Birth was not an easy affair for Kazuha.
The midwives were frantic and the servants were as well as Kazuha struggled to bring her child into the world for sixteen hours straight. Lesser women had died during the same process and she nearly did as well, but she held on tightly, sweating and cursing and crushing Heiji's hand during the time he was allowed to be with her. She swore she had not lived through all of this heartache and pain only to die after it was all coming to a close; she refused.
But all the resolve in the world could not keep her from screaming in agony and occasionally even convulsing n pure, unadulterated pain. It was at those times that Heiji would turn to the midwives, shouting for them to do something for his wife. It was at those times that the servants were forced to remove Heiji from the room, lest he upset his wife enough to send her into panic, killing her baby and herself.
In the end, Heiji was there for it though, the moment she finally went limp and a baby's wail pierced the air. The midwife who had caught the babe wiped it off and held it high for all of them to see.
"It's a girl!" she proclaimed, loud enough for those in the hall to hear and they began running, some to tell those who could not be there themselves, and others to try and open the door enough to peer at the baby girl that had nearly been in the middle of a horrible war between her parents.
After she'd been washed off, the babe was handed with much aplomb to Heiji, who held her like she was the most precious thing he'd ever seen or touched. Kazuha watched him closely from her bed, weak and weary after so many hours at hard labor. She was a petite girl, not up to long bursts of physical activity and she remembered how Aoko had been, confined to her bed for days on end and so tired she really had not wanted to move.
"Do you want to hold her?" Heiji asked her quietly and he shooed the servants and midwives out with a shirt flick of his hand, his other arm wrapped tightly around the small bundle that was his daughter.
Kazuha nodded and tried to sit up, only to find she did not have the strength. "Just show her to me, I'll hold her later. My arms would fail me if I tried now."
Heiji leaned over her, adjusting his grip so that she was looking the baby right in the face. The infant blinked at her hazily, its blue eyes too large for its face. Kazuha wished she had the green eyes of her father, but she'd been told all babies started out with blue eyes, that they changed colors later. She hoped her daughter's eyes changed soon. The infant was pale like her mother, not dark skinned like Heiji but that might change too. Or it might not; Kazuha honestly didn't care either way.
"She's beautiful." Kazuha said, smiling at her husband. "I would never been able to stand to give her away. I would've come back and begged you to know your daughter, just so I could share with you how perfect she was."
Heiji smiled back. "She is perfect, isn't she? She's the most perfect little girl in the world. She's going to be spoiled rotten, anything she wants, I'm going to get it for her."
"It's not good to plan ahead about spoiling your children. If they're spoiled then they won't behave. You need to make plans to teach them right from wrong instead, and make sure it sticks. It sure didn't stick with you." Kazuha scolded lightly.
"I know, I know. My kids will be too smart to make stupid mistakes like their old man. Are we going to have anymore? You looked like that hurt you a lot, are you sure you want to go through that again? I'd never make you, you know." Heiji said, looking at her with measuring eyes, as if to see if she was truly okay after all her screaming and crying.
Kazuha took a deep breath. "It was worth it in the end, most things are, it seems. I'd do it again. What are we going to name her?"
Heiji frown in thought, looking down on the baby in his arms and struggling to find something that summed up how perfect and wonderful she was, laying there and watching the world. "I don't know. You decide. I'll name the next one."
Her mind turned in summersaults. Name her Ayumi! One part screamed. Name her Hana, for Ran-chan! Another part demanded. Name her something fresh, no attachments. A final part rationalized and she put her foot down. Compromise. "Akari, I want her name to be Akari. It is name that someone can be proud of. She will be someone to be proud of."
Heiji looked at the babe again and rolled the name around on his tongue. "Akari. Kari-chan." He stopped and smiled brilliantly, at both his daughter and wife. "I love it. I love her. I love you."
Kazuha sighed heavily, leaned back against the pillows and drifted off towards sleep. "I know. I love you too."