Gaara's mind fell into an unprecedented blankness.
The pain that had gnawed at him day and night, the confusion that had led him toward destruction, the anger that had sustained him until now... all those heavy, dark emotions were quietly soothed and dispersed by an invisible warmth. All that remained was shock, crashing over him like a tsunami.
"Love means dedicating yourself and making sacrifices for those around you, wanting to protect them with a compassionate heart."
Those gentle words, long buried in the deepest recesses of his memory beneath blood and betrayal, resurfaced uncontrollably along with the searing sense of abandonment and tearing pain he had felt back then.
"Love..."
That final, unreadable look. The warm blood splashing through the air. Those pupils gradually losing focus and scattering before his eyes.
After that, every familiar sight in his memories lost its color. The world as he knew it became a cruel arena filled with endless malice toward him.
He could not sleep; every time he closed his eyes, a deadly assassination might await him. He could not rest; even if he did nothing, simply "existing" was enough to draw the cold killing intent of his companions.
He had begged, pleaded, prayed to gods whose existence he did not even know for certain, humbly hoping for even the slightest trace of kindness... but all he received was deeper despair.
Until, in the end, every trace of softness had been ground away, leaving only one thought: tear apart every person who wanted to hurt him.
I can receive no one's kindness... Mother died because of me... I should never have come into this world...
This had once been the cold foundation Gaara believed without question, the foundation upon which he built his entire world.
Perhaps... after personally killing the last warmth