As Asuna watched, the world fell apart.

It began with a single leaf, yanked upward as if by an invisible hand. Plucked free, it floated a few feet into the air before shattering in half. Then into quarters. Then into smaller pieces still, until nothing remained but the individual polygons themselves. Drifting through the air like ash from a fire, one by one they winked out of existence. Nearby leaves followed suit, the gentle destruction radiating outward from the first leaf.

Before long the bare branch snapped free and splintered. Leaves on the nearby branches started to lift into the air, the leaves joining the disintegrating branch as the first movement in a symphony of destruction. More leaves followed, their branches shattered right after. Then, when no branches remained, the strange, inevitable force uprooted the tree itself.

From there the phenomenon spread out to the surrounding trees. Whole sections of the forest canopy lifted into the air like a verdant wave, tearing free as though gravity was a mere suggestion. The swarm of polygons grew, swirling together to appear as a storm cloud leering at the fortress itself. None of this made a sound, even as the devastation grew. The world was dying in silence, save for a lone sound. It came from every direction, carried on the wind itself.

We are the music makers, and we are the dreamers of dreams.

The voice belonged to the child. She hadn't been there until that very moment, Asuna knew that much. The fencer couldn't remember when she woke up, nor where Yuuki disappeared to or even what she'd been doing before noticing the spectacle in front of her. But she knew the girl only just arrived.

After all, Asuna would have remembered seeing a ghost.

Wandering by lone sea-breakers, and sitting by desolate streams.

She jumped, took a step back, her hand closing on air where her sword's hilt should have been. She wasn't wearing her scabbard. Nor, in fact, was she wearing her avatar's outfit at all. Instead, she wore a dark navy blazer and skirt. A school uniform, though Asuna couldn't be sure. Those details remained unimportant when put up against the specter beside her.

World-losers and world-forsakers, on whom the pale moon gleams.

The average ghost possessed many characteristics and the child checked most of the boxes; Translucent, floating a few inches above the ground, no shadow in any direction. Her long black hair spilled over her shoulders and obscured her face. In fact, the only thing that kept her from being a dead ringer for the girl from Ring was her outfit. Rather than the traditional white dress, she wore an orange-red kimono that shimmered like liquid fire.

And she... flicked. Asuna could think of no other way to describe it. Every few seconds, the outline of her body remained but all the details turned to static.

Yet we are the movers and shakers of the world for ever, it seems.

Instinctively, Asuna knew the disembodied voice belonged to the girl. It stuttered and echoed every so often, like an internet connection with bad lag.

Asuna should have run. She wanted to run, but something kept her feet rooted in place, unable to even look away from the phantom. In lieu of escape, her whole body trembled. Her lip trembled, a cold chill dancing along her spine. Her grandfather loved ghost stories, especially the terrifying sort no responsible adult would share with an impressionable little girl. The one about the hopping ghosts led to her sleeping at the foot of her grandparents' bed for a week.

Could this ghost hop with her feet not touching the ground? Asuna hoped she wouldn't have to find out.

"Wh-who are you?"

No answer came, but the ghost's shoulders slumped.

With wonderful deathless ditties we build up the world's great cities...

The voice, previously a dull monotone, now carried an undercurrent of sorrow. The tone transformed the poem into a mournful dirge, its pervasive sadness rattling around in Asuna's chest and adding a layer of melancholy to Asuna's creeping fear.

"I don't understand. What's happened?"

And out of a fabulous story, we fashion an empire's glory...

She chanced a look back at the forest. The wave of destruction had begun to consume the forest like a ravenous fire. Its approach remained slow, with the deliberate movement of a predator stalking its prey.

One man with a dream, at pleasure, shall go forth and conquer a crown...

Unable to come up with a better option, Asuna reached out for the girl's shoulders. To her surprise, they didn't pass through but took hold of a corporeal form. She spun the girl round, determined to ask her next question face to face.

But the girl didn't have one.

Asuna saw only a featureless surface with a metallic sheen. Lines of code in a golden font streamed across the surface, extending back into infinity.

Asuna wanted to scream, but the sound choked in her throat.

And three with a new song's measure can trample a kingdom down.

She closed her eyes, tamped down her fear. "What's happening here? Can we stop it?"

We, in the ages lying, in the buried past of the earth...

"Am I the only one left?"

Built Nineveh with our sighing, and Babel itself in our mirth...

"Where are the others? Are they safe?"

And o'erthrew them with prophesying, to the old of the new world's worth...

She began shaking the girl before she even realized it, panic rising in her desperate tone. "Where is Yuuki?"

For each age is a dream that is dying...

Then, ever so briefly, the code resolved into a gentle face with doe-like eyes welled with tears. Despite her apparent sorrow, she gave Asuna a smile. Just as quickly as it appeared, the code returned and swallow the face into the chaos of numbers and letters.

...or one that is coming to birth.

An invisible force slammed hard into Asuna's chest, sending her careening into the wall behind her. Her vision blurred as she looked up.

The wave of destruction had arrived.

The writhing mass had become a tornado, the last remnants of the forest twirling around it. It inches forward, grinding the timbers of the fortress before pulling them into the vortex. The child didn't move as the chaos drew closer, not even turning back to look at Asuna.

A wondrous thing of our dreaming, unearthly, impossible seeming...

The fencer tried to shout a warning, but in an instant the storm unmuted itself. A nightmarish roar overtook everything else, save the ever-present words from the girl.

The soldier, the king, and the peasant are working together in one...

No. It wasn't a roar. They were voices. Hundreds, maybe thousands strong, every one trying to shout over the other. She could only make out snippets.

"...sadly, two hundred and thirteen players have been permanently retired..."

"...a single blade can take you anywhere you want to go..."

"...we play along, and we get out without a scratch..."

"...if this proposition, that physics is computer-simulatable, is right, physical law is wrong..."

"...on November 7th, at 2:55 AM..."

"...I will come across you again..."

Then the funnel overtook her, and the world went silent. Only an endless expanse of white remained. Asuna held her arms up. They too began to break apart and fade into nothing else. The last thing she heard was the girl's voice.

Till our dream shall become their present, and their work in the world be done.

Asuna awoke to the warmth of sunlight on her cheek, in front of a forest still very much intact. The rising sun cast a golden light onto the canopy, bringing its colors to vivid life. The song of bush warblers echoed, branches rustling as a few of the birds took flight.

Most importantly, Yuuki was still at her side.

They'd shifted positions at some point, with the smaller girl now curled up against Asuna, her shoulder acting as a makeshift pillow. The fencer gave her the gentlest of squeezes, wanting to make sure she was more than just another illusion.

Asuna couldn't remember the last time she dreamed in Aincrad, uncertain if she ever had. Images remained seared in her memory; The forest shattering, the cyclone of debris, the strange faceless girl. She rolled the words that carried on the wind around in her mind. We are the music makers, and we are the dreamers of dreams. A faint memory of an American film she'd seen as a child flitted past. A pity her subconscious didn't pull more from it. A cyclone of candy might have been a welcome distraction.

Just a random nightmare, she told herself. A nightmare born of her anxiety and fear, manifested by the stress of the previous day.

And yet the dream lingered, something about it dangling like a thread just out of reach waiting to be unraveled. Had she seen the girl during Kayaba's announcement? Had something Kouichirou mentioned during his excited discussions about the project sparked the dream? Nothing readily sprang to mind, yet that nagging feeling remained.

Yuuki stirred, and for a moment Asuna feared she'd accidentally awoken her. A few seconds later, Yuuki settled against her once more. She deserved the chance to sleep, and so Asuna would serve as her pillow as long as she needed. Asuna owed her that much. For staying with her the night before. For saving her life. For everything, from the first moment they'd met.

The golden sunlight kissed her hair, making it sparkle like amethyst. Asleep, she looked angelic, free of the tension that always lurked just beneath her smile. Asuna wanted to savor the image. She'd come to think of Yuuki like the sunlight itself, bringing light and warmth and making the world a more beautiful and vibrant place with her presence.

Yet when Asuna's thoughts drifted to Yuuki (as they did more and more frequently), they were always accompanied by that fluttering at the pit of her stomach she'd noticed before. Try as she might, she couldn't ascribe a name to the feeling. Certainly not fear, she'd decided that much.

Perhaps something closer to anxiety. She longed for Yuuki to hold her in high regard, and Asuna always tried a little harder around her. She worried about saying or doing the wrong thing, wanting nothing more than to impress her. She couldn't afford to let that beautiful light fade from her life forever.

She'd never had a best friend before. Sure, she'd given the title to a handful of classmates over the years. She ate lunch with them each day, sat next to them in class when she could, and shared gossip in the hallways. The relationships remained solely on the school grounds and their lunchtime conversations never went deeper than favorites songs or the previous day's test.

With Yuuki, she never felt the undercurrent of competition. Whereas she feared showing weakness around her classmates or even her parents, Yuuki responded to it with kindness and sympathy. When she'd broken down into tears, Yuuki remained by her side.

She longed to open up more, to offer Yuuki a glimpse into her life, to share her hopes and fears in a way she'd never been able to before. She'd never given anyone the complete map to her heart, laying bare all the pain and insecurity hidden within. With everyone else, she feared those weaknesses would become weapons. Not with Yuuki. Asuna could trust her.

Couldn't she?

The thought turned those butterflies in her stomach into a flock of dive-bombing seahawks, warmth blossoming in her cheeks and traveling to the tips of her ears.

Seeing the ugliness might make Yuuki pull away. And losing her might be more than Asuna could bear. Perhaps some secrets were best kept locked away.

Her ring finger ached as it rested on Yuuki's shoulder, a painful reminder of her biggest secret. Her greatest regret and her greatest sacrifice made for the good of her family before herself. The reason that she feared escaping Sword Art Online almost as much as dying within it.

The dream, the swarm of Nepenthes, even the Charnel Hounds proved more pleasant thoughts than him.

As she tried desperately to force the horrid memory away, Yuuki's head slowly lifted from her shoulder. The shorter girl stared at her with bleary eyes, a few strands of hair pressed against her forehead and cheek. With a slow blink, she gave Asuna a clumsy, adorable smile.

"That's gotta be the best thing I've ever woken up to."

A few seconds passed, then Yuuki's spine stiffened, her eyes wide as she clapped a hand over her mouth. Those words woke her up faster than a whole pot of coffee, her responses every bit as nervous and jittery. She recoiled and stammered, hemmed and hawed, starting and stopping at least five different things, none of which made it further than the first syllable.

Asuna valiantly fought off giggles. "It's okay, Yuuki. I think that's really sweet of you to say."

That drained the tension from her body, though her cheeks remained a bright crimson.

"Er, well. I mean. It's not a lie. It's just..." She closed her eyes, taking in a deep breath before she continued. "Every morning, I worry I'm gonna wake up and everything turns out to be a dream. I'll be back in the real world, and we'll have never met."

"But you'd be safe."

Her jaw clenched, a familiar tension straining her smile. For a minute, Asuna worried the comment offended her and she debated an apology.

"I'm not sure I'd be happy," she said finally. "Not as much as I am now."

"Happy in this crazy game?"

"Happy because of the company I keep in it."

Yuuki's fingertips brushed against Asuna's. Inevitably, their hands drew together like magnets. They'd done this before, but this one felt significant in a wholly different way. There had always been distractions, but now her focus could remain solely on Yuuki. Asuna could just take in the softness of her skin, the surprising strength of her grip, how comfortable they felt together.

She remembered their promise before the meeting and imagined a thin cord between their fingers that intertwined their fate and would always draw them back together.

Yuuki's hand shook slightly. Her breath had quickened.

For that matter, so had Asuna's.

"I'm glad you feel that way," she replied. "Because I'm happy when I'm with you, too."

Yuuki tried, and failed, to hide her mixture of surprise and delight, all of it topped with a fresh round of embarrassment. She was especially adorable when she got flustered.

"Y-you know, this would be the perfect time for photos!" The words came out faster and more forcefully than they needed to. "Mama used to love taking pictures, and she called this the magic hour. That really confused me when I was a little girl. I thought we were gonna cast spells or something."

This time, Asuna allowed the giggles to slip out. "I probably would have thought the same thing."

"It's probably gonna sound silly, but I started this little tradition. Every time I was awake when the sun first came up, I'd make a wish. Maybe I hoped there'd be enough magic to make it come true."

"Well? What did you wish for?"

Yuuki's cheeks puffed out. "I can't just tell you! That means it won't come true." Her shoulders slumped, and the energy faded from her voice. "Though, it's always been the same wish. It's never come true."

"Then make it again. Maybe today's the lucky day!"

Yuuki brushed the stray hair away from her face, peering up at Asuna through her eyelashes. Their eyes met, and the fencer remembered her first impression when she met Yuuki. The first beautiful thing she'd seen in Aincrad. Their time together only strengthened that impression. And for all the things that Yuuki made more vibrant by her presence, none compared with her. And the beauty of her eyes paled in comparison to the beauty Asuna saw in her soul.

"This time," Yuuki said, her voice barely a whisper, "I wished for something different."

Those words, combined with the look, made Asuna's pulse race.

"I hope it comes true."

"I doubt it will." Her cheeks turned bright red again. "But if it did, it would be the best thing that ever happened to me."

The butterflies returned once more, but Asuna welcomed the feeling, a beautiful awkwardness no one else ever made her feel. For a brief, glorious moment, nothing else in the world mattered.

"Asuna, there's something I should-"

Before Yuuki could finish, the balcony door flew open and Diavel dashed out onto the deck. The two girls jumped and pulled apart. He drew breaths in ragged gasps, his hand still wrapped around the door handle like a vice. All color had drained from his face.

"Diavel? What's going on?"

"Kibaou. He started the raid early." He closed his eyes. "It's over."

"What do you mean it's over?"

"They defeated the first floor boss."

There wasn't a hint of joy in his voice, however.

"But what happened?" Yuuki rose to her feet. "Why are you so panicked?"

Asuna already knew the answer, and Diavel's silence confirmed it.

Not everyone made it to the second floor.

Ever since that first day in Sword Art Online, Asuna built up levies around her heart to hold off the grief and anguish she felt. Even after her choice to venture into the labyrinth alone, even after her time with Yuuki, she kept them up. Those pent up feelings strained against her as she walked through the threshold of a building she'd been in only once before.

There had been other attempts. More than once she left the inn with every intention of returning here. Each time, she diverted at the last second. When she drew near, the ache in her heart transformed into a jabbing knife, growing more intense with every step. The sound of his cries echoed as she remembered the feel of his hand in hers. An irrational belief still lingered, that she could have done something to save him. She feared if she ever set foot in the Black Iron Palace again, the anguish would overwhelm her.

Even now it threatened to overwhelm all the defenses she'd build up. Her gait faltered as the memories poured through, carrying the emotions she'd never fully allowed herself to feel. She'd never come back to pay her respects to Naeb, to mourn his loss properly. Now, fate had given her no choice.

As the pain flared, Yuuki fell into lockstep beside her, inching closer until her fingers could curl against Asuna's palm. She said nothing, nor did she need to. While her presence couldn't extinguish the pain, it made it manageable. Thankfully. Asuna needed all the strength she could muster.

They hadn't come here to mourn Naeb this time.

Though he'd relayed most of the details over his message, Lind wanted to meet with them directly to share all the details. Along with Yuuki and Diavel, Mortimer insisted that Kizmel accompany them in case the Charnel Hounds laid some sort of trap. Though players had left the Town of Beginnings in droves for the recently opened second floor, a few still wandered the streets. That made their nondescript cloaks a necessity.

Not long after their battle against the Charnel Hounds, someone (Asuna assumed one of the Hounds) sent Kibaou an anonymous message that identified Yuuki, Diavel and herself as part of a conspiracy to ambush the clearing group alongside a PK guild. Their absence seemingly confirmed the information, and that led Kibaou to organize the boss raid early.

And given what happened in its aftermath, none of them could risk being seen in public.

Before long, they reached the end of the corridor. The room in front of them looked like one of the grand cathedrals in Europe, though the high windows cast d harsh shadow across the dark walls and columns and gave the room an ominous feel. Diavel told her on that first visit that the room once contained an altar at the center where players would be reborn after they were killed in the game.

Now, there was only a large stone monument, thirty feet across, and carved from black marble. Names were etched across the surface in alphabetical order, listing every player in Sword Art Online. A girl sat on the far right of the monument, her anguished sobs echoing through the room. Asuna knew exactly what she was looking at; a name with a line through it.

There were over a thousand of them now, players who'd been lost to Kayaba's twisted game. And now, two of those names belonged to players Asuna knew.

Lind stood in front of the monument on the opposite end of the weeping girl, arms folded over his chest. Since the last time she'd seen the young man, his appearance had completely transformed. His long hair, once brown, was now dyed black, matching the long coat he now wore. Every piece of gear he wore, once vibrant and colorful like Diavel's, was now shades of gray.

As soon as he saw Diavel, he bolted over and wrapped his arms around him in a tight hug. Diavel could only stare, clearly caught off guard by the gesture. After a few awkward seconds, he pulled back.

"Sorry. I just... didn't think I'd see you again."

"Um, okay."

Lind adjusted the collar of his coat and took a minute to compose himself. He nodded politely to Yuuki and Asuna, his attention lingering on Kizmel. He must have noticed the cursor that identified her as a monster instead of a player. No doubt Diavel explained her to Lind but seeing it her was another thing entirely.

"Tell us everything," Diavel said.

But even as he began, Asuna's attention turned to the monument. To a familiar name with a jagged slash through it.

She already knew how this story ended.

"It's charging up for another attack!"

Lind took a step back, putting himself in front of his comrades with his shield at the ready. Other tank heavy units were designated to draw Illfang's aggro, but he was ready just in case he needed to aid in the escape of Kibaou and his party. They'd use their last round of healing potions while Klein and his party took point for the next round of attacks. They, likewise, were down to their last healing potions.

Not good. The boss's attack patterns differed from those outlined in the guide distributed to the players, which drew a derisive snort from Kibaou. Still, they compensated for the altered attacks and even a different final weapon. No casualties yet. Illfang's last health bar was down to yellow, probably on the verge of red. But the clearing group would soon be out of healing potions.

Lind surveyed the scene and calculated the odds. Klein and his comrades in Furrinkazan were high-level players, and quite skilled for newcomers to the NerveGear system. But their inexperience peeked through at times and nowhere did mistakes happen more often than in the tense final moments of a boss battle. They might miss a tell, not fully exploit every opportunity to cause damage. He gritted his teeth. This would be close.

"Snarling isn't going to take down the monster, Good Sir Knight."

Aymr stood beside him, twirling her twin knives. If Fuurinkazan needed to pull back, they'd be the last attack group. She'd surprised him from the moment they were thrown into an impromptu party. Between an astounding reaction time and a grasp of game mechanics that rivaled Diavel, she'd been one of the MVPs of the battle. It made her jokes tolerable, just like Diavel as well.

"It's worked about as well as almost everything else we've thrown at it, so I figure it's worth a shot," the coifed man beside them replied.

That third member of their party arrived just as the clearing group left Tolbana. Marbh wore a metal coif that hid his eyes from view. His long axe made him a damage dealing, a nice compliment to Aymr's more finessed combat style. The pair of them got along almost instantly, trading banter back and forth like a bad action movie. Perhaps they knew each other, but Aymr's friendly personality transformed almost anyone she met into a friend.

"I don't think Fuurinkazan's going to deflect enough of the attack. They're going to have to pull back. Be ready, Aymr!"

"For the last time, just call me Aggie." She drove an elbow into his side and winked. "When we finish this bastard, we gotta get you to loosen up."

"Now now, Ags! Sometimes you need a good stuffed shirt like him to do all the thinking."

Lind ignored the pair and observed the fight. Sure enough, Klein and the rest of his party tried to compensate for missed opportunities by attacking a fraction of a second too long. The strikes drove Illfang into the red, but it also meant they lifted their weapons up to block the strike of his nodachi too late. The strike sent them flying back, their HP dipping into the yellow. Borderline red, probably.

The odds didn't look good.

"C'mon, let's go!"

"No," he said after a moment. "We should fall back. It's too risky."

"Wait!" Aymr stepped in front of him. "Pull his aggro. Give me an opening. I've got an idea!"

"What are you planning, you maniac?" Marbh grinned. He grinned a lot. Lind remembered that above everything else about the man.

"Six demon bag," she replied. "Wind, fire, all that kind of thing!"

"I'm not sure about this-"

She winked. "Trust me, okay?"

Lind gritted his teeth, but stepped forward and slapped his sword against the shield, drawing Illfang's attention away from both Fuurinkazan and Aymr.

"Well, Miss Aggie? There's your opening." He leveled his axe. "It's showtime!"

She nodded, lowered to the ground, and charged forward, cutting a wide arc around Illfang, curling toward his side. A flanking move. Solid. Marbh took up a position beside Lind, axe at the ready. The Kobold Lord took a step forward them, lifting the massive nodachi into the air.

"Get ready..." Lind warned.

But as soon as Aymr hooked inward, Illfang spun toward her instead.

"Aggie!" Lind cried out.

The nodachi whistled through the air and slammed into the ground where Aggie stood. A cloud of debris flew into the air.

A direct hit.

Lind lifted his hand into the air to signal the retreat.

Just as Aggie emerged from the cloud, leaping into the air.

And onto the handle of the nodachi.

Before Illfang could react, Aggie scampered along the length of it. Using his hands as a launching pad, she twirled into the air, a sword skill charged with the two daggers. As she neared Illfang's head, the daggers lashed out, tearing at his face and depleting his HP bar.

As the sword skill finished, she leaped away from the monster and landed, twirling the daggers in a dramatic victory pose as the monster exploded behind her, bathing the room in light.

Lind, along with the other players, could only stare in amazement as the monster's outline faded and a giant banner reading Congratulations spread across the room.

Then everyone, including the usually stoic Lind, cheered.

Taking a moment to catch her breath, Aggie walked over to Lind and clasped a hand on his shoulder.

"See? Told you to trust me."

"I'll keep that in mind next time." The knight's head tilted to one side. "What was that sword skill you used?"

"Oh, that? Piercing Vortex. Learned it just before this battle, so I'm glad it worked."

"You really are crazy," was the only response Lind could manage.

"Wait, is that a smile I see on your face, Mister Grumpipuss? Such a rare occurrence deserves a reward." She opened her menu and, a moment later, a message popped up in front of Lind.

"What's this?"

"The last attack bonus. Something called the Coat of Midnight, so I don't think it's quite my style."

"I couldn't-"

Your distraction gave me the opening I needed. So you can, and you will."

Marbh walked over that ever-present smirk on his face. "You know, Miss Aggie, this is a momentous occasion. You've given us all hope. Seems like a fine opportunity to make a speech!"

"Oh, come on. That's a bit much, don't you think?"

"You're an inspiration! It'd mean the world to all these people who just risked their lives. I'm sure every single one of them adores you, too."

"Fine."

Try as he might, Lind couldn't remember the speech. He couldn't remember how long it lasted, nor what points Aggie made. He remembered the cheers, a sense of optimism he'd never felt since the game of death began. For some reason, he remembered the way Aggie fidgeted with her hands, a sign of the nerves she hit behind her confidence. But as for the content, he remembered nothing.

Nothing, that is, save her final word.

"Together!"

That's when the Anneal Blade burst through her chest.

She gasped, staring down at the blade as its wielder drew it back. She took a few halting steps forward, then collapsed to the ground as her body faded in a flash of light.

Behind her, holding the sword, was Marbh.

Smiling.

"Never forget," he said, his voice calm and measured as ever, "Aincrad belongs to the beta testers!"

And before anyone could react, he produced a teleport crystal and vanished.

News of Aggie's murder, along with its alleged connection to the beta testers, spread like wildfire. Kibaou was praised by the players for seeing the threat before anyone else. He'd quickly risen to a position of leadership, with one of his first acts being a bounty on all beta testers in the game, as well as Argo and the three alleged traitors. Lisbeth, at least, escaped their notice for the time being.

"You shouldn't linger here too long," Lind said. At first, he'd been tempted to join Diavel and the others, but he ultimately saw the value of being an informant inside the clearing group. As they prepared to leave, Asuna asked Yuuki and Kizmel to wait a moment longer.

There was one other thing she needed to do.

Diavel already stood by the same section of the monument, tracing the letters of his name, lifting his finger away from where the line bisected it. Asuna approached slowly and bowed her head. Diavel did the same, an understood moment of silence for their friend.

After that silence, Asuna finally spoke. "I'm sorry."

"Huh?"

"For walking away like I did. For never saying anything back to you. For everything, really."

"I should be apologizing to you. It wasn't fair of me to keep pressuring you like that. Like a wise person told me, I should have accepted your silence as an answer." He looked back to Naeb's name on the monument. "I just... thought I owed that to Naeb."

He paused and drew in a difficult breath.

"To Natsu."

"Natsu... you knew him RL, didn't you?" Asuna blanched. "S-Sorry. I know we're not supposed to talk about that..."

"It's okay." He traced the name one more time. "Normally, I wouldn't want to share those details. But in this case... for you... I don't think Natsu would mind. We met during the beta test and our group had so much fun playing together we started meeting up at this little gaming cafe. We even talked the owners into buying a NerveGear... well, Natsu did, anyway."

"What was he like?"

Diavel paused. "She was pretty much the person you met."

It took a few seconds for the answer to register. When she did, she remembered one of the things Naeb said to her on that first day.

I might not be quite what you're expecting offline.

The few times her mind drifted to Naeb, she wondered what he meant. She finally understood.

"She used a male avatar because it meant less harassment. I get the feeling, if things had been different... she would have told you herself."

But Asuna just smiled. "When we talked on that first day, I told her there was nothing wrong with discovering another side to someone you've met. I wish I'd been able to know her better. To have met her in real life." She walked beside him and traced Naeb's name on the monument. "But even so, I won't ever forget her."

"I think..." Diavel hesitated a moment. "I think that would've meant a lot to her. I could tell from the start, she really enjoyed your company."

"Will you tell me more about her? When we have time, I mean."

"Of course." Taking in a deep breath, the knight looked back at her. "So, what do we do now?"

Asuna frowned. "Why are you asking me?"

"I can see it in your face. It's the same kind of look Natsu used to get when she'd get a crazy idea. So, let's hear it."

Asuna's hands clenched into fists. "I don't want to keep running. The Charnel Hounds killed Aggie. I won't let them kill anyone else."

"They have that GM account, though. The rules of the game don't apply to them."

"Mortimer and Eugene have one too. And we have Kizmel on our side, not to mention Yuuki. We need to continue what Doraku started."

"What do you mean?"

"We help people. We stop whatever the Charnel Hounds are planning, and we work toward clearing this game and making sure everyone else gets home."

"Oh," Diavel smirked, a little bit of his old cockiness slipping through. "You're making it sound way too easy."

"It won't be easy, but I owe it to Nae- to Natsu. To Aggie. To everyone else we've lost in this game. If we can protect them, keep anyone else from hurting, then we should do it."

"You know, it almost sounds like you're talking about forming a guild."

"Then we'll be a guild." A memory from their first day together returned. "Say, what was the group from that game you and Naeb kept talking about?"

"Huh? Oh! Brave Vesperia."

"Hmmm. Not quite it." She thought back to the conversations with Naeb on that first day. The way a certain company kept coming up time and again. "How about... Brave Phantasia?"

"We'll have to ask the others, of course. But it's got my vote. And you've got my sword, for as long as it takes."

"Thanks."

"Who knows? Maybe we can even get Takaharu off the sidelines?"

"Maybe. It would be nice to see her again too."

"Forgive my rudeness."

Neither of them heard Kizmel approach and jumped when she spoke.

"We should return to the fortress. It is not impossible that Draven could track us here."

Asuna nodded, then pressed her fingers to Naeb's name one last time.

I promise. No one else will get hurt.

With that, she and Diavel rejoined Yuuki. As they walked out of Blackiron Palace, Yuuki walked beside her once again.

"Are you going to be okay?"

"Not really." Asuna took in a deep breath but looked to Yuuki, Diavel, and Kizmel. She thought of Lisbeth, Mortimer, and Eugene. Her newfound guild.

No. Her friends.

"But for the first time in a while? I think we have hope."

Inevitably, their hands found their way together once again. Though Yuuki didn't turn to look at her, Asuna noticed the blush in her cheeks.

I won't let anything happen to you, Yuuki. I'll protect you the same way you protected me. And when we leave this game... I'll meet you in the real world.

The promise made her heart race as she thought about everything they'd experienced over the last day. Since their first meeting. The way she looked forward to their daily meetings with an excitement she'd never known. The way she wanted to open her heart to Yuuki. It reminded her so much of that first day with Naeb, a feeling that had grown exponentially since that first meeting.

Wait.

All at once, Asuna realized those butterflies in her stomach were neither fear nor anxiety, but something both more powerful and more elusive. A feeling she could now identify but was terrified to name.

A feeling she had to bury. Even if she dared to speak it aloud, she refused to believe Yuuki felt the same way. She made the world more luminous with her presence; someone like Asuna would only diminish that light. And she craved that brilliance dared not do anything that might remove it from her life. Better to have Yuuki in her life at all than risk friendship over the impossible.

And even if Yuuki did feel the same way, it would be unspeakably cruel to act on it. Any relationship would end the second they left Sword Art Online. No doubt, a bright future awaited Yuuki in the real world. Asuna's had already been written. She couldn't open her heart to Yuuki if she couldn't give it completely. So she'd bury those feelings deep within, where they couldn't hurt Yuuki.

And pray they didn't shatter her.

A/N - This chapter was among the more difficult ones I've had to write, particularly since the tone bounces all over the place. One of the hardest things in writing this story is contriving ways to keep the confession from happening until the moment I've been planning for (not to mention the difficulty of writing them both to, at different points, not realize the depth of their feelings). I'm starting to lay a few more cards on the table as far as the overall mystery of this version of Aincrad, and I also revealed one twist that a few eagle eyed readers have already picked up on with regards to Naeb.

This also marks the end of Part One of Reconfiguration. The next chapter will be an interlude that takes place in the real world, and I strongly suspect Part Two will pick up after a short time skip. I hope you all enjoyed the ride to this point and I hope you'll stick with me as I continue to tell this story. Thanks to everyone who's been supporting Reconfiguration, and I hope you'll enjoy all that's still to come!