The Flower Shop [A Gaara Love Story]

33: To Living

"Thank you for helping me unload all of this," She said, smiling at him with flushed cheeks, "I don't think they could have stood another day in the wagon."

"You're welcome," He nodded in return, closing the door to the backroom behind him.

The wagons were fastened to the back of her store, secure and empty of the hundreds of flowers that they had carried along the way. Luckily, she had only lost a few on the road here. It was good that the wedding was tomorrow, or the blooms may not have lasted too much longer.

The reminder of the event made her smile. Not only was she excited to be able to showcase her flowers in this new way, but she was excited to attend an event with Gaara as his partner for the very first time. Though Daichi and his wife had invited her to the wedding, Momoko hadn't really considered going until Gaara had brought it up to her. It had almost slipped her mind that Gaara would be attending, being the Kazekage and that Daichi was a member of the council. She could tell he didn't much care for large events like this, so it didn't take a lot of convincing for her to agree to attend the event with him, and Momoko was now excited about the wedding for an entirely different reason.

To both of their relife, they had talked through their argument the very next morning. Neither of them liked the feeling of being upset with each other, so as soon as she woke up in the morning, they made it a point to resolve the issue. Though it was frustrating that they were both unwilling to change their opinion on the topic, they came to terms with that fact and called it a truce. Sometimes they would just have different opinions, that was a fact they would have to accept.

"If anything seems off, come right to me, understand?" Gaara said once they had rounded the shop and stood at the bottom of the stairs.

Momoko nodded, "Of course."

He glanced around the marketplace, and she couldn't help but frown at how tense he was. He had told her about the burning lavender he had found, as well at the chakra he had felt nearby on the first night of their trip home. Since then he had remained especially close to her, not sleeping at all through the night and no further than an arms-length away. It had worried her, too, but not as much as it had worried Gaara. Though she was sure it was nothing more than some punks trying to frighten them, he hadn't been as lenient with the situation. Even now, it was obvious he was reluctant to leave her.

After two weeks together, it would be hard to be apart. Momoko didn't think that she would be able to get a good night's sleep without him, and Gaara thought the very same thing. There was a certain comfort that came with sleeping beside the person you loved and both of them had been spoiled with it during their time in Konoha. Not just sleeping, though, the days would feel a little emptier too. Being together all the time hadn't been grating or overbearing, instead it was a comfortable reminder that they were so content with each other that they could handle being together for so long.

"You can come over tonight, if you want," She offered, and he turned his attention back to her.

"I would love to, but I'm sure Temari and Kankuro would like to see me."

"How selfish of them," She huffed, humor in her words and it made Gaara smile slightly. He looked back to the Kazekage building and the smile faded from his lips as soon as he did so.

"I'd better go. I need to stop by the office before I go home." He replied, the reluctance clear in his words.

"Go ahead," She said, "I'll see you tomorrow night, anyway."

That brought the small smile back to his lips, and he nodded in return, "Tomorrow night."

Momoko smiled back and stood on her toes to press a kiss to his cheek.