Well...it was official.

We were newlyweds.

And very happy ones, at that.

We'd packed our bags, and were ready to leave as well; off to our island escape in an outskirted area of the Mist Village; 'private', the man had said who described it to us. He'd booked us a beach house overlooking the majestic waters of the village, leading straight to the villa which entered the Hidden village. It was truly beautiful, he'd said over the phone, and Gaara had sounded so happy telling me about the details; it had made me realize one thing about him that had changed; that he was brighter and more cheerful now.

And indeed, it was a change for the better.

Because now...now I knew the real reason why people were such saps for love.

It...was that feeling I always got, seeing him smile. Or even wave to me. His frowns were sexy enough, but it was the way he'd look at me, for longer than a few seconds, that I'd feel as if I understood him; well enough. That I understood myself; well enough to know that he as the only man I'd ever devote myself to. I'd say goodbye to silly school-girl crushes, this was the real deal! I had fallen; hard. For Sabaku No Gaara.

And I'd known it for a while.

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I first laid eyes on him when I was about...oh...maybe 3 years old.

I know...pretty young to fall enough. I wasn't what one would call in love, at the time, really, rather I was just...drawn to him. Something about him, his eyes, the sadness and heaviness they held, the stories his face foretold, the empty hollow-ness of his skin. I had the eery feeling I could hear my heartbeat in my ears.

I'd been deadly afraid of him at first.

Despite the way his face had drooped when I'd passed by him on the street, in a way that simply screamed depression, I'd felt that if I'd ever been able to say two words to him, rather I would have had my head chopped off, so help me.

I'd continued to be in fear of the sand-demon for about...the rest of my life.

Until I saw him again, that was.

I was a grown girl; a blooming teenager, yet, still, my continuous timid-ness and fear stayed with me. Though, when I'd begun learning under him, I'd realized that he was in the same predicament as I was; that stage of awkwardness. He didn't want it just as much as I didn't. We both knew each other better than we'd let on; so, naturally, this lead to an easy friendship.

There were still times, when...I'd feel...the need to be...close to him.

Hormones. They'd started to grow.

It was a disgusting thought, but I couldn't bring myself not to look at him, to admire the innocent beauty of his face, how elegant he always seemed. Different. Special. Unique. Artistic. Seductive. He was everything I wanted, and I knew him well enough to know that he was genuine; true. He didn't know how to lie to a girl about himself. The fact that he was so socially-inept helped our relationship grow quite alot. Eventually, we'd figured out our feelings for one another, and the moment was euphoric; truly, it was. My first kiss, and my first love in only a matter of seconds.

I'll admit, it did happen fast.

But to this day, I've never regretted my decision. And I can tell he hasn't, either.

So now we leave tommorow for our honeymoon; our life to be cherished with each other, every waking moment spent with the other, and we were both excited. Not a flicker of nervous-ness rang throughout the house. I sat on our bed, the window wide open, over-looking the view of the setting sun as the stars began to show along the pink silhouette of the moon just begining to show. It felt as if it was the start of something magnificent, and I let my hair blow in the breeze, the sweet smell of honey encases my senses coming from the bathroom door.

I sat in quiet tranquility, soaking in the peaceful silence that engulfed, at last opening my eyes when I hadn't even realized I'd closed them to find pink, sweet lips pressed against mine. I looked up, thinking for sure I'd gone to heaven, died silently in my sleep, fully expecting to see an angel before me...

Rather I saw Gaara dripping wet, naked in a towel.

...I'd say that's pretty much as good as an angel, don't you think so?

I couldn't hide the blush that crept over my face as I stood, to level my eyes with his, my bare feet overlapping his wet toes slightly, as I balanced myself to lean against him, taking in the scent of vanilla honey and lavendar that surrounding him in humid puffs of hair.

How I loved that smell.

"Got everything packed?", he asked, kissing my earlobe tenderly. I giggled, playfully pushing him away, before pressing my lips ever-close to his, practically talking into him.

"Yes.", I whispered, completing our kiss, as I enjoyed the sensation of his running down my back.

"I still have a few things to put away, couple errands to run before leaving tommorow; got to make sure everything's set for Temari when she takes over my position tommorow." he said, stepping away from me to head towards his closet, pulling out a comfortable set of his usual black attire. I crossed my arms over my chest ,walking up behind him to wrap my arms around his waist.

"Must you do all that now? You don't want to...stay...a while?", I whispered, cupping his face in my hands as he turned around to look at me. His expression was blank, and I couldn't seem to divert my eyes from the way his lips were perfectly parted, the glimmer of his white teeth showing through. It was moments like this were I was convinced he could be a model.

"...how long is 'a while'?", he asked, slowly pushing me towards the bed.

"Maybe an hour or so...that alright?"

"Two hours. Make it two hours."

"Somebody's got some time on their hands."

"Yeah, well, we'll be busy...", he said before climbing on top of me to press my lips against his in a seductive kiss.

That night was one of the hottest nights of my life, as the record stood.

And it wasn't because of the weather...