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Happiness.
Happiness is only a instance were your heart shivers. Then all you have left to grasp is the memories, the memories leading up to that moment; that happiness.
Memories keep us in sanity, helping us remember our happiness. Love, pride, praise,freedom. We all confuse them with happiness. Too many of choose just being content.
He glanced, 3 A.M.
He breathed out heavily. Since when was sleeping this hard? The images and sounds of the day before engulfed him.
"Neji-san! Neji-san! Look!" she pointed eagerly, obviously wanting the Hyuga to look.
He was as freezing as the nature that lay in his pale eyes, trying to hide the fact that he was shivering. "What is it, princess?" he asked clenching his teeth in a chattering way.
She stopped, smile fading. "Something wrong my brave ninja?" He colored, turning his head opposite way.
"Not at all." he said to her evenly, what else could he say? Neji crossed his arms discreetly trying further to gain warmth. He despised cold weather.
A laugh. She undid her scarf around her neck. She smiled in that sincere way she always seemed to smile.
"Here, Neji-san." Aki breathed out quietly, shoving the object shyly in his face. He looked at her quizzically. 'What strange girl.' he thought, wrapping the feminine lavender scarf around him, engulfing its sent.
"Thank you." he insisted one of those Hyuga Neji smiles.
He wanted to smile, he really did, but instead he remembered a little longer.
Even the bustling town squares, her slow dreamy humming was the only thing he could hear. Intoxicated by her, he didn't even notice when she strayed to a small shop.
Neji's eyes quickly followed her, then so did he.
If you had ever seen the shop the pair stood in front of you probably would have never even bothered to grace it with a second glance. Next to the more extravagant, enormousness of other buildings in Daiksuke village.
Needlessly, the young princess dared to walk in the shack, the elite tailing faithfully behind.
"Beautiful," she murmured whether it was Neji she was speaking to or whether she was simply talking to herself, a dreaminess was held in her tone.
The elite ninja Hyuga Neji scanned his eyes along the jewelry on the withered, plain wooden shelves. 'Figures.' he thought with dismay.
Other whys delighted Aki let a small smile cover her lips as she scurried her way to the small 'necklace' portion of the shop.
With a utter stereotypical attitude he thought in his 'genius' mind, 'The big purple one.'
Her teal eyes danced their way right over the purple object, leaving him feeling a little silly. Instead she gazed down at a plain silver necklace, the kind that when you turned it in light the sliver reflected it.
Dangling at the end of the chain, the light reflector so to say; a sliver dove gliding upward.
"This one," she said.
Irritably he tossed and turned in his lacy sheets until pleasantly to his surprise, a voice; sweet melody. The singing itself, not the most amazing, but the words captivated him.
In a small trance he lifted his restless body up, down the winding staircase and out into the three-fourths dead garden.
And knowingly she was there, singing that song.
"Neji-san!" she gasped in a startled breath, as she scared herself right off the bench.
Gasp.
He had caught her, beneath the half circle in the sky, fully clothed of course.
Her eyes grew big and she bit her lip anxiously.
"Do you have any idea what time it is, princess?"
"No." she tittered nervously in his arms, under his hard superior stare.
He stood her up as carefully as a newborn.
Aki rubbed her arm were he had touched her. "I-I was just-", she sighed before she started her sentence over. "How much did you hear?
He smiled subtly as he sat on the ivory garden bench, somehow the fact that the air was freezing didn't matter.
"A sufficient amount." he stated matter-o-factly.
She colored. "It was that bad?" she questioned half in pity for herself and half embarrassment, sitting herself next to Neji.
For one of the first times in his life the elite was sure to chose his words carefully, regarding someone else's feelings.
"The song," he started, "was-"
"My mother used to sing it to me." Aki interrupted him.
He fell silent.
With a bit of understandable hesitation, the princess continued.
"M-my mother used to tell me she wanted better for me. Even though she loved my father very much, she said it was never her intention to marry him."
Hyuga Neji the elite ninja from Konaha had nothing to say.
Aki's eyes twinkled as emotions ruled over her.
"My mother was beautiful-" her voice cracked. "She had so many talents; painting, dancing, singing."
A tiny tear struggled to flood its way out of those miserable teal eyes.
She wiped her face with her crass purple sleeve. "Everyone put her on this pedestal, always telling her how great and beautiful she was."
Aki let out a unsteady breath, still determined not to cry in front of him.
"Though she never could-" the princess swallowed hard. "do any of the things she wanted, after she was tied to father."
A laugh, while Neji just listened, no trace of emotion in his snowy eyes.
The girl sobered of her emotions. "She wanted to be a singer. She was the most beautiful singer."
He managed himself to evenly get out one word. "Was?"
The girl closed her lids tightly. "She died when I was eight of a terrible illness." Aki's voice cracked once more in the midst of her slow speaking. "S-she told me before she pasted. 'Aki, marry for love and never let people cage you.'"
Aki laughed through her sob. "So much for that." she finished in her soft voice.
No words were to be said.
Compassion, empathy, pity. New unspoken words to Hyuga Neji.
Aki continued once more.
The day passed dreadfully normal and dull, the two hadn't spoke since a few nights prior. Still the discussion tugged on his heart.
Why? Why him? Why would she confide in him that way? She spilt her heart to him and he had nothing to say in response, no words of comfort, no 'it will be all rights'. He felt guilt deep in his heart. But still he asked himself; why. Why did it suddenly matter to him how she felt?
He rested his tired eyes as he walked through the dead garden that once held such extravagance. Neji pondered of what kinds of things would have been held in this grand garden, as he put one foot in front of the other. Parties, banquets, picnics?
But it didn't matter, he let her down. That's all he could remember, letting Aki down.
In the brisk daytime he could see his warm breath as he breathed out, but even so he felt cold.
Something caught his sharp eyes. A tiny shed in the rear of the acre of dead plants. Why hadn't he noticed something such as that before? He quibbled before picking up his slow pace to the dwelling.
A dull grey shed was secured with a lock, but it was opened already. Normally, Hyuga Neji found ways to contain himself, but here; in this town, it seemed as if anything could happen. That includes his suddenly becoming the curious type.
Creak, he pushed open one of the poorly made doors, desperately hoping he would not intrude on whoever had opened the lock before him.
A cluster, a wave, and invasion, of pale feathers swamped him. A stifled giggle as he stood their covered in the soft objects, looking much like a bird himself.
"N-Neji-san! You look ridiculous!"
A displeased mutter, "Aki." His hand removing a feather from his mouth.
Sneeze.
She couldn't hold her incessant laughing back, soon it was silent.
"Let me help you." she in her quiet voice.
Small hands touched the side of his masculine face and lush jet hair removing various dove feathers, with a amused expression on her face.
It was like it didn't happen at all, she held no sadness in her eyes.
Aki ceased from standing on her tiptoes with a fan of soft feathers now in her hand.
"This is where we keep our doves in the winter." she looked down as she said these words, tossing the feathers in her hand aside as if they were nothing.
The princess continued. "I decided to move them to one big cage instead of individual, cause if they have to be caged, they will be caged together." she trailed off slowly on her last word as she looked up to Neji's lavender irises.
He didn't look back up.
"Is something wrong?" she asked tilting her head so her poofy brunette bangs would sag right.
A clear of the throat. "It's nothing."
The caged birds cooed restlessly.
He sat in his room recalling that song; She's so rare and beautiful to others. The melody danced in his head.
Knock
Breaking the dead quiet, he answered. "Come in."
Towing over everything the man entered closing the door behind. "Neji, my boy!" Ryo shouted almost giddy.
The elite sat up, "Yes, sir?" he responded properly looking into the Lord's brown orbs with respect.
Small clatters on the floor as the man took a few steps forward. "The week is over you are permitted to go back to Konoha the day after tomorrow."
"Yes, sir."
Ryo cleared his throat in eagerness. "I wanted to give you something for your troubles, and believe me I know what a burden my daughter can be."
Neji scowled at his carefree foolish choice of words, but didn't let the Lord see. The Hyuga closed his eyes. "I couldn't possibly ask anything of you, sir."
A grin spread across the man's clean cut beard. "No, no, no!" This is from me to you! No questions asked!"
He rose from his placement on the frilly bed. A bow. "Yes, sir."
Ryo lay a generous offer in the ninja's hands then left without a word, this surprised Neji because he found Ryo to be the 'talkative type' these past days.
A shake of the head, Neji opened the enclosed envelope given to him by the happy-go-lucky Lord Ryo.
Two thousand yen, more than Neji had anticipated, he did get paid for this mission after all.
Suddenly the extroverted Ryo appeared in front of Neji once more. "One more thing," the man started as Neji looked up from his recently obtained riches. "Will you be attending the wedding before you depart?"
"Wedding?" his eyes grew big.
[to be continued...]
Cliffhanger! Hanging from a cliff and that's why they call him cliffhanger! lol.
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