Thanks for coming this far with me, and I hope that you all enjoy this chapter. Now, for a new chapter, in which Asuna is a badass

Caring For A Rat: Book 2, Part 8

The wind whipped through Asuna's hair as she fell. She gritted her teeth, keeping her mouth closed as she plummeted.

Below her, she could see the wide circular barrier of clouds that Sugou had bragged about in one of their meetings as a way to "keep anyone from discovering her until the proper time."

Like most things Sugou had mentioned, she hated it. SAO had been all about finding the exploit, the unconventional way of killing a monster. Even the more straightforward boss fights often had some hidden gimmick that made things easier, whether it was intentional or not.

Being creative and thinking on your feet was rewarded.

And Sugou was punishing players for being creative.

But that wasn't her real beef with the storm barrier. She had seen the fairy one day, flying desperately towards the branches of the world tree, too far down to make it, but she had yelled at him anyway, trying to get someone, anyone, to notice her and help her.

After three days of waiting, she had accepted that the fairy, whoever they were, hadn't seen her. And now no one would be able to get to her the same way, because Sugou had created the storm barrier that same day.

Maybe if the person she had seen outside her window had managed to land, she would have been able to get a message out, and maybe then she would have proof that she hadn't been abandoned; that Kirito and Argo hadn't forgotten about her.

Her eyes narrowed as she approached the storm barrier. Sugou had been crowing about it in the meeting after he first implemented it, about how it let items from above fall through, but players from below couldn't pass through.

She hoped that she could fall through it from above.

As the storm drew closer, she could hear the rumbling of thunder leaping from cloud to cloud, and for the first time, felt a twinge of fear. What would happen if she died here? Would she respawn, and be back under The Creep's thumb? Would she die for real, never knowing what had happened to her beloved Kirito and Argo? Never able to meet her daughter, her parents, or her brother again?

And then, the time for doubts was over as she plunged into the storm. Lightning bounced around her, making hair all over her body stand up, and she was buffeted by wind, tossing her about the barrier, each gust shoving her upward.

Her heart beat faster, and faster, as thunder rumbled right next to her, and her health dropped from a lightning bolt that passed half a foot from her face. She tried to blink the spots from her eyes, but more and more formed as lightning cascaded around her, seeming to form a cage.

It was almost as if The Creep was trying to trap her in the storm barrier.

She struggled to make her parched throat breathe, even as rain stung her eyes.

Lightning started to form tendrils around her, and she angled herself almost perfectly downwards, shooting through the clouds, racing the lightning.

"I will not be a prisoner!" Asuna roared as she dove, the wind stealing her voice away, inaudible beneath the thunder. Still Asuna Yuuki roared, her will bent, but not broken. "I am The Flash who leads the charge, swifter than lightning, and more deadly than a meteor!"

Her voice rose above the storm until it was all that she could hear, drowning out the howling of the wind, the pounding of the rain, and the rumble of the thunder. "I will not be kept chained!" Asuna roared her defiance, daring the storm to strike her.

The clouds parted beneath her as she swung a fist down, diving out of the cloud barrier. Beneath her lay a golden and white city, shining in the evening sun.

It looked like freedom.

Asuna laughed, the sound coming out more like a croak as her parched throat struggled to form sound. "I'm free!" It felt unreal. "I'm free!" She was out of the birdcage, falling through the air.

She tried to flex her wings, as she had before in her cage, trying to catch the air.

Nothing happened.

Suddenly terrified, she glanced back at her wings. A jagged hole greeted her.

It covered almost the entirety of the top right wing. It looked ragged, and as she reached up to touch it, it burned.

It was only now that Asuna noticed the debuff that she had acquired.

[Lightning-Torn Wing]: Your wing has been torn apart by lightning. You will be unable to fly until you have been fully healed.

Ah, Asuna thought as the city grew closer. I guess I'll see what happens when I die after all. She was strangely relaxed as she plummeted, detached from all the worries of the world. Argo, Kirito, please live long and happy lives, with each other, or separate, it doesn't matter. Just please, be well.

"Asuuuuuna!" Kirito? Asuna cast her gaze about, eventually locking on to a quickly growing multicolored speck, closely followed by a black speck. "Asuuuuuna!" Kirito! Tears welled up in the Flash's eyes, and she felt her chest convulse in a mid-air sob.

He'd come for her. No.

They'd come for her. That was Argo flying up beside him, looking oh so determined. "Asuuuna!"

"Kirito!" She cried, already trying to reach out for the two people who had dived back into what must have been akin to hell for her. "Argo!" She felt the breath be driven out of her as Kirito slammed into her, followed closely by Argo, and her health bar blared a warning as it dropped dangerously low, but Asuna paid it no mind.

She was with her loved ones again.

And for the first time since she had woken up in a birdcage, with The Creep leering down at her, she thought that everything would be all right.


I felt lighter and happier than I had in a long time.

Asuna was here, in my arms, and even though she had a jagged hole in her wing, she was clinging just as tightly to Argo and I as we were to her.

We hovered there, in the air, just breathing in each other's presence, Yui nuzzling into Asuna's neck, her tiny wings brushing against my face.

"You're here," I muttered, trying to push my wife against me as hard as I could. "You're here, you're alive, you're here."

Argo choked back a sob of joy as Asuna ran her hands up and down our backs. "I'm here." My wife said, and I almost wept. Her voice!

It sounded so wonderful!

I clutched her tighter, trying to bathe myself in her presence. "I'm here," Asuna said again, even as my tears soaked the gaudy dress she was wearing. "I'm not going anywhere."

"Promise Una-mama?" Yui said, held between the three of us.

Asuna nodded. "I promise."

We slowly descended through the sky, still clinging to each other. We landed on top of one of the roofs of the buildings below. Only then did we separate, and even then, we stayed in contact, holding on to each other's hands like it was a dream, and everything would vanish if we let go.

"I'm so happy to see you." Asuna said, breaking the silence that had fallen over us like an old familiar cloak.

"I am too." It felt inadequate, as a response, but it was the one I had.

"I should've known that you'd find a way ta break yourself out," Argo said, shaking her head with a grin so wide it looked painful. "You always were the strongest of us."

Asuna gripped our hands tighter, her face contorting with a mixture of emotions; Pride, shame, relief, and joy were all held within the complicated arrangement of features she wore.

"I almost didn't."

It was a quiet admission, one that it clearly pained Asuna to admit.

"When I finally got my cage open, a guard came to investigate almost immediately, and for a brief second, I thought that it would be easier, somehow, to pretend that the door had opened on it's own, and that I was being a good little prisoner and try to find another time to escape."

"Was it because of Kayaba?" I asked, stroking her arm reassuringly.

"How'd you know it was Kayaba?" Asuna asked, puzzled.

"I saw him, Una-mama!" Yui said, "He didn't hurt you, did he?"

"No, no, nothing like that." Asuna was quick to reassure Yui, one hand stroking the pixie's head. "He just…" My wife trailed off. "I'm not sure what he wanted. He wanted to talk about what Sugou was doing, but we ended up talking about what he was doing in SAO, and then he gave me this right before he fled."

Asuna held up a small card, about the size of a business card. It was black, with yellow lettering on it. "He said it's his login info, but I have no idea how to use it."

"Can I see it?" Argo asked, and Asuna handed the card over without complaint. She turned the card over, searching for a button or interface of some sort. "Hmm." she prodded it. "Ah!" a small section of text lit up at the bottom. "It's voice activated," Argo said, tossing the card back to Asuna. "Just say login Id and Password before the respective words and ya should be good to go."

Asuna held the card for a bit, her eyes tearing up. "I missed you so much," She said, her voice raw with emotion.

"I did too," Argo nodded, "Now login so ya can logout, alright?"

"Alright." Asuna held the card up, so that she could read it. "Login ID: Heathcliff." A chime sounded faintly, and a ball of light swirled into existence behind her. "Password: F5regon3e4w2q." I heard the buzzing of tiny wings as Yui fled, shooting past the ball of light and into the distance.

"My queen," A voice sounded from within the rapidly dissipating ball of light, and I instinctively drew my sword, stepping between it and Asuna. "This place is unworthy of a being such as you."

A tall fairy with golden hair and a haughty sneer on his features stepped through the remains of the ball of light. His robe was ornate, with embroidery all over the place, and a grand set of golden fairy wings rose from his back.

As he moved, motes of light fell from his body, and his eyes felt almost like cruel daggers digging into my skin when he turned his gaze upon me.

I felt my palms sweat as he spoke. This was most likely Sugou's avatar in the game.

"Please, return with me so that I might perfect you, and you may know the truth of your station." I heard the hiss of a sword behind me.

"My station?!" Asuna yelled. "I was your prisoner for two months! I will not be kept chained any longer!" She reached for a menu, as Sugou's avatar, [Oberon] by the name hovering above it's head, snarled.

"You do not have a choice in the matter." The fairy king raised his arm, and spoke. "Teleport Object ID Titania: [City of Light]!" There was a beat as nothing happened, and Asuna kept scrolling through her menu, tapping buttons.

"Any day now Asuna," I said, falling into a fighting stance. I wasn't certain what use I could be against an Admin, but I would have to try.

"Out of my way, boy. Paralyze Object ID: Kirito." Oberon glared at me, and I felt my body collapse. A quick look at my HUD showed a new debuff [Paralysis] I controlled my fall as best I could, managing to fall into Sugou's path. He glared down at me.

"You are a particularly annoying insect," He said, drawing an elaborate sword. He raised it, holding it in a reverse grip so that it would plunge point-first into my body. I tried desperately to move my unresponding body, the last of my energy having been spent controlling my fall.

"Farewell, insect."

Before he could plunge the blade into my chest, an arm wrapped around his neck, and a dagger dug into his eye. Oberon snarled, trying to grab for Argo, who had managed to sneak up on him from behind, and was now trying to stab him again. It was futile, as his health bar was refilling faster than she could strike, but she was keeping him from Asuna, and that was what mattered.

But she couldn't last forever. The fairy king managed to grab her attacking arm with one hand, and tossed her over his shoulder, throwing her to the pavement near me. "Paralyze object ID: Argo" he spat, fury lighting up his voice.

Half a second after he spoke, another fairy alighted on the rooftop between him and us. A very familiar fairy.

Leafa stood in front of Oberon, her sword drawn but not raised, and the mad king raised his hand, as if offering her something.

"Ah, it is good to see one from the lands below. How goes your-" Leafa cut off Sugou's monologue with a pointed question.

"Why did you do it?" I could see her grip her sword tighter, the fabric groaning under the strain.

"Why did I set the trial?" Oberon responded, clearly off balance. "It was to ensure that-"

"No." Leafa pointed her sword at him. "Why did you trap the SAO survivors on top of the World Tree?" Oberon's face grew slack with shock, before he regained his composure. "Answer me!"

"I had to secure my lovely Titania, of course," Oberon said, thrusting a hand out to indicate Asuna, who was still scrolling through the menu. "But I wonder, just how did you come across that information?"

Leafa set her face in a determined line, and charged, her sword flashing out in a dazzling pattern, catching the afternoon sun on it and deflecting the light into Oberon's eyes. The Fairy King recoiled, then stepped back further as Leafa's blade carved a furrow across his chest. For a second, I thought that she might prevail, before I saw Sugou's health bar stubbornly remain at full, despite taking a hit that would have drained any other player's health by at least a quarter.

Recovering quickly, the Fairy King reached out with a hand and grabbed Leafa's sword as she came in for another strike. "Ban Object ID: Leafa!" He yelled, clutching his other hand to the place where her sword had struck. No sign of her strike remained.

A burst of light engulfed Leafa, and when it faded, nothing remained. I felt my heart leap in my throat. She- she couldn't be, she wasn't dead. This wasn't SAO, she was fine.

She had to be fine.

"Now, come with me, Titania, end this foolish rebellion," Oberon said, sheathing his sword and reaching out a hand, as if he expected Asuna to walk into his arms.

As if in response, My wife's voice rose in anger. "Set Object ID Oberon: Level One." As I watched, the grand wings that seemed so similar to Asuna's damaged ones, faded, seeming to drop to the ground before they disappeared.

Asuna kneeled down next to me and grabbed the sword that I had dropped when Sugou had paralyzed me. Then she scooped up Argo's dagger, which had been lost in a similar circumstance.

"My-My Queen, what is this?" Sugou said, the tip of his sword dropping to the floor, his face slack. Then it hardened in anger. "You dare defy your king?!"

Asuna stood in front of us, and assumed a familiar stance. My sword wasn't a rapier, but she held it like one, even as she kept Argo's dagger in her other hand, hidden behind her body. "You're not my king. You've never been my king."

Oberon's face contorted in disbelief and anger at her words. "Then I shall have to show you I am your king!" He snarled, raising his ornate sword above his head and charging forward.

As Oberon charged, Asuna stepped forward to meet him, my sword coming up in a swipe that neatly severed his arm, before she pivoted around her forward foot to drive Argo's dagger into his chest.

The fairy king clutched at his chest with his remaining hand, before trying to reach out and grab Asuna. She kicked him off Argo's dagger, sending him sprawling on the rooftop.

"Get up." Asuna snarled, kicking the fairy king in the leg. "Aren't you supposed to be a great warrior? The 'Invincible Final Boss' of Alfheim Online?" She kicked Oberon again, sending him flying.

To his credit, he managed to grab onto the roof with his remaining hand, coming to a stop next to his fallen sword, his severed hand dissipating into motes of light.

The fairy king barely managed to grab onto his sword with his off hand and raise it in a desperate block before Asuna was on him again, coming in with a brutal stab.

My wife slapped Oberon's block to the side forcing him to expose his back as he refused to let go of his sword. Asuna then cross-stepped forward to drive Argo's dagger into him again, almost in the exact opposite position of the previous strike.

"You know, Sugou," Asuna said as Oberon stumbled away from her, desperately trying to regain his balance. "I think you deserve worse than this." She opened her menu again. "Where was that command…" She muttered to herself, scrolling down through her menu.

The fairy king's eyes widened, able to perceive something from his position that I wasn't, from my spot on the ground. Whatever it was, it sent him into a panic.

"Titania no!" He cried, raising his sword. "I will forgive all your transgressions and welcome you back to my side as an equal if you do not-"

Asuna's voice was hard and cold as it cut him off. "Set Object ID Oberon Pain Threshold level: 0" With a scream of pain, The fairy king collapsed, his ornate sword clattering to the floor; his injured arm clenched tightly to his chest. "You like that, huh?" Asuna slowly approached the kneeling, sobbing man, the tip of my sword dragging along the rooftop.

"Titania, please-" Whatever plea Oberon was going to make was cut off by another sob of pain. I felt my heart beat faster. Why was Asuna doing this? He hadn't tortured her, had he?

"You deserve every last bit of that pain for what you did to my fellow survivors." Asuna drew back my sword, and plunged it into Oberon's chest, draining the last of his health bar. As he started to turn pale, he gurgled out one last word.

"Tit… an…"

Then he shattered.

And I was left with a thousand questions at the tip of my tongue. What had Sugou done to the 300 other survivors that had made Asuna so vengeful? Many possibilities swirled around my mind, each worse than the last. With some effort, I cleared my mind. It wasn't important right now. What was important was getting Asuna out of here.

"Good riddance" the aforementioned woman said, sheathing my sword and Argo's dagger. "Hang on, I'll get you guys out soon." My wife knelt down next to us, once again scrolling through her menu.

She doesn't know what to say to activate a command I realized suddenly, Asuna's lack of familiarity with the nuts and bolts of computer and admin terms coming back to bite us. It was a long thirty seconds as she found the command necessary, but once she did, we were free almost instantly.

"You need to log out," I said, the second I was no longer paralyzed. Argo nodded, backing up my statement.

"But we just-" I placed a finger over Asuna's lips. Behind my wife, Yui nodded encouragingly. She would be able to reunite with Asuna later.

"You need to tell the hospital staff not to let Sugou into your room. And I want you out of that helmet as soon as possible." Asuna froze, then nodded reluctantly.

"We'll be there as soon as we can," Argo said, bringing up her own menu. Asuna nodded again, before pressing a button on her menu and vanishing in a shower of light. Argo and I vanished a second later.


Tomo barely felt the tiredness in her body as she stepped out of bed. Asuna was out! She grabbed her phone off the nightstand, and almost tripped in her haste to reach her cane.

It was only grabbing on to it that let her stay upright. Tomo hurried through the house, grabbing her purse off of it's hook by the door, and slipping her knife inside. The fastest route to the hospital Asuna was at was by train, and she would need her pass

She almost fell again as she tried to run out the door, her physical body not ready for such exercise yet. She barely remembered to lock the door behind her as she left, taking off at the fastest walk she could manage for the elevator.

It seemed like an eternity, waiting for the elevator to reach her, and when it opened she rushed inside, jostling the woman coming out. "Sorry Ms. Yamato!" She called back as the doors closed.

Tomo desperately wanted to sprint towards where she knew the hospital to be. She wanted to see Asuna as soon as possible, and the train was taking forever to arrive. But her rational mind won out, and she stayed at the station. Even if the train was late, she wouldn't be able to walk all the way to the hospital without collapsing, and Asuna would be angry at her if she did that.

Soon enough, the train arrived, and Tomo rushed on board. This late at night, there were only a few people in the car, and they were all absorbed in their own activities.

It was agonizing, sitting through all the stops that the train made, waiting desperately to hear the chime that signalled her stop. Asuna was waiting for her, and Tomo didn't want to let her wait much longer.

Finally, the train slid to a stop at her station, and Tomo walked as fast as she could out the door, her cane clicking furiously on the tile. She almost fell over when a man pushed by her on the stairs, too busy wrapping up a call on the phone to pay attention to where he was going, but slammed her cane down in time to steady herself.

"Just keep movin' Tomo," The young woman muttered to herself as she made her way up the last few steps and out onto the street. "Just keep movin'."

The streets were scarcely populated as she moved through them, her eyes scanning for anything that might impede her path. Twice, she thought she saw someone preparing to jump her, but it was only shadows.

Tomo let out a sigh of relief as she walked into the hospital parking lot, leaning heavily on her cane. The walk had drained her, but Asuna was so close. Having captured her second wind, the young woman pressed onward, only to run into hospital security forces as they struggled with someone.

"Let me go!" Sugou Nobuyuki yelled, trying to wrench his arm away from the guard holding it in his grip. "She's my fiance, and I will see her!."

"She specifically requested that you not be allowed in." The cold response came from the guard holding his other arm. "Please wait down here without complaint, and we will have it all sorted out." Sugou didn't listen, only struggling harder.

"I just need to talk to her and I can fix this!" He spat, yanking his arm out of the security guard's grip, twisting in such a way that he caught sight of Tomo. "You!" He cried, jabbing a finger at her.

Tomo flinched, despite herself, and she grabbed her knife with one hand, ready to draw it. "You caused this! You and that pathetic boyfriend of yours!"

Wow Tomo thought absently, even as she reached into her bag and unsheathed her knife a little while the security guards struggled to contain the raving madman. That's the second time I've been mistaken for Kii-bou's girlfriend. It was somewhat flattering, even if it came from someone who very clearly wasn't grounded in reality.

"You corrupted her! You turned her against me!" Sugou shouted, trying to pry the hand gripping his trapped arm off with his free hand. "I just have to remove you and she'll come back to me!"

Tomo stepped back as another two security guards rushed through the doors of the hospital, the now half-dozen guards bodily picking Sugou up and restraining him with a pair of handcuffs.

"You can head on through, Ma'am," One of the guards said, wiping sweat off his brow. Tomo moved as quickly as she could, her cane clacking furiously on the ground as she moved through the doors into the familiar lobby of the hospital.

Mrs. Fujita was sitting in her normal place behind the secretary's desk, looking rumpled. She brightened up considerably when she saw Tomo walk into the room.

"Ah, Ms. Hosaka, you came in at a wonderful time."

"Asuna's awake?" Tomo said, a fierce joy welling up through her. It wasn't some trick. Asuna was really out. The secretary nodded, picking up a small note.

"Ah, before you go up to meet her, do you know an 'Argo'?" Mrs. Fujita asked, "Asuna has been asking for her and Kazuto almost constantly." The last doubts that Tomo had harbored that it all might be a trick, and that Asuna was still asleep, still trapped, fell away, and she leaned heavily against her cane as her legs threatened to give out under her.

She'd never told Mrs. Fujita her online handle.

"Ms. Hosaka?" The secretary asked, standing up. Tomo waved her off, taking deep breaths to steady herself.

"I'm fine, I'm-" She took a deep breath. "I do know Argo."

Mrs. Fujita looked skeptically at her, but thankfully didn't press, sitting back down in her chair. "Well, Asuna's in the same room as always, and the nurses are always available if either of you need any help." As the secretary spoke, the doors slid open once more, and Tomo turned to see who was coming into the hospital.

Kazuto stumbled through, his cane sliding across the tile as he scrambled for purchase, looking like he would fall before stabilizing himself against a chair. He looked up, meeting Tomo's eyes, and his mouth fell open. Before he could ask the question about to fall from his lips, Tomo nodded, and she saw a shiver run through him.

"Let's go," He said, and the two of them hurried towards the elevators, moving as fast as their still-frail bodies would let them.

It was a thirty-three second wait for the elevator. Tomo counted the ticking of the second clock, counting down the time until she would see Asuna again, free from the helmet that had claimed so many lives, that Tomo had put back on to rescue her.

When the doors opened, a janitor almost bowled her and Kazuto over as he walked out and they tried to squeeze into the elevator past his mop cart.

"Sorry," Kazuto called back over his shoulder as Tomo hit the button for the fourth floor, and the close doors button. The janitor looked thoroughly confused.

The elevator ride lasted far too long, and by the time it opened, Tomo's heart was beating a hundred miles an hour.

Thankfully, the hallway was empty, so the two eager teens didn't have to run over anyone as they walked as fast as their canes would allow, until they came to the door to Asuna's room.

Tomo paused then, with one hand on the doorknob. Here, old doubts, doubts that should have vanished by now, came back into play. Would Asuna really want to see her? Did she blame Tomo for not getting her out sooner?

A glance at Kazuto told the info broker that her partner was battling similar thoughts. She took a deep, steadying breath, grabbing onto Kazuto's hand.

When he glanced at her, she responded with two simple words.

"Together, okay?"

Kazuto nodded, and the two of them grasped the door handle and turned it together, stepping into the room beyond.

The room was awash in moonlight from the open curtains. They'd never been open when Tomo had come here before. The silvery light cast a spectral glow over everything, giving the room an otherworldly air.

Sitting upright on the bed was Asuna.

She was staring out the window, her hands nestled in her lap. Her hair fell freely behind her, matted and tangled from it's time in the NerveGear. Beneath her hospital gown, her arms were almost skeletal, and Tomo thought for a moment that she might be able to count Asuna's ribs through her clothing.

As the door closed behind them, Asuna turned away from the window.

Her face was pale, and thin. Her cheek- and jawbones stuck out from her face in ways that seemed unhealthy, and she struggled to keep her head steady. Despite her weak physical state, her eyes gleamed with the inner fire and strength that Argo knew was at the core of Asuna's being.

The moonlight fell softly behind her, giving her hair a silvery tinge, almost like parts of it were blended with silver.

"Welcome back from the moon, Princess Kaguya," Tomo didn't know why it had slipped out, but it broke the veil of silence that had descended over the room, and Kirito surged forward, collapsing into Asuna's arms, carefully holding himself so as not to strain her.

"It's over, Asuna. It's over." He murmured, running one hand through his wife's hair.

Tomo turned away to give the couple some privacy. They needed it, after such a long time apart. As she moved towards the door, she heard a dry, weak voice call after her.

"Argo!" Asuna called, coughing. As Tomo watched, the auburn-haired girl opened one of her arms, waving her in. Slowly, hesitantly, the blonde crept closer, keeping a careful eye on Asuna's expression at all times.

It never budged from her encouraging smile.

Tomo sank onto the bed on the opposite side from Kazuto, carefully nestling up against Asuna's side.

"You came for me," The painfully thin girl said, pulling them close with all of the strength she could bring to bear. "I-" Asuna choked back a sob. "I thought that I was alone, that you had forgotten about me, and you came for me." Tomo pulled back to stare in disbelief at her female partner.

"Never," Kirito hissed, pulling himself closer to Asuna, until Tomo could barely see where one ended and the other began. "We'd never forget you."

Asuna nodded, her eyes watery.

"'Cmon, Aa-chan," Tomo laid a finger on Asuna's nose, enjoying the way her partner's eyes crossed looking down at it. "Do ya really think I'd leave behind one o' the best sources o' info I got?"

Asuna laughed hoarsely, reaching for a plastic cup of water on her bedside table. Tomo grabbed it for her, lifting it to Asuna's lips, carefully angling it so that the bed-bound girl could take careful sips of it.

There would be many more things to discuss, and Tomo couldn't tell where the future would lead, but for the first time since she had woken up from SAO, she was content.