Disclaimer: I do not own Sword Art Online

Co-written by: TheSilentSwordsman

IV - A Reunion, of Sorts

December 16th, 2022

That goddamned jerk! Sinon thought to herself, staring up at the sky. She was beginning to lose hope she'd ever see Kirito again, even though it had only been a week since the boss battle. It's not like I can't survive without him... Ugh! Ever since that day, Sinon's head had been crowded with thoughts of Kirito, though she didn't know why. "If anyone either of you trusts ever invites you to a guild, then you should do it…" Kirito's last words resurfaced, only further annoying Sinon.

"Oi? What's such a cute girl doing all alone?" A voice shook her out of her thoughts

"Tch…" She looked behind her, to see the red-eyed boy who had been watching her. "Go away, Xaxa. I don't want to join your guild." She turned around again, making sure to not make eye contact with him.

"Oh come on, I think you'd make a great addition… It's even got a cool name! Laughing Coffin… Isn't that cool?" Xaxa mused, mostly to himself.

"For the last time, I refuse. I don't want to join a guild, ever." She bit her lip, reminding herself of Kirito's words. Mostly, she just wanted to rebel against the boy that left her so easily. "Especially one that you're in." She added.

"Sinon…" Xaxa started to approach. She could tell only because she could hear his feet crushing the grass underneath. "Tch!" A knife appeared in the ground, right in front of him. It took him a second to realize that Sinon had thrown it. "Alright, fine… Be that way. But I bet we'll become one of the most powerful groups!" And most feared, too… He added, under his breath.

"It's only a game, Xaxa."

"Whatever you say." Xaxa turned and left.

Christmas, 2023

Kirito put his head in his hands, frustrated with himself. For the past year, he'd thought about Sinon, and Asuna. He wondered if he made the right choice, leaving them like that. It had taken all of his willpower, but he didn't want those two being ridiculed for hanging around with a 'beater'. He thought he had found solace with them… The Moonlit Black Cats…. Their deaths are on my hands…

Without warning, another wave of grief overcame Kirito. He felt like crying. If I run a suicide mission to the boss dungeon, no one would miss me… Especially not Asuna or Sinon… They probably hate me.

Kirito had gathered all of his gear when he heard a knock at the door. Wary, Kirito made his way to the door and opened it.

Sinon hoped she'd heard right when Asuna had told her which inn room she'd been staying in. The in-game call function was kind of glitchy, and it was hard to hear the other player's voice. She had heard "room 32," but it could have been "room 42" just as easily. Oh well, I guess I'll take my chances. She thought, as she knocked on the door of room 32. I hope it's Asuna.

When Kirito opened the door, the only thing he could register was the dark hair, and a familiar smell. It couldn't be… Sinon? The next thing he knew, he was tackled by a hug.

"Baka!" A voice cried. He could hear that the girl was about to cry.

"Sinon…" He sighed happily, and hugged her back.

She pushed him away, and when he looked at her, tears were streaming down her face. "Kirito! God damn it, where have you been!? How could you have just left us?!"

"I'm sorry Sinon…" He sighed again, more drawn out and sad this time. "I didn't want you guys to get mixed up in this whole beater thing…"

"That's what it was about? Come on Kirito, I wouldn't have had a problem with that… Plus, what were you thinking?! Leaving for a whole year and never contacting us?!" She replied.

"I didn't want to get you involved anyway… I was kind of just waiting for the whole 'beater' thing to blow over, but it never did..." He said.

He's protective, I'll give him that… But he's still a massive jerk! Sinon thought. Suddenly, she noticed the worry lines that were forming on Kirito's face. "Um, are you okay?" She asked. When Kirito didn't reply, but instead looked sullenly at the ground her heart skipped a beat. What had happened to such a positive boy to make him like this?

Sinon suddenly grabbed Kirito's hand and was dragging him out the door before he could protest. "Si-Sinon… Where are we going?"

"Just come with me. I wanted to take you somewhere."

Sinon had lead Kirito through a teleport gate, back to the Town of Beginnings. Memories had started to flood back into his mind, and now he stood at a very familiar dessert store. "I've always wanted to try parfait too"... Sinon had said. He wondered if this was some kind of cruel trick, to get back at him for leaving Sinon and Asuna behind so willingly.

Leading him inside, Sinon cursed under her breath. She hoped she had enough money on her. Sitting down, Sinon opened the menu, and tapped a few times. Confused, Kirito fidgeted in his seat. "Why are we here again?" He asked.

Sinon didn't reply, only closing the menu, to have a little parfait-like desert appear on the table in front of her. "Here. My treat." she said, hoping for Kirito to smile, or eat… Anything.

"A parfait… What's this for?" He repeated his earlier question.

"Think of it as thanks. Thanks for saving my life."

"Tch…" Kirito bit back a sob. "I haven't saved anyone…"

"Well, you saved me. And with just a silly little parfait, too." She smiled.

"How...? You did all the fighting… The arrows… I would have been dead…" He slowly replied.

Sinon sighed. You just don't get it, do you? "Kirito, I thought I was going to die. I had resigned myself to living here- and dying here, too. Don't you get it? That parfait gave me hope."

"I… I think I should leave."

"Kirito, wait. I don't know what you're going through, or what's happening, and it might not be something a little parfait can fix, but… I want you to know that I still believe in you."

"Really? I… thanks…" Kirito dipped his head, and the shadow from his hair covered his eyes.

"It was really good to see you again, Kirito, but I have to go meet up with Asuna now… If I'm lucky, I'll see you again soon!" She said, putting on her coat and standing up.

As Sinon walked out the door, Kirito thought he'd try the parfait. Mm… It's good! For the first time in months, he smiled.

Sinon looked back, and upon seeing Kirito enjoying the parfait in the spot she had done a year back, she smiled too. Kirito… Good luck!

C-A/N: Hey guys! It's me again, TheSilentSwordsman! I hope you guys are liking the story! The first thing I wanted to say was: it's a love story, baby just say yes. (JK) It's a love story, so Sinon is OOC, yes she stayed with a guy she just met, but in retrospect she thought she was going to die anyway. Plus, we need to throw that extra cheesiness in there to give it that love story oomph! I am having a little difficulty helping sleuthy here writing the fifth chapter, as it's getting a little hard to differentiate the two different plotlines (My story and hers)… I might even accidentally make a reference to something out of my story, Swords and Bows, but I'll just rely on cup-of-sleuth to catch those, hehe. Anyway, I hope you guys are enjoying the story as much as I'm enjoying working on it with her! Oh yeah. HOLY TIME SKIP! That's all. :D (I'm not going to do my customary exit, as it's not my story, but I'll check in with you guys every once in a while! Cya!)

A/N: Okay so revised this still doesn't quite hit my 2,000 word minimum. However, I'm making an exception because, unlike last time I was writing this story, chapter five is actually making progress. Slow, but it's coming! I can't promise it'll be on time with an update schedule, in fact if you noticed this chapter was an entire weekend late. You can blame that on my immune system and my inability to function properly when I have a simple cold.

I'd also like to address the reviews pertaining to things being OOC. Yes, I'm very much aware that these things are unnatural for the characters, as I'm a fan who not only owns the anime but the light novels. However, despite this fact TheSilentSwordsman and I can't perfectly write their characters to a T. We can try our best, but in the end our own influence gets thrown in there. And this is supposed to be a cheesy love story. I mean... love story is in the title isn't it? (I'm pretty sure it is, correct me if I'm wrong) A lot of the story is actually based around Kirito and Asuna's original relationship with Sinon replacing Asuna in certain parts, yes this is true. But I have plans to make it different later on, more original in coming chapters. In fact I've plans to entirely change how the final battle happens. My original partner and I had to start somewhere, though. I must remind you all that TheSilentSwordsman is not my original partner for this story, but has proven to be far easier to work with and his writing style is very similar to mine so that this all works perfectly. I will say though, I had to brood over one particular review and it almost made me feel like quitting. But in the end, it's all constructive criticism and writing fanfiction is only practice for me, and I promised I would finish this story.

I apologize for this wall of bolded text, I just felt the need to explain all of that. Please continue to review and leave us feedback, I do hope you enjoyed this chapter even though it was short. Please keep an eye out for chapter five! And thank you for reading!