A/N: Well, it's officially the month of love (and coincidentally the same time of year that I managed to convince my wife to start dating me), so I've got a nice surprise for you all. I put it to a vote as to whether or not you guys wanted me to write Sachi and Kirito's getting together as a separate one-shot story, or a flashback chapter, and the second option was the winner. So as promised, the events leading to their becoming a couple are included in this chapter.

BUT! I also decided to do something extra. And by extra, I mean the longest chapter that I've written for this story so far, all of it filled with fluffy goodness befitting the upcoming Valentine's holiday.I'm sure that the new cover art will have led you to guessing at what's about to happen, but I can guarantee at least one or two surprises are coming your way. So read, review, and most importantly, enjoy!

OP Song: Running Home To You (performed by Grant Gustin)

Always

January 2024…

"So since your plan for New Year's totally bombed, what're you gonna do next?" Kiriha asked her brother with a giggle. "Midnight smooch to mark the holiday definitely isn't gonna happen now." Sachi, Rivka, and Silica were out hunting on some of the higher floors for the day while Kirito and his sister took an easy day.

"Leave me alone to die," Kirito groaned into the wood of their dining room table. "That was so embarrassing."

"Yeah, well, you shoulda paid more attention to who you were trying to feel up," she snickered, causing him to bang his head on the table, loudly.

"I was not trying to cop a feel," he grumbled. "I was just trying to give her a hug from behind." Looking up at his sister with bleary eyes, he complained, "Why couldn't you have changed your looks a week ago?"

"Duh," she snorted as she sat across from him. "I wouldn't have had to do this if you paid a little more attention to your surroundings." As she spoke, she twirled a finger through her newly-extended hair, once again admiring the golden color with emerald eyes. "I'm not really complaining about the outcome, but we could've saved ourselves a lot of embarrassment if you weren't such a dingus."

The previous Sunday, on the Eve of the New Year, Kirito had finally worked up the courage to ask Sachi out on a date. It had become apparent to him that he and the girl shared feelings for one another beyond that of friends, even comrades-in-arms. In his time caring for the girl, consoling her for the loss of her friends and her mentor, a tentative love had begun to grow within him.

For a long time, he grappled with the dilemma of what to do with his developing feelings- whether to act on them and attempt a romance with her, or to bury those desires deep inside his soul, and try to forget that they had ever existed at all. He'd had crushes before, and he had once thought to approach Asuna in a romantic manner, but she had died before he took the chance.

That of course, was the main reason for his hesitation to act on these feelings. He had seen what losing those you loved could do to a person- how it twisted and warped them until they were hardly recognizable. If Sachi died, what would he become? Was it right for him to entertain love in his heart when it could be ripped away any day, without warning?

As it so happened, the very reason for his reluctance became the deciding factor in his decision to pursue the quiet girl. We never know which day might be our last, he had thought. We might as well be happy with one another while we can.

However, his plan to ask Sachi out had backfired big time when he mistook his sister for the girl of his affections. In all reality, nothing untoward had occurred, but Kiriha was having too much fun mocking him for the identity confusion. Kirito had embraced her from behind while she was cooking dinner, thinking that it was Sachi. Too surprised to say anything, she had simply listened as the boy had started to confess his feelings for the girl, speaking for a full minute before the girl herself had walked into the room.

Upon realizing his mistake, Kirito had let out a scream of horror and bolted from the room, out of the house, and all the way out into the middle of the main dungeon on floor three. He had stayed there for two full days until Kiriha found him in a safe zone, still looking like a deer in the headlights. She had managed to calm him down somewhat and even apologized for not saying something sooner, but the damage was done to Kirito by that point. He had been so embarrassed by his gaffe that he was unable to face Sachi for a week after that, and even when he was able to talk to her, he was awkward and tongue-tied. It seemed like he had lost his chance to tell the girl how he felt, and now he was lamenting the fact.

"Look," Kiriha said, snapping him out of his recollection and back into the present. "So you screwed up the first try. But you know what Dad used to tell me whenever I messed up at kendo?"

"Sugu, what does kendo have to do with any of this?" Kirito grumbled.

"He always said that it doesn't matter how many times you make a mistake, as long as you keep going until you get past your final failure," she said firmly. "So get your chin up, buster- you're gonna try this again. And this time you're not gonna run away screaming like a little girl."

"Why are you so determined to help me out with this?" he asked suspiciously.

She gave him a flat look before she answered, "Believe it or not, I'm just trying to be a good sister. I came all the way into the death game to reconnect with you, and you said yourself that you wanted to fix things between us. I thought that helping you out with a little girl trouble would be a good way to help that along. But if you don't want my help-"

"No!" he said quickly, holding his hands up in a gesture of surrender. "No, I'll take your help. I guess I just hadn't really thought about it that way."

"Why not?" she asked him. "Isn't this what siblings are supposed to do for each other?"

"Yeah," Kirito nodded. "It's just… Well, Mataras and Saphira were always super close, but they were always teasing each other and competing against one another. I was under the impression that Saphira usually discussed her problems with Rivka."

"That was their way of showing how much they cared for each other," Kiriha shrugged. "I'm not Saphira, and thank God you're not that psychopath. We have a different relationship than they did. That doesn't mean that we can't have a good one." She paused before adding, "And they may not have supported each other in front of everyone else, but I do know that they were each other's confidants."

"No wonder Mataras went insane," Kirito murmured quietly, causing his sister's lips to quirk in an irritated motion.

However, all she said was, "Moving on, let's talk about how you're gonna get the girl."

"Oh, uh…" the Black Swordsman said blankly. "I don't know. It took me weeks to think up the way to ask her out for New Year's."

"Wow, it took you that long to plan out a hug?" Kiriha said flatly. "This is gonna be harder than I thought."

"I don't think I can do this," Kirito said nervously. He looked down at himself, once again feeling self-conscious about the clothes that Kiriha had forced him to adopt. Instead of his usual getup, she had put him in a black dress shirt and pants with a deep blue necktie. In his hands was a bouquet of white roses that he was to give the girl, regardless of whether she accepted his invitation or not.

"Shut up and stick to the plan," Kiriha told him as she gave him a shove down the hall. "If you chicken out, I'm bringing Klein in as backup." Sachi and the other girls had returned while she had been dragging her brother through the newly-opened city of Algade on floor fifty, looking for the clothes that he was now wearing.

"Please don't."

"Then get your butt in gear," she said with a smirk. "I'll be in the living room, and I'll be listening, so don't think that you can get out of it."

"Aw…" he groaned as he reluctantly made his way to Sachi and Silica's room. It wasn't that he didn't want to ask Sachi out anymore- he just wasn't sure that his nerve would hold out long enough for him to actually do it. Still, he didn't want his sister to be involved any more than was strictly necessary, and he knew that she was more than likely to follow through on her promise to bring Klein into the mix. He was certain that it would be better if that didn't happen, so this was probably his best chance to act on his feelings without any excess interference from the others.

Slowly, hesitantly, he raised his fist up to the wooden door and knocked twice. He held his breath for a second until he heard a familiar voice say, "It's open. Please come in."

He opened the door a little shakily, his nerves straining to hold him steady as he stepped into the lamp-lighten room. He paused awkwardly when he saw his crush sitting at her desk over a piece of parchment with a feather pen in her hand. She then looked up to see him with the flowers and semi-formal wear, and she immediately blushed.

"Hey, Sachi," Kirito said with his best attempt at a smile. Moving a little jerkily, he held out the flowers to her and said, "I thought you might like these."

"They're beautiful," she said as she stood up from her seat and moved to take the bouquet. "Thank you very much."

"No problem," he replied as he relinquished his hold on the plants.

"So… what's the occasion?" the girl asked as she held the flowers close, taking in the pleasant scent that they gave off. "You already gave me a necklace for Christmas, and my birthday isn't for a while."

"Oh, no, these aren't for… anything in particular…" he said awkwardly. "I just… uh…" He felt his heart accelerate as the silence began to stretch out, and Sachi searched his gaze for the real purpose behind this surprise.

"Are you okay?' she prompted him.

"Yeah," he nodded rapidly. "I'm just having a hard time saying what I want to say."

"Is it why you've been avoiding me for the last few days?" Sachi asked as she moved away to lay the flowers on her desk.

"It's not you," he cringed. "I… I had an idea for something that I wanted to do with you, and I screwed it up big time. And I've been too afraid to try because I'm afraid that I'll mess it up again."

Understanding began to dawn in Sachi's eyes, prompting her to move closer to the boy, her cheeks coloring again as she did. "You don't have to be afraid with me, Kirito," she promised him. "Thanks to you, I'm done being afraid."

"Thanks to me?" he repeated, bewildered. "But I- Mataras was the one that trained you, showed you how to survive this world. I haven't done anything like that."

"He showed me how to conquer my fears," she nodded as she reached out slowly, taking his hands into her own. "You showed me that we shouldn't be afraid to begin with. By continuing to stand, even when our circumstances would have broken most people, you showed me that fear only has as much power as we give it." She smiled up at him before she added, "And now I'm not afraid at all. I have you."

"But I am scared," he confessed as he held her hands tightly. "I'm scared of losing my friends again. And I'm terrified of losing you to this game."

"I'm not," Sachi replied. "Because even if death separates us for a little while, I know that we'll both live on in here." She moved her arms, placing her right hand on Kirito's chest, where his heart would be, and placing his on her left clavicle. "I would rather be with you for a few days and look forward to seeing you on the other side than closing my heart off and staying alone."

"Sachi, I don't want a few days," Kirito said as he felt a new surge of warmth for the girl. "I want to spend weeks, months, years with you- as many as I can." Without thinking, he closed his eyes, moved forward, and kissed Sachi full on the mouth. At first she made a small noise in the back of her throat that sounded like surprise, but it didn't take long for her to melt into the embrace with a contented sigh that tickled Kirito's face in an oddly comforting way.

In that moment, they both knew that no matter what came, be it good or bad, they would never feel alone again.

October 2024…

"That's adorable," I chuckled, causing Kirito to redden again with embarrassment. Clapping him on the shoulder, I added, "Sorry, pal. I mean to say that I'm really happy for the both of you."

"Thanks," he said sheepishly. "It's been really great, all things considered."

"All things considered?"

"Well, we don't always have time to go on dates like a normal couple would," he said a little defensively. "We're pretty busy clearing the game. We also had our hands full trying to chase down a certain someone for most of this year."

"Okay, fair," I conceded ruefully. "You two are pretty lucky, though. There are people that live out their entire lives looking for the gift that you've been given."

"I know," Kirito said with a smile. "I hate what this world has done to everyone in it, but this is something that I'm really thankful for. Without SAO, I probably never would have met her."

"A wise outlook," I chuckled again.

We were on our way to Grandzam, having been requested to attend a meeting concerning my fate with Heathcliff, his guild officers, and various other front-line elites. Kirito and I were walking toward the HQ of the KOB, having decided that it would be better if the entirety of the Fifth Commandment didn't just show up on their front porch. The other members of the newly re-formed Moonlit Black Cats were busy packing up the things in both of our houses, as Kirito had informed us that the current house was not big enough to accommodate all of us. As such, the plan was to sell both establishments and use the funds to pay for a new home that would be big enough to accommodate all eleven of us.

In the meantime, I would be more or less standing trial for my crimes against the people of Aincrad, though I had no intention of going quietly if the collective alliance decided that they would be better off without me. If I can't convince them that I'm on their side, I can always just hide out in the Hollow Area again, I decided. That'll make it harder for me to assist in boss raids and all that, but I'll figure something out.

As if he could hear my thoughts, Kirito nudged me with his elbow and said, "Don't worry; they can't afford to lose all of us. They won't like it, but they'll have to accept you as you are."

"The trick will be getting them to understand that," I muttered. "I'll let you lead, but as soon as they start bagging on you guys for helping me, I'm stepping up. After all, we've seen how good I am at putting the screws to them."

"Just don't make them so mad that we risk a guild war," Kirito cautioned me.

"Please," I snorted. "Even I know when to stop."

"Okay, clearly you don't know when to stop," Kirito grumbled as we walked away from Grandzam.

"Look, we're walking out as free men, and we got them to more or less cooperate with us," I reminded him. "They can't make a move against me while there's even the ghost of a chance that I'll remember who Kayaba is. Besides, once that does happen, they won't even care about me."

"That's assuming they believe you when you do tell them," he pointed out. "You don't exactly have a clean record when it comes to being honest with them."

"Yeah, but I do have a way to prove his identity once I out him," I informed him casually.

"How does that work?" he asked.

"…I don't remember," I admitted.

"Of course you don't," the Black Swordsman sighed.

"Hey, I'm working on it!" I protested as we walked up to the warp gate. "For now, can we start focusing on clearing the game?"

Kirito triggered the gate to take us down to floor three, and as we stepped out of the warm glow, he asked, "Just like the old days, huh?"

"Hmm," I mused a little sadly. "Back then it was you, me, our sisters, Rivka, and Asuna. Then came the other Cats, and… well, it feels like we've lost a lot, you know? I don't think 'like the old days' is going to happen for us, pal."

"That's true," he sighed as we turned up the street that would lead to the house we had been using. "We'll never get back the old days- but not necessarily just because we've lost people. We've gained a lot, too."

I gave him a sideways glance as a question stirred in my mind for a moment. It leaped off my tongue in the form of the words, "Is it worth it, though?"

"What do you mean?" he asked me with a puzzled air.

"You're right, we've gained a lot of good friends in spite of what we've suffered," I explained to him. "But are the people that we've formed friendships with worth the trials that we've had to suffer? What we've made each other suffer?"

Kirito was quiet for a little while as we made our way through Zumfut, allowing the autumn breeze and rustling of the leaves as the only sounds to pass us by. Eventually, he said, "Would you have rather not met Sinon and Strea? And Crimson?"

At the mention of the last name, I frowned and muttered, "Out of all the things that I regret doing as the Red Swordsman, I think I regret them the most. Crimson was part of me that managed to escape the horror of witnessing my sister being murdered in front of me, and I corrupted him. I used him for my own purposes, and when he counted on me to save him, I failed." Giving vent to a frustrated sigh, I continued on to say, "I know I haven't told you much about Sinon's past, and I'm not about to, but what is important is that I learned something about her that I was able to use in order to twist her good nature into a pitiless killing machine every bit as terrifying as I am. And Strea was the most innocent out of all of us, and I convinced her to help me kill hundreds of people. Oh, and let's not forget that I completely ignored my sister for months without even giving her five second's consideration, all while she waited patiently, suffering in silence in the hope that I would pull my head out of my ass." Letting out a disgusted snort, I muttered, "Maybe I should just let Heathcliff lock me up, or better yet, run me through the heart."

"Not after we just managed to get them to back off," Kirito told me in a warning tone. "I mean it. And I know that there are a half-dozen people at home that would probably beat you senseless if they could have heard what you just told me."

"Is that a fact?" I chuckled dryly.

"I don't really know your teammates all that well yet, but there's a few things that Sachi and I have noticed," he told me.

"You mean, Sachi notices, and you just nod your head in agreement with whatever she's saying?"

"Stop that," he said shortly.

"I haven't even gotten to what I did to you guys," I said, ignoring his demand, "I taunted you, terrorized you, nearly got you killed several times… You said that we've gained a lot in spite of our losses, but I don't feel like that's true at all. I feel like not only have I lost good things, but that I've also caused other people to lose a lot."

"So you'd rather have never met your friends?" he asked me. "You don't think that there's… I dunno, a silver lining in all of this?"

"You can find a silver lining in between a rock and hard place if you look hard enough," I replied grimly. "But honestly, I feel like everyone would have been better off if I had never come into the mix."

"Too bad it's not your call, then," he told me, causing to me to quirk my brow at him in confusion. In response, he added, "Sinon more or less told me that she'd been forced to kill before she came here, but she's mentioned several times that you helped her to make peace with it. Apparently without you, Strea would have remained in stasis, probably until SAO was over, and she'd be deleted without getting a chance to live at all. Sachi is alive because of your sister, and then you, back when the others were killed. I could never thank the both of you enough for doing that, even if I tried."

His last words caught me with the intensity of their feeling, enough so for me to stop in place as give him another curious look. As he stopped and gave me a questioning gaze, I asked, "You're really sweet on her, aren't you?"

"Weren't we just talking about your depressions?" he asked as he stepped back toward me.

"I cope by pushing things aside until they pile up too high and explode in my face," I said with a hint of dark humor. "Answer my question."

"Yeah, I really like her," Kirito replied before giving way to a slight grin.

Sensing that there was more to this topic, and recalling the account that he had given me only hours before, I asked, "Do you love her?"

The question seemed to startle him, because it was a few seconds before he said, "Well… I mean… What?"

"Do you love her?" I repeated, causing him to frown now.

"Okay, man, what does this have to do with you wondering if you're bad news for everyone else in our lives?" he asked.

"Everything," I replied shortly. "I know you don't owe me an answer about this, but I do want to know. Because if somebody can be happy in all this insanity, then I can hold out hope that not everything in SAO has been evil and in vain."

His response took a little while to come out, and when it did, it was in a barely audible tone. "Yeah," he answered. "I haven't told her, but I do love her." Locking eyes with me, he continued on to say, "She's everything to me, man. I'd give my life for her if it meant that she could go home safely. I wanna be with her until the very end."

"Does that carry over into the real world?" I asked him, impressed by the conviction and earnestness in his voice.

"Yes," he nodded seriously. "If- no, when- we make it out of here, I'm gonna find her. No matter how long it takes, no matter what I have to go through, I'll make it back so that we can meet in the real world. And when I do, I'm gonna fall in love with her all over again."

I was rendered silent, stunned by his speech. I think he surprised himself, too, because he quickly reddened and sputtered, "Wow! That was pretty pretentious of me, wasn't it? Er… Do you think we could keep this between us?"

I shook myself before I managed to reply, "Well, first of all, dude… That was one of the coolest confessions I've ever heard in my life. Like, I wanna write that down and use it someday." I was smiling widely at him, which got a stupid grin on his face, in spite of himself.

"Second, I think it's great that you've found the person you wanna love for the rest of your life, already," I told him. "The fact that you managed to find it amid a world where everything else has gone to hell makes it even more special."

Kirito cocked his head at me with a strange smile before he said, "I gotta say, it's weird seeing you like this. I was expecting you to be a lot more cynical about the whole thing."

I laughed at that and replied, "I am a cynic to my core, Kirito. So the fact that I believe you- me, a guy that spent more than a year mired in hatred and distrust for the world at large- that should say something."

"I think it says that you're secretly a romantic," he snickered, causing me to scowl at him.

"Tell anyone, and I'll stick you in the volcano zone in the Hollow Area without a teleport crystal," I told him, though a stubborn smile kind of ruined the threat.

"I'll keep your secret," he replied with another chuckle as we resumed our journey to the house.

"Good, but I do have another question for you," I said.

"What's that?"

"If you're so in love with her, why haven't you asked her to marry you yet?" I asked with a mischievous grin.

His response to that was to trip over and eat the road, causing me to laugh hard enough that I doubled over. "Oh come on," he groaned as he got up. "It wasn't that funny."

"It was, it was!" I hooted. "You should've seen your face!"

"Did you just ask me that to embarrass me?" he inquired with a flat look on his face.

"Nah, I was serious," I chortled. "I just didn't expect to get such a kick out of you tripping up."

"Don't start with that," he told me.

"Did you get off on the wrong foot?"

"Stop it."

"Am I going out on a limb?"

"Seriously, stop."

"If the shoe fits…"

"I will get Saphira over here to beat your ass," he warned me.

"Pfft, she'd help me," I snickered.

"Fine, then Sinon," he countered.

"…Okay, that's fair," I admitted. "Sorry, I haven't had a chance to do that in a long time. I got carried away from our original topic."

"You think?" he deadpanned.

"I still wanna know," I informed him. "Why haven't you used the marriage function?"

"Well…" he shrugged. "I mean, we're just kids. And it's not like it would serve any real purpose in the real world, would it?"

"Amazing, every word in that sentence was wrong," I told him, giving him pause. "Look man, anyone that's been through what we have isn't a kid anymore. We're forced to deal with life and death every day, and that's not something that children can do. Whatever our age, we've been forced to abandon our innocence and our childhood. And as for it not carrying anything over to the real world, then I could say the same thing about your feelings for her, if that's the excuse you wanna hide behind."

"I just mean that if we get married here, it doesn't mean that we'd still be married out there," he protested. "Like, legally."

"So what?" I snorted. "If you're really sure that you wanna spend the rest of your life with her, take her as your wife in SAO, and then do it again when the opportunity comes up IRL. What's important is that if you make the commitment to her, and treat her like she's your wife, the rest is just legalities. Sure, you won't be able to put a ring on her as soon as we get out of here, nor will you be able to provide for you and her for a while, but if you act in accordance with the laws of whichever reality we're in, you'll be able to love and cherish each other with honor no matter where you go."

"You seem really fired up about this," he said as he looked at me askance. "Did the microwaves get to you again?"

"It's been a long time since I've been excited about anything wholesome," I replied with a shrug. "Sorry if I'm going overboard."

"No, it's… It's really cool to see you like this," he told me. "And you bring up some good points. The only thing is…" He hesitated, his face darkening just a little.

"You're worried that she doesn't feel as strongly as you do," I guessed, to which he nodded.

"I don't want to scare her off," he admitted. "The way that you talk about it makes me want to go ask her to marry me now, but I'm afraid of what'll happen if she says no."

"Do you think she will?" I asked him.

"Well, no," he replied. "But there's always a chance that I could be wrong."

"Nothing in life worth having is gained without taking some chances," I said calmly. "The trick is knowing which ones to take."

"And you know which ones those would be?" he asked dryly.

"Of course," I snorted as I walked past him with a pat on the shoulder. "I know everything."

"No, you don't."

"Close enough."

"Are you just trying to irritate me now?" he demanded.

"No, but it is a fringe benefit," I smirked as he caught up to me. "I'm trying to figure out if you're gonna have the balls to ask her."

"Wha-?"

"Oh come on, after everything that you two have been through together?" I challenged him with another grin. "I've seen the way that she looks at you, pal. She'd say 'yes' in a heartbeat."

"After everything that we've been through together?" he repeated with a smile that made me feel a little uncomfortable. "Then what about you and Rivka?"

Now it was my turn to almost face-plant into the ground, but unlike my friend, I managed to avoid biting it. Glaring at him, I muttered, "That's completely different."

"Is it, though?" he teased me.

"Yes, it is," I shot back. "You two are good people that have been through a lot together. I'm a mass murderer that pushed away everyone that wanted to help me, and repeatedly broke the heart of the girl that I would have fallen in love with if it weren't for SAO and the Red Swordsman."

"Did you just refer to yourself in the third person?" he asked.

"Really?" I deadpanned. "That's what you got out of that?"

"Right, sorry," he chuckled.

"My point is, I don't deserve to be happy like you do," I told him. "Yeah, I'm in love with Rivka. I have been for a long time, and I probably always will be. But how can I give someone my heart when I don't have it to begin with?"

Kirito shook his head and chuckled again, which kind of made me want to punch him. Before I could, though, he said, "The fact that you want to make up for what you've done- or even showing remorse in the first place- shows me that the last part of that little speech you just gave is a lie. You just don't want it to be."

"Agree to disagree," I grumbled.

"Fine," he said peaceably. "I'll let it go for the time being. But for now, there's something else that I should do."

"Plan a proposal?" I smirked.

"You're helping me."

"Heh- Wait, what?!"

"Okay, that's the last of it," Silica said to Rivka and Sachi as she added a stool to her inventory. "Now we just need Kirito to sell the property, and we can go get a new house." She and the others girls had just finished packing everything that they owned in preparation to move into a bigger house that could accommodate them all. They were all pretty close to the limits of their storage capacity, but between the nine of them, they had managed the task.

"I've already found a couple," Philia informed them as she walked into the living room, having just come from the house that she and Yuuki had been sharing. "There's a house in a town on floor forty-eight that would be big enough for all of us. There's also a place in the Town of Beginnings that-"

"No," Sachi, Silica, and Rivka all declared in unison, startling the treasure hunter a little.

"Okay…" she said a little defensively. "Any particular reason we don't wanna go there?"

"The army doesn't like us very much," Rivka explained. "Even before Mataras went rogue, we all caused them more than a few problems."

"And we took out a few of their ranking officers after we became active," Sinon said with a half-smirk as she walked down from upstairs, followed by Strea, who was humming a sweet tune to herself. "They were all murderers, but needless to say, the ALF hates us."

"Why did I agree to join this guild?" Philia asked of no one in particular.

"Cos we can make better progress through the game if we combine our resources with these guys," Yuuki chirped as she skipped up to her friends from down the hall. "Bathroom's all packed up."

"And I just finished the last bedroom," Saphira called down as she began to clamber down the stairs, and frowning when she saw that there was no room for her to stand without displacing one or more of the girls. "We really do need a bigger place."

"Well, as I was saying, I got in contact with a couple of info brokers that tipped me off about some new digs we could settle into today," Philia said as the group began to make its way to the dining room/kitchen area, as to let Saphira down from the stairs. "Since floor one is out, we have the one in Lindarth, a place on floor thirty, an estate on floor fifty-one, and a mansion on floor sixty-five."

"Which one's the most expensive?" Yuuki asked with a cheeky grin. "Let's get that one."

"That'd be the Upton Abbey on the thirtieth floor," Philia answered with a roll of her eyes. "One of the reasons it's so expensive is because it has an NPC staff that comes with the place."

"What do we need that for?" Kiriha snorted. "I'd rather make my own bed than pay extra for an AI to do it. No offense, Strea."

"Some taken."

"Actually, that's not what they're for," Philia explained, re-garnering her guild mates' attention. "There is a cook NPC, but you all told me that Sachi has her cooking skill maxed out, so that doesn't matter much. What you might be interested in is the tailor, the blacksmith, and the merchant that all live there permanently."

"We've got the Hollows on standby back at home," Sinon said with a shake of her head. "We don't need extra NPC's."

"Are we gonna be able to bring them over to live with us?" Saphira asked. "Seems like a bit of hassle having to go to the Hollow area every time that we need to get our equipment maintained."

"I'm working on that, but some of them need to have their handles changed so that the system doesn't recognize them as duplicates of the original, and prevent them from coming here at all," Strea explained. "We also need to be careful not to let other people see them if at all possible."

"Why not?" Silica asked.

"Think about it," Saphira said, though not unkindly. "The Hollow AI are made using top players and the dead ones. Other people catching sight of someone they knew would be hard for us to explain, and it draws attention to Mataras, Strea and Sinon, so it's better to avoid that altogether."

"Really, it'd be safest if we didn't bring them here at all, but Liz and Erika's crafting skills are maxed out," Sinon sighed. "There's nobody in the game as good at their job as they are."

"Wait, Liz?" Kiriha repeated. "That name sounds familiar."

"Yeah, Mataras recommended you to the player that the Hollow is based on," Sinon explained. "She's not as good as her Hollow counterpart, but we knew she could get you guys geared up for the raid against Laughing Coffin."

"The more you know," Yuuki said cheerily.

"Which house would you recommend?" Sachi asked Philia, trying to steer the course of the conversation back to the original topic.

"Well, money isn't a problem, but you guys don't strike me as the types that want to flaunt your cash," she muttered as she looked around at everyone. "The one on floor sixty-five is one of the more expensive ones, but it's got plenty of room, and it's kinda out of the way for most players, so it's unlikely that we'll get people knocking on our doors."

"Cool," Saphira grinned. "Let's go buy it while Kirito and Mataras are out, leave 'em to wonder where we went."

"They can track us from our friends' list," Strea giggled.

"Which I'm about to do," Rivka muttered as she swiped open her menu. "They shouldn't be taking this long, even if the assault team is mad at them."

"Unless my brother pissed them off even more," Saphira pointed out, causing the others to grimace.

"We should probably get ready for a rescue op," Sinon said to Strea.

"I agree," she nodded.

"To borrow one of Mataras' lines," Kirito said, startling all of his friends as he walked up behind them, "O ye of little faith."

"That line's actually from the Bible," Yuuki replied. Frowning a little, she asked, "Where's Mataras?"

"I sent him on an errand," the Black Swordsman replied calmly, to which most of his friends reacted not so calmly.

"You what?!" Kiriha spat.

"What if he runs away again?!" Sinon shouted.

"He said he wouldn't," Kirito said as he looked at them with some amount of ridicule. "I believe him, and so should you. Faith without sight isn't faith at all, right?"

"Okay, since when did you quote scriptures more often than my brother?" Saphira asked him suspiciously.

"I only know the two of those, and they seemed to fit," he answered a bit sheepishly. "Don't worry, he'll meet up with us later."

"What was so urgent that it couldn't wait for one of us to handle it?" Kiriha demanded. "You're taking a big risk, trusting him."

"No, I'm not," her brother said in a tone that indicated that he was done talking about it. "I trust Mataras, and the errand is between him and me."

"…Did you send him to kill someone?" Philia asked.

"No."

"Just asking."

The group decided to take the mansion on floor sixty-five. It wasn't a towering castle like Grandzam, nor did Kirito want to establish his guild in a building so large that it would feel empty to them, but it was a respectable size with plenty of accommodations. As for the old houses, he entrusted their sales to Agil for a five percent commission rate. The shop owner grumbled about the fraction that they agreed on, but he had done it to outbid Argo's offer to sell on behalf of the Cats, which would have been a steeper seven percent.

The new house was a Mediterranean-style mansion with enough bedrooms for everyone to have their own space, and many windows that afforded them a view of the surrounding grass hills that reminded Saphira of her trip to California during her childhood. The inside of the home was a very open layout, with a large kitchen sitting next to a dining room four times the size of their old house, and a small quad where a few tropical plants were already blooming. Each bedroom was at least twice the size of the last ones, and the library on the first floor certainly caught Sinon's attention. She knew that both she and Mataras would be spending a lot of their free time in there, as the shelves already accommodated a generous collection of novels.

"I wonder how all of these are in here?" she wondered aloud as she thumbed through a worn-feeling book about the exploits of King Arthur. "It's not like Kayaba had time to write them himself."

"The books that can be found for entertainment purposes in SAO were all purchased for redistribution by the creators of Sword Art Online," Strea explained as she bounced up and down on her toes like an excited child. "Mataras is gonna love this place."

"My thoughts exactly," the archer said with a smile. "I'm gonna miss our old campsite, but this place is pretty amazing, too."

"There's also a study on the second floor, if you didn't already know about it," Strea told her friend. "There's plenty of writing utensils and the room itself seems to have some kind of sound-muffler function that makes it quiet for whoever's using it."

"Between this room and that one, I dunno know that we're ever gonna be able to get Mataras to leave." The two girls turned to see Saphira standing in the doorway with a grin on her face. As she entered the room, she added, "Gotta say, one of the things I missed most when I thought I was trapped in the Hollow Area was getting a little R and R under a roof with a good book in my hands."

"How come you never tried to come back here?" Sinon asked the girl. "I've been wondering that."

"I never saw the point in trying," she shrugged. "By the time I thought I was a Hollow, I knew enough about them to know that they weren't allowed to come into Aincrad without an admin's override."

"How'd you know that?" Strea asked.

"I was watching you guys a while before I revealed myself," Saphira answered. "It was really confusing, you know. I thought I was pretty much a ghost, and I knew that my brother would more than likely reject me because of that, but when I saw how much pain he was really in, I couldn't let it go on without at least making an attempt to reason with him."

"And I'm sorry I didn't realize the truth about you sooner," Strea apologized with a grimace. "I've been feeling super down about that."

"Don't," Saphira said with a soft smile as she gave the taller girl a hug. "You did the best that you could, and you kept my brother safe while no one else could. Both of you." She released Strea and turned to include Sinon in the statement. "I doubt that he'd be here if it wasn't for you two, so thank you for looking out for him."

"It was our pleasure," Sinon said with a small bow toward the other girl. "Your brother is a great man, no matter what anyone else says. I'm glad to have been a part of his story."

"A man is only as great as the people that he surrounds himself with," Saphira replied kindly.

She looked like she was about to say more, but just then, Yuuki bounded into the room with a twirl and a huge smile on her face. "This place is awesome!" she sang. "How'd we afford it, though? I know that the Fifth Commandment had some serious cash cos of all the stuff they can sell from the Hollow Area, but this is still a lot of dough to drop."

"Actually, I paid for it," Saphira informed her, causing the three girls to look at her in surprise.

"You what?" Strea asked, unsure if she was hearing things correctly.

"Well, I spent more than a year killing monsters and doing quests almost non-stop," she replied with a slight shrug. "I never went to a shop until Mataras and the others set up camp, and by the time that happened, I had a hoard and half to sell."

"Oh yeah, that makes sense," Sinon muttered. "Still, how did you survive without any potions and all that?"

"Before I started hanging around your camp, I stocked up on potions and crystals by finding treasure chests in dungeons," Saphira replied. "I almost didn't make it a few times, but having a unique skill definitely gives you the edge in a place as dangerous as the Hollow Area."

"I keep meaning to ask, do you know what the prerequisites are for getting that skill?" Yuuki asked curiously.

"Why do you wanna know?" Sinon chuckled. "You've already got a unique skill all your own."

"Yeah, but I have no idea how I got it," the other girl admitted. "It just showed up in my menu a few months ago."

"One-Armed Titan showed up in my skill set after I woke up in the Hollow Area," Saphira volunteered. "I think that might have had something to do with it."

"Actually, you sort of got that skill by mistake," Strea told her, surprising all of them. In explanation, she said, "Titan is a skill that was meant to be given to the first player that survived their health dropping to zero points."

"Or in other words, the player that was revived with the Stone should have been given the ability," Saphira mused. "But I technically fulfilled those requirements when my avatar perished, and was then forced to teleport."

"Which leads us to where you are now," Strea nodded. "You and your brother are all kinds of lucky, Saphira."

"Maybe when it comes to sword skills," the smaller girl conceded. "Speaking of whom, where is that guy? It's almost dark out."

"He's been on floor twenty-two ever since Kirito sent him on his errand," Sinon answered quickly. "I've been keeping track of him with the friend's list."

"What's he been doing down there all day?"

"I asked Kirito, but all he would tell me is that it was supposed to be some kind of a surprise," the archer replied to Strea.

"Lame," Yuuki decided. "They wanna have a secret for boys only? Let's get 'em back and do something girls-only! They'll be totally jealous!"

"I already don't like where this is going," Sinon muttered.

"Saphira, what could we do that Mataras would hate missing out on?"

It was past nine in the evening when I made my way up to the top of the hill where our new home rested. It was situated just outside of a little town on the fringes of the floor, so it wasn't exactly a travel spot, which I thought was ideal. It would lessen the chances that someone would discover my location on accident, and by proxy, reduce the possibilities of angry mobs banging on our doors.

The many windows of the house shone with light from within, and I could already hear the sound of laughter carrying on the breeze that swept the field. It sounds like home, I thought with a smile as I passed through the gates that cordoned off the property from any casual passersby. Only guild members had access to the property, and if one decided to ignore the 'keep out' function and attempted to vault the elegant fences, they would be labelled as a yellow player for a day.

I let myself in the front door quietly, and was surprised to find Kirito waiting for me in the spacious greeting room that had already been furnished by our guild mates. "How'd it go?" he asked me in a lowered tone as he came closer.

"Well, it took a little longer than I originally thought it would, cos I had to finish a quest to get the key to the damn place," I grumbled. "It's a long story, and there's some weird 'Wizard of Oz' stuff that happened, but the short version is that Argo got herself stuck in the middle of a quest, and I helped her finish it. At first she was pretty suspicious of me- understandable- but once I told her why I was there, she agreed to help me."

"You told Argo about that?!" the Black Swordsman hissed worriedly.

"Relax, I paid her to keep quiet," I assured him. "Bad news is that she gave me a discount- the 'friend' price, too."

"Oof, sorry about that," he apologized. Argo may have been an info broker by trade, but if someone paid her the right price to keep personal information out of the hands of the general public, the rumor was as good as gone. We were never sure how she managed her information so well, but she was the best at what she did, no doubt.

"So, have you asked her yet?" I inquired.

"No, not yet," he replied, glancing around as if to make sure that we weren't being eavesdropped on. "But I'm going to. Tonight."

"So soon?" I asked, surprised. "Earlier, you looked ready to pass out at the thought. What changed?"

"If I don't do it soon, I think my insecurities are gonna get the better of me again," he admitted with a half-laugh.

"Well, in that case…" I said as I pulled up my inventory and selected an item that I then held out to Kirito. "Here. I know SAO automatically generates one when the deal is done, but I'm a fan of tradition, and tradition says you gotta give her one of these, too."

Kirito's eyes widened as he looked at the ring resting in my palm; a gold band with a round black diamond on the crest that sparkled like starlight. "Dude, where did you-?"

"Hollow Area," I chuckled as I gripped his hand with the one that held the ring, forcing him to take it. "I won't bore you with the details of that story, though. The ring has a practical purpose, of course- gives the wearer a huge resistance buff to dark-type damage."

"I can't-"

"Yes, you can," I told him firmly. "Consider it the gift from her teacher, and the house as my gift to you, my friend."

"Hey, I said I would pay you back for the house," he insisted. "That place wasn't cheap."

"And I'm loaded," I laughed as I clapped him on the shoulder. "Seriously, don't worry about it. I haven't had to spend money on anything in quite a while, so let me be generous, okay? It feels good to give back to you guys."

Moving slowly, he deposited the precious ring into his inventory before he said, "I don't care what you say. I'll repay you for this, someday."

"Whatever helps you sleep at night," I chuckled again. "Now, I wanna see this place. Sinon said in a message that it's got a library somewhere, and I am very much looking forward to enjoying some old Anglo literature."

"So where were you all day?" Saphira asked me as we sat down at our new dining room table, which was a long, maple wood piece capable of seating up to a dozen people. The area was well-lit by lanterns that hung from the ceiling, and the large windows on two of the walls give it a nice, open feeling. There was a door to a porch that offered the users a look at the landscape that led up to the edge of the map, which also had a table set up for dining, but given the cold October weather, we decided to eat inside for the time being.

My sister, Silica, and Sachi had put together a tasty-looking set of fish, salads, and rice dishes for us, and we were all hungry. The girls and Kirito had spent most of the day selling their old furniture and purchasing new sets that went better with our new home. The beds and library had come with the place, but everything else had to be bought. Fortunately, money was no issue for us, given the veritable fortune that the Fifth Commandment and Saphira had accumulated over the past year.

To answer my sister's question, I said, "Off to see the wizard." Reaching out, I sliced off a piece of some kind of blue fish and deposited it onto my plate.

"What?" Kiriha asked as she and Saphira exchanged bewildered glances.

"He got stuck doing some kind of weird quest on floor twenty-two that I had been meaning to check out," Kirito explained from my left as he obtained some of the rice.

"Okay, I did not get stuck," I said as I passed the fish over to Rivka, who was sitting on my right. "Argo had already triggered the quest, and I had to go rescue her."

"What does a wizard have to do with that?" Philia asked.

"She got stuck up in a flying house, and there was an evil witch I had to defeat," I replied. "I was making a Wizard of Oz reference."

"Ah."

"Wizard of what?" Silica inquired as Sachi handed her a salad.

"You've never heard of that movie?" Saphira asked the little girl. When she shook her head in the negative, my sister said, "It was a movie made almost a hundred years ago, so I guess it makes sense that some people have never heard of it."

"It was eighty-five years ago," I corrected her.

"Semantics," she quipped. "Point is, it was the first movie to ever be filmed in color, as everything up until then was filmed in black-and-white."

"Oh," Silica said.

"That's kind of weird," Sinon put in from across the table. "I thought that SAO's quests were all based in medieval literature."

"That's true for the most part, but the Cardinal System has the authority to generate quests based on any mythology that it finds to be relevant to the world that has been created," Strea explained. "It makes sense that there would be an outlier every once in a while."

"Why did you have to go and do that while we were all busy moving?" Rivka asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Ask him," I said as I gestured at Kirito with my fork. "He's the one that sent me on the stupid quest in the first place."

"Hey, it's supposed to be a surprise!" he protested as I gave him an evil grin. Turning to look at each of guild mates, he said, "I'll tell you guys later tonight, promise."

"Why not now?" I snickered. "Do you have some other engagement at the moment?"

"No," he said through gritted teeth as he glared daggers at me. I knew I was taking it a little far, especially with my choice in words, but I don't think that anyone else noticed my little play on words. After all, my choice vernacular did include some words that weren't used often anymore, especially by people our age.

"Okay, let's leave it at that," Saphira said before anyone else could badger the guy. "Kirito says he'll explain later, so that's that. A little waiting isn't gonna hurt us."

"But I wanna know!" Yuuki pretended to complain.

"Yeah!" Kiriha added.

"Leave him alone," Sachi told them as she gripped Kirito's hand with her own. "Let's just enjoy the meal with everyone here."

"I agree," I said as I raised my cup, which was filled with some kind of grape juice. "Here's to reunions among friends."

"And here's to not chasing each other all over the map anymore," Sinon chuckled as she raised her chalice up with everyone else, and causing a few of us to laugh with her.

Kirito stood up, then, raised his cup and declared, "Here's to us, the Moonlit Black Cats!" Pausing for second, he turned to me and then added, "And here's to the guy that's gonna beat Kayaba and SAO!"

Despite my best efforts, a small smile worked its way across my face as everyone echoed the toast, even Philia and Kiriha. "Thanks, guys," I murmured.

Once the dishes had been put away and we were all lounging in a common area that lay between the front door and the dining/kitchen area, Kirito approached Sachi and spoke to her in lowered tones. After a couple of seconds, they both departed the room, and Silica went to follow them, but I held out an arm to stop her from the recliner that I had claimed. "Not so fast, kid," I told her, causing her to look at me with confusion.

"I thought Kirito said that he was gonna explain the surprise later," she said with a puzzled air.

I released her arm and tapped the side of my nose as I said in a lowered tone, "It's a surprise, all right. But it's for Sachi, not all of us."

"Come again?" Kiriha asked as bolted upright in her armchair.

"I was busy today, because I went down to buy him and her a cabin," I grinned. "The quest took a long time, and then I had to furnish the damn thing. That's why I was out all day."

"Him and… her?" Rivka asked, comprehension beginning to dawn in her eyes. "He's not-"

"He is."

"This view is beautiful," Sachi said as she leaned on the railing of the porch, gazing out at the endless sky that surrounded Aincrad, and the simulated stars that shone overhead.

Not as beautiful as you, Kirito wanted to say. Instead, he went with, "I'm glad that you like it here."

"I'd like anywhere that you are," she said as she shifted her weight to lean on him once he came close enough. "You've made me happy, even here in SAO."

"Not as happy as you've made me," he chuckled lightly as he wrapped his arms around her. "My whole life, I've always felt like I was separate from everybody else. Finding out that my mom and dad weren't really my mom and dad kind of cemented that feeling- made me push everyone away, even Suguha. But when I started to get to know you, I felt… at home. I felt like I found where I was meant to be."

"I know what you mean," she replied as she squeezed his arms with her own. "I didn't have a lot of friends growing up, and even when I met Keita and the others at high school, I still felt like the odd one out. They were all so bright and cheerful while I just stayed in the background, happy to just be there. But when I'm with you, I know that I have a voice that can be heard- a voice that matters."

"Well, I actually do have something that I need your opinion on…" He paused to make sure that his words would come out right before saying, "There's this house that I found back on floor twenty-two that I really liked. There's a lake nearby, and it's real quiet, away from the front lines."

"But we just settled in here," Sachi said as she turned in his arms to look up at him. "You can't expect everyone to move again so soon, especially with how much they like it here."

"I… wasn't planning on having everyone move with us," Kirito said haltingly. "It would just be… you and me."

"Oh," she said, her eyes widening. "Oh…"

When she failed to say anything else, Kirito felt his heart drop, and he asked, "Sorry, was I wrong to ask that? I just thought that things between us have been so great, and-"

"I'll go with you," she said to cut him off with a big smile. "I just didn't expect it, is all. I'll gladly move down there with you. I told you, anywhere you go is where I'll be happy. I… I love you, Kirito."

There it was. Those words were the ones that he needed to hear to know beyond the shadow of a doubt that Mataras was right. Knowing that, he pulled her closer to him and said, "I love you too, Sachi."

Relaxing his grip, he pulled away a full step, and then knelt down on one knee, causing the girl to gasp and put her hands up in front of her mouth. With a huge smile and trembling fingers, he opened up his menu and pulled out the ring that Mataras had given him. "Sachi, after everything that we've been through together, after getting to fall in love with you, I know that I wanna spend the rest of our lives together. My life belongs to you, and I'll stay with you until the end, if you'll let me."

"Kirito," she breathed through her fingers. "Are you…?"

"Will you marry me, Sachi?" he asked as he held out the ring to her.

She lowered her hands, allowing him to see her joyous tears and smile, right before she asked him, "How long will you love me?"

"Always," he replied instantly, and with more conviction in his voice than she could ever remember him having.

"Then yes, I will marry you," she answered, causing his own smile to brighten. "In SAO, and in the real world; however many times as we need to so that we can stay together." With that, she allowed Kirito to slide the ring onto her left ring finger, filling them both with a peace and happiness that they had never known to exist until that moment.

In SAO, getting married could be as easy as arranging a friend request. One player sent the other person a request, and if they said 'yes', then the two were married, just like that. I fully expected this to be the way that Sachi and Kirito arranged their nuptials, so imagine my surprise when they came back in, both wearing smiles, and she with a ring on her finger, saying that they wanted to have an improvised ceremony in front of their friends. It took a while for them to even be able to say that, given how the other girls spent several minutes offering them congratulations.

Once they had, though, Saphira was the one to ask, "How're you gonna do that? The churches in this game have priest NPC's, but they only act as quest-givers, not actual holy men."

"Well, actually…" Sachi said as she and Kirito turned to look at me, giving me a sinking feeling in my stomach. "We were hoping that Mataras would perform the ceremony."

"Wha-?!" I sputtered. "I'm not a licensed pastor! I'm not a licensed anything! I can't do it!"

"You were the one telling me that the rules are different here," Kirito laughed at me. "You know more about this kind of stuff than anyone else here. Plus, you're our friend, and we want you to do it."

"Hang on," I protested. "I might be more academically aware of Biblical scriptures than the average Joe, but that doesn't make me qualified to perform a wedding that's gonna hold you to each other for the rest of your lives! Also, in case you haven't noticed, I'm pretty far from being a holy man!"

"Wasn't it Paul that said 'I am the chief of sinners'?" Yuuki pointed out. Saphira gave her a high-five which got them both grinning at me.

"She's got a point, Bro," my sister told me. "The biggest sinner in the Bible wrote more than half the New Testament."

Those two are gonna be a dangerous combo, I thought. Out loud, I argued, "I'm not even an adult!"

"None of us are kids, though," Kirito countered. "You told me that."

Dammit, hindsight! I grumbled inwardly.

Seeing my reluctance, Sachi relented and said, "If you're uncomfortable with it, you don't have to perform the ceremony. We just thought it would be nice to have something closer to the original idea than just doing it the game's way."

Everyone else quickly looked at me expectantly, causing me to fidget in place. Finally, when Saphira gave me a particular look, I gave up. "All right, you win," I groaned. "I'll figure something out."

"Yes!" Kirito declared with a fist pump while Sachi's face lit up with a dazzling smile. That alone was enough to convince me that changing my mind was the right thing to do.

I'm getting soft in my old age, I thought wryly.

The ceremony took place the next afternoon, with everyone in our guild attending, as well as a few other friends that Kirito and the others had managed to make in the two years since becoming trapped. Strea had Erika make a few outfits for those of us participating in the event- a suit and tie for Kirito, a dress for Sachi, and to my dismay, a white cloak (without a cowl, no less) to replace my red one.

"Doesn't this seem kind of extra?" I asked as I held the fabric out in front of me, noticing the gold trim on the edges.

"Don't priests wear white?" Strea asked.

"That's usually in the Catholic or Anglican churches, neither of which I align with," I told her. "Also, I'm not a pastor." We were all gathered in front of the lake close to Kirito and Sachi's new home, enjoying the warm autumn air that had been afforded us. It was almost as though Aincrad knew what was about to take place, and had acted accordingly to accommodate.

There were no chairs, but nobody there seemed to mind, and it wasn't as though I was going to make an hour-long ceremony out of it. I had attended old-style weddings, and I hated how long they dragged on for. I don't have the patience for that nonsense.

"He's got a point," Saphira said as she walked up to us, wearing a blue sundress. "There's a lot of pastors back in America that'll show up to church wearing the same stuff as their audience."

"Remember that one guy that wears khakis and beach shirts?" I reminded her.

"Oh yeah," she nodded. "Super tall, loved playing the Beatles on his guitar?"

"That's him." A few yards behind my sister, Litrosh and Pina were wrestling in the lush grass while Silica and Sinon were each encouraging them to best the other.

"You still gotta wear the white one," Saphira said as she shoved the new cloak into my chest. "Erika worked hard to make it."

"Dammit."

"Hey, Red!" A nasally voice caught my attention and got me to turn to my right, where I quickly recognized a familiar head of shaggy blond hair. "Who'da thought?"

"Hello, Argo," I said as I held out my hand for her to shake as soon as she came within reach. "I know Kirito will be glad to see you here."

"Yeah?" she grinned. "Never thought I'd be glad ta see you again, if we're bein' honest. Saphira, glad ta see ya back with the livin'."

"Good to see you, too," my sister replied as she forced Argo into a hug while Strea took her leave. "How've you been?"

"Business is crackin', so I can't complain," the smaller girl chuckled once she was put down. "But today ain't about us, much as I'd love to catch up wit'cha. Where's Ki-boy at?"

"He and Klein are getting ready back at that house you helped me get yesterday," I answered readily. The leader of the Fuurinkazan guild was acting as Kirito's best man, and the two of them were due to arrive in about fifteen minutes. Sachi and her Maid of Honor, Kiriha, would be arriving soon after that, and the 'ceremony' would begin. Agil would be acting in place of the girl's father to give her away, as he had grown close to the two of them over the course of their relationship.

"Oh, so Ki-boy wanted to set up a little love nest, eh?" Argo snickered. "If I'da known that, I'da given you an extra discount."

"Argo, discounts are when you charge people less, not more," I replied a little snippily, remembering how much her silence had cost me yesterday.

"What're you, a dictionary?"

Kirito and Klein showed up on time, both of them wearing nice black suits, although the older guy was still wearing his ridiculous bandana. I held my tongue on the matter, though, mostly because Klein was friendly enough when I spoke to them briefly on how I planned to conduct the ceremony. This was big relief for me, as I would have hated for Kirito and Sachi's wedding to be marred by unpleasantness that I caused.

We were standing on a short pier that was normally used by fishermen, but when the local players realized what was happening, they quite kindly went to find other places to fish. It was good thing, too. I seriously doubt that I would have had much patience with resistance, tense as I was about performing the whole thing. Fortunately, Saphira and Sinon would keep me in check if it looked like I was going to do anything stupid, but there was always the chance that I would still make myself out to be an idiot before the day was done.

The bride and her retinue were about ten minutes late, but I had been informed that this was normal. Apparently it usually happened due to pre-wedding jitters or a need to reapply makeup after tears had ruined it, but since there was no makeup in SAO (aside from theater paints), I doubted that the latter was the case. The nervousness made more sense to me, due to the fact that although Sachi had grown in confidence over the last two years, she was still a shy soul at her core. As such, she probably had to be more or less cajoled last-minute due to her nerves trying to get the better of her.

"Dude, what if she isn't coming?" Klein muttered to a nervous Kirito, causing me to glare at him.

Clicking my fingers, I pointed at him and said, "Sinon." An instant later, a knife flashed by Klein's head, nicking his bandana, which resulted in the system destroying it before it hit the ground. "Thank you."

"Anytime," she grinned as she lowered her arm. "You owe me a new knife, though."

"You got it."

"Aw man, why'd you do that?!" Klein wailed.

"One, it was hideous," I snorted. "Two, Kirito doesn't need any extra reasons to be nervous today. You're the best man- show some support."

"Hey, I'm already showin' plenty of support, wearing this monkey suit," Klein grumbled as he uncomfortably tugged at his bow tie.

"C'mon, man, chicks dig guys in a suit," Kirito grinned lightly as he elbowed his friend.

"Okay, I guess I can roll with it then," the redhead chuckled as he stopped pulling at his neck. "And would ya look at that? There's a sight you won't be forgetting, buddy."

His words prompted us all to turn and look up the path, where we could see three figures approaching. Our faces lit up with smiles as we recognized Agil, dressed similarly to Kirito and Klein, followed by Kiriha, who was wearing a deep blue dress that matched the flowers that she carried. Accompanying Agil, of course, was the bride herself.

Sachi had dressed in a simple white gown that left her shoulders bare, while the hem of the fabric tickled the grass that caressed her feet. Her short hair was kept to the sides, allowing us to clearly see her joyful smile and sparkling blue eyes.

As I looked at Kirito, who seemed star struck by her appearance, I thought that I had never seen two happier people. And they deserve it, I thought as a smile touched my own face.

Sachi came to stand at the edge of the pier, where Kiriha moved up to stand opposite of Klein, a tearful smile on her face. Agil and Sachi looked at me expectantly, and I realized that I was already botching the whole thing.

Clearing my throat to dislodge the stone in it, I squared my shoulders and asked, "Who gives this maiden to be wed to this man?"

"In the absence of her parents, and as a friend, I do," Agil rumbled as he squeezed the girl's hand gently. "With the understanding that if he breaks her heart, I'll break every bone in his body and leave him for the wolves on floor fifty-two."

"Thank you," I said with a head bow in his direction, mostly to hide my smile while Kirito gave the other man a startled look. When I raised my head, I saw that Sachi had just come to standing in front of me and Kirito, her eyes shining as she gazed at her soon-to-be-husband.

"All right," I began, mostly to make sure that my voice was still working properly. "Dearly beloved- and Klein- we are here today to celebrate the coming together of Kirito and Sachi."

"Hey!" the best man objected, while the small crowd laughed.

Good start, I thought with a sigh of relief. Out loud, I continued, saying, "Given that marriage is a sacred union, and not to be taken lightly, many would likely frown on this event, given the youth of the two participants. However, I have known Kirito for a long time, and when I see how much he's grown up in the last two years, I am certain that he is mature enough to know what he's getting himself into. Sachi is still way out of his league, but that's her call."

The crowd chuckled again while Kirito gave me a look that said, 'Really?'

Grinning at my friend, I said, "Hey, you wanted me to do this thing. Too late to change your mind now." Turning to Sachi, I added, "This is your last chance to run for it, though. Seriously, nobody would blame you."

As the others continued to chuckle, Sachi kept her eyes on Kirito and replied, "Never in a million years. There's no one out there that I'll love more than him."

Feeling my smile broaden, I then said, "Well, there you go. I haven't known Sachi as long as I have Kirito, but I think it's safe to say that I know her well. I have acted as her teacher, but today I stand here as her friend, knowing that she has been transformed into a strong young woman by the trials that she has endured. Strong enough to keep up with this idiot, anyway." I jerked my head to indicate Kirito at the last part, which again brought laughs out of my friends.

Maybe I should take up comedy, I thought wryly. Yeah. Tickets will be sold out in the max-security prison that I'm headed for once I get out of here.

Pushing aside the maudlin thoughts, I said, "All joking aside, I can see that these two love each other very much. They are aware and have accepted that becoming man and wife means more than just two people sharing a house and a bed- it means surrendering their individuality to each other, because they will be made as one in the covenant of marriage. Given that, and the dangerous world that we live in, where we never know which day could be our last, I see no reason for them to be apart from one another any longer." Pausing for a second, I then announced, "If anyone knows a reason for them not to be married, speak now, or forever hold your peace."

When silence reigned over our gathering for several seconds, I nodded in satisfaction and said, "The couple has prepared their own vows, and now they will present them to us, as we may hold them to their word in the years to come."

Klein handed Kirito a folded sheet of paper while Kiriha stepped up to hand Sachi a parchment in a similar state, neither of them losing their smiles the whole while. When they were both ready, I said, "As it falls to the man to set the standard in the household while in the covenant of marriage, I'll ask that Kirito present his vows first."

The raven-haired boy cleared his throat a couple of times while he looked down at the paper, which trembled in his nervous grasp. Eventually, he managed to say, "Sachi, you've been the greatest good that has ever come into my life, both here and in the real world. I fell in love with a girl that was just as broken by this world as I was, but it's together that we've managed to grow strong enough to find happiness both with one another, and in the world we live in. You've become my best friend in all of this, and I promise to treasure you until my last breath.

"Here in SAO, I'll fight to protect you with everything I've got, and I'll make sure that I don't leave you alone, either. I'm with you in this for better or worse, for every day that we have left together.

"Even when we clear the game and go home, I'll wait for you. I will always care for you, even if we're not together, no matter how far apart we are." Here, he paused, his eyes flicking over to meet mine for a second before he continued, "When we get out of here, I promise to find you, and fall in love with you all over again."

With that, he refolded the paper and passed it back to Klein, who was dashing at his eyes to hide the film of tears that had gathered there. My smile broadened yet again as I said, "Now that the groom has said his piece, we will hear from the bride."

"Wow," Sachi laughed softly. "Mine don't seem very good now."

"As long as it's from you, it counts as good," I said encouragingly. "Let's hear it."

The girl nodded before she began with a trembling voice, "Kirito, you've always made me feel safe, and loved. Even before I knew what my feelings for you were, I knew that I was valued as a person. It didn't matter to you that I was weak and scared of my own shadow. You still went out of your way to show me that I am precious.

"For so long, I've wondered if I was just a nuisance, getting in your way while you tried to beat SAO for the sake of everyone trapped in here," she continued with tears sliding out of the corners of her eyes. "But now I know that you want me by your side, to help you bear your burdens and share in your joys, and that makes me happier than I ever could have imagined. I look forward to sharing my life with you, Kirito, and I promise to love you every step of the way, both in good times and bad."

Kirito had tears threatening to leak out of his own eyes now, so I said with a slight catch in my throat, "I don't know about you, man, but those sounded pretty good to me."

"Yeah," he replied a little huskily. "They definitely were."

"Then let's skip to the last bit, shall we?" I grinned, causing them both to laugh softly. Addressing Kirito once again, I asked, "Kirito, do you take Sachi to be your wedded wife, to hold and to cherish, both in sickness and in health, in good times and bad, in both the virtual and true realities, until death do you part?"

"I do," he nodded quickly.

Turning back my student, I asked, "Sachi, do you take Kirito as your wedded husband, to hold and to cherish, both in sickness and in health, in good times and bad, in both the virtual and true realities, until death do you part?"

"I do," she agreed, now trembling with excitement.

"Then let's see the rings," I prompted. This was Kirito's cue to send Sachi a marriage request, and once she had accepted, two silver bands appeared on their left ring fingers. Raising my voice so that it carried more clearly to all in attendance, I announced, "By the trust vested in me by the couple present, and in the sight of God, I pronounce these two man and wife. Kirito…" I smiled devilishly at him before saying, "Make it a good one."

He did, and everyone cheered for them.

We spent a couple of hours talking, eating good food, and even dancing to music stored in some recording lachrymas. The last item drew my attention, and when I got a chance, I asked Rivka, "How'd we get music in SAO?"

"There's a girl named Yuna that makes plays guitar and sings along," she told me as we watched Kirito and Sachi dancing in time with the lively tune. "She plays some popular songs from the real world, but she apparently also writes her own stuff."

"Impressive," I murmured, the name having struck a chord in my memory. "Have you seen this girl?"

"Why, do you know her?" Rivka asked me a little sharply.

"I think I might have rescued her party at one point," I said with a slight roll of my eyes. "I remember it was this group on floor forty that had bitten off more than they could chew. I was travelling in disguise when I saved them from a swarm of orcs. I remember them because there's was a girl carrying a guitar, which I thought was a poor choice, given that she should have been carrying a weapon out in the field."

"Oh," Rivka subsided. "She's kinda young, wears a white hat with a feather in it, I think? Not a high-level player."

"That sounds about right," I nodded. "She was nice to me, though of course she had no idea that I was the Red Swordsman. The party invited me to lunch, but I was in a hurry."

"When was that?"

"October last year," I shrugged. "A few months after we had gone our separate ways, and I was getting the hang of the Hollow Area and working with Crimson and Strea."

"Speaking of Crimson…" Rivka said a little hesitantly. "Any word on him reappearing?"

"Not yet," I sighed sadly. "And at this point, I'm starting to doubt that it'll happen. Not every Hollow gets respawned, you know."

"Why not?"

"I can't say for sure, but my guess is that he was so powerful that the system wouldn't want to regenerate him, in case he completely upset the balance of the Hollow Area tests," I shrugged. "Whatever the case is, I'll keep hoping that he can come back, but I'm not exactly an optimist." Giving my friend a sideways glance, I held a hand out to her and asked, "Care to dance?"

"For real?" she replied with wide eyes.

"I'm not a big fan of dancing, so this is a limited-time offer," I chuckled lightly as I took her hand and led her out to a more open spot. "Come on."

As we began to move- a little awkwardly- to the music, Rivka raised an eyebrow at me and said, "I'm surprised you didn't ask Saphira or your new best friend to dance first."

I thinned my lips a little bit at that, but I replied in an even tone, "Victoria and I planned to dance toward the end of the party, and I doubt I could get Sinon to dance, even at swordpoint. That, and I really just wanted to dance with you."

"Good answer," she smiled as I gave her a spin. "I'm glad you do, though." She glanced over at the newlyweds and then asked, "What do you think your wedding will be like?"

This is a minefield, I thought as she returned her gaze to me. Out loud, I shrugged and replied, "I haven't really thought about it, nor do I think that I'm gonna get the chance."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Reiko, we both know that as soon as I get out of here, I'm gonna be put in a max-security prison for crimes of terrorism and mass murder," I sighed despondently. "Even if the people on the outside didn't have a way to collect PK data- and let's be real, it's kinda disappointing if they don't- there are more than a few people that will be more than willing to rat me out to the authorities. As soon as we step outside of this game, my life as a free man is over." I hoped that she would get the hint sooner, rather than later- that I could not now, or ever, entertain a romantic relationship with anyone, least of all, with her.

"You're a minor," she protested. "They can't charge you as an adult."

"Even so, I killed enough people that it won't matter," I said flatly. "Look, can we talk about something else? I'd rather be happy at my friends' wedding."

She opened her mouth to protest again, and then slowly closed it. "Okay," she murmured. "What do you want to talk about?"

"I wanna talk about the Cats," I answered with relief. "I know you guys told me about some of your adventures after Kirito revived me, but are there any more good ones?"

"Did we tell you about the lava eel incident?"

"You certainly did not."

"Are you sure about this?" I asked Kirito with a deep frown. It was nighttime, and he and Sachi were getting ready to head off to the cabin. The plan was for them to take a few weeks off from floor clearing while the rest of the Cats continued the work, but they would also be living there permanently from now on.

That, however, was not the source of my concern. Kirito nodded in response to my question as he said, "You've led your own guild for almost a year, so it's not like you don't know what you're doing. It only make sense for me to appoint you Vice Commander."

"No, no it doesn't," I argued. "If I show up to a meeting with the rest of the Assault Team with the announcement that I'm leading the guild in your absence, there's gonna be a riot."

"Maybe, but I know you can handle it," he grinned confidently. "Besides, I already talked to Klein, and he's agreed to try and keep things calmed down, as long as you play nice."

"And what if they don't want to play nice?" I complained.

"Then play dirty," Kirito replied firmly. "I doubt that Saphira will take their hostility lying down, either. You've got people you can rely on, you know. Don't try to take everything on yourself."

"Why can't you have Kiriha lead the guild?" I replied, trying to change tactics. "She's been with the Cats longer, and she'd be better received than me in a meeting."

"She's definitely a strong fighter, but she's no leader," my friend answered. "You are. You're charismatic when you want to be, a fast thinker, and most importantly, confident in your ability to make your voice be heard." Holding up a hand to forestall any more arguments from me, he added, "If nothing else, do it to give me and Sachi peace of mind while we're on vacation. I know you can do the job better than anyone here- probably even better than me, if I'm being honest. I won't rest well unless I know the guild is safe in your hands."

"Rgh…" I scowled. "Fine, but you owe me for this."

"You got it," he chuckled as he forced me to shake hands with him. "Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going home with my wife." The delight on his face brought a slight grin to my own, in spite of my best efforts.

"Have fun," I said begrudgingly. "I'll message you if things get out of hand, but other than that, we'll leave you be."

"Thanks, Mataras," he acknowledged. "It's good to have you back."

"It's good to be back."

Kirito: Wow... That is a lot to unpack.

Mataras: I'd agree, but what in particular are you referring to?

Asuna: Let's see... There's the toast that was reminiscent of Keita's back when you all met, Kirito and his sister are developing a healthy relationship, Yuna didn't die in this version, you're the new Vice Commander for the guild, and that beautiful wedding! What didn't happen?

Mataras: You seem surprisingly okay with the wedding bit.

Asuna: Hey, I get Kirito in the canon, so I'm good. Besides, I can't exactly hold Sachi's happy ending against her.

Mataras: Fair enough.

Kirito: I have a question; why did you shut down Rivka like that? You had a perfect opportunity to begin your own happy story, and you let it get away.

Mataras: While it's true that I could have paired us up at this point, it just wouldn't be right. In case you weren't paying attention, my character is clearly not in a place to be nurturing a romantic love with anybody, especially someone that he doesn't want to hurt anymore. Whether or not that will change any time soon (if ever) is going to have to wait.

Asuna: Why do I get the feeling that it's gonna be a long time before we see a definitive moment for you two?

Mataras: You're not wrong. I'm going for a slow burn on this one.

Kirito: One other thing- Yuna didn't die. Isn't that gonna throw off the events of Ordinal Scale?

Mataras: Hey, SAO isn't over. She could still die, you know.

Asuna: Will she?

Mataras: ...No.

Kirito: Well, then?

Mataras: Come on, you guys. I always have a a plan.

Asuna: You like keeping people in suspense a little too much.

Mataras: Part of the package. You wanna enjoy my stories, you gotta deal with cliffhangers and taunts from me.

Kirito: Next time- Sisters

Asuna: Sisters? Is that a reference to Kirito and Mataras' siblings, or something else?

Mataras: Else. See you all in a few weeks!

Hey, guys. The pastor that I mentioned in this chapter actually went in for brain surgery earlier this week. So far everything seems to be going well for him, but if you could keep him in your prayers, I would greatly appreciate it. He led my mother to the Lord, and has had a big impact on my life over the years, too. Please keep the Heitzig family in your mind as Skip recovers.