Life has certainly changed a lot around here, she thought. Standing in the center of the vast flower field and enjoying the peace and serenity the flowers bring, memories of the past gradually filled her mind.
She remembered sitting her with her best friend many times when they were young, picking flowers, sharing thoughts and playing with each other. She was the daughter of a flower shop in the village, while her friend was named after a flower. She was strong headed; aspired to be a great ninja, one who dare to act, dare to love. Her friend found strength in her, and they both grew together. They had several things in common, including the one they fell for.
It was also in this field they declared war against each other. Gone was the friendship, and they became rivals.
Whenever she gets the chance, she would show off to her, hugging the boy in question, getting overly close to him, or face to face fight with her once best friend. Now that she think about it, she looked rather silly.
She bent down to pick a flower, a yellow flower. The winds picked up and she saw several petals being swept into the air, spiraling in the gentle torrent of wind, showing the shape of the wind.
There was this time where she and her friend had to fight on an arena. The winner would be able to proceed; the loser would have to remain. Turns out, the fight was a draw. Neither climbed higher, neither fell lower. It was the best for them, because neither was mature enough to face what is ahead of them.
Oh, and also that was the first time she met him. A high and mighty ninja, whose words are filled with spikes so sharp that it, matched her temper.
She didn’t like him then, thinking that he is a snobbish and ignorant idiot. He didn’t know her, for they never conversed.
Ever since the fight, her friendship with her best friend was mended. Each began supporting each other more than ever. But of course, life is full of twists and turns. The boy they both fell for left. To them, it was a heartbreaking piece of news. But surprisingly to her, it didn’t felt as painful as her friend felt it. Why was it so? She did not know.
But now, she does.
Her friend continued to love him, but somehow she stopped. She didn’t felt the urge to compete with her friend for him anymore. Her friend was puzzled, no doubt feeling relief, and questioned her. She just answered, “Maybe I’ve grown out of it”.
Her friend wondered if she would end up with the lazy ninja in her team, since they worked pretty close during missions. Or the other always-hungry ninja, also on the same team, since she showed extra concern to his conditions. Perhaps she liked someone else… but who could it be?
Her teammate, Mr. Troublesome finally took liking for the princess of the Sand. And from her frequent visits here, she got to know more about the ‘high and mighty’ ninja she met before.
At first, they are like fire and water. The moment they meet, it’s wartime. Fire would do anything to evaporate water, and water would give all out to extinguish fire.
Her teammate and the sand princess attempted to stop the fight during early days. But when they learnt their lesson that one has a long way to go try counter the elements of nature, they simply stepped away to take cover from the war.
Her best friend found it rather amusing, and when the genius asked why she would not stop the fights, she simply answered ‘at least she has someone to fight with’.
Turns out, they are matching in verbal fights, not giving the slightest margin for the other to win. Sometimes the raging war would turn rather aggressive and the bystanders have no choice but to step in, only to get rewarded with a few bruises. Then, the two adversaries would glare at each other, as if that were their ‘good byes’ and part ways.
The next day would just be the same.
Even at the gates, their battle never ends.
“Humph, who wants to come back to a village with a shrew like you?”
“Ha! Who welcomes an oaf like you to any village at all?”
She let the flower in her hand to be picked up by the wind and taken to another side of the world. How she wishes she could be like the flower, carefree and unrestricted. She watched as the flower flew further and further, eventually disappearing into the sky.
She wondered where the flower would go. Would it go to another field where its pollens would then grow into more beautiful flowers? Would it end up on a road where people would simply trample on it and wilt away?
Just where is her life of a ninja heading? Would she bloom into beautiful flower? Or would she simply wilt away?
The ambassador from sand turns out to be inseparable to the genius of the leaf. A marriage to strengthen the alliance of the two villages was thus held, and the ambassador gave up her job for love. And long since history started telling its tale, ambassadors are female-preferred. Her friend is busy with her medicine studies, the dear weapon master has become rather important in the training of young aspiring ninjas back in the academy and giving tutorials to older ninjas and her quiet friend seems unsuitable for the job. So the last candidate left was she.
It is just not what she had planned out for herself, not that did not want to be an ambassador of her own village. She had rather be on the frontline, being on missions to save comrades and protecting, something that is adventurous and challenging. Well, and also she rather not meet the oaf.
But to tell the truth, ever since he showed up, her life was never the same. In the past, she argue and fought with her own teammates and best friend, people whom she have no intention of hurting. Now, she is fighting with someone who views her the same way as she does him, so it isn’t really a big deal about that. And for once, she had someone to fight this far, someone who wouldn’t back down that easily, won’t give way that fast.
On official times, they plastered on a mask to hide the desire to declare war on the other, but deep down, they are accumulating each nasty comment or vicious remark made during meetings. Then, once they are out of office range, war began. Alas, their war turned notorious, since the two villages both played host to it. And soon, the people of sand grew accustomed to their fights and took it to be a free entertainment. At first, her job description was simple, go to the village, represent the leaf, attend meetings, write reports, come home, and hand in reports, then go home to sleep. Then the cycle continues after a while when situation calls. But soon, the leader of leaf requested for her to stay in the village of sand for long term, coming home to report once in like a year. After all, an official of the sand ninjas became a permanent resident of the leaf village. They are, one official short.
She sat down on the field and began to pick flowers, pink and red, orange and yellow… She arranged them into a nice bouquet and surveyed her work.
It is her turn to complain. First, she had only to endure name-callings and nasty comments for a few days, but now she has to face them for every day in her stay over at the village. And someone is mean enough to place her next to him, at the leader’s residence. It is perfectly fine for him to live in that house. But is it necessary to place her, next to him, on a long-term basis? Can’t she stay in some other apartment somewhere where she can enjoy at least a moment of peace before war?
Her job turns out to be rather demanding. She’ll have to face, in her opinion, the oaf, for most of the day, handling the jobs the sand princess once handled, and also the leaf’s businesses. Paperwork and meetings, problem solving and other business turns out to be rather manageable for her, it’s the facing of him that is demanding.
One of the officials once commented how cute they look when arguing and they are made for each other. Whatever intentions the official had, whether is it friendly or mocking, was taken with great offence. And after that incident, nobody dared to say a word regarding the verbal wars they had, in fear of the same consequences the first official suffered.
But then again, do they have so many things under the sun to argue and fight about? They are both grown ninjas and mature enough to realize that one-day they would grow tired of the constant, in this case daily fights they share. Water and fire do have a common ground in which they can exist peacefully together.
And so, gradually, their fights reduced and ended in rather awkward moments. She could have sworn he was blushing that time when the fight ended as soon as it started. The incident was surprising to her and she was momentarily stunned when he stalked away, leaving her outside her door.
And from that day onwards, they learnt what’s the meaning of tolerance.
There was a day, when they both opened the doors of their room to begin work. Usually, this would be the start of hostilities, begin with either one calling the other ‘oaf’ or ‘shrew’. But this day, they stopped dead in their tracks and looked at each other for a moment, before he coughed and said ‘good morning’.
She blinked back the shock and answered his salutation, this time omitting the word ‘oaf’.
She brought the bouquet of flowers to her face and sniffed. It the fragrance was mind-blowing and she gave a smile.
Soon, the village never encounter anymore of their daily war-of-the-day, much to the disappointment of the entertainment seekers and the relief of the townsfolk. The leader’s residence grew quiet, the office mellowed down. Some of the people found it weird, that the two no longer fought each other and astonishingly, can be found in cafes and eating houses having meals and breaks.
One day, he found her sitting near the edge of village, wearing a cloak with a hood to protect her from the vicious sand and wind. He asked her why she’s sitting here. She answered that she misses home. For once, he saw the other side of her, the peaceful, kind, caring side of her. She caught him staring at her and snapped her finger in his face. He blushed slightly and commented that she can take leave and visit home if she wants. She jumped at the idea and headed back to the office immediately.
He was assigned to escort her back.
She didn’t complain, he didn’t comment. They set out the next day for her village. On the way, there was no argument, he asked several questions, and she answered them truthfully. She asked her questions, and he answered them without hesitation.
A desert and a forest separate their villages and in order to get from one to another, one would have to travel for three days. And it was all it took, three days, to turn a pair of rivals, into good friends.
Her friends back at the village were shocked that the two made it through three days without tearing the forest down. For that, she just smiled and shrugged. Even she was just visiting home, he followed her everywhere, to her parents’ shop, to the leader’s office, to her reunion party, and lastly, to the flower field.
There, he saw the true form of her, a kind, caring, and gentle, yet strong, daring, and resilient ninja. She bent down to pick a flower and handed it to him. He took it, and tucked it in her hair.
She looked up, with eyes that spelt shock. He blushed and coughed, and said he want to explore the field further. She watched as he ventured deeper into the field. She, too, saw the true form of him, a hardheaded, strong, and arrogant, yet softhearted, shy, and sensitive ninja.
Upon returning back to the sand, things changed a little. He would wait outside her door every morning and they would go work together, and she would wait outside his office and they would go for lunch and dinner. They still fight, but on a low and peaceful level. But whenever their fights end in a draw, they would laugh and forget about it.
He brought her to places where he had played or trained, and even showed her his secret hideout, which she thought it was rather silly as it was a shelter at the top of a building where people seldom go to. The gap between them closed gradually and they realized they needed each other.
He got jealous one day, at the office when he walked out to see her talking and laughing with a ninja of the sand. He turned rather cold and started to ignore her for the day, and the next. She could not comprehend why, but judging by her character, she isn’t going to let this go on. On the second night, she banged on his door, demanding why he was so cold to her. And when he refused to answer the door, she broke it down, which caused a ruckus in the residence.
She found out later what was the problem, when the same situation happened. He walked out and saw her with the same ninja, and turned on his heels and marched out. Despite herself, she chased after him. She knew where to find him, at his so-called secret hideout and questioned him. Blushing furiously, but totally invisible to her, he started a small and unheated argument with her.
This was the first time she lost an argument, willingly.
She looked around for another flower to add to her bouquet of flowers.
And it was the first time she kissed a guy, on the lips.
From then, he openly barred any other male ninjas who showed the slightest interest in her. She found it rather amusing, as any guy who needs to talk to her would have to stand at least two arms length away from her. At the same time she didn’t have to worry about female ninjas getting interested in him as she already had a reputation among the females during her days of open war with him. And though they didn’t say it formerly, the entire village knows about their relationship. Words like this do not keep to the village itself, especially when the former ambassador came home to visit.
When the princess questioned about it, not to mention smirking all the way, he drew her close.
“You got a problem with me having a girlfriend?” he countered, looking all high and mighty again.
The princess raised her eyebrows and turned to her husband, and then they both laughed.
She thought he looked rather cute when he first tried to hold her hand while going home from dinner one night, eyes fixed straight ahead, while his hand suddenly grabbed hers. That was the first time she held a guy’s hand officially, and for the first time too, she felt shy and blushed.
Soon, it was all smiles and kisses when they meet and part, much to the envious stares of their admirers. Each learned how to give way to the other and accept the other’s shortcomings. He was her only salvation in times of loneliness and helplessness. She was his only weakness in terms of strength and power.
Instead of a flower, her eyes found something else.
She accidentally walked in on him once while he was changing and getting ready for bed. She merely knocked and opened the door next to hers, chortling about something in the paperwork when she saw him in his skin instead of the usual covered-up form. She dropped her papers in shocked while he frantically searched the area within one arm’s length for something to cover himself. Their faces flushed furiously and she shouted sorry and slammed the door behind her.
He hurriedly put on a light sleeping attire and opened the door. He found her picking up the scattered paperwork and bent down to help. Their hands grazed when they reached out for the last piece. Neither flinched nor retrieved their hands. He picked up the piece of paper with his free hand and brought her to her feet with the other. She clutched the papers in her hand and tried to change the subject, but he held on to her hand and invited her in. Slowly, she entered and he closed the door behind them, locking the world out.
A black spot among the colorful flowers was approaching her. She smiled and waved. When the figure waved back, she throttled towards it. She noticed something different about the figure.
“Where are your puppets and what happened to your face?” She circled him and asked. He reached out to take her in his arms to stop her from making him dizzy.
“I came to relax, not to fight.” He said softly. Then he let himself fall onto his back on the flower field and laced his hands behind his head. “Nice day.”
She smiled and sat down beside him. The winds picked up and she let go of the bouquet of flowers in her hand. The flowers scattered in the wind and flew high up into the sky.
They both watch as the flowers scaled the winds and sailed the heavens. She turned around to face him, only to find him stretching out his hand to pick a violet-colored flower. Once again, he did the same thing the last time they visited this field. He tucked it in her hair, just above her right ear.
She smiled and rested herself on his chest.
“How did you know I was here?” She asked.
“Isn’t this your secret hideout?” He cocked an eyebrow and said. “Pretty big and obvious hideout if you ask me.”
“Your own hideout isn’t that great either, people can see you from below.” She countered as she tucked her hand beneath her head to make herself more comfortable on his chiseled chest.
“At least mine is somewhere smaller than yours and not as accessible as yours.” He yawned.
“Mine’s more beautiful and colorful than yours.” She reached forward to kiss him lightly on the lips.
“Whatever.” He said quietly and closed his eyes. She kissed him again and returned to her make-shift pillow.
Quietly, they both fell asleep in the field of flowers.
End
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Chapter notes: People of the world! Haha, this is my first shot at this paring so give me your views ok?
Disclaimer: though there isn't any mention of names, certainly the characters don't belong to me.