It had been a few days since the whole crawling episode and Sasuke and her were put to bed in their shared crib. She cooed in triumph as she remembered the aftermath. Fugaku was defiantly happy with her and Sasukes progress.
And thats what mattered to her most. If he had his fathers acknowledgement from the very beginning, he wouldn't be as isolated from the Uchiha, and she could use him to maybe sway some of the stiffer elders. But she had to be careful, or else Sasuke could be the one who's mind was changed. In order to prevent that, she needed to establish a firm connection between her and Sasuke.
She baby smirked. She knew how.
She coughed a little, garnering Sasuke's attention. He blinked and yawned, looking at her curiously. Licking her lips, she, for the first time in a lifetime, spoke English.
She didn't want to forget.
"Emilia."
It was slow, and strained, and she was sure she forgot one of the i's.
"E-m-i-l-i-a" There. That was better.
Sasukes was now looking over, having flipped onto his belly, in total fascination. He had never eard words spoken like this before. Looking him in the eyes, she started babbling the alphabet.
"E" She spoke as clearly as she could.
"e-ey" He parroted.
They went all the way down the line, with her repeating specific letters multiple times.
Quite frankly, she was glad their parents had put them to bed early and left Itachi to watch them as they went out, or she wouldn't have been able to do this. The kid knew what he was doing and even though they could eat solid foods, perhaps feeding them dango wasn't the best idea. But now they were awake and she and Sasuke would have a secret language!
It was now more than ever she realized Sasukes smarts. Sure he was no Itachi (no one was) but he picked up on the letters and pronunciations insanely quickly. Then again, now was around the time babies were supposed to talk anyway.
It was their third day in, and she had been careful enough so that anything learned could be mistaken for baby babble. He had learned all the letters needed to say his first word.
Sasuke swallowed loudly, wetting his lips. Before opening his mouth and speaking his first word;
"Emilia."
She let out a soft squeal, and gave him a sloppy baby kiss on the cheek.
He was exhausted after that, and rightfully fell asleep, breathing heavily against her shoulder.
She stopped smiling. She started to cry.
Softly of course, didn't want to wake Sasuke up. But having Sasuke's first word be her name-old name was a harsh reminder. She was so grateful she got a second chance-even if she didn't do anything to deserve it. It's just that she had a good life, and didn't realize what she had until it was gone. She would not make the same mistake here.
It may have been his first word, but it would be the last time she ever heard it.
Her tiny body was shaking slightly with emotion, like the room was cold. So caught up in trying not to sob, she didn't noticed the tiny hands reaching up to her until she was blinking in shock when baby hands(not hers) were grabbing at her cheeks, smearing the tears in to the pillow.
Sasuke leaned over, using those new crawling skills, and kissed her forehead and hugged her.
"M-mo"? He looked at her with his own concern glittering in his eyes.
She smiled, touched by his concern. He really was a smart cookie if he could tell emotional stress from this age. He even made a baby noise that sounded like the new language.
"MmKO!" He garbled more urgently this time.
She looked at him with shock and excitement. Was Sasuke about to say his first official word!?
Delighted at her obvious attention now, he gave her a gummy grin with a few teeth and crowed;
"Mmiko!"
Miko. Her- he said her name.
She couldn't help it. Soft wails rise from her sore throat, and Sasuke soon followed. All she wished to do was tell him how grateful she was for this, but couldn't find the words.
Emilia was her name; Miko is her name.