Beautiful Silence

Chapter 23: Reunion

"Here we are."

Temari opened up one of the many rooms in the Kazekage's mansion, revealing a spacious room. Riko felt a gust of wind as she did that. Looking inside, she found out why there was a gust of wind. The big window right across was open and there sat the person she'd been wanting to see so badly.

"Ah!"

Hearing her voice, Gaara quickly turned to the door, his eyes open wide in surprise.

"R-Riko...!"

He got down from the window frame, and was immediately assaulted by Riko's giant hug after she ran across the room to him. Taken by surprise, his arms wrapped around her as his sand stabilized them from falling backwards through the window. He felt his face heat up from the sudden contact. Temari couldn't help but chuckle at the sight.

When Riko pulled back, she realized what she had just done and covered her face in embarrassment. She got so excited that she didn't think about what she did before she did it. This made Gaara smile at how she acted. Temari then left the two alone, knowing how much they wanted to spend time with each other.

"What... are you doing here?"

"Ah! Ah... Mm..."

Riko took out her notepad and wrote down about the reason why she was in Sunagakure.

"So, you decided to come here with Kurenai-san... All that so that you can see me again?"

Riko slowly nodded with a shy smile. Gaara then reached for his pocket. He took out a piece of paper.

"It's just like what you said on this paper..."

He unfolded it to reveal what Riko had written: I promise that we'll see each other again.

"Ehehe..."

Riko scratched the back of her head and looked at the ground while blushing. She was happy that he kept her note.

"U-Um... Do you want me to show you around Sunagakure?"

Riko nodded and held Gaara's hand, waiting for him to lead the way. This sudden contact made him remember the time back in Konohagakure where she made him feel loved for the first time. Back then, he thought it was too good to be true. He didn't want to believe that such a caring person was genuine. He was afraid to believe it and to be hurt again. But now, he wanted to open up his heart to her. He wanted to be close to her and he didn't want to let her go.

They both went out of the Kazekage's mansion, hand in hand. Riko noticed how people in the streets were all avoiding them. Riko thought about how unfair it was towards Gaara. They didn't even try to understand him. They were just all blinded by fear. And it was that fear that made him do horrible things before. It was because no one made any efforts to understand him. Riko concentrated on her hand and filled Gaara with a comforting warmth. He looked at her and smiled.

"I never really figured out how you do that."

Riko shrugged and smiled. She didn't know either.

"How long will you be staying in Sunagakure?"

Riko let go of Gaara's hand and wrote down in her notebook.

'Until Mama and her squad are done with their mission.'

"So you don't exactly know."

Riko nodded and wrote more.

'I just hope it's a long time.'

Gaara chuckled. They walked around some more, him showing her the different stores and streets where everyone just hid from them or avoided any eye contact. It was so bad that when Gaara wanted to get them a snack, the shop owner begged for his life to be spared. Not able to take how the owner was acting, Riko dragged Gaara out of there with her. She felt tears stinging her eyes, threatening to come out. She looked at Gaara and saw his head hanging low.

"Sorry you had to see that..."

Riko shook her head. She then hugged him, filling him with her mysterious healing power. He felt at ease, but, at the same time, his heart was beating frantically.

"R-Riko-chan..."

He then felt something wet on his neck. He pulled Riko away from the hug and looked at her face. Tears were flowing down her cheeks.

"Why are you crying?"

Riko brought her hands to her face in an effort to wipe away the tears.

"You don't have to cry for my sake..."

Seeing her crying made his heart squeeze uncomfortably. He didn't like it. He wanted her to smile. He hesitantly brought his hand to her cheeks, awkwardly wiping away her tears with his fingers. Riko couldn't help but chuckle at how unfamiliar it was for him. She could see it in his eyes and his actions that it was the first time he'd ever done something like that. Her chuckle made him blush and retract his hand.

"W-What? What's so funny?"

This made her laugh even more. Even if she was laughing at him, Gaara was happy that she wasn't crying anymore. It made him smile.

After walking around for a while, they made their way back to the Kazekage's mansion. When they got there, Kurenai was also there, waiting for Riko.

"Riko! There you are!"

Kurenai went up to Riko and arranged her hair. It was a habit that she had developed over the course of time, even if it didn't really change much. Kurenai then looked at Gaara and smiled.

"Thank you for taking care of her; she can sometimes be a handful."

Gaara blushed and scratched the back of his head, not knowing what to say or how to respond to being thanked. Riko, on the other hand, pouted.

"What? You don't think you're a handful?"

"Hmph!"

Her childish pouting made Kurenai giggle.

"So, you must be Gaara. Riko can't stop talking about you."

"M-Me?"

"Aaaah!"

Out of embarrassment, Riko kept waved her hands in front of Kurenai in an effort to make her not say anything more about the subject. This made her laugh at how adorable Riko was acting.

"In any case, I just wanted to see if you were going to come spend the night at the inn where the whole squad was staying."

Riko looked at Kurenai then looked at Gaara. Kurenai seemed to understand what she wanted to convey.

"You want to spend the night here...?"

Riko let out a small smile while looking at the ground.

"Don't you think it'll be a burden for Gaara and his siblings?"

Riko's smile disappeared and she slowly nodded.

"I-It won't be a burden... If Riko-chan wants to stay, it won't be a burden..."

Gaara half-said half-mumbled.

"Are you sure? If it won't be a problem, then I don't have any objections."

"Yes, it won't be a problem at all!"

Temari, who had come in in time to hear the later half of the conversation reassured Kurenai.

"They both rarely see each other, so why not let them spend as much time together as they can?"

"You're right. Alright, Riko. You can stay here until we're done with the mission. I'll come get you when it's over."

Riko nodded and smiled widely. She gave Kurenai a hug and waved goodbye when she left.