Work Text:
Incoming call…
Sakura hesitates before answering. Usually Hina messages her first if she wants to do a video call, giving Sakura time to recenter and get out of her own head. Needless to say, she’s not ready for any sort of call, but at the same time, she can’t just ignore the fact that Hina is calling her. What if it’s an emergency? The thought is all she needs to click accept.
Her computer screen lights up with Hina’s beaming face.
“Sakuraaaa!” Hina chirps. Her smile is like sunshine, gracing Sakura with its warmth and light. “Hiiiii!”
“Good evening, Hina,” Sakura says, almost immediately cringing at how stiff she sounds. It’s unbefitting of a caregiver, especially when Hina is so very clearly regressed. She clears her throat, trying to go for a slightly lighter tone as she continues, “How are you today?”
Hina hums, her face twisted in a frown. She always has the cutest little pout when she’s little, but even more so when she’s trying to concentrate. “I’m okay, I guess.”
Sakura smirks. An expected response. The chatterbox she is, Hina doesn’t like to talk about her day unless prompted. Her opinions on the best kinds of donuts, however…
“A long day?” Sakura prompts.
“Long week,” Hina corrects. She folds her arms, leaning back into the mountain of pillows behind her with a muted thump. She’s wearing one of her favorite hoodies, the pastel pink one that’s just a size too big, and pulls the collar up around her face. “It’s not fair that work’s so boring.”
If Sakura were there with her, she would’ve already had something new for Hina to fidget with. She has a bad habit of chewing on things, especially shirt collars, and she doesn’t need another tear in that poor battered thing. “Boring as it may be, I’m sure you’re doing an amazing job.”
Hina pauses, her cheeks burning before a shy smile comes to her face. She wiggles her shoulders, falling deeper into the pillows behind her. The energy in her doesn’t dissipate so much as it quells, like a strong wave flattening into a placid sea. “Thank you.”
Excitable as she is, for some reason, Hina loves Sakura’s compliments. Sakura still can’t figure that one out, especially from a girl who describes people as cherries and sundaes and warm blankets on cold nights. Sakura’s words of praise pale in comparison.
“Oh!” Hina suddenly perks up, but only a bit. From the way she keeps sinking back into her bed, this is beginning to look more and more like a goodnight call. “How are you, Sakura?” Hina grins. “See? I remembered my manners!”
“Very good job,” Sakura praises. Her mind goes back to those guides she’s read on how to be a caregiver, that keeping enthusiasm and interest in your voice is one of the most important things in making sure your kiddo felt listened to. If only it didn’t come so unnaturally to her.
Honesty is important. Sakura has never been forthcoming about her feelings, but Hina, especially while regressed, especially when they’re living so far apart, needs to be told in no uncertain terms that she’s loved.
“I’m alright.” Sakura hesitates, trying to drum up the right words. Speaking openly has never been her forte, especially not on the fly. “I’m… better now that I get to talk with you.”
Hina beams, like she’s been given the world just from that little response. “Yay!” The happy wiggles make their triumphant return. “I made Sakura happy.”
Sakura tilts her head. “How old are you right now?”
“This many!” Hina answers, holding up four fingers. It’s the lower end of her headspace, but it does explain some of the less common behaviors.
Sakura chuckles. “I see. Is that why you called me today? Are you feeling too little to be alone?”
Sometimes Hina doesn’t recognize her own behaviors while regressed, and now is clearly one of those times, because the question gives her pause. Sakura almost regrets asking it, seeing how her eyes cloud over with sadness. “…yeah, I think I did.”
“That’s alright. Your feelings aren’t wrong, Hina.”
Hina doesn’t look up, her eyes remaining fixed on something off to her left. “Isn’t it selfish, though? That I just want you to be with me all the time?”
“I don’t think it is. And even if it was, isn’t that what children are supposed to be? Selfish?”
Hina dares a glance up. “Even if I want you here when I’m big too?”
Sakura smiles. So that’s what this is about. “Even then,” she confirms. “Because believe it or not, I like spending all my time with you too.”
Hina pouts at the screen, like she can will Sakura to the other side of the country by sheer force of the puppy dog eyes alone. “I miss you,” she says simply.
It would be harder to say no if she threw a tantrum. Sakura tries not to look too apologetic. “I miss you, too. What should we do next time we see each other?” Sakura asks, hoping it makes for an adequate distraction. “Should we go out for donuts?”
Hina’s eyes go wide. “And ice cream?”
“We can go for ice cream,” Sakura says. “Should we see a movie first?”
Hina thinks for a moment but shakes her head. “Nuh-uh. Movie after. Otherwise I’ll be thinking ’bout donuts the entire time.”
“Good choice.” Sakura has never been one for big displays of emotion, but when Hina says things like that—adorable, sincere, purely Hina things—she just wants to laugh. Laugh and coo and giggle like she never really has before. “Should that be our lunch then?”
“No!” Hina laughs at that. “Silly Sakura! We’re gonna have a picnic, and the donuts and ice cream are for dessert!”
“And what about after the movie?” Sakura finds herself getting more and more into her element. It’s easy for her to prompt Hina, giving Hina back control of the conversation while steering her away from saddening thoughts. It’s what works best for both of them.
“We’ll go for a walk,” Hina decides. “At a really nice park. And then I’ll pick you a lot of flowers and put them in your hair. And maybe we can play hide and seek if there are lots of trees.”
“That sounds very fun. You’ll probably be tired after all that.”
Hina nods, stifling a yawn behind her sleeve. “Mm-hmm. If I get sleepy, will you carry me on your shoulders?”
“But of course.”
Hina snuggles back into the pillows, sinking a little deeper once again. From the angle of the laptop camera, she’s either lying flat on her back or she has one smaller pillow between her back and the mattress. “I like it when you carry me places.”
Yeah, she’s bound to fall asleep any second now.
“Have you brushed your teeth?”
“But it’s so faaaarrrr,” Hina whines. She does look rather cozy, and if Sakura didn’t know Hina had an issue with forgetting to brush her teeth, she probably wouldn’t push the issue.
“If you don’t brush your teeth, I won’t read you a story,” Sakura threatens.
Hina sits bolt upright, as if she couldn’t be more awake, hastily sets aside her laptop, and scurries out of view, presumably to brush her teeth. The thought must not have occurred to her to take the laptop with her.
Sakura takes the opportunity to move to her own bed. It wouldn’t hurt to take an early night herself. Especially since she gets the distinct feeling that Hina’s regression might carry through until the early morning. Luckily, Sakura’s an early riser too, but that also means she can’t afford to stay up as late as she’d planned tonight.
“I’m back!” Hina crashes back into bed, miraculously twisting herself perfectly into the covers in the process. Sakura has spent her entire life training in martial arts, but even she can’t begin to understand how Hina manages that with such ease.
“Welcome back. Have you decided what you want me to read?”
Hina nods. She sticks a single arm out from the twist of blankets to fiddle with the track pad of her laptop.
A couple moments later, a file pops up in Sakura’s direct messages. PDFs of a book series she doesn’t recognize. But clicking through the first installment, it seems rather short. If anything, they can take it slow, working through the books one short chapter at a time.
Hina yawns behind her sleeve again, sinking back into the comfort of her pillows. The only light in her room is from her laptop screen, which casts a dim blue light over her face.
She’s dozing, so Sakura takes a moment just to look at her. The long distance has been hard on both of them, but she can’t deny there’s a special sort of magic to these quiet moments. Maybe it’s the fact they’re connected by technology, that their bond is so fragile but they’re strengthening it together. Either way, it’s special. It’s so special.
And Sakura wouldn’t trade it for the world.