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Disclaimer: I do not own Sword Art Online.

Chapter 21. Proud

As Kazuto logged on that night, he put himself in his Spriggan form and opened his eyes to the forests of Alfheim.

He knew he would only have to wait about a minute before Yui would sense his presence and fly to him from wherever she was in the game.

He called out his wings and hovered into the air, looking up above the trees at the glowing lights of the distant cities. He witnessed several battles taking place from afar, but stopped himself from interjecting, as he had a different objective tonight.

"Papa!" Her voice called out from behind him and Kirito turned in midair as Yui flitted up to him in her pixie form. "You're late tonight. Did something happen?" Her ability to sense his emotions was stunning as her smile instantly faded into a little frown. "You don't seem happy like you normally do, Papa. Is it because Mama's not here yet?"

Kirito could not help but grin a little at that comment. "That's probably part of the reason," he admitted. "But Mama won't be coming tonight."

"Eh? Why not?" Yui hovered in front of his nose, her black hair flowing out behind her in a tiny stream. "Is she okay?"

"She just needs some rest." He replied. "I won't be staying long anyway. I just came to see you for a little while."

"Okay." She sounded a little sad that Asuna would be absent, but immediately perked up again. "In that case, if you're not training or fighting tonight, can we go home?"

It was rare for her to request something, so Kirito nodded almost instantly. "Of course."

Yui gave a little midair bounce before darting into his breast-pocket.

Kirito took off for the new Aincrad castle, and after a series of transports made it to the 22nd floor. He entered their wooden home before landing and dissolving his wings as Yui hopped out of his pocket, landing on the floor as a normal-sized girl.

Despite his intentions to leave before long, Kirito decided to wait just a bit longer. "Let me make you something to eat." He offered.

Yui followed him to the kitchen as he called out the ingredients and she eagerly bounced up and down at his shoulder to see what he was making.

As he was going about the kitchen, Kirito found himself in a reverie of memories: when they first saw Aincrad's new form merging with the World Tree, when they (mainly Asuna) had defeated the 21st floor boss and soared up to purchase the house, when they had had a party with all of their friends there, and when Asuna had cried for the rest of the evening because she was so happy.

His thoughts went off. I wonder where we would be if Aincrad never made it to ALO...

"Papa!" Yui's voice pulled him from his daze as he realized he had been chopping a loaf of bread for so long it was starting to disintegrate.

"Ah. Oops." He watched in dismay as it disappeared completely.

"Silly Papa." Yui scolded playfully. "What were you thinking about?" Her voice then shrunk a bit. "I could tell you were really happy. Happier than when you got here today."

"It's nothing." He laughed. "Here, I'll do it right this time." At last he managed to make a decent sandwich and handed it to Yui who munched on it thoughtfully.

"It's really good!" She beamed.

"Not as good as Mama's though, I bet."

"You're getting better! Did your cooking skill improve at all?"

"Not that much..." He said, a bit sheepishly.

Yui happily finished her meal, and almost immediately after let out a yawn. "Tired already?" He chuckled. "Come on, let's go to bed."

Kirito took her hand and led her into the bedroom. She climbed wearily onto the covers as Kirito pulled them up for her and tucked her in before removing his boots and battle clothes until he was just in sleepwear and sliding under on the other side.

"I still think Papa's hair looks really funny." Yui reached up and poked his spiky Spriggan hair.

"Don't start teasing me like Mama, now." He pouted and she giggled.

A moment of silence passed, but still Yui did not close her eyes.

"Neh, Papa? Mama seemed sad yesterday. I'm not really sure how, but I could tell that her smile wasn't real. Was she lying?" Curious, innocent black irises gazed up at him in the pale lighting.

"Maybe." He sighed, cursing his luck that his daughter was so perceptive. "She was thinking about a lot of things."

"Like what?" Yui nestled in closer. "I want to know what's wrong whenever Mama and Papa are sad because I want to help." The familiar seriousness in her eyes reminded him that she really was Asuna's daughter. "You'll always be my Mama and Papa, no matter what!" She declared.

Kirito gritted his teeth a bit as he tried to refrain from crying as Asuna's worries resurfaced in his mind. But then, he shoved them all away and cleared his throat.

"What do you mean by always?" He asked slowly, carefully.

"Mm?" She tilted her head to one side. "Well, I know Mama and Papa have other lives in that other world, so you won't always be here with me," as she spoke Kirito felt his eyes widen. "But that doesn't mean I'll go away. I'll always be here for Mama and Papa. I'll become a good guide to the other players of the game so they can have a really fun time! I want you to be proud of me!" She declared this with such passion that a tear rolled down his cheek. "Eh? Papa? What's wrong?" She asked reaching forward, tentatively touching his cheek.

"I'm really an idiot." He mumbled, a smile on his lips. "How could I ever let Asuna worry about something like this? Of course Yui will always be here." He then looked up into Yui's black eyes so like his own, shimmering with concern. "We're already so proud of you, Yui." He stated, moving in closer to pat her head. "You're the best child anyone could ever have."

The last tear sparkled as it ran down his cheek, and Yui stared in confusion for a moment before she smiled, too.

"That's because..." A tear fell from Yui's eye as well, though she did not fully understand why. "I have the best Mama and Papa ever."

Kirito chuckled as he continued to ruffle her hair and she poked his spikes in return. And I'm reminded again of just how much stronger these ladies are than me. He thought.

Suddenly, there was a familiar whirring sound in the room and Kirito and Yui looked up in surprise, Kirito flipping onto his other side so he faced the center of the room. A few seconds later, a beautiful girl with flowing, blue hair stood before them.

"Mama!"

"Asuna?"

"K-Kirito-kun?"

As her parents stared at one another as if they were strangers, Yui immediately hopped over Kirito, bounced once, and then launched herself from the bed into Asuna's arms.

"Mama!" She cried again. "I thought you weren't coming tonight!"

"Same here." Kirito got up from the bed, his expression soft yet stern. "I told you to get some rest."

Here, she stood in the dimly-lit room with her skin as smooth and white as always, but he would bet that at home her cheeks were red and damp.

"I...I know..." she sighed, defeated. "I thought you would have logged out by now and I just wanted to..." she let her arms finish her words for her as she hugged Yui tighter.

Kirito sighed as well, but then scratched the back of his head. "I get it. I couldn't stay away either." He took a step closer to her but stopped when her smile disappeared.

Her cerulean eyes gazed distraughtly over Yui's head into his, and it was obvious she had continued to worry even after he had left, enough to bring her here.

Yui still giggled in joy as she nestled into Asuna's chest, so Kirito did not want to speak and make her curious as to what he and Asuna had been discussing.

Instead, he met Asuna's gaze with his own serious eyes before he smiled. Asuna's eyes widened and flashed with the watery light of oncoming tears, and in that instant, he knew she understood.

There was no reason to worry about Yui.

She would always be there, she would always be their daughter, and they would always be proud of her.

His eyes told her that he would explain to her in words some other time, and Asuna nodded, letting a tear fall onto Yui's hair.

"Eh?" Yui lifted her head. "Now Mama's crying, too?" She wailed, flustered as she reached up with her small hand to wipe Asuna's cheek.

"Too?" Asuna gave a small smile at Kirito who blushed and looked away. "It's okay, Yui-chan. Everything's fine now."

At last Kirito stepped forward and embraced them both, as he had done many times before. He and Asuna wiped each other's tears with one hand as they pulled closer together with the other. Yui managed to turn around to face Kirito and squeeze his torso before turning back to Asuna and doing the same.

Kirito and Asuna then shared a glance as they silently decided to stay for a while longer, and Asuna quickly exchanged her Undine outfit for a long, blue nightgown that highlighted her hair.

Then, they lifted Yui together, each with one hand under her shoulders and the other under her knees. She squealed with delight as they carried her over to the bed, Asuna climbing over the mattress to stand on the other side of it.

"Ready, and-!"

Kirito and Asuna chanted together before they both jumped into the air with Yui between them, hovering for a split second before they all landed on the bed together, laughing and smiling.

Asuna kissed Yui's forehead as the girl cuddled into her collarbone, and Kirito moved closer to lie his arm across his daughter and pull Asuna in. He leaned over to kiss them both before he flopped back down onto his side.

They laid there for a long while, laughing and exchanging kisses and ruffling hair.

"We're so proud of you, Yui-chan." Asuna breathed.

"And we always will be." Kirito added.

"And I'm really proud that you're my Mama and Papa!" Yui replied.

At last, she closed her eyes with each of her parents holding one of her hands.

Kirito and Asuna blinked at one another, silently deciding to sleep there a little tonight, knowing that Yui would still be waiting for them tomorrow, and every day after that.

A/N: I hope this was a proper conclusion to this part!

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