He Spoke
Yashamaru came up to them with Gaara on one hip. He was smiling. "You'll never guess what Lord Gaara did today," he said, leaning toward them conspiratorially.
"Ruin another teddy bear?" Kankuro made a poor attempt at a joke. His brother couldn't control his sand very well—sometimes it just seemed to spring out of nowhere and surge outward to attack things. Gaara lost many a teddy that way.
"No," Yashamaru replied. "He said his first word."
"What did he say?" Temari asked, eager to know.
"Well," said Yashamaru, holding Gaara up, "he said . . ."
"Mawi!" Gaara cooed right on cue, waving his arms in his sister's direction. Temari's eyes went wide; then her face melted into a smile.
"Oh, Gaara, you said my name!" she burst out happily. She scooped him from Yashamaru's arms and cradled him in her own. "Can you say it again? 'Temari'?"
"Amawi," Gaara repeated. His clumsy reply was more than enough for Temari, who laughed and crowed exultantly,
"He said my name! His very first word—my name!"
"Big deal," scoffed Kankuro, disgruntled. "He's just repeating what he hears the most."
"Ohhh, he's saying it 'cause I'm his favorite," Temari gushed, kissing Gaara's button nose.
"Amawi!" Gaara babbled. "Gagawoh!" Kankuro blinked, bemused, as Gaara reached toward him with chubby arms. "Gagawoh!" he chirped again. Yashamaru smiled and lifted the little two-year-old over to him.
"I think Lord Gaara likes you both," he commented with another smile.