Was it his tears? Or was it his weeling and wailing that wrenched at her heart the most, she didn’t know... All she knew at the moment inside the onsen was that her Kirito-kun needed her, and so did she need him... She needed to be close to her beloved, so it was a given when she found herself embracing the frail sobbing ‘boy’...

“Aasuna... S-sorry...”

Asuna, with her head resting on the boy’s right shoulder took in his scent as she gently said, feeling the wet tears of her beloved dripping on her naked back...

“Anone, Kirito-kun?

To her words, Kirito faced the girl on his shoulder who was avoiding looking at him. He instinctively knew she didn’t want to be stared at, so turning his gaze upwards was his first choice where he took notice of the two ‘moons’ in the night sky...

“Sometimes I find myself thinking about that day... If I had stayed late at school for club activities instead of ditching it, if I had come home late like I always do, if I had never put that nervegear on, what could have happened?”

She buried her face on her love’s shoulders as her grip around him tightened involuntarily in her ‘weakness’, trying to regain her previous resolve that she would solve all this from her source of strength...

“If I had, then I wouldn’t have been stuck in that death-game! All those years of lying on a bed motionless which caused ireversible harm to my circulatory system wouldn’t have even happened in the first place if only I had been the perfect princess like I ‘always’ had been required to be... Kaa-san, Tou-san and Nii-san wouldn’t have had to suffer like that for over two years! I would have already graduated from a top university and made my family, especially my mother proud!” She cried, her lungs couldn’t keep up with her due to her previous tiring activities as she weakly continued,

“The saddest thing is, even with such a life, I would have been happy with just that! But there would be no Kirito-kun in it! He will be in someplace far away... Forever out of my reach... Even though we live in the same world, the same country and the same city, you would have been forever out of my reach... Out of my memories...”

Asuna was reliving the terror that she had felt at loosing her memories about her beloved because of that Augma device...

“And the saddest thing is, that Asuna would have been happy... Happy to be a respectable and functioning member of the society she was living in. If only she had known my Kirito-kun, then she would know how such happiness is truly meaningless, not without him...”

“No Kirito-kun to treasure her heart, giving herself to...”

“Never knowing of his kindness, which has become my light of hope even in my darkest times!”

“By then, she already would have married ‘someone suitable’ for her, living the life of a bird in a cage... A prisoner of her regrets and dreams, becoming bitter at life and finding happiness and satisfaction within the lowest of things, just like how her mother was!”

“Building a family together, she could have not!” Asuna cried, shaking her head. “She may have build a family that she may love dearly, but without Kirito-kun and Yui-chan? Was it even worth it?”

Her trembling voice reverberated around the onsen, creating a sad atmosphere around the couple,

“Without you,” she cried, breaking off their embrace as she passionately went on,

“Leafa-chan, Lizbeth, Klein-san, Agil-san, Sinon-san, Silica-chan and, Yuuki... I would have never met such wonderful people, our comrades who stood by our side even in our darkest times... If it hadn’t been for you!”

“I would have never known that slacking off sometimes is also important!”

“I would have never known that you don’t have to be a failure to society if you liked playing games!”

“I would have never known the comradery that comes along with sharing the same goals with our friends can be so important!”

She then let out a giggle through her tears as she happily said,

“I would have never known that playing pranks, singing and dancing could be so much fun!”

Kirito also joined in her laugh as the female high-sylph then reached out with her hands, holding her love’s teary face as she intently gazed into those mysterious black eyes, not holding her happy smile as she said, her voice ethereal to his ears,

“If it hadn’t been for you, my precious Kirito-kun, then I would have never known of a love so elegant and warm yet so mysterious and breathtaking... And for that, thank you for being born...”

She then gave a quick peck on his lips as she maintained her hold, having a taste of his tears in the process which tasted more like wine then salty water as she went on,

“So, Kirito-kun, never apologize! Not to me... I do not need it, nor do I need for you to prove it with your actions in any way... Let’s just continue as always, loving each other as always... Everything we face in this new world, we face together just like always...

At this point, she faced away and started sobbing, her hands falling to her sides inside the hot water, making Kirito disregard anything and anyone else besides his wife as he put his arms around the girl protectively, not knowing what to say,

“So, don’t apologize, Kirito-kun! I will be with you all the way! If your love for me wavers, even if you were to abandon me, I would never hate you! I would never leave your side!”

The look she gave to the male high-sylph will be forever etched into his mind as Asuna said,

“As I’m the one who’s going to protect you...”

There were no more words need to be said as the couple rested their heads against each other’s, their exhaustion kicking in, putting them into their much needed sleep... Not noticing the system alert panel for Asuna...

System Alert! Due to your recent actions, your affinity to the Holy attribute has risen from D+ to C-

“My Lord! We’ve found a pasage through the mountains to the east of the Tristain Academy! From the looks of it, it’s safe to tread!”

A Scout Rider announced to the man wearing an ornate red robe as he got off from his dragon mount, kneeling before his Lord who replied with his heavy voice, not looking at the lowly ‘plebeian’,

“Good...”

The Lord in question was none other than Count Mott, a high ranking noble who was infamous for being vicious to his subjects, who was also one of the owners of the fertile lands currently being ‘occupied’... He was very pissed off about loosing such valuable resources, just when he had gained enough favors to ascend Dukedom!

“Men! I order you now as your Lord, march forward!”

No one messes with his lands! He didn’t know how things turned out this way or how it will be from now on, but he won’t rest easy until he brought down his might to the fools who have risked trespassing his property! No matter their power, he will bring them down! Or he wasn’t Count Mott!