[PP-F16] A man, a woman, a reunion... (Jomei)

[Zandra 0]

Zandra nodded at the redhead. "Well, it have been an interested meeting. It realy have. Thou if you excuse me, if that is all, I must take my leave. I..." she glanced at Jomei. "...have things I need to sort out." After a bow, she turned on the spot and headed back towards the settlement with quick steps. Her armoured feets cracking branches as she stepped on them, almost making footprints in the dirt. Her long black hair fluttered behind her from the wind that was blowing against her, drying her eyes so she needed to blink several times to feel comfortable again. She completly ignored every single mob she passed, and by some reason none attacked her. They wouldnt be able to do much in way of defeating her, maybe they knew it?

As she entered the warp gate and warped down a pair of floors, she took a deep sigh. Soon she couldnt push it up any longer. She had to engage her spouse. When the couple was gonna arrive at their beachhouse, the talking would start. Her steps didnt slowed down as she exited the gate. Well, not until she spotted the two storey building with its front facing the large ocean. When about a hundred meters from the house, she stopped. Her eyes closed she took a deep breath. Now its time. She felt a drop of sweat rolling down her forehead. She quickly wiped it of with the inside of her gauntlet. Then she turned around and opened her eyes. "Nick." She started quite calmly. Thou she couldnt keep call for many seconds. She took a step forward with open arms, staring into the mans eyes. "WHERE THE F*** HAVE YOU BEEN!!" she screamed angrily at him. Thou a little louder then she intended.

@Jomei if this start is approved by you? :)

[Jomei 0]

After the meeting had ended, Jomei followed Zandra back to their beach side settlement on Floor Sixteen. He knew that Zandra was most likely upset with him.. but from the way she walked.. she was rather pissed off. The girl walked straight through the mob infested forest, paying no mind to the ogres and giant bugs that lined the path back to the town. Jomei's brow pinched as he looked at the back of her head, hoping that none of these beasts decided to gang up on them and attack.. He would probably feel bad for how badly the mobs would have been cut down. 

Jomei followed the girl, who walked in complete silence aside from the armor on her legs clanking with each stomp, all the way from the meeting spot to their beach a couple of floors below them. Suddenly, Zandra stopped and turned to face him. She seemed rather calm, addressing him by his real world name. Jomei stood there with his arms at his side, his own face calm and waiting for Zandra to continue. Then, like a balloon being filled up with enough air before bursting, Zandra exploded on Jomei, demanding to know where he had been. 

Silent for a moment, Jomei crossed his arms and looked down at the woman. "Where have I been?" he chuckled. "I was tired of being home alone all the time, and thought it was time to get back out in the field! With you." His voice was stern, but he kept his cool. "Yes. I know it was me that took a break from the front lines.. and I didn't so much expect you to join me on that hiatus. But do you know how many times I had actually gotten to see you during that time? Not many at all! I understand, you were training to fight for the good of all of us.. and become stronger so that you actually could come home after a boss fight. But most days, I stayed in this house alone. And nights, I don't even remember if you had ever come back or not. If so it was definitely far after I had fallen asleep, and usually you were gone by the time I got up. I was worried about you, and I wanted to get back out there so I could protect you, and be with you. So where have I been? Training. Hard. Making myself stronger so that I wouldn't hold you back." 

[Zandra 0]

The noirette listened to Jomei as he explained where he had been. Opposite to her, he seemed to be much more calmer. Almost irritatingly calm. She was quiet for awhile before she continued. His voice had somewhat calmed her down as well. Enough to stop her from screaming every single word. "What!? You turn this against me now?" She looked steadily in his eyes without blinking and her mouth a straigth line. Then she continued. "You know I had to keep training. To work as an alchemist is way away from cheap. So I had to leave early in the morning, and I didnt wanted to wake you up. And with that f***ing whip, it takes forever to gain ingredients." She took one step closer to him reducing the five meters between them, still her arms crossed and a steady look into his green eyes. "Those trip is boring as hell, and I didnt wanted to bring you out on that." So, it turned out that he had been training. "Is that what you have done? Why didnt you told me about that?" She realised a second to late how that sounded, like she only wanted to spend time with him if they was training.

@Jomei

[Jomei 0]

"Well when was I supposed to confront you about it? Stay up all night to see if you come home and then tell you about it? I was tiring myself out from the lack of sleep I was getting." Jomei was the one that was feeling more and more irritated now. She seemed to be completely focused on her training and her potions making. At this point, he did not even know what to say. Jomei placed one hand on his hip and the other on his forehead. As he took in a deep breath, he ran the palm of his hand down his face and exhaled. It was really apparent to him where Zandra's mind was, and it did not make him happy. "Why does it matter if I told you or not? I mean, thats what you were doing all of the time. So why can't I do it as well? Jeez." He began to pace a couple of steps back and forth, "I feel like all thats been on your mind is training and making money from your potions. If you really cared about where I had been, why didn't you maybe not train for a day? Or message me? Because you know damn well that I would respond to you." 

[Zandra 0]

Zandra uncrossed her arms and shaked her open hands infront of her. "Nono... didnt meant it like that. I would love to spend time with you, or rather, I do love it." She took another few steps towards him, her hands on her hip. "But its just that, I want to be strong. I want to be special, to be someone. Someone that people talks about, and looks up to. Call me egoistic, I know that. But I had to. Now that I know how you feel..." she moved her arms across her face and thru her hair after letting them rest on her neck. "... I truly am sorry. I thougth you didnt wanted to do training, since there rely os more fun things to do then that. Also, why didnt you ever sent any messages to me. I looked at my inbox every day. But there was not a single one from you. So I thougth maybe you had changed your mind. Or that you was just playing with me. That the merriage would never be happening for real. That it was just something to build up a show. And then you would just leave me, I know there is people actually doing that." She swallowed and looked into his irritated face. Carefully she took a half step towards the man she loved, that she thougth had loved him. Now she was gonna face the truth.

[Jomei 0]

Jomei's eyes lit up with an angry fire when Zandra showed a small sliver of doubt. Doubt in his love for her, and doubt in his proposal of marriage. Entering this game, Jomei's main concern was getting the hell out, and in anyones right state of mind, that should always be his only concern. But somewhere along the way, Zandra made a difference in his life.. one enough to bring the humanity back to him. "How could you-" he started off, his voice raised and angered. He closed his eyes and took in a deep breath.. a very deep one. As he exhaled, his features softened; his nostrils were no longer flaring, his brow relaxed upon his forehead. He opened his eyes and looked at the woman "Sandra.. how could you think for a moment that I was not being sincere in confessing my love for you? In all honesty.. what could I possibly get out of doing so?" He stepped forward so he stood a foot away from the woman, and reached out both of his hands, taking hers in his own. Jomei's olive eyes looked into Zandra's crimson orbs, "I love you. I really do. You are what I fight for.. why I am still alive here. Why I haven't given up. I do want to marry you.. Once things calm down with this boss fight, we will plan it. I promise."

[Zandra 0]

Zandra jumped as Jomei suddenly shouted. Now the fault was back at her. She felt like the guilt was just jumping back and forth to the man and the woman. Now thou, she listened carefully as he told her that she was the thing that kept him alive, alive by not giving up, alive to keep fighting, to keep getting forward. But most important of all, that he rely wanted to marry her, and rely loved her. She also felt the warmth from his hands on hers. Her ruby eyes kept a steady look in his emerald eyes. Like that they stood, a man and a woman, all alone on a long beach. The never-ending sound of clashing waves against sand was herd in the background. The beach house that was theirs, only theirs. A gust of wind cave in from the ocean and fluttered the couples hair. Like that, they stood in half a minute. Then she closed her eyes and tilted her head forward. She moved slightly closer, her forehead leaning on his chest. She swallowed and gently released the grip of his hands. ‘’I… I’m sorry.’’ She started quietly. ‘’It was wrong of me to say that. There have happened things in real lif…’’ she stopped. Was that rely the real life? Was this only a fake? No, it couldn’t. ‘’I mean there have happened things outside the SAO. I’m sorry I thought like that about you.’’ She then turned her head upwards so she could look at his face, his eyes, again. ‘’Can you forgive me?’’

[Jomei 0]

Jomei closed his eyes and shook his head, "No.... No don't be sorry." he sighed. "I'm the one that should be sorry." The man's gaze turned to the rolling waves as they tumbled over each other, the water flowing over the sand towards the two's feet. "You're right.. I could have messaged you. But... I didn't. I was... being spiteful, as much as I hate to admit it... I wanted you to miss me and to worry so that.. you would come home." He crossed his arms and chuckled pathetically at himself, "Its stupid.. I know, I should have just messaged you. We would have avoided this whole thing." The ginger turned his attention back to Zandra as she looked up at him, "I was the one that took a break from the front lines.. what you were doing never changed. So it should have been me to adjust to you continuing to push forward. So I guess I should be the one asking for forgiveness."

[Zandra 0]

As Zandra listened to Jomei she suddenly froze and opened her eyes wide-open. Still her forehead was on his chest and her sight looked down. When he was finished she took a step backwards and looked at him with a smile on her face. Her hand went up to her mouth to stop the laugh. She barely succeeded. ‘’Hehe… are you… are you serious?’’ she looked into his eyes and it seemed her was serious. Her eyes frowned. Her voice got a shadow of an angry tone, but she kept her calm. ‘’Here we are arguing and you makes me realise that I should have behaved differently. And then, when I’m begging you for forgiveness… then, you suddenly change your mind and says that you are the one that should be sorry. I know Ive not been having very much social experience from the life before SAO, but I… I just don’t get it.’’ She looked at her loved one with a confused look in her face.

[Jomei 0]

The ginger lowered his head with a sigh, slightly shaking it back and forth. Here we go with the arguing again.. He then brought his head back up to look at Zandra, "Im just trying to stop this petty argument." His voice remaining calm, but his tone heightened just a bit. The man's arms moved out to his sides, palms facing upwards. "I'm just trying to apologize for the way I was acting.. just like you just did. And I'm not saying its all my fault.. but I'm not saying its all yours. We just-" he cut himself short, and his eyes moved towards the sand. "We just, have been busy. A little too busy with training and getting out of this game to focus on our relationship..." His voice had gone much lower than it was before, now more sad than angry or annoyed. It was obvious to him that the stress of this game and trying to progress through the floors had taken a bit of a toll on the strings that held the two together. Olive orbs looked back up at the noirette, waiting for her input.

[Zandra 0]

Zandra nodded in agreement to the words that exited Jomeis mouth. It all summed it up and when thinking like that, this whole conversation have been held by a pretty silly reason. But they probably had to do it. Probably both of them felt better after they had ventilated all thougths they had been having on their minds, and that is something you can do when you rely like someone. You can do stupid, mean, ridiculous things against each others. But it’s okay, you can forgive each other. If she had been in this same situation with someone else, it’s not sure she would forgive him/her dosent matter how much that person begged. ‘’Very well then.’’ She started with a soft voice. ‘’I do forgive you Nick.’’

After hearing Jomei’s answer, Zandra takes a step forward so she is right at the man. Then she lays her arms around his neck, tilts her head backwards and stands on her toes that is sinking down in the sand. She blushes when she realizes her lips didn’t reached his and instead it turned out to be a soft kiss on his chin.

[Jomei 0]

With Zandra's forgiveness, the ginger smiled down at her. A genuinely happy and content smile, like everything was going to be okay. The woman stepped forward and wrapped her arms around his neck, gently placing her lips on his chin. Baring teeth with a grin, Jomei tilted his head downwards and met the girl's kiss with his own lips and holding it for a moment, placing his own hands on the girl's hips. "Thank you." 

After pulling his face away from Zandra, Jomei still held her by the hips and looked into her eyes, as if they were dancing, yet frozen in time. It made him think of when the two will finally be married in due time. "So, I think we need to talk about something else too... We haven't really done much planning for this wedding, and I'm sure you don't want to wait much longer." 

[Zandra 0]

Zandra felt the soft skin of Jomei’s lips touching hers as he tilted his head down and met hers. The man answered her forgiveness with a thank you and Zandra felt relaxed. Now both of them was back to how they truly felt, the feelings they had with each others where strong, a small fight wouldn’t be able to destroy them.

What he said next first surprised her. But then she realized it was making complete sence. How long was it now that she answered yes? And they haven’t even started with planning the wedding. There was a lot to decide as well. And that would only be the beginning. Then they would need to find ways to get everything. Then she giggled. ‘’Hihi, not done much planning? Well that’s true. Have we done anything at all?’’ she asked with a smile. ‘’But yes, its time we get started with the planning. I don’t know how you feel but, if I can choose, please not in a church.’’

[Jomei 0]

Jomei shook his head, "No we really haven't done much talking about it." he chuckled, rubbing the nape of his neck. If he wanted to stick with his word and have the wedding before the next boss fight, the two would need to begin planning immediately. Zandra agreed, nonetheless, that they should figure out what they want for the wedding. One request she had was that the two not be married in a church. Jomei honestly did not mind where it happened, whether in a church or not. However, he was curious as to why. "It does not have to be in a church, but I have to ask why? You seem pretty against it being in a church." nontraditional weddings, or at least ones that took place outside of the place of worship, had become more and more common as the years went on, so the idea of having their own special day outside of a church was no shock to him. Personally, he considered the same. "We can have it wherever you'd like." he said with a smile.

[Zandra 0]

I got relieved as Jomei accepted my wish to not have the wedding in a church. Then, of course, he asked me why I didn’t wanted to have it in a church. After all, churches is the most classical places to have a wedding in. Thou, church-weddings got not as usual as they had been. ‘’Well darling, what do you say about talking about it inside?’’ I said with a heartful tone and gently brushed his bang towards the side so I could see both of his olive green eyes. But, just as my own, it didn’t took long before it fell down and covered his eye. I couldn’t stop a giggle from exiting my mouth. It felt so good, they have been thru their first real fight, but only minutes after it, it almost felt like it haven’t been taken place. That the meeting with Teayre as hoster felt to had been held so long time ago. Since it couldn’t have been more then an hour since they left, me almost exploded at him when they had reached their shore. ‘’It is getting pretty dark outside, and I do have got something that I think you want. I got it a long time ago. And luckily, things didn’t rotten or gets bad over time in this game. Or if you rather stay outside, lets get over to the terrace. I do want to be able to see my hot spouse.’’ I finished and gave him a smooch on the cheek.

[Jomei 0]

Jomei nodded his head with a smile. The sun had pretty much set, or at least it had set enough to where its light was blocked by the large volcanic mountain that stood tall at Floor Sixteen's center. The air around them started to grow cold without the floor's sun to warm it, just as most beaches did at night. So moving their conversation inside was a pleasing idea to Jomei. After Zandra pecked him on the cheek, the man led the two to their house that sat in the sand, a short walk from the water. 

Once inside their humble abode, Jomei stretched his arms into the air, before reaching out in front of him with one arm. With a flick of his fingers, he opened his HUD and switched over to his inventory, where he unequipped his armor and weapons. Replacing his green and black armor was a simple, long sleeved black shirt, the sleeves rolled up to just below his elbow, and a pair of gray jean-like pants. It felt good to come home after a long day, to his fiancé, and enjoy the night with her. Which reminded him, she had mentioned that she wanted to give him something.. something that she had held on to for awhile. Walking over to their couch, Jomei turned and took a seat, looking over at Zandra with a smile. 

[Zandra 0]

I walked up to the workbench I use when brewing potions and crafting crystals. There I opened my hovering menu-screen. Only my head turned as I looked over my shoulder. ‘’Okay, no peeking now okay?’’ I said before turning back to the screen. There I started to swipe thru the menues, searching for the special item Ive bought for them to enjoy together. What I had herd of Calrex awhile ago, I understood not only me liked it. A few moments later a pair of large glas’s filled with a amber-coloured liquid with thick white foam(don’t know English word) on the top. You could see small boubles travel upwards inside the glass and the surface on the outside had athin layer of moisture on it. I took the two beer’s in each hand and walked up to Jomei. ‘’Hold out a hand.’’ I said. Then I placed one of them in his hand. Next I sat down beside him and took a long gulp of the lovely drink. As I moved the beer and placed it on the sofa-table I let out a long sigh of pleasure. Right now, nothing could ruin the moment. I turned my face towards my loved one, a white mustash on my upper lip. ‘’You like it?’’ I asked.

 @Jomei

[Jomei 0]

The ginger watched as Zandra walked from the door to her brewing station. Aside from the very helpful potions she was able to create and use in battle, Zandra was a master at creating different brews to use out of battle, one of Jomei's being her hot chocolate and strawberry juice. He smiled in excitement, wondering just what it was she was able to come up with this time. Before Zandra went to work, she told Jomei that he was not allowed to look and spoil the surprise. With a chuckle, Jomei leaned back on the couch and closed his eyes. "If you say so." Eyes now closed, all Jomei could see was the dark insides of his eyelids. He listened to the sound of Zandra going through her menus, which in SAO, was accompanied by the soft chiming of tiny bells. Every few seconds he heard something appear and land on the table, followed by liquids being poured into each other. He took in a deep breath though his nostrils, smelling an all too familiar scent, though one he could not put his finger on to name. He could sense a little bit of wheat and barley. Before he could guess, however, he felt Zandra sit down beside him, to which he opened his eyes. In her hands were two tall glasses with a light honey colored liquid, slightly carbonated as could be told by the bubbles rising from the bottom of the glass, and a thick white froth lining the surface of the drink. Jomei's eyes widened for a moment, before taking the drink and taking a large sip. With the feeling of the cold liquid running down his throat, he let out a sigh of relief. "I didn't know that you learned how to brew beer. Delicious beer at that." he took another large sip, feeling like it had been quite awhile since he had a nice drink. "Yup. I am definitely marrying you now."

[Zandra 0]

I let out a giggle. "Hihi. This isnt a brew I have made. I wouldnt even dare to try recreate this. To me, beer is of a complete other level then other drinks. Im not interested i drinking a cheap copy of it." I took a sip from the honey coloured liquid. "This pair I got from a troublesome quest down at seven. It took the whole day. But from the taste of it, and sharre with you, it was totally worth it." I leaned back in the sofa and placed my ferts on the low table. I sat silent for awhile before turning my head towards him. I took a breath before start to talk. "Well Nick, it is like this. Ehm... Before SAO, in the real world that some call it, I actually was an Atheist. My resistant towards the church was pretty high. But I refuse to believe there is a greater power that is deciding our fates. My life is beeing shaped by my actions and my choices. I wont let someone that dosent even know me to set up goals and rules how I should live my life." It was in this moment I knew Ive maybe been going to far. "Oh sorry Nick. Havent asked you. Maybe you are religious? Do you believe in god?"

[Jomei 0]

Jomei chuckled, "A quest where the reward is alcohol? Sign me up." he said with a laugh. "I hope that you can take the quest and get the reward over and over." He took another long sip of the drink, putting the glass back down, "I guess brewing alcohol is more of a thing for the chef's here in SAO. You'd think its more of a potion.. but I guess it could also be a food?" Jomei scratched his head, "Despite, like you said, I'm happy to share the moment with you." He held his glass out to Zandra, waiting for her to put hers forward so they could tap the two together in tiny celebration. Jomei scratched his chin and listened to Zandra, as she spoke about how she was an Atheist in the real world. Well, he figured that meant she still was, and provided reason to why she did not want to have their wedding inside of a church, as most traditional weddings were. "That makes sense. And well, my family back in Ireland was very religious.. Catholic of course. Believed in God and the Bible and all of that. Though I guess, over time, I just grew away from it." He looked out the window towards the sky, "But... I guess in here, the only 'god' is Kayaba.." he sighed.