Chapter 55

Sasuke's hands trembled as he held me to him, his breath heavier than usual as he tried to calm down and failed. I can't blame him because I'm in even worse shape.

I don't know how long I've been awake or most of what occurred between that time and now. Most of my memories are coated with red and bleeding with hunger and fear. When I first awakened, I knew who I was and who I needed to find, but the more time passed, the less that became the case with me in a severely panicked state.

My fingers held Sasuke's shirt like I'd die again if I let go, crying endlessly into it.

He's really here. I can hear his quick pulse, and I can feel the hardness of his body beneath mine. The familiar, comforting scent surrounding him, not to mention the warmth of his embrace, made it hard for me to find some composure.

Sasuke's here.

Everything's okay now. I know it. I thought that, but the fear in my blood refused to disappear.

What if this happens again? From what Dad said, I don't think I'll resurrect again if I die. The burning ice of grief tore a hole through my chest from the moment I realized I'd awoken. Speaking of burning, my throat was like lava. Even though I pretty much drained Yahiko, it wasn't going away.

"I named her Sarada," the prince suddenly whispered with a wavering voice.

His fingers ran through my hair as he gently grabbed my shoulders, still trembling a little, and guided me upright so he could sit beneath me. The tears weren't anywhere close to stopping for me, and even he still had a slow few running down his beautiful face.

"How is she? Is she safe? Where is she now?" Questions left my lips as I was desperate for any and all information on our daughter.

Sasuke's eyes faded from red into their usual, pretty black as they searched my face intently. It was obvious he was worried this was all a dream. "She's safe. Madara has her."

A smile met my mouth as I ran my hands up his chest to cup his face, "Sarada…. It's a good name."

He pressed his forehead to mine, closing his eyes while speaking in a heartbreakingly weak voice, "You left me."

I ran my fingers into his hair with gritted teeth, trying not to burst into sobs all over again as he uncharacteristically bared his angst.

"You'll never understand how much I-I…."

His chest heaved as he attempted to remain composed and barely managed it, "I had to bring your body home. You were gone, and there was a baby to take care of, and a funeral. I had to tell everyone that I couldn't save-!" The man's hand met the back of my head to keep me still as he hissed sadly, "I didn't want to live anymore. If not for Sarada, I would've…."

"Sasuke…." I don't like this, any of it, but I also sort of knew he'd never handle my death well. Just like I'd break into pieces if he ever disappears from my life.

Suddenly, the prince kissed me, pulling back to hold my upper arms. A bittersweet grimace marred his features, his words almost too desperate, "Please tell me this is real."

I shook my head, brushing the pretty tears rolling down his cheek with my thumb, "I promise this isn't a dream, and I'm so sorry for putting you through that."

"No, don't do that. Don't apologize," he frowned, bringing a hand up to cup mine against his face, "I wasn't there, and I should've been. I never should've let you leave my sight."

A sob shook my shoulders, and I kissed him hard, trying to physically explain how much I wished we both hadn't experienced such traumas.

His voice was breathy and light as he spoke against my lips between kisses, "I'm sorry."

"I love you."

My grasp on my composure slipped again, and I began crying too hard to keep kissing him, instead parting to hug him tightly. Strong arms wrapped around to hold me as close as physically possible. Sasuke cried silently into my shoulder as I did so more loudly into his.

Being parted from him by more than just physical distance had been the worst feeling I've ever experienced. I never want to leave his side again.

It took us an incredible amount of time to calm down, but we had to because apparently Hidan, Madara, and Sarada were in the village waiting for Sasuke's return since he disappeared without warning them. Sniffling, I wiped at my still-teary eyes as the prince took off his cloak and maneuvered it over my shoulders, tying it at my chest and pulling the hood up to my bloodied and wild appearance from any civilians we may pass on our way to the inn.

I looked into his eyes fearfully, making him pause. Showing up alive in front of everyone who saw my corpse encapsulated in a crypt will be stressful and challenging.

"I-I'm starving. I already drank so much, but…."

Sasuke interlaced the fingers on one of our hands, and we began walking through the woods toward the village, "There was a lot of blood at the crypt. It'll take time to recover."

The gorgeous black gown I'd been buried wearing was ripped and wet with blood. My feet were bare. Claw and bite wounds dusted my skin from fighting Yahiko, and they weren't healing, but they also weren't bleeding so severely that I was worried. Seeing Sarada and the others is more important right now.

In the village, I kept my head low and stuck close to Sasuke's side, though it was dark out and barely anyone was outside. When we entered the inn, we were stunned to find the room empty. At first, we both panicked, thinking the worst, that something terrible had happened, but then I noticed a note on the nightstand with Madara's familiar writing. 'Sasuke, if you return before us, we left to search for you. Sarada is in the bathroom. I glowed a housekeeper to watch over her. -M.'

My neck turned toward the closed bathroom door so fast it hurt, but Sasuke lifted a hand to stop me from moving, "Let me do it. Wait here."

I anxiously fiddled with the cloak, dropping the hood from my head as I paced back and forth with my eyes trained on the now-open bathroom door. Moments later, a petite woman with blonde hair and brown eyes walked out to the door and excused herself from the room. Then, my gaze returned to the bathroom door because Sasuke appeared.

With wide eyes, I stepped closer as he approached with a warm expression softening his features. She's asleep, so her sparkling dark eyes are closed, but it's her. It's my baby.

Sniffling again, I momentarily tore my gaze from her once the prince stood before me, giving him a smile as I cried softly, "Isn't she so perfect?"

He nodded, the corner of his lips twitching as though he wanted to grin. He began handing her over, and I hesitantly accepted the precious bundle into my arms, "I-I don't know if I should hold her when I'm this dirty…."

"She's ours."

A tiny laugh left my mouth as I nodded, gazing lovingly down at the infant, "She is."

Sasuke moved closer, leaning in to kiss my forehead before looking at Sarada, "Let's get married as soon as we get home."

My gaze lifted to his face and warmed, but I shook my head. I've thought about it many times since Naruto and Hinata became engaged, and I realized something recently. "We can have a wedding when we return if you want, but let's do it now. In the morning. We can go to the church and have a priest do it."

His eyes widened, and he frowned, "I thought you'd want to-" "I just want to be your wife, Sasuke, more than anything," I cut him off with watery eyes.

When a smile tugged at his lips this time, he didn't quite hold it back, "Okay. Let's do it."

Carefully to not wake the sleeping child, I handed Sarada back to her father and watched in silent awe as he adjusted his hold and carried her back toward the bathroom. The man before me is nothing like the one who panicked at just the thought of holding his infant nephew. There was something so intimate and gentle about how he held her, an invisible air of protection and care surrounding them.

I can't believe I almost didn't get to witness something so sweet.

Looking up at the ceiling with tears in my eyes, I tried to send my unending gratitude to wherever my father was, hoping he could see this, too. The sound of the water turning on in the bathroom met my ears, and I wiped at my cheeks with a smile before joining Sasuke there.

He sat nearby as I tried to rid my hair and skin of blood and dirt. The man might've joined me if there wasn't so much of it that the water became a soft shade of red. I winced when cleaning near the massive wound in my chest, where Yahiko had tried to rip my heart out. It was the worst one by far.

"You need to feed in the morning."

I nodded, frowning as I looked down at the slowly trickling blood running down my midsection to the sudsy water, softly saying, "I'm so tired. I feel like I might sleep for a week."

Sasuke briefly left to fetch a bathrobe and the first aid kit from the room's cabinet when I was finishing up. I held a hand to my bleeding chest, feeling more about my injuries and lack of energy now that the adrenaline and surprise were wearing off.

Holding the towel around my body tighter, I closed my eyes and tried not to think about the awful things that led to this moment. As far as I know, I haven't slept since waking in that crypt, and I'm terrified of what nightmares my mind might conjure up.

My eyes shot open when the sound of the hotel door outside came, and I felt my skin pale when I heard a familiar voice I'd missed, "Where did you-!" Hesitantly walking toward the cracked bathroom door, I listened as his voice became breathy, unbelieving, "...This scent…. Sasuke, what happened?"

Tears flooded my vision like earlier when I peeked out to see Madara's bewildered profile.

Hidan stood behind him and turned to meet my gaze before the Uchiha man could, "I fuckin' knew it!"

The other one froze, turning slowly to face my direction as I nervously stepped out, holding the towel around me so I wouldn't be visible to Hidan and the blood from my injuries wouldn't drip down my body onto the carpet. I had no idea what to say or do, so I stood there just as on edge as the two new arrivals.

Suddenly, he burst into tears, eyes aglow as he looked over me, approaching as though he believed my appearance was an illusion or mind trick, "How is this possible?"

I shook my head, reaching for him with a trembling hand and wavering voice, "I-I can explain everything, but please, can you-!" Strong arms enveloped my body, as did the elder's warmth as he knelt to one knee and held me close.

Sniffling, I held his head to my chest, mumbling quietly, "I'm so sorry."

Once the heightened emotions calmed, Sasuke healed and bandaged my more significant wounds to the best of his ability, and then I slid on an oversized bathrobe and curled up under the covers with heavy eyes.

Barely staying awake, I explained my post-death experience with one hand resting atop Sarada's midsection like I did right after giving birth. For some reason, both then and now, it brought me incredible comfort to feel her pulse under my palm. When I got to the part where Yahiko found me a day or two ago and began hunting me because he was the sole survivor of Tsunade's sacrificial attack, I started giving up and let sleep take over.

Sasuke was propped up on his elbow behind me the entire time, silently soothing my hair and keeping it away from my face as he watched us, which definitely made it more challenging to stay awake.

From the moment I realized it was him in the forest earlier, I knew one thing for sure: that we're never going to get separated like that again, no matter what. I can tell his earlier out-of-character behavior was genuine and maybe even a bit subdued compared to how he honestly felt because he hasn't let me out of his sight since. Sasuke's had a hand on me for most of our time together tonight.

And I'm so thankful that he's doing these things because if he wasn't, then I would be, and I'm so tired that it'd be hard. I need it, though. I don't know how long it'll take for us to not be afraid of losing one another again, or if we ever will at all.

Neither of us can stand the thought of repeating what we'd just gone through.

In the morning, I woke to the sound of a baby crying. My brow furrowed as I rubbed my eyes and sat up, "Mmm…?"

"She's fine. Just hungry. You can go back to sleep, Goddess," Madara's voice came.

I opened my eyes to see Sasuke handing his uncle a bottle before sitting on the edge of the bed near me and watching the dark-haired baby immediately quiet down once she realized food had arrived. Then I was crying again.

The three men looked at me as though they thought something was wrong, but I shook my head, "I-I'm just happy it wasn't all a dream."

Sasuke brushed my messy hair behind my ear with one hand, "Get dressed. There are clothes for you." Nodding, I wiped my damp cheeks and left the bed to disappear into the bathroom.

Even Hidan's acting relieved to see me alive, which is scary on its own, but what's worse is that the three men out there seem to be getting along swimmingly. They heard my side of the story last night, but I haven't heard much about what happened in my absence. I'm sure Sasuke and Madara don't want to do it in front of the silver-haired man, but why did they bring him along to find me?

After freshening up and putting on the clean clothing, I looked at my reflection in the mirror. Other than the dark circles under my eyes, the paler-than-usual skin, and a cut here and there, I looked the same as before I became pregnant. With thin fingers, I styled my hair into a long braid over my shoulder, washed my face, and finally stepped out into the hotel room.

Sasuke came to grab my hand, guiding me to the door, "We'll be back. Watch over her, Uncle."

Madara nodded, a knowing look in his eye when our gazes met. He knows exactly what we're about to do.

As the prince and I left the inn, I smiled at the ground when I felt his finger brush absently against the engagement ring on my hand. Of all my earthly possessions, I'm glad they didn't take it away when I died. I think he is, too.

When we reached the only church in the tiny village, we paused to meet one another's gaze. I nodded once, smiling happily as his eyes warmed affectionately, and he held the door open for me to walk inside first.

After being reunited with my loved ones, and now I'm actually getting married to Sasuke, this might be the happiest day of my life.