"I wasn't sure you would want to see these for a little while. After all the things that happened in that game, I figured you would just kind of want to forget about it.", Asuna said.
I looked at her. She was smiling, but her eyes were starting to tear up.
"No. I may not have liked it at first, but after I met you, it became the best mistake- no, the best choice- I had ever made. It led me to you.", I said, putting my arm around her shoulder and rubbing her back.
She nodded and then hugged me.
"Thank you for saving me. You're like my knight in shining armor.", she said.
I hugged her back.
"Anything for my princess.", I said back.
We both laughed then went back to looking through the memory box. After a while, we had only four or five photos left. I picked up one of them and immediately recognized the girls who were smiling up at me in the picture.
The purple haired girl, holding up a peace sign along side of Asuna, who was also holding up a peace sign. I smiled and put the photo down in the stack. It had been two years since Konno Yuuki passed away. Asuna still got emotional at the mention of her. They'd had a lot of good times together and shared a bond that I may never understand.
Asuna picked up the photo that I'd just set down. Some part of me wanted to grab it out of her hand and not let her look at it. I didn't want to see her sad again. Although, this time, she just smiled and touched the photo with her finger where Konno's hand was.
Asuna put the photo down and then picked up the next one. I could see the sadness in her eyes, but she did nothing else to show it as she looked at the next picture. This one was a picture of Yui and Thea on Christmas, wearing their dresses.
Asuna smiled and touched her necklace.
"Do you remember the look on Thea's face when she opened up her dress? She looked like she didn't know what to think. It was like she'd never received anything before. I thought she was sad at first, but then she smiled like I'd never seen her smile before.", Asuna said.
I smiled.
"Yeah. It's funny. She looks nothing like us, and she's nothing but data on a server, yet we've come to love her and Yui like they were born in the real world.", I said.
"Yeah. You know, we know what Yui was created for, but we have no idea why Thea was made. She said that she'd been with that dragon since she was a baby, but I don't know. She doesn't seem to remember much from when she was little, so it's possible that she was created for a purpose, but she never found that purpose.", Asuna said.
I thought about this. It was highly unusual for somebody to just create an AI, then do nothing with her. I hadn't thought about it lately, but initially I had found it really strange.
"I wonder if she was part of a legend that we didn't know about.", Asuna said.
I hadn't considered that possibility. It was definitely possible, though. For all we knew, she could be like Heathcliff. This thought put me on edge. I didn't want to believe it, but it was definitely possible that she wasn't who she said she was.
I thought about this for a minute, though. If she was the creator of the game, why would she be in it 24/7. Unless she was using a medicuboid, which wasn't likely, she would have to log off eventually. Plus, Yui had confirmed that she wasn't a player. Yui had access to all of the game's information. If she wanted to, she could even execute a forced logout on any player she'd met.
"I don't know.", I said.
"Yeah, I guess we should just let it unfold and take it one day at a time.", Asuna said.
I nodded and smiled at her. This would bother me until I figured it out. I felt like I needed to know in order to be satisfied.
Asuna picked up the photos and trinkets and began putting them back in the box. I helped her and picked up some of the ones that were scattered across the bed. We closed the box and Asuna put it back in her backpack.
"I'm going to go out on the patio and sit down and read. You wanna come with me?", I said.
Asuna smiled and nodded. I picked my book up out of the drawer in the nightstand beside the bed, then got up and waited for Asuna to get her book. She got it off the nightstand on her side, then followed me out onto the patio. I sat down one of the big, comfy chairs and opened up my book. Asuna did the same and we sat there and read. I was reading a book about the guy who had created Nintendo.
Asuna was reading a fiction series that I'd never read, but I'd heard a lot about it. A lot of our friends had read it and loved it, but I'd never felt the urge to read it. I wasn't a fiction person like Asuna was. I liked biographies and nonfiction books.
We sat and read for a little while before Asuna put her book down and crawled into my lap. I smiled and let her sit there. She cuddled up and put her head on my chest. I continued reading my book, propping it on her side while she looked out at the scenery. We could see the ocean and some of the beach.
Eventually, Asuna's breathing got really even and deep. I looked down at her to find her asleep. I smiled and kissed her head. She didn't stir as I put my book down and wrapped my arms around her. I pulled one of my knees up to keep her from falling off.
I held her for quite a while and just listened to the sound of her breathing. It wasn't long before I felt my eyelids getting heavy. I laid my head back on the chair and let sleep take over.
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Yo! So how did you like this chapter? I hope that you loved it. I know that it was a whole lot shorter than what I usually write, but considering other book chapters, it wasn't that bad. I'm sorry it took me so long to update. My school has been assigning mountains of homework for me to do, plus I was out for a couple of days with the flu, so I was really behind. I haven't had that much time to write.
What do you think about the situation with Thea? Do you think she is part of a myth? Is she more than that? What will happen? This is where I decided to put in a side plot. Also, we still don't know why Asuna found that legendary sword. Spoiler alert, they are the same plot.
Anyway, Stay spicy, my beautiful magic tacos! I loves you ALL!! I'll talk to you in the next chapter! BYEES!
-Scarlet
Lazy day
Start from the beginning
