Kizuna {Bond}

Puzzle Piece III. Kodak Moment

A photograph is memory in the raw. ~Carrie Latet

A woman clad in stylish black clothing, her short grey hair mussed and vibrant with a sheen of silver, leaned on a random person's car. She fondly fiddled with her expensive camera, absently wiping the dust off her lens, simply minding her own business. Not until a pair of teenagers sped down the street on a bycicle did she tear her attention away to glance at them.

Energy sparked in her scarlet eyes, igniting a passion long been stifled with boredom. There it was, the stroke of inspiration, the breakthrough she had fervently searched for. The photographer immediately lifted her camera and refrained from snapping a random assortment of shots, instead carefully zoomed in on the couple and skillfully captured the moment in film.

Click!

Wind. Speed. Adrenaline. Laughter.

The morning, quiet with emotional intimacy, fresh and invigorating as young love; a mural put into motion.

Click!

The cool air breezing their faces, soothing their fear and exhilaration of riding downhill; the bycicle pedaling faster and harder, her joyous laughter chiming for all the world to hear; this element of youth, of every day life was a rare sight to witness in modern times.

Click! Click!

Already did a story form in the photographer's head, a scenario she imagined behind their relationship, despite it being cliché and romantic.

It was a crush from afar.

Both were unaware of each other's feelings, always too shy to act on their emotions, cherishing this bond they had--

...whatever it was. 'Where did I leave off from? Oh, yeah...'

The root of their romance will gradually blossom into a lavender rose. And thereafter--

...nothing else came to mind. The young woman mentally cursed her inner poet, and sighed, annoyed that she couldn't think of a complete story, though intrigued of the profound connection she felt from the two.

This project required more time, more opportunities to take more pictures - the challenge of creating an entire collage depicting their story. Thus, the photographer continued to observe them in this regrettably brief moment.

Yuna held onto him tight, her arms securely looped around his shoulders while she stood on the back of his bike, breathlessly enjoying herself and squealed in mild fright when the bike violently skipped over a large stone. His warm and bodily presence reminded her why she wasn't afraid, why she didn't dare think about the various ways they could get hurt. She trusted Baralai. She trusted him to make sure nothing could go wrong, that they would be safe and sound in the end of this (dangerous; she didn't want to exaggerate) ride.

Baralai soon steered his bycicle to the sidewalk once they descended to flat ground, slowing to a steady pace. He twitched when strands of her hair flew into his nose, and he sneezed, momentarily faltering on his bike, but otherwise maintained balance (much to Yuna's relief).

"Blush you," Yuna said politely, giggling. He sniffed delicately and smiled, inwardly wishing he could tell her 'thank you.' It wasn't necessary, though, for she could guess the thought crossed his mind. "You're welcome."

Twin smiles painted their faces with eyes crinkling in laughter, the feelings of fondness mutual in sincerity.

Clicks abound.

(A/N): Why it took longer for me to finish this, the overall POV of the chapter kept changing in my head. It was getting annoying to a point. -.-' I couldn't decide how to depict the scene, and now we have it in Paine's eyes (in case you were wondering who it was, ;p). Thanks, Razer, for thinking of you inspired me to finish this chapter. :)