Garra pt1 CHAPTER 12

The next morning was bright and cheerful as if the world didn't realize the treachery that was about to take place. The goodbyes were brief as Eliza was hurriedly taken away to her new home, leaving a large gap in Garra's life.
For the first time in over a year there was no one to push him on the swings, no one to train with, no one to talk to; for the first time Eliza was gone.
The days were long. Garra often realized just how alone he was when walking through time, once again the glares were directed only at him, the comments seemed louder, and the day simply unbearable. Without Eliza by his side Garra slipped once more back into his stoic self.
His depression only heightened as the days wore on and he slowly began to slip into his old routine with Yashamaru but even her company was not enough. He needed Eliza back.
It was on one of these nights, several weeks later, he and Yashamaru were just finishing their evening meal when there was a commotion outside and a sand ninja burst inside. "Miss Yashamaru, your presence to needed"  Standing quickly Yashamaru ordered Garra to stay in the house and left in a flurry of motion.
As this sort of thing was a fairly common occurrence, Garra thought nothing of it and went to mope around in his room. Lying on his bed he eventually drifted off to a restless sleep.
Garra awoke about an hour late to a tapping on his window. Seeing a dark figure standing there, Garra quickly lit a lamp before going to investigate. A familiar face lit up behind the pane of glass and Garra flung open the window "Eliza!" he cried.
"Shh!" Eliza hissed as she climbed through the window.
"What are you doing here?" Garra whispered as he closed the window behind her.
"I escaped" she turned to him.
"Escaped?"
"Listen Garra" Eliza said on edge "there's not much time. I'm leaving the village, tonight."
"What?"
"Your father wants to turn me into a weapon to wage war. I can't do that, I don't want to kill anybody. So I'm leaving. I want you to come with me."
"Go with you…" Garra had never thought about running away before. But where would they go? What would they do? They were only kids after all and the only ninja training they'd had was what they had taught themselves.
"Won't you come with me Garra?" Eliza asked again.
"I-"
"Garra?" came Yashamaru's call as she returned home.
"Quick, hide!" Garra tore open the floorboards to the secret hiding place under his bed, allowing Eliza to crawl inside. He had just finished replacing the boards and sat on his bed when Yashamaru burst into his room.
"Garra" she smiled as she walked inside "What have you been up to?" she asked in a strange voice as she opened his closet and looked around inside.
"I was just going to bed" he answered as he watched her open the window and look around outside.
"And um…has anyone been here?" she asked turning to look at him.
"No M'am" he answered innocently "were you expecting someone?" he asked.
"No" she answered looking under the bed before walking to the door "just checking up on you. Now get some rest" she smiled before blowing out his candle and closing the door behind her.
Garra waited until he heard Yashamaru's footsteps recede down the hall before removing the floorboards. "That was a close one" he whispered helping Eliza out.
"Come on" Eliza grabbed his arm "we have to go now!"
"No" Garra pulled away.
"What?" Eliza turned to him.
"I-I can't leave Eliza. Besides where would we go? What would we do? What would Yashamaru think."
"You can't trust her!" Eliza hissed.
"What are you talking about?" Garra asked astounded.
"Garra please!" Eliza begged. "There's not much time. Yashamaru is in on it, you can't trust her."
"I can't, I'm sorry" Garra shook his head unable to believe her.
Eliza closed her eyes as the tears fell, her body shaking "I'm scared Garra" she whispered.
"Then stay" he placed a hand on her shoulder.
"I can't!" there was a silence as Garra thought to himself.
He then turned and got a glass vile out of a drawer and slung a piece of lace through the clasp on top. He then went to the open window and took off the clasp. Summoning the sand he coaxed it from the ground below the window into the diamond shaped vile. Turning back to Eliza he tied the vile around her neck. "Now you'll always have a piece of me with you."
Crying Eliza clung to Garra. The embrace was long as they knew they might never see each other again. "I'll never forget you Garra" she promised.
"And I'll never forget you Eliza."
With one last warning about Yashamaru she was gone and Garra was once again alone.