Xenoblade Chronicles 2: The New Future

Chapter 24: Kairos

Image obtained from ruizhealytimes.com

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The day began differently. It was very cold for some reason and the air felt heavy.
My mood did not cooperate and there was this feeling of defeat and acceptance at the same time. I was defeated by fate, because I was less than twenty four hours away to face my destiny. I already said goodbye to those who I cared the most; specially her.
And acceptance, because what happened put at easy my heart... But it also awoke new negative feelings inside me.

The air was very cold and the only thing that kept me warm were the blankets and her.
I could not sleep at all, and I wanted to consolidate some hours before moving on.

My eyes felt heavy and I did not wanted to wake up, but a sudden cold breeze hit my exposed shoulder and that forced me to come conscious once again.

"Hhmmmrrrrgh..." I groaned as I moved slightly and then pulled the blankets; always with my eyes closed.

However, I suddenly hit something with my hand. Then I remembered that I slept with Mythra, holding her between my arms.

"Hmmmrgh!" She groaned as well.

Then I realized I woke her up as well.

I pulled the blankets and accommodated them in a way that her upper body and my upper body, including shoulders, were cobered. However, I left her head exposed, so she could breathe.

Once I finished that, I hugged Mythra again and I began to caress her hair with soft and slow strokes with my left hand.

I did not want to move to avoid waking her up even more, and I didn't want to get up because I didn't have the energy to do so.
The day felt gloomy, to say the least; I had no motivation to do anything at all, I just wanted to keep sleeping on my bed with her by my side.

Yesterday hit me hard and now I was living the emotional consequences of my actions. It wasn't something pleasant.

I did not want to leave her side. I just wanted to enjoy being this close with her. This unique experience felt amazing after realizing how much she cared about me.

Suddenly, I gave her a kiss on her forehead. However, she didn't react to it - presumably she was already asleep again.

"... N... Mm...re..." She mumbled.

I didn't understand what she meant by that, so I just froze and remained still. Then I felt she slightly rose her head and came closer.

"... More..." She mumbled again but I understood what she wanted after I felt such gesture.

Then I gave her a few more soft kisses on her forehead and I pulled her body closer to me.

I didn't have any energy to vocalize something, but somehow I managed to find enough air to do so.

"Do you mind?" I asked her after pulling her towards me.

She softly shook her head a few seconds after I asked her.

I wanted to make sure if she was okay with the physical touch; I didn't want to push her boundaries with my actions.

Moments passed and I couldn't fall asleep again. I just had my eyes closed. I was feeling tired but not sleepy, so I decided to slightly open my eyes and I saw the dim sun rays going through our curtains.

Currently, the only light source we had was Mythra's core crystal and the faint light coming through our window. The light was insufficient to be able to differentiate shapes, but it was enough to see shadows. Mythra's core crystal, on the other hand, it was glowing faintly as well. It didn't hurt my eyes or bothered me at all.