A/N: I'm back, baby! All of my stories will have a new chapter today, so check out my profile to get to the others, and to see an important announcement!

Today, we'll pick not only one, but two new friends? Who? Where? How funny? Read on and find out!

The Field of Flowers

"Wow!" Yui exclaimed excitedly. "They're so pretty!" She was talking about the field of flowers that the Shepherds were walking through, delighted by the vibrant colors that each individual flower showed. Her delighted face, more than the flowers, brought smiles to those near to her.

"Aye, I always enjoyed coming here as a child," Say'ri said. The princess of Chon'sin, one of the three main countries that made up the continent, stepped up to walk closer to the Kirigiya family and Shino. The sniper/archer edged away from Say'ri slightly, still uncomfortable with people outside of her party from ALO, and even then she only really felt at ease around Kirito.

Unaffected by the cold shoulder that she had received, the princess continued, "But the greatest beauty in all the land- at least, in mine opinion- are the cherry blossoms that bloom only for a paltry amount of time every year. They are a magnificent sight to behold, and words that describe them do not do it justice."

"Sounds like we'll have to pay them a visit someday," Kazuto replied easily. "Sound like a good vacation idea, Asuna?"

"Yeah," the chestnut-haired young woman said with a bright smile. "I'd love to go there someday. Maybe we can find a place to fish again, huh?"

Kazuto deadpanned at her for a second before he turned back to Say'ri and said, "By any chance, if there is any water near to those trees, does it have a giant monster in it?"

"Many places in Chon'sin are supposedly haunted by ghosts or gods," the princess replied. "You'd be a hard-pressed to find a place that isn't surrounded by legend and lore in Chon'sin, or all of Valm for that manner. Take for example, this field of flowers. Many believe it to be the resting place of Lady Luck when she deigns to visit the human realm."

"Right…" Kazuto muttered, suddenly having second thoughts about going fishing by the cherry blossoms.

"What's the scariest place you've ever been to, Lady Say'ri?" Yui asked sweetly.

Say'ri forced herself to smile as she replied, "Perhaps the most terrifying of places in Valm is the Demon's Ingle. It is said that the volcano is the dwelling place of a wicked fire god, whose temper flares whenever anyone treads too closely to the mountain."

"Did you have a bad experience there as a little girl?" Yui pressed.

After a moment, Say'ri nodded and said, "Aye. You are very perceptive, Little Yui."

"She's our little pride and joy," Asuna beamed. It was amazing, Kazuto thought, how Yui brought out this brighter side of his wife. Most of the time in public, she was a fierce, determined young lady, but whenever she was with Yui, she almost never stopped smiling and doting.

But… "Yui, you shouldn't be asking people personal questions like that," Kazuto admonished gently. "You might end up making them mad even when you're trying to help them. I know you mean well, but you just have to learn these kinds of things."

Far from being hurt by the rebuke, though, Yui simply appeared thoughtful as she nodded and said, "Yes, Daddy. I'm sorry, Say'ri."

"'Tis quite alright, little one," the princess said with a slight bow. "You are blessed with a great amount of intelligence. Do see that it does not go to waste."

"Aye aye, ma'am!" Yui giggled with a mock salute.

"Thank you, Olivia," Kazuto said as he accepted a cup of water from the pink-haired dancer. "I'm too beat to even think about doing stuff like this."

"Oh!" The dancer exclaimed timidly. "W-well, it's no trouble, really. I mean, I can barely fight, and y-you're always out there, p-protecting people like me… I can't really do much besides pretend to dance, so I figure that this is the least I can do for you and the others."

"Pretend to dance?" Kazuto almost laughed, as did Asuna.

"Olivia, if I was half as good at my footwork and flexibility as you are, I'd be able to beat the Valmese single-handed with my rapier!" Asuna giggled. "You're an amazing dancer! I love watching you dance, even when there's no music."

"S-stop!" Olivia squeaked, flushing deep red with embarrassment. "Th-there's no need to lie to my face!"

"But Mommy is right, Ms. Olivia," Yui added. "I never lie, and I think that you're amazing! Maybe someday I can learn to dance like you?"

The thought froze both Kazuto and Asuna in their tracks. Olivia was a very talented dancer, but her uniform was to say the least, immodest. And the dances she performed could sometimes be a little bit… sensual. She was not an elicit performer, but she was an attractive young woman, and even with her marriage to Henry, one of the scariest spell casters to ever live, she still was known for accidentally turning heads with her naïve beauty and attire. It was not something that either of the parents wanted Yui to get into, even though the dances did have their place and time.

"That… might not be a good idea, Yui," Asuna said carefully. "You need to focus on your staff skills more than anything."

"Aw!" Yui pouted in a manner very similar to Asuna, almost causing Kazuto to laugh out loud. "But my studies have been coming along really well! Lady Lissa says that I'm almost ready to learn how to use a special staff to protect other people from magical attacks! Can't I learn how to dance in my spare time?"

"Uh…" Kazuto and Asuna both looked at Olivia, ironically enough, with expressions that said 'help us out of this'. The dancer blushed even harder under their gazes, the parents concerned, and Yui hopeful.

"Um…" she stuttered. "I… uh… M-maybe I can teach her some of the d-dances I learned as a child? Th-they're not l-like the ones I d-do now…"

Kazuto and Asuna shared a look before nodding in resignation. "Okay," Asuna said. "As long as Olivia is okay with it, isn't busy, and you keep up with your studies, your Daddy and I will let you learn how to dance with her."

"Thank you, Mommy!" Yui squealed, giving her a big hug, and once again making everyone, even Olivia smile. When she noticed this, Yui turned and said, "Hey! You have a really pretty smile, Ms. Olivia! You should smile more!"

"O-oh!" Olivia exclaimed, turning red again. "Th-thank you, Yui. Y-you're a very sweet girl. I'm sure your parents are proud of you."

"We are," Kazuto said as he patted his daughter's head affectionately. "We're so very proud of our little Yui." The little girl nuzzled his hand in return, still relishing in the new sensation of feeling her father's real hand, with all the infinite details that the virtual world could never hope to recreate.

Unfortunately, the moment didn't last very long. "Kirito! Asuna!" Ricken panted as he ran up to the four of them, panting heavily. "Lord Chrom and Master Robin want you and Yui to come along for a mission! A gang has invaded a local village, and only two men are standing up to them so far! They need help, fast!"

"We're on it," Kazuto said, putting on his black jacket and grabbing his swords by their scabbards. Strapping them on as he ran, he felt Kirito the Black Swordsman rise up once again, ready for another fight to death. Beside him, Kirito's wife, the Lightning Flash drew her rapier and ran just fast enough to stay beside him and not run ahead as she so easily could. To complete the picture, their daughter, the once-exiled princess of Aincrad, Yui Kirigiya, running behind them with her staff in hand, white dress fluttering in the breeze.

Watching them go, Ricken felt a slight sting of inferiority. "Why is it that whenever danger comes up, they get the first call to action?" he complained. "And they just look so damn cool while they do it, too."

"I-I wouldn't know," Olivia stammered. "But maybe we should go too, just to see if we can help somehow… Not that I'll be any good at it…"

"Well, at least you can keep Henry from casting crazy blood spells on everything in sight," Ricken said with a slight shudder. "That helps me sleep at night, if it's any consolation to you, Olivia."

"Man, how did I let you talk me into this?!" a reddish-brown haired man complained. "I never thought that picking up chicks would be this much work!"

"Tsk!" his silver-haired companion replied as he deflected a sword thrust. He moved his sword with a confusing twirl before slicing his opponent's midsection and ridding the world of another thug. "My friend, the only things you need are a smile a confident stride! Everything else is simply a helpful bonus!" He moved with the grace of a tiger to engage another enemy that came barreling down the streets.

The first man stayed a little more stationary in his swordplay, his curved katana performing simpler maneuvers than his ally's almost dance-like swordplay. Still, both of them were incredibly effective in their defense, but it wouldn't be long before they were to be overwhelmed by sheer numbers.

Fortunately, a certain group from Ylisse showed up before that could happen. Led by Chrom, the Shepherds took to the streets, seeing the villagers to safety and attacking criminals on sight. Robin and Ricken both got their two best bow-users on the rooftops by throwing them up with Elwind spells.

Sinon and Virion both took up spaces on the corners of buildings that overlooked the town square, and began sniping any brigand that came within the range of their arrows. Sinon was the better shot, but there wasn't a whole lot in it. Both archers hit their marks without fail.

Kirito and Asuna headed straight for the place where the two mysterious defenders had last been spotted. Their mission was specifically to find and assist the town's would-be heroes if they could.

They found them not too far away from where Sumia had first saw them, and the couple was surprised, then pleased to realize that they recognized one of the two fighters. Although he lacked the ugly bandana that was part of his avatar, they both would have recognized that messy tangle of red hair and scraggly attempt at a beard anywhere. "Klein!" Kirito shouted as he and his wife joined the fray.

"Kirito?!" Klein shouted in surprise, nearly missing a counterstroke. "Is that really you?!"

"In the flesh!" the Black Swordsman said as he finally came to stand beside his oldest friend from Aincrad. "This is just like old times, huh?"

"You mean like when we were surrounded by the Holy Dragon Alliance?"

"Something like that!"

"Dude, you owe me a drink and an explanation after this fight is over!" Klein grunted as he shoved back a burly swordsman. "Cos this whole thing is starting to wear me out!"

"Done," Kirito nodded as he parried with his Dark Repulser and stabbed with the Elucidator. "By the way, who is your friend over there?"

"The name's Inigo, friend!" the young man laughed as he whirled and slashed his opponent. Something about the movement seemed familiar to Kirito, but he couldn't quite place it. "And what a lovely lass you have fighting beside you! Perhaps she might like to join me for a cup of tea afterwards?"

Asuna flashed him a bright smile and said, "You know, I might consider it." Then she grabbed him by the collar and threw him into one of the last bandits, sending them both sprawling. She then activated her Astra skill and stabbed the bandit multiple times, two blows of which happened to land both to Inigo's body, the last one next to his head. "But I rather think that my husband over there might object to me going to enjoy refreshments without him."

Involuntarily, Inigo's gaze happened to flick over to see Kirito just in time to see him waste three swordsmen in five moves. The sight sent chills down his spine as he realized that he had just tried to hit on the wrong girl.

With a smile more frosty than charming this time, Asuna offered Inigo a hand up, which he took hesitantly. "Now, if you would still like to buy tea for me, you'd better have enough on your purse for my husband and daughter, too."

Finally finding his voice, Inigo flashed a more nervous smile and replied, "A tempting thought, milady. But as of late, my purse has been rather light, and I do not have the finances to provide for another two guests. Perhaps another time?"

"If you can grow the balls to talk to me again outside a battle, I might show you a few pointers on how to get a girl's attention," Asuna grinned, her natural smile showing through. "Sound like a good deal, pretty boy?"

"Y-yes, ma'am?" he replied, not sure if this was another trap or not.

"Good," Asuna replied. "Now let's finish clearing these bandits. Then we'll see about that cup of tea."

Once the battle was over, Lucina and Owain were reunited with their old friend, which brought more than one smile to the faces of the Shepherds. He then revealed himself to be the son of Henry and Olivia, which finally ceased the nagging in Kazuto's head that had been present ever since he realized that he'd seen some of those moves before.

As for Klein, he was glad to see that Shino was safe, as well as the Kirigiya's. "Heh, so you two finally made it official, huh?" he said as he grinned at the two rings on the couple's hands, causing them both to flush with embarrassment. "Well, congrats, you two. I only wish I coulda seen it myself."

"Sorry, Klein," Kazuto shrugged. "But we didn't want to wait any longer, not with the war against this Valm country going on."

"Yeah, well, you two are lucky to have each other," Klein sighed. "I met that Inigo guy a few days back, and since we both were new to this place, we figured that we'd try to figure our way around together. He told me that he could help me find my soulmate, but that guy just chases anything with a pulse. Why I listened to him, I'll never figure it out."

"It wouldn't be the first dumb thing you've done," Kazuto chuckled. "Remember when you and Liz were both drunk? Asuna and I had to pull you two idiots apart before the whole thing became a rated 'M' scenario."

"Yeah, well, no need to bring up past mistakes," Klein said hastily. "Why don't we look to the future? Like what are we going to do while Kirito tries to figure out how to get us home?"

"Well, the current plan is to help out the Shepherds for as long we can while they fight the Valmese, and maybe even when they go up against this cult trying to resurrect this demon-dragon-type monster. Who knows? Maybe you'll even find your soulmate in the Shepherds."

"You think so, man?" Klein asked eagerly.

"No, not really," Kazuto grinned maliciously. "I mean, if the plan is to go home eventually, what's the point?" Klein had a stricken look on his face right before he collapsed on his hands and knees, sobbing.

"Kirito!" Asuna said. "That was mean!"

"The guy totally asked for it," Kazuto snorted. "Besides, I've been waiting for a chance like this to get him back for hitting on Liz."

So, a couple of things.

No, Klein and Liz are not going to be a thing.

Lord Destroyer, you are only partially correct in regards to the use of a suffix. I have friends that have lived in Japan (Okinawa, specifically, so perhaps it is a regional thing), and they tell me how to use the suffixes. 'Chan' can be used from a girl to a guy in an intimate manner, yes, but the usual use is to use it on a female friend. I appreciate your feedback, though- it helps keep me sharp!

Lastly, it is good to be back, and I can't wait to hear from you guys via reviews and PM!