Eximius (Echo)

"I.. don't have anything black to wear..." the words were hesitant at best, emitted from trembling lips as another overcast day threatened to break over Kumogakure. Akihana had wanted to go at dawn but the sun wasn't as apparent here as it had once been. As it was, the Kunoichi had lain awake all night wondering if she had the courage to visit the place she had come to see.

It wasn't that she had to visit his grave to feel closer to him. Truth be told there was nothing there save a marker with his name carved out in stone. He lived in her, he lived in the soft whispers of wind that murmured through her hair, dried her tears, assured her that she was never alone. Echo Uchiha lived through her, reminding her at every crucial point that she wasn't alone. And today she needed him more than ever before.

"I'm sure the dead won't mind how you're dressed."

"I would mind," Akihana replied, the closest to snapping at someone as she'd ever been. No one would understand her relationship with Echo because it had defied everyone's understanding, it was only for the two of them and perhaps Maku to know of. And it demanded that she wore black. Having worn an armband for almost seven months after his death, Akihana would never disrespect him now by not arriving in a manner that befit how important he had been to this world.

In the end, the dress she found was not perhaps as decent as it ought to be, the perfectly respectable frock otherwise adorned with a slit that ran up her knee but this was Echo after all, the first to appreciate a joke. A black cloak completed the look. There were no flowers in kumo but she would never have plucked them had they existed in the first place. As it was, the blonde arrived at the grave empty handed, sinking on her knees to the ground in front of the empty grave set aside for the man who would never die. Her golden hair had been twisted into a respectable chignon for the occasion, only a few golden tendrils loose to frame her heart shaped face. They served a purpose more than aesthetics however, Akihana had never been convened with pure aesthetics.

The strands of gold remained in place, unmoving. It appeared Echo wanted her to wait.

So Akihana waited, giving up her time and attention to his memories, awaiting the gust of wind that would move the golden threads of her hair and indicate his arrival.

(( Please listen to this while reading ))
She waits, and he watches her wait for him curiously as he often does...It's a bit selfish, but it's something he can never actually help but do.
She's waited a long time, perhaps..Perhps he can afford something to make it a little bit more worth it..?
Crimson forms over black and out of sight, a roguish grin spreads across his face, and he's allowed more time, where there usually would be none.

Fingers lightly comb through her hair as the wind comes, fingertips lightly trailing over her scalp before a pair of palms gently block off her view. These hands gently guide her to stand, while a familiar voice gently instructs her.
"Keep your eyes closed.."
He says, before his hands drift away from her eyes and curl around her middle, pulling the Priestess, the Princess, the Kunoichi, The Mother...This silly girl, into an affectionate embrace, his chin lightly resting against the top of her hair as his chest rumbles against her back in tune with his chuckle.

"Alright...Open em."

He beckons, and if she does..Well, he heard she liked flowers..
A field meets her vision, with a golden sunset over an endless stream of green and multi-colored roses which rise up not in bushes..but in singular stocks, as if planted carefully just for her.
And in the center of this field they stand, a dark blue picnic blanket resting underneath their feet. Black strands intermix with gold as his nose lightly nuzzles into the top of her hair, having a moment, a selfish moment, before he breathes in slowly and audibly steels himself again. And he steps away, his hand catching hers gently before he raises her hand and leans down, lightly pressing his lips to the top of her knuckles.
"Sorry for the wait, you would not believe the lines.."
He teases with a playful grin and a somber look in his eyes, not just the wind this time, not just a daydream this time. That's what the hug was for, that's what the kiss was for, that's what he's here, in this old outfit for.

His hair is a bit longer now, a single strand of long hair draped over his shoulder, with a black wrapping keeping it in place as a pony-tail, he's growing even now, having adventures even now..But for her?
He always has time, he'll always have time...
Should he..-? A brief look of indecision passes over his eyes, before he shakes his head and instead he steps forward, driven by one simple fact..
He's here, and so is She.
So carelessly, he reaches for her and his arm coils around her waist before he pulls her into another embrace..This is a bit embarrassing for him, but he's..He's missed everyone, her especially, and to finally be capable of being more than just a vision?

He's glad she's here, even if the reasons are..Damn it Youka, what the hell are you even thinking? He's just creating more problems for himself, inviting rebellion and-

Oh..Oh that son of a bitch..
Well, two can play at-
Oh, no, no he can't...But She can...Can't she..?

She knows its him with the same certainty she knows herself. As the warm palms cover her eyes, the ghost of a smile touch Akhana's lips, the only ghost in that moment for he has always been as real as she has, their existence tied together in ways no one could understand and as he pulls her close, she knows it always will be. In a way, the kunoichi had gotten to know Echo Uchiha much better after his death, removed from all worldly obligations, removed from his role as an instrument of change. In death, he had simply been Echo.

Her Echo...

"Sure," she whispered, the smile spreading as he instructed her to open her eyes, only to take in the field of roses spreading out in all directions, every single stalk standing up to attention as if created for this very moment. She wasn't surprised they were no longer in the graveyard of Kumogakure, her companion had always been a bit of a rebel, and one with a flair for the aesthetics. As he apologised for being over a year late, golden eyes lit up with joy and amusement.

"It doesn't matter, what does it that you made it."

With that, Akihana disappears into his embrace once more, the sheer act of being able to hug him lightening her weary heart in ways she could not have imagined. Echo brought back with him memories o the person she had been before the world had ended. Before she was forced out of her home. She had missed that Akihana terribly, but it took seeing him now to understand what she had been misusing.

"Though I feel like I cheated," she admitted, still holding him close, breathing in the scent that was always Echo, feeling the slight currents of air that seem to surround the wind sage as an homage to his control over the element. "I always knew you would come. Everything tried to tell me otherwise but I always had faith." Akihana was nowhere near as religious as the priests of Hoshigakure, the blonde simply knew the difference between real and unreal.

And he would always be real as long as she was. That was just how things worked in this universe.

He's in love, he realized that before and even after his death, knowing what he'd be losing when he stepped into that bar so long ago, but only now that he has her in his arms, and can actually hold her, does it sink in of why he's been thinking of her so often after just a single day with her.
He's got it bad, and can anyone blame him? This woman is incredible, her arms circling around him has his breath hitching slightly..Before he grins, and his arms coil tighter around her waist, pulling her closer to him in the embrace as his chin rests atop her gold covered head.

In just one day, she gave him more life than he felt in all of his years combined, in that tiny apartment, making small treats with soft music playing in the background...
Nothing has compared to it since.

"I met a Gypsy once, ya know..?"

He begins speaking, lips actually moving against the top of her head, as he stubbornly refuses to give away even an inch of her, perhaps a bit childish...But he likes to think that the circumstances can give him a bit of leeway, after all..He's way past clingy at this point.
Though he does have a thought, and without breaking his conversational tone, he suddenly leans down and scoops her up into his arms, before stepping back with his left foot and turning, beginning a slow spin as the winds respond to his eyes, gleaming with playful mischief, that vulpine grin accentuating his roguish features before the winds themselves wrap around the pair and they begin a slow spiraling ascent into the air.

"She was a bit loopy, but she told me something interesting...That-..That I think you'd like..?"

He hesitates for a moment, giving her a quick cautious look, Echo Uchiha, the man who spat in the Hall of Gods, the Man who stood at Tengakure's Gates and roared in challenge, Former-container of the Kyuubi no Youka...Giving her a look like her reaction might be the scariest thing he's had to deal with before and after death.

"It's- Rather-...Errm.."

He trails off with a sigh before chuckling and shaking his head, finally pausing their spin, before he simply raises her in his grasp. "She told me..A very long time ago, when I never realized what it'd mean..That we'd meet again...Not now, I cheated a little bit here." He remarks, his grin dimming into a soft smile, it's a somber thing, but it's real...And it's just for her, even as he begins a slow descent with her carried into his arms.

"Let's relax a bit, before we get to it, yeah..? I've got a whole day..."

He remarks, off handedly, eyes closing briefly as a small smirk tugs at his lips. He'll tell her the rest later, he jumped the gun a bit, but he's...Well it's been part of his thoughts for a very long time now.
Time flows differently for him, not here, but where he..Yeah.
He can't get into that, it's one of the Rules.

"How's Arata doin'? They ain't spoiling him in Hoshi are they?"

He asks with a grin, arching an eyebrow teasingly, he's very articulate when he needs to be...But he puts on that accent to feel comfortable, he was raised in the Uchiha clan, so of course he spoke in a very formal dialect...But he hated it, hated sounding like them, looking like them and hated trying to be like them.
So he changed what he could about that, instead of wearing blue and red, he wore green and black, instead of acting like a Noble, he acted like a dashing rogue from a story he once read...And instead of sounding like them, he spoke in an accent and skipped some syllables.
And that became the man known as Uchiha Echo.

But this, this is the tale of Akari Akihana.

A soft sound escaped her lips as her head rested upon his chest, slender arms encircling his neck as his own cinched her waist, holding her close to him. Whether the sound was a motion for him to continue his story or simply to assure him she was listening - it was easy to lose track of words, thoughts, self, in this state - the kunoichi herself couldn't say. All she really knew was that she hadn't been this content in a long, long time. Perhaps never in her life had she been at as much ease as she was in now, leaning against Echo in the field full of roses.

The sound turned into a small gasp of surprise as he effortlessly lifted her up into his arms, carrying her like she weighed less than nothing. But she could never be nothing when held by Echo, if Akihana was was ever more than the sum of her parts than she was of greater value when with him, because he had always been a part of her. It had taken a long time for her to reach this realization but now she knew. As the wind beneath them moved the pair upwards, the blonde still safely cradled in Echo' arms, the feeling of joy from the realization was reflected clearly in her bright gold gaze holding Echo's steady as they rose.

Perhaps it would have been more polite to avert her gaze, more ladylike to feign bashfulness or submission, but her eyes had gone so long without taking in his features that they refuse to stray, drinking in the Sage as he was, is, now. "If you think I'd like to hear the story, I'm sure I will," she says. Almost teasing, he lets that line of conversation drop and she lets him. There is nothing but time now, endlessly stretching out just for them. There will be time for tales later.

"You wouldn't believe how much he's grown," she admits, her face blossoming into a full smile as she admits what her son has been up to. "They call him "prince" there, and now he's starting to really believe it. He still thinks I'm the uncoolest person in he world so I must be doing something right as a parent." The blonde had been told this was normal, and normal was all she wanted to ever be. Because normal was the most extraordinary thing there was in this world.

"He misses you," she adds, a stray lock of hair moving into her eyes from the wind, one she tries to shake off to no avail. "He asked me once if I missed you, and I told him you couldn't miss someone who was always there. He didn't understand but I think you will," she finished shyly. Those who spoke of death spoke of it accompanied by the cold but there was no coldness here. The warm sun dappling on their heads, the cool breeze elevating them above reality and his warm touch, there was beauty in it no words - no matter how cleverly crafted - could describe.

"What about you?" she asked, head nestled softly against him. "What have you been up to. Still having adventures?"

Her gaze doesn't move away from his own, and he's free to gaze into the golden pools of her eyes and his gaze softens, the own red of his eyes and the small expenditure of his chakra for this time made worth it by that look, by those eyes, by this woman.
He loves that she doesn't look away, that she doesn't bother with what would be proper and instead..just like him? Just does what feels right.
Her words cut him off from leaning in, and his cheeks flush slightly at the realization of the subtle motion, which hopefully she missed.

He chuckles softly at the admission of being uncool...He remembers being cool to his Nephew and Niece..
But, he was a terrible parent, wasn't he? And when he finally understood that and was ready to make things right? Well, it was time for him to go.
The thought has his chest aching briefly, a flash of a shine coming to his eyes, despite his smile, she caught it, no matter how fast he can hide it, he knows she caught it, she's got a way of knowing despite anyone's best efforts to keep it from her.
But you know what? That's fine, he just gives her a knowing smile and responds with a simple.
"Yeah..Yeah, you know I do..."
He answers before he simply chuckles as she rests against his firm chest...
He doesn't have a heartbeat, of course he doesn't..But there's warmth there regardless.
A small reminder to be discarded and ignored, he's not actually physical, but he can feel, he can be here for a small time. An entire day.

"I can't tell you a lot, but...There's so much to see, more than I could ever dream. It was stupid to call myself the Best in the World, it's like calling yourself the best on your home block, it's so tiny a title it doesn't mean a thing..Not a thing.."

He trails off slightly, gaze roaming upwards as a smile returns, soon followed by a fierce grin..Before it dims into something somber.

"I can't stop thinking about you though, you know..?"

He admits, gaze going to hers again, something determined flickering over his gaze as he stares intently into her eyes.

"Hey Akihana..? Do you understand why I come to you..? You understand right..? I don't..I don't have to say it, yeah..?"
He asks, his voice lowering into a whisper, sounding almost desperate, his grin returning, something bashful..A little out of place on the face of Uchiha Echo, but perhaps he's been thinking about this for awhile..?
Time has a way of creative nerves after all, a way of making a quarrel where this is none..
He's leaning forward again, waiting for an answer from her.

Akihana had always been in tune with what people felt. It wasn’t the outcome of being a good kunoichi or a good sensory ninja. It was simply the result of the compassion she felt for each living thing on earth. The blonde had spent all her time watching people, talking to them, seeing them for who they were and not what they could accomplish as a ninja. The young woman had always had an insight into how people felt.

And with Echo, that insight turned a thousand times more condensed, solidifying inside her more coherently than her own thoughts and fears. When Echo smiled, she knew he meant it because she always meant it when she smiled at him. Despite their vastly different appearances – gold on ebony, ruby on topaz, pale on a healthy, adventurous tan – they always mirrored each other when it came to the important things. So when his cheeks darkened slightly, her own did too, a healthy pink glow that could be passed off as a slight chill adorning her own features. But they had time, they had nothing but time today…

She also knew when he was sad, despite not uttering a single word about his niece and nephew; she knew he missed Samuru and Ashie. She was all too familiar with how his eyes lit up in delight at the mention of the twins, and how they shone with unshed tears at the thought of not doing right by them, a concept which she disagreed with heartily. Though she had never met his niece and nephew, she knew Echo looked after those he loved with all he had, and he had loved them greatly.

“You know, if you have a message for them…” she whispered softly, not wanting to intrude on his thoughts beyond reminding him that she was there for him, that they were her thoughts now too. Akihana couldn’t have explained it even If she’d tried, so she didn’t try. She simply loosened one hand from around his neck, reaching to squeeze his bicep in a comforting manner. “Just consider me your answering machine to the corporeal world,” she finished with slight laughter tinkling like a far off silver bell tumbling from her lips. “I’ll do my best to send it across, I’m sure they miss you too.”

As he spoke of his adventures, revealing what little he could, revealing how his title had meant little in the big picture, Akihana returned to resting her head against his chest once more, listening to the absence of a heartbeat. Some would say that you couldn’t listen to what wasn’t there but she didn’t need to hear his heart to know what was in it. She had always known because it resounded firmly in her own heartbeat. “Well, if it’s any consolation, you were always the best part of my world,” she admits, her golden eyes seeking out his once more. No shyness, no presence, no attempts at being coquettish. She spoke the words like they were facts, because they were. “So you’ll always have that,” she finished playfully only to have his red irises surround her gold ones once more.

When he asked if she knew, if he had to say it, the golden haired priestess simply shook her head, noe silken threads spilling loose from the chignon they had been halfheartedly tied in earlier. The shortest distance from point A to B was a straight line but the shortest distance from her to Echo had always been a secret. There was no point in changing it now.

“I always knew,” she admitted, finally, bashfulness entering her voice as she averted his gaze from his own, the color rising in her cheeks. “I don’t know how, but I always did. You don’t have to say it.” And as he leaned in, Akihana Akari did one of the bravest things she had ever done in her life.

She tilted her face upwards and brushed her lips softly, fleetingly, to his.

What would he say to Samuru and Ashie? Really, what could he say..? And would they even believe his words from her lips?
He gives her another smile before he slowly shakes his head, no it's best to leave it as is..Let them grow from it, if he sent a message to them, they'd either cling to Akihana as a connection to him or..
Well, it's just best the dead remain silent.
Heh, him, silent? Now that's a novelty they would find funny, the one person who always has something to say, biting his tongue.
He could swear that this woman in his arms can read his mind, even when he was naught but a stranger, she managed to pick out his emotions, hidden behind an impenetrable veil and locked away within his eyes and heart...And she slipped past like they weren't even there.
Truly terrifying, this beautiful woman in his arms with her head laid against his chest, singing his praises in such a tone that he can't help but flush slightly under her gaze and from her smile.

...How does she do this?

On second thought, he doesn't care, he just doesn't want her to stop.

She speaks after He does, crimson hues half lidded as he leans in, she turns away shyly and he smiles a bit, but he's not stopping.
He doesn't have to say it, she already knows, through space, time, and even death she felt it, and as he tilts his head she does something he never expected in a million of his years.
She beats him to the punch.
Her lips press softly to his and he has a moment where he stills in surprise, before he leans into the soft kiss, making it fuller, more real as his lips softly caress her own in a small kiss that's full of hesitation.
He doesn't wanna scare her off with too much passion, with too much of that longing that's burned within his heart for so much longer than a year..
But his hand does raise, and his fingertips do glide over her cheek, calloused and scarred palm cupping it gently as his eyes slip closed..
And the winds around them still, slowly lowering them to the ground, the Old Shinobi being placed onto his knees as she rests in his arms.

And finally they share a kiss.

The moment lasted an eternity, or was so fleeting, it was over before it even began. Akihana didn't know which one was the truth, she simply knew that she wouldn't have noticed either way. She was flying but she was grounded, she was all alone but she was alone with him, she was one, then two, then one again and no amount of units could measure the time it took for them to return to earth, indeed no unit could measure the time it took from the heat flushing her face to his knees touching ground once more.

An then it was over, the golden eyes kunoichi finally looking away from him as bashfulness found her once more. How he'd managed to hold on to her trembling frame through all that, she had no idea but Echo had a sterner mind than hers she supposed.

Or maybe, she fancied for a moment, he didn't want to let go just as much as she didn't.

Releasing him softly from her grasp, the blonde landed with a soft step onto the rose filled garden once more. Inexplicable, a shy smile prominent on her pink face. They had important things to discuss, but the most important one was out of the way. In this plane, with him by her side, it was hard to imagine anything else mattered and she not been Akihana, she would have forgotten all about them.

But she was Akihana, and he was Echo, and here they were on a picnic blanket surrounded by thousands and thousands of roses.

"So where do we go from here?" she asked, voice slightly hesitant with embarrassment as she looked up at him through lowered golden lashes. "I'm usually the one who brings food to a picnic... I don't know what do to now..." The admission was on both counts, she knew he would understand. He always did.

She slowly breaks the kiss and he smiles, a real smile that's rarely seen across his face, one that shows true contentment and real happiness, not a grin, not a smirk...But a smile. How often could he truly smile in life?
His eyes slowly peer open and they focus on her as she looks away, pink coloring her pale skin which is soft to the touch, even as his fingertips slowly slip away and rest against her hip gently.
He doesn't wanna let go just yet, and this time there's no one in danger to make him.
So he figures he can afford to be a little..possessive? Would that be the right term? Or maybe he's just clingy?

She's trembling, but that's fine, if she felt what he felt in that kiss...It's completely understandable.
She looks up at him, gold colored hues hidden from him, her kekkai genkai only accentuating the feeling her eyes give him, crimson meeting them before they fill with an emotion he can't quite bring himself to admit in the best of situations, and yet as she asks what they have to do next, as she ponders over the coming discussion...He does not answer her question and instead he murmurs softly a sentence only for her and her alone.


He says, and his narrowed eyes and soft smile are a better sign of truth than any kind of lie detector would ever be...
He didn't have to say it, she already knew..And yet this moment, that kiss..And her eyes.
Brought it out of him all the same, before he even realized what he's said, which is clear from his blink and the sheepish widening of his smile and the small chuckle that slips past his lips.
Then after a moment, he shakes his head and with a wave...
A couple of baskets and a foiled wrapped tin appear on the side of the blanket.

"You aren't the only Chef in the kitchen, ya know~?"
He teases with a roguish grin and an eyebrow arched cheekily, almost challengingly.
He's been cooking for his Brother's since he was young! And his Nephew and Niece even after that!
Granted, this will have been the first time he's baked something, but his traditional meals are not to be sniffed at!
He is after all, from a traditional Clan, so his skills are generally based around rather traditional Fire Country dishes.
Just no Ramen, he's not going to spend two days cooking that for something he's sure won't be up to par with what they've bought at a stand in the past.