Kazuto's fingers were numb from the cold air, but it didn't stop him from knocking as hard as he could on the door looming in front of him.

Please, Asuna, he thought with a shiver. Please open up.

No answer.

Kazuto swore under his breath and, blowing on his fingers to warm them up a bit, knocked again, harder this time.

After a brief pause, a muffled voice called out from inside. "Who is it?"

Swallowing his fear and ignoring his pounding heartbeat, Kazuto called back. "Asuna, it's me."

He heard a shuffle of footsteps inside, and then another pause. Then, a small click from the doorknob indicated that she had unlocked the door. That in and of itself was progress; he hadn't even been expecting her to respond to him at all.

The door opened, albeit just a crack, so that all he could see was a few strands of chestnut hair and one auburn eye peeking back at him.

"What do you want?" Asuna growled. Clearly he was not at the top of her list of people she wanted to see.

Kazuto chuckled and shivered simultaneously. "Nice to see you, too," he muttered as he hugged his chest. "Is now a bad time?"

Asuna glared at him and shut the door in his face.

"I'm guessing now is a bad time, then?" he called out, trying to calm his chattering teeth.

"Go home, Kazuto," came the reply.

His lips were on the verge of peeling and his fingers felt like they were about to fall off, but he kept trying. "If it's worth anything, I'm sorry for the sarcasm."

Silence.

"Do you have any idea how cold it is out here?"

More silence.

"You know, if I stay out here much longer I'm going to get sick."

Behind the door, he heard Asuna scoff. "Sounds like a personal problem."

"Is it now?" he shot back, blood rushing to his cheeks out of either frustration or embarrassment. "Because you could just as easily let me in and solve it."

Just as quickly as it had shut, the door flew open, revealing a very angry Asuna on the other side. Her usually cream-colored cheeks were flushed red, and her brow was creased in a manner she only reserved for the most heated of arguments.

"Solve it how?" she demanded, pointing a finger in his face. "By nursing you back to health? This isn't SAO anymore, Kazuto. I'm not your wife in this world."

Kazuto sighed. "Please, Asuna, just hear me out."

"And why, do tell, should I do that?"

"Because it's important!"

"Oh, sure." Her tone was laced with mockery. "It must be pretty important if you're going to insist upon talking about it after not speaking to me for almost three weeks."

"That's not fair."

Before he could even process what was going on, Asuna's hand met his cheek with a forceful smack. He winced as he gingerly touched the tender skin, which stung furiously.

"Don't you dare talk to me about what isn't fair," Asuna hissed, her scowl as sharp as a knife. "You want to know what isn't fair? It isn't fair that I was still trapped inside a virtual coma for two months while you and everyone else were out free. It isn't fair that you spent so much of your time off in VR land while I and everybody else you claimed to care about got thrown by the wayside."

"Asuna, you know that's not–"

"And it sure as hell isn't fair that I have to leave my home and my friends and my family behind tomorrow, while you get to waltz through life without making one single hard decision about anything. At. All." Asuna shook her head. "But noooo. Me calling you out for simply walking out on me three weeks ago isn't fair."

"Will you please just listen to me?" he shouted, clenching his fists. "I didn't come here to argue with you, I came to apologize."

Asuna only sighed. "I don't know." The fire in her face had dissipated, replaced by a blank stare. "I think it's better that we both just move on."

"You can't actually believe that," he said in disbelief. After all they had been through together there was no way that was how she actually felt. He wouldn't accept that. Not for a moment.

"Clearly you do."

Kazuto's eyes widened and his throat closed. Her words left him stunned. As much as he wanted to believe otherwise, she was right about him. He had moved on, or at least that was how he'd been acting. This whole time he'd been blaming her for ending their relationship, when in reality he was the problem. He couldn't fault her for being angry with him.

Was it wiser to just turn and leave again?

No, he told himself. Not this time. This time it'll be different.

He was ready to take Agil's advice. He was ready to fight.

She turned away from him, taking a step back into her apartment. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have some packing to finish."

Kazuto reached out and grabbed her wrist, feeling her flinch at the sudden contact. "Wait," he pleaded softly, giving her hand a gentle squeeze. "Please."

She met his gaze, pulling her hand from his grip. For what felt like an eternity, time seemed frozen as he waited for her response. Her expression was unreadable; her eyes didn't seem angry anymore but they certainly didn't have any warmth to them, either.

And yet, Kazuto found a strange sense of reassurance in her gaze. Maybe it was because she had been the one that taught him everybody deserved a chance at redemption, that no one could ever fall too far from grace. She had always been the kindest, most forgiving person he'd ever met. And while he had made some pretty nasty mistakes, he had to believe that she'd give him another shot.

Asuna nodded reluctantly, gesturing to the doorway. "Fine," she said, almost begrudgingly. "You have ten minutes."

What he wanted to say would likely take more than ten minutes, but he supposed that he really wasn't in any kind of position to negotiate with her. He followed her inside, where several cardboard boxes littered the floor. They all had various messages written on them denoting their contents, such as "books" or "clothes." The sight made Kazuto sad, evidence that in less than twenty-four hours she would be gone from his life permanently.

Asuna sat down on her now-bare mattress and crossed her arms. "Well?" she said, raising an eyebrow.

Kazuto cleared his throat. "Yeah." Droplets of sweat were pooling on his forehead, and he was becoming more nervous by the second. He quickly stuffed his shaking hands into his pockets and did his best to form a coherent thought.

"Nine years ago," he said with a pensive sigh, "I quit kendo. My grandfather was a kendo champion, and he had insisted that Sugu and I take lessons."

He grimaced as he recalled bitter memories of the dojo and the boring lessons he had to endure week after week. "I hated it. Every single lesson. I put up with it for two years before I'd finally just had enough. So I quit."

Asuna cocked her head to the side in a mixture of annoyance and confusion. "What does you quitting kendo have anything to do with us?"

"I promise I'll get there. Just listen to me."

She rolled her eyes. "Whatever."

"My grandfather was furious with me. The night he found out I'd been skipping my lessons, he beat me so hard I couldn't move my arm for three whole days. It was awful." He gently touched his arm, wincing when his fingertips made contact. "It still hurts sometimes, even now.

"Sugu saved me by promising to train enough for both of us, which still made Grandfather really upset, but at least he stopped hitting me. He and my mother would scream at each other for weeks after that on my account. I used to eavesdrop on them, though now I wish I hadn't." He turned away from her. "That's how I found out I was adopted."

He heard Asuna gasp quietly. "You're…" she muttered in disbelief. "Y-you're adopted?"

He nodded. "Grandfather asked my mother when she was planning on showing me the records. At the time, I didn't know what he was talking about, but being the curious eleven year-old I was, I dug around my mother's office one day while she was at work. There were government records on her computer confirming that I was the biological son of Yukito and Aoi Narusaka."

Asuna appeared dumbfounded. "I-I never knew."

"It never seemed important enough for me to tell you." He sighed again. "At any rate, that was when I started becoming obsessed with computers. I started to be afraid of the real world, so I started looking for any and every opportunity to get away from it.

"When I learned about the NerveGear, I went out and bought one as soon as it came out. I was probably too young to really understand what I was doing, but I didn't care. As long as I could escape, I was satisfied."

Kazuto slowly, awkwardly sat down beside her, feeling the tension between them thicken. He gave her a look that asked, Is this alright? The expression on her face showed conflicted emotions within her, but after a moment of thought she finally nodded in approval.

"The point of all this is this: for as long as I can remember I've always run away from my problems. It was always easier for me to hide in a fake world than to live here. But when I met you, I finally felt like I had the strength to stand and fight." He took her hand, and though she flinched again, she didn't stop him. "Asuna, you've taught me so, so much about life. And I will gladly travel to the end of this world and every other world just to be with you."

Asuna shook her head, sniffling quietly. "Do you really mean that?"

"Absolutely."

He wiped a stray tear from her cheek. "Remember what I promised you in the canyon?" he asked, squeezing her hand.

She nodded through muffled sobs. "You said your life was mine for the rest of our lives, and that you wanted to be with me forever."

Kazuto stood up and, taking both of her hands, knelt down on one knee. "You deserve someone much better than me, Asuna, but I can never imagine living my life without you at my side. I should never have walked away from you, and I am so sorry for that." He let go of her hands and reached into his back pocket. "I want to make that right, and finally honor my promise to you. Can you ever forgive me?"

As he drew his hand from his pocket, he gazed into Asuna's captivating hazel eyes. Despite her best efforts at controlling herself, she was crying profusely. Even so, Kazuto could tell they weren't the same tears she'd cried three weeks beforehand. These tears were tears of joy.

"Y-you idiot!" she half-cried, half-laughed, throwing her arms around his neck and burying her face in his shoulder. "Don't you ever run away from me again, you hear?"

"Yes ma'am," he chuckled. "I promise."

He thought back to Agil's earlier words: If you really love her, then you gotta go for it. He hadn't been sure then, but now he knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that Asuna was the one person he wanted to spend his life with. The sweat on his brow and the quick beat of his heart were evidence that he was more than a little nervous, but he would have to put that off to the side. After all, if he didn't ask her now he knew he would never get another chance.

With a deep breath, he pulled away from her embrace and held out his closed palm. "I have another question."

He opened his hand, and Asuna cried out in a mixture of surprise and delight. Her hands flew to cover her gaping mouth as tears continued to pour down her face. Kazuto smiled. Somehow, seeing her reaction to the ring in his palm made what remained of his nervousness vanish completely.

"Asuna Yuuki," he said, lips curled into a smile wider than the sun, "will you grant me the honor of being your husband?" He held the ring up to her. "Will you marry me?"

Asuna squealed in delight and grabbed Kazuto's face with both hands. Without missing a beat, she pressed her lips onto his for the most sensational kiss he'd ever experienced. Her mouth glided overtop of his as he shut his eyes and drank in their love. The electrifying touch of her lips sent a jolt down his spine, the succulent taste made his knees weak.

He smiled. Asuna. His Asuna.

"Oh, Kirito," Asuna whispered, her voice trembling from her tears. Her sobs turned to girlish giggles as she tackled him with another fervent embrace.

"Yes," she said, her arms wrapped tightly around his neck. "Yes, yes, yes!"

Kazuto held her tightly to him, gently running his fingers through her chestnut hair. Less than ten minutes ago she had been intent on leaving him behind forever, and now she was his fiancé. He wasn't really sure how or why it had to happen that way, but he was satisfied to be able to hold her in his arms again.

He gently took her left hand and, flashing her the brightest smile he could muster, slipped the ring onto her finger. It fit perfectly, almost like it was meant to be there all along.

"You have no idea how long I've waited to do that," he said, wrapping her in his arms.

She laughed and kissed his cheek. "Yes, I do."

Glancing at the boxes and bags scattered around him, Kazuto was struck by the sudden realization that she was technically still due to move the next day. His heart sank. It was too late to change her plans, Kazuto knew that. The new semester would start in about a week, and she had already selected all of her classes and bought all of her supplies.

He couldn't ask her to abandon her life on a selfish whim. That wouldn't be right.

"Asuna," he whispered dejectedly.

"Yes?"

"What are we going to do? I mean, you're about to move and all, and I can't ask you to–"

He was interrupted by Asuna's finger gently pressed against his lips. "Shhh," she cooed softly. "We'll figure something out. We always do."

Her words offered Kazuto no real solace. It was great advice, but didn't ultimately solve the problem staring him in the face:

In less than a day, she would be three hundred miles away from him. And he had no way to stop it from happening.

Unless…

"What if I came with you?" he blurted out, the words leaving his mouth so quickly he almost didn't have time to think about what he was saying. What was he saying? He wasn't prepared to move anywhere, much less to the other side of the country. He didn't have anything packed, and he hadn't told anybody he was even considering it, besides Asuna. He had no living arrangements, or a job, set up for when he got there, either. He kicked himself mentally. This was a horrible idea.

Then again, he'd gotten himself into this mess by not proposing to her earlier. If this would be what it took to get out of it, that was a price he'd be willing to pay.

Asuna cocked her head to the side in what appeared to be a combination of curiosity and nervousness. "Y-you mean," she stuttered, "move to Kyoto with me?"

"It'll only be for a few months, right?" Kazuto shrugged. "I mean, you took enough courses in high school to graduate at the end of the next semester, and all my classes are online anyways, so it's not like I really have any reason to stay here. We can always come back once you're done."

She considered his offer for a moment. "You'd do that for me?"

A playful smirk crossed Kazuto's face. "Didn't I just tell you I'd travel across the world to be with you?"

Instead of responding, Asuna strode over to the other side of the room, where a cardboard box marked 'Clothes' sat there patiently. She picked it up, carried it over to her empty closet, tore it open, and began to take her clothes out of it and hang them back up.

When she saw Kazuto staring at her with a perplexed look on his face, she chuckled and said, "Are you just going to watch or are you going to help me out?"

"What are you doing?"

"I'm unpacking."

"I see that," he said, a tinge of sarcasm in his voice, "but why?"

"Because I'm staying here," she told him matter-of-factly.

Kazuto's jaw hit the floor. "What?" he shouted incredulously. He couldn't believe what he was watching. It was too good to be true. Somehow seeing it with his own two eyes still didn't make it any more believable.

Asuna handed him a box labeled 'Books' and said, "I'm not moving. Not after what you just said, at least."

"I don't want feel like you have to sacrifice all of your plans because of me! That's not fair–"

"I'm not doing it because you're forcing me to. I want to do this." She put some of her books back on her bookshelf. "If you were willing to completely change your life for me, I should be willing to do the same for you."

"But Asuna, what about your classes? What about your degree? Everything you've worked so hard for?"

Asuna responded by wrapping her arms around his waist. "I don't need it," she said. "I wasn't lying when I said it didn't matter what I did as long as I was with you. I only changed my plans when I was scared you wouldn't be a part of them any longer." She sighed happily, resting her head on his shoulder. "I don't have to worry about that any longer. I'll finish college here, with you."

He gulped. "Are you sure?"

"M-hm."

Kazuto still found himself wanting to protest, to remind her of all the money she was throwing away, to tell her what an opportunity she'd be missing out on, but he decided against it. "Alright," he chuckled. "I guess I can tolerate that."

"I'm flattered." She shoved him playfully before giving his hand a gentle tug. "Now, c'mon, doofus! We have a wedding to plan! We need to decide on a date, pick a destination, think about who to invite, then there's the honeymoon to think about… Oh, of course! I almost forgot! We have to tell my parents that we're engaged and–"

He silenced her with another kiss.