Memories and Promises

A/N: Formerly titled as, "Remember". This story has been updated and rewritten as of February 11, 2017 and only covers the Aincrad and Fairy Dance arcs of the anime. For further information, please see the notes at the end.

I do not own anything.

I love you, Kirito. And I always will.

There were so many beautiful memories we created together. It's impossible to forget any of it, no matter how simple, or stupid some of them were. I remember them all from the very moment we met to the present day.

Do you remember that moment when I sacrificed my life for you during your second fight with Heathcliff? When I stepped in front of him so that you could save everyone else from this horror of a game? I wanted to sacrifice myself for you. Seeing your shocked expression hurt me, but I knew it was for the better. Something at the back of my mind told me that we would be able to meet again.

What about when we took Yui in as our own child? When we became a family for the first time? Having her in our arms was quite possibly one of the happiest moments in my life. I swear I was walking on air.

When she disappeared in Sword Art Online, I couldn't help it but to cry in your arms. For those few days we were together, she meant the world to me. To us. We were a family, after all. It all just... Disappeared so quickly. I didn't want you to leave me, either. I was so scared that you were just an illusion this entire time. But feeling your arms around me told me that you were still there with me. You didn't leave.

I still remember that time. That time when I fell on top of you and you and you just... You just decided to squeeze my breasts! In public, too! I don't think I've ever felt so embarrassed in my entire life. Ever since then, I couldn't help but keep my guard up around you in public. Don't think that I wouldn't slap you again!

I remember feeling overjoyed in ALfheim when I found out that you were still alive. That was, until Oberon brought me back to reality by doing... Unspeakable things to me. Every time he would speak to me about you, I slowly lost hope. Would you be able to save me? Did you even know of my existence in the game? I still get nauseous thinking about his face.

However, my uncertainty about you saving me kept growing. That is, until I heard Yui's voice call out from the bottom of the World Tree. That was when I knew it. That you would definitely save me.

And you did. You saved me from being a trapped bird in a cage. When I woke up in the hospital bed and saw you run into the room, I was ecstatic. I remember your smiling face. I remember crying as you pulled me in for a hug. I remember our first real kiss. I even remember how beautiful the moon looked that night. I remember it all.

It wasn't all that long before I met your cousin, Suguha. In all honesty, I was jealous. Even after you told me that she was your cousin. The thought of you possibly leaving me for someone else haunted me for the rest of the day. I knew it was dumb, but after seeing you again, I couldn't control any of my feelings. But through all of my doubts, I knew that you wouldn't leave me. After all, we made a promise.

And here we are now, fulfilling this promise of ours. Tears are streaming down my face as you say your vows and look at me as if I were the only other person in the world.

"Kirito, do you take Asuna as your lawfully wedded wife?"

"I do."

"And Asuna, do you take Kirito as your lawfully wedded husband?"

"I do."

"You may now kiss the bride."

Let's promise to make more beautiful memories together from here on.

A/N: Thank you for reading!

I would first like to apologize for the ending of the story. It's a bit messy and rushed in my opinion, but I'm not very aware of how marriages go, so I tried to figure everything out on my own. I'd also like to apologize that some events are out of order! I'm just following how I has written it in the original version (with a few alterations). I didn't want to change the order of things as I'm uncertain about certain events in the story line. I actually don't remember all that much from the series. It's been years since I've watched or read anything related to Sword Art Online. In addition to this, for those who are curious to why this story only covers the first two arcs of the series, it's because I've only ever watched these two arcs in the anime (I wanted to watch the Phantom Bullet arc as well, but I never got around to it, and eventually forgot about it).

In terms of the rewrite of the story, I'll keep it short and simple: I simply decided to log back into my old FanFiction account after many years and I found this story still up on my profile. As I'm unsure to when I'll ever post again, I decided to rewrite this story and make it flow nicer and fix many mistakes. It's not perfect, of course. There are mistakes here and there in the story that I may not be aware of.

In any case, I would like to thank you once again! Please have a fantastic day!