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constellations

(cycle)

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Morning comes slowly. Cool white cotton sheets tangle around her restless legs, the dawn caressing the cartography of her shoulder blades.

The window is cracked open, dewy air wafting in.

Her mind is all blueprints and geometry and plans for the future, deep breaths easing their way in and out of parted lips. Sakura has spent the last several days with architects drawing up plans for her children's hospital. Her desk is organized chaos, stacks of file folders and paper in unidentifiable piles.

She never received a reply to her letter.

Her eyelashes flutter open, focusing on the muted sunlight, the power lines, the crooning of a mourning dove seated on the window sill. Her right hand is relaxed, curled loosely next to her, and when she shifts, the crinkle of paper catches her attention.

There, beneath her hand, is a thin stack of letters. She lifts them slowly, eyebrows pulling together. The rest are familiar, but the top one is a sealed envelope.

She tears it open slowly, and pinkish pearls spill out onto her bed, a letter following them out. She unfolds it with care; his handwriting is one she knows by heart, and unbidden, her eyes sting with tears. She reads even as movement makes itself known in her periphery. Her eyes do not leave the paper.

Her lips tremble.

"I know you collect them," he says, and her eyes slide shut, "so I added one."

Her teeth clamp down on her full bottom lip, and after a moment, she exhales a shuddered breath, catharsis. "Added one?"

"A love letter."

She rolls onto her back, suddenly so afraid to look him in the eye, to face her own desperate heart.

"Sakura," he whispers, and she turns her head, finding the courage to open her eyes. He is kneeling on the floor by her side, face inches from hers. The painted canvas is propped against the wall behind him, his bag on the floor. She meets his eyes shyly.

"Sasuke-kun," she mouths, and her hand sweeps the paper onto the floor, moving to brush his hair out of his face. He is the one to close his eyes this time, leaning into her touch. A warm tear slides down the side of her cheek to meet the pillow.

He kisses the hollow of her palm, imparts a promise to her skin. "Sakura…I'm home."

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fin

notes: goodbye, my love, my wanderer!verse. I will miss you more than you know. thank you for all the support.