Hinata looked in the mirror and slid her hands over the dress, getting rid of wrinkles that weren't there. The fabric was thick enough. There were no lines, but it was comfortable. She had to admit she did look good in this dress. She had never really gone looking for things she looked good in. She found it a waste of time and effort as she never fit anything correctly, or she felt exposed. With the high neckline and knee-length skirt, it was the perfect dress, but she frowned at herself in the mirror.
Hinata didn't remember wearing it before. She wasn't even sure she could remember feeling this type of fabric before. Sasuke had said that she had loved it, but she feared if she didn't, he would be upset. She did love it but was it because she liked it, or was it because Sasuke told her she liked it.
Hinata liked it, she decided, but it still hurt her heart knowing that she couldn't remember liking it in the first place. There were so many things he knew about her she was worried if he got one wrong, he would think she had changed. Maybe it changed too much.
The thought scared her enough. She found herself curling around herself on the floor, starting to shake, full panic. Sasuke wouldn't leave her, he just wouldn't, but would he live miserably with a woman he thought had changed so much he could no longer love her? Just as she was getting back to him fully, would he pull away?
Hinata jumped as warm hands came to her shoulders. She looked up at the mirror and her tear-streaked face as well as her worried husband.
"You don't have to wear it." He whispered, reaching back and jerking his sweater off and rolling it to place over her head. She let go of her legs to put her arm through it before reburying herself. "I'm sorry, I didn't think it would upset you."
Sasuke curled around her, hugging her tightly, laying his head on hers, and rubbed her arm through his sweater. "I'll pick you up something from the cafe. How does that sound?"
"It's fine. I can still go." She wiped her eyes on his arm and sniffed, barring her red checks into his shoulder.
He paused for a moment. "You want to change?" He asked, kissing her hair briefly.
"No… but can I keep the sweater on?" She tucked the black fabric of his thin sweater against her lips. It smelled like him.
"Of course." He unrevealed and helped her up, pulling her to him slowly. "What is the matter?"
No lying. "I'm not me, but I am her," Hinata whispered.
Sasuke opened his mouth to question, but he paused and nodded. "You don't like the dress, and you think I'll be upset?" He wanted to clarify.
"I like it, but what if I didn't?" She whimpered.
"We'd get you a new one. We don't keep many clothes. I wouldn't be offended if you bought a new dress." He tried.
Hinata frowned harshly. He wasn't getting the point. "This is the one from your story. This is the one you liked."
He leaned down, seriously straightening his face. "Fuck the dress."
She stared at him in disbelief.
"Hinata, the dress could be a sack for all I care. I told you the story because you were happy in it. If it doesn't make you happy now, it doesn't change then, but it means that you can make a new memory. If you like the dress and you're comfortable, wear it. If it makes you uncomfortable, then it can stay a story and a memory. It's just a dress. The story was about you." He pressed.
She wasn't ready to give up. "About me then. I don't remember it."
"Hinata, you don't remember any of my stories." He reminded her, his face changed to concern.
Her own changed to a harsh realization. She had forgotten that she had been okay with all the stories. What had changed this one? She stared at the floor.
"You're not having more trouble remembering things, are you." He worried.
She waved her hands. "Oh, no, I just… I think this one hurt because I wanted to feel the way you described, and I just… didn't know what I wanted it to feel like."
He sighed with relief. "You don't have to feel a certain way. You can hate the dress. We can find you something that makes you feel your best."
She played with the fabric of the skirt in her hand. "I do like the dress. I just don't want to disappoint you."
"You can't disappoint me." He promised.
"I can." She pouted defiantly.
"Don't take it as a challenge." He chuckled, kissing her forehead.
Hinata held onto his arm tightly, feeling drained from her emotional moment. He walked at a slowed pace and kept her entertained with another story. One that seemed to be picked out to not upset her. She appreciated the soft touch when she was vulnerable.
Sat down at the restaurant, they ordered, and she was pleasantly surprised by her exact old order being ordered for her. Sasuke turned his head to check his correctness, and she nodded with a small smile. He remembered everything.
He quietly told his story over tea before the food came.
"In the rain?" She giggled at his story.
"You were soaked through and not happy about it. You had spent 6 hours out there for nothing. They didn't even send a message to tell you that they weren't coming. You were relieved of your post when Naruto realized you hadn't reported back." He explained. "You came home soggy and shivering and gave me a cold."
"I got sick?" She wondered.
"No, I got sick." He pointed accusingly. "You got me sick but didn't even get a cough."
She giggled. "I'm sorry."
"Better be, I had to go to the clinic for medication, which hadn't been fun. Not too many nurses weren't happy about Sakura getting punished for her little ploy. So I was prodded and left to wait for way longer than I should have been." He grumbled.
"Do you ever have a good day in these stories?" She asked with amusement.
"Always a good day when you were home." He smirked as her face turned red. He did that on purpose. "Because when I got home, guess who I got to take a bath with." She pouted at him. He was trying to embarrass her.
She sipped her tea half-heartedly, glaring at him, unable to keep the slight smile on her face.
"There it is." He grinned.
Her heart warmed, knowing what he was pushing to see.
Hinata twirled around in her bare feet across the floor. She moved his lazily held arm as he made her circle and giggled as he rolled herself up in his arm. She wasn't amused by her dancing but his lack of enthusiasm. "I don't care how cute you are. I don't dance." He grumbled with a smile leaning down to kiss her.
She pulled up her free hand to cover his lips. "You get a kiss when you dance with me."
He frowned at her from behind her fingertips, and she squeaked as she was suddenly off her feet, tipping back, and her lips were met. He pulled her back up from the dip, and their lip came apart. "That's the best you're getting."
She burst out laughing, draping her arms over his shoulder, leaning back up for another.
Hinata looked at the dress as it laid draped over the chair now in her night clothing. She tilted her head thinking about the story. "You said that I snuck off with my sister to get this, right?"
"Yeah." He ruffled his hair sitting at the end of the bed with her.
"She was rather pregnant when we last saw her, and it's been a couple of months now. Do you think she has had the baby?" She wondered.
"I know she has. They haven't been out with it yet, but she's way past her due date, so it's probably a couple of months old. You know it's rather common to not show off the new heir immediately." She nodded, safety reasons generally, but it also gave the mother time to bond with the child and get used to their patterns. Knowing what would quiet them if they started to fuss was crucial. Hyuga children do not cry in public.
"Do you think we will be able to meet them?" She wondered, leaning on him.
"Honestly? Not any time soon, the last thing the Hyuga are going to want is you anywhere near their new heir." He pulled her back as he lowered himself on the bed.
"That makes sense." She agreed. "My father would think that I would taint the child."
"If you plug its nose, it wouldn't be able to tell you from your sister, but you are going to taint it." He joked.
"That's always how my father's logic ran. It's why he was able to corrupt my sister so much when we were young. He separated us because he claimed I would slow her process, bring her down with me." Hinata sighed, closing her eyes. "It never did make much sense, but when that is all you ever told, you start to believe it."
"You don't believe it now." He clarified.
"Not like I used to. There is nothing I could have done to hurt her progress. Even when she hated me, I was nothing but supportive. Even though she should have been my revival, I would have never been able to sabotage her. That is my flaw." She hummed.
She felt his eyes on her, and he rolled on his side. She opened her eyes when he brushed his hand over her stomach, letting it rest there. "I want to say that isn't a flaw."
"But in a fight, it is." She agreed. "She's not what Naruto was to you. A sister is different than a rival."
"I guess I get that if you don't want to kill your sibling, your instinct would be to protect in the end, no matter how much you're told to beat them." He frowned. "Unless they, you know, murdered your clan."
She made a face. "You don't have to understand it completely. I understand why you would have trouble with that." She smiled at him.
"I don't want to kill Naruto, I have been close a couple of times, but when I was running, it was just a kill or be killed type of situation." She nodded. "Now, sometimes I want him dead, but I don't want to be the one that has to do it." She laughed at the sideways look.