I was shocked. I wasn't expecting Asuna to linger back, to have second thoughts after having decided of everything, and having put our plan in motion. I stared into her eyes; I almost saw mine in the reflection. I didn't know what to say. She had a point. Who wants to live forever? Fools, delusional and cocky people. But I didn't think of ourselves as fools. We knew we could do it. We had the means, we had the will, we had everything. Or so I thought. Yes, she was right. Was it really the right thing to do? Was it something that we had the right to do? Or were we being nothing more than the fools I despise? I had no answer. I thought of the things we were going to lose when we would die. Nothing much, really. Except for the memories of our walks together in the gardens of Tokyo. I thought of the things we were going to lose should we not become virtual. And there was one thing I knew in my heart I couldn't afford to lose. One person I couldn't bear not to see again. Our daughter.

"Yui. For her, we must do it. We have to. We have to go, to reunite with her. We do not have the right to leave her alone like this, not after we've sworn to protect her, to love her. As long as she wants to be with us, we have to be with her. It would not be right not to."

Those were my words. I didn't speak them as fiercely as I wanted to, not as firmly as I wanted to, not as strongly as I wanted to. But I did say them as resolutely as I could. All my will in sixty words. I continued. I wanted Asuna to be fully convinced, to not look back again. We were going to die, there was no place for hesitation.

"For ourselves, too. It is not as if we were going to live forever, anyway. Nobody wants to live forever. Only the fools and the deluded. Only the idiots. We are no fools. We know what to do, how to do it. And," I said with a grin, "I possess the SEED. I am the world's most powerful admin. I am Root on the entire internet. Whenever we decide to let go, to go beyond virtuality, all I have to do is snap my fingers, and we'll be gone. Don't worry, Asuna. We have the right to live on after death. It is our duty to reunite with Yui. And," I said, smirking, "Even if I don't want to live for all eternity, I really, really want to play one more game."

She looked at me with an expression of worry, an expression I knew well. She wanted me to be safe, and not risk myself in some reckless plan. She wanted me to not rush ahead of everyone else, to not endanger myself by trying to be the day's hero. And she asked me something that rocked me to the core. Something about my strength of will. That topic… was one of my sorest spots. I never knew how strong my will stood, nor did I know when I should exercise it. When it came to willpower, I didn't know myself. I was alone, in the dark. I could only rely on others because I couldn't be strong all by myself. So, she asked me.

"When the time comes, would you do it? Would you snap your fingers, and have us be gone forever?

- “Yes", I said. I did not have a choice to make. I didn't know at that moment if it was true, but it was the only answer I could give. But she wasn't done. More questions followed, more questions to which I had to answer truthfully, more questions that made me scour the deepest reaches of my soul to provide an answer to, for they were not easy.

"What would it cost? What would you give up?" And I had no answer. I took my head in my hands, ruffling my hair as I was thinking. I knew the answer, in fact. I… I simply didn't like it. It was too much for me, it was something that I couldn't grasp in my hands. It was a concept made to be beyond understanding. One word.

"Everything."

- “Would you be happy? After playing one last time, saying goodbye to Yui, kissing and hugging me one last time, then *snap*?

- “No," I said. "I wouldn't be happy. I would be… afraid. I would do it because I have to. But I do not know… If I want to. Because… I do not know what lies beyond. I know what is before life, and what may be after, but I don't know what awaits beyond the afterlife. And…" I broke a little inside, and my voice turned sorrowful and sad, "and I don't want to be alone…" I completely shattered, and I felt hot tears rolling down from my eyes, "and I don't want to leave you alone…"

I do not remember what happened after that, only that I felt Asuna hugging me tightly, her warm hands caressing my hair. I remember hearing her telling me something that was heart-warming, and I felt her head resting against mine. Then I understood her words.

"I know you won't, Kazuto. You would never leave me behind, no matter what. You would never abandon me. I know it. I lived it. And I know that even if we are separated, we will be together in the end. I know it. Don't be afraid… I'll come with you. You know it. Everything we do best is something we do together. That too, we'll do it together. My hand and yours, pressing the button that'll make us disappear. I wouldn't have it… any other way. And… whenever we go, we'll be with Yuuki there. It's not all that bad, Kazuto. You told me so yourself so many times… Death is only the prologue of a brand-new adventure. Don't be afraid… I'll come with you. I love you."

I was crying. I couldn't stop. I couldn't stop crying. Thank you, Asuna. I could only think about how grateful I was, to have her by my side. I loved her so much… She was the one who kept me going. I could feel her wiping away my tears. We looked at each other, and gave each other a small tired smile. We kissed.

***

In the afternoon, there was only silence in the gardens of Tokyo. The sirens had stopped their blaring, the people had stopped running and fleeing. The birds had stopped chirping. There were only the sounds of our footsteps in the white alleys, without any echo, without anything. I could hear the beating of my heart, the thrumming of the blood flowing in my veins - I could swear it was getting fainter and fainter every beat. Kazuto was walking beside me, wearing his old black jacket. Every time he wore it, I teased him about wearing fur. Every single time, he replied that the collar was made of synthetic fur. But I didn't do it this time. I felt it was not the right time.

Instead, I just walked silently with him. We watched the cherry blossom petals fall from the trees; we watched the wind blow away those that were on the ground. It was beautiful, seeing those shards of pink and white, seeing them fly around, swirling and dancing in the air. When they rose, they looked like the steps of an angel's stairs, I thought. That if you climbed them, you could reach heaven by walking, walking till you were above the clouds, till you were above the stars. And I thought that if there was a God up there, certainly he liked cherry blossoms. He'd not have made them so beautiful otherwise. We sat on a bench, and I leaned towards him, putting my head on his shoulder, closing my eyes. I heard his words. They were beautiful.

"A blossom's beauty /A dying love in the wind, /Wind! Love again."

I looked at him. I didn't know he knew haiku. He saw me looking at him, and he smiled. "Found it on the internet", he murmured, almost apologetically. I didn't care. It was beautiful. It was what I wanted to hear. I felt him moving. He took my hand and rose from the bench. "Come", he told me. I followed him, wondering where he wanted to go, what he could have found. Then I saw, and I smiled; I even laughed a little. He brought me under a large cherry tree. Its trunk was wide, and looked old and gnarled, with stumps of cut branches all along the height. The living branches were long, and just as twisted as the rest of the tree; they were covered in white and pink flowers, that fell slowly, petal by petal, on the ground below. The whole place was covered with those petals as if the world had been dyed in cherry blossom. I saw Kazuto pick up a flower, one that had fully blossomed, but not wilted yet. The outside of the petals was pink, the inside white. He put it in my hair and smiled. I think I blushed a little, because his breath sounded a bit like laughter at this moment. Then, "You are beautiful", he told me. I'm sure I blushed at this moment; my face must've been as red as my skirt.

Then, I noticed the scenery, and I knew why he chose this place. We were in a corner of the gardens, atop a small hill crowned by the cherry tree. The entire summit of the hill was covered in petals, like a carpet of flowers, that were swelling under the wind, as if they were waves in a sea of green. Behind us was a very long street, completely devoid of anything. Between the skyscrapers and other buildings, very far away, I could see the sun slowly descending, shining at us in a straight line, and the light spreading through the branches, illuminating the flowers, creating a dome of pink and golden light. It was a wonderful sight, I thought. It was the perfect scenery for this moment, for our last moment of love, our strongest moment of love. And he kissed me.

***

I kissed her. I kissed her under the cherry tree, with the wind flowing in our hair, with the sun glowing in our eyes, I kissed her. At this exact moment, the world became still. It was an eternity, the kiss frozen in time, that lasted forever. It looked like a marriage, I thought. A long, loving kiss, under a blossoming tree; a groom in black, a bride in white. It WAS a marriage, I corrected myself. A reaffirmation of our undying love. "Until death do us part", they say. Even death will not part us. It is not strong enough. I love her too much. I love every single part of her. Her voice, her eyes, her laugh, her hands, her soul, her hair… It looked eerily wonderful. A pale orange, white under the light of the setting sun, but the light that passed through the flowers made it look like crystal. Pure, transparent crystal, flooded with pink light. An angel's hair under a dying sun. An angel's hair for a dying love. She was so beautiful. I heard my heart beating, but I didn't perceive it.

Time stood still.

The wind was blowing, making her hair flow, but at the same time, nothing moved. It was too beautiful. We were surrounded by falling cherry blossom petals. They were dancing around us as if to celebrate our union under the tree. Even space froze, to immortalize this moment. And I knew that if there was only one thing I'd bring beyond death, it would be this moment. This memory. I would never forget it. I saw a speck of white. I looked like a dove, jumping from falling petal to falling petal, up and up, till it was between us. I'm sure it was a dove. White and slender, soft and feathery. It looked at us, and we looked at it, in this still instant. Then, from between us, it flew away towards the sun. And the sun, on the horizon, shone bright, shone orange. Asuna's hair, from crystal, had become like a stream of flowers, more vivid than ever. Alive. Yes, this was the most alive we'd ever be. Kissing under the cherry tree. The strongest moment of our lives, standing still in eternity. I knew it would not last forever. Yet, in my heart, it did. It would be eternal. Never would I let go of it. Never. It was a promise I made. Whatever happened to us, I would never forget her. I would never forget the moment we kissed under the cherry tree.

Then, there was a gust of wind, and eternity came undone. The sun was setting on the horizon, red and bright. It'd die today, and be reborn tomorrow; just like we would. We broke the kiss and looked at each other. We knew what the other thought at this very moment. There was only one thing to do. We didn't speak, there was no need. We only understood. It was our time to go.