The early morning light bled through the soft white curtains, warm and golden, like fingers gently reaching into the bedroom and caressing the skin of two souls that had been sewn together in every possible way.
Asahi woke first.
Barely.
His body ached. Every muscle. Every joint. Even his eyelids protested as they blinked open. But his heart… his heart felt full in a way it never had before. Not even on the day they were married. Not even the night she first whispered I love you against his skin.
Because this was different.
This was after everything.
And she was still here.
Still in his arms.
Still his.
Ai lay curled against him, her body soft and warm and utterly spent. Her lips were parted slightly, a faint sound of sleep whispering through them. Her cheek pressed against his bare chest, her fingers lazily tangled in the light trail of hair that led down his abdomen. Her legs still hooked loosely around one of his, as if even in sleep, her body didn't want to let go.
