A/N: Sorry for the long wait readers. This semester's finally starting to roll down towards the end for me, so I can start with Lost Stories again. I know a lot of you have been looking forward to this one, so I'll let you get to reading right away. Enjoy.

Also this is an AU, as I'm sure you'll all see by the end of this chapter.

Secret's Revealed: Chapter 1

One thing great about Alfheim was that it always reflected the seasons of the real world. Springtime, flowers would always be blooming in grassy areas. Autumn, you could see the trees changing colors.

And of course, winter meant snow. And lots of it.

"Mama, come look! I made a snow angel!"

"Alright, alright, just sit tight Luna."

Alice walked over and saw the snow angel her AI daughter had made with Luna standing next to it. A big grin was on the little girl's face.

It seemed like just yesterday that it had happened. The event in ALO that had brought Luna into their lives. It had gotten crazy and dangerous when Jormungandr had taken over Luna's body and rampaged around Arun. But thanks to Yui and all of their friends, they had managed to save Luna from her fate of being deleted and put a stop to Jormungandr. It had been a little over six months, but it really did feel just like yesterday for the family.

Although her original purpose had been to be deleted in the fight with Jormungandr, Cardinal had altered Luna's settings once she was free of the snake's control. Now the system saw her as an ordinary combat-enabled NPC, causing no errors to it whatsoever.

Alicia and Dan were both out of high school now and had each just finished their first semesters at college. Now home for winter break, they found it an appropriate time to catch up on the lack of quality time they had been able to spend with their AI daughter.

"The snow's so much fun to play in, isn't it Mama?" Luna said.

Alice nodded her head with a smile. "It sure is." She looked around the area. "By the way, where's your father? Wasn't he playing with you before while I was inside?"

The grin on Luna's face widened. "Well…"

"Surprise!" Alice looked up to where she had heard Ren's voice only to be greeted with a small avalanche of snow from the roof falling directly on top of her. Luna jumped out of the way just in time, knowing what had been coming ahead of time. Ren landed on the ground next to Luna, where the father and daughter high fived each other.

"Nice job, Luna." Ren told his daughter.

"We got Mama really good, didn't we Papa?" Luna giggled.

"Oh you two think this is funny, do you?" the voice from Alice made both Ren and Luna slowly turn their heads to her, where a dark smirk was painted on her face. "You just fired the first shot in a war you can't win."

"N-Now sweetie, let's all just calm down for a second." Ren stuttered, terrified of the glare coming from his girlfriend right now.

"Grab him Luna!" Alice called out.

"You got it Mama!" Luna said as she lunged at Ren and held him tight.

"Wait what?!" Ren exclaimed. "Luna how could you betray me like this?!"

"All's fair in love and war, sweetie." Alice told him as she formed two snowballs in her hands. "Take this!"

Ren could only use his arms to shield himself as Alice bombarded him with snowballs, while Luna laughed and kept him pinned where he was. Projectile after projectile of snow pelted him in succession.

"Okay, okay, I give!" Ren yelled out.

"Not yet." Alice said. "Time for the final blow!" Without warning, she lunged at him and tackled him to the ground. The family of three laughed as they all laid together in the snow.

Luna giggled happily as she hugged both her parents. "Mama. Papa. I'm so glad you're back. I love you."

Ren and Alice both smiled as they held Luna together. "We love you too Luna." they said.

After playing in the snow for a bit longer, the three of them went back inside Ren and Alice's player home. The fireplace burning kept the inside nice and warm compared to the cold temperatures outside.

"So what's your family doing for Christmas?" Ren asked Alice.

"We're going to my aunt's place." the female Imp explained. "What about you?"

"We're hosting Christmas this year, so the whole family's going to be at my house." Ren told her. "My mom's going nuts trying to over decorate the place."

"We're still free to get together Christmas Eve though, right?" Alice asked.

"Of course."

Luna tilted her head at her parent's. "What's Christmas?"

Alice blinked her eyes, realizing that they hadn't told Luna about the holiday yet. "That's right! It's your first Christmas, isn't it Luna." she said. "Christmas is a big holiday where lots of family and friends get together to celebrate."

"That's not all." Ren said as he grabbed Luna from behind and lifted her up. "If you're a really good girl, then Santa Claus comes and gives you lots of presents."

"Santa Claus?" Luna asked.

"Yep. He rides around on a magic sleigh on Christmas Eve night, going to the houses of every kid who's been good and leaves presents under the Christmas Tree."

"Can I meet him?!" Luna asked excitedly.

Ren shook his head. "Sorry Luna, but he won't come unless you're fast asleep."

"Hey, I have an idea!" Alice said. "I heard a rumor they've got something going on in Arun where players can send letters to Santa. Why don't we go?"

"Really?! Can we?! Please!" Luna begged.

"I don't see why not." Ren said as he put Luna down. "Do you know what you want to ask Santa for, Luna?"

"Mhm." Luna nodded excitedly.

Luna's eagerness was becoming catchy. Ren and Alice left their house with their daughter and walked towards the teleport gate of Lunet. The cold winds made flying difficult so the family of three opted to enjoy a nice walk through the snow instead.

Arriving in Arun, it was clear that the holiday spirit had taken its hold on the city as well. Wreaths and decorations were hung up everywhere. Vendors were selling holiday cookies. A giant Christmas Tree was even visible in the center of town.

Ren and Alice each held Luna's hands as they walked together. So much of the holiday spirit excited her. They couldn't really blame her, with all of it being a new experience to her after all.

Luna was just finishing the last bite of her cookie when they had arrived at the place Alice had mentioned. It was a small building, but it was nice to see the developers giving even the little kids that played ALO a feel for Christmas. Several kids were sitting around the main lobby with either parents or older siblings with them.

Ren, Alice, and Luna all took a seat together at one of the benches. "Alright Luna, open your menu." Alice explained. "There should be a special tab that shows up when you're here, allowing you to write a letter to Santa."

Luna nodded her head and did as she was told. Sure enough, there was a special tab in her menu. She pressed it and a window opened up, allowing her to type out a message. The little girl thought long and hard before typing out her message. Ren and Alice both discreetly looked at the letter Luna wrote out.

Dear Santa,

My name is Luna. It's my very first Christmas. My Mama and Papa have told me lots about you and all the nice things you do for kids. I've been super duper good this year, or at least for the time I've been here. I don't want much for Christmas. Mama and Papa already make me super happy. But still, I'd like to see their world a bit. The real world sounds so exciting. And more than anything else, I want to meet Mama and Papa's Mama and Papa.

Ren and Alice glanced at each other as they read this. Luna had shown interest recently about meeting her "grandparents" in a sense, but they still weren't very sure as to how to go about it. Neither of their parents even knew that Luna existed in the first place. Explaining her origins wouldn't be simple either. So they had always tried to change the subject whenever Luna brought it up.

Mama and Papa are always super nice to me, so I bet their Mama and Papa are really nice to. I hope you can make my wish come true, along with everyone else's wishes too.

From, Luna

After her message was typed out, Luna hit 'Send' and the window disappeared. "Are you finished, Luna?" Alice asked.

Luna nodded her head. "Mhm. All done, Mama. Do you think Santa got it?"

"I'm sure he did." Ren said as he patted her on the head. "Now why don't we go home."

Luna rode on her father's shoulders as they walked back home. The entire way she was humming to herself, while Alice and Ran both thought about what to do for Luna's Christmas wish. They didn't want to let her down after all. She was their daughter and it was her first Christmas. But at the same time, they weren't entirely sure as to what would happen if their parents found out about Luna.

As they walked through the door of the house, Ren noticed the time. "Oh, I gotta get going. I promised my mom I'd log off soon and help her around the house."

"Aww, does that mean we can't play in the snow anymore?" Luna asked.

"Don't worry Luna. I'll play with you for a bit." Alice told her. "But I need to log off for a bit too. I'll be back on real soon though, I promise. I'll see if your Aunt Emi can come too."

Luna nodded her head understandingly and her parents went to their room. As they sat together on the bed, Alice sighed to herself. "What are we supposed to do? Should we tell our parents about Luna?"

"I'm not sure." Ren said with a shake of his head. "Let's think on it a bit for now. Maybe we can find some way to gently tell them."

"I sure hope so." Alice said. The couple opened their menus and logged out together, returning to the real world.

Alicia blinked open her eyes as she awoke on her bed. Her Amu Sphere was still on, allowing her to go back on quickly once she could, without having to log on all over again.

It was starting to get late in the afternoon, so Alicia wanted to take a quick shower. She walked out of her bedroom and went into the bathroom, turning on the shower and letting the hot water rain down on her. Although the house had the heating on, she could still feel a slight chill from the cold air from Alfheim. The hot shower quickly relieved her of that cold though.

As the black haired girl hummed in the shower, Mrs. Tsuki came upstairs to do some cleaning. With her eldest daughter in the shower right now, she thought it best to clean Alicia's room first. Just as she was about to begin, she noticed Alicia's Amu Sphere lying on the bed and turned on. She recalled her daughter saying something about doing this so she wouldn't have to input a username and password for when she logged off for short breaks.

It did puzzle the mother a bit. Alicia had spent so much of her free time in the virtual world back in high school, sometimes even just to hang out with friends she knew in the real world. Just what made this world called Alfheim so appealing.

Alicia would still be in the shower for a bit, she liked to take long ones to relax. A few minutes in the virtual world wouldn't hurt, would it? Just to see what it was like.

Lying down on the bed, Mrs. Tsuki fit the device over her head. 'Now what did Alicia always say to activate this thing? Oh right!'

Taking a deep breath, the mother closed her eyes. "Link Start."

A/N: Well I think you can all tell where this is headed. Since its that time of the year I thought it appropriate to add a little Christmas theme to this story. Hope you all liked it.