Sincerely..

Chapter 25 : her return

Kazuto POV

Her fingers continued to run along the sides of my face tenderly. She furrowed her eyebrows and parted her lips as she tried to speak again but I shook my head lightly, placing my finger on her lips. "Don't speak, you've been down for a while."

Her eyes filled with sadness. She stared at me, remorse and shame swirling around her, clouding the entire room.

"Please.. please don't feel sad. You woke up that's all I care about."

"what.. what happened?"

Of course my stubborn wife is going to talk despite me telling her she shouldn't.

"You went through some difficulty during labor, you've been asleep for almost three weeks now." Her eyes widened in shock after I spoke. She took a few moments to gather her thoughts. Just looking at her I could see the number of questions running around in her head but one seemed to stand out more than the rest.

She looked away slightly while sliding her hands off of my cheeks, "M-My letter?"

I sighed. I really didn't expect that to be the first thing she asks. The one thing I wanted to forget about completely. "I read it. I read the piece of crap you decided to write to me."

She tensed and continued to stare at the wall beside us, curling her bottom lip between her teeth as her eyes began to water.

I held her chin between my index finger and thumb and turned her face to look at mine.

"I'm not angry with you for writing it. I'm hurt to say the least. You could've spoken to me but instead you just.. you told me to kill you, Asuna. How was I supposed to do that? You wanted me to watch you die." I asked with genuine curiosity and concern in my voice.

She cried softly while I snaked my arms around her torso and rested my forehead against hers. She moved her hands to my back and squeezed as tightly as she could've while she continued to sob.

"But I don't care about that anymore because you're awake and you're right here in my arms. I love you. I love you so much."

"I..I-I'm so sorry."

"Don't apologize. I love you. God I love you." I let out a sigh mixed in with a laugh full of relief, "I love you. I love you. I love you."

I kissed her cheeks continuously, kissing away the tears and sadness that that coated her pale skin. She giggled as I continued to attack her face until that soft, familiar yawn interrupted us both.

Asuna's eyes widened in shock, her head turning toward the glass box she didn't seem to notice before. I watched as her entire demeanor calm and her face fell in relief.

"Is that..?"

"Our daughter."

She covered her mouth with her hand, her eyes filling with water once more. She chuckled and reached toward Aiko as she slept peacefully, unaware of the complete joy filling the room.

"You were right." Asuna smiled, her voice still small and weak.

"I told you." I chuckled and kissed her cheek. "I um.. I named her."

"You did?" Her face lit up excitedly. I nodded with a soft smile touching my lips.

"Yeah.. Aiko."

"It's beautiful.. she's beautiful."

We both turned our attention back to the little panda onesie that laid still in the bunch of blankets.

"Kirito, I wanna hold her."