You look at your daughter and wonder if this is Enough.
She stands - all smiles and laughs and happiness – by his side and you feel a stab of worry because he is still himself. He is still dark, gloomy and intimidating – still the man-child that watched his brother cut down his parents.
You've known him for years. You've heard your daughter ramble on and on with that enthusiasm that only comes from the blind devotion of childhood. But, even if you did know it, really, in some dark and secret part of your mind, this was a surprise. And you aren't sure how to handle it.
So, again, you turn your eyes to your daughter, your sixteen year-old baby, and watch.
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As time passes, you still observe.
He is still there; always there, and sometimes, when you manage to turn off your mind and just watch, you see them as nothing more than the children they were before. The two of them and Naruto are still connected by the hip (or, really, by the heart) and they still go on dangerous missions that leave you sleeplessly awaiting their return.
But, at the same time, you see the changes.
He smiles at her more frequently, for one. She'll say something, one of those witty, goofy comments she's always making, and he'll smile. And sometimes, when he doesn't think anyone's watching, he'll look at her and smile. His smiles are beautiful – even if they are infrequent – and you wish, for her sake, he'd smile more.
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By the time she is seventeen, you know this thing they call We is for good.
You don't tell her, of course not, because you don't think she needs to know quite yet. But you know, and you smile when the two of them (plus, usually, Naruto) walk through the front door, two-thirds loud and one-third quiet.
You've forgiven him, finally, for being him.
You forgive him, because, you realize, there is nothing to forgive.
So, now, when you watch them, it isn't in shock, isn't even in curiosity. Now it's in wonder.
Before, you doubted for her happiness. But, as you watch his hand slide easily into hers, his eyes soften and his lips quirk as she turns to him and beams before stepping out and letting him fall into place behind her, you know that she has found it. And you are grateful to the broken little boy that let her fix him.
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AN: Hey. Review. Please? You'll make me happy…