Hinata couldn't take it anymore. She had to go to the kitchen.
Gaara rubbed his eyes. "Where are you going?"
"I'm having terrible cravings. I'm going to go down to the kitchen to make something." Hinata explained, putting a house robe on. "Go back to sleep." Gaara didn't look sure. "I'll bring it right back," Hinata promised.
Hinata dug through the cabinets, sighing. If she could just find something. She didn't even know what it was that she was craving, but it was unbearable.
"Ow…" Hinata put a hand on her stomach. Great, now she was having cramps on top of the cravings. This baby was just trying to make her miserable. "I'm getting something."
Hinata stepped toward the other cabinet, but with a sudden rush of pain, her hand slammed down on the counter. She let out a muffled screech.
That was not a cramp.
Another sharp pain, and she let out a yelp and kneeled on the floor. She tried activating Byakugan, but the next sharp pain kept her from activating them. She fell fully to her knees, holding a hand to her abdomen. "Help!" Hinata yelled. "Help me!" She called. She panted but heard no one coming. Patrols inside the lower building were always sparse at night.
Hinata panted and focused on her hands, balling them into fists to fight the pain. Her eye caught her ring. She yanked it off and slammed it down on the ground as hard as she could, hoping it would wake Gaara.
Hinata felt tears run down her face as she slammed the ring down repeatedly until it moved. She sighed, leaning against the cabinet. It worked.
The door to the kitchen slammed open a few moments later, and sand burst through.
"Hinata." Gaara's voice came out panicked and deep.
"I'm down here." Hinata gasped as another sharp pain hit.
Gaara rounded the counter faster than she could see. Resting a hand on her back. "Don't move me." She barked as she felt him lift her.
Gaara removed his hands. "I…"
"I need my medic. I'm having contractions. We need to stop them." Hinata screeched as another came. He looked at her blankly, overwhelmed. "Gaara. Now!" She yelled at him.
Gaara flinched back, disappearing, only to reappear. "I sent for your medic." He kneeled to her cautiously. "I thought you said contractions were supposed to happen."
"Not like this! Not this early!" Hinata snapped. She winced as he flinched. "I'm sorry, it's not you… I'm in a lot of pain."
Gaara swallowed, reaching out to her. Hinata snagged his hand and shakily squeezed it. He opened his mouth like he would ask a question but closed it. Good, he could ask about it after she averted early labor.
The door slammed open again, and her medic rushed through the door in her nightgown to her side. "Alright, tell me everything that's happening, and we will lay you down and hold your knees together to hold your hips high." Hinata followed instructions while explaining what happened. The medic activated her eyes and moved her hand around her stomach, soothing the muscles and stopping the contractions. Hinata laid her head back as the pain resided.
"Is it okay?" Hinata asked.
The medic sighed, leaning against the cabinet as her adrenalin wore off. "The baby is okay."
Gaara's hand in hers was shaking. "Is she okay?"
"… She'll be fine…" The medic told him, sighing. "It… happens. We caught it in time."
"And if we didn't," Gaara asked more darkly.
"We did." She reiterated.
"Don't make me repeat myself," Gaara growled.
"I would have gone into labor, Gaara," Hinata told him sternly. "I would have gone into labor too early, and we could have lost the baby because it isn't ready to come out. Is that what you want to hear?"
Gaara's eyes snapped back down to her, looking hurt.
"It isn't her fault. It's not your fault. It's not even my fault. We can't control what's happening. Childbearing can be unpredictable, especially with gifted families." Hinata added.
"She's correct." The medic added. "It could have started in her sleep. Sometimes there is no trigger."
"Would I have lost you?" Gaara asked with a poorly veiled, terrified look.
"We can talk about it later," Hinata told him. "I just want to go to bed."
"Is it too late to get rid of it?" Gaara asked her, closing the door behind the medic.
"Yes." Hinata rubbed her temples. "Gaara, this isn't the conversation I want to have right now. I know this scared you, but now is not the time to debate if…"
"I think it is exactly the time!" Gaara barked back at her. "I can't lose you!" He pointed a finger at her stomach. "It's trying to kill you!"
Hinata stared at him for a moment, her mouth open, unsure what to say. She closed her mouth and pressed her lips together, feeling her eyes water.
Gaara shrank into himself. "How could I care for your killer." Hinata felt the sand whipping around the room as he started breaking down.
"You seem so sure I'm going to die." Hinata pointed out.
Gaara swallowed the veins, his face swelling as his anger built. "It's actively hurting you!"
"Gaara, you seem to think this is malicious. It can't even think yet." Hinata told him calmly. "It is not doing it on purpose."
"I don't care! If it kills you, it's still your murderer!" Gaara barked.
"Don't you dare call them that!" Hinata stood staring him in the eye as the sand stopped, and he stopped breathing. His eyes brimmed with tears. It occurred to her that this may not be the first time he thought of this. "That's what you're afraid of, isn't it? Losing me and turning into your father all at the same time? Not being able to love them as your father did to you?"
Gaara didn't have words. The sand retracted from its swirling, returning to where it came from.
"Gaara. I don't plan on dying." Hinata whispered as she stepped toward him. "But if I do, you will never think of our child as my murderer. Is that clear?" She demanded. "If I die, it's because I gave it my life, not because it took it. I am choosing to carry it. Do you understand?" Gaara looked away. "Gaara." She snapped.
"How can I?" Gaara asked. "I lose you and have to care for the one that caused your death. How can I do that? I killed my mother. I was never forgiven. How do you expect me to do what my father couldn't?"
"You are not your father," Hinata whispered, getting up and crossing the room. "Gaara, you were told you were a monster all your life, and you started to believe it because it was all you ever heard. Why would you turn around and do that to your child?" Hinata took a breath. "To my child." She paused. "I don't think you have it in you to do that."
Gaara's His tears fell. "I don't want to lose you."
"Gaara, I'm not planning to die." Hinata pulled him down to rest his head on her shoulder. "But if I do, you promise me you will never, ever think of your child like that," Gaara demanded. "I want you to promise that."
Gaara stayed silent for longer than she would have liked. His red-rimmed eyes came to meet her solemnly. "I promise."