Breathe

The sound of the alarms going off, signaling the end of the demon player's time in game, it felt like the entire world held it's breath as they waited to hear the news. Did they make it? Was Gabriel King's sacrifice worth it? Or was it all in vain?

Micheal King lay on his mat in his bare confinement, convulsing as the micronanobots began to self detonate inside of his brain and blood began to tickle from his nose and mouth. No one could have saved him, he made sure of that from the beginning.

Asuna had never run so fast in the real world once she logged out to get to Kirito's room. He was just waking up, Jaime was still checking vitals. Asuna held his hand the entire time the nurses carefully removed sensors from them and other medical equipment from Kirito's body so the two could hold each other for what might be their last half hour. Jaime and Hanna left and headed to their break room to give the couple some space.

"Hanna-- are you going to call your sister?" Jaime asks as she sits down on the grey couch with two cups of coffee.

Hanna is staring at her phone with tears streaming from her eyes as she reads an email and when she finished she quickly switches to a health app her sister in law had her download. Jaime watched her friend carefully. Hanna wasn't fond of physical touches of comfort, not since her brother died. Jaime speaks softly. "Hanna-- are you okay?" Hanna begins to chuckle. "Yeah, she didn't go through with it. Amelia didn't sacrifice her life to try and save the demon players!" She lunges towards her coworker and pulls her into a hug, knocking the coffee to the ground in the process.

Back in his room Kirito and Asuna lay on the bed holding each other. Her head is on his chest, listening to his heart beating, incase these were the last, as he strokes her hair.

He speaks dreamily. "I hope the baby has your hair."

Asuna squeezes him tighter. "Don't be ridiculous. The baby should have your hair." She looks up to him finding a soft smile on his face. "And your eyes." She makes her way to his face, brushing her hand through his hair. "And your nose." She kisses his nose. Kirito lifts a hand to her cheek. "Your lips." He whispers before lifting his head until their lips meet with a sigh.

No one held their breath as long as Kirito and Asuna when the alarms went off because as phones and systems were alarming they pressed harder into their kiss, just incase it was the last one. They didn't separate until their nurses came running back in with happy tears still streaming down all of their faces.

The world seemed to take collective sigh after sigh of relief as reports came in that none of the demon players were executed. The world mourned those that did lose their lives to Armageddon, and it is decided that a statue of Gabriel King will be commissioned of him as an angel. Several copies of these statues are made and placed in places like Central Park around the world to represent the sacrifice he made for his fellow human beings.

Three days later the funeral for Gabriel was held and people from around the world gathered, including Asuna and Kirito's families and friends who all flew to New York to pay their respects.

A large dinner is held that evening for all of the players of the task force and their families.

Asuna couldn't help but notice the way her brother, although pleased to be with his whole family, kept searching the room. "Kouichirou…"

"Mm. Yeah?" His eyes only glanced at her for a moment.

"Are you looking for who I think you're looking for?" Her eyebrow raises as he slowly turns to his sister with a half grin.

"She said she would be here with her sister in law." He confesses.

"Her sister was on the task force?" Kirito asks before swallowing a bite of salad.

Kouichirou goes back to looking. "She was a nurse for one of the pl—" He stood up before finishing his sentence and took in a breathe and held it for a moment. Kirito grabbed Asuna's hand when her brother started walking toward a young woman in a grey turtle neck sweater. Her bright blonde pulled up in a high pony tail. When she turned to smile at something the woman standing next to her said he almost didn't recognize her with her bangs. "Esther?" His voice was sure despite the sliver of doubt.

That little smile from whatever Hanna had said to her grew and his heart felt like it might be doing summersaults. "You found me." Her deep blue eyes lit up when she saw him standing there in a simple black suit and white button up shirt. Despite only ever hold each other's virtual hands, even in the real world they gravitated to each other until their fingers were interlaced.

When he brought Amelia and Hanna to his table and his sister hugged Hanna he was thoroughly confused until Kirito calmly explained everything between sips of champagne and they all laughed a little.

When desert is served Suguha waits for Asuna to be fully engrossed in a conversation with their new friend and leans to her brother and whispers. "So, are you ready for tomorrow? Does she suspect anything?"

Kirito slightly turns his face towards his sister and whispers even lower than her. "I've never been more ready for anything in my entire life. I don't think so, there has been enough distractions to keep her occupied."

"Good" Suguha whispers as she sits back up and begins eating her creme brûlée.

Now that their families were with them Asuna and Kirito agreed to their parent's insistence that they sleep in the Apartments that have been offered to them by the Americans. When the it was time to separate they walked arm in arm to the cars that were waiting for them. He walks her to the door. "Goodnight." He whispers.

"Good night." She whispers back as she turns to him. "I'm going to miss you… Is that weird?"

"If it is then I am too." He smiles softly and she lightly giggles. "I'm going to miss you too, so as soon as I get to the apartment, I'm going straight to bed, so I can see you as soon as possible." He quickly kisses her on the forehead, ignoring the disapproving glare from her mother waiting in the car. He helps his fiancé into the car and closes the door when he sees that she's buckled her seatbelt. Suguha walks to his side as he watches the car pull away. She speaks in a somewhat mischievous tone. "Come on love sick puppy, we've got a lot to get done tonight."

They jump in their car and head to the chapel that their friends are waiting at along with some of their new American friends. When they arrive they are already at work setting everything up for the next day. Klien is up on a later, Lizbeth holding the later steady and Shino directing them on one side. On the other side Kyle is up on a later that Kacey is keeping steady and directing him at the time. Suguha elbows her brother. "Sorry we can't do more…" Kirito quickly looks at his sister and pulls her into a hug, his voice shaky from the overwhelming gratitude he feels for everyone in the room. "Shut up dummy. It's more that I could've asked for."

When Asuna woke up the next morning to her mother bringing her breakfast in bed she had a hard time hiding the nausea until she snuck off to the bathroom to take her anti nausea med and prenatal. When she came back her mom was still sitting there. "Asuna, once you eat your breakfast we have a lot to get done today, so please dress appropriately for the weather."

Asuna sipped on her orange juice as she watched her mother walk to the closet. "What are we doing today?"

Her mother smiles as she opens the closet, empty other that the large black dress bag hanging in the center. The sight of the dress bag caused Asuna to take in a breath and hold it as her mother spoke in a proud and tender voice that she was not too familiar with. "Today, we are going to get you married."