Memories of SAO

To Make Future Memories

As the meal proceeded, everyone savors Asuna's home cooking. I don't think I can eat another bite if I wanted to...or maybe there's another reason I don't want to consume another bite. Is it the realization that this will be the last time I'll have the opportunity to eat something Asuna prepared? And now that I think on it, when was the last time I ate something Koharu made for me?

So many thoughts run through my mind on the edge of our return home. Today's been nothing but a constant reminder that we're almost home, and either we'll die on the final stretch or make it back home alive. Talking to Klein, Agil, Sanya, and many others of the Assault Team amde me wonder what's next for me once I leave Aincrad.

"It's so good," Koharu sings while we all rest on the couches and sofa chairs.

"I guess this might be our last meal in this house," Asuna says with a slight frown as she glances up at the ceiling, her daughter sleeping in her arms. "You know, I might even be happy if i got to live here forever."

"Asuna..."

"I'm sorry, I know. Our bodies in reali are bedridden right now. The only nutrients we're getting must be through an IV. It's not something that's possible. Our happiness here is almost like an illusion. I feel that way somewhere in my heart. We have to go home, even if it means sacrificing something. We have to go to the real world. That's why we've kept figting as top players, after all."

"You too, Asuna?" Lisbeth says with a sad, fragile smile. "I was just so moved after the meeting when I realized that the hundredth floor is already right before our eyes. And...scared. Yes, maybe that's what I'm feeling. I've been a crafter for all this time, right? I like to think that I worked hard at it and became a first-rate master. I've even been able to make it as a top player, too. it's only natural to think that I'm leading a happy life."

"But you're not?" I inquire.

Lisbeth glances at me, holding the gaze a moment longer than I think is necessary, and shrugs. "Not completely, I guess. The space closest to my true happiness is already taken... So I'm sure that in the real world too..." She looks away from me to my hands, leaving me with a weird feeling that maybe, just maybe, Lisbeth was speaking to me. I don't know what she's trying to say, nor does she elaborate as her eyes fall on her interlocked fingers. "I know that I just have to make up my mind about it, but..."

"Lisbeth," says Koharu, a sniffle in her voice. That gets Lisbeth to perk up and glare at Koharu, though I can't tell if she's annoyed with my partner or acting annoyed to hold back alternative emotions.

"Ugh, why are you the one crying here?"

"S-sorry."

"Anyway, you all are close friends. I'm sure we'll keep hanging out in real life, too. I'd make someone feel guilty about dating the guy if I'm always looking sad around her. That's why I'm going to be sure to make myself smile."

Making herself smile despite her sadness? That's one way to live life, though I wonder who Lisbeth speaks about. Considering the number of guys she could like, I'm not dense enough to not figure out the two obvious possibilities...and now it makes sense. It now make sense why Koharu started to cry, why Lisbeth looked at me with that long look. I always assumed, when this matter came up, she was speaking of Kirito, but all this time, it was me she held affections for? I didn't know...no, I didn't want to acknowledge it because the signs were obvious.

Hopefully one day, when we meet in the real world, Lisbeth will tell me those feelings, even if it hurts her to speak them and for me to reject them. "Liz, what will you do when you're back?"

"Hmm, I want a little shop of my own in real life, not just in SAO. Please do become my customers as you have now! I also want to see our favorite beast tamer mature as a woman; physically, of course."