Under the Cherry Blossom

She stood beneath the cherry blossom, wearing her wings.

Just like the tree, she stood alone among a meadow of sprawling white flowers.

Her wings faded as I approached her from behind. She turned her head, silver hair undulating in the wind.

‘GoblinSlayer686’ floated above her head.

“What’s wrong? Too scared to fly today, Dee?” I teased.

“Why do I need to fly when I’ve got you to carry me, Reid.”

She stuck her tongue out, then started laughing. Then she transformed her face into a troll.

“Hey Dee, don’t forget our avatars are replicas of our true appearance.”

She shifted her face back to normal, and grinned.

Dee was alluring, I found it hard to believe she was real, and not some highborn elf NPC.

I grabbed her waist and pulled her close. Metal clanked against metal, gold plate against obsidian plate. I held her head against my chest and kissed the top of her head. I squeezed her tight, not wanting to let go.

“Let’s lose the armour,” I said.

She tapped on her Wrist-Console, then her golden armour faded and was replaced with a silver gown that sparkled with diamonds adorned in the seams. I used my own Wrist-Console to switch to a silk tunic and trousers, the colour of a moonlit night.

I turned her face towards me, gazing into her bright purple eyes. “How long have we got?” I asked her.

A text-image projected from her Wrist-Console. ‘Willow World VR servers will be going offline in, 00:05:42:13.’

Dee’s face darkened. I could see the pain in her eyes. I felt it too.

“Do you think we have time for one more quest?” She asked.

“Let’s head down to The Dragons Den Inn, the place where we first met.”

“Good idea, last one there is a rotten egg.”

“No wings allowed, horses only,” I said.

“Deal.” Dee summoned her white stallion and bolted down the hill, cutting through the meadow.

“Hey, wait up, I never said we could go yet.” I summoned my black stallion and chased after her, the breeze swirled through my hair, the petals of the cherry blossom twirled through the field like a pink ballerina.

I arrived at a wooden sign that read Oakwood, that stood outside a village. There was an emptiness about the place, the type of emptiness you felt when a shopping centre was about to close, with the odd customer grabbing last minute things.

There was a time when it was brimmed with players, from all different classes and levels. They would dart around looking to trade or fetch items for a quest. Now it was mostly NPC’s and the odd player in high level gear, trying to complete unfinished quests to alleviate their completionist obsession.

I dispersed my horse and made my way over to a medieval-style building, a sign was hanging from the awning, swaying in the wind. The Dragons Den. Dee stood underneath it, her hands on her hips.

I was going to miss this. Dee was the warmth of a fire that I sought when I was in the cold empty abyss. The real world.

“Come on slow poke, I’ve already accepted the quest,” she said.

“You sure you can handle this one, I nearly used all my healing stones last time.” I smirked.

“As long as I don’t have to do all the fighting this time.”

Several hours later, we rode our horses down a path between the dark spruce trees of the Blackoak Forest. My sword was sheathed behind me and Dee held her staff, a white orb sat at the tip, illuminating the forest.

I glanced back over my shoulder at the cave entrance we were returning from. The troll had already respawned. It sat there, waiting for the next player who would likely never come. It was alone, shrouded in the darkness of the forest. It reminded me of home, of the real world. The forest had suddenly felt cold.

We arrived back to the meadow. The cherry blossom stood alone on the hill, the grass of the rolling hills swayed in the wind.

A dragon roared in the distance, it circled a jagged peak on the horizon, a flame flared from its jaws. A player must have been going for some rare loot.

Dee jumped off her horse and sat on a nearby log, I joined her. I wrapped my arm around her shoulder and pulled her close.

“How long now?” I asked.

An image projected from her wrist-console.

00:00:20:36.

This was it. My last moment with her. I needed to ask her.

“Dee, I need to ask you something.”

She looked up at me.

“Yes, Reid?”

“I want to meet you in the real world.”

Dee looked pained, she grabbed my hand.

“Oh Reid, I live very far from you.” She looked at me with sympathetic eyes.

“There must be a way we can meet up. I can’t go back to my old life Dee.”

“Why? What’s it like for you there?”

I felt the tears swell up. I couldn’t handle it anymore. I broke down.

“It’s lonely there, Dee.” Tears ran down my face, splattering the dirt at my feet.

“Oh Reid.” Dee started to cry, she had her head underneath my shoulder, sobbing. I held her tight.

She looked back at me, her eyes red.

“Reid, you need to face the truth. After this we might stay in contact, but in time we will drift apart. We will go our separate ways.”

“Does it have to be like this, Dee?”

Dee tapped me on the chest.

“The memories we had here, the moments. That’s what’s important. We will always have those. And I will cherish mine to the end of my days. Will you do the same Reid?”

She was right. I loved her, I always will, but I needed to move on. I wasn’t going to waste my last moments with her, sulking.

I looked towards the pink horizon, the mountains were fading.

“Thank you, Dee. For being my teammate.”

“It’s been a pleasure, Reid. I hope you find what you’re looking for, out there in the real world.”

“You too. I love you, Dee.”

“I love you too, Reid.”

We kissed each other on the lips, then I squeezed her in my arms.

We sobbed as the world around us faded.