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It was a cold winter evening and Asuna sat alone in her living room on the sofa. She looked outside the window and was wondering if it's going to snow tonight. On one hand, she would love that, but on the other hand, the clouds might be blocking the view of the night sky.
Today was a special occasion after all: the Star Festival. Legends say that on this very day many eons ago, the deities granted humanity the wish to see what's beyond the clouds and so it was the first time the stars could be seen from the earth.
This event started the annual tradition to put lights around the towns and that's what she and her husband planned to look at tonight.
The woman turned her head to the clock hanging on the wall. He was late, which wasn't really like him, especially not when it came to spending time with her.
She impatiently tapped with her right fingers on the armrest, sighed, and gently stroked her belly, which made her smile brightly.
"Your father really lets us wait tonight, huh?"
Then she heard some footsteps and chatting from the hallway. The door opened and the long awaited person finally entered.
"Sorry I kept you waiting, my love." he apologized.
"Kirito, it's not nice of you to let me sit here alone and not telling me where you are..." she pouted and stood up.
"Well, I was just-" he began but stopped when he took a closer look at his wife.
Asuna wore her long, dark red dress with a grey collar, which could be mistaken for fur from the distance but was actually made of dragon feathers which the creatures lost naturally; she wouldn't wear something a living being had to suffer for. Over the dress, she had put on her black long coat she got from him two years ago. Her long chestnut colored hair was tied to a simple braid and hung over her shoulder. And to top it off, she now tilted her head in an adorable manner when she noticed his gaze.
"Do... I have something on my face?" she asked confused.
"B-beautiful eyes, a cute nose, i-irresistible lips, -"
"That's not what I mean, you dork! You were staring and I wondered if something is wrong with my look!" the woman said and crossed her arms.
"Oh no, nothing's wrong! You're gorgeous as always!" Kirito answered her immediately and stepped closer to her to put his hands on her shoulders.
His wife giggled flustered at him. "You know, I was surprised that the dress still fits since I'm far from being as slender as last winter. But..." She looked down her body embarrassed. "But I'm afraid I won't be able to button up the coat anymore."
He just slowly shook his head. "Don't worry, it's only natural, you're six months pregnant after all." Then he hugged her. "Also, I promise to keep you warm outside. Come on, let's go."
Asuna nodded, pecked his cheek, took his hand, and the couple went out of the room.
Contrary to her expectation, her husband turned around a different corner and they were now on a way upstairs, not downstairs.
"Ehm, Kirito, you're fully aware that this is not the way to the main entrance, right?"
"Yes, indeed I am."
"But why are we-"
Suddenly, the two came to a stop in front of the elevator to the rooftop terrace. Their guards were already waiting there.
"My prince, my princess, everything is prepared. We're going to operate the elevator for you." Drewbert said.
"Thank you two so much for your help. When your work here is done, you're dismissed, so you can go to the city and look at the light decorations if you want." Kirito replied with a thankful smile.
"Enjoy your evening!" Big spoke up as the two guards bowed at them.
After a short time, the royal couple arrived at the top floor of the palace and Asuna was about to leave the elevator, but her husband stopped her.
"Before we go outside, would you close your eyes?" he requested.
"Fine, but don't scare me or try anything funny!" she answered sternly and did as he pleased.
The man wrapped his arm around hers and guided her to the middle of the terrace. She moved a bit closer to him as the cold slowly reached her but luckily it wasn't too bad; she probably could stay here with him for awhile... or whatever his mysterious plan was.
"Okay, you can open your eyes now." Kirito whispered to her.
And so the woman did that, and her eyes widened at the sight around her. She began moving around the place in awe.
The small pine trees, which were growing in plant pots, were decorated with lights. There were even lights wrapped around the whole balustrade. On a closer look, she noticed that they were in the shape of stars. She turned her head upwards and could spot some stars which weren't hidden behind the clouds. And finally her gaze met with the other person who was here, the one who prepared all this for her, the brightest star of her life.
"Do you remember the night when we kissed for the first time?" he asked and closed the distance between them.
"Of course I do. How could I forget that?" she replied with a slightly quivering voice.
"After you left, I was standing at this very place and looked up to the sky. I saw some shooting stars and-"
"And you made a wish because you're a hopeless romantic." she interrupted with a cute smirk on her face.
The prince returned her smile and wrapped his hands around hers to keep them warm.
"First I wanted to wish that you would stay here with me. Then I changed it to that we would kiss one more time. But since both sounded pretty egoistic, I ultimately decided to something else: I wished for you to be happy."
Small tears formed in the corner of her eyes and she buried her face on his shoulder. Usually, she would playfully groan at his adorable cheesiness, but somehow it was too much for her at that moment; she felt more like crying. Maybe it was because of her current hormonal state.
"I'm so sorry, Asuna! I really don't want to make you cry, I just-"
But he couldn't finish his sentence because his lips were sealed with her soft and slightly trembling ones. He immediately put his arms around her and returned the kiss.
After they parted again, she looked him deep into his eyes as he gently wiped the little tears from her cheek. Then he lead her to the balustrade and the couple looked down to the royal city where many lights greeted them.
"The citizens of Regalia really outdid themselves this year..." Asuna mumbled and put her head on her husband's shoulder, "even if we're not in town tonight, we should let them know that we liked what they did."
"We will find a way to tell them." he answered and gave her a little peck on her head.
The two stood there for a while in silence, one arm around each other's shoulders and the other hands met on her belly, like they were protecting their unborn child from the cold.
"Kirito... even without a shooting star... let's make a wish... and this time... together..." she whispered to him and he nodded with a smile.
They changed their position that they were opposite of each other, hands intertwined, the princess took a step closer to him so that her swollen belly touched his body and they could easily press their foreheads against each other's, and they closed their eyes. Despite the low temperature and the beginning snowfall, they didn't feel cold, not even a bit. They could stay like this the whole night.
The next year...
The rooftop terrace was shining thanks to all the star-shaped lights hanging on the trees and the balustrade. And the city at the bottom of the palace wasn't any different.
Three pairs of eyes were looking around and enjoyed the view from up here.
"It's just as beautiful as last year, don't you think?" Kirito wondered.
He turned to his wife, who was standing a little bit away from him next to one of the small pine trees. She held their infant daughter, who was wrapped in a thick blanket so only her face peeked out of it, in her arms and showed her the nicely decorated tree.
"Well, maybe it's more beautiful than last year..." he mumbled to himself and walked towards his family with a big smile on his face.
"Hm? Did you say something?" Asuna asked.
"Just something cheesy."
She playfully groaned at him. "I should have known. But at least you realized it yourself." Then she started giggling, which was immediately followed by a sweet giggle of the little girl in her arms.
"Oh, so you find that funny too, little one?" the prince remarked with a smirk and poked her nose with the tip of his index finger very gently. Which earned him another giggle from her.
"You two are adorable, do you know that?" Asuna spoke up and first pecked her daughter's forehead and afterwards turned to her husband and gave him a lovely kiss.
While they were kissing, the royal couple didn't notice that the first snowflakes of the night slowly floated down from the sky, with one precisely landing on the nose of their baby which made her sneeze. And interrupted them.
"Bless you, my little angel!" Kirito said and wiped the bit of snow from her face.
"Yui, that's called snow! It's like rain but when it's cold outside, the water freezes and turns into snow." Asuna explained, "When you're older, we're going to build a snowman and have a snowball fight and throw some snowballs at your father!"
He pouted at that. And she laughed at him teasingly.
"Well, my love, you have to admit that you're an easy target with your black clothing in the white snow!"
"But don't you think I won't defend myself and fight back!" the man replied with a confident grin.
She gave him a determined look. "Don't worry, we'll be prepared for that!"
Kirito wrapped his arms around the two and they began to slowly sway back and forth until Yui fell asleep in her mother's arms and engulfed in her parent's warmth.
The princess looked him deep in his eyes and he returned this loving gaze. They shared another sweet kiss while the snowflakes kept falling and the lights and stars kept shining around them.
Last year's wish came true.