He was finally accepted, he felt free, and welcome. He found himself coming out of his shell, and trying to make friends with Gaara's siblings, he thought it best to show his friend's family that he was worthy of Gaara's friendship. He stuttered, and jumped when Kankuro, and Temari were close to him, he would hide behind Gaara, and peek over his shoulders. The older two continued asking the elders of the village for advice on how to appear less threatening, or how to get on Xavyn's good side. After a rather messy nightmare the youngest had, he clung onto Gaara all day long, and wouldn't leave the bedroom he'd been allowed to sleep in. He clutched at his head, rocked himself back, and forth in the farthest corner of the room, and let sobs wrack his body. Gaara stayed when he could, and hated to leave his friend in such a state. Temari, and Kankuro were afraid of staying with him, afraid it would push him over the edge, and he ended up in a zombie like state. He could barely respond, his body was limp, and weak, he had a look in his eyes as if he was gone, his mind had abandoned his body.

After that, everyone but Gaara tip-toed around the boy until they were sure he wouldn't have a total breakdown from breathing alone. That night when he was finally able to eat, he had to be fed, and Gaara had to work his jaw for him, he was still unable to do things by himself; he even needed help using the restroom earlier which made his face turn red in shame. Gaara fed him while they were sitting on the couch in the living room, Kankuro to Xavyn's right, Gaara to his left, Temari across from them. When his food was gone, he slumped against the first thing gravity pulled him to; Kankuro. Kankuro's eyes widened a bit at the sudden contact, and he was clueless as to what to do next, Xavyn cleared it up, and found Kankuro's arm, wrapping it around himself like a safety bar, and he snuggled against the warm body it was attatched to. The oldest brother wrapped his other arm around the small body, and held him against his chest. Even Gaara hadn't done that, so he was cautious about every move he made, making sure he wouldn't hurt Xavyn or frighten him more.

Xavyn ended up falling asleep on him, and Gaara was happy his friend was becoming more comfortable around his family. After that, their strained relationships began to improve, Xavyn talked freely among them, throwing his opinion into discussions when asked for it, he was eating more frequently, but still had trouble with his appetite. Gaara became more unstable as the days turned into months, and Xavyn was more determined to help his friend any way he could. He trained by himself every night, and trained with the siblings during the days. Since Yashamaru had tried to kill his friend, Xavyn wasn't all that surprised at the frequent, and sudden, violent outbursts of his friend. Gaara would hold his head, and groan in pain, he fought with Shukaku, and his own purpose as he realized it; to kill everyone alive so that he could live. During a more violent episode, Xavyn stayed as close as he could, paying no mind to the hurtful things Gaara had said. He tried to make Xavyn get away from him, and when he couldn't do it by talking, he tried to use force. Everytime he kicked, or pushed Xavyn back, the youngest would always run back, and envelop Gaara in a hug. "I-I'm staying right here!"

He was willing to get the crap beat out of him if it meant he could stay beside his friend, and if Gaara weren't brain dead from the desire to shed blood, he would have been proud. A large, inhuman arm formed from Gaara's body, and pinned Xavyn to the wall so he couldn't keep getting closer. The more Xavyn struggled, the harder the arm pressed him against the wall until he began hearing a series of crunching noises. It stopped when he went limp, and he hung there, nearly unconscious, until Gaara had sated his urges. When the sand arm crumbled away, Kankuro was there to catch Xavyn, and gently lay him down. Gaara felt guilty for hurting his only friend, but it got washed away by anger at the thought of Xavyn leaving him. Instead, the boy coughed, and got to his knees, crawling to Gaara. He tugged at his shirt, and hugged him when Gaara knelt. "I p-promised to stay, didn't I?" Whenever Gaara lost control of himself, and attacked Xavyn, he always thought he would be left alone, and each time, his friend would hold him tight, and remind him of his promise.

Once Xavyn started training for real, he worked with his friends in different areas, sparring with all of them, putting his focus on one area of the body or a specific Jutsu with one person at a time. He built his chakra with Temari, worked on dodging Kankuro's puppet, and tried to attack Gaara. He struggled with self worth, and punished himself with every failure, but it only made him more determined not to fail again. One day when he was with Temari, she started using her fan against him, making him have to re-think his battle strategy. He got hit with a wind gust, and fell off the building he'd been perched on, and that gave Temari an idea. "Xavyn, come here. I wanna show you something." Xavyn stood, and dusted himself off, watching as Temari began to walk up the tall building he'd just been blown off of. He was fascinated, not knowing a person could release, and hold their chakra in a way that allowed them to do the seemingly impossible; walking up the side of a building, or walking on water. "W-wow that's so cool!" "You have to balance your chakra between your body, and the point of contact where you're walking."

He quickly learned that too much chakra will damage the building, and not enough will make him fall down on his butt. Kankuro, and Gaara watched from a distance every day, a smile plastered to their lips as they watched their friend grow, and improve in his skills, they were happy to see him fitting in. It changed when Xavyn became more distant again, they worried he'd become depressed, and would hurt himself. Xavyn wouldn't let Gaara feed him, and he wouldn't feed Gaara, he stopped sleeping by him, stopped being the cuddly boy they watched him grow up to be. He never stopped training, in fact it seemed like that took over his life; he didn't even stop to eat anymore. Temari was the first to talk to Xavyn about his behavioral changes. She wouldn't let him continue to train until she got an explanation, Xavyn sat a few feet away from her, and rubbed at his left shoulder. "Xavyn, come on. What's going on? Did you have a nightmare, is that why you're distancing yourself from us?" Xavyn shook his head. "Uh n-no that's not why. I don't really know, I'm trying to figure it out myself."

Temari understood, and left him to train by himself, and the siblings watched as he pushed his body well past its limits day after day. Gaara tried to reach him a month later after an incident that left him confused. He had gotten wet, to deal with the blistering heat of the desert, and the water had soaked his head so much that it dripped endlessly down his torso, and soaked his shirt, making it stick to his skin. This was normal for the Sand Village, everyone did it, but Xavyn stopped doing it, and he would turn his back to Gaara when he did it. He didn't turn around the first time, he put his hands over his crotch, and said he suddenly had to use the toilet before scurrying away to the bathroom. Xavyn started showering at the crack of dawn, and would sneak out of the house to start training. It worried Gaara, and he always followed close behind, but gave him space to workout, and train. During the day, even the peak of heat, Xavyn refused to take even his shirt off, which is really dangerous.

After he collapsed from heat exhaustion, the siblings forced him to train in the shade, without his shirt, and they brought a spare water bottle. He adamently refused until he had no choice, but to give in; Gaara roughly grabbed him by the cheeks, and squished them until it hurt. "Here is what's going to happen. We will give you the space you want, even though I don't understand your reasoning, but you do this our way. You're not going to be left alone anymore, no shirt during training, no direct sunshine, and you will do as we tell you. Do I make myself clear?" Xavyn whined, tears made his eyes glossy, and he nodded as much as he could. Xavyn hated how they noticed everything; his lies, his dancing around their new rules, trying to make him talk about things he didn't understand. Once he had figured out the reasons for his feelings about his best friend, he was horrified with himself. His dad would surely find him, and beat him for it, he just knew it. He tried to spar with Gaara to get his mind off it, but got hit in the gut, and got knocked back.

The attack coupled with his growing fears, and self shame made him vomit, Gaara tried to check on him, but he got up, and ran away. Once he felt that he was truly alone, he allowed himself to sit, and cry his pain out, into his shirt. Gaara chased him, and knelt down, gently putting his hand on Xavyn's shoulder; his whole body was trembling so forcefully, it made Gaara's own arm shake. "Xavyn, talk to me. What in the name of the Tailed Beasts is going on?" Xavyn couldn't stifle his sobs as easily, after hearing the worry in his friend's voice. He bit his arm through his sleeve, and applied more pressure the longer he cried. Gaara gently moved his head from his arm, and he realized how Yashamaru must have felt when he tried to stab himself. He never had to keep someone from hurting themself before, Xavyn couldn't form words to talk with, he kept trying to hide himself until Gaara dropped his gourd, and put himself between Xavyn's arms, and legs, hugging him, and he cradled Xavyn's head against his chest. The floodgates broke, and the crying boy sobbed against Gaara's chest, his limbs laying heavy on the ground, his mind felt scrambled, and foggy. Gaara remembered how his friend always told him he wouldn't run away from him, and even though he did run, he knew it wasn't because of himself; Xavyn had run away from all living things to isolate himself.

Xavyn didn't know what to think or do, Thiago's words playing on repeat in his mind, but his body responding to the comfort around him. He felt frustrated, and ashamed of himself, wanting to push Gaara away, and hide forever, and wanting to wrap his own arms around his friend. His arms moved of their own accord, and snaked up Gaara's sides, and around his back, clawing at his shirt in a desperate attempt to feel the body underneath it. "If you can't tell me, I won't try to make you. I just hope you feel comfortable enough to come to me of your own free will." "I-I'm s-sorry! I d-don't w-w-want t-to hide f-from you. I don't kn-know what to do..." He held Gaara as tight as his noodle limp arms would let him, and felt warmth spread across his chest, and down into his belly when Gaara rubbed his back, and played with his hair. "Shh just calm down. It's ok. Take your time." It felt like an eternity for Xavyn's soul-wracked sobs to turn into gaspy hiccups, and he could finally let go of his human pillow. "I just...I-" Gaara shushed him, and told him he didn't need to explain himself. "It happens to the best of us."