A/N: Okay, most of this was written and uploaded on mobile... FML.

These Hands that Hold Mine

Chapter 1

"Kirito-kun? Kirito-kun, can you hear me?"

Who is that? A voice so nostalgic, it makes me want to cry… But who? I don't… I don't remember…

"KIRITO!"

Another voice… It's Ali- Al… Again, I don't know. What's happening?

Capital Centoria, Month 10 of Human Calendar, 380

Alice Synthesis Thirty emitted a low groan as she slowly moved her limbs, aiming to get up off the floor. She put her hands under her and pushed- but something stopped her. A weight lay heavy across her back. Out of the corner of her left eye's periphery, she saw a black-sleeved wrist. Kirito had collapsed on her. Despite not looking it, that boy was heavy. His «Object Control Authority» must've been quite high.

She'd grown to tolerate him to the point that she didn't mind so much. Besides, he didn't seem to be in much of a condition to get off of her himself. Gently pushing him to the side, Alice rose to her feet, surveying the area. No trace of the Highest Administrator remained, but she vaguely remembered her screams as she protested against the Highest Elder, Chudelkin. So that was it, then? The battle was won?

No, she reminded herself. A battle wasn't won if there had been sacrifice. They had merely survived the battle, not won it.

Even though she wasn't looking at it, she couldn't tear her attention from the lifeless body of a boy with flaxen hair, laid near the middle of the top floor of the cathedral. She never had the chance to speak properly with the young man Eugeo. She'd seen him merge his body with a sword and destroy the sword golem, and even taken one of the Administrator's arms. At this point, no feeling for him other than respect remained in her heart.

Finally, she managed to look down at Kirito. Something inside her twinged ever-so-slightly as she saw, again, that his right arm- his sword arm had been severed. It made her own empty eye socket resonate in pity. No matter, it was nothing she couldn't heal with her Sacred Arts. Her eye was a different matter- the lingering pain was proof of the corruption of the Highest Minister and her church. She lowered herself to her knees in front of Kirito's unconscious body, and began to chant.

"System call: generate luminous element!" She muttered in the Sacred Tongue, ten glowing orbs of light forming over each fingertip. First, she set to work repairing his minor cuts and burns- of which he had no shortage. He had to have been the most reckless swordsman she'd ever met… Since Alice no longer required any sort of intense focus while healing injuries such as these, she allowed her thoughts to stray. She couldn't explain it, but she knew she'd seen another Kirito, from another time. Instead of a simple black coat and trousers, he wore a leather overcoat- and he held two swords. Alice had called it impractical- impossible, even, but Kirito had only been hiding his ability once more. It made her wonder what else he might have up his sleeves.

The small wounds and burns healed, she made no attempt to regenerate his arm- there surely wasn't enough «Resource» left in the building to do so. Instead, she picked him up and carried him on her back. Moving slowly, she walked to the middle of the room, where the elevating disk should have been. She spared a remorseful glance for Eugeo's body, silently thanking him for his sacrifice. She hesitated for a moment, before retrieving Kirito's black sword and Eugeo's Blue Rose Sword. Somehow, they were balanced in between herself and Kirito on her back. Remembering that it must have connected to Cardinal's library, she decided against using the elevating disk. Instead, she generated a simple five thermal elements, and blew it away. Nimbly hopping down a floor, she landed with her armour only lightly clanking in complaint. She almost teetered a little bit, slightly thrown off balance without the aid of her right eye. With a sigh, she found the stairs, and began to descend.

Northern Norlangarth Empire, Month 10 of Human Calendar, 380

"Sorry, Amayori. We're almost there." Alice spoke to her dragon, sitting behind the unconscious body of Kirito, whose head lolled about as the dragon flew. She had to resist the urge to reach a hand out to steady it.

She merely got a small Kuru as a response.

18 hours they had been flying, according to the Sacred Art "system clock". Alice likely would never know what the words meant, but she memorized and used them all the same.

In the tower, she'd met and gathered all the Integrity Knights who had lost to Eugeo and Kirito, and they'd discussed the upcoming [Load Test Event], as the Administrator had called it. Again, no one was sure what the foreign combination of words meant, but Kirito had used that name in place of the [Dark Territory Invasion], so they had to automatically assume that's what it meant. The result had been the separation of the Integrity Knights to take on tasks handed out by the Commander Bercouli Synthesis One. Alice was last- and Oji-san had allowed her to leave to care for Kirito. The last thing he'd said to her was: "Even though this kid here doesn't look like much right now… I have this feeling that he might be the one that'll be able to turn the tide. Take good care of him, 'lil lady."

Even though Kirito had promised he'd take Alice to Rulid Village, she never expected him to keep it, so to speak. There were so many times she should have burned, froze, been cut or pierced- died. Yet she'd been kept alive by the will of some higher power, it seemed. Whether by the interference of Eugeo, Kirito, or even a giant spider, her seemingly inevitable death had been averted. Now, paying the price, Eugeo had lost his life while Kirito had lost his soul. She took a hand off the reigns to gently straighten out his black hair, which had become disheveled in the wind. He who had swung two swords- and created a coat with Incarnation… Her heart had jumped, realizing that this Kirito was so much more than she had initially believed. Watching him fight the Administrator, pushing through, even losing an arm, she'd developed respect for him. And as much as she wanted to deny it, there was another feeling- a throb in Alice's chest that she wanted so very much to get rid of, but could not.

Solus was just beginning to dip low in the sky, as Alice began to see the faint outlines of several stone buildings on the horizon. No other settlement would be this far north- she'd no doubt come to the «Rulid Village» Kirito had spoken of. She began to brim with anticipation- an emotion previously unknown to her. If what he said was true, then her sister Selka and her family would be here.

"Down, Amayori." She almost whispered, entranced by the beauty of Solus shining through the gaps in the copper-coloured leaves. Amayori replied with a small cry, and descended to the ground.

Ocean Turtle, July 2026

Kikuoka Seijirou breathed a sigh of relief as the girl with chestnut hair was guided down the hallway by Rinko-san, and turned to Higa Takeru.

"I may not understand how this works as well as you do, but I'm no idiot. Tell me the truth- the ACTUAL truth."

"Well, Kiku-san… what I said was largely the truth. However, there was one piece of information that I kept."

Kikuoka adjusted his glasses, interested. "Oh? What's that?"

"Well," Higa continued, "There's good news and bad news. The good news is: The Soul Translator automatically creates backups of each Fluctlight's core periodically. One such backup was conducted just before Kirigaya-kun fought the Administrator. There's a lot more bad news than that, however. To restore his Fluctlight, we'd have to revert the system to the backup… There's no telling what that would do to his mind- to have an outdated Fluctlight being placed in it. Furthermore, his hippocampus has also been damaged by the power surge, resulting in all of his memories from the real world to disappear."

"So… In other words, you want us to transfer Kirito's Fluctlight into a LightCube?" Kikuoka inferred.

"I believe that is his only chance for survival." Higa replied, not surprised by his friend's ingenuity.

Kikuoka tugged on his collar, Asuna's assault from earlier far from forgotten. "What do we tell Asuna, then? And her friends?"

"I… I don't know." Apparently, the great Higa-kun could not solve every problem.

"Fine. Have the bulkheads been secured?" Lieutenant Colonel Kikuoka directed this question at a nearby scientist.

Surprised by the sudden change of topic, the plump man answered curtly. "Y-yes, sir. But the decks they've breached contain the nuclear pile, and the auxiliary power isn't enough to power the propellers… We're dead in the water."

"Alright. The JSDF is sending the Nagato our way- the intruders will be apprehended swiftly. Meanwhile, we must begin the procedure- to give Kirigaya-kun whatever sort of life he may be able to have… In the underworld."

"You mean… You want to transfer and restore his Fluctlight now?" Higa stared, slightly incredulous.

"Now is the best time." Kikuoka replied. "We'll accelerate the STL to the max. As of right now… Kazuto Kirigaya is dead."

Outskirts of Rulid Village, Month 12 of Human Calendar, 380

The same feeling gripped her heart and didn't let go. A vise-like hand, slowly squeezing. She watched as those once-shining eyes stared at her blankly- just as they had for the past two months since she'd managed to recover what remained of his consciousness. Sighing in defeat, she returned the spoon she held to the warm bowl of corn meal she had prepared. In the past few days, Alice wasn't sure if Kirito had been eating better- chewing and swallowing more vigorously- or if she was just imagining it.

Her long blonde hair was braided like always, a simple white ribbon holding the bangs from her face. However, she'd elected to wear a simple blue dress instead of her armour- after Selka-san- no, Selka had first suggested almost two months ago. It was undeniably lighter and more comfortable than the metal suit which had been bestowed upon her by the Highest Minister more than six years ago. In just two months, she'd settled into the life of a commoner, free from Sacred Arts, battles and the «Axiom Church» surprisingly well. She could cook simple foods to a satisfactory level without burning them, and without using a thermal element.

The little cabin she lived in alongside Kirito had been painstakingly crafted with wood cut from the forest surrounding them, with the assistance of the elderly Garitta-san. It was his kind-hearted nature that had ultimately pushed the chief to allow her to stay near the village, if not in it. Gasupht Schuberg may have recognized his daughter… But he also recognized the «Taboo Index». As such, it must've been a hard story for him to swallow: his daughter had her memories wiped and forcibly became an Integrity Knight without emotion, before a certain black-haired boy had saved her from that deceit.

As the vegetative boy downed the last spoonful of corn meal, Alice stood up from her place next to his wooden wheelchair without hesitation. Depositing the bowl and spoon in the small sink, a thought crossed her mind. I'll properly clean the dishes some time later. The white apron covering her dress slipped off easily and was hung on the hook next to the sink, only held by a thin string around the back of the neck- after the securing strings had been untied from around the waist. Moving back to the small living area, she sat next to Kirito- who had begun to stop losing weight, somehow.

After Amayori had landed on the outskirts of Rulid Village, Alice had spoken to the small town's mayor. As she, in his eyes, was still a sinner, there was no way he'd let her stay in the village. For a few days she'd camped near the village with Kirito shamelessly, Selka coming and going to bring home-cooked meals; a skill in which Alice herself had been- and still was- decisively lacking. It took a sacred healing art of the highest level- one that could heal a dragon's huge life pool with no problem- just for Kirito to open his eyes. No matter what she said, what she did, she couldn't elicit a reply from the teen. In the end, she couldn't even restore his arm.

"You saved me, so take responsibility for it!"

Not able to look at those blank orbs any longer, Alice simply directed her attention outside, through the single window that allowed light to filter into the room. Snow unlike anything she'd ever seen in Centoria blanketed the grounds like a heavy quilt, unlike the usual light sheets in the capital. Of course, it was to be expected, especially in the north. Solus's light reflected brightly off the white substance, rendering it nearly impossible for her to open her eye fully when outside. Now, with Solus halved by the horizon, she realized how much more beautiful nature was than even the Axiom Church's central cathedral. Something she never would've been able to see had the boy next to her not endlessly ranted about how she was an idiot that day two months ago… Funny how the world worked, wasn't it?

A wry smile on her face and Solus's last rays disappearing from the horizon, Alice stood from her chair and moved to the only other room of the small home. Opening the small closet in the bedroom, she quickly removed he dress and changed into an equally simple undyed nightgown. The ribbon holding her hair back was untied, and her braid undone. The blonde locks fell down her back, permanently waved from being kept bound for so long each day.

Padding lightly on bare feet back to where Kirito sat, she tapped his shoulders with both hands. In his disabled state, he'd come to understand this gesture as an indication to stand. Sadly, though, that was all the black-haired teen could accomplish, as trying to walk even one step would end up with him groaning on the floor. Gingerly, she lifted him onto her back and carried his emaciated body to the bedside, where she sat him down on the relatively small bed. He, too was changed into sleepwear, which consisted of a plain undyed shirt and pants. As he lay down, dropping his head onto the pillow automatically, Alice walked back to the living area.

Amayori had settled for the night, resting on a bed of dried grass that the dragon had constructed herself. Upon seeing this, Alice smiled and moved around the room, blowing out the lamps. The quaint furnishings of the room became engulfed in the dark navy of night. The light of Luna, already high in the sky, cast long shadows through the rectangular room. The former Integrity Knight walked back towards the open door to the bedroom, a flickering shaft of light cast through the door by the candles still lit inside.

As the last candle flickered out with her soft breath, Alice lifted the covers and slipped in next to Kirito, whose eyes had closed- as if reflexively, remembering sleep. She placed her head on his chest- sure enough, his pulse was slow and even. After two months, she was almost able to suppress the pink that blossomed on her cheeks… Almost. Like always, though, Kirito would remain placid and unmoving.

Kirito… Where did your heart go?

She wondered what excuse she might be able to make if he still retained thought, and what he had lost was merely the way to express it. It seemed absurd, but this fragile boy provided her with comfort where the Administrator and the Axiom Church had failed. At this thought, startlingly, the boy emitted a low sound from the back of his throat.

"Uuh… Euuhh…"

"Huh? Kirito? What is it?" Alice muttered groggily. In this state, Kirito had no bodily needs except eating- maybe it was the result of him being from the god-like world outside?

To her utter shock, Kirito then mumbled three syllables. "Eu… ge… o…"

Alice's eyes snapped open.

What…? WHAT?!

"Kirito? Are you…" She removed her head from his chest, expecting his sparkling eyes to be staring back at her with curiosity. But no, the teen's eyes remained closed.

So… So close! For the love of Stacia, he was so close! Alice fumed in her mind, her eyes beginning to well up. Why must it be this way!? Kirito was taken from us… From me- again.

Feeling as if she had missed some sort of opportunity, Alice allowed the tears to flow and fall freely, seeping into Kirito's rough shirt.

Kirito… I've lost the strength to wield my sword.

This wasn't physically true- Alice's «Object Control Authority» had remained the same from when she'd been an active Integrity Knight. With the Axiom Church exposed to be full of lies and deception and the Taboo Index flawed, what was she to fight for?

Where do I go? What do I do? Tell me, Kirito. I need you. The empire needs you… Where have you gone?

A/N: Holy crap. I doubt I will ever know where I found it in me to write and publish a fic (almost) entirely on mobile. Anyway, this has been something I wanted to write for a while now, mostly just for my own satisfaction. (Seriously, Reki, you're a dick! Jk.)

Anyway, I totally went full tryhard on this chapter- I don't know if any of you guys (or girls) could tell or not. Also, I kinda tried to imitate Kawahara's writing style, for all the good it did. Anyway, I'm really starting to like Alice. I don't know how many people read Alicization... But it's an awesome arc! Please do! That's everything!

Until next time,

-TheSilentSwordsman