It was as gentle as butterfly wings, as Kiki walked through her estate, she thought back to that day, years ago, when she wore an engagement band before her wedding ring, when everything was new and fluttery like fall just taking ahold of the season. When Hisame kissed her, and everything was new. Just that first kiss like a new discovery, and while she walks hand in hand with a little girl who peers up at her, seeing the world in her, she doesn't regret a day with him.
It's different now, the hand in hers, the way she rests her other hand on her stomach, the way the estate looks like a familiar home, as familiar as could be to her, it's been her home most of her life, and the way that things have become familiar and yet not terribly so.
She remembers when it was new, not to escape from what it is now, but to remember that feeling that rose up in her, a lot like awe, a lot like the beginning crest of love, a little simpler than now, or perhaps just simpler in feeling.
Right now, it is instead the feeling of knowing another so well and still finding new things to learn, of walking side by side with another even when it gets difficult, it is love that has been tested but only grew from it. It's new compared to that old feeling, and yet beautifully new and beautifully familiar.
"Kiki!" Hisame pauses from walking the other way, and when he leans over, they share a kiss, a little reminder of the little things and then his gaze turns and he looks at their little girl.
"Daddy!" And she's up in his arms, and Kiki gets the glimpse of a father's smile; it reminds her sometimes of growing up with her dad, of knowing his love, and though her father wouldn't like the comparison, Kiki isn't going to go around telling him that she sees a hint of him in her husband.
"I love you." Hisame squeezes their daughter closer, and Kiki reaches out to pull them both into a quick hug. There's fond memories and just as fond reality, and she's so very grateful for both of them.
