Forevermore ~Gaara~

Chapter 4

It didn't take very long for Honiji to fill out the paper work for her shadowing, and her boss was in to much of a stunned state after her explanation to deny her the two weeks off. Now she stood in her room and packed her clothes on one side of the suitcase and her sewing supplies on the other side. If she was going to be off work for two weeks she could at least catch up on her projects. Haru's dress still needs cut and she had promised to hem Fen's jacket last week.

Already her sewing machine was packed up in it's case on the floor next to her bed. Honiji had been telling herself over and over that everything would be fine, nothing was going to change. School was still a number one and even if they decided to go through with the... the marriage... she would still attend Desert Sun Academy in Suna for her last year. After that... they would get married... Honiji sat on the edge of her bed and looked down at her hands in her lap.

No matter how many times she told herself everything was going to be fine... It wasn't that she was afraid of what might happen. Maybe it would be nice to get away from this village, fall in love with Gaara, get married. But what if he didn't feel that way? Honiji couldn't even imagine marrying someone she didn't love or who didn't love her. But even in these times things like marriages of convinience happen. Her own half sister was about to enter one after all...

A knock on her bedroom door brought her out of her thoughts. "Yes?" It was her mother who poked her head around the door.

"I brought you some tea with milk. Figured you'd want a small break."

She smiled gently. "Thanks Mom." Taking a sip from the cup, Honiji began to feel better.

"Sweetie, are you sure you want to do this?" Her mother asked. "It's not to late to call the Kazekage and back out."

"It's okay. I mean, Tomoe asked me to give it a try and she's done so much for me. And it's only a two week grace period. Nothing is set in stone. There's... no harm in giving something a try."

Her mother gave a soft closed sigh. "Sometimes I think you're to selfless for your own good."

"It's better to be selfless than to be like all the other station girls." Station girls is a term used to indicate a girl who is of noble or royal birth, in this case the elders daughters and grandaughters. Her mother knew full well the disgusting way those girls acted. And it's very true, she would much preffure her daughter to be this selfless than to treat people like dirt and conduct herself in very unflattering ways just to get ahead in sociaty. But she still worried about the choice her daughter was making, esspecially this close to her sisters wedding.

But she also knew there was no stopping her onceshe made up her mind. With a small sad smile she grabbed the suitcase and the sewing machine case from the floor. "I'll take these down the hall then. Come out when you're ready."

Taking a deep breath Honiji took another look around her room. She wouldn't be back for another two weeks. Already she felt like she missed home and she hadn't even left. How was she supposed to survive two weeks in a forign country? Taking another sip from her cup she decided it was time to leave her room. After all... her possible new family would be there soon to get her.

Her mother was in the kitchen, absent mindedly washing dishes, when she set her now empty cup on the counter next to her. She didn't even hear the knock on the front door it seemed. Honiji left to answer it, knowing it was best to let her mother brood for a bit longer. Temari and Kankuro stood at the door with friendly grins, but there was no sign of Gaara.

Noticing her wondering eyes Temari said, "Gaara got held up at Naruto's office so he won't be by for another hour. We just came by to get your bag."

"Oh you don't have to do that. I can carry it."

"We aren't taking no for an answer here." Kankuro grinned as he reached out and grabbed the bags her mother had set by the door. With a small thank you they left and Honiji was left in the quiet. She had an hour... and the first thing that poped into her mind was... why was she doing this? She had told Gaara that her reason for accepting was entirly selfish, which it was. But what if that wasn't all? Honiji once again took some deep breaths and repeated in her mind that everything was going to be okay.

Not quite and hour later there was another knock at the door. This time when she opened the door it was Gaara who stood before her. She flashed him a smile and invited him inside, her mother finally snapping out of her daze. She rushed forward and stopped in front of Gaara. "Lord Kazekage, promise me my daughter is going to be safe with you." She nearly begged.

Gaara was amazed at her fear and insistance. The look on her face was one of pure worry and he could feel something inside cluntching slightly. Having grown up without a mother he had never experianced this level of concern for a child. His face softened as he assured her. "I promise, she will be perfectly safe. My siblings and I will make sure of that."

Honiji watched her mother calm down just a little bit at Gaara's words. She had always worried about Honiji, mainly in the fact that she is indeed the iligidament child of the king and someone might want to harm her on the off chance that he might actually care about her. But one of the unknown facts is that the two are in fact very close.

Shizuka turned to her daughter. "Did you call your Dad?"

"Yes."

"His responce to everything?"

"It took a moment to warm him up to the idea. Honestly I think the only reason he's allowing me to do this is because it's Gaara."

She let out a tight breath and closed her eyes. "If he's okay with this then so am I." She gave Honiji a tight hug. "Please be safe, call me every day before you go to bed, and please keep up on your school work."

Honiji was reluctant to leave her mother, but she forced herself to pull away from her and turn to Gaara with a smile. The moment they left the house, Honiji felt like she had stepped into a different world. The wind picked up the edge of her school uniform skirt and the village around her looked foriegn. She knew it was all in her head. It was just her stress and worries of the situation that was finally getting to her. But when Gaara looked back at her, it was his face that was still familier and snapped her out of it. And then, side-by-side, they took the first step toward their new life together.