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The sun began rising over Regalia, the royal city. And in a room of the palace, a certain young man was stirring in his bed.
When the first rays of sunlight entered, he pulled the blanket over his head.
"Please... just five more minutes..." he grumbled quietly.
But then he lowered his hands again, as he came to the conclusion that it's useless to argue with the sun, and he let out a deep sigh. Today, he had to go on an important trip along with his father to learn more about politics and such, which one day will be his duty, after all. So he had to get up anyway, if he didn't want to witness the king's wrath.
The prince turned to his left and his sleepy face immediately became brighter, like the sunrise outside.
There she was. The most beautiful woman in the entire world. His wife was still sleeping peacefully next to him. Her strands of long silky chestnut colored hair framed her delicate face perfectly and her cute nose and lips moved a little bit with every gentle breath she took. And her hands were resting on the bulge covered by her blanket.
The man smiled even more at this wonderful sight. "Soon we will hold you finally in our arms..." he thought and got up.
He changed into his official outfit for today as quietly as possible, took his already packed bag, and went to the door. But before he opened it, he heard a voice.
"Kirito..."
He turned towards the wonderful sound coming from the person still lying in bed.
"Don't you... want to give your poor heavily pregnant wife a kiss before you leave?" Asuna asked sheepishly.
He dropped his bag at once, rushed to her side, kneeled down on the floor, and gently stroked her cheek.
"Of course." the prince answered with a smile and did as his princess pleased, their lips meeting in a lovely kiss. Then he carefully pressed his forehead against hers. But suddenly he moved away again, looking at her concerned. "You feel warm. Are you alright?"
"Yes."
"Are you sure?"
The woman nodded.
"Really?"
She sighed a bit annoyed and rolled her eyes. "Yeah."
"Maybe I should tell my father that I won't join him on the trip-"
Out of a sudden, Asuna grabbed him by the collar of his shirt and glared at him.
"Listen, Prince Dork, when I say I'm fine, I'm fine!" she yelled. "Over the past months, you treated me like I can't care for myself anymore! And I have it up to here with your overprotection!"
"B-but yesterday... after your bath, you couldn't come out of the tub by yourself and-"
"You promised me you won't bring this up ever again!" She pulled him closer, now even angrier. "I swear, if you keep this up, I can't guarantee that you will be a father to one of my children ever again!"
Completely shocked, Kirito's eyes shot wide open, he got out of her grip, stood up, and didn't dare to look at his wife's face, his gaze wandering to her belly instead.
"Then you will look after Mama while I'm gone, okay?" he mumbled, but was still loud enough for her to hear.
If looks could kill, he would have dropped dead right now.
Without turning towards Asuna or saying anything else, the young man picked up his bag again and left the bedroom.
With worry written all over his face, he walked through the living room into the bathroom, getting ready. When that was done, he picked up his longcoat from a chair and his crown from the table and went outside to the hallway, where his guards were already waiting.
"My prince, are you ready for the trip?" Big asked.
But Kirito didn't answer, he just stared into nothingness.
"M-my prince?" Drewbert looked at him concerned.
"Could... you two stay here?"
Confused, the two man shared a look. "Shouldn't at least one of us go with you?"
But the prince shook his head. "I'm afraid that Asuna isn't feeling well but pretends everything is fine... So I want you to keep an eye on her, if something happens... please..."
The guards saluted. "Understood! Count on us!"
Very relieved, Kirito nodded, started to walk down the hallway, but turned around again. "Oh, and tell the kitchen staff that they should make her favorite breakfast for my princess today. They know, what it is."
"I'm on my way!" Big declared and rushed down the stairs towards the kitchen.
"Have a safe travel, my prince." Drewbert said with a bow and he watched him leave.
Right after Kirito went out of their bedroom, Asuna was still fixated on the door. But slowly, her angry expression softened and she sank down on her pillow again.
Her mother had warned her about all the side effects she might had to expect, and luckily she was untroubled by most of them, except for a little bit of morning sickness in the early stages and sometimes slight mood swings.
But recently they became very bad: Either Asuna was so mad at him that he couldn't be far away enough from her, like when she actually shoved him out of their bed when she was fed up with his constant doting on her baby belly, or she was craving for affection that he couldn't be close enough to her, like when she was clinging to his arm and didn't let him leave her side even for a short time.
The princess covered her eyes with her hands and began weeping. She always felt so bad after these extremes, and today was no exception of course. Then she reached for his pillow, which had still some of his warmth left, and hugged it.
"Sorry... I'm so sorry, my dear Kirito..." she mumbled, cuddled it tightly, and cried herself to sleep again.
She was awakened by the knock on the door to their main room when her breakfast arrived.
"Just come in. I'm getting up..." Asuna answered tired, stood up, stretched her arms with a yawn, and put on her cozy and fluffy pink bathrobe over her nightgown.
Surprised, she saw Big putting a tray with food on the table and Drewbert standing at the door.
"What are you two doing here? Aren't you supposed to come along on Kirito's trip?"
"You see, my princess, we were ordered to stay here. Just in case something happens." Drewbert answered.
"And he ordered that they'll make you your favorite breakfast." Big added.
"I see..." She closed her eyes and smiled, but immediately opened them again, a tad embarrassed. "But first, I need to go to the bathroom."
Afterwards the young woman sat down at the dining table and took a closer look at her meal. It was her favorite kind of tea, plus a delicious looking heart-shaped tart with blueberries on top. She put her right elbow on the table and leaned her head on her hand.
"Awww, Kirito..." she sighed and turned her gaze to the - usually not empty - chair next to her. "I swear, the first thing I do when you come back, I'm going to apologize for being so mean to you this morning..."
Asuna finished her very tasty breakfast, poured the rest of the tea into her cup, and stood up to sit down on the more comfortable sofa.
While she was looking outside, she wondered what to do the whole day. Her husband won't be home until late, probably not even returning before midnight, but she really didn't want to spend the whole time just sitting here waiting for him. So she came up with the idea to invite her friends for lunch and dinner and maybe visit each of them at their workplaces.
Content with her plan, she then took the last sip of her drink, stretched her legs and feet, and got up to put the teacup back on the tray.
But when the woman made the first step towards the dining table, she suddenly felt a flash of pain running through her body and her legs gave in. The cup fell on the floor and broke into pieces.
"O-oh no... not... not now... not today... p-please..." she panted and tears began streaming down her cheeks. "Kirito..."
Alarmed by the shattering sound, the two guards stormed into the room. They saw her crying and breathing heavily and kneeling on the floor, her right hand holding tightly onto the sofa's armrest, her left arm around her belly.
"Princess Asuna!" Drewbert yelled and rushed to her, while Big picked up the shards from the ground. "Is everything alright?"
She merely shook her head violently. She just didn't have the strength right now to answer such an obviously stupid question.
Drewbert clenched his teeth and turned to the other guard. "Big, you will let the prince know about that! I'll take the princess down to the doctor's office!"
"But how? He's already-"
"You know where he's going. Let them send a message or something!"
First, Big just blinked confused, but then nodded confident. "Count on me!" he answered, saluted, and ran out of the room.
Drewbert helped Asuna back on her feet, but he noticed that, even if the pain was fading again, she had trouble to stand.
"Can you walk by yourself, my princess?"
She shook her head a little bit embarrassed, while rubbing her teary eyes with her bathrobe's sleeve.
"Then I'll carry you. Only if that's okay, of course."
"H-huh? Why shouldn't it?"
"Well... the prince could be jealous when he hears about that-"
"Don't be silly, Drewbert." She smirked at him, now feeling better again. "Quite the contrary in fact: He would be angry with you if you wouldn't carry me in a situation like this."
Relieved, he carefully picked up the mother-to-be and walked to the door. But she stretched her hand towards the coat hanger.
"Can you give me my coat, please? I want to take it with me..."
"Sure, my princess." the guard replied, albeit not quite sure why she wanted to have it as it was not that cold outside.
And after he handed her the black longcoat, they left and made their way to the doctor's office.
Drewbert couldn't hide a little smile. "That reminds me so much of the day the prince was born..."
"Why?" Asuna raised her eyes curiously.
"Big and me were quite new soldiers back then and while we were patrolling the palace at night, we coincidentally found the queen in one of the hallways. She was close to giving birth and we brought her to the doctor as fast as we could. Luckily, we were on time."
"That's wonderful..." she said and hugged her coat tightly. "She made you Kirito's guards because of that, right?"
"Exactly."
She wanted to speak up, but just groaned as the pain returned.
"Don't worry, my princess, we're almost there."
Meanwhile, Big arrived at the stables where they kept their dragons. He was greeted by a young woman with brown hair, who was holding a bluish egg in her arms.
"Oh, hello, Big. Can I help you?"
"Lady Silica, I need our fastest dragon, which can carry two people! Right now!" he answered in haste.
After a quick moment of thinking, she mumbled: "Oh, well, I don't know if she's fine with working today..." And then pointed at the object she carried. "You see, her egg is probably about to hatch and-"
"Yeah, Princess Asuna's too." the guard quickly responded, much to Silica's confusion, but immediately shook his head. "I mean, her baby is coming."
She widened her eyes from excitement. "Oh, really?"
"Yes. And I need to bring the prince back here. As soon as possible!"
"I see. I'll do what I can!" the young woman declared and went into the stable.
Big could hear a roar coming out from the wooden building. And he hoped it was a yes. Then the huge door opened and she came out again with a leash and saddle in hand, followed by a middle-sized dark blue feathered dragon. They prepared everything necessary for the flight and before he went on the dragon's back, Silica tapped on his shoulder.
"Please return safely. You two together with the prince, you hear?"
At the same time, Drewbert and Asuna arrived at their destination. He knocked on the door and opened it without waiting for an answer.
"Doctor Aki, we have an emergency!"
A middle-aged woman with brown hair tied to a bun and dressed in a white lab coat was sitting at her desk, looked up from a book, and slid her glasses up her nose. Her eyes widened when she saw who was carried by the man.
"Oh, someone wants to be born!" she declared and clapped her hands together delighted.
Drewbert set the princess down on her feet again and she slowly walked into the room.
"Did your water break already?" the doctor asked.
"Not yet, but it's probably only a matter of time..."
"I see. Then let's get you out of your fine clothes. We don't want to get them dirty, right?" She stood up from her chair. "You leave now, Drewbert. I'll take over from here."
"Of course." He bowed down and turned to Asuna. "I'll wait outside for Big's return. I hope everything goes well, my princess."
"Thank you for everything, Drewbert." She answered with a nervous smile.
Meanwhile, in the westernmost city of the kingdom, far away from the royal palace in Regalia, a group of people walked over the town hall square.
Among them were the king and his son, both in their official outfits with crown and all. But the younger man was staring at the ground, not really listening to what the mayor said. His mind was still focused on his home, and especially what happened this morning. His poor wife being all alone-
Suddenly, he felt someone elbowing him. "Kirito, pay attention, will you?" the older man whispered discreetly, yet firmly.
"S-sorry..."
He turned his head forward and tried to follow the conversation. And failed.
Later, they were entering the town hall to have lunch. So they all sat down at the huge table in the dining room. The food caught his attention again, but that faded quickly when he realized that the food at home tasted way better.
His father leaned over to him. "I don't know... something is not right..." he whispered. "Did they forget adding spices?"
Kirito just shrugged. "Asuna could probably write a whole list of how to improve this."
"True, true."
The king showed a genuine smile, surprising his son. He rarely saw him smiling like that on official occasions. And he had no idea that his father was also that fond of his wife's cooking. So maybe Kirito's love for her wasn't deceiving his taste buds after all. Well, not completely, at least.
The mayor raised her eyebrows when she noticed their conversation, but before she could say anything, they heard something outside, followed by someone coming into the room.
"Miss Mayor, a dragon just landed on the town square! But it's not a mail dragon!"
"Your Majesty, can you explain that?" one of her secretaries asked sternly.
"No, I don't think I-"
But the prince stood up and ran. It had to be some kind of premonition. He just knew it was something concerning him. Something very important.
"Kirito! Wait!" the king yelled and followed him, the mayor and her staff close behind.
Outside the building, a certain man climbed from the dragon's back and looked around.
"Big! What are you doing here?" a male voice shouted from afar, catching his attention.
"My prince, your Majesty! I apologize for interrupting your congress here, but it's an emergency!" the guard told them.
"Is something wrong with Asuna?" Kirito asked scared.
"The baby is coming."
"WHAT!?" His eyes shot wide open and he turned to the older man next to him. "Please, Father, I need to go! I know this here is important but-"
But the king just held him by his shoulders, not mad at all, surprisingly encouraging even. "It's okay, my son. I wasn't there when you were born, and that's something I still regret to this very day. So now go to your wife. She probably wants you by her side as well."
"Thank you, Father!" He immediately walked towards the dragon. "Let's go, Big! I don't want to let her be alone with this any longer!"
His guard nodded and both climbed on the creature's back. They quickly lifted off into the sky, the royal palace as their destination.
Back in the doctor's office, Asuna was lying on a bed, now wearing a simple white hospital gown, one hand resting on her belly, the other longingly stroking the black coat she had placed under her head.
She had no idea how long she was here already. There was no clock in her sight and she fell asleep several times by now, the pain coming and fading every so often. Sometimes her doctor came in, mumbled something, asking how she was feeling if she was awake at that moment, and left again.
But behind the door, the princess could clearly make out that Aki was talking with one of the nurses about the possibility that they might had to cut her open to get the child out of her. And that sounded terribly scary to her.
"Kirito... what if... I can't give you... a healthy... child... Or... what if... I don't... make it..." She barely got this out of her mouth, lips trembling, tears bagan flowing down her cheeks, her head burning and hurting as she had developed a fever.
Her eyelids dropped down and she fell asleep from exhaustion once more.
A cold feeling on her forehead woke the young woman up again. Someone was sitting on a chair next to her, carefully cooling her head down with a wet cloth.
She slowly opened her eyes, which were so blurry that she couldn't recognize at first who this person was. So she tried blinking the tears away.
"K-Kirito?" she mumbled unbelieving, "Is that really you or are you just a feverish dream?"
"Well, you're certainly my dream."
She groaned weakly. "A simple Yes would have been enough, you dork."
"Sorry..." He first smiled sheepishly, then warmly. "How are you feeling?"
"I'm in pain..."
The prince hung his head. "Sorry..."
"H-huh? Why are you... apologizing to me?"
"Well... I'm responsible for this, am I not?"
"So... you don't want to be responsible for what's going on-"
"Wait, now when you say it like that..." he interrupted while scratching his cheek, "I'm glad that I'm responsible for you being in pain." He shook his head wildly. "Ugh, I should stop saying stuff..." Kirito let out a deep sigh. "I'm just so incredibly nervous..."
Asuna nodded with a frown. "And I'm incredibly scared." she admitted, tears welling up.
"You don't have to be anymore. I'm here now." The father-to-be gently took her left hand with his right one and intertwined their fingers. "And I'll stay here, holding your hand until it's over. So squeeze mine as hard as you need to. Crush every single bone in it, I don't care." Then the sweetest smile she had ever seen graced his face. "As long as you and the baby are alright."
At that, she started crying and sobbing. "I'm... I'm so sorry... You're so wonderful and I... was so mean to you this morning..."
He wiped her tears away. "It's okay. You had all the reason to be angry... I was such an overprotective dork over the last months-"
"B-but I said very ugly things to you..."
"Asuna..."
Her tear stained eyes shot open and the princess raised her voice. "I don't want anyone else! I only want you as the father of my children!"
"And I only want you as the mother of mine." he assured her.
She could finally show a smile since she was lying here in this room.
"Kirito... I love you."
"Asuna... I love you too."
He leaned down to her and both closed their eyes and pursed their lips...
But instead of a lovely kiss, she suddenly started screaming right in his face, startling him.
"PLEASE CALL THE DOCTOR! IT HURTS SO MUCH!"
But before the prince could react, Aki had already entered the room.
"Looks like we're finally good to go! Maybe they just wanted their parents to reconcile before they are born." she joked.
The couple were too focused on what's happening, so they didn't even realize the fact that the doctor must have been eavesdropping on their conversation.
Several painful minutes passed and Kirito stayed by Asuna's side as promised, shutting out how much his hand hurt due to her tight grip. Watching her in pain was worse than that anyway. And after all, it was nothing compared to what she had to endure. He wanted to be there for her, even though he couldn't do more than giving her moral support, and from time to time cooling her sweaty forehead with the wet cloth.
And then at last, after hours of labor, a relieving high-pitched cry sounded through the room.
"Asuna... you did it..." the man mumbled, pulled her hand carefully towards his face, and gave it a quick peck.
And without uttering anything, she shut her eyes from exhaustion.
Some time later, the prince left the doctor's office. Actually, he wanted to tell everyone but he just couldn't right now. So instead, he leaned against the wall opposite of the door and slid down until he was sitting on the ground, mentally exhausted. He didn't even notice that his two guards, along with his mother and sister, were standing at the end of the hallway. They approached him when they saw him coming out of the room.
"How did it go? How are Asuna and the baby?" Suguha asked a bit worried.
Kirito looked up to the group of people confused. "Huh? How do you know-"
"Well, quite simple: Big told Silica, who told Leafa, who told me, who told mother."
He stood up, but could barely stand and fell more or less right into his mother's arms, who immediately embraced him.
"Asuna... and my daughter... are alright..." he said and began to cry on her shoulder. "I'm... I'm so happy..."
The queen smiled, wondering how long ago it must have been that she held him like that. "I'm very glad to hear this. Congratulations, my son." She tightened the hug and his sister joined.
"Good job, Big." One guard complimented the other. "Thanks to your quick thinking, he made it in time. I'm proud of you." He raised his fist.
First he blinked surprised. Then with a grin on his face, he pumped his fist against Drewbert's. "Thanks, brother."
Later that evening, when it was already dark outside, Asuna and Kirito were in one of the palace's sick rooms. She was lying in a bed, tired but happy, now dressed in her nightgown and bathrobe again, while he was sitting on a chair, holding their newborn, who was wrapped in a blanket and her mother's coat over it, in his arms.
"Our little angel is so cute!" he squealed with a big smile. "Well, with a mother like you it's not surprising."
The princess just shook her head playfully, not able to prevent smiling herself. "She's also half you, you know?"
"Mhmm..." The prince nodded and looked at the baby. "Let's just hope she didn't inherited the dork part."
She had to giggle and slowly sat herself up. "So, have you thought about a name yet?"
"Actually, yes. I have an idea."
She tilted her head curiously at him, while he was stroking over the baby's head very gently.
"My mother's grandmother founded the orphanage in the city and I was told that she was one of the most benevolent persons out there. And I want our daughter to be a blessing to our people just like her." He looked right into his wife's eyes. "I would like to name her after my great-grandmother. Yui."
The woman smiled sweetly first at the newborn, then back at her husband and nodded. "That's a wonderful name. Let's name her Yui."
"Good, that's settled then."
"I have to ask my parents, but I think one of my ancestors was also named Yui."
"What a nice coincidence!"
During their conversation, the baby girl opened her eyes and looked at the person holding her. And Asuna noticed.
"Kirito... Someone's watching you." she told him with a giggle.
He looked down. "So... Do you like the name we gave you, little one?" She squealed as if she was agreeing and the corners of her mouth moved upwards.
"Her first smile... and it's all yours..."
His eyes grew wide, slowly filling up with tears. The young man tried his best to blink them away. "Yui, my little angel..." he mumbled, "The day we found out about your existence... I pledged that-"
Suddenly, the door opened and two certain guards entered.
"My prince, my princess, excuse our-"
"Princesses." Drewbert corrected him.
"Y-yes, of course, my apologies." Big cleared his throat, "The king has returned and wishes to see you, my prince."
"Oh, eh... sure." he said and wiped his eyes with his sleeve. "Maybe I should introduce you first to our daughter: This here is Yui, our pride and joy."
The two guards bowed down. Even they couldn't hide their happiness.
"Before we go, there's something we need to do." Drewbert declared and looked at the other guard with a firm face.
Both men nodded, kneeled down, put one hand on the hilt of their seathed sword and the other over their heart, closed their eyes, and declared with a determined voice:
"Crown princess Yui, first of her name, second to the throne. We pledge our loyalty and to protect you with our very lives."
The royal couple just blinked confused. Sure, they were touched by their vow, but their daughter was just some hours old, so she won't understand anything what they said just now.
Then the little girl started moving uneasily in her father's arms.
"Huh? Did we scare her?" Big wondered and stood straight again.
"No, I think she just wants to her mother again." Kirito answered and cautiously handed the baby into Asuna's care. "You two should go to bed now, you must be tired. I'll be back soon."
"But don't wake us up when you return." she answered with a smirk on her face.
"I promise." He leaned over to give her a kiss on her forehead. "Good night, my love." He turned to Yui and stroke her small cheek gently with his index finger. "And good night to you too, my little angel."
"Good night, Papa." Asuna replied with a fake child voice and giggled playfully.
He had to chuckle at his adorable wife and daughter and hugged them. "I love you, both of you."
After the meeting with the king, Kirito went up his room to change into his sleeping clothes, put on his longcoat, and returned to the sick room.
Like he had promised earlier, he entered as quietly as possible to not wake up his family, who were sleeping peacefully, and sat down on the bed, which was opposite of Asuna's and provided to him.
Hopefully, there won't be an emergency tonight. Otherwise he had to get up, as Doctor Aki had told him earlier. Of course he didn't want any emergencies to happen in general, but this time especially.
When the prince heard a low whining sound, he stood up again and walked to the crib next to Asuna's bed. He noticed that Yui wasn't properly covered anymore and must be cold. Maybe she had shoved or kicked her blanket off from her during her sleep. So he carefully put it over her tiny body again, adding also her mother's coat to keep her extra warm.
"Yui, I pledge to protect you from any harm as long as I live. My life belongs to you and your mother, and I'll use it for both of you." he whispered.
Kirito's gaze switched from his adorable daughter to his exhausted - yet just as beautiful as this morning - wife and back again, smiling from ear to ear. He still couldn't believe that he was blessed with these two wonderful beings in his life. When he laid down to sleep, he hoped it wasn't just all a wonderful dream.
And luckily, it wasn't.