiled though and began to walk once more. Finding my legs, I followed and wondered what the hell just happened. Why does my heart race now? I'm not on the job, I'm not doing anything that would cause it to beat faster. Wait...

Reese once told me about this. She had a crush on one of her regular customers, saying how kind and gentle he was, always saying sweet things to her and doing something romantic with her before getting to business. She said he always made her heart race when she thought of him, saw him, like being with him was the most exciting thing the world. I had seen her leave with him once, and remembered seeing the blush on her face and how she kept her head down but her eyes up in a shy manner. And she wasn't exactly the shy type either. Kinda hard to be shy in that line of work.

So does... that mean I like Gaara... as more than a friend? I haven't really known him that long, but he's been nothing but nice to me, helping not only me but my friends as well, never coming on to me. And yes, to me that is a nice thing. It feels good to be away from a life of constant sex and flirts and awkward requests. He makes me feel safe and good. He makes me feel... wanted.

No one has ever actually wanted me outside of wanting my body. With a smile, I walked up next to him and put my arm in his, leaning my head on his arm. He stiffened momentarily at the action but started to relax. "Gaara?" He hummed down at me. "Thank you... for everything."

It was a relatively quiet walk after that. But I liked this silence. It was peaceful. By the time we made it back to the house, I was so comfy and peaceful, the shout of Temari's voice was like a gun shot. "I said I wanted her out!"

I stuck my tongue out at her and pulled at the bottom of my right eye. She glared at me and stomped upstairs, Kankuro letting out a sigh.

"You guys have terrible timing, I just got her to calm down."

Leaning over the back of the couch, I smiled at Kankuro. "Sorry sweetie." A shoe hit the back of my head. Oh hell no.

"Step off my brothers!"

"Oh you have no idea what you just unleashed upon the world." I said, grabbing the shoe and stomping after her.

~Gaara POV~

I watched as Kisa ran after my sister. Kankuro was trying very hard not to laugh at them but was doing a very poor job at that. Sitting next to him and listening to the girls I couldn't help but smile myself. "Well, seems they're getting along better." He said.

"Oh you are so dead!" Kisa yelled.

"Bring it on Slut!" Temari answered.

At least they're communicating now. But Kankuro stood and stretched and looked down at me with a smirk. "Come on. While they talk it out lets go get the Christmas decorations out." Christmas already? Seemed like not that long ago we were celebrating golden week. Where did the months go? So with a sigh I stood and went upstairs to the storage room. We passed the girls fighting in Temari's room. When Kisa pounced on Temari though, it made me think of two young kids playing ninja or wrestling. It managed to bring a smile to my face again.

"Why you no die!" Yep. Communication.