As I promised, Little Moments has returned in June.
Lost Memories: Lingering Longing
"Yui!"
The young SAO Player collided with Asuna's slender form, effectively knocking the young adult down onto her back while Asuna's arms wrapped tightly around the young child. Her child, the girl she had spent nearly four and a half years raising in SAO and watched shatter with glimmering polygons was here. She was here in Asuna's arms, safe and sound.
"Mama!"
"Thank Aincrad," Kirito could hear the tremble in Asuna's voice, "you're safe…" The commander of the largest guild in the SAO survivor group's usual rather quiet and firm composure dissolving at the sight of her healthy little girl.
Kirito couldn't help the smile that spread over his tense features before something else settled into his heart, longing. For a reason Kirito couldn't explain, he possessed the brief urge to go over to them both and wrap his arms around them both before squeezing them tightly. Why? The thought brushed over his damaged mind, why do I care so much about them? Frustration bubbled over his smile, making him look away and adopt a confused frown, Why does my heart squeeze itself every time I look at them? What happened to me in SAO?
"Eh hem," The person standing nearby the van of children coughed into a closed fist before getting on with the rest of the event, "will the black swordsman please step forward?"
Kirito was jerked out of his thoughts by the voice and he hesitated. Would she even remember him? The memories of all SAO survivors were so messed up that would his daughter in the game even remember who he was to her?
A pair of slender hands pushed him firmly from behind and when he turned to look behind him he saw his sister smiling encouragingly at him.
"Go on Kirito," Suguaha had finally got his gamertag down. "You'll never know till you try," it was as if she could read his mind.
Kirito swallowed hard and took a few more steps forward, each step seeming to last an eternity as the action reverberated through his entire body, accompanying the muted sound reverberating through his ears. Please… he couldn't help but shut his eyes and hope, please remember me… Please Yuuki…
"Yuuki, you're free to go."
With his eyes closed Kirito could hear the footsteps of someone smaller than him and he heard them transition from a pounding run to a trott, the change of pace making his heart go up to be lodged in his throat. She doesn't remember does she?
However just a heartbeat later he felt small arms wrap around his back and heard a familiar voice.
"Hi dad," the bubbly voice he remembered from his dreams of SAO addressed him in a happy but shaky voice, "remember me?"
Kirito let his eyes open to see the ten-year-old girl that he had raised in SAO staring back at him with a timid but determined and brave look in her dark pink hued eyes. She was a little different, with the same signature hairstyle from SAO but instead of her long hair being the natural black it was in the beginning of the game, it was it's mid-game deep purple. The only thing she was really missing was the signature bandana she had tied around her head. The bandana Kirito knew her mother had given her.
"Like I could forget you Yuuki," Kirito breathed in a shaky laugh and hugged the young girl close, feeling her shaking in relief in his embrace.
"Thank goodness…" Yuuki giggled, "that wasn't fair dad, you scared me!" and Kirito nearly squealed at the bone-crushing (even for a superhuman like Kirito) hug that came from the ten-year-old girl's body.
"I scared you?" Kirito wheezed as he managed to pry her fingers apart so he could breathe properly, "I've been waiting for a whole week!"
"So? One morning is a really long time to me!" Yuuki retorted before she broke into more giggles and hugged her father again, gently this time. She nuzzled his shirt, "I missed you."
"I missed you too," the laughter leaked out of Kirito's body like a leaky tap, leaving just the relief and the sense of fatherly love, "I missed you so much."
The rest of the event didn't really register to Kirito, too caught up in introducing Yuuki to his younger sister and having his daughter around. However, as they walked leisurely around one of the less used trails around the campus, something Yuuki said stopped him in his tracks.
"Mom liked riding on your shoulders."
Kirito stopped, blinking slowly at the new information, "w-what?"
"If you turn around I'm going to slap you," Asuna told him bluntly but with a slight giggle.
Kirito rolled his eyes and dutifully kept his eyes on their two daughters playing tag in front of them. "I'm not Klein Asuna," he snorted before raising his voice to speak to their kids, "Yuuki! Come back over here before you stray too far!"
"Doesn't mean you're a perfect gentleman," Asuna pointed out as Kirito felt her weight settle on his shoulders. Before she added on to his comment, "Yui! You're far too young to stray off into the forest!"
"Auh, fine! Coming dad!" Yuuki hollered back and scooped up her younger sister before heading back over to them.
"Mom," Yuuki explained, oblivious to Kirito's whirring and confused mind. "Whenever she had the opportunity and we were all walking down the paths near the house she'd ride on your shoulders and tease you about being a knight's horse."
At the information Kirito's heart warmed, "ah, she sounds like a wonderful person Yuuki."
Yuuki hummed in agreement to his words and Kirito smiled, looking idly up at the blue sky as he walked. I can tell Yuuki adored her mother just by the way she talks about her, his smile waned, and by how she cried hearing that I don't remember who her mother is when she herself doesn't remember who she was either.
His dark eyes scanned over the glittering sun through the growing denser foliage, one day I will find her. If only for Yuuki's sake.
With that resolution in mind Kirito spoke up, breaking the comfortable silence between his and his daughter, "can you tell me more about her? Maybe it'll trigger a memory or something."
Yuuki brightened, "of course! Let's see…" She thought about it for a moment, unaware of Kirito's growing smile, "mom was a swordswoman and fought in the front lines like you and Klein, she was really powerful but you were my favorite to train with…"
Kirito listened closely, feeling an inexplicable warmth growing in his heart as he listened to his daughter describe what she remembered of her mother.
"… I remember the warmth of her hands as she brushed my hair every night and when I asked about you on the days you weren't there she'd always tell me, 'there's things we all don't necessarily want to do but they have to get done Yuuki. Kirito doesn't want to not be here with us tonight but it's something that has to be done…'"
"You look tired Liz."
Kirito couldn't help but snort into Yuuki's hair, much to her chagrin, at his sister's comment. He was waiting with Yuuki and Sugu for Liz to finish Yuuki's new sword, a replica of her original obsidian bladed sword.
Liz gave them a sleep deprived glare and slammed her hammer onto the anvil for good measure, making an ear piercing 'Tiiiiiinnng' before she put the hammer down. "I am tired, Yui's nightmares are worse than Asuna's and it's hard to sleep when you have a five-year-old who's up every few hours crying on top of your own SAO themed nightmares."
Kirito blinked, "but Asuna's fine, she does all of her normal guild training, intense front-line conditioning and sword training like normal."
Liz's glare fixated at him and Kirito could feel the hairs on the back of his neck standing up at the irritation on her face. "Asuna has sleep-deprivation training from SAO Ki-ri-to!" Liz snapped with her hands on her hips, "just like all you front liners, she can be up for four days straight without hitting her exhaustion limit unlike me, a normal blacksmith who needs her sleep!"
"Woah, relax, I'm sorry I said anything," Kirito quickly apologized, "I forgot only the front liners have that training."
Liz rubbed the bridge of her nose in a stressed manner, leaving smudges of coal and metal dust on her face as she did so, "SAO shouldn't have had little children, especially ones as young as Yui."
"Yui's five right?" Sugu questioned, "so how old was she in SAO?"
"I found her when she was a baby," Asuna's voice startled everyone, especially Liz.
"Asuna?" Liz jumped and looked guiltily at her best friend, "I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to sound like I was blaming either of you."
Asuna held up a hand to stop her and lightly shook her head, "I don't blame you for saying something," her smile turned tired, "I'm tired too, but I'll talk to you about that later okay?"
Liz nodded and seemed to try put it aside, appearing slightly awkward and exhausted.
Sensing the conflict going on in the room, Sugu spoke up, continuing the earlier topic. "You found her as a baby? How's that possible?"
Asuna nodded in confirmation and took a seat down on the stairs of Liz's personal workshop, "I found Yui when she was too young to even sit up on her own. I brought her to Agil after I completed a quest only to find that the reward was a helpless baby and we estimated that Yui was about five months seeing how she didn't have any teeth and couldn't sit up on her own just yet."
"You seem to remember a lot about her in SAO," Sugu pointed out, "maybe you memory's coming back?"
Kirito shook his head, "that's not how it works sis. I remember all of the details about Yuuki from back when I rescued her from the Liberation Army but I'm nowhere near being any closer to remembering the details of the game itself and the other people I've met in SAO."
Asuna nodded, "having that person around you all the time makes you begin to remember more and more about them based of the small quirks you see and the emotional attachment you already remember of them. I remember Yui just fine including how clingy she was as a toddler-"
Liz snorted with amusement, "she's still clingy Asuna."
Asuna gave her a playful glare but continued her previous statement, "-but I don't remember any of the other members of my family and neither does Yui. She remembers small details about her father but nothing that would really pinpoint who he is."
"Speaking of Yui," Yuuki spoke up, curious eyes on Asuna, "where is she?" The small child was good friends with Yuuki, spending most of her time with Yuuki when she wasn't with her mother.
"She's with Argo," Asuna smiled at the child and looked at the rest of their confused faces.
Argo? Why Argo? Kirito wondered blankly, and his confusion seemed to be mirrored in everyone else's faces.
Asuna gave them all a smile, "Argo sent me here to get you all actually."
"Huh? How come?" Kirito asked her curiously, moving Yuuki off of his lap and standing up.
"Caylee's been released."
"Dad, who's Caylee?"
Kirito's dark eyes were focused intently on the gate's entrance, picking out all of the details and waiting alongside everyone else for the hacker, but he eventually responded to Yuuki's question. "Caylee's a hacker from inside SAO," he explained. His eyes instinctively drew toward Asuna as she gently picked Yui up and lightly bopped her on the nose with a loving expression on her face. Why do I still feel drawn to her?
"... dad… Dad?" Yuuki's voice pulled him out of his thoughts and Kirito looked down at her. "What does being a hacker have anything to do with this?"
"Caylee's the only SAO player who took on a scientific career after the defeat of the hundredth boss who's been released from the researchers in charge of the SAO players." Kirito explained and glanced at Argo's pacing form, "she's also Argo the Rat's right hand and according to Argo, her childhood friend."
Liz butted in, "all of the science players were taken and split off from the normal players to essentially interrogate and figure out what they found out about Kyaba's work. Until now I wasn't aware they would ever be freed to be honest."
"Oh," Yuuki blinked and Kirito rested a hand on her shoulder.
"Don't worry about it Yuuki, this is adult stuff," Kirito smiled tensely at his daughter. If only she knew… I hope Caylee doesn't come out in bad shape.
Yuuki pulled a face but dropped the topic as a vehicle pulled into the campus' main entrance.
Kirito watched grimly, prepared for the worst. After all, nobody knew what kind of stuff the science players were put through besides the group in charge and the science players themselves.
After a few moments the car stopped and a man got out of the drivers seat and pulled open the van's doors, allowing the new group of survivors to spill out into the main area.
Kirito searched the crowd, looking for the tell tale curly hair and vibrant blue eyes.
"Didja see her Ki-boi?" Argo's voice was tense and mildly strained, her accent leaking through her voice. "C'mon, c'mon… where is she?"
"Not yet, I can't see her through the crowd," Kirito explained before he cut himself off, "maybe she's not- I found her. She's at the back, coming toward us right now."
The seconds it took for Caylee to come up to them seemed to last longer than they should've, and when she was visible Kirito barely had five seconds to properly see the hacker before Argo hug tackled the other girl.
Caylee stumbled backward a few steps, "I'm so tired," she breathed before Argo released her and smacked her upside the head in true lightning speed Argo fashion. That seemed to breathe energy into the hacker and she gave Argo a glare, lifting a hand to rub her head in the process. "What was that for?!"
"That was for bein' dumb," Argo retorted before she gave her friend a side hug and Kirito couldn't help but snort, getting both information brokers' attention in the process.
"Good to see you two dorkface," Caylee rolled her eyes and leaned on Argo, looking as though she may drop out of exhaustion at any given moment.
"Same to you," Kirito greeted the hacker with a smirk, "still got your brain intact?"
Caylee turned serious, "that and more."
"What do you mean?" Asuna asked, walking closer to them back from greeting her new guildmates.
"I mean I think I know what's going on here. As in, why we're all here."
At the words that came out of Caylee's mouth the hairs a familiar foreboding shiver went down Kirito's spine.
Asuna looked warily at Caylee and covered Yui's ears, "what's your hypothesis?"
"We're here..."
Kirito followed Asuna's example, "Hey! Dad, I can't hear!"
"... to be a self-trained and sustained army."
Dun dun dun! The plot thickens! I do intend to write more for this short story series and Little Moments as a whole however... I'll be dropping some of the prepared chapters and possibly requests. If there's a request you really wanted to see then definitely let me know!
Darkmonger127 - Yes, to both the general story and Alf-Heim Swords :D
REQUESTS
Kirito Comforts Sinon after GGO Spin-Off "I Will, No WE Will Protect You"
Should I just upload what I have?
Leafa Aids Kirito with Sugou (Guilded Hero Alt. Ending) "Who's Going to Save Kirito?"
Leafa Babysits Yui Alone For The First Time "What if I Mess Up? You Won't Auntie!"
Upcoming Planned Chapters
Fairy Human Allegiance ~ Sequel to "Beautiful Fairy." Sorry, no spoilers ;)
IRL Lighting Flash ~ Asuna's a track team runner, Kirito's a young boy with skill with technology. When an accident happens and Asuna's rendered unable to persue her dream, will the antisocial inventor come to her rescue?
(NEW) Peace Brought On An Ocean Breeze ~ Sugou did more than threaten Asuna, but his tech doesn't work, leaving Asuna almost paralyzed from the hips down. She's not really all that bothered, having grown up with medical problems and spending most of her life in a wheelchair already, but on those days when she feels like she can't keep going, Kirito's now there, making her life complete.
Other SAO Stories
I'll wait for as long as it takes Kirito ~ Asuna needs to be with a guild, the new third guild called the KoB. But to get her there Kirito may have to push her away to get her to leave him and join the guild. However, one sentence stops him in his tracks 'Because I love you! I love you much to leave...' |I'll Wait Forever Series|
New Memories And Resolve ~ Numbed by rejection and heartbreak, Asuna is at a loss of what to do. So she makes the hard decision to follow Kirito's wishes and join the KoB, purely for his sake. |I'll Wait Forever Series|
Was it All a Joke to You? *New* ~ Getting used to the separation is hard for both parties, but when Kirito and other players' lives are in danger, Asuna instantly comes to his aid. |I'll wait Forever Series|
Stolen Kisses, Iron Resolve ~ After seeing Asuna change drastically to the point where he sometimes fears for her life, Kirito wavers in his decision. What it really a good idea to seperate when Asuna was so torn up by it? (To be Uploaded) |I'll Wait Forever Series|
Butter Knives and Togas ~ The next boss fight is in two days, their inventories have been snatched, Kirito's wearing armor he can barely stand in, Asuna looks like an angel, and they're armed with butter knives. Seriously Kyaba? (To be Uploaded) |I'll Wait Forever Series|
Please… Don't Do this ~ Asuna's had enough. The lonely and tired girl gazed below at the water from where she was sitting, was it worth it? And if so, what could change her mind? A boy from her past who's been looking for her since she beat him in a tournament two and a half years ago. HEAVY AU
The Hacker's Role ~ I unknowingly helped make the game unhackable from the outside, and now I'm going to make up for my mistakes. (Collection centered around Caylee's involvement in SAO.)
What I Power My Sword With ~ ...I power it with love. Love for her, my equal and better half. Kirito will always carry Asuna in his heart, even in a world tens of years away.
