Kazuto's P.O.V.
I set Miles down in his crib as softly and as quietly as I could. The mattress creaked a little, but he didn't stir. I straightened up and crept to the door, waiting for Asuna to put Finley down. When she stood up and tiptoed out of the room, I followed and closed the door.
Asuna stopped outside the door and faced me. I smirked and wrapped my arms around her. She was about to hug me, but I bent down and scooped her up. She almost yelped in surprise but instead gasped. I chuckled softly and started making my way to our room. I opened the door, walked in, then kicked it shut.
Walking over to the bed, I tossed Asuna down on it. She laughed as I fell on top of her and kissed her. When I broke the kiss, I looked down into her eyes and she put a hand on the side of my face, touching the small amount of scruff that I had.
"You ready?", I asked.
"I was born ready.", she said.
I laughed and rolled off of her, crawling over to my side of the bed and picking up my Amusphere from the bedside table. I put it on and then laid down. Asuna did the same, then grabbed my hand, interlocking our fingers.
"Link start!" we said in unison.
My vision went white and colors flooded the scene in front of me. I felt like I was flying through cyberspace until my feet hit solid ground back in the small cottage in Alfheim. I looked around, back in the online world at last.
Asuna materialized beside me, her hand still clasped in mine. I looked over at her and grinned. She was looking around the house at everything morosely. At first, I was confused, but then it struck me like an arrow to the heart. She was remembering Yui and Thea.
I pulled her into a hug, my hand on the back of her head and the other on her back. If I could have felt anything, I would have felt her tears falling on my shoulders.
After a minute or two, Asuna let go and looked at me with a small smile. I smiled back at her.
"Let's go.", I said, taking her hand and leading her towards the front door.
We walked outside into the cool weather. The trees all around us were turning green with the beginnings of Spring. We dawned our wings, then took to the air in the direction of the lake. When we landed, we stood on the muddy banks of the lake and looked out onto the glassy water with the trees surrounding it.
Asuna smiled over at me, then we ran and jumped in. I dove under the freezing cold water and let go of Asuna's hand. When I came up for air, I looked around, but Asuna was nowhere to be seen. I went under again to see if she was still under. I saw a flash of silver in the corner of my eye. I turned to see what it was, but I couldn't see properly under the water.
I swam after it until it landed on the bottom and I picked it up from the bottom of the lake. It was sandy and muddy, but after shaking the muck off, I recognized it immediately. It was the Yggdrasil necklace I'd given Asuna almost two years ago. I pushed off from the bottom and swam back up to the surface.
I got to the top and still no Asuna. I was beginning to get really worried. Had she been dragged under by something? Asuna was able to hold her breath for a long time, but not long enough to stay alive under water. A message popped up in front of me. I clicked on it quickly, hoping it might be Asuna.
WAKE UP! People in the house!
was all it read. I nearly drowned trying to get out of the water fast enough. I quickly logged out and waited to regain control of my body.
My eyes flew open and I sat up in the bed. What I saw sent shivers down my spine and left me gasping for breath from the shock of it all.
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DUN!
DUN!
DUN!
Cliffhanger.
-Scarlet