Hi there readers! Nope, I haven't figured out if I'm going to continue after this chapter but I'll know soon. I'm so sorry about updating so late. I was watching ANTM and that is so addictive! (I wanted Allison to win) Then I read my new chapters when I should have been updating my own, sowwie.
Excuse any errors and R&R!!!
Chapter 21: A Happy Ending ------------ Hinata worked by the light of a single candle. She had crawled out of bed once Sasuke had fallen asleep, even though he had asked her not to do anything else for the night.
"You're tired, Hinata," he had said. "You can do whatever you want tomorrow."
He didn't understand, she knew. She had to finish then tonight, before the image blurred from her memory. Years ago, she had painted a wedding scene, the perfect wedding except that there were no faces. She had never understood why she couldn't draw them when she knew she was to be married to Kiba, but now she knew why.
She looked back at the bed- they had bought one, tired of hammocks. Sasuke was so beautiful in his sleep lying in the moonlight, and she hoped she hoped that she had captured everything about him in her drawing. She loved him so much and she understood that she had never loved Kiba and that Kiba had never loved her either.
Hinata understood that because never before had she felt this way, such a warmth for anyone that touched her so deeply.
It was late, but she wanted to complete the drawing before morning when they would reach the River country to send with her letter home since the messenger bird they had had been sent out already. She hoped her father would see it and understand. As she had lain there in bed with Sasuke, her mother's words of wisdom had come back to her.
While she fretted and worried about how her father would view her decision to marry Sasuke she had remembered something her mother had said to her on a night not so unlike tonight, when she had only eight years old, but the memory of it was so clear now that it seemed like Lyvi had told her not too long ago.
'Sometimes it's a long hard way to a happy ending. Sometimes it takes a lot more courage to follow your own dreams instead of those who you love.'
Well, she was following her own dreams and she was happier than she had ever been in her life. And she had so much joy in her heart that wanted everyone to be as happy as she was.
She finished the painting at last and stared at it.
A pretty canopy by a pond with water lilies, decorated with white ribbons and larkspurs of almost every color as golden rays of sunlight beamed on the couple who stood there while birds flew over them.
She wondered if her father would understand its significance. She wondered if he would remember her mother and how she had always wanted everyone to be free to live and enjoy their dreams. Even the council, but maybe it was too late for them.
Satisfied with the results, Hinata set the painting aside, lifted the pen, and took out a clean sheet of paper from Sasuke's desk.
Otou-san
Ogenki desu ka.
I hope you, Hanabi, and Neji are doing fine.
Please forgive me for taking so long to write. You might be happy to know that I didn't kill Kiba. In fact, I have a lot to thank him for. I got married, but not to Kiba and I will explain everything further when I return to Konoha after Sasuke and I finish the mission he is on right now.
It was a really nice ceremony and was a lot different to the style of Konoha. Don't worry, Sasuke speaks the language quite well and translated for me. I know you'll love him and we promise to get married again so that all our friends and my family, that are now his as well, can attend.
In the meantime, I know you should be happy for me because I am but in case you are not… a very wise woman told me that happily ever after is not something someone can give, not even a mother who loves her children and husband very much. It is a place in your heart and I believe I have found that place, Otou-san.
I really hope you understand, and if you don't, at least forgive me for following my innermost desires. I am so much in love with him, Otou-san, and I am happier than I've ever been, and I have found a purpose in my drawings despite the fact you think they are a waste of time. I am cataloguing Sasuke's mission findings such as diagrams and maps and doing quite well, he says. I've sent you a few to view, along with a new one I just finished.
Also, there is the original copy of Kiba's letter to Shino, who had the courtesy of showing me. It will explain pretty much why all of this has happened and I think you'll find it very interesting.
I love you all very much.
Ohenji omachi shite orimasu.
Lifting her brows after writing that, a smile spread across her face. Was it that obvious? To her it was, though her remarks were subtle enough that only her father should take them for what they were.
Hinata signed the last of it with as much precision as she was able, pouring all her love into her name.
Uchiha Hyuuga Hinata.
She had to keep her name because she was the heir of the clan, but she found it had a nice ring to it.
Sasuke stirred behind her, his timing on point.
"Come to bed, Hana," he told her.
Hinata turned to see that he had lifted his head from the pillow where they had both lay their heads, looking at her sleepily.
"I can't sleep without you."
Hinata laughed softly, a blush blooming forth. "Yes, you can. I heard you snoring!"
He managed a laugh of his own. "You brat, I don't snore," he said. "Come back to bed. Everything can wait until tomorrow."
Hinata smiled at him. "I'm coming," she said and stood, abandoning her letter in the desk until the morning. He was right; it could wait a little longer.
Feeling as though she were invincible, she went to the bedside. Staring down at him, she undressed so that he could see her and knew that by his expression, he wanted her and cherished and loved her, and she was sure that he would forever; even when she was old and her hair was streaked with gray.
No words were necessary between them.
With that knowledge and wearing only her most alluring smile, she climbed into bed next to her husband.
That's the end of the chapter people and possibly the entire fic! By the time the week rolls in that I would have had to update, I'll know if to post a sequel so watch out for that and put me on your alert. I will go back to my original writing style if I do the sequel so I hope it still catches you since I like me own style of writing and want you to like it as well. If you have not read Hinata the Vamp or Hina hime please do. Until the possible sequel and my next update… Ja ne! Please review, I love it when you do!
Thank you all so much for the support you have given me throughout, not only this fic, but all of them. Thank you for sticking it out with me all this time and reviewing the other fics so I could get this one up. I appreciate all the reviews and comments and personal messages sent and without them, I would not have made it this far.
I hope you enjoyed this story as much as I did and that you'll keep reading my work.
It's so bittersweet having to click that complete button, it's like my baby has grown up and moving out or something lol!
Readers have been asking about what Sasuke calls Hinata. he calls her 'Hana' that's right not 'Hina.' He uses that nickname for when they are intimate because he said she opens to him like a flower and so he calls her so.