A/N: WARNING! A minor character dies via childbirth! If that is traumatizing or triggering, please take note of this WARNING! And I'm attempting to write an SI without ever writing from the SI's perspective, to see how it works. So, yeah, Maiha's thoughts aren't going to be broadcasted via 1st or 3rd POV.
PS: Maiha's honorifics are legit as far as I can tell, it's just that Ryoko is being very formal because Maiha isn't nearly as easy-going as Mito. Of course, please correct me if I'm wrong.
AND I HAVE ABANDONED NOTHING.
Uzumaki Ryoko fancies she will never forget the difficult and tragic birth of the twin princesses, Mito-hime and Maiha no Miya.
Saya-sama, may she rest in peace, had already born Ashina-sama three sons, with only the youngest not of age yet. She had been past her childbearing years, and no one had thought she could get pregnant again. Ryoko privately suspected it was the Uzumaki vitality, virility, and stamina to blame, rather than that Saya-sama had been trying for more children in a desperate bid to win back Ashina-sama's attentions. Ashina-sama had always been an attentive and devoted husband to his wife, and Ryoko knew the man couldn't be prouder of his wife for bearing him three sons that had survived the perils of childhood illnesses and battle.
When it became apparent Saya-sama wasn't sick with an early winter illness, and that she was actually pregnant, the medics called Ashina-sama back from the field so they could convene with the clan head and his lady. While Ryoko herself hadn't been there for the meeting, she knew from the small amount of training she had received in the medical arts that Saya-sama had been encouraged to induce a miscarriage for her safety.
Saya-sama had flatly refused, and stormed out. She didn't budge from her position, determined to bring her child into the world, regardless of her age or the opinion of anyone else. Ryoko admired her for that, and scolded the gossips for their naysaying of the dead woman. Ryoko didn't think she could remain strong in the face of opposition from her husband, friends, and family.
No, Ryoko knew she wouldn't have chosen the path Saya-sama proudly took. If she was in Saya-sama's place, Ryoko would have taken the safer path, because she feared death more than anything. But that wasn't why she had a feeling she wouldn't forget Mito-hime and Maiha no Miya's birth.
Ashina-sama left for the front again once Saya-sama made it clear she would keep the baby no matter what. His departure obviously shook Saya-sama, but as she grew fat with her child, Saya-sama stopped asking when her husband would return to her. Her belly grew as the year dwindled, and she remained determinedly oblivious to the clan' whispers with a maniacal cheer. She spent her days setting up the nursery, making clothing for her baby, singing to her baby, and pondering names whenever the clan did not need her. And the clan purposefully made sure to need her less and less as her pregnancy became obvious.
It was only when winter began to thaw and April came that Saya-sama called for her sons and husband's return. Ryoko knew Saya-sama had patiently waited through all of the cold months for her family to return to her, and only called when she could no longer ignore the fact they weren't going to return on their own. Saya-sama waited for word from any of her family during the month of April. She did not receive so much as an acknowledgement from her sons or husband.
It wasn't surprising that a few days later Saya-sama unexpectedly went into labor two weeks early.
The clan dispatched their swiftest runner to Ashina-sama and his sons' location to inform him his lady had gone into labor as Saya-sama's cries rang throughout the compound. Everyone winced at each one of her ragged sobs, and every now and then someone would demand a silencing seal be placed to silence the sounds. No one put a silencing seal down, and everyone was forced to endure Saya-sama's pain with her.
Ryoko was too busy to deal with the clan's guilt, because she was frantically fetching anything the medics demanded of her and occasionally trying to reassure a delirious Saya-sama that her family would be here before the baby. It was ugly business all around, with the atmosphere and the event causing it, but the worst part was when she wasn't rushing after something for the medics. Having to listen to the medics and midwives grimly remark on the birthing, and then trying to calm Saya-sama (unsuccessfully) when she overheard something while she screamed and sobbed… Ryoko still woke up and had to restrain herself from going to Saya-sama's side.
When the baby still hadn't come after five hours that was when the medics started to worry. Saya-sama had given birth multiple times before, and should have completed giving birth to her baby in about five hours, give or take. It was a sign that there was complications, and the medics then began to administer a cocktail of drugs that Ryoko couldn't identify. She guessed it had some effect, because three hours later, Mito-hime was born.
However, soon the medics noticed Saya-sama wasn't coming out of labor and shedding the placenta, and that was when they knew it wasn't over.
Ryoko's memories of the next four grueling hours are blurry with exhaustion, with Saya-sama's terror and demands for her family standing out starkly. But what Ryoko will remember is when Maiha no Miya entered the world.
Maiha no Miya entered the world with the same solumn quietness she would carry for as long as Ryoko knew her, despite the fact babies were supposed to enter squalling. Everyone in the room had thought her to be stillborn, but as the medic cleared away the caul she began to cry. The baby was crying, and the crying sounded wrong to Ryoko, but Saya-sama's joy at both of her daughters was palpable.
Since Ashina-sama wasn't there, Saya-sama named both children before Ryoko took them to be watched over by a medic, and so she accidentally overheard Saya-sama's only words to her daughters.
"Oh my darlings, you were worth it. Ryoko, which is my firstborn daughter?"
"Saya-sama that would be the one on your left, the louder one my lady."
"Ashina and I always picked Mito as the name we would have given our sons if one of them had been born a girl. So you, my firstborn daughter, are Mito. And you, my precious surprise, I did not expect to ever carry twins. Your name is from me, and me alone Maiha."
Saya-sama then kissed her daughters' foreheads, whispered her love, and handed them to Ryoko. She would die an hour later from hemorrhaging and internal injuries, five hours before her sons entered the compound, and seven hours before Ashina-sama returned.
Ryoko wasn't there to see what happened when Saya-sama's sons or Ashina-sama arrived, because the medic watching over the twins hadn't released her.
Maiha no Miya's crying didn't cease until she fell asleep, but Ryoko couldn't help want to call it sobbing.
The true reason why Ryoko thought she wouldn't forget Mito-hime and Maiha no Miya's birth is that she didn't think she could forget the sound of Maiha no Miya's anguished crying.