A/N: Well everyone, here it is. The finale of Papa Helios. This has by far been the longest side story for me to write, but I'm sure you've all enjoyed it up until now. Here you go readers.

It had been quite some time ever since Yui had been found by Wyvern's Inferno and adopted by Helios as his daughter. After coming to terms that Helios of all people became a father of such a kind hearted a lovely young girl, many residents began to adore her cheery outlook. The guild along with Kirito, Asuna, Klein, Agil and Lizbeth all found a deep amount of care for the girl, and Helios couldn't be prouder of his little Yui. There was just something about the black haired girl that brought out the best in the axe player, a side that only Ren and Dagger knew about. A side that was the complete opposite his usual psychotic persona that struck fear into the numerous players of SAO.

So that's why it was in Klein's best interests not to piss off Helios when he returned from the front lines to pick up Yui.

"Uncle Klein, can we get some candy?" Yui asked with that adorable look of hers.

Now normally, the red haired leader would bend over backwards for any cute girl. But since Helios would likely toss him off the edge of the world he decided to play it safe today. "Nah Yui, your dad wouldn't like it if you got a tummy ache. Plus he gets real scary when you so much as frown."

"Yeah. Papa is real protective of Mama and me. He's so cool!"

"Cool… Well that's one word for it…"

Yui tried to get the swordsman to buckle under her cuteness but his perseverance won the day as Helios arrived with his friends. Seeing her dad at the doorway caused Yui to run and jump into the teenager's arms. "Papa! You're back!"

Helios laughed as he picked up his daughter and lifted her up onto his shoulders. "That's right kiddo, papa took care of that mean old field boss no problem."

Alice coughed real hard at his claim while muttering the word 'bullshit' under her breath but as usual Yui paid the sudden coughing no mind to it's hidden meaning. The girl turned her head to the scythe user with a concerned look on her face. "Are you okay Aunt Alice? You cough a lot after Papa and Mama comes home."

"Yeah Alice, care to treat that cough before you get my daughter sick?"

"This is a game you freaking idiot! You can't get sick!" Alice bit back.

The insult towards her beloved father caused Yui to scrunch up her face and stick out her tongue at Alice. "Boo Aunt Alice! Don't be mean to Papa!"

Ren sighed at the family outnumbering his girlfriend and moved to Klein. "Thanks again for watching over Yui man. We really appreciate it."

Klein waved off the praise. "Nah don't mention it dude. Yui was a well behaved girl so it was no problem."

"Dang right she's well behaved. I don't raise any troublesome children." The puff of his chest made it all too obvious on how Helios was ego tripping himself. But a quick jab to his side via Dagger put him back in line. "Of course Dagger is just as involved in raising Yui right."

"Good boy."

"Well thanks again Klein, see ya at the next boss raid."

The guild departed from the the swordsman's residence and decided to take a small outing to the Town of Beginnings. Yui had come to love the floor for all it's neat sights and the kids she played with so Helios made sure that Sasha was always around to watch over her playdates. Asking very 'nicely' could get him real far when it came to the church owner.

After walking through the town for several minutes, the group finally arrived at the church. Yui ran happily up to the front door of the church. "Miss Sasha! Everyone! I'm here!"

The door to the large building opened as Sasha watched Yui come up. She smiled at the young girl. Her father might have been a bit on the crazy side but Yui was nothing but a sweetheart. "Well hello there Yui." She looked over and saw Helios and the others. "And I see you brought some friends too."

"These are Mama and Papa and they're friends." Yui smiled.

"I see." Sasha said.

"Sorry to intrude." Dagger said as she walked up. "If it's alright, I hope Yui can play here for a bit."

"Of course. She's more than welcome." Sasha said. She looked across the group to someone behind them. "Does that woman happen to be with you as well?"

Ren and the others all turned their heads curiously to find a woman with grey hair tied up in a ponytail standing at the gateway to the church. She walked up and bowed her head. "Hello. I'm Yulier of the Aincrad Liberation Army."

Almost instinctively, Helios reached for his axe, but was quickly stopped by Ren. The guild leader looked at Yulier. "May I ask what you're doing here? I hope you're not here to complain about the incident the other day."

Yulier shook her head. "No, I'm not. I'm sure those men deserved what happened to them, Kibao included." The group all eyed each other curiously at this. "Actually, I came here today because I'd like to ask for your help. I had heard that the player that had put Kibao in his place was coming here frequently."

"The Army wants MY help?" Helios asked. "Now this I've gotta hear. Why isn't that dumbass Kibao here to ask me himself?"

"Kibao doesn't know anything of this. Part of my reason for being here is to deal with what a problem he's become."

"... I'm listening."

The group soon found themselves sitting together in a private room inside the church. All eyes were on Yulier as they awaited her explanation. They were still all on guard with Yulier being a member of the Army. The woman took a deep breath as she began.

"When the Army began, it wasn't supposed to become the dictatorial organization it's become now. It's original purpose was to share resources and information among the lower level players, especially the ones in the Town of Beginnings."

"And then the Army grew to large, am I right?" Kirito questioned. "You weren't able to control it."

Yulier nodded her head. "Yes, that's exactly right."

"Running a large group is tricky. Usually, you need several higher up members to take charge of certain parts of the guild." Ren said. "But then that leaves the guild open to people abusing their power. People like Kibao."

"Correct." Yulier nodded. "Kibao has been using his influence to take money and items from other players, under the pretense of collecting taxes. The leader of the guild Thinker began to seriously consider kicking Kibao out of the guild. Kibao caught word of this, and set a trap."

"A trap?" Asuna asked.

Yulier lowered her head, a grim expression growing along her face. "He stranded Thinker in a dungeon. He's been stuck in there for the past three days."

The group all gasped. "Doesn't he have a teleport crystal?" Alice asked.

Yulier shook her head. "Kibao said he simply wanted to talk with Thinker. He believed him. I'd go rescue him myself, but I'm not strong enough to fight the monsters in that dungeon." She looked at the group. "I came here because I need your help to rescue him."

"And exactly how is this OUR problem?" Helios asked. "This Thinker guy got himself stuck in this mess. It's his fault for trusting a scumbag like Kibao."

"Please! I know I have no right to ask this of you all, but I need your help!" Yulier said as she got up from her seat and bowed down. "When I think about Thinker being stuck in that dungeon, I feel like I'm going insane!"

The group all looked at each other, wondering what they should do. They couldn't even entirely be sure that Yulier was telling the truth and this wasn't a trap set up for them. But after seeing the desperation in her eyes, the sheer hopelessness that was set in her made Asuna get up from her chair. "We'll do it."

"The hell Asuna? How do you know this isn't just bait for some revenge on me?" Helios shouted.

The auburn haired girl shook her head and looked at Yulier. "Something just tells me that she's telling the truth. She wouldn't look desperate otherwise to save Thinker." She offered the Army knight her hand. "You can trust us to get Thinker out of there."

Yulier grasped Asuna's hand with both of hers and bowed to her. "Thank you so much! I cannot thank you enough for this!"

Helios groaned while rubbing his temples at being dragged into this mess. "So what are we gonna do about Yui then?"

"What do you mean Helios?" Ren raised an eyebrow. "Sasha can look after Yui while we help Yulier."

"You expect me to trust the nun to watch over my daughter in a town filled with filthy Army degenerates." Seeing the looks he was getting from Sasha and Yulier, Helios glared right back at them. "I'm not apologizing for voicing my worries about my little girl."

In a sense Helios was right about the danger. Given that Yulier went out of her way to let them know of this information, it wasn't too far off to assume that the Army might catch wind of what's going on. And since Kibao's grudge against Helios and his family was greater than ever was the teen was in a right sense to be worried about Yui's safety.

Kirito got up from his seat and patted the little girl on the head. "Asuna and I can keep Yui safe as we go save Thinker. That way no one we know is in any sense of danger during all this."

"That… Isn't a terrible idea in all honesty." Ren mulled. Considering that two of the strongest players in the game were joining them on this rescue mission, having them play bodyguards could help put the guild at ease. "I think this might be the best idea Helios. I understand you're worried about Yui's safety but Kirito and Asuna are here to keep her protected."

The axe player groaned at Ren's impeccable logic. Even in times like this, leave it to the leader of Wyvern's Inferno to come up with a bulletproof plan. He looked to Dagger and the others who looked to agree with Ren's plan which left him with no choice. "... Ugh fine." Helios looked to his daughter. "Yui, it's time for you to see what Papa does for a living. Think of it like a bring your kid to work day."

Yui cheered and hugged her dad's waist while the others, excluding Dagger, all sent judgemental looks to their friend/guild mate. While Yui's vision was away from her dad, he flipped off everyone sending him looks and lifted her up to his eye level. "So Yui, I'm gonna need you to stick close to Aunt Asuna during our adventure, can you do that for me?"

The black haired girl nodded her head and when put down ran near the rapier user's leg. "Hi Aunt Asuna."

"Hi Yui." Asuna smiled. Yui's cuteness was undeniable which made her want to protect the girl all the more.

"Alright, we all geared up?" A show of weapons being raised was the answer that Kirito was looking for. "Let's go get Thinker out of there."

Yulier lead the group down the to the area where the hidden dungeon was located under the Black Iron Palace. Ren couldn't help but find it ironic that such a dangerous dungeon was located under what was supposed to be the safe haven for all players of SAO. Walking through the deep area, nothing seemed all that powerful for the higher floor players. Nothing more that Lvl 80 at the most but for the people living in Floor 1 that might as well have been a nightmare sleeping under their feets.

Helios gave some wary looks around the dungeon and to Yulier just to make sure nothing shifty was going on. Out of everyone, he was the most on edge considering the danger that was present to Yui in this area. Asuna might be one of the strongest players in the game but it was just in his fatherly instincts to watch out for any and all danger around them.

"Are we getting any closer to where Thinker is?" Alice asked after she and Ren took care of a group of enemies.

Yulier nodded her head and brought up the map data for the place. "Yes we should be nearing his holding area."

"Good because I am getting sick o- hurk!"

Dagger yelped in surprise as something fell upon Helios from above and pinned him to the floor. The group all looked to see a slime was trying to smother the axe wielder with its gelatinous body and judging by his flailing, the monster was succeeding.

"Get this piece of shit off of me!"

Mai brought out her rapier and pointed it at the monster attacking her guildmate. "Leave it to me!"

"Hold on yo- OUCH! Watch where you're aiming that thing! You- SHIT! I'll kill you!"

The group all started to have a chuckle at Helios's expense as Mai stabbed at both the slime and the teen, though it was arguable as to whether Mai's true aim was really off or not. One solid hit on the side of the slime made it completely shatter leaving behind a gooey pile as a drop. Mai frowned at her reward but started to back up in fear once Helios got up and picked up the slime that was left over. "You think you're so cute don't you?"

"N-Now Helios I was honestly trying to get the slime off of you! Y-You just kept squirming around so I couldn't aim properly." She tried to rationalize but seeing him glower at her even harder. She tried to run but it was futile in the end as Helios grabbed her by the hem of her shirt and started to smother the leftover slime all over her face.

"Oh no! A slime is attacking Mai! Yui help her out!"

"On it papa!"

Asuna tried to grab the young girl before the situation could escalate but she was much faster than she gave the kid credit for. With a childish roar Yui jumped on top of Mai and started to bat at her face to get the slime off of her. Needless to say this didn't sit well with Alice as she watched her sister get dogpiled by the father-daughter duo and broke up the fight before something else stupid happened.

It took a tiny pep talk and some water for Mai to get over the slime being rubbed on her and being called shrimp by both Yui and Helios but the group found themselves back on track to save Thinker.

Time passed by as the group continued their journey through the dungeon. The majority of enemies in the dungeon consisted of slimes like before, and frogs that dropped an odd type of meat. Despite Kirito's begging, Asuna constantly refused to cook the meat, even going so far as to throw away the frog meat herself.

Yui eventually fell asleep while riding on Asuna's back. Ren walked up next to Yulier, who was looking at her map. "So are we getting close yet?"

"I think so." Yulier nodded. "There's a safe zone up ahead. Thinker should be in there."

"Finally." Helios said as he stretched his arms out. "This whole rescue mission has been boring me to tears."

"Need another slime dropped on you to spice things up?" Alice asked.

"Keep it up, and the next slime we find is going all over you." Helios warned.

The group continued their trek through the dungeon. Eventually they saw a room in the distance. Kirito used his search skill to check it out. "I can see someone in there."

Yulier widened her eyes and took off running. "Thinker!"

Ren and the others watched as Yulier ran on ahead of them. "Wait, hold up!" Ren warned, but the woman didn't seem to hear him.

"Thinker!" Yulier cried out as she ran. "I'm here Thinker!"

"Yulier!" a man called out from the room.

"Thinker!"

"Stay back!" Thinker warned. "The corridor's rigged!"

The words reached Ren's ears and his eyes widened. Looking on ahead, he saw a figure appearing by the crossroads of the hallway. He immediately tapped into the speed of his Crimson Flash skill and sped towards Yulier. "Get down!"

Yulier suddenly found herself tackled away as a scythe came down at her. She felt her heart skip a beat when she realized how close she had come to dying. Her assailant came out from the shadows and hovered past her. It was a skeletal-type monster wearing a long robe with a large scythe in its hands. A name could be read above it, The Fatal Scythe.

"What the hell is that thing?!" Alice gasped as she and the others arrived at Ren and Yulier's side.

"I don't know, but I don't like the look of it." Riku said. "My detection skill isn't telling me its level."

Helios grit his teeth as he pulled his axe out. "Kirito, Asuna, take Yui to the safe zone."

"Yulier can take her." Asuna said, handing the girl over to the silver haired woman. "You guys can't take this thing on your own."

"But-"

"No arguments. We're staying." Kirito said as he unsheathed his two swords. He glanced over at Yulier. "Take Yui and get out of here! Hurry!"

"Papa…" Yui muttered, scared of what was going on right now.

Helios wasn't exactly fond of leaving Yui in the care of anyone from the Army. But at the moment, he knew there wasn't any other choice, plus Yulier had proved she was telling the truth with this. "Go with Yulier, Yui. Leave this to your Papa and his friends."

Yui was about to argue, but Yulier quickly escorted her away towards the safe zone while the others stayed behind to fight.

"Bring it on, you bastard!" Helios roared as he charged at The Fatal Scythe.

"Wait Helios!" Ren warned.

It was too late however as The Fatal Scythe swung its weapon at him. Helios swung his own weapon to counter it, but the power difference was too great. Despite being the tankiest of the group, Helios found himself swatted away like a fly.

"Helios!" Dagger exclaimed, as she looked at her boyfriend lying defeated on the ground behind them.

"Dagger, look out!"

The warning came too late for Dagger, as by the time she turned around, The Fatal Scythe was already right next to her. She gasped as Alice appeared in front of her to block the attack. Alice took the brunt of the hit, but she and Dagger were both sent flying.

"Alice!" Ren exclaimed. He glared over at the powerful monster and charged at it. "Damn you!"

With his speed, Ren was able to get a slash in with his sword, but he gasped as he saw his attack barely scratched The Fatal Scythe's HP. The monster swung its weapon, with the shaft slamming into Ren and sending him rocketing back. Mai and Riku both ran in to catch their leader but he crashed into them and sent them all tumbling across the ground.

Kirito grit his teeth as he and Asuna were all that was left. The couple quickly stood firm in an attempt to hold back an attack from the monster, but like the others, they stood no chance and found themselves lying on the ground painfully.

"What are we going to do?" Ren groaned as he tried to find the strength to stand.

"Yui! Get back here!"

Helios and Dagger both widened their eyes as they saw Yui walk out of the safe zone and stand in front of The Fatal Scythe. She stood firm, despite the fact that the powerful monster was now staring her down.

"Yui, what are you doing?!" Helios exclaimed.

"Get back to the safe zone!" Dagger pleaded to her daughter. Fear overtook her as she watched The Fatal Scythe prepare to attack. "YUI!"

Everyone gasped as they saw the scythe come down at Yui, but they soon found themselves even more shocked as the curved blade was suddenly blocked by a small violet barrier that made The Fatal Scythe fall back. There was a message on the barrier that had appeared, reading 'Immortal Object'.

"Immortal… Object…?" Helios questioned.

Yui held out her hand and suddenly a large sword manifested from flames. Yui grabbed the blade and swung it down at the monster. Everyone gasped as flames surrounded it and destroyed it with a single blow. Everyone was stunned into silence as they tried to process what had just happened.

Once he managed to get over the shock of what had just occurred, Helios scrambled to his feet and hugged his daughter tightly. "Holy shit Yui! That was incredible! I have never been more proud of you than I am right now!" Despite his cheers of praise, Yui remained unmoved and seemed almost solemn. This was concerning to the young father since she always grew ecstatic when he hugged her. "Yui?"

The young girl looked up to her father and smiled sadly at him. "Papa… I remember everything now."

Everyone's attention all went to Yui if it wasn't already as they all moved to the white safe room. All of them gathered around Yui as she sat on the stone tablet in the middle of the room.

"So you regained your memories Yui?" Dagger asked starting off slow.

The black haired girl nodded her head and looked up to her parents. "Helios, Dagger." The couple both stepped back a bit in surprise. Ever since they became a family Yui never called them anything but mama and papa. "This world, Sword Art Online, is controlled by one immense system called the Cardinal System. It was meant to operate without any sort of human intervention and regulates the balance of SAO in its own accordance. Everything is controlled by the Cardinal System from monster AI behaviors to the rate of drops. Even the mental health control of the human players, the Mental Health Counseling Program Prototype 1, Code name: Yui. That's me."

Helios felt as if someone had just stabbed him in the stomach at this revelation and Dagger brought her hands up to her face. This little girl they found in the woods wasn't even real, she was program made by the Cardinal SYstem.

"A program like an AI?" Kirito asked.

Yui nodded and looked down at the white floor again. "I was given the ability to emulate emotion so that people could feel at ease with me." Tears fell down her face as she gripped the fabric of her dress. "I'm a fake, all of me. Even these tears aren't real… I'm sorry Helios, Dagger…"

"But that doesn't make any sense! You had amnesia, that can't happen to an AI!"

"Helios…" It pained Ren to see his best friend with such pain and desperation in his eyes. He was trying to deny this whole situation, he didn't want to accept what was happening.

"Two years ago when this game launched, for unknown reasons, the Cardinal forbade me from interacting with any players. I was forced to monitor the player's mental health… It was horrible… All of them were suffering and I was unable to do anything to help. I couldn't help any of them, I was forbidden to leave and help. Over time errors kept on occurring within me and I fell apart… But then one day, I found one player who was different than everyone else in this game." Yui looked up and grabbed Helios's hand. "You Helios."

"M-Me…?"

"Yes." Yui placed another hand on his and held it tightly. "You were so different than everyone else. In your heart and mind you bared an intense feeling of suffering and isolation. Deep seated pain was held inside you at all times." Helios looked down feeling the sting of tears well up in his eyes. He knew what she was talking about and it hurt. Yui may not know the specifics, but even knowing that she had an idea of how much pain he went through in life cut him deep. "Yet despite all the suffering you went through both in the real world and in here, you stood tall and overcame your pain. Joy, pride, excitement and even love began to fill your being despite the horror of your situation."

"I… I don't…"

Seeing the axe player was having trouble forming words, Yui continued. "I… I wanted to meet you and your friends. The players who held the most hope and optimism in this game even knowing they could be seconds away from dying."

"And that's why you were wandering Floor 22 on the day they came to visit us?" Asuna guessed.

"Yes. Originally I wanted to get to know you Kirito and Asuna but knowing that you were friends with Helios I bided my time. It was only a matter of time before you all came to visit and when I learned they were coming to celebrate your marriage I knew it was time." The tears were coming down much harder off her face. Dagger tried to wipe the tears away from her face but backed up when Yui stiffened upon her approach. "It's strange isn't it? I'm not supposed to have these feelings… Wanting so selfishly to meet someone, it should be impossible for me to think that…"

Getting the courage to do so, Dagger came forward and held Yui's and Helios's hands with hers. "But Yui, that means you have intelligence! A mindless program shouldn't be able to do that, to have individual wants and needs! In your heart you wanted to meet us and you did!"

Yui looked up when she felt someone pat her on the head, seeing Ren looking at her with a small smile. "That should mean that you aren't something controlled by the Cardinal System anymore right? You broke free of it's grip on you so that means you can do what you want. So what do you want Yui, as your own person?"

"What… I want? I..." Yui lifted herself off the tablet and hugged both Helios and Dagger, the tears coming down all the harder. "I want to be with you two forever Papa and Mama!"

That one desire is what broke the dam for Helios as he held the little girl tightly in his arms as he began to cry. No one could even form a response to what was happening before them. Over the entire two years of knowing him, the tank player had never shown any sort of weak emotion such as sadness or even ever cried once. Seeing him so exposed and vulnerable humanized him within their eyes and reminded Ren of a time he and Helios would rather forget.

"Of course you can!" Dagger cried as she joined in on the hug. "All three of us, we can be together as a family."

"You're my daughter Yui! Dagger's daughter! Our child! Nothing in this whole damn world is gonna take you away from us! I'll burn down anything that thinks they can even try and hurt you!"

This was it, this was the warmth and love that she was so familiar with. The love of these two players that did their absolute best to help a little girl who they didn't even know and who wasn't real. Yui wanted to stay in their grip forever but it sadly wasn't meant to be. "It's too late…"

Helios looked at Yui with a confused look. "What are you talking about?"

She looked down at the console behind her and felt her eyes droop down. "This console grants the GMs access to the Cardinal System. I used it to gain the power needed to defeat the Fatal Scythe. But now the system is running a check on me and has determined me a foreign object… I'll be deleted soon."

All color and hope drained away from Helios's face, the sudden rush of emotions made him feel faint as he fell to his knees.

"Isn't there anything we can do Yui? We can't just let to be deleted!" Kirito asked desperately.

Yui looked to the people who had taken care of her as her parents and smiled at them. "Mama… Papa… Thank you so much for all the love you showed me."

Dagger finally lost it and hugged the girl as tight as she could manage in her arms. "No! You can't go Yui! We're a family… You light up our world, how can we live without you!?"

"It's okay… Papa makes you smile doesn't he? I know that he'll keep you happy as can be. Share your happiness with him and keep on showing others how to be happy in my place."

"But I can't be happy without you!" The tears that were coming down Helios's eyes blinded his sight after he found the strength to hug his daughter once more. "This whole world isn't worth living in without you!"

Yui started to glow in a white light which made the couple only hold onto her harder. "I know you can Papa. You're the strongest person I know. You can do it…"

Kirito and the others could only watch in futility as Yui disappeared into a flurry of white particles causing the parents holding her to fall onto the floor. Ren and the others immediately came in to console their two members who had all but dissolved into a crying mess.

Asuna didn't even know what to do to help. Yui meant the world to Helios and Dagger and now… she was gone. She couldn't even begin to imagine the pain they were going through at the moment.

Kirito clenched his fists in anger. 'Kayaba… you've taken too much from the players here. Well not this time!' He rushed to the console Yui had been sitting on and quickly began typing away.

"Kirito…?" Dagger questioned. "What are you doing?"

"Quiet, I'm trying to focus." Kirito said as he continued typing. Suddenly a flash of light erupted from the console and knocked him back.

"Kirito!" Asuna exclaimed as she rushed over to her in-game husband's side. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah." Kirito nodded weakly as he got to his feet. He walked over to Helios and Dagger and held out his hand. "Here. Take this."

Helios and Dagger both looked at the object in Kirito's hand. It was a small tear-shaped item. Helios looked up at Kirito. "What is this?"

"Before the system rejected Yui's admin credentials, I used her access to change her data into a game object." Kirito explained as he dropped the item into Helios's hand. "What you're holding right there, that's Yui. And when we clear this game someday, I promise I'll find a way to bring her back to the same girl she was."

Helios and Dagger widened their eyes as they looked at the item. A tear rolled down Helios's face as he silently nodded. "You better believe I'm gonna hold you to that, Kirito."

Kirito nodded his head. "You have my word."

Ren and the others helped Helios and Dagger to their feet. Afterwards, they all teleported out of the dungeon. Helios and Dagger thanked Kirito once again before heading home. Ren and the others suggested they go with them, but Helios said he and Dagger wanted to be alone for now.

Once Helios and Dagger returned to their shared inn room, they both sat on the edge of the bed. The room that had been so full of joy and life the past few days suddenly felt empty. Yui's laughter echoed throughout the room like a phantom.

"Papa caught me again!"

"Mama's gonna make sure I'm safe, right Mama?"

A tear rolled down Dagger's cheek as she hugged Helios and cried. "For the record, this is exactly why I didn't want to act as Yui's mother."

Helios frowned as he held Dagger close. "I'm sorry. This is all my fault. I never should have-"

"I didn't say I regretted it."

Helios looked down at Dagger as she paused her crying and showed him a soft smile. "No matter what happened, I'm glad Yui came into our lives. She brightened up my world and there's nothing I would ever trade in the world for it."

Helios felt Dagger hug him, staying close to him. He hugged her back and nodded his head. "Yeah. Me too."

"One day we'll have Yui back with us. And then we'll be a family again."

"Yeah. Just the three of us."

"And when that time comes, you're paying for a nice dinner for me and Yui."

Helios let out a chuckle as he and Dagger sat in the room together. "You got it Dagger. Anything for you and Yui."

-One year later-

"Alright you two, what exactly did you call us here for?" Helios asked as he and Dagger walked with Kirito and Asuna through the woods of Alfheim Online. "I'm getting tired of not getting any answers."

"Just a little bit further Helios, we promise." Asuna assured the Salamander.

"Yeah i'm sure your promise is gonna hold up this time after the last two times it fell through."

Asuna and Kirito could certainly understand why Helios and even Dagger to an extent were really grumpy today. Today was the anniversary of when the little AI girl named Yui came into their lives. Those days that followed Helios adopting the girl were some of the happiest moments that they had ever seen from him. But when she left it tore them apart in such a harsh way emotionally.

Yet despite the pain they went through, the two of them were still a valued help in clearing SAO, even if Kirito did most of the heavy lifting.

"Look I know your testy but it's a surprise for the two of you." The Spriggan explained. "We really can't go spoiling it now can we?"

Dagger rolled her eyes yet still followed behind them. She really would rather be alone with Helios on a day like today but Asuna had been so insistent on joining up that they relented in the end. But this boring walk of nothing was wearing thin on the both of them.

A sigh of relief came from the other couple once they broke through the forest and found themselves in front of a rather cozy looking house. A simple wood boarded two story house that had a chimney that was currently breezing out smoke.

"Alright what's going on here? You better not give me some smartass answer either or I'll kick your asses for dragging us out here." Helios growled.

Kirito rolled his eyes at the threat from the Salamander. "While I'd like to see you try just go ahead and go in. The door's unlocked."

Deciding it was much better to get it over with, the couple walked to the front door and opened it. Asuna gave a hug to her boyfriend and had an expectant look of excitement on her face. "You think they're gonna love it?"

"Helios loved her more than anything other than Dagger, I'm more concerned whether or not he has a heart attack from his excitement."

Dagger whistled as she looked around the home, taking in all the nice furnishings and decorative choices. It reminded her of her grandparents home in the countryside. But the most glaring feature the both of them noticed was the several crudely drawn arrows on paper that were pointing to the staircase. Bringing out his Executioner just in case this was payback for calling Kirito a loner bitch, Helios walked forward with his girlfriend right behind him. He followed the arrows all the way to a room that had its door closed. Nodding between themselves, both opened the door to the room that utterly floored them for what it had in it. There was one bed, two dressers, a wonderfully big window for an overview of the forest.

And a little black haired girl sitting on a chair looking right at them with the biggest smile on her face.

"Mama, Papa! You're here!"

Helios dropped his axe in utter shock and dumbstruck awe at who was in front of them. A face who filled his heart with such joy that he never thought he'd see again.

"Y-Yui…? Is that… really you?"

The black haired girl nodded her head and jumped out of the chair to glomp her parents. "Mama, Papa it's me Yui! Uncle Kirito helped return me to normal!"

'That clever son of a bitch actually did it…' The emotional dam that Helios had taken a year to reconstruct was instantly torn down, tears falling down both his and Dagger's face as they embraced their returned daughter who was crying with joy herself.

"I'm so happy to be back! I love you so much mama and papa!" Yui cried into their chests as she used every bit of strength to hug her parents.

"We love you too Yui! So much!"

The mother and father both returned the gesture and hugged their child the same way. Happiness filled their hearts as the realization that their family was whole once again. And this time there was going to be nothing that would tear them apart.

A/N: Well I hope you all liked how this story ended. I want to thank Cocytus Ace again for giving me this idea. I had a lot of fun writing it out. As for the next story for this, I will be doing the same thing as Papa Helios and updating one chapter at a time. I won't be able to get the first chapter out until around summer time unfortunately as I will be busy with other stuff. But it's one I'm sure you'll all enjoy, as a few of you have been asking me if I'll do it. Any of you that went to the movie theater recently may recognize the title.

Next Time: Ordinal Scale.