A/N: I keep getting people asking me to write a follow-up to this, so finally I complied. I was originally going to give it a lot more depth, have more of a backstory...but I didn't like what I wrote, and decided short and simple was more effective. "Less is more". This isn't much, but I think it's basically what people were looking for. Enjoy.
His eyes ask the question far too awkward and delicate to voice. Hers confirm it, though there is no need. When awake, the infant's eyes are the deep shade of a late afternoon shadow, and a thick mass of hair as black as midnight adorns her head. The child is his.
He does not speak for many long moments. Instead he stares at the babe in her arms, brow slightly furrowed as though he cannot comprehend the situation. But he does comprehend. They both understand completely, this culmination of a meeting that perhaps should not have ever happened. There is no changing that now.
When at length he uses his voice, it is low. "What is her name?"
She does not hesitate. "Her name is Hikari." Speaking of her child gives the young mother an oblivious glow, much like the light for which her offspring is named.
When he says nothing she finishes it. "Uchiha Hikari."
Involuntarily he moves at this foreign name, at this formal statement he is a father. His next inquiry is still generic.
"Why did you choose this name?"
Her answer is soft. "Because she lights up my life." It may sound saccharine, but it's completely true.
He nods at this. For a while they both watch the sleeping baby, taking in the way her slight mouth suckles at nothing and the tiny sighs that escape from her throat. She is beautiful, and she is theirs.
Finally he finds it in himself to speak another time. It is quiet, hesitant. "I'm sorry."
She looks directly at him then, and wordlessly extends her arms. By instinct he accepts the weightless bundle from her. His face is unreadable as he adjusts the infant in his arms, awkwardly, cautiously cradling her. Finally he lifts his gaze back up to meet hers. With the slightest glimpse of a smile, she tells him what she's wanted him to know all this time.
"Don't be."
A/N: I hope that satisfied you. If you don't mind, please review and tell me what you thought.
Hikari does indeed mean "light", and yes, it was in part inspired by Kari from Digimon, hehe.