simbang gabi
Day 3: Simbang Gabi
On the dawn of the last mass, Sakura found herself with her hands clasped together and her head bowed down in front of nine lit candles. She had bought one for each mornight and offered her prayers filled with fervent hope.
It was a well-known tradition— attend nine masses at dawn without fail and have one wish be granted upon their completion.
Sakura Haruno wasn’t one to believe in miracles. She didn’t buy into blowing on stray eyelashes, and wishing wells, and shooting stars. Sakura had always believed in making her own luck and striving towards deserving the things she implored to achieve.
She wasn’t one for relying on circumstance, however after all these years of yearning and longing for something that was so far out of her reach, perhaps now would be an opportune time to ask for a divine intervention.
It was just one wish that she wanted for herself— one wish that she’d been dreaming of happening each year.
With her eyes closed, Sakura thought of him with his raven locks and midnight irises. She pictured the last time she saw him, a day after graduation with his hands stuffed in his pockets and a hazy gaze that looked too far ahead, it was as if he was already gone.
At the age of eighteen years old, Sakura had known her first heartbreak. With tears spilling down her cheeks, Sakura clutched him in a tight embrace and bade him farewell.
She loved him once when they were young and he knew that perhaps she’d love him still even in his absence, so as parting words he left just three:
Wait for me.
Sakura knew what he meant.
He wanted her to wait for him to be better, to see the world, to be free, to find himself, to be what he wanted to be instead of what his family demanded he’d be, and Sakura wasn’t one selfish enough to ask him to stay because she knew this was something that he needed.
Eight long years had passed since then. She had gone through college and medical school. She was about to intern at a nearby local hospital as well. So many things had happened in her life and she wanted nothing more than to tell him all about it.
She longed for the someday that would once again intertwine her path with his because it was still him—there was no one else that filled all of her heart.
As she finished her prayers, she opened her eyes and gave a wayward sigh.
In her mind, a single thought: “I wish he was here.”
That was what her heart called.
Sakura turned away from the figures of burning wax and left, her heels clicking upon the church’s cobblestone steps. The lack of sleep kept her from being attentive of her surroundings and as she was about to leave its precipice, her body collided onto what seemed to be a solid wall that had a familiar scent of mint and oak.
“Sakura.”
She held her breath then, hope welled deep within her and she could not bring herself to raise her eyes to meet the man in front of her.
Had the heavens thought of granting her wishes so soon? Could she bring herself to hope that he’d stay for good?
A gentle hand grasped her chin and tilted her face upwards. The same midnight eyes she envisioned a few moments ago, staring right back at her.
His hair was longer, and his faced looked more mature. Gone was his lanky build back when they were young and now what stood before her was a man that had a look of contentment, and dare she say it, happiness.
At long last, her wish had come true.
It had been eight years since Sasuke left her humble town in search for an adventure of his own.
And now Sakura can finally say the words she’d been longing to.
“I’m back, Sakura.”
“Welcome home, Sasuke-kun.”