Hey guys, MT here!

Could...Could it be? Am I finally finished after being two weeks late?!

Oh. My. Freaking. Gosh.

Guys, you have no idea how much little time I have had for the last month. All my professors decided to assign multiple projects AND I had to work extra hours at work. And that doesn't count all the homework and 'family time' that took up the rest of my time. I hope you all understand!

I tried to make the chapter longer as compensation, I hope you guys like it!

Anyways, ENJOY!

Chapter 72

It had been a quite a while that Saito and Gwen had been flying. Gwen had dozed off a bit at one point but Saito had remained awake the whole time, watching the two moons as they made their trip across the starry sky. They had witnessed sunset a couple hours before Gwen fell asleep and the moons were already past the halfway point of their trip west.

"It should only be a couple hours now," said Saito, calmly.

"Saito-san, are you sure you don't want to get a little bit of rest? I can take the reins," said Gwen, worriedly.

"I'm alright, Gwen. I'm anxious to see Louise. I just want to end her suffering," said Saito, seriously. He pulled the mirror Vivlio made him out for the fourth time during their trip and an image of Louise appeared. She sitting by a window in Saito's study, draped in one of his parkas and staring out at the starry sky. "I'll see you soon, love. So soon."

"Saito-san, we need to see the other girls afterward, too. Asuna-nee, Henrietta-sama, Tabitha-sama, Tenshi might still be at your house. Everyone needs to see the one they thought they had lost," said Gwen, hugging onto Saito, tightly from behind. "It was so devastating, hearing about your death. We…we care about you, Saito-san. A lot."

"I know, Gwen," said Saito, patting her arm. "I'm not so dense to have missed it. Asuna and Siesta aside, I know that the others like me but aside from reassure them that I'm alive, there isn't much I can do with them once we see each other again."

"Saito-san can be a dummy sometimes," said Gwen, burying her face in Saito's back. "You don't need to do anything. Just keep being here for us."

Saito was silent for a moment after hearing her say that before smiling and placing his hand on hers.

"I can do that," said Saito, simply.

The two rode in silence for some time after, Saito watching Louise through the mirror.

A while later…

Louise was staring up at the stars from Saito's study, wearing his parka. She had spent a majority of her time there, only ever leaving to use the rest room which was a couple doors down.

While she watched the stars, tears flowed from her eyes and she brought her arm up to wipe her swollen, red eyes on the parka's sleeve.

"Saito…" mumbled Louise, her voice a bit hoarse from all her crying. "There was a story, Saito. One that father read to me when I was even smaller than I am now. In it, the wise beast said that every time someone dies, they become a new star in the night sky. Are you up there, Saito? As one of those stars? Which one are you? There are so many."

A few minutes after Louise had said all this her face contorted in pain and sadness and she bit her lip as she shoved her face into the parka's sleeves.

"How could you, Saito?!" she shouted into the cloth which muffled her voice. "How could you leave me alone?! You promise me you won't die again! You promise me we'll always be together, but here I am, alone again! Why, why, why, why, why?! Why do you have to go and die every time, Saito?! Why can't you just be with me instead of leaving me all alone! I'm tired of being alone! Of being so sad and hurt because the only one I love in the world is gone!"

Louise balled into her sleeves so hard that a faint yelp could be heard through her sobs as her already sore throat was further hurt.

"Saito…Why can't I see you?" whispered Louise to herself through her sobs. "I just want to see you again. To be with you again. Is it really that bad if I go to see you?"

Louise's own words seemed to surprise her for a moment, halting her sobs, and she looked up, tears still streaming down her face. After a moment of sniffling to herself, she slowly got up and shuffled out of the study, looking back and forth in the dark hallway. She made her way her way towards her and Saito's bedroom and walked out onto the balcony, glancing around to find the trellis that lined one section of the house from the ground to the roof.

"Saito…I want to see Saito," whispered Louise to herself as she began to climb the trellis. She made it to the roof and crawled up to the middle beam before walking to the edge of the roof, the highest point of the house. "Saito…You'll be mad at me if I go to where you are right now, right? But…but even if you yell at me, and curse at me, and cry to me about it, I'll still get to be with you, right? I don't have to be alone without you right?"

Louise was crying again, not as hard as before but with the same pain and sadness in her eyes. She looked off the edge of the roof and trembled a bit at the steep height. She stood up straight and zipped the parka up to the top before taking a breath.

"Saito, I love you," said Louise as she leaned forward, falling off the roof.

"LOUISE!" shouted a familiar voice that surprised her in the darkness. She looked up in the darkness to see Saito and Gwen on a dragon just ten yards or so from where she was falling off the roof.

Ah, Saito was alive but…I won't be, thought Louise in the split second she saw him before plunging downward.

Saito leapt off the dragon, diving towards Louise and grabbing her arm before pressing her to his body, just before they hit the ground, there was a bright light that came off Saito's back, where Vivlio was attached via a leather belt, and the two ceased falling.

Louise, who had closed her eyes when she thought Saito wouldn't be able to save her, peeked through her eyelashes to see bright, glowing winds on Saito's back, not really physical ones, more 2D one made of light in the shapes of small and large triangles.

The two landed on the ground a moment later, safe and sound, and Saito pushed Louise off of him before grabbing her face and staring at her with terrified eyes.

"Louise! What were you doing?! Were you going to kill yourself just because you thought I had died?! What were you hoping for that to accomplish?! How could you even try such a thing?!" shouted Saito, greatly shocked and stressed out at the fact that Louise had indeed tried to perform a very taboo thing.

Louise, though, wasn't listening. Well, she was but she wasn't registering his words. She heard his voice. She could see his face. Feel his hands touching her face. Feel the warmth under his skin and hear his panicked pants.

"Sai…to…" she mumbled out in disbelief and confusion. Saito was shocked for a moment, seeing the lost, confusion expression in her eyes. He couldn't see the bright light in her eyes. It was subdued and replaced with grief. Her skin was clearly pale, even in the moonlight and she looked visibly worse than in the mirror where he had watched her when she had made her way to the roof, arriving just before she had fallen off.

"Louise," said Saito, tapping her cheek a few times to try and snap her out of it. "Louise, love. It's me, Saito. Your husband. I'm alive and well, so come back to me."

Saito realized that he had taken Gwen's words far too lightly. He clearly hadn't understood just how mentally destructive his death had been to Louise and almost certainly the other girls as well.

"Sai…to…Saito…is alive? Is that really you?" asked Louise, her eyes watering a bit. Saito responded with one short nod and Louise's expression went from blank and confused to extremely painful and sad. She immediately broke out into violent sobs, Saito's name just barely audible behind the screams and tears.

Saito held Louise to him, tightly, tearing up a bit as he realized just how badly he had hurt his precious wife and they remained in that position for almost twenty minutes before Louise had fallen asleep in his arms, finally succumbing to her exhaustion.

Gwen had landed the dragon next to the house and asked it to wait there before following Saito, who was carrying Louise bridal style, inside the house. They entered through the front doors and to find a candle light lighting the entrance. Siesta was standing there, holding her robe closed, and holding the candle. When she saw Saito standing there, she stared, shocked but restrained herself as she led them upstairs so they could lay Louise down in the master bedroom.

Saito laid her down, gently, and kissed her forehead before walking out of the room and quietly shutting the door behind him. As soon as he closed the door, he turned around to find Siesta, the candle set on a nearby table, staring at him.

"I'm home, Siesta," said Saito, smiling at her. Siesta's face contorted, her previously glassy eyes now overflowing with tears. She threw herself at Saito, clutching his chest and sobbing, violently; Saito only being able to hug her to him as comfort.

Gwen had watched on, a sad smile as she could see how pained Saito was when he realized just how important he was to these girls.

It was a little while before Siesta had calmed down and they moved downstairs to the parlor to talk about what had happened since Saito had 'died'.

"Does Saito-san know what happened to Otr-sama? I do hope he is alright after risking himself so much for your sake," said Siesta, a bit worried.

"I got the feeling that the royal family is very family oriented. They wouldn't want to execute each, no matter how bad the crime. I'm sure that if Otr got in trouble, they would have just shoved him in a prison cell," explained Saito, calmly.

"Yes, I also believe that Otr is also alright. I got the feeling that the king did not want to have another family member die in his lifetime," said Gwen. Saito flashed a smile at her and then patted Siesta's hand.

"Siesta, how have things been in the time I've been gone. We've been gone. Gwen told me about some things. How you all were hurting. But I wanted to know about the situation with all our allied nations as well," said Saito, seriously.

"Ah, yes. I kept up with current events as a distraction and a way to try and distract Miss Louise, though it didn't work for her. Your death has yet to be publicly announced because many leaders think that the symbol of hope for the people of Halkeginia dying would have doused their spirits greatly. The leaders, though have been in mourning. Julio came by to give his regards and tried to speak to Miss Louise, but she wasn't up to the task. He was pained quite a bit since he considers you a good friend, Saito-san," explained Siesta, making Saito think of the sudo-leader of Romania. He would have to properly see him next time they met. "Axel of Germania didn't take it as hard since he didn't know you well, but you already met him. King Harold was more concerned with his two daughters' depression and I heard he has asked to be bothered as little as possible while he helped them recover. He probably hasn't said anything about your disappearance, Gwen, because he thought you might have gone to connect with Miss Louise or Tiffa. The worst reactions of the leaders is probably Henrietta-sama and Tabitha-sama. Their mothers have basically had to temporarily take power because their daughters mostly shut down. Agnes came by to see if Louise was still depressed and when she saw her, she told me that Henrietta-sama was the same. Kirche also came by to give her regards and told me that Tabitha was in a similar state."

"And Tiffa and Tenshi? Is Tenshi not here?" asked Saito, glancing around.

"Tiffa was depressed but Madarf-dono has been taking care of her. As for Tenshi…she decided to return home. She left with Tiffa and was supposed to make it home from there. I believe that you were a support for her overcoming her introversion so she wasn't sure how to react without you," said Siesta, frowning a bit.

Another person I have to see properly, thought Saito, frowning.

Saito felt Siesta's stare and glanced over at her.

"Siesta?" asked Saito, concerned.

"Saito-san…I love you," said Siesta, surprising Saito. "I know…I know you have Miss Louise and I'm not asking for anything, I just wanted to say it to you. I want you to know how hard it was for Miss Louise and I without you and that we love you so much."

Saito gripped Siesta's hand, tightly, before pulling her into a hug, rubbing her back in small circles.

"I know, Siesta. I'm sorry. This is the last time, I promise. I'll never go like that again. There are too many people who care about me now to keep doing this," said Saito, sadly. Siesta smiled a bit before pulling back a bit to give Saito a kiss on the cheek. She showed him her smile and then nodded.

"Okay. I think I'm okay now. You should go upstairs and lay down with Miss Louise. She'll want to see you when she wakes up. If you want anything, please let me know," said Siesta, calmly.

"Thanks Siesta. If you need to see me again, just come okay?" said Saito as he got up. Siesta nodded at him and he flashed her a grin before waving Gwen goodbye and leaving the room.

After Saito was gone, Gwen made a comment.

"Louise almost-," said Gwen, the words getting caught in her throat. Siesta got up and began to walk towards the door, stopping just as she reached it.

"If I didn't have to be strong for Miss Louise, I would have been in the same position. It just shows how big a part of our lives Saito-san is. And now he knows," said Siesta, calmly. Gwen watched her back as she left the room and Gwen sat there in silence, shocked by how much more Saito is loved than she thought.

So? What did you guys think?

I know exactly what you guys thought during Saito and Louise's reunion...'That was really dark'.

I know, I know it was dark but believe it or not, when Saito died in Albion in the anime, didn't you wonder why they just jumped to the reunion? Well in the LN, Louise tries to kill herself for the same reasons I wrote in this chapter so ha! I mean...it's not funny, just, I didn't just try to make Louise some tragic heroine. Please don't yell at me Dx

Anyways, I do hope you guys liked it in the end and please Review to let me know what you guys thought about the chapter as a whole. I will try to get the next chapter out by Christmas at the latest so please look forward to it.

Until next time...byeee :D