"Give me your hand."
"Don't let go."
"I'll never let go."
A sasusaku AU. Princess Sakura. Knight Sasuke.
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'Embers lie dormant within her— waiting.'
They stood on the outer edge of her kingdom, overlooking the dwindling daylight on the horizon as the world seemed frozen in time with the Princess trying vainly to process the young, eager knight's words while she stared blankly at his calloused, outstretched hand. The beast beneath him grew impatient at her lack of immediate response and snorted a breath of agitation from his long snout...while stomping his hoof repeatedly, but his master remained calm and simply waited for her decision.
The Princess bit her bottom lip once, before shyly meeting the intensity behind his eyes from underneath thick, (pink) concealing bangs; her fingers twisting anxiously in front of her. "W-what did you just say...," she questioned him with a mixture of eager anticipation and breathlessness; though she already knew the answer to her own inquiry. "I— what do you want fr—"
"Give me your hand, milady."
She instinctively knew the implications and a breath briefly arrested in her lungs. 'A fire burned in her belly—growing.'
She was hesitant however, poised on the precipice of just giving up and letting go (giving in to his desires to take her away from the only thing she's ever known and for what... all for love, she thought as memories of their past began to swirl rapidly through her mind) and running away from him (like a frightened mouse; never to look back on what could have been and follow in the steps of the young princesses before her, to do the right thing; which she's been doing all of her life... never taking her own feelings into account).
Her eyes met his in that moment of hesitation again... and her unease grew faint; her answer was chosen for her. Her hand slipped into his perfectly and her fingers latched onto him like a lifeline as her right one moved to hide her belly; instinctively protective and the movement was captured by his keen eyes; though he chose to remain silent as flashes of memories assaulted her almost instantaneously.
She took in a ragged breath while she closed her eyes in a vain attempt to steady her rapid breathing... but her efforts seemed lost as her mind wandered—
Satin sheets drenched in their sweat...
... bodies twisting and writhing in pleasure as they fought to dominate the other...
... protective measures long ago forgotten as passion took hold and replaced common sense.
Then—
Her period failed to appear.
She shook her head to clear it and determinedly rose up to her full height; fingers flexing strongly against his while she held her head high... as the true noble that she was bred, born, and raised to be. 'That's my girl...,' the young Knight thought as he tried to conceal the smirk of pride making its way to the corner of his lips.
'Fear briefly crippling her no more as she was ready to forge ahead into the unknown; all for the sake of true love.'
"Don't let go," she instructed; her last royal demand as the Princess of Konoha. He easily pulled her up onto his steed and maneuvered her to sit in front of him holding her firmly between himself and the powerful sturdy neck of the noble creature while his fingers brought her left palm into direct contact with the reins... as he refused to release her hand.
"I won't let go," he whispered against her left ear, cradling her body as if she was the most precious gem he owned and needed to protect... then with one final glance at the darkening skies ahead, he kicked his horse in the sides to proceed forward—
Into the vast unknown with the most precious cargo secure in front of him and inside of the pink-haired's womb.
'A product of their love and devotion to one another.'