"Raul, kirin, apotos, zul?" Kirito said hesitantly.

Leafa sighed. "No, now you're just memorizing words," she said, closing the book she held. "You have to understand what the words of power mean and then put them together to do your spells."

My husband grumbled. "Didn't think I'd have to learn another language for this," he said. "I'll just stick to fighting."

I giggled a little as I heard that. "I managed to get a hang on some decent little spells," I said as I reached over and wrapped my arm around his neck, giving him a little tug towards me. "So I think we'll be good there. Stick to our talents."

I saw Leafa give us an odd look but she shook her head quickly. She glanced down and nodded towards a clearing.

"Our wing timers are coming up," she said, descending. "We should rest for a while."

"Fine by me," I said as we all touched down. Kirito finally got a grip on landings and we all had managed some minor mid-air combat against some winged lizards.

"How are you two on time?" Leafa asked.

"I'm good to go for another couple of hours," Kirirto said.

"Me too," I added. "Though food does sound good."

"We should rotate out," Leafa said.

"Do what now?" Kirito said as he pulled some pocky-looking thing from his inventory and started chewing on it.

"We can't log out in the field, so we rotate out and the other will watch our avatars. That way we can grab a meal, check in with family, whatever. You can go first, if you want, Kirito, and...what is that?"

"This?" he said, holding out the stick. "They were selling them at a shop near the potion stand. Said you could only get them in Sylvain. I grabbed a few, they're pretty good." He held it out a little more, offering it to her.

She took it and just as I remembered his concept of good in VR, she bit into it.

Her face broke out in sweat as she started gasping and coughing. "Hot!" she said.

I gave him a suffering look.

"Well, guess I'll be back," he said, pulling up his menu. "Keep me safe!"

"Get out of here before she hurts you, dummy," I said with a wave.

His body went slack, and Yui came over and sat on my shoulder. Leafa sighed and sat down, staring at his avatar.

"So you two are married in SAO, huh?" she whispered. "How did that happen?"

"Well, it wasn't planned," I said, sitting as well. "He came into my shop one day looking for a sword. I showed him my best one and in a test of durability, he snapped it in two pieces."

"He what?"

I chuckled at the memory. "I'll get to that," I said. "He showed me the sword he had, which was a pretty high-level weapon, one of the best in the lists for random drops. He asked for one equal or better. To test my claim, he slammed my masterpiece into his, and mine lost out. I lost my temper and told him that I could make a weapon that would break his into tiny pieces if I had the right materials."

"I take it he took you up on that?"

I nodded. "The material I needed could only be found in the gullet of dragons in a dungeon zone on one of the cleared floors," I said. "He took me there, very begrudgingly since only a smith could have the material propagate in the loot drops. He took the dragon on solo, and it was the most amazing thing I had ever seen. Then I screwed up and pulled the monster's aggro."

"Then what?"

"The dragon used a wing attack to blow me over a deep crevasse," I said, wrapping my arms around my knees as I drew my legs up to my chest. "He dove in and grabbed me, turning us so he took the brunt of the falling damage. We were trapped in the hole for the night, and I found it weird. I don't know why I asked, but I asked him to hold my hand. The warmth in it kindled my desire to live, especially after a terrifying fall. It was real in a world where almost nothing was.

"I remember him when we got out, the look of absolute confidence that we would be ok," I continued. "And as we were making our way back to my shop, I realized that I felt something for him. We had a brief misunderstanding over it, but we started seeing each other more, even though I had just forged a unique sword that matched why he wanted it. Eventually, we just got closer and closer. Finding out that we lived in the same general area, same grades in school. We shared everything with each other. And then, in the most corny way possible, he proposed to me in game."

"What did he do?" she asked, leaning forward. Yui had flitted over to her shoulder during the story, her attention fixed on us.

"He came in near closing time and asked me to do some maintenance on his gear," I said, wiping a tear away. "I turned around to pick up a hammer and when I turned around all that was left was a box and a note. Inside was the ring. The rest is history."

"And how does Yui fit in?" she asked. "I know you're married in game, but she calls you Mommy and Daddy. You couldn't have had her in-game, could you?"

I laughed. "That's rather personal, Leafa," I teased. As she turned red, I continued. "No, we didn't have Yui in game. We adopted her, would be the appropriate term. She is an AI that detached from the SAO master program after an error in her program. She's as much our daughter as if she were our own flesh and digital blood. The way she looks is an amalgam of our SAO avatars." I gave her a wink.

She winked back and flew up, transforming back into her default form, the appearance giving me a momentary pang of pain for the days when all of us would sit on my porch in the afternoon, enjoying the sunset.

"And this is what Mommy and Daddy looked like in SAO," my child said as she swiped her hand through the air and both of our images near the end appeared, Asgarde in my hand with my armor plates on, Kirito wielding his Elucidator and Dark Repulsor in his long black coat and little armor.

"He was the only player to get Dual Wielding due to his reaction time," I said, smiling sadly at the image of my second masterpiece. "He came to me for the lighter sword to pair with the other so he wouldn't push a normal one past its endurance point. And he got it, and more."

Leafa stared at the image. "That's Kazuto, all right. I didn't know your avatars used your actual images in the game," she frowned. "Why isn't he wearing armor?"

I was thankful for the question since it deflected from the story of launch day and Kayaba's 'gift' of the mirrors. "That's how he played," I said. "Speed. Asuna may have been faster, but that was in part to her rapier build. I made her final weapon, too, by the way. Speed type over power in her. Kirito, though, pushed himself until the weight of his swords were an afterthought, blazing fast with high criticals and avoidance rates. He hit like a freight train and you didn't always see it coming. Like I said, reaction time. His was the highest in the game which is why he got the skill. It was intended to be the end skill for the hero that would face off against the final boss. It was originally our little secret, but everything gets out eventually."

"I still blame Klein for that," he said.

"Welcome back, Daddy!" Yui said, flying over to him.

"How long have you been back?" I asked, frowning at him.

"Around the time you started talking about Asuna and speed type gear," he said, standing. "If you want, you two can rotate out together. I'll keep watch."

"Are you sure?" Leafa asked.

He smiled and hefted his sword with one hand, handling the weight easily.

"I think he's got this, Leafa," I said. "Besides, if anything comes by, we'll be fine. He loves getting his battle on."

"You did do a number on those Salamanders with basic gear," she mused before nodding. "Alright. See you both soon!"

As she logged out I went over to my husband.

"How much did you really hear?" I asked.

"Don't worry, I won't let Sugu know that I know."

My frown got deeper.

"Listening skill carries farther in this game, Lis," he said, grinning. "You should have waited a little longer before asking her."

I facepalmed. "Kazuto, I swear,"

He patted the air. "It's ok," he said. "I actually get why she might have done it. An escape, wanting to know why I was drawn there. And being able to fly on your own wings? That alone would have drawn her in. She always wanted wings."

I leaned back before leaning in and kissig him quickly. "I'll be back soon," I said. "And we will talk about this later." I pulled up my menu.

"Great," he grumbled as the world faded out.