A/N:Well, nothing much to say here other than that I have only to more chapters to finalize... that, and I'm already thinking about writing a sequel.
Anyway, please have fun reading and leave a review if you enjoyed it. ;D
Sunset wood land
~ Two weeks later
Kirito walked out of the Dungeon of the 68th floor and onto the meadow that stretched out towards the town. Well, except the small forest that was located about 10 minutes walk out of the Dungeon, if you followed the trail that is.
Just as Kirito was nearing the end of the forest his Scan for Enemy skill made him aware of another presence in the immediate area. Scanning around he quickly found it, although it was not quite what he expected.
As he focused on the cursor, the name of the monster was displayed, which read: Ragout Rabbit
Taking out two throwing picks, Kirito threw the first one at a tree stump near the white rabbit, scaring it into action. The last thing the rabbit saw as it tried to jump away was Kirito as he charged up a basic throwing skill.
Checking his inventory, Kirito confirmed that he received all the loot from the Ragout Rabbit.
"Dinner acquired…" Kirito begun, a little bit dazed, "… now, how to resolve the issue of how to cook it."
Only two people came to mind as he thought about players with a high enough Cooking skill. Although two came to mind, only one was possible without having a really awkward dinner.
Sender: Kirito
Receiver: Silber
Content: Got my hands onto some Ragout Rabbit meat and need someone with an absurdly high Cooking skill.
You free tonight?
The answer didn't take long, since he received it as soon as he had taken two steps outside the forest.
Sender: Silber
Receiver: Kirito
Content: Pick you up at the Teleport Gate on the 22nd floor at 21:30.
How many people are coming?
With a small grin Kirito took out one of his Teleport Crystals, this could be considered as an emergency after all, and replied before teleporting away.
The last costumer of the day had just left the shop and Lizbeth sighed as she heard her stomach growl, which shouldn't be possible at all. Taking into account that SAO did not have a feature like that, she shrugged it off as imagination. That girl absolutely had to talk her ear off about that S-class ingredient one could obtain from a rare monster called Ragout Rabbit. Even the thought of her favorite cake, which Kirito had somehow got a hold of a few days ago after she casually mentioned how she would love to eat some strawberry cheesecake, couldn't distract her from the almost too accurate description how that flesh tasted. And not to mention that it was the best strawberry cheesecake she had ever had.
"I would do almost everything to eat that cake for real when this nightmare ends…" Lizbeth sighed as she switched the sign from 'Open' to 'Closed' and locked the front door.
"Now I'm even hungrier than before…"
Kirito chose just that moment to barge in through the door that lead to her workshop, why he always came in through that exact door was lost to her.
"Lizbeth, tonight might be the best night in your life!" Kirito was yelling with the brightest grin she had ever seen on his face.
Lizbeth immediately blushed with the deepest tone of crimson red that the system knew of, thoughts going back to that unforgettable night weeks ago. The blush was soon replaced with a look of disbelieve as Kirito showed her the one S-class ingredient she had been tortured with for the last hour. Rubbing her eyes she looked at the window again, only to see that it was still there.
Looking up at Kirito, who was still smiling, she almost tackled him to the ground as she hugged him. Stumbling a few steps backwards he regained his balance and returned the hug. After about a minute Lizbeth looked up at him with the one question that seemed to stand between her and a dinner she wouldn't forget in the near future.
"Who's going to cook it?"
"I've already taken care of it." Kirito answered with a smile.
"Who?" Lizbeth was inching closer to his face until their noses touched, trying to get the answer by gazing into his soul.
"Silber…" Kirito begun, trying to get a little more distance in between their faces, "… or do you know anyone else with a high enough Cooking skill?"
Ever since that night two weeks ago Kirito found it exceptionally hard to keep himself from blushing whenever their faces, or bodies for that matter, were pressed together as close as they were now.
"How about a little walk down on the 22nd floor?" Kirito asked before taking the opportunity and kissing her.
22nd floor
As Kirito and Lizbeth were walking around a lake, they both spotted a girl in a white dress walking through the forest not too far from them. Well, Kirito had to make Lizbeth aware of that fact.
Actually Kirito was just about to tell Lizbeth a ghost story about the forests on this very floor, but that had now been rendered obsolete as he had probably found the cause for that story right now.
Still not sure what to do about the situation that just arose, they were both shocked as the girl just collapsed in the middle of the forest. With both of them starting to run at the same time, Kirito reached the girl first due to his higher Agility. Pulling the girl up to sit against a tree they both looked her over. Now that they could see the girl up close they noticed the long black hair, previously not really noticeable under the shadows of the trees, and the lack of shoes and other things that a normal player would carry around visibly.
"What is a girl of her age doing, wandering around alone?" Lizbeth asked looking at Kirito.
"She must have logged in with her parents..." Kirito muttered absently. "Either way, we can't just leave her here."
"So we're taking her with us?" Lizbeth looked at Kirito questioningly.
"Yeah…" Kirito replied absently, again.
Kirito and Lizbeth arrived just a few minutes earlier at the Teleport Gate of the 22nd floor than the appointed time. After putting the girl down on a park bench with her head resting on Lizbeth's lap, Kirito sat down next to Lizbeht as well. They sat there in a few minutes of silence with Lizbeth resting her head on Kirito's shoulder, stroking the girl's hair absentmindedly.
"Is that a new feature of SAO?"
"What?" Kirito asked dumbfounded.
"N-n-no, you're misunderstanding!" Lizbeth burst out, blushing furiously.
"Mama… Papa…?" the little girl said, drawing everyone's attention towards her.
"Ah, you're awake." Kirito said with a smile.
"Can you tell us your name?" Lizbeth asked with a kind smile.
The little girl just looked at the three with a confused look on her face.
"I'm Kirito, " Kirito said pointing at himself,
"this is Lizbeth…" he said pointing at Lizbeth,
"… and this is Silber." he said pointing towards Silber.
The girl still had the confused look on her face, which was quickly replaced by an innocent smile.
"Yui…" the girl said pointing at herself.
"Li'beth… mama…" the girl said pointing at Lizbeth.
"Ki'to… papa…" the girl said, now pointing at Kirito.
The girl turned to look at Silber and cocked her head to the side, thinking for a few seconds.
"Si'er… uncle…" she finally said pointing at Silber.
"At least I'm not grandpa…" Silber heaved a sigh of relieve.
"Anyway, could we continue this at my house?" Silber asked after taking a glance around. "The people are beginning to give us odd looks."
With their stomachs filled with a most delicious meal, they sat around the dining table, drinking tea.
"For such a slender girl she can sure eat a lot." Silber said as he was refilling the cups
"So, mind telling me how you two got a daughter?"
"We found her collapsed in the forest while taking a walk on this floor." Kirito stated dryly.
"Do you know her?" Lizbeth asked, hoping for a clue.
"I've never seen her before…" Silber begun before taking a sip of his tea, "… but I know someone who runs something like a daycare center on the first floor."
"Can you get us in contact with this person?" Kirito asked.
"Well, it just so happens that they booked me for some kind of birthday party tomorrow." Silber said as he stood up.
"Would you take us with you tomorrow?" Lizbeth asked over the rim of her tea cup.
"Only on two conditions:" Silber begun lifting a finger up in the air.
"First: You have to promise not to disturb the fun the kids are having."
"Second: You have to give me an honest opinion about the dessert." While saying that he extended a second finger.
After that Silber headed into the kitchen and first came back with a set of dishes, even one for Yui. He then went back into the kitchen and this time came back with a cake that made Lizbeth drool by just seeing it.
Kirito was smiling as he saw Lizbeth's reaction.
"Kirito…" Lizbeth was too absorbed by the sight of Silber cutting her favorite cake into pieces.
"You seemed to like the cake as I got it for you the last time." Kirito said while trying to suppress his laughter at the sight.
Somehow the smell had woken up Yui, who had been dozing off on the sofa, as she was now climbing onto the chair she had occupied earlier. Placing a slice of the cake in front of each of them with a smile, Silber made a gesture for his guests to start eating.
"I knew that the smell of something sweet would wake her up." Silber said while taking another sip of his tea.
Lizbeth completely froze after she had the first bite of cake.
"It tastes even better than last time…" Lizbeth said in a daze, putting her hands on her cheeks as if to savor the taste completely.
