>>5914149“You okay kiddo?” you ask while reaching down, scooping up your daughter into your arms and holding her to you. She hugs you back, trying to wrap her arms as far around you as they go, burying her face in your shoulder while nodding. “It's alright, they're gone. You did good Okira.”
“Really?” she asks, voice muffled as she speaks into your shoulder, looking up at you with her big eyes.
“Really. You did good kiddo.” you tell her, holding her with your right arm and ruffling her hair with your left. She giggles, beaming up at you with all her previous worry seemingly gone. “But what were you doing up so early?”
“Uhh, well...” she starts, looking away a bit nervously. “I wanted to go for a swim, but then the God of Destruction and his angel showed up.”
“I see. Do you still want to go swimming?” you ask, your daughter looking up at you excitedly.
“Really?” she asks, suddenly excited. “Do you mean it?”
“Of course, let's go.” you tell her, Okira bouncing up and down in your arms. You carry her down the stairs, walking outside and to the water, planting your feet before adjusting her in your grip, pulling back and down ready to throw her. “Ready?”
“Ready!” she exclaims excitedly. “One!”
“Two.” you reply, grinning.
“THREE!” you both say, you pitching her up as she jumps out of your hands, launching herself into the sky. She nearly vanishes for a moment, turning into nothing more than a speck before dropping back down a couple hundred yards out, diving into the water with surprisingly little splash. You then jump after her, diving down near where she landed and entering the water by her. You see her at the bottom of the sandy ground, near the ledge where the ground drops off, the sea becoming far deeper. She turns, seeing you and gives you a beaming smile before kicking off the bottom, blasting out of the water. As you rise up to take a breath you see her flipping through the air, splashing back down into the water again. Submerged, she swing over to you, head popping up out of the water by you.
“Did you see me?” she asks excitedly. “I went super high!”
“Haha, that you did.” you reply, again ruffling her hair as she beams at you. You much prefer this look on her face to the worried expression she had before. So, you decide to play with her in the predawn dark, your daughter giggling and laughing as you throw her up into the air to splash back down into the sea. You stay here in the water with her, playing with your daughter until the sun begins to rise over the horizon.
cont
