Work Text:
Every time he closes his eyes, all he can see is her smile. Those beautiful ruby orbs that seemed to stare straight into his soul, that brown hair that always smells of lavender that she always likes to tie in a ponytail, and that laugh, that laugh that could send a thousand angels from the heavens smiling down on her.
Every time he closes his eyes he can imagine his arms wrapping around her tiny frame, holding her close. She feels fragile, looks fragile, but he knows just how strong she actually is. After all, would she have been able to lead them if she wasn't? And then, as soon as he wraps his arms around her, she would fall limp against him, and he would shake her and but she wouldn't respond and he would cry her name out loud, desperate, because no... this can't be happening... he's lost too much already, can't he at least have her?
And then he opens his eyes and he's back in his creaky bed, in some motel in the west. That's right. He's out there training, trying to learn every martial art there is. He failed to protect what mattered to him most several times already. He vowed to never let it happen again. Digging into his bag, he produced a rabbit doll, the very same rabbit doll he gave her, the one that looked like her.
"Watch me, Minako," he told the doll. "I'll make you proud."