"Is this heaven?" I look around and see nothing but blinding white light.
"Yuuki, welcome to heaven." The white light speaks to me.
Questions race through my head. "Are you god? Am I dead?"
"To answer your first question, yes I am what some would call god."
"So… I am dead?" My voice, just like my spirit, is pathetically weak.
I get the feeling that if God were a human, he would smile at me.
"That depends. Do you want to be?"
I open my mouth to say yes but close it when I think about my promise to meet my fellow guild members here.
"No, I don't. But I made a promise to my friends that I'd meet them here." My voice is laced with sadness.
"What if I stripped away the diseases infesting your friends so you can see them again in the real world."
Tears start to spill from my eyes, their warmth reminding me of Asuna's hugs.
"Then… I'd say send me back."
"There's only one problem left to solve before I do. Your body is too far gone for me to recover, but you do have another body that's alive and well."
After a few moments I realize what the light meant. "My… avatar." A strange feeling swells up inside of me, hope. "Why? Why are you doing this for me?"
"I saw how hard you fought against the virus and I think you deserve a better ending than this. Also, there are some other people that I promised a second chance and I didn't want them to have to return alone."
"Other people?" My head tilts to the side in confusion.
"I'll introduce you to them now."
I look behind me and see five people illuminated by a full moon I hadn't realized was there.