Aruiteku Together Forever – Chapter Twenty-Three

Sousuke sat leaned back in a chair beside the hospital bed his wife lay in, holding her hand as he tried to take the quiet moment to get some sleep. It was a month before the due date but it looked like it would be any day now that their child would be born. Dropping had started nearly a week prior, she was partially dilated and effaced, not to mention the increased and slightly painful preparatory contractions her body had thrown her way. All of this caused Kaname to decide to take the advice of her midwife and stay there until after Shizuko was born. Tests that had been run indicated that it would be safe for her, lungs fully formed she should not have any trouble breathing.

Threading her fingers through his, Kaname turned her head to look up at Sousuke, a soft smile on her face. For all that the situation was not ideal, she still found herself elated regardless. Their child would be born soon… She was not particularly looking forward to the pains of child labor, but she was excited to meet her daughter. They had bought a name plate to add next to their names on the front of their house just a week prior, and it had made everything feel even more real. Squeezing his hand, she nodded slightly when his eyes cracked open to look at her.

With a tender expression, he turned in his chair to stroke her face, pushing back her bangs and tucked a few stray strands behind her ears where they belonged. Leaning over, he pressed a gentle kiss to her forehead and whispered to her, "How do you feel?"

"No change really," she tilted her head and looked at him expectantly, smiling when his lips found hers. After pulling away he nodded to her, sitting back in his chair again and stroking her hair. He drifted off to sleep like that, lightly dozing in the seat with his fingers tangled in her hair. A few hours later he was woken up by pressure on his leg, and he looked down to see Kaname wincing and panting in pain. "I think it's starting," she muttered, looking up at him through her thick lashes and biting her lip to hold back a whimper.

"I'll go get someone," he went to rise when she yanked him back down, hand fisted in his shirt, and she shook her head.

"Not yet, stay with me for a bit."

"But…"

"No," she muttered, taking in a few deep breaths as the pain went away. "It will still be awhile yet, it can wait."

He frowned down at her, nodding though reluctant. With a soft sigh, he bent over and kissed her temple, "If you insist," he whispered in her ear.

"I do," she grinned up at him, reaching an arm up to wipe away the sweat on her brow. "Can you get me some ice water?"

"Only if I am allowed to leave," he smiled down at her, rising from his spot as he spoke. The glare she gave him for his comment made him happy he had chosen to act before she responded, and he went over to a bag they had brought to dig out an empty water bottle and a small towel. "I will be right back," he nodded to her and slipped out of the small private room to go to the hospital's cafeteria.

Sousuke was sure to hurry, though he did alert one of the maternity nurses to his wife's situation on his way back in. A while yet or not, he wanted to be sure that someone was there when needed. Opening the door, he looked on the bed to see an angry Kaname glaring at him, and he blinked at her expression, tentatively walking over to her, "Kaname?"

"Don't get smart with me," she growled, reaching out her hand for the bottle and snatching it from him once it was in reach. He nodded apologetically, settling back into his chair and taking the towel he had soaked, wiping gently at her brow, cheeks, and neck. Sighing happily, she looked up at him and settled the bottle into her lap, eyes fluttering closed and a small moan passing her lips, "That feels heavenly."

"I'm glad," he pulled away slightly, cocking his head to the side. "Is there anything else I can do for you?"

Glancing over at him, she chewed on her lip thoughtfully and nodded, "Could you give me a massage?"

"Certainly," he set the towel and bottle aside, helping her into a sitting position before getting to work. She groaned, squeezing her eyes shut and resting her hand on her stomach as another contraction hit her. He rested a hand on her shoulder to steady her, looking at her with concern. "Are you all right?"

"Do I look all right to you?" she muttered in a strained voice. He reached for the damp towel again swiping it gently along the back of her neck. After a few moments it passed, and she leaned against him tiredly, "Sorry."

He smiled and wrapped his arms gently around her, "It's all right." Burrowing his face into her hair, he took in a deep breath, stroking her hair for several moments before she growled at him again, ordering him to get to that massage he promised. Hastily obeying the order, he slipped his hands into the loosely opened back of the hospital gown, running his thumbs along her back in a way that had her nearly purring in his hands.

They got up and walked around for a bit after her midwife came in to sit with her, the three of them wandering up to the roof for some fresh air. When the contractions got too close together they returned to the room and got everything together to prepare for the birth. Offering an epidural last minute, though she had already said she refused, Kaname shook her head to Sousuke's chagrin. "Kaname… you're already in this much pain, are you sure?"

Glaring up at him, she gave him a scathing retort, "You'll be the one in pain if you try to decide what's good for me, got it soldier?!"

"U-Understood," he frowned as he snapped into a salute, a sign that his nerves were getting to him. It had been a long time since he had gone into military mode in a civilian situation. It did not seem to bother her however; actually it looked to have the opposite of the usual effect. She nodded in satisfaction, reaching out for the hand glued to his thigh, squeezing it tightly and pushing her head back into the pillows as another wave of pain crashed over her.

For Sousuke, the next few hours were the most stressful in his life. It was worse than trench warfare! Kaname's infamous temper reached new heights, and it seemed that the only next logical step would be that she would shout at him for daring to breathe. For Kaname it was not much different, though it went smoothly at the very least. When she realized it was going to be an early birth, she did not have high hopes for it going well. The pain was intense, but not unbearable. Sousuke's calming voice, his cool hands on her face and shoulders as he eased her best he knew how, helped her fight past the pain, easing her labor. She knew she was being unkind to him, but her patience was never the best and pain always made her short. She would apologize later.

Maybe.

When all was said and done, Kaname lay back in the bed with sweat pouring off of her, panting for air. With heavy-lidded eyes, she watched as her daughter was handed off to a completely dumb-stricken Sousuke. She could hardly hear over the rushing blood in her ears, though she had made out the distinctive high-pitch squall of an infant through her haze, a tired smile gracing her stressed features.

Swallowing thickly, Sousuke looked down at the baby in his arms, blinking rapidly in complete disbelief. Nothing had prepared him for the moment he held his child who calmed in his hold to look up at him with wide pale… purple? eyes. He had a moment of confusion before recalling something he had read, realizing that given the color she would likely in a few weeks share his steely gaze.

She reached up a tiny hand, and he unconsciously shifted her closer to his face, a shock running through his body he felt a surprisingly strong slap on his cheek. The little girl left her hand there, fingers digging into his cheek as she giggled up at him. For the first time that he could recall he felt tears run down his cheeks, and he bit his lip, staring down at Shizuko in absolute wonder. How could this little infant have such a profound impact on him so immediately? It had him completely stumped. He liked to be in control of his emotions, and he thought that his control was endangered enough by being around Kaname.

He had already lost the battle to this little one.

Shizuko gurgled happily at him as though she knew, and he nodded in recognition of her victory and pressed a tender kiss to the top of her head. The midwife smiled at him, gently reminding him that she needed to be bathed. Snapped out of his trance, he followed her instructions, wrapping his daughter in a blanket and bringing her over to Kaname, who was watching him intently through her exhaustion. Carefully, he slipped Shizuko into the crook of his wife's arm, softly stroking the sleepy infant's cheek and then Kaname's.

He was completely powerless against the renewed flow of tears as he watched mother and daughter sleep together on that bed. It was not a moment he was likely ever to forget, and should he ever get called out to battle again he knew it was this memory he would think back to as his reminder of why he had to fight and live.

Arm wrapped around Kaname's waist, Shizuko secured in her arms, Sousuke looked at the front of his family's house, staring at the nameplate.

SAGARA

SOUSUKE
KANAME
SHIZUKO

A sense of warmth and belonging flooded over him, rudely interrupted by a sharp pain in his ribs. Looking down to see Kaname shooting him an irritate glare, elbow firmly buried under his ribs, he nodded, slipping his hand to rest on the small of her back as they walked to enter the house. As he unlocked the door, he spared another glance to the nameplate, blinking. He really did wonder what Kaname might think about adding another name there. As he turned to let her in, seeing the tender expression on her face as she cooed at their daughter, twitching a finger in front of Shizuko's face, he smiled.

She just might not mind at all.

Kalinin sat at his desk, leaning back and sipping a cup of coffee. He glanced down at a curious set of papers in front of him, and wondered exactly what it was he should do with them. He knew what it was he wanted, but would it be right to do it just then? Sagara was busy with his wife and child as well as his relatively new job, and it might be better to wait to give him this news. Still, though, perhaps he would prefer to hear sooner, rather than later, and he could choose when to act, if at all, on his own.

He held the cup just under his face, closing his eyes and taking in a deep breath of the strong brew. He thought back to a conversation he had at a Christmas just a couple years back, when Sagara had sat at his kitchen table in his quarters on base. The young man often visited him in the morning when living on Merida, before Kaname would wake up, and would drink a cup of coffee with him and discuss the news or some such. That particular morning Sagara had told him something he was not expecting to hear.

Sagara sat at the table, a content smile on his face. The relaxed expression was becoming far more common for the young soldier, and Kalinin was unsure of how he felt about it. Sagara had been so stoic for so long, the change was somewhat odd. Not odd, really, when he thought about it, but unexpected. Sagara as a baby had been just as full of sense as he was now, but he had been more human back then. He had thought that the life Sagara had been forced into when he failed to find any of his relatives had changed him forever. Ever since he had been exposed to Chidori, however, he seemed to be growing in ways he was never allowed before.

"Kalinin, there's something I'd like to share with you," he still had that smile as he raised the cup to his lips and took a long sip. Kalinin had bowed his head, indicating him to go on. Sagara set the cup down and closed his eyes, an expression of tranquility looking so alien on his face. "Kaname is expecting. I'm going to be a father."

His usually unshakable persona had been shaken. He nearly dropped his own cup, spilling the hot liquid on his pants and he had to bite back a curse at the burns. Sagara had been concerned, asked if everything was all right, and settled back down immediately when he was assured it was fine. It was unusual to see Kalinin react to something with anything but calm and cool calculation, but of the people that knew him at all these days, Sagara was the only one who had seen his more startled reactions.

He remembered the first time that boy had pointed a gun at him. When Sagara was just four years old, Kalinin had made a promise to protect the child. Then that child, who he thought would be given a good life either returned to his family in Japan or adopted into a loving home, appeared again before him, standing in the shadow of an Arm Slave and firing on him. Now that child was having a child.

More composed, he took a sip of his coffee then lowered the cup thoughtfully.

"Congratulations, Sagara."

"Thank you, sir," for Sagara the expression could only be described as beaming. To anyone that did not know him, they would think that Kalinin's approval had meant nothing. That was not true, however. Kalinin's opinion meant a lot to Sagara.

"If I might ask, what do you intend to do? Chidori does not strike me as the kind of girl who would be willing to raise a child here."

Sagara had sighed and nodded, a far more serious expression graced his features now, "This is very true, sir. I made her a promise, but I'm still trying to figure out how I may honor it."

Kalinin thought about that. Knowing Sagara as he did, he had a feeling he knew what kind of a promise it was. He was in a precarious situation now, he felt. The warmness he had felt for "Sousuke-kun," the young boy that called him "An-ojisan," warred with the feelings of his predicament.

"I promised her that I would make it safe for her and the child. That means I need to eliminate the threat of Amalgam. I know I can't get rid of every organization that would be after her abilities, but Amalgam is by and far the most dangerous. I can handle anyone else that comes after her," he growled low in his throat, as if daring those people to. "But Amalgam has far superior technology and intelligence."

Kalinin closed his eyes and sipped at his coffee again, thinking hard about everything. He had been in secret communication with Amalgam for a year, having met with Leonard Testarossa last Christmas. He was the reason the decoy base in Russia had been discovered, and he had warred with his guilt when Sagara almost died. Now he was faced with the choice again. It was so much more personal now though.

Betraying Mithril was one thing. He did not mind leaving behind the organization as a whole, he agreed with Leonard's goals more than with Mithril's. It was betraying Sagara that made things difficult, because of his promises. He could remember the innocent boy asking him where his mother was, if she had died. Now that child was having a child. Could he risk taking the unborn child's father away?

"What do you intend to do about it?"

Sagara had sighed and shook his head, looking almost defeated. "I don't know. That's the problem. If there is any intelligence on them Mithril won't tell me, of course. I've tried my own contacts, but if they know, they're not talking. I can't go out on a manhunt as much as I would love to in this situation. I have to stay close to Kaname, if I left her now for any reason, I don't believe she would come through in one piece. If I left, I can't say that I would either," he meant the last more literally, taking a sip of his coffee deep in thought. If he left, the dangers would be high, that much was painfully obvious.

Sagara had been made officially aware of the ARX-8 recently, and Kalinin wondered if he had plans to take the machine if he did find something. He would not be surprised, honestly, and would probably help Sagara if he had. One thing he had kept from Amalgam was the existence of the Fairy Feather and the new Arm Slave in general. He had not been made aware of it until after Sagara's near death, and his guilt had kept him from mentioning anything to the other side.

Kalinin nodded to him, finishing his coffee off with a small sigh. "I will see what I can find to help you, Sagara."

He looked relieved and nodded, setting his own empty cup down. "Thank you, Kalinin. I appreciate anything you can tell me."

After that, Sagara had excused himself and returned to his wife, though they weren't married then. He always tried to be back before she would wake up, and he usually succeeded. It was only five thirty in the morning, after all. They were early risers. Kalinin had spent some time working through everything, sorting through his divided loyalties.

Eventually, he had decided it was the oldest promise he should keep. He would protect Sagara and his family. The information on Amalgam's bases was anonymously handed over to the Intelligence Division, who confirmed the details, then it was handed down to Operations, and Kalinin had even helped in the attack plans. He had felt good about his decision.

When he had seen Sagara's daughter for the first time, he knew he had done the right thing by the young couple and the small baby. Watching that young girl growing up was a joy, and watching her father develop along with her was a treat he had never thought to know. Sagara was like a child to him, regardless of his refusal to allow Kalinin to adopt him a decade past. With his pregnant wife and unborn child taken from him, there was no possible way he could inflict such a pain on the young man that gave him a reason to live.

Gulping down the last of the contents of his cup, setting the empty mug onto his desk, he picked up the papers again. Nodding, he put them into an envelope and reached for the phone. It looked like he would be paying the young Sagara family a visit sooner than planned.

Sousuke deserved to know he had more family than just his wife and daughter.

END.

AN: Well, I finally finished. Phew. The last chapter came out shorter than I expected so I merged it with the epilogue I actually wrote months ago (though I had to do some editing to make it fit since I changed some things). Obviously, this is my set-up for the sequel, but I cannot say exactly when it is that will start. I need a break from this storyline, but I do promise I will come back to it.

Thank you to everyone that read this through, to everyone that reviewed, and the friends I've made. This is by and far the most satisfying thing I've ever written, and while it was hard to get the way I wanted in many parts, on the whole I am quite satisfied. I apologize for the delays in updating the past few months, I never wanted to have so much as a week between my posts, let alone entire months, but RL got the better of me. Things have calmed down for the most part, so hopefully it will not be too long before I am able to write more.

(As a note, I intend for the sequel to be T-rated, don't expect any citrus from it)