Neji scooped up the bowl and picked up the chopsticks with them, sitting down cross-legged on the bed and starting to eat as if he had gone for months without food. Well, in a way, he had. Tenten just stared at him for a moment, struck again with the feeling that this was too good to be true. He was warm, and real, and alive! But how? After a few seconds, she moved, giving in to the urge to be near to him, to reassure herself he was real, and it wasn't one of her previous dreams. She sat down beside him on the bed, crossing her legs under her and laying her hands in her lap, watching him eat. Then, she started to watch his bowl of breakfast as her stomach reminded her she'd left a good two-thirds of it behind that morning.

When Tenten's stomach growled, Neji came up for air, glancing over at her with a guilty look. 'I came during breakfast, didn't I?' he asked, holding out the bowl and chopsticks. 'don't short yourself, Tenten.' She waved it away, ignoring the second growl of her protesting stomach. This was followed by a small frustrated sound from Neji. 'Tenten, please. Just eat. If you don't, you aren't the only one going hungry anymore.'

'you don't have to remind me of that! Unlike you, I've been here for all of it!' Tenten just short of yelled, making him flinch. Her eyes filled with tears. 'I'm sorry- I just can't believe any of this is happening. It's all too good to be real.'

Neji looked into Tenten's eyes, expression unreadable, then pressed the bowl and chopsticks into her hands. 'I understand,' he murmured. 'we need to talk. A lot's happened in seven months. But first, eat.' Finally, she took the food and quickly started to eat, finishing what was left quickly and placing the bowl lightly on the floor beside the bed when she was through.

Neji drew in a deep breath and settled himself in the position he usually used for meditation. It was interesting to Tenten that little mannerisms like that could stay with a person through death and back again, and that she could so easily remember all the things he once did. It was a great testament to their compatibility, she supposed. She waited patiently for him to start talking. A few minutes passed in loaded silence.

'before I woke this morning, the last thing I remember is jumping in front of those spikes from the ten-tails. Naruto held my head as everything faded out to nothing. I feel as if things happened between, but I can't recall.' Neji turned his head so he could watch Tenten's reaction with his silver-white eyes. 'please, tell me what I missed.'

She swallowed, looking down and running a gentle hand over her baby bump, giving a tentative smile as the baby kicked as it often did. Neji shifted, moving a tentative hand toward her stomach with an uncertain expression. He started to pull the hand back but Tenten took it gently and laid it on the place where the baby had just kicked, letting him feel it for himself. His face changed to confused surprise, feeling the tiny foot press into his palm. 'it's a long story,' Tenten warned. 'but I suppose we have all day.' She cleared her throat and began with Neji sitting attentively, one hand still on her stomach, glancing at it every now and then as the baby continued to kick periodically, almost as if playing.

'a couple weeks after the battle, I started getting sick, and I didn't know why. I thought maybe I had internal damage or a disease, so I went to the hospital to get checked. They ask girls every time they go in if you could be pregnant, and I said no like always, but then I thought about it.' She turned a bit pink, looking down at her massive stomach for a moment before looking back up. 'they had me take a test and of course it came back positive. I started panicking.'

'why?' Neji asked in confusion, brows furrowing. 'isn't new life a joyous thing?'

'well, yes, it is. The trouble is that, first of all, I wasn't married, and, second, I knew who the father was…and he was dead, at the time.' Neji's face smoothed and he nodded. 'go on.'

'Tsunade told me I had to tell Hiashi-Sama about the pregnancy so they could prepare, and in December we told him. I thought he would be angry, but he wasn't at all. He was only concerned about the baby, and me by extension. Well, and clan politics, of course.'

'of course.'

'he couldn't have a hyuuga child born out of wedlock, but since you were dead he thought his hands were tied. It was Tsunade who thought of doing a wedding with a stand-in as you, so I could be declared your widow on the village records.'

'how thoughtful of her.' Neji took a deep breath, closing his eyes for a moment. 'you don't know how much I wish it really had been me that day.'

'I can imagine it's less than how much I wished it.' Tenten moved, reaching for a small drawer in the side table beside her, pulling something out. It was a photograph, the only one taken of the ceremony. She looked at it for a moment, then handed it to Neji. He held it up, smiling a little. 'of course they chose Mamoru,' he mused, 'he's been trying to copy me since his birth, though some say he only really managed in looks.'

Tenten nodded at the photo before Neji set it aside, looking back to her. 'that was New Year's day. The night before that, you came to me in a dream and proposed. If you hadn't…I don't know if I could have gone through with it. Maybe, for the baby's sake, but it would have been hard.'

'I don't remember doing that, I already told you. But if I had been able to I know I would have.' Neji took Tenten's hands in his own, squeezing them gently in a reassuring way. 'go on- has anything else noteworthy happened?'

'I- well, yes, there's more.' She looked down for a moment before looking back into Neji's calm silvery eyes, eager to know what he'd missed. 'on my birthday I went to visit your grave, and someone had left a scroll behind with a poem and a flower sealed inside it. The poem said something like "do not kneel at my grave and cry; I am not here, but am alive." Needless to say, it unsettled me a lot, and Hanabi too. Nothing much else has happened since, until last night.'

'what happened last night?'

'I-I think,' Tenten stammered, giving a slight shiver, 'you were visiting me just before whoever it was resurrected you. You were commenting about how big I was and suddenly you coughed blood and disappeared. You promised you'd see me again. Then today you came to me.' At some point during her last few sentences, she had started to cry. Neji let go of her hands and reached up to wipe away her tears with his thumb, stoic as ever. Only his eyes showed all the emotions he held inside. Most evident was love for her. After a moment, he shifted his body and gently tugged Tenten partway onto his cross-legged lap, letting her lean back against his chest and wrapping his arms tenderly around her chest, planting a light kiss on her cheek and rocking ever so slightly from side to side to comfort her.

AN: this took forever to write and it was HARD! I hope it portrays the characters well!