12 A Day With You & Luck or Fate?

Waking up the next morning, what greeted Ryker was a pair of tiny feet and hands.

Looking down, he noticed that Illya at one point, managed to crawl onto his chest, a spot she seemed to enjoy, and was currently oriented so her feet were facing his head.

While Illya herself was on her stomach playing with a toy she got from who knows where.

As for the hands you ask? They belonged to the other trouble maker, who was currently sprawled out on the bed on her stomach.

Like mother, like daughter.

*Sigh*

'She really isn't a morning person, I wonder what time we will actually manage to get out of the house today.' Ryker thought to himself as he sighed at the sleeping habits of Iris.

Yet as if sensing his thoughts, Iris slowly opened her eyes and released a long, drawn-out yawn as she stretched her arms forward, while remaining on her stomach.

'Wha…?! It's a miracle…no wait?? I must still be dreaming…yes that's the only explanation.' Ryker, confident that there was no way that his Iris would wake up so early.

To prove his point he slowly reached out and pinched the dream Iris' butt.

"Ouch! Ryker why did you pinch me??" Pouting at the fact that Ryker pinched her butt first thing in the morning, Iris sat up and attempted to nurse her now sore backside.

"Ohh…sorry I thought I was dreaming and felt the need to pinch something." Ryker said shamelessly.

"Eh? Is that how that works? Wait…why did you think you were dreaming…" Having an idea as to why he would think that way, Iris' face began to darken.

In her mind right now, thousands of different plans to get back at him for always teasing her, floated through her mind one by one.

"I'm sorry, please forgive me." Ryker hurriedly apologized having a good idea what she was scheming.

Iris' revenge pranks were far more terrifying then her normal ones, and Ryker really didn't want another case of waking up only to discover that life wasn't as 'colorful' as it used to be.

After that 'incident' he ended up staying in the bathroom for the whole day…scrubbing…and scrubbing…just thinking about that nightmare causes him phantom pains in his nose.

"Ufufufu~ don't worry darling~ I wont use Illya's 'treasure trove' for such a small matter, Ufufufu~." Iris said as if she could read minds, something which Ryker was seriously starting to wonder.

"M…moving on…what time do you want to…"

"Now! Lets go, lets go!" Before Ryker could even finish his question Iris had already sprung out of bed before quickly getting dressed.

Honestly, Ryker felt like this was the fasted he had ever seen her get out of bed in the morning.

Deciding to just focus on enjoying the day rather then the small stuff. Ryker picked up Illya and brought her over to her crib.

Yet before he was even able to set her down though, Illya had managed to hug him around his neck and refused to let go.

"Sweetie, you need to release daddy so he can go play with mommy before she hurts me." Ryker said in an attempt to get her to understand his plight, failing to realize she was still only six and might not understand innuendos.

Attempting to put her down once more, Ryker noticed that, instead of releasing him, she had actual squeezed him tighter as if she refused to part with him.

Although Ryker knew that Illya was still to young, he often felt like she was able to understand him quite well.

Often while they were playing together just the two of them, he often talked to her, getting a small kick out of every time she had a correct reaction to his words.

Relenting to her stubbornness Ryker hugged the adorable little creature as he whispered near her ear, "If you be a good girl, tomorrow ill play with you for the wholeeee day, how does that sound?"

"Uwahh"

Illya, as if understanding him, made a cute baby noise before releasing his neck and no longer resisting his attempts to set her down.

Feeling proud over how smart his daughter was, Ryker kissed her forehead before setting her gentle into her crib.

'These two girls sure are something. I bet that if one viewed them just based on how the acted, rather then blood or looks, you would still be able to tell their related.' Ryker thought to himself.

He was rather amused whenever he discovered something new that the mother daughter pair had in common with one another.

Deciding it was about time to get ready, Ryker pushed any stray thoughts from his mind, as he focused on the day ahead.

The two were planning to start the day off with a picnic breakfast.

Although one might question, how they would go about that when there was snow covering the ground. It was actually quite simple.

With their abilities it wasn't hard to clear out a section in the snow large enough to place down a blanket. The cold air also did little to effect them, as both Iris and Ryker weren't effected by the cold due to their high endurance stats.

While deep in thought about the day to come, Ryker's hands weren't idle as he quickly changed close and sat on the couch waiting for Iris to finish her preparations.

Roughly 15 minutes later, Ryker was snapped out of his thoughts when he noticed the bathroom door opening.

Yet the figure that walked out caused Ryker to stall for several seconds.

Iris was wearing a white form fitting winter coat with two rows of buttons on the front, that ran down its length. On the end of the sleeves and around her neck, soft wool like bands could be seen.

As for the bottom half, she wore tight, black pants, with white boots overtop that came all the way up to above her knees.

Ryker couldn't help but pause as she looked stunning.

In his eyes, he couldn't picture a more beautiful women.

Her long white hair matched the white coat perfectly, and her red eyes painted a sharp contrast in colors to the all white and black outfit.

You couldn't help but look towards the ruby crystal like eyes, as you felt yourself slowly be drawn into their depths.

Iris seeing the loving gaze of Ryker that was full of admiration and pride, she couldn't help but blush slightly as she teased, "Hehe~ Do you like my outfit darling~?"

"…Mmm…it suit you perfectly…" Ryker stepped forward slightly at the end of his words, as he wrapped his arms around Iris' waist before giving her a passionate kiss on her small delicate lips.

After the couple spent a few moments, relishing in each others embrace, they set off into the woods surrounding the castle, with Ryker as the lead.

He had already been planning to give Iris a break in order to take her out and relax, so he had mapped out a good location ahead of time.

Rather then rushing to the destination, the two traveled at a slow pace as they enjoyed the moment.

Iris had her head resting on Ryker's arm as she leaned against him while walking, taking in his scent alongside that of the nature around them.

While Ryker held onto her soft and delicate left hand with his right, as he led her forward slowly. He enjoyed the feeling of her leaning up against him, as he took in her fragrance which often reminded him of flowers blooming during the spring time.

It took them nearly 30 minutes of walking to reach their destination, yet neither were complaining as the had enjoyed their walk immensely.

When they began to draw near their destination, there was a distinctly less amount of trees in the area, which only continued to diminish until eventually the trees stopped revealing a vast open space surrounded by small hills of snow.

It looked as if a small meteor had struck the location.

Yet Ryker cared little about that as he made use of a rather simple magic spell, quickly clearing out the snow a good distance around them.

After clearing out the snow he placed the blanket he brought down onto the frost covered ground.

With the blanket laid down, Ryker brought the food out from his [Heaven's Toybox]. The things stored in his skill aren't effected by time which results in food and other such things to remain fresh for long durations of time.

The only drawback is the fact that he cant store living things, this doesn't seem to factor in plants and such for some reason.

After setting the food down onto the blanket, Ryker assisted Iris in sitting down as well before taking the seat just to her left.

The two snuggled up against one another as they slowly enjoyed the food.

They made small conversation while eating but the topics were rather minor as all they had trully desired was to pass the time peacefully In each others arms.

After finishing the food, Iris laid in Ryker's lap while he gently ran his fingers through her hair.

After a while of just relaxation, Iris looked up into Ryker's eyes and asked with slightly hopeful eyes, "Hey Ryker...You don't need to of course, but i was wondering if you could tell me about your past. Although i know bits and pieces from what you and Saber have told me, I want to know more about you."

Ryker mused for a few seconds still slightly lost in the comfort that stroking Iris' hair brought him, before answering, "Hmm? Sure i don't mind, my life wasn't really tragic or grand. If anything i was nothing but an ordinary person who lucked out in the face of death..."

Ryker went on to tell Iris about his past, and his life as a whole as far as he could remember.

He didn't tell her to much information about what happened with the Watcher quite yet as it was something he decided to hold onto until it was time to leave the world.

He didn't want Iris to become focused on the future rather he wanted her to enjoy her time in the present, living life and experiencing wonders she hasn't yet seen.

Telling her about how large the universe truly is, given her curious nature, would surely make her desire to learn more about it.

This wasn't a bad thing, and would actually be quite a pleasing when it came time to leave, however, Ryker didn't want her to lose her sense of curiosity for the world they were on.

So he ended the story with the fact that he saved the two children of a powerfully being by chance, at the cost of his life. In doing so he was granted power and entered this world.

Iris who listened to the whole story felt a mixture of sadness and joy.

She was saddened by the fact that the man she loved had been alone his whole life and was never able to find the happiness he desired.

Yet even though he was unable to achieve what he desired in life, while living.

He was able to find it after death, through her and Illya.

That fact made her feel a great sense of joy as she hugged him tightly around his waist in an attempt to prove that she was there for him now.

Ryker feeling her attempts at comforting him, just giggled as he continued to stroke her hair.

To be truthful, Ryker didn't feel sad over his past life.

He didn't experience anything cruel or devastating.

His life was rather ordinary.

That's not to say he never had regrets over his life, as before he died, he regretted a great many things about his life.

It wasn't until reincarnating and meeting Iris' that Ryker decided to, not forget, but accept his past life as it was.

After all if he didn't live the life he did, then he would have never had a chance at reincarnating.

Everything that happened was due to Luck.

To him, there was no need to harp about his slightly bad past, when the life he was living was one which many people would ask for.

Even he before he reincarnated, dreamed of dying and being reborn into a fantasy world.

"I have accepted my past for what it is, for it was neither that sad, nor that happy. It was just a life, and I had lived it. I find feel nothing but fondness looking back for it, was what lead me to you." Ryker said slowly as he tilted Iris' head that was buried in his chest, upwards.

Matching his eyes with her own, Ryker leaned down and planted a kiss upon her soft lips.

Feeling her reciprocate with a kiss of her own, Ryker slowly found himself getting lost in the moment.

For within her arms, while kissing her lips, Ryker felt at peace.

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(Author's Note: Thanks again everyone for the continued support. My goal in becoming an Author, was always to be able to have at least one or two people who enjoyed my work, so seeing so many of you give your support makes me happier then you can imagine. Know that I do work full time, yes author-san is a working ADULT...well I'm only 19 BUT I digress, so my schedual only really allows me to get one chapter done before bed, but if i am on a roll and i can get more done, i will post however many i get done. If there is a day that something happens and I am unable to post a chapter, i will try to make it up for you guys the following day. Thank you all for the continued show of support, please please please! leave a review on the novel or just post your oppinions in the comments so i can get some feedback on things i may need to work on or fix. I want to make the story as fun and enjoyable for all of you reading as it is for me writing. Thanks again!!)