Ai and Gaara walked in silence through the palace. The trouble-ridden Kazekage grasped Ai's wrist tightly and lead the girl, dressed in moonlight, along stone passageways, through darkened archways and up winding staircases. Ai had her right hand stretched out as Gaara dragged her with him, her other hand held on to the pendant of her pearl necklace as though it were some source of comfort. The only noise was the tinkling of her anklets, playing a tune to entice birds in the palace gardens to call out to Ai as thought to ask her where she was going. As though they were asking her why she followed, fearful of the man in front of her.
With a dark and furrowed brow, Gaara walked on. The dancer gasped softly as Gaara's grip intensified and broke one of the bangles on her wrist; the pearlescent glass fell in pieces to the floor with a tinkle that made Ai wince. The shinobi had no such reaction; he walked as though swallowed by a dark cloud that fell around them. He went unaffected by anything happened; members of the Kazekage's court called to him or asked him where he was going but Gaara did not heed their calls. Ai followed behind him, her gaze cast downwards, her white veil trailing along the floor behind them.
The two ascended to meet the sun at noon, as they climbed the stairs leading to the roof. At the top of the stairs Gaara pushed open a door and lead Ai out onto the rooftop of the palace. He let go of her hand and left the dancer standing by the doorway. As the door shut behind her, she stood, nonplussed, staring at his back in stunned silence as the Kazekage walked out to the edge of the roof.
The daytime was sinfully hot in Sunagakure; the sun was at its highest point and sat in a cloudless, blue sky. There was no breeze to alleviate this torture as Gaara and his courtesan stood in silence. All Ai could see was Gaara, stood against the sky, it looked almost as though he were stood on the brink of nothingness; just warm, open sky. Suddenly, he spoke:
"Why are we here, Ai?" Upon hearing his question, Love stirred.
"Here?" She asked, even though she knew entirely what the shinobi meant.
"We are from different worlds; shinobi and courtesan, innocent and murderer, beauty and monster." Gaara spoke with so much power, as though he was speaking something sacred. "We should not be stood here now." His voice became a whisper. "It shouldn't ache like this." He turned back to her, his hand grasping at the white material of his Kazekage cloak, clinging on to something in his chest. There was something sharp and painful in his throat as he cleared it to speak; "why are we here?" He asked again. Ai cast her gaze downwards and sighed a little; what could she say that she had not said before? Gaara was impossible, conflicted and complicated; he was more than her delicate self could handle. But Gaara did not give her a chance to answer. He shrugged off his Kazekage robe to reveal his deep red cloak beneath, and continued his discourse:
"Everyone I have ever loved, has hurt me," Gaara looked away from her as he placed his Kazekage robe on the balcony of the roof. "Lied to me. Deceived me. I was a child and they tried to kill me." It surprised Ai that Gaara's tone was confident and self-assured; he no longer harboured any ill-feelings towards his childhood. "I have learnt to forgive, I have learnt to move on. My soul was broken into a thousand jagged shards by those who claimed to love me." The Kazekage looked over to the girl, trying to articulate what this pain, the one stinging in his eyes and clutching his heart, was doing to him. "It has taken me painful, slow years, to rebuild my soul. I became who I am for the sake of my village. I am strong; I mastered my biju and won over my people. But now, I live in fear."
"Fear?" Ai took a step forwards as though to tend to him but stopped when she caught that dangerous look in his eye.
"I live in fear of what you have done to me. The success of my endeavours hangs in the balance when you glance at me. You came into my life like no more than a summer breeze, and yet all that I have worked so hard for, is undone." Gaara shook his head at her, his eyes stinging. "I managed to quieten Shukaku, but now he grows restless without your cool blood around me." The Kazekage closed his eyes and sighed. "Because it all comes rushing back." Upon opening his eyes he gestured to her; "why do you have this look of longing for me? Why do you show up in the dead of night promising me relief from my want of you?" Ai did not know whether to smile or apologise. "I had even reduced my hunger for death, but now my appetite craves something not entirely different. That deathless death you endure when we are alone, makes me weak, makes me burn. How, when I have become so strong?" Gaara demanded an answer out of her but the girl stood, unable to approach him, unable to give him answers. "How, when I have made myself believe love is not in my fate?" He raised his voice. "How are you here!? How are you doing this?!" Ai opened her mouth to speak but found she could utter nothing in response. The Kazekage saw she was speechless and his shoulders slumped in disappointment.
Silence stretched on until, eventually, Gaara couldn't take it anymore. He grumbled to the ground:
"The poem, Love, I know how it ends." Ai looked up, surprised, as he spoke.
"How?" She asked and raised an eyebrow. Gaara smiled in a disbelieving manner.
"With you." He looked up at her. "It was always you." The Kazkage began to walk towards her. "In the end, what else is there?" He was approaching fast, Ai felt the need to say something, anything, she was beginning to retreat.
"I-"
"I'm sure you do, Ai." Gaara interrupted with a nod.
"We-"
"I'm sure we are, Ai." Her back hit the wall. He approached her and stood directly in front of her, he looked down at her and, mere inches from her face, he smirked in a manner that irked her.
"Let me speak!" Ai shouted and grew evermore infuriated as the Kazekage put his hands against the door on either side of her, caging her. He smiled.
"Speak." He ordered her. "Go on." Ai could not believe it; how dare he patronise her! She stood, fuming, in silence as he mocked her, unable to move, unable to escape him. "Look," Gaara held up his hands to her, giving her some space to breathe, "I'm not touching you, there is no sand winding its way around you, why are you silent?" He asked but Ai felt sheepish talking to someone who exuded power so effortlessly. "It was your insatiable appetite for conversation that got us here, is it not?" All who knew her, knew Ai did not take kindly to criticism. In her young, naive and reckless manner, she had to confront him.
"What do you mean?" Ai tilted her chin at him in defiance. Gaara took a step back and shook his head with a sick smile:
"Oh, you suddenly chirp up at a chance to bicker with me? That is always your manner." The dancer was growing fed up at his accusations. She moved close towards him and spat words at him as though disgusted.
"I am not the one constantly pushing and pulling against the tide-!"
"What does that mean?" The Kazekage moved close to his courtesan again.
"It means I am the only one being honest!" She shouted back.
"Honest?" Gaara laughed. "Then what was all that with Nobutara?" Ai looked bashful for a moment before regaining her confidence.
"Performance!" Gaara simply looked confused and took a few steps away from her as though to take a deep breath, Ai walked out to meet him in the middle of the roof.
"So what were you doing; taking his hand?" As he asked this, that bashful look slinked its way back on Ai's face and she looked to the ground.
"Kizuato (A/N: Scar)." She whispered. Gaara, who was growing near mad of her antics, shook his head in irritation.
"What?" He asked exasperatedly. "Speak in a suitable dialect-"
"It is a tradition of our people" Ai interrupted quickly, not wanting him to get his way, "when one considers another beautiful they scar them by marking their skin, usually with black kohl." Her eyes softened, her voice returned to its usual melodic cadence. "To make them imperfect, so they are protected from the evil eye." Gaara simply stared back at her, unimpressed; these ancient customs were infuriating to him, not founded in reason or rationale. It was exactly her; fairy tale-like and sweet. He sighed as they looked at one another.
"Why are you ding this Ai?"
"Doing what? I am only doing whatever is asked of me!"
"Why are you poisoning me with all this?"
"With all what?!"
"With you!" The red headed shinobi retaliated; "your scent is in my blood, I feel the warmth of you on my skin, I hear your voice in darkness. You heal me and cut me. You have created a war in my soul; what are you? What is this?!" Ai looked away as he approached.
"An impossible love." She whispered.
"What?"
"You push me away and yet you crave me." Ai turned her back to him. "I cannot be a part of this any longer." She wiped her eyes hurriedly. "You are tearing me apart, Gaara."
"I am tearing you apart?"
"Why do you put dreams in my head of what could be?" Ai faced him, her bottom lip trembling. "Why do you speak to me as though I am yours and you are mine?" The courtesan walked up to the Kazekage and, with no thought of her place or his strength, she pushed him, demanding an answer. "Why behind closed doors do you love me so fearlessly and yet under the gaze of others you cower like a child!" Gaara remained passive, standing at his full height, his chest strong, he did not even flinch when she touched him.
"Do not test me, Ai."
"How could I? Moments pass and you are never the same in each." The dancer whispered up to him. She inwardly rolled her eyes and looked away. "I may be a courtesan," she mumbled, "but I am worth more than this unrequited affection." Ai held her head high as she spoke to him with a hint of spite. "Have you not heard my reputation as the Utsukushīdesu (beautiful one) of the Tea House ranges over countries now; I am called upon by royalty and shinobi." Blue eyes narrowed on him before she turned away haughtily. "I need not attend the court of a Kage." She spat out bitterly, trying to maintain the illusion that her heart wasn't breaking. Gaara looked at her as though seeing Ai for the first time. With her back to him, he reached out and placed a finger beneath her chin. Perhaps it was his strength, perhaps it was her will, but Ai turned to him completely as he tilted her chin towards him. She refused to make eye contact as Gaara observed her intently, her eyes were filling with pearls of tears as she held her emotions back.
"Such vanity?" The Kazekage asked softly.
"Why not be vain?" Ai pushed his finger away from her. "What are you, but skilled an handsome? We are matched, Kazekage. If you take pride in being a shinobi, then I take pride in being a courtesan."
"Even the moon is not that vain." He warned her.
"The moon is scarred, yet she endures." The girl retorted and as she turned away from him, the Kazekage did something he could not explain. In less than a moment, Gaara pulled her by her hair to face him, before he snatched the pearl necklace she wore so tightly that the latch broke. He struck her forehead with the large pendant. "Ah!" Ai cried out and cradled her forehead as pearls scattered around them. The Kazekage dropped the necklace. "Gaara, what have you done?" She asked, her eyes closed, breathing heavily. Gaara bent down beside her and moved her hands away to inspect his head. He blew gently on the small cut that had formed directly beneath her hairline. A small droplet of blood formed before spilling over and trickling down her forehead.
"Kizuato." Gaara answered her. Her eyes widened as she looked up at him. "I have scarred you like the moon, with the mark of my love." The blood trickled down between her eyes before catching her eyelashes.
"Love?" She asked and closed her eyes as she stood and Gaara placed his lips against the cut on her forehead.
"This has gone far enough." Ai and Gaara looked over as the door to the rooftop opened and Megumi stepped through, unaccompanied, to appraise the two. She looked regal and commanding in a white and gold dress. The village elder glanced at her student with, what Ai thought looked like, sadness.
"Megumi-sama-"
"Who scarred you?" Megumi interrupted Ai by lifting a hand and pointing to the girl's forehead.
"I," Ai looked to the floor, "fell." Megumi almost scoffed.
"Enough of this. You council awaits you, Kazekage, I suggest you tend to them before they consider your frequent vanishings indicative of your commitment to the village." Megumi stepped away from the doorway so he could leave. Ai felt Gaara move her hair from her shoulder.
"Meet me in the gardens at dusk." He whispered.