Disclaimer: Don't own Sword Art Online, manga or anime, or any of it's characters whatsoever.

Rating: T

Likely the shortest summary I've written, but it still said most everything XD Enjoy lol

RL

He slowly breathed out, holding the Nervegear in his hands, his right hand still scarred. He glanced at the clock: 10:58.

Nearly time, just like they'd agreed.

He gingerly put the device on his head, lay back on his bed, and took another breath.

"Link start!"

With a rush, the mass of multi-colored lights came straight at him.

Sight: OK
Hearing: OK
Taste: OK
Smell: OK
Touch: OK

Language: Japanese

Log In_

:account: *********
:password: ******

ALO
Aincrad, the floating castle

Floor 22

When the sensations returned, he slowly opened his eyes, smiling.

Around him was a field of grass, flowing softly in the light wind, surrounded by a lush forest. In front of him stood a small house, almost perfectly suited to the surroundings, and giving off a feeling of warmth and safety. He looked at it for awhile, happy to see that this had been replicated along with the rest of SAO - now the three of them could be a family again, forever. He could ask for nothing more.

"Daddy?"

He smiled at the voice, as well as the hand that took his. "It's okay, Yui" he said softly, getting down to her level. "I'm just a little early. Mommy will be here very soon."

"I really hope so" she said brightly, staying close to him.

He chuckled at how cute she was, but as soon as he did so, a burst of light appeared behind them.

Asuna, still clad in her Undine form, opened her eyes. "Kirito" she breathed softly. "Yui."

"Mommy!"

Asuna laughed as they embraced each other, him simply watching, happy. However, after a moment, he still brought up the menu - and with a burst of light, his Spriggan avatar disappeared, to be replaced by his SAO one (which was to say, what he really looked like in RL, more-or-less). Yeah, he said that part of his journey was over, and it was. And when they were working on clearing Aincrad, fighting, working for items or money, etc etc, he did use his Spriggan avatar. But when he was alone with Asuna and Yui?

Well, it just worked out better that way, for all of them: these avatars actually had their wedding rings, and they didn't have to think about dealing with pointy ears/fairy wings getting in the way of 'business'.

And after she finished hugging her adoptive daughter, Asuna noticed this, and sheepishly brought up her own menu. Yui watched with curiosity, and while a little surprised at the burst of light, being so close, she did soften up when her mom's SAO look appeared (rapier and all). "I like this one best" Yui breathed, snuggling against her.

"Why is that?" Asuna whispered gently, fingers gently stroking Yui's hair.

"Because" she breathed softly, looking up, "-it's what my mommy and daddy look like for real. And it's what I first saw you as. It's you, both of you."

Asuna's eyes shone, and her smile was bright, holding Yui even closer. This happiness only increased when he joined in, all three of them content.

/

"All right, here we go!"

Yui laughed hard, riding on his shoulders even as he ran across the field, wind whipping through their hair.

"You like it?" he asked, chuckling. "I can go even faster if I wanted!"

"Can you?" she said brightly, delighted. "Do it!"

He laughed, then burst even faster, leaving a sonic boom in his wake - he had to tighten his grip to keep Yui in place, but that was no problem.

"That's still not fast enough to get away from me!"

They both looked to their left, where Asuna was keeping pace, laughing herself. "I know full well you can always catch me, Lightning Flash" he called out playfully. "But only when it's serious! You got nothing on me when it's not!"

"Don't make me come over there!"

"Yeah? Then come and get us!" he called, laughing as he veered sharply, Yui going 'WOOOAH!' the whole way (man she was adorable).

He zig-zagged the entire way, veering more than once, Yui hanging on tightly to him - she was a little scared, but she didn't try to stop him; she knew he wouldn't let anything happen to her.

Overall, he thought about thirty seconds had passed by before-

"Boo!"

"GAH-WOOAAAAH *skidding and crashing sounds*"

Breathing heavily, he glanced back, seeing Yui's hair a little disarrayed from the trip. Behind him however, in an uneven line at least a hundred feet long, was the damaged area where he'd skidded through everything... well, it'd stay damaged till tomorrow, at least.

Asuna had her hands on her hips, smirking beside him. "You're lucky you got that far, you know" she said.

He slowly made a sheepish sound. "I thought that lasted a little too long" he admitted, but smiling. "You got us."

"Mmm-hmph" she said approvingly, hands crossed now, but her smirk softened into a smile.

He chuckled, then looked up at Yui, who had smoothed her hair unconsciously. "But wasn't that fun, Yui?"

"It was the best!" she absolutely squealed, her parents breaking out into grins. "It was so scary but so fun at the same time! I thought we were gonna crash or hit something at any time, but my daddy is too good to let that happen!" she continued with enthusiasm, shaking his head a little with her excitement ("Wo-Gah!"), then look at her mom. "And mommy is so fast, she makes it look easy!"

She giggled, hand behind her head. "Sure, I make it look easy" she said modestly, but still embarrassed. "But I had to work really hard to get that far, after all."

He chuckled. "Of course you did" he said, grinning. "Just as I did. Still, I don't think you could ever measure up to my sword skills."

"Hmph" she breathed, unconcerned, turning away. "Just for that, you don't get to taste dinner tonight."

"What!?" he cried, stepping toward her. "Come on, that's not fair!"

"Then catch me if you can" she challenged, grinning before she disappeared in a flash, heading back toward their house.

"W-Wait for me! And hang on!" he yelled, the latter being directed toward Yui.

"Okay daddy!"

/

The end result? He lost, of course.

But at the very least, he'd gotten within ten feet of Asuna before she reached the house; a new record for his attempts to keep up with his wife's speed, even if she was still holding back. Or toying with him. Likely both.

Breathing a bit heavily, he walked toward the front door, slowly helping Yui down to the ground.

She took his hand, her smile bright. "You'll be okay, daddy" she said gently.

He managed a smile, getting better with his breathing. "I know" he said mildly. "I'm not that old yet, Yui."

She giggled.

But even as they walked in, the wafting smell of something good came in, both of them instinctively sniffing. "Oh man that smells awesome" he said, excited.

His daughter slowly tilted her head, thinking. "It smells kinda spicy" she said slowly, then looked up at him. "Is that right, daddy?"

"Perfectly" he said gently, smiling. "And I'm looking forward to it myself; I like spicy, just like you."

"Well if you two are that hungry, I'm afraid you're gonna have to wait" came Asuna's voice, head peeking around the door with a smirk, the straps showing that she was wearing her 'casual' outfit. She giggled when the other two slumped, almost exactly the same way. "Oh come on, it'll be worth the wait!"

Yui looked at him, but she managed a small smile. "I'll just wait in the chair then" she said softly. "Perhaps I can hear more stories while we wait."

"I'd like that" he said, then tilted his head. "But I want to talk to your mom first, okay?"

While a little surprised (including Asuna), Yui nodded. "Okay."

He gently patted her head affectionately, then he started walking into the kitchen, where Asuna joined him in walking. While this happened, their hands joined, and he sneaked a big whiff of whatever was cooking (she gave him a look when she caught him, though she giggled afterward). They finally stopped in a room on the opposite side of the kitchen, where Yui couldn't see, and where she couldn't likely hear them at all.

"This isn't gonna be a verbal talk, is it" she breathed softly, clearly not a question, her finger brushing against his ring.

"No" he admitted, getting closer, Asuna willingly doing the same. "But neither is it gonna be the complete non-verbal experience, if you know what I mean."

"I do" she whispered gently, really close.

They kissed each other softly, hands finding each others' hair, though his like to stroke along more than anything. He held her close as this happened, enjoying the sweet taste of her lips, before he slowly and gently touched his tongue to her upper lip. Her little noise was of surprise, but also a pleasant one - he hadn't done this often, not since their first time. And he stayed slow this time, gently exploring the outside of her mouth thoroughly before he did anything, and liking it. Asuna breathed against his mouth several times, until finally, her mouth opened a little.

And her tongue touched his lower lip, brushing against his tongue.

He breathed out heavily; wow that was good.

Their tongues continued to touch together, hesitant, enjoying the simple contact. But soon after that, they had to breathe, forcing them to break apart.

Somewhere during their panting: "Kirito?"

He was struck by her tone; rather weak. Had he done something wrong?

"Asuna?"

Her eyes were shining, mostly happy, but there was something else there too. "Can you do me a favor?" she asked, a little weak, like he'd heard. "When we're doing that in the future, or anything bigger, can you... stay slow... for awhile?"

He opened his mouth-

-she seemed to have expected that. "I love you, Kirito" she breathed softly, touching his cheek. "I love you, so very much. I trust you with my life" she continued, then she glanced down, the corners of her eyes wet. "But... after what happened... I just-"

He stared at her for a moment, then it struck him what she meant.

Sugou...

"Of course I will" he breathed firmly, meaning it, both hands on her cheeks now. "Asuna, I never want to hurt you, and I never want to make you do anything you don't want to do. If you want to wait or go slow, I'll do it, I swear it on my life!"

Her hand touched his, resting on his ring. "I know" she whispered lovingly, eyes shining.

Their moment lasted another two seconds, until a rising whistle of steam intruded.

They slowly looked at each other again, and she smiled. "That's our cue; it's ready" she said gently.

He slowly nodded, wiping at the corners of her eyes. "Alright" he said gently, squeezing her hand. "Then let's go out there, and eat like a family again."

She squeezed his hand back, nodding.

The three of them ate easily, Asuna briefly pausing as she watched Yui opened her mouth big, chomping down on her sandwich and munching on it, smiling at the cuteness.

As they did this, he was continuing in-between bites himself: "-and you've seen the roads in the Town of Beginning" he said softly. "Well, there are roads just like it in the real world, though most of them are grey. Plus, they've got this little white and yellow paint lines all across them."

"What are those for?" she asked, excited and curious, lit bits of sandwich sauce stuck to her face. "The paint lines, and the roads themselves?"

"Well, the paint are indicators of where vehicles are allowed to go, and what isn't okay on the road" he said, watching as his wife gently wiped off the sauce on Yui's face, who was happily embarrased. "And the vehicles themselves are so we can go faster than we normally could."

"Are they as fast as you mommy?" Yui asked, looking up at her.

She was surprised, but glanced up in thought. "Let's see, the distance it took Kirito to walk an hour took me five minutes, so..." she said to herself, trailing off. While Yui just watched curiously as her lips moved, he saw enough to read them: Average human walking speed is around 7 mph, and she crossed that same distance in 5 minutes. That means she must have been going... at-or-above 50 mph, if my math was right.

His wife sheepishly giggled, embarrassed. "Yeah, cars can regularly go faster than I can in this game" she said.

"Mommy's not the fastest?" Yui cried out, worried, but she looked around when he laughed.

"No, she is the fastest" he said mildly. "Your mom is the fastest human, Yui, moving at speeds the rest of us can only dream of. Maybe in real life, the machines can beat that, but it's not a competition. So it's okay."

"You sure, daddy?" she asked, making a surprised sound when he patted her head.

"Perfectly" he said, then he caught his wife's eyes. She knew what he meant after a moment, and she nodded, smiling.

Yui giggled at the loving touch of her father, but she soon noticed when they both sat closer to her, feeling this was more than just a family moment. "Mommy? Daddy?" she whispered, looking between them. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong, Yui" Asuna assured, one hand holding Kirito's, the other touching her daughter's hair. "We've just got something big to tell you, and we want to do it as a family, is all."

She blinked. "What is it?

"You remember what I said about DNA?" he asked her.

Surprised, she slowly made a face, thinking (and when this happened, they both had this little 'aw-she's-so-damn-cute!' moment). "It's the building blocks of you humans, so small you can't even see them" she said slowly, head tilted. "Like the ones and zeroes of programming, right?"

"Yeah" he agreed, smiling. "That's exactly what I said, and what you said."

"What about it?"

"In the real world" Asuna spoke, her voice gentle, Yui looking at her now. "-they're trying a new technique, where they take the DNA of two compatible people, and grow it into a living, breathing, growing body. There will be some parts that aren't organic, but over 95% will be; they think it has real potential for those couples that can't have children."

"That sounds so fascinating" Yui breathed, excited, before she blinked. "Wait, what does this have to do with me?"

"Well, one of the mechanical parts they can use" he said, starting to shake from the anticipation. "It would allow a download of information into the body, whether from Nervegear, or elsewhere."

Yui gasped, staring up at him.

Asuna glanced down, eyes shining, stroking her daughter's hair at the roots. "And we're the ones, Yui" she spoke softly. "We're the ones whose' DNA is being used for the first test. And because of this, the body is going to grow in your image, Yui... and when it's ready, all your memories and your personality will be in there; we'll make sure of it. It'll take at least a few years, but we can wait however long we need to."

When Yui didn't respond for awhile, her expression not even changing, he got worried - which was shared by Asuna.

"Mommy-"

They both gasped-

"-Daddy-"

-the little girl's eyes were filled with tears.

"Yui..."

"I'll be with mommy and daddy" she breathed, the tears falling. "-I'll be with you... in the real world?"

Asuna quickly hugged their daughter, her own tears threatening to fall. "Yes, yes, you'll be with us" she breathed quickly. "Yui, we'll be together forever, all of us."

"Forever" he agreed, hugging them both tightly. "Yui, Asuna, me - forever."

The little girl shook in their grip, and she snuggled in even more. "T-Thank you" she gasped, tears falling. "Mommy, daddy, I love you!"

"And we love you too, Yui!"

"Always" he breathed, holding his family close.

"I'll get to see these roads" she breathed, the tears still there, but her voice was rapidly increasing with joy. "I'll get to see what school is like, and meet all your friends! I'll get to do all these things!"

"And more" he promised, taking his daughter and lifting her up in a hug (much to the shock of his own wife; whoops), her reaction a surprised laugh. "You'll do all that and more, I swear."

"We swear" Asuna added, partly in delight, and partly at annoyance at his action (he was sheepishly apologetic).

"I can't wait!" she squealed. "And when that day happens, maybe I'll have brothers or sisters of my own!"

In addition to the shock, there was a lot of embarrassment. "Oh, t-that's quite far away" Asuna breathed, cheeks red.

"Y-Yeah" he stammered, but he held Yui close to his heart, managing a smile at his wife. "But hey, getting Yui to the real world will take years; so, we got time" he continued gently. "One step at a time, all of it."

Her cheeks remained red, but she nodded softly, stepping closer. "It was always gonna be that way" she said, holding out her hand. "I wouldn't allow anything else."

He grasped it with a little grin, and Yui quickly joined in herself.

I literally didn't know much about Sword Art Online (at all) roughly two weeks ago, until I gave the first episode a shot. You can all guess what happened next hehe - I really got into the worlds, as well as the characters, especially this couple and their adoptive daughter. Being a big video gamer, including regular MMO's, probably helped lol. If I had to choose, I'd definitely be full-time in SAO (minus the can't-ever-log-out aspect obviously), but play some in ALO as well. Come on, flying is too cool to pass up.

Anyway, I definitely love this couple, as well as Yui :P And there's potential in the 'implied' cut-away from Episode 10, if I decide to lol XD