A/N: Alright everyone. Here's the first side story for this fic. This is a one chapter story, and it is canon in the Blazing Revolution universe. As I'm sure you can all tell by the chapter title, it will be a bit feelsy. Enjoy.

Chapter 1: Farewell Zeken

In Sword Art Online, Ren and his friends had seen many people die. Some were complete strangers, while others were close friends. Sometimes they had even taken lives themselves. So many times they had mourned the deaths of players. Every single one of those deaths left a scar on their hearts. Pain that could never be fully erased.

But none of those deaths seemed to sting as much as the one happening right in front of them.

It was about fifteen minutes ago that Ren had gotten a call from Asuna. The message she gave him was something he couldn't believe. He quickly contacted the rest of his guild and they all flew towards the island on Floor 23. When they descended onto the ground, it took a moment for it all to sink in. What was happening at that moment. Yuuki, the Absolute Sword, was dying.

Kirito and the others were already there, as well as the members of the Sleeping Knights. Each of them were beside Yuuki as the female Imp rested her head on Asuna's lap. None of them could believe it was actually happening, but Mai and Himiko seemed to be having the hardest time with the situation.

"Hey guys…" Yuuki weakly muttered to Wyvern's Inferno. "You came too, huh?"

"Yuuki…" Alice gasped as tears began to form in her eyes.

"Come on, don't give me that." Yuuki sai with a weak smile. "I don't want to see you all sad and crying."

It was hard, but the members of Wyvern's Inferno managed to keep any more tears from coming, for the most part at least. One by one, they each went up and said their final goodbyes to their friend. Ren was the first to go up.

Yuuki smiled at the guild leader. "Sorry Ren. Looks like I won't be able to give you that rematch you wanted."

"Don't worry about that." Ren said with a shake of his head. "There's more important things than that. Besides, you'd still beat me."

"You better at least keep your title as the fastest swordsman though. Don't want you falling any further behind."

Ren nodded his head. "It's a promise. Maybe one day on the other side you and I can have a race."

"You got it." Yuuki chuckled.

Ren moved aside and Alice came up next. Yuuki smiled at her. "Alice, I need you to do something for me."

"Sure Yuuki. Anything." Alice told her.

"Look after Ren. You've told me some of the stupid reckless stuff he's done, and I can see he really relies on you. So make sure you keep an eye on him."

Alice gasped as tears formed in her eyes again. Even now, as she was dying, Yuuki still put everyone else before herself. Alice nodded. "Don't worry. If he does anything stupid, I'll pound him one for both of us."

Yuuki chuckled at the comment. As Alice moved aside, Helios walked up. He kneeled next to Yuuki and looked down at her.

"Yukki… Man this shit is unfair! Why someone like you and not some bastard who deserves it!?" He yelled while slamming his fist into that ground. "A girl like you should be going through this…"

The smaller girl gave a weak chuckle at the axe wielder and put a hand on his head, making the teen look up at her. "Geez Helios look at you. Since when did you get all sentimental and sad? Aren't you the proud, toughest member of Wyverns Inferno? Don't cry and be strong, you are one of the few people who could even hit me after all. Not a lot of people can brag about that you know."

Though her words were consoling, it only made Helios cry softly while laughing. "Heh, look at me crying with you being the one comforting me. I don't think I can ever be as strong as you Yuuki, not ever."

"Don't say that, you're strong in many ways that I'm not. You're way more strong headed than I could ever be."

"Always taking jabs at me even now. You're something else Yuuki you know that?" He sighed happily, wiping away the tears from his eyes and giving her a grin.

She giggled softly and used her index finger to give him a small push on his head. "You know it Helios. Never change alright? Be proud of who you are, even if you are a butt most of the time."

Helios returned the gesture in kind and smiled genuinely at her. "I'll be sure to Yuuki, bet on it."

The Salamander got up from his position and moved aside for his girlfriend. Dagger looked at the younger girl with a forlorn expression on her face.

"You trying to sell me something in my final moments, Dagger?" Yuuki asked with a joking smile.

Dagger shook her head. "Nope, I don't scam friends anymore remember. And as far as friends go, I don't think I'll ever have another one like you Yuuki."

Yuuki smiled at her. "You were a pretty unique friend yourself Dagger. Not everyone threatens to rip a person's arm off for trying to steal a couple Yld from them." The comment earned a laugh from Dagger. "And by the way… thanks for the fundraiser you set up at school to help with the Medicuboid research."

Dagger gasped. "How did you-"

"Asuna told me." Yuuki answered. "She said you went all out, doing everything you could to try and raise money for it." A smile appeared on the Imp's face. "Thank you. You have no idea how much that meant to me when I heard it."

Tears dropped from Dagger's eyes as she gave one last goodbye to her friend before getting up. The last of Wyvern's Inferno were Mai and Himiko, who walked up to the Imp together.

"Yuuki…" The tears in Mai's eyes couldn't be hidden. "Why? Why did this have to happen to you?! It's not fair!"

Himiko was in a similar state, if not even worse. "This is a joke right? It has to be…"

"Come on, you two. Don't be like that." Yuuki told them. "It's alright. I'm happy. Cause even if I die, at least I got to meet some awesome people like you. For that, I'm truly glad."

The Imp's words didn't do much to dry the tears of the two youngest members of Wyvern's Inferno. Yuuki's eyes showed a gleam of light suddenly. "Oh that's right. Himiko… there's something I have to tell you."

"What is it?" Himiko asked.

"Come closer." Yuuki told her. Himiko did as she was told. Yuuki raised her head as high as she could in her weak state and whispered into Himiko's ear. "Don't tell him I said this, but Jun told me he's got a bit of a crush on you."

Himiko's eyes widened as she looked at Yuuki, wondering why she would tell her something like that. Yuuki showed her a smile, as if to say that she felt it was something important to her.

Suddenly a breeze was felt, blowing across the area. Everyone looked up to the skies and saw hundreds, possibly thousands of players flying towards the island. All of them were from different races. Some landed onto the island while others hovered in the air and stared down. All of their eyes were glued to Yuuki. Ren, Kirito, and the others all backed away to give Yuuki a good view of all the players gathered around her.

"I'm sorry." Asuna said. "I had to let them know. I hope you're not mad at me."

"Are you kidding? Why would I be mad?" Yuuki said. "There's so many of them. It's like a dream. But why are they here?"

"Because of you." Asuna told her. "You're the strongest, most powerful swordswoman this world has ever seen. There will never be anyone else like you again. We can't let you go without saying goodbye. It's not right. We're all praying for you. That your next journey will be to a place as wonderful as this."

Yuuki shed a tear as a smile came to her face. "I'm happy. I'm so happy." She took a deep breath and stared up at the sky. "You know this whole time I thought 'If I was born to die, then what the heck was the point of me even being born?' I never made anything, or gave anything to anyone. All I did was waste drugs, and hog that machine, and cause trouble for everyone. If all I get to do is suffer and disappear in the end, it'd be better to just disappear right now. I used to always think… why am I alive? Why'd I stick around for this long? But you know what? After all this time, I think I know why now. I might not have done much, but I'm glad I got to live. Cause after everything, these last few moments… they're the best ever. I'm surrounded by all my friends. And I got to end my journey in the arms of someone I love."

Ren and the others looked at Yuuki. None of them could smile right now. It was just too hard. Looking to his side, Ren could see his sister in tears, unable to hold it in. He put a comforting hand on her shoulder and pulled her in close.

"Yuuki…" Asuna said. "I promise… I will see you again someday. In some other place. In some other world. I don't know how, but I'll find you. And then we can sit and talk, and you can tell me where you've been."

Yuuki responded with a weak nod of her head and smiled. 'I gave this life… everything I had.'

As she closed her eyes for the final time, Yuuki's avatar vanished from Asuna's arms. A sign reading 'Disconnection' appeared where Yuuki had been moments ago.

Kono Yuuki, the Absolute Sword Zeken, was dead.

Asuna was the first to break out into tears. She cried as Kirito kneeled beside her and held her close. Several other players gradually began to shed tears as they all mourned the death of the strongest player in ALO. Alice continuously tried to dry her watery eyes, but to no avail. Eventually, she wrapped her arms around Ren and hugged him as she cried, tears running down both of their faces.

Minute after minute passed by as the large mass of players mourned the loss to the world of Alfheim Online and the virtual world itself. No one kept track of how long they all stayed there. It seemed like an eternity. But gradually, more and more of the players began to leave. They all left, after silently wishing the best of luck to ALO's most powerful swordswoman for her next journey. Eventually the only ones left were the Sleeping Knights, Asuna, and all of her friends.

Alice soon separated herself from Ren, finally managing to dry her eyes. "I think I'm gonna log off for now."

Ren nodded his head understandingly. "Alright. I'll see you at school tomorrow, okay?"

"Yeah. I'll see you then."

Ren decided it was probably also a good idea for him to log off. He looked over at Himiko, seeing that she was still in tears. Ren walked up next to his sister and put a comforting hand on her shoulder. "Don't be sad, sis. Yuuki wouldn't want that. Besides, she's in a better place now."

"It's not fair…" Himiko sobbed. "Why… Why did she have to die?"

"Himiko…" Mai began, but she fell silent, not knowing what to say to console her friend.

Himiko quickly swiped her finger down and opened her menu. Before anyone could say anything, she logged out and disappeared from the world of ALO.

Ren stared in mild surprise. Yuuki's death seemed to be taking a harder toll on his sister than he had expected. He looked over at Alice. He wanted to stay with her for a little longer to help console her, but now…

"Go." Alice told him with a nod, understanding what he was thinking. "Himiko needs you right now."

Ren nodded his head and opened his menu, logging out and returning to the real world.

Dan woke up on the bed in his room. Removing the Amu Sphere from his head, Dan got up and exited his room. When he got to the door to Clair's room, he could hear sobbing coming from the other side. Dan gently knocked on the door before entering the room.

The lights were turned off in the room, and the curtains were closed. Barely any light was in the room except from outside in the hallway. Clair was sitting on her bed, curled up into a ball to hide her face. Dan didn't need to see it to know her face was probably flooded with tears.

Dan took a seat next to his sister on the bed and wrapped an arm around her. "I know it's hard Clair. Believe me, I know."

"It's *hic* It's not fair!" Clair cried. "Yuuki didn't deserve to die! What did she ever do to deserve this!"

"Nothing." Dan answered back. "Sometimes good people die. That's how life is at times. It's not fair in the slightest but we can't change that."

"Yuuki was so nice. I miss her. I wish she were here."

Dan sighed. He knew what Clair was going through and what it was like. A lot of SAO Survivors did. But this was the first time for Clair. The first time a close friend of hers had died. And he knew that if there was one word to describe what that was like, it would be hell.

"I wish she was still here too, Clair. But Yuuki wouldn't want us to mope around and stay sad."

Another sob came from Clair. "How do you do it big brother? How are you able to be so strong?"

Dan lowered his gaze. "Because I've had to go through this more times than I care to remember. In SAO, people died every day. And sometimes those that died were people we knew and cared about. It's experience Clair. That's why I'm able to keep myself from falling apart."

"Then how did you get over it the first time?" Clair asked.

"Time." Dan simply answered. "Sometimes time is the only thing that can heal scars like this."

"I… I don't know if I can."

"I'll be here with you, sis." Dan told her. "Cry yourself out all you want. I'll stay here with you until you do."

Clair got out of her curled up position and threw herself at her brother. Dan rubbed her back soothingly as she cried and wailed. Tears leaked from her eyes and fell onto her brother's shirt. Dan embraced his sister for the next several minutes as she cried and grieved the loss of Yuuki. Eventually though, she did stop. Dan didn't know if it was because she was finally done, or if she didn't have the ability to produce any more tears.

"Big brother…" Clair muttered.

"What is it?" Dan asked.

"Can you hold me like this? Just for a little longer?"

Dan nodded his head. "Sure Clair. As long as you want."

Two weeks passed by before the time came for Yuuki's funeral. Several people were in attendance. Some of them were distant relatives of Yuuki. Others were people that had talked to her from the SAO Survivor's School. But a large number of them were from the VR community. After some discussion, it was decided to make the date and location of the funeral known to the entire community of Alfheim Online. Several players came to pay their respects to Yuuki. The church was almost completely full by the time everyone had arrived.

Once the funeral was over, people gathered and talked outside. The cherry blossoms were in full bloom and their pink petals danced through the air. Clair sat on a bench as she stared up at the sky. Where was Yuuki right now? Was she looking down at them?

The past two weeks had been difficult for Clair. Her brother had been right though. Over time, the pain and heartache from Yuuki's death had begun to heal.

"Hey Clair. Is that you?"

Clair looked over and saw Asuna waving over to her as she walked up. Another woman was with Asuna. She seemed to be in her mid-twenties or so, and for some reason she looked familiar.

"Hey Asuna." Clair waved. The two girls took a seat on the bench with the young girl.

"Is this a friend of yours, Asuna?" the woman asked.

Asuna gasped as her eyes lit up in realization. "Oh that's right! You two have never met IRL." Asuna gestured over to Clair. "This is Clair Hiryo, also known as Himiko from Wyvern's Inferno."

The woman's eyes widened. "Himiko?! Oh my, I didn't recognize you. You look so different from your avatar."

Clair still didn't seem to know who the woman was. Asuna decided to explain to her. "Clair, this is Shiune from the Sleeping Knights."

Clair gasped. "Shiune?! Is that really you?!"

"In the flesh." she smiled. "I'm Shiun-An. It's nice to see you."

"Y-Yes. It's nice to meet you IRL too." Clair said, still surprised at the woman's identity.

"Isn't your brother with you?" Asuna asked.

Clair shook her head. "He and Alicia are talking with some other people. I decided to walk around and I told him I'd meet him here." She turned her attention back to Shiune. "Is it alright for you to be here. Aren't you… well…"

"No need to worry." she assured her. "Believe it or not, I've actually almost fully recovered from my disease."

Clair gapsed. "Seriously?! That's amazing!"

"Yes, it sure is." Shiune smiled. "It's not just me. Jun's also doing well to. It's like Yuuki's telling us not to rush to catch up with her."

'Jun…' Clair thought. Yuuki's parting words to her came back in her mind at the mention of him.

"Don't tell him I said this, but Jun told me he's got a bit of a crush on you."

"Clair? Is something wrong?" Asuna asked.

"Huh?! O-Oh no, nothing's wrong." Clair told her. "I'm just glad that Shiune and Jun are both doing better."

"You know, Jun's actually here too." Shiune mentioned. "He got permission from the hospital to come today. Let's see here…" She looked around, seeing if she could spot her friend. Finally she pointed to someone in the distance. "There he is."

Clair looked over at where Shiune was pointing. Standing over by the cherry blossom trees was a young boy with tan hair. Shiune smiled at Clair. "Why don't you go say hi to him?"

"Y-Yeah. I think I will." Clair nodded. She got up off the bench and walked over toward Jun.

Shiune let out a giggle. "I'm sure Jun will be happy to see her."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Asuna asked.

"Oh nothing. Nothing at all." Shiune assured her. She had learned about Asuna's little love for matchmaking and she knew that wasn't what Jun needed right now.

Over by the cherry blossom trees, Jun looked up at the sky. Pink petals swirled through the air as he thought to himself. 'Yuuki… are you at peace now?'

"Hey Jun."

Jun looked next to him and saw a young girl about his age looking at him. He couldn't help but feel they had met somewhere. "Excuse me, do I know you?"

The girl showed a cheerful smile. "Don't you recognize me? Well I guess it makes sense since this is our first time meeting in the real world."

That voice. Where had he heard it before? Suddenly the answer hit him and his eyes widened. "No way.. Is that you, Himiko?!"

"Ding, ding! You got it!" Clair said with a thumbs up. "I'm Clair Hiryo. Nice to meet you IRL, Jun."

"Y-Yeah. It's nice to see you too." Jun nodded. "How have you been? I know Yuuki's death was hard on you."

Clair nodded her head. "Yeah… It was the first time I've ever had a friend of mine die. But my brother and my friends helped me get through it." She looked at him with a reassuring smile. "I hear you doing better now. That's great."

"Yeah." Jun said. "I was diagnosed with Stage 3 cancer about five years ago, and then a year later it went up to Stage 4. The doctors said I had to go through chemotherapy and a lot of other painful treatments, or I would die. And even with the treatments, my chances of living were slim."

Clair lowered her head. "I'm so sorry. That must have been awful."

"It was. Most of the time the treatments were so bad and painful that I just wanted to die to stop the pain." Jun sighed and looked up at the sky. "But then I met Yuuki. I heard about her condition and how her chances of living and having a normal life were practically zero. And yet somehow, she was always smiling. Every time I saw her, she was never crying or complaining. She always had a smile on. I think it was her that gave me the courage to keep fighting and continue to go through with my treatments."

"That sounds like Yuuki alright." Clair nodded. "So you're doing better now?"

"Yep. The doctors at the hospital recently told me that the treatments are working and the cancer is starting to retreat. It'll still be awhile, but it looks like I'll be cancer free within a year or so now."

"That's amazing!" Clair exclaimed. "I'm so happy for you."

"Thanks." Jun said with a smile. He looked up at the sky. "If it wasn't for Yuuki though, I doubt I'd have ever made it this far."

Clair nodded understandingly and stared up at the sky with him. "Speaking of Yuuki, she told me something interesting."

"Really? What was it?" Jun asked.

Clair turned her head to him and softly smiled. "She said you had a crush on me."

Almost immediately, Jun's cheeks went red. He tried to hide his blush. "Wh-What?! What m-made her think that?"

Clair giggled at him. "So are you denying it?"

"N-No! Wait, I mean… I… uh…" Jun was at a loss for words.

A teasing grin came from Clair. "Well? Is it true or not."

Jun had clammed up. He couldn't find the right words he wanted to say. He had never really thought about his life much. After all, he hadn't expected to be alive within a few more years. But right now, all he could think about was the girl standing beside him. Her sweet smile. And what if he let that smile down. He knew more than most people how quickly a person's condition could change when diagnosed with a terminal disease. If that was the case… then he needed to give himself a reason to live.

"One year."

"What?"

"One year." Jun repeated, looking Clair in the eyes. "According to the doctors, I'll be cancer free in one year. I'll meet you in ALO and tell you then. And also… I'll tell you my real name."

Now it was Clair's turn to be at a loss for words. She looked at Jun and the carefree smile he was wearing on his face. Clair nodded her head. "Alright then. I'll hold you to that."

"Clair!" a voice called out. The young girl turned around and saw Dan waving over to her. "It's time to get going. Mom texted me and said dinner will be ready soon."

"Coming!" Clair called back. She turned to Jun. "Well then… See you in a year I guess."

"Yeah." Jun said with a nod. "I'll meet you at that island on Floor 23."

Clair waved goodbye and ran over to her brother, a carefree smile on her face just like the one she usually saw on Yuuki's.

She was looking forward to what would be awaiting her in one year.

A/N: Yeah, so for all of you wondering who Clair's mystery boyfriend was at the end of Blazing Revolution, here's a hint. I hope I gave Yuuki's death scene the justice it deserved, and that you all enjoyed the chapter. Like I said in the intro chapter before this, the next set of chapters won't be out for probably another couple months, but to give you guys something to look forward to, here's a look at what the next story will be.

Next Time: The Caged Canaries