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“You’re sure you don’t mind leaving this early?” Gaara murmured as they ducked out the back door of the Kazekage Tower. The chatter of voices and the scents of food followed them out into the cold desert night.
“We still have a lot to do before tomorrow,” Lee reminded him, draping his arm across Gaara’s shoulders and pulling him close so that he could kiss his forehead. “Besides, I know you do not like to stay at these things long. Even if the party is for you.
Gaara smiled and gave Lee a quick squeeze. “Thank you.”
“We still have not decided on a destination,” Lee reminded him.
Gaara looked up at him from under his eyelashes and leaned his head against Lee’s shoulder. “Does it matter?”
Lee slowed to a halt and frowned down at Gaara. “What do you mean.”
Gaara turned to face him, winding his arms around Lee’s waist.
“I am retired,” he said, the word still tasting foreign on his tongue. “So are you. As of tonight, I’m not the Kazekage anymore. We’re not even active duty shinobi. All our lives have been devoted to this, and now. . .”
Lee nodded. “Now it is just us. Now we are. . . free.”
“Yes,” Gaara whispered, brushing a kiss across the corner of Lee’s mouth. “We’re free to go anywhere we want, whenever we want. Just the two of us.”
“It feels a little strange,” Lee admitted.
“I never thought I could have this,” Gaara said softly. “So it doesn’t matter where we go. Just as long as you’re with me.”
Lee leaned down to capture Gaara’s lips in a soft, lingering kiss. Gaara’s hands cupped his face, the steel band on his left hand warm against his cheek. Lee turned his head to place a kiss on the ring as well.
“We made it,” he sighed.
Gaara gazed up at him, the lights from the tower bathing his face in gold.
“Come on,” Lee coaxed. “If you do not want to be dragged back into your own retirement party, we better head home before someone finds us here.”
Gaara took Lee’s hand and followed him a few steps further down the street before something caused him to stop and look back again at the dome of the tower rising above the village.
“Retired,” he said again.
Lee moved in close so that he could put his arms around Gaara from behind. He waited patiently, saying nothing.
“Lee, for over forty years I got up every morning and come here,” Gaara whispered. “I ate here, slept here or passed sleepless nights here. I practically lived here. I didn’t think I’d ever leave that office except in my coffin.”
Lee’s flinch was so subtle that Gaara almost would have missed it if he didn’t know to look for it.
“But I’m leaving now,” Gaara went on. “Old, alive, and retired.”
“It is what you deserve,” Lee reminded him softly. “This village has never had a Kazekage like you. For all that you’ve done for them, you deserve to have the rest of your life to enjoy however you want.”
“With you.”
Lee laughed softly and nuzzled his nose against Gaara’s hair. “I have been with you for thirty years. That is not about to change now.”
“Thirty three and a half,” Gaara reminded him with a huff.
He turned and began walking up the street again, tucked against Lee’s side, his head leaning against Lee’s shoulder. When they reached the corner that would take them out of sight of the tower, Gaara stopped again and looked back over his shoulder. Lee watched Gaara’s thoughts flicker across his face as expressions so minute that they would be invisible to anyone else: a faint deepening of the lines beside his mouth, the slightest narrowing of his eyes.
“What if he’s not ready?” Gaara finally asked.
“You know he is,” Lee reminded him gently. “You would not have chosen to retire if you had any doubts.”
“But what if I’m wrong?” Gaara insisted. “It’s such a huge responsibility and he’s still a young man.”
Lee laughed at that. “He is more than twice the age you were when you took on those responsibilities.”
“Yes,” Gaara agreed. “But my father was dead, and I had something to prove. The village needed me to step into that role, and I needed to atone for the things I’d done. He bears no such burden.”
“Of course not.” Lee raised Gaara’s hand to his lips. “He has a good father.”
Gaara elbowed him. “Yes, he does.”
“I am serious, Gaara,” Lee went on. “In the entire history of this village, no one has even been as prepared to take on the title of Kazekage as he is. You did everything you could to make sure of that, and he is ready. You are leaving your village in good hands.”
“It’s not the village I’m worried about,” Gaara whispered. “I know he can do this, but I want him to be happy as well.”
“He will not be alone in his responsibilities,” Lee reminded him. “His brother is with him.”
Gaara snorted. “The poor Council. They’ll feel like we never left.”
“They are a lot like us,” Lee conceded, smiling fondly.
“But what if -”
Lee pulled Gaara close and kissed him before he could finish that thought.
“I know it is hard for you,” he whispered, his forehead rested against Gaara’s. “To let go, to give up control after all these years. You have fought so hard for everything this village is and everything it will become. And I know that you have faith in all of them to continue your work. You just have to let go.”
“Right,” Gaara agreed softly, kissing Lee again. “You’re right.”
“The rest of your life is yours, Gaara.”
“Ours,” Gaara corrected. “All the days we live after tonight are for us.”
Lee straightened up, grinning. “And there is still youth in me yet!”
“And me as well,” Gaara assured him. “Let’s go home. There’s a lot of work to be done before tomorrow.”
This time, as they walked away from the tower, Gaara didn’t look back. He kept his arm around Lee’s waist and his eyes on the road ahead of them.
The house was dark and quiet, all its occupants still at the party. Lee clicked on the lights in their room and stared up wistfully at the canopy of bright red roses that grew over the bed.
Gaara followed his gaze. “They promised to look after them for us when we’re away. But I think maybe I’ll take some cuttings with me. I like to think that somewhere out there, in a place that we don’t know will mean something to us yet, parts of it will be able to take root.”
He suddenly found himself swept off the floor and spun in a circle, Lee’s grinning face all he could see.
“Before we can pack anything, we still need to decide where we are going!” Lee declared. He carried Gaara to the desk in the corner which had had a large map spread across its surface for weeks.
Gaara looked at all the little notes he and Lee had stuck to the map and sighed. “Why don’t you pick one? I’ll go wherever you want.”
“But, Gaara -”
“No, Lee. You’re retired too. You’ve always put what I wanted first: moving here, scaling back your missions and taking on teaching when the boys were young so you could be near home, fighting among Suna’s ranks when the need arose, all the sleepless nights and the time you’ve spent worrying about me, going out of your way to support me. It’s my turn now. So please choose where you want to go.”
Lee sighed and turned away from the desk, walking towards the bed where he sat down with Gaara in his lap.
“I know we have talked about this probably a thousand times over the years,” Lee said slowly. “But I really do not see it that way. Everything we have done, we have done together. It has always been me and you. If I sacrificed things for your sake or for our family, I did it happily, and I did it in equal measure to the sacrifices you have made. You have nothing to atone for, Gaara. Not when it comes to me.”
“Okay,” Gaara whispered, hugging Lee tighter. “But we still need to decide where we’re going or we’ll still be here at this time tomorrow.”
“How about the Land of Flowers?” Lee suggested. “We have never been and I think you will love it.”
“We can visit Konoha on the way,” Gaara added.
“Of course! And if you think about it, it will be like a second honeymoon!”
Gaara rolled his eyes. “If I’m remembering correctly, this will actually be our eighth honeymoon.”
Lee’s face turned scarlet. “Well after what happened on the first one - !”
Gaara laughed and covered Lee’s mouth with a kiss.
“That wasn’t your fault. And besides,” Gaara looked up to make sure that the door was closed and they still had the house to themselves, then turned in Lee’s lap so they were face to face. “Watching you beat those rogue ninjas didn’t hurt the mood at all.”
Lee blushed exactly the way he always had, as though they were still young and this was all still new. “I do not think I will look nearly as good anymore trying to fight outlaws in my underwear.”
“No,” Gaara murmured. “You look even better.”
He kissed Lee, dragging him closer, taking his time as he moved his lips in a way that he knew from long experience would make Lee sigh, hands caressing just so to make him shiver. Lee pulled back with bright eyes, breathless and smiling up at Gaara in a way that still made Gaara gravitate towards him like he was the sun itself.
“You know,” Lee told him. “I feel exactly the way I did when we agreed to get married. It is like we are starting over again, our whole lives ahead of us, and I cannot believe my own good luck.”
“I’m the lucky one,” Gaara reminded him.
“We are going to grow old together,” Lee whispered. “Just like I always dreamed we would.”
His thumbs smoothed over the lines beside Gaara’s mouth and tears sprang into his eyes. He kissed one of the streaks of grey that had developed at Gaara’s temples in the last few years.
“You’re right.” Gaara trailed one finger down the length of Lee’s salt-and-pepper braid. “I’ve outlived every last one of my predecessors, and now you and I can finally enjoy our old age.” He grinned at Lee and then pushed him back on the mattress. “Youthfully.”
Lee kissed him like they were both young men again, just like he had in his dojo so many years ago, like he had on their wedding night, like he had a thousand times since.
“We should pack,” Gaara decided, before they could get too carried away. “We’ll get everything ready for tomorrow so there will be nothing to worry about. And then our last night here can be just like our first one.”
“It will not really be the last night, though,” Lee reminded him, frowning as he propped himself up on his elbows.
“No, it won’t,” Gaara agreed. “We’ll be back often. But after tonight, everything will be different.”
* * * * *
They walked together to the gates as the sun was setting, knowing the desert would be easier to travel at night. Lee’s eyes were red rimmed and tears still glistened on his cheeks from the goodbye they had just said at the door of their home. Gaara would have been lying if he had claimed that there wasn’t a catch in his breath and a stinging behind his own eyes as well. But Lee was right; he was leaving the village in good hands. It was time.
They rounded a corner and the gap in the wall came into view. Assembled around the gate was what looked like most of the population of the village. Lee and Gaara were quickly drawn into the crowd where they were hugged and patted, congratulated and wished well. By the time they were able to reach the gate itself, the last rays of sun were slipping below the horizon and lamps were being lit along the sandstone streets. Lee finally tore himself away from a crowd of his students with a few last shouted words of encouragement, and he and Gaara made their way out through the wall and into the desert beyond.
The stars twinkled to life overhead one by one as the pink-streaked horizon faded out to purple and then black. A crescent moon rode low over the dunes and the night creatures began to sing their soft songs. The breeze was cool and so was the sand that shifted beneath their sandals as they walked.
Gaara glanced at Lee and noticed that the pack he carried wasn’t balanced quite right, so he drew closer to readjust the straps across Lee’s shoulders.
“How is your pack?” Lee asked him. “Is it heavy?”
“Not at all.” Gaara shifted the angle of Lee’s hat so that it would shelter his face from the sand carried on the wind.
“And are you sure that will be enough sand?” Lee fretted, indicating the gourd that hung from Gaara’s belt.
“For now it is. You don’t need to worry about me so much.”
Lee laughed softly. “Have I ever stopped?”
He stopped walking then and turned back the way they had come. Gaara followed his gaze to the walls of Suna, twinkling with the light of a hundred lanterns as their friends and neighbours crowded across its tiered face to see them off. At the highest point of the wall, right beside the gate, was a tall figure in billowing robes, a wide brimmed green hat on his head. Gaara felt a weight lift from his shoulders and he smiled as he raised his hand in a last farewell.
Then he turned to Lee, who stood staring back at the village that had been his home for the past few decades, his conflicted emotions written all over his face.
Gaara held out his hand.
Finally, Lee turned away from Suna and his eyes met Gaara’s. His face once again broke into that grin that always made Gaara’s heart stutter, and he slid his hand into Gaara’s, their fingers interlacing. They began walking again, neither of them looking back until they had wandered so far into the desert night that the dunes and the open sky were all that remained.
Eventually the sand dunes of Wind Country would give way to the grassy hills of the Land of Rivers, then the dense forests of Fire Country, and the entire world laid out at their feet beyond that. It was all the same to Gaara. Wherever they went, he knew there was one thing he could count on: Lee walking at his side, holding his hand, just like this.