Gravity is only the bark of wisdom's tree, but it preserves it. ~ Confucius

Gravity is love and every turn is a leap of faith. ~ Warren Miller

You may hate gravity, but gravity doesn't care. ~ Clayton Christensen

It's time to try, defying gravity ~ Idina Menzel

Day 6:

Gravity

My condolences for your loss.

Hinata would scream if she heard or read another piece of parchment tied to a bunch of flowers addressed to her. Fake smiles and renditions aside, she knew no one really cared for her own health, or her life for that matter.

She was scared to death herself for the safety and sanctity of her child. She had not even named him, or held him. A rational part of her knew he would not be safe with her. He was taken away from her cruelly by fate.

She did not know what her husband was going through, how he himself was dealing with the clansmen. When he came to her, he barely looked at her. She had shamed him. But he still kept to himself and decided to help her.

She had never felt any love from him for her, but there was no other reason she could find for all that he was defying. He was a very proud man. You only put down your pride for someone you love, or someone in power.

And right now, she was clearly not in power. For the first time in their marriage, he was the one wielding the hold. He held her fate in his hands. Yet, she did not believe him when he said he wanted to protect her. He had never lied to her, yet she knew a lie when it was spoken to her.

"I need you to promise me to spare the lives of these two women with me," she had urged. "None of it is their fault nor did they wish for any of it to happen. They are pushed into this situation in an inadvertent fashion."

"Your wish is my command," he said. Of course, he always acted like he was maneuvered to do things on her command. He even pleasured her on command.

Yet, he had not exactly answered her question. She looked straight into his eyes, a blank expression on her face. She noticed the resigned expression he was wearing.

He would follow her wishes as a command, but he did not believe he would be successful.

"Leave us," she told her handmaidens.

They looked at her in fear. One of them had to remain behind at all times. They looked at Neji, who nodded.

"You can stay guard outside the room," he calmly instructed. "Tell my father in-law the Head, if questioned, that I wished to spend some time alone with my wife."

They both got up, fear still evident in their limbs. There was a moment's silence as he looked straight at Hinata, without a word.

He was as still as a predator eyeing his prey.

And, for the first time, she felt afraid.

"You have orders to end them," she said simply.

He did not respond.

"Why do you not end me?" she asked.

He did not respond.

She understood. She was a Hyuga, valued for seeing what others couldn't see.

She held out her hand. He cast his eyes downwards, staring at it a full minute. He then took out a weapon from his pocket. It was a kunai, a red ribbon tied to its handle.

She giggled lightly. She can't say that she didn't see this coming. He won't end her. That would be too easy. She knew what this kunai entailed.

She was expected to end herself.

She always knew Neji was a man who valued pride and honor above all. He was also, after all, a Hyuga. Seppuku was a common practice in a case such as hers.

"Whose wish?" she asked. She looked into his eyes again. That strong face, those hardened eyes, that twitch of his lips.

"Yours, or my Father's?" If she was leaving this world and floating amidst the brightest stars or everlasting darkness, she wanted to know. She deserved as much. And his cold, barren eyes helped her in keeping her stance and attuned to gravity.

"It's up to me," he finally replied. "And I leave the decision – a final escape from our marriage – to you."

She suddenly felt light, and keeping herself up felt like an effort. The walls felt like they were closing in on her, trapping her further, suffocating her, instead of the freedom he was talking about.

"My child…" she started to say.

"Will be taken care of," he finished for her. "I have left a substantial amount of sum to your child's father to take care of him till your Father the Head can decide the next move."

Like Mr. Darcy. The blood drained from her face.

"He… Naruto…"

"Cannot bear the burden nor has the time to raise a child by himself for long. People will ask questions. He's next in line for Hokage."

Gravity bore down on her in full force.

She did not know why the magnitude of it impacted her so. She knew she was in trial. Naruto would have to live in hiding for awhile, forever with the looming sense of dread of Hinata's life at stake. And later, when he returns, questions would inevitably be asked of a child's sudden arrival in the hands of the village hero, a child who looked exactly like him. Her child will eventually have to join the ninja Academy, where upon joining, his medical tests will be run for records and his DNA samples stored.

The Head – her father – could never let the child be traced back to the Main line of the Hyuga. Hyuga kept records of even their Branch members and who they wedded. The child would be a mystery, having come out of nowhere. And people will remember that Hinata had been with child, whose funeral had never taken place.

The final decision had rested on her husband. And he was leaving it up to her.

He did not let her fall. He had her in his arms before her head could hit the floor, his knee balancing them both.

"Death is the only way we can control our fate," he had always said in the rare moments they had conversed. "It is an escape from the binds which keep us in place. My own father saw death as his first and only ability to choose. Where he felt himself take charge of his own destiny."

She couldn't feel her limbs as she stared at eyes devoid of emotion.

Her mind was still reeling. There was no way the child's birth could remain hidden forever. And the only solution her husband had found in this scenario was to get himself out of the way.

There was no such thing as "divorce" in the Hyuga. You were bonded till death. And a death was being planned.

The Seppuku was meant for him.

Hinata would obviously want to be with her child, and the child couldn't be kept with the Hyuga. She would have to leave everything behind. To silence any questioning or certain assassination, she would have to be legally married to Naruto.

He would die and grant her the freedom to take such a step in the first place.

"I never wished to grow up in a family such as ours. I would rather have been dead then before having to make this decision," she spoke finally.

"This is the only way I have found for you to be with your new family," he said. "Once released from our vows, you are free to marry Naruto, and this time, the Head would have no objections. You, your child, and Naruto can finally be a family. I have convinced him to marry you. Then you can move away for a while and come back with your child."

This was too much for her. Even now, all he did was serve her.

"You should've killed me back in the chunin exams," she rasped.

"I wanted to," he said simply. "I fully intended to. Fate held my hand that day. You did succeed in making me realize that if I was a caged bird, your own wings were broken. Even when we grew our own, gravity never allowed us to stay afloat. Destiny entailed that we marry and you birth another's child no matter how many times I plowed my seeds on to you. We cannot fly."

"What makes you think I'll comply?" she asked.

He slowly lifts her up till she could feel his breath on her face.

"I think nothing of that sort," he whispered. "You have always been your own woman in our marriage. Even now, I leave the decision up to you. You can choose to defy gravity, fly away against it, and take a leap of faith."

He slowly placed her comfortably on his lap. He placed the kunai gently in her hands, closing her fingers over the handle with his. He loosened his robe, baring his naked chest to his stomach.

"At least one of us can," he whispers, his forehead touching hers.

"Why," she asked him. "Why would you do this all for me?"

Again, he did not respond. He sighed, moving away a bit. He held her gaze as her eyes tear up.

"Do you... love me?" she asked, holding her breath.

"It doesn't matter," he replies. "Destiny had it that a part of you would always belong to Naruto. I cannot be with you. It is the right thing to do. It is the honorable thing to do."

He was not doing it out of love. He would rather die than face the shame and dishonor of his wife leaving him to be with her child from another man.

"And Fate finally allows you to be with him, if all goes according to plan, Hinata-sama," he finished.

Still, even as he chose to die, he was doing it to protect her, his Lady Hinata. Again, he showed her he was always just a servant. He obeyed her through to the end.

She leaned in to kiss him, and he caught her midway. He kissed her back in earnest. And for once, an exchange of feelings was present in their kiss. He deepened the kiss as he realized that this was the last kiss he was experiencing, and for once, he was not afraid to pour all his feelings into it, instead of just obedience. There was nothing to hide.

The kunai she held lit up with blue chakra in her hands. She had made her decision.

Neji sighed. He readied himself for the blow, his eyes already closed as he continued holding her lips.

But the blow never came.

"Then Fate shall have a twist," she breathed softly on his lips as a reply.

He opened his eyes just as she turned the pointed end of the kunai towards herself and struck.

Neji's face and chest were splattered in blood as she fell back. Again, he did not let her hit the floor, catching her in his arms.

Speechless and numb, he looked at the life draining slowly from her eyes, his face white, as a small smile played on her lips.

"You can... Defy gravity... Too," she whispered, coughing. "I have freed you."