Kronos (Book One)

Date

Earth

On a late starry night, Penelope and her baby can't sleep. Despite feeding and reading to her daughter, she kept crying throughout the night. She rocks her gently.

"I know you miss him. He should be back before Thanksgiving. I promise you, daughter. He's going to kiss your head every day. He would never leave us. He looked forward to seeing your face. I know in my heart that he's still out there, making his way back to us."

She hums a lullaby that finally lulls her to sleep. She softly puts her in her crib with a tiny blanket on.

She plops onto the bed from the exhausting day. To help her relax, she pulls up a wedding clip on her laptop where they exchanged cake.

Taki booped her on the nose with frosting before feeding her. The crowd's laughing.

"Couldn't resist", he told her.

"Oh, really?", she smirked before doing the same to him. They wiped the frosting off their noses before kissing each other.

Penny skips to their first dance as newlyweds. She laid her head on his shoulder as they danced. She remembers what they said to each other.

"I'm looking forward to what our future holds. I love you, Penelope Watanabe."

"Same here. I love you too, Takashi Watanabe."

She stops the video to look at the moon. She quietly prays as tears hit the carpet.

"Universe, please bring him back to us. I miss him so much. His silly jokes, his laugh, his warm smile, his voice. Please. I won't ever ask again. Just grant me this one and I will be eternally grateful. Don't let my daughter grow up without her father."

----

Taki feels a heavy tug on his heart that makes him look around. He could have sworn he heard his wife's voice. If she can "reach" him, maybe.... 

I will be there, Penny. It might take longer, but I will make it back home to you.

Is she really your Penny to begin with? She is. No, she isn't. She's the first- SHUT UP!

Artemis senses his inner turmoil and touches his shoulder.

"Try to get some sleep tonight. We will read what's in the letter tomorrow."

"Okay."

He gets into his patched tent and closes his eyes. His mind refuses to let him sleep. He opens his tent to find that Helena is still awake.

"You're up too?", he whispers.

"It takes me a while to calm down after a fight like that."

"I'm sorry for putting you through that."

"It's okay. Can you tell me something about yourself to calm me down?"

"Certainly. My mom is an excellent cook that can make a great salmon with ginger rice."

"Now I'm hungry", she laughs.

He softly chuckles. "She's the best mom I could ever ask for. Even though she would find out what me and sis were planning for her birthday, she would still act surprised."

"She sounds like a great mom. What is your sister like?"

"Hikari is inquisitive and very smart. She always wanted to be a detective, but.....Anyway, she's not a fan of my jokes even though I find them hilarious. Finally, she likes to rustle my hair since we were kids. I used to hate that, but I miss it now."

"You will see them again soon. What do you want to do when you reunite with them?"

"I want to have another family cookoff and I want to show what I've learned from here to surprise them. I also want to take another trip to Japan with all of our family. The last time we went was great. Oh, I didn't ask. I know Artemis raised you, but do you know your mom and dad?"