Obito & Anzu: Bravely Defying Fate

The sun was swollen with color, orange and pink. It was late afternoon on a midsummer's day. A warm breeze rustled the leaves of the tall trees that bordered the rice fields. Obito had been working since dawn. He was tired. His back hurt and his hands were blistered and rough from hours of pulling weeds in the scorching heat.

He scratched his head where sweat dripped down underneath his straw hat. He glanced over to where Anzu sat under a cherry blossom tree, painting her watercolors. Her dress was faded blue with an embroidered collar and long sleeves, tied at the waist by a yellow sash. He smiled at how serious she looked as she concentrated on her work, face upturned towards the sun, her eyes closed against the glare. She reminded him of a goddess in a painting or a statue; like something out of one of those fancy scrolls so many people in town admired when they came to visit their father. Sometimes he would see them looking at it in awe, trying to figure out how someone could have painted such fine details so perfectly, but he knew better—it was Anzu who had drawn it all herself, each delicate stroke of paint created by her own hand.

Obito wiped more sweat off his brow and turned back to his garden tools. The sun beat down on him, making him feel like he had swallowed flames; he imagined himself as a steaming hot bowl of miso soup with steam rising up from it into the sky to join the clouds drifting past overhead. The family's last meal of the day was already prepared, sitting atop the wooden chest near their house: dried fish, pickles, and rice cakes wrapped in bamboo leaves. He wondered if Anzu was hungry yet or if she would wait for him to finish first before eating. He was about to turn around again when he heard a clatter and then a scream.

"Oh no, my paints!" Anzu wailed as she ran over to the tray that had fallen onto the grassy ground, spilling tubes across the soil. "I must have bumped into it while I wasn't paying attention."

"Let me help you," Obito said as he went over to pick up some of the tubes that had rolled away into the weeds nearby. "You shouldn't be carrying things so close to your painting materials anyway."

"Yes, I know," Anzu sighed as she picked up another tube and examined it for damage before putting it aside again. "But I wanted to catch you before you started dinner." She held up one of her paintings: two large white swans flying through a pale pink sky with golden clouds chasing after them beneath their wings, casting long shadows on a dark blue lake below them illuminated by silver moonlight. "What do you think?" she asked eagerly and waited for him to reply even though she knew what his answer would be: How beautiful! You are truly talented! You'll be famous one day! Everyone will admire your work! What else could he say?

"It looks good," Obito said simply and refrained from further praise because he knew better than anyone else just how hard she worked on this particular painting every day for weeks on end until finally she deemed it finished and added it to her collection after carefully sealing it inside of an airtight scroll box made out of lacquered wood that now stood proudly beside all of her other paintings neatly lined up along their bedroom wall shelf above their bed where they could see them every morning when they woke up together with their arms tangled around each other's necks holding tight against their chests, ensuring they would always stay close.

Despite his own struggles and flaws, Obito found solace in Anzu's unwavering love and acceptance of him, just as he did for her. They shared a deep connection, bound by the understanding of the hardships and pain they had faced in life. No matter the both of them went through, their love was steadfast.

Anzu's artwork reflected her immense talent, but also the unbreakable bond between her and Obito. Her paintings were not just beautiful creations, they encompassed the depths of their shared experience and their resilience to rise above the challenges life threw at them. Each stroke of paint, each elegant swan flying beneath a pale pink sky, shined with the love, devotion, and strength that defined their relationship, like precious gemstones sparkling amidst the night sky.

Obito knew this, and his heart swelled with a sense of pride and gratitude as he gazed upon Anzu's work. It served as a reminder of how far they had come and the obstacles they had overcome together. And though life would continue to present its challenges, he knew that as long as he had Anzu by his side, they would endure whatever battles lay ahead, hand in hand.