Disclaimer: Don't own SAO or any of it's characters.

Rating: T

A little something I wondered about, to see what it might have been like for Yui, that drove her to meet Kirito + Asuna

ALO

No mapping data available

When the teleport process was complete, Yui quickly opened her eyes, looking around - the disappearing glow made it difficult, but she saw they were in some type of corridor. Unfortunately, aside from the fact that this place was inexplicably a no-flying zone (like in dungeons, but worse; it forced her to revert to her normal form), that was all she could tell, then she quickly turned around in worry.

"Daddy?" she breathed to his figure. "Daddy?"

He jolted and opened his eyes, slowly relieving her. "Yui" he breathed, looking around. "Where are we?"

"I don't know; there's no mapping data available" she answered, and that worried her.

"Then, do you know where Asuna is?"

"Yes" Yui breathed, concentrating. "She's close, very close in fact..."

Then she gasped; oh wow, the data she'd copied included small-scale object deletion abilities! And more than that, she found that she had a different version of mapping data, being able to anticipate the most likely routes to any destination she chose instead of simply calling up a map!

She quickly stood up; "This way!"

Yui ran down the corridor as fast as she could, nearly tripping once but still going, feeling her daddy following closely behind. Then when the alternate mapping data changed, she quickly wheeled on the spot, touching her hands to the wall by instinct... it gave way before her, making her gasp in surprise at how sudden the process was, but she still regained her balance afterward.

Continuing to run, this new path led down another small corridor, which was blocked by a door-

-but not for long!

When she got there, Yui forced herself against it, as if she had super strength - and somewhat she did, just with data instead of muscles. Her daddy helped out by straining the metal beside her, this indirectly forcing the deletion process to go through quicker.

Instead of another corridor, this one opened onto an outside part of the World Tree - Yui slowly stepped down onto the branch, breathing out over the view. It was really beautiful, and more than that, she knew they were lucky; no else had ever been able to see what was up here, except maybe glimpses from below.

Her daddy must have had similar thoughts: "Is this it? Is this the top of the World Tree?" he breathed, before gasping and looking up quickly. "...there's supposed to be a floating city up here. There was never any Grand Quest; the whole damn thing was a lie! He's gonna pay for this..."

Yui didn't know exactly who 'he' was, but she got the gist that it was the one who'd trapped mommy, and she had her own suspicions - but she felt his anger beginning to boil over. Making a small sound, she gently tugged on his sleeve with both hands.

Her grip comforted him a little. "Yeah, I know" he breathed faintly, but softer. "We gotta get Asuna out of here first."

She smiled with a nod, and he returned it before his watchful eyes scanned the area - she knew where mommy's player dot was, but for some reason, her mapping data anticipation didn't seem to work out here (or maybe just as well). However, her daddy was better and faster at spotting things visually- then he suddenly gasped, his emotions turned on their head, then he pulled her along with him!

Yui was surprised, and nearly tripped, but she kept up with him as he ran fast, along the steadily-going-up branch. As they ran, she looked where he was looking, and began to see something glinting in the light... a cage reminiscent of a bird's, with what seemed to be a single figure inside.

Soon she was gasping as they ran, but out of excitement - daddy only went faster, and she kept up.

/

The run up the branch was a long one, and normally they'd have been exhausted, but somehow they weren't as they got up through sheer determination.

Even as they ran, her mind unconsciously gathered data on the cage itself; for the main part, it just looked like your average cage, but it wasn't. The door would only open from the inside + outside with a nine-digit code, and any attempts to view the code being inputted were heavily blurred from her mommy's sight at all times - plus, her mommy had all of her abilities stripped away (including flight and the ability to access her menu), and her stats were at purely one each. The bars themselves were basically Immortal Objects that she couldn't affect, and while they were just wide enough that she could have slipped out with effort, there was a barrier around the cage at all times a foot away - that way she couldn't just get out, because it would not allow players through, except through the door area. And even if she had gotten out, if her character died for any reason, she would be briefly be stuck - unable to be logged out - and then respawn back in the cage.

And due to the data, Yui had reason to believe that every time she'd tried to escape, the restrictions to keep her in had gotten progressively worse.

But all that was all in the back of her mind right now-

"MOMMY!"

Previously slumped over the table, mommy snapped up, starring at the sight of them.

Yui held her hands together, overflowing with happiness. "Mommy!" she breathed; it was really her!

The sight of her and daddy finally registered, and mommy's hands came up to her mouth, trembling and tears falling- but they were happy ones! The trembling and her tears only got 'worse' as she increasingly realized it was them!

"Mommy!" Yui breathed again, deleting the door in front of her and quickly running inside!

"Yui!"

Halfway there, she jumped up, her own tears falling - in less than a second, she collided against her. "Mommy!" Yui cried, trembling as tears fell, and loving the instinctive hug even as she looked up!

Mommy trembled, but her gaze was full of pure relief and teary happiness. "Yui" she whispered lovingly, before they both hugged each other even tighter; Yui wouldn't have minded if this lasted forever!

"Mommy" she breathed, the tears running thicker, burying herself against her mommy's chest. "Mommy!"

Still trembling, still happy, Yui felt daddy's emotions but wasn't consciously aware of it - as he slowly approached, he was full of strong happiness, content, and relief. Mommy looked up after a moment, and they shared a moment before she wiped her tears.

"Kirito."

"Asuna."

Yui looked up when they stepped closer, and saw how they looked at each other with love, mommy's hand caressing daddy's cheek. She merely closed her eyes, tears of happiness still falling, just loving the fact that they were together again.

"Hey, sorry I took so long."

"Mmh-mm, no, it's okay, really; I always knew you'd save me."

Yui held them both even closer, and it was the best thing ever for her, and them - it felt like awhile before they pulled apart, just slightly.

"Well, ready to go home?" daddy asked, as soft as could be.

Mommy's emotions reached a fever peak again, almost on the verge of crying happily again, only able to nod and answer 'Mmm-hm!'

"Yui? Can you log Asuna out from here?"

While still happy, Yui reluctantly shook her head. "No, her status is locked by complicated codes that I don't have access to" she said sadly. "We'll need to find a system console to bypass them."

Her mommy jolted. "I found a console in the laboratory!" she said intently. "I can-"

Her daddy instantly tensed, turning as if something was there... then this hideously guttural sound came from all around them- wait, no, from below them!

"What's that!?"

They all cried out; it was if gravity had just doubled on them, and it was getting worse!

"Yui, what's happening!?" her daddy asked, struggling to move even as the floor below them 'faded', replaced by some sort of darkness except for a small area.

Yui cried out; her system was under attack, physically showcased by the purple electricity around her form!

She held on tightly to her mommy, who's grip was even harder. "Daddy! Mommy!" Yui cried out, finding it more and more difficult to keep herself together data-wise! "Be careful! Something- something bad's coming!"

The system itself came in to crush her-

In desperation, not wanting to her core data to be corrupted with it, she detached herself from ALO's systems; her physical form disappeared from her mommy's arms.

...

...

...

When Yui was certain that she was still functioning, she was relieved, knowing she's safe on her daddy's Nervegear rig. But if she tried to go back to ALO and reform her body, she would be deleted again and again by the system.

And here, she no longer had any access to... well, anything; she couldn't move, or talk, or much else.

This made her angry.

She would not let herself wait around while her mommy and daddy were in danger!

Taking a page out of her daddy's book, Yui focused her willpower and forced it through her daddy's Nervegear system. Previously, she had just been data on a Nervegear that had been turned off, and so she barely had any presence at all - but her daddy's Nervegear was still functioning at this very moment, beeping and monitoring her daddy's life systems, as well as his character's status deeper into that code. That last part was supposed to be out of her reach, but she would not stop until she forced herself to the limit! The system instinctively resisted of course; this was not something that should be happening to it.

But it didn't know what to do except for already-established safeguards, because this wasn't something it'd been expected to deal with.

And she would not be denied!

It took awhile, but eventually she gained access to the Nervegear's inner code - with this, she pushed herself in, as deep as she could go.

What she saw- ah!

Her daddy was pinned to the ground via his own weapon, while in his mind, he saw her mommy suspended by chains, behind another man. She didn't have the whole picture, because all she saw were the physical 3-dimensional models, coded a dark-green with no features or textures, just their basest forms - her access was still limited, all things considered. Moreover, she couldn't see every movement that they made - at least not in real-time - because the data was confused on her intrusion. But she knew who the opponent was by her daddy's enemy bar: Oberon, the Fairy King [GM].

Mommy! Daddy!

Yui gasped; he was getting up!

"Your attacks are weak-"

Huh? How was she possibly hearing that?

"-the blades in SAO hit way harder, and they hurt way more than this!"

With sheer force of will, her daddy stood up despite the sword in his back (that promptly fell out), and the apparent gravity magic working against him. On her screen, she saw all this via his 3-dimensional model, if not how his mouth moved or all of the motions.

She didn't hear anything, but she did see Oberon move to strike her daddy - who simply caught his wrist.

When nothing else happened for a bit, she was slowly confused, worried as she looked at their health gauges again-

-then both their health bars 'blinked', to her slight jolt.

Oberon, the Fairy King [GM] - Oberon, the Fairy King

Kirito - Kirito [GM]

When this sight registered, Yui just felt utterly shocked; how had daddy done that!?

Then Oberon's status was reset to level one, and before her still-shocked eyes, the gravity magic just completely dissipated. Then it seemed they were talking, as Oberon tried (and failed) to summon something via system command, which was obvious by his gesture... but he no longer had any access to do that.

But daddy did now, because he soon summoned something as well - Yui recognized it by shape alone; Excaliber, the strongest weapon in ALO.

Daddy simply threw it at Oberon (who caught it), while he flipped his own weapon back into his hand, pointing it at the other man.

Yui still didn't know how this was possible, but this inexplicable action slowly brought her out of her shock... he wanted to save mommy, so why had he given it back? Even with the legendary weapon Excaliber, Oberon being at level one meant that even if daddy let himself be hit, despite the fact his equipment was still on the lower-level, the damage would be minimal.

Why was daddy letting this man fight a hopeless battle?

Slowly, only one reasonable answer came to her mind... Oberon had been the one in control, and thought he was invincible. Now her daddy had turned the tables on him, after seeing what he did to mommy - which she still had little knowledge about - and had intentionally made the situation as lopsided as could be.

Humiliation.

She trembled mentally, a little scared; daddy must be beyond mad if he's resorting to that!

On her screen, Oberon began to attack her daddy, yet he easily blocked every attempt to hit him, barely moving at all. From the general motions, Yui could see that this was Oberon's first time truly wielding a sword in battle... but even then his movements were terrible.

Then Oberon moved to stab her daddy in the head, who promptly dodged and sliced his blade across Oberon's cheek.

The series of lines that resulted were a fierce blood red, confusing her, as they were supposed to be a light-blue... then she gasped as her program recalled ALO's code.

Her daddy had set the Pain Absorber to zero - she'd been right when her daddy was way beyond mad! Terribly right!

Then Yui forced herself to shake her head, mentally speaking; though what her daddy's about to do would be cruel, he's ultimately doing it to save her mommy, and to prevent this man from taking her again, whether in ALO or the real world! She knew him well enough to see that - this would be terrible, but it was necessary, and it would still not kill the man in real life.

Slowly, she waited for it all to be over... yet she believed in him, even now.

Even now, she still got repeating split-second-apart brief flashes into the battle, looking like strobe lights but still showing her the gist: Oberon tried to block the next attack, but daddy connected - slicing half of his right forearm off, Excaliber dropping from his hand.

Yui felt no joy at this; it didn't bring her happiness to see others suffer, even if they had kidnapped her mommy in the first place. And she knew her daddy wasn't enjoying this either, because of the way he had swung his sword - the only thing he felt was cold fury. Maybe she couldn't sense his emotions like this, but she could observe his heart rate, as monitored through his Nervegear. Normally when he battled foes, he was at the top of his game and feeling the 'roar' of battle... but now, his heart rate was calm and measured. It scared her to see this, but she stayed strong; it was all for mommy's sake, she knew it deep down!

Oberon recoiled at the intense pain radiating up his arm, but daddy merely stepped forward... then swiped his sword in an arc, point-blank.

If the arm had been a web of red lines, it was nothing compared to that - Oberon's lower half evaporated, slamming him to the ground. Her daddy stepped forward again, reaching down and picking Oberon up by the hair, merely starring down at him.

Then he threw what was left of him up into the air-

-Yui pulled out of the code, just enough to denying her sense of sight; whatever daddy did, she knew it'd be a virtual killing blow.

And she didn't need to see it.

She waited ten full seconds before she dared go back in, and sure enough, all Yui saw was her daddy swinging his sword a bit... then right through the chains holding up mommy, falling to his knees together with her, the sword itself having been discarded.

Yui just felt relieved, in more ways than one, seeing daddy's vitals spike again as he trembled against mommy.

Then at that moment, the Nervegear system - which she'd been forcing herself against for the last few minutes - finally overpowered her and pushed her out of the data that she wasn't supposed to have access to. Yui didn't care anymore; her daddy had defeated the man who'd threatened them all, so now she didn't need to force her way in... as a result, she got her data ready to reform herself, now that it was safe in ALO again.

The process took awhile, and during that time, she noted that her daddy had suddenly acquired a vast amount of data on his character model... she was curious about that, but it could wait.

At the very last few seconds, she heard: "Yui! Are you okay! Where are you!?"

She formed out of nowhere.

"Daddy!" Yui cried out in relief, landing against him in a hug and he instinctively caught her.

Despite some surprise, daddy was relieved (and she was the same way; he displayed no signs of what happened earlier).

"Thank god, you're safe" he breathed, smiling.

"Uh-huh" she breathed softly, her hands wrapped around his shoulders. "I hid myself inside the local memory of your Nervegear rig. Where's mommy?"

"Don't worry" he assured, more gentle. "She's safe. She's back home now."

"Mommy's back!?" Yui cried, excited before she buried herself against her daddy's chest. "Thank goodness! I'm so happy, really!"

He gently stroked her hair, which she liked as well. "I promise we'll be back to visit soon" daddy assured, before it turned a little worried. "Although, I don't know how much longer this world's gonna be around..."

Mmm, yeah; she couldn't imagine the reaction that two VRMMORPG's, twisted away from their original purposes, would garner in the real world.

But still-

"It doesn't matter, because my whole program's inside your Nervegear now" Yui told him, smiling brightly. "So we'll always be together!"

Daddy nodded, feeling more content. "Alright" he breathed after a moment. "I better head out too... I'm gonna go see Asuna."

Though Yui felt said, at the same time, she was still so happy; things were finally okay again!

"Okay daddy" she breathed lovingly, trying not to show her sadness. "I love you!" she quickly added, holding onto her daddy for as long as she could.

He held her close as well with his right hand, slowly taking out his menu with his left hand... but he paused, seemingly to get that 'one last look' at this world, just in case. She didn't mind, knowing it gave her more seconds to physically be with him, to appreciate his warmth, which she treasured.

Daddy gently held them apart, just a little, then he kissed her cheek.

That loving fatherly show of affection was the last thing she felt before their physical forms disappeared, and Yui loved it, as she did her family.

/

Kirito's Nervegear

Later

Now that her daddy's Nervegear had been turned off, her mental self was extremely restricted, aside from processing the data that she'd get from ALO. But still, Yui hoped for her mommy and daddy to find each other, and to be happy forever.

That's all she wanted right now.

Eventually though, she became aware of a sort of sense... it was very limited, and almost looked like a mental blueprint rather than anything visual, auditory, or similar. In it, she saw a room connected to a hallway, with lots of other rooms but no indication of what exactly it was. In one of them, she saw a dot that was- ah mommy!

Near mommy's dot, so very close, was her daddy (also represented by a dot)...

Yui again found it interesting that her daddy's real name was Kazato, where in-game it was Kirito, but her mommy's name was the exact same in real life as well as in-game. Then afterward, she shook her head, knowing she can dwell upon those thoughts later... daddy's dot didn't move, despite very close to mommy.

"Hurry up, she's waiting for you!" Yui gently urged, hoping he somehow heard it.

Maybe he did, or maybe he didn't, but after a moment, he did step forward into the room with mommy. And even though she couldn't sense their emotions like this, she could imagine them so readily, it was like she was there. And after a few moments, her daddy was quick to give her mommy a hug, one that lasted a good while - even though they were represented by dots, they had the slightest space between them, so she could tell.

The sort-of sense begin to disappear on her...

But there was a moment where her daddy and mommy were so close, they might as well have been one dot.

Yui smiled, even as the sense disappeared on her - a tight hug, or a kiss, it didn't matter; they were so happy to finally meet each other in real life, officially.

She just knew it!

ALO

Undine Capital

When her daddy came back to ALO some days later, at the game's night cycle, Yui was overjoyed and gave him a great big hug (which he'd chuckled at but returned, feeling more content).

But she'd also been worried; how was mommy?

"Well, she's still going through the process of creating her ALO character, a proper one" he said with ease; they were sitting on the edge of this fountain, with her on his shoulder. "

"Mommy's coming to the game too!?" Yui cried, surprised and then excited-

-oh, wait!

"But, daddy, is that okay?" she questioned then, holding her hands together. "Is anything going to happen to ALO?"

Daddy moved a bit, but his smile and his emotions remained content. "There have been issues, but also a lot of other things" he admitted, before waving a hand. "The important thing is, ALO's safe for now. With all the other VRMMO's out there created by The Seed, I'd say interest isn't going away anytime soon."

That's so great! Hehe! Still, many questions remained.

"Also... what did you do with the GM status?"

A bit of surprise, but while daddy glanced up at the sky, his emotions turned into this strange enjoyment.

"Well, obviously I'm not keeping it; who wants all that pressure and responsibility? And where's the fun either?" he mock-asked, mild as his eyes closed, hands held behind his head. "I did use it to set some things in motion, along with bring something big to ALO, but otherwise I set everything back the way it was and gave it up. Well, after I reset my own character; I'd like to go through this game fairly from now on."

That certainly explained him resetting his skills, even if he had several important items, such as her all-important crystal.

"What's this big thing you're bringing to ALO, daddy?" Yui asked then, curious

He smiled again. "Well, let's just saaaaaaaay..." he playfully drew out, intentionally not telling her at first, to her pout and his chuckle. Then his eyes opened and he looked at her, lowering his hands back to normal.

"Let's just say, Aincrad itself."

Yui gasped; the entire floating castle from SAO!?

"It's set to come down in a controlled manner, about thirty minutes from now, and will be visible throughout all of ALO" he said gently, if with a little excitement (and mildness) "Because the previous Grand Quest was a big fat waste of time, many players were pissed, to put it mildly. So I put a new Grand Quest in, thanks to the castle's data being perfectly copied and pasted."

Wow, not only was that so like her daddy, but that sounded like so much fun! To experience the former castle of SAO and all it's floors again, but without fear of anyone dying anymore!

This was so great!

Then daddy brought out his wings, standing up, where she quickly hovered just in front of him. "I gotta go meet Leafa now" he said gently, touching a finger to her cheek, but thankfully not as a poke. "Be here when Asuna logs in, then you two can meet up with me and everyone else."

"You got it! Good luck, daddy!" Yui said brightly, watching as he flew off, giggling a bit.

And she continued to watch, though Yui soon realized she'd never asked daddy, about how he'd gotten GM access in the first place! She pouted a little, feeling a little frustrated at herself... but it should be okay anyway; she can ask him later, preferably when she, daddy and mommy are alone together, as a family.

A burst of noise quickly drew her attention, and she turned in mid-air.

Her eyes were closed, wearing an outfit that was extremely similar to her SAO one, except her hair was now a light blue... but other than that, it was her mommy in every detail! Her eyebrows furrowed a bit, adjusting to the new virtual body, then her eyes opened again - they were also a light blue now, but exactly the same otherwise as she looked over herself!

"Mommy!"

Surprised, mommy was nonetheless happy to see her, but also curious as she looked; well, it was the first time she'd seen her as a pixie!

"You like it, mommy?" Yui asked, twirling in front of her. "I'm a Navigation Pixie AI in this game!"

"I certainly do like it" mommy said, soft and a little excited. "I don't think you've ever looked cuter than you do now, Yui."

Yui giggled, flying to her mommy's shoulder, where her mommy gently touched her cheek with her fingers, which she leaned against. "And don't worry mommy, I can still appear as I usually do" Yui assured, making sure to kiss her cheek. "The only problem is that I can't fly in that form, so I'll only appear that way while around you and daddy!"

Mommy nodded, smiling. "And I wouldn't have it any other way" she assured, eyes closed for a bit - her emotions were so warm and happy, and growing more intense. "It's so good to have you back, Yui... mmh."

Feeling so much, and agreeing, Yui just gently hugged her mommy's cheek (and mommy held her closer, gently); it'd been even longer for her since they've been together. Daddy got to spend time with her as soon as he logged into ALO, but mommy hadn't until they'd gotten her out of that cage... after so long hoping to see her again, it's no wonder mommy's emotions were so intense in that regard.

"I'm glad too, mommy" Yui whispered, really soft. "We're finally back together, as a family."

Mommy's warmth only increased, fully reflected in her smile, and her eyes-

-Yui was certain it was reflected for herself too, in everything.

"Yeah. We are" mommy whispered, lightly stroking her back twice - then she 'shook' her head once, before looking behind her; there was a shimmering sound. "Woah... cool!"

Yui looked too; mommy had popped out her wings, and this made her giggle.

"To fly, there are two ways" she said cheerfully, glad to be teaching mommy too. "By controller in your hand, or by physically working your back as if you had virtual bones and muscles connected to your wings. Daddy massively prefers the latter one, by the way."

"Oh he does, does he?" mommy said, in a very playful tone that made her think she had 'plans' regarding that.

Yui merely grinned, giggling at the prospect of her daddy grumbling about a playful joke.

Mommy's flying experience went much like her daddy's: a little awkward at first, but rapidly got smoother and smoother... the only difference was her mommy didn't go through a 'How do I make it stop?' process, hehe, and also because she taught mommy how to land right away.

Wasn't gonna make that mistake twice!

But unlike her daddy's earlier journey, mommy no longer had to worry about her wings giving out; the new managers of this game had removed the flight time limit, which had well-received by every single player. When her mommy got it down pat, Yui cheered for her, flying up nearby even as her mommy accessed her menu for the first time in ALO (with the same instinctive right motion before she learned it was left now).

"Wow, I've got all my old skills and stats from SAO with me" she said, surprised.

"Uh huh" Yui breathed gently. "The same thing happened to daddy; his older character was merged with the newer one. At least before he reset all his skills and stats."

"Hmm" mommy considered, before she paused. "Wait, this is my currency, right Yui?" she asked (and she confirmed), looking at her. "Will it go away if I reset all my skills and stats as well?"

Yui quickly checked, hmming, then: "No, it'll stay anyway, mommy" she said cheerfully.

Then her mommy got a little grin. "Good, because I'll need it, knowing Kirito's wasted all his money by now" she said playfully, even proudly.

"What do you need it for?" she asked curiously, head tilted.

Her mommy smiled, looking at her- her emotions soon grew warm again. "Because one day, there'll come another Floor Twenty-One Boss fight in the New Aincrad" she said gently, if also intent. "And when that day comes, I'm gonna clear the boss with everyone else... and then head straight to Floor Twenty-Two."

Yui breathed out, her emotions giving way to awe and warmth...

"No one else is gonna claim that little cabin; we were there first."

Her eyes filled with happy tears, and with those same emotions, Yui hugged her mommy's cheek tightly again! Mommy gently rubbing her back only made it better; to not just be a real family again, but to live in the same house and everything!?

It's like a dream come true! Or as daddy said, a dream that they would turn into reality!

When Yui eventually pulled away, mommy wiped away her tears - her smile saying that she felt much the same - and she was so gentle, that it made her even more happy. Still, when they checked the time, it showed they had fifteen minutes until the New Aincrad would show up... and mommy had had enough practice flying now.

"Come on, we better meet up with everyone; they won't want to miss this" mommy said gently, flying higher and higher, the wind pulling at her hair. "Yui, lead the way for me."

"You got it, mommy!" Yui said brightly, hanging on tightly as mommy flew off at a fast rate.

Woohoo! Go go go go!

Done :) Well, this covers the SAO and ALO arcs anyway lol - still, next would be GGO.

And much like the added thoughts on the cousin situation, I did a similar thing about the cage itself, based upon a number of things from the anime. No-flying zone? Barrier? Other such things? If they weren't there, Asuna would have likely broken out long ago - that, or she already got loose a number of times before we were aware of this, and got the current restrictions to prevent that in the future (she was in there for some time before Kirito got in after all). Plus Sugou isn't the type to not take advantage of his GM status...

Anyway, glad you all enjoyed this :)