Anyways, some review responses (but before that I changed the title of Just One Last Time to Just One Time. Makes the names of both stories sound better)

BurningXero: Good point, but Aurain probably wouldn't know that (It was a mistake on my part, but its perfectly believable he might think a girl a year younger than him is older right? Especially with how developed Suguha is.)

Gateman: The entire fact that Suguha doesn't recognize her brother or know his character name was silly in itself in the original story. She knew he was part of SAO, and personally she must've met his other friends at some point. Just doesn't seem likely in my opinion. I'm only going with her not recognizing him because its canonical. You'll just have to go with it like I did the first time I read the light novel.

RomanceDagger: Thanks!

Explosion Ninja: Thanks! You probably won't see anything to do with your question for several chapters. I plan on this story being fairly long.

Master of Chimera: YOU'LL NEVER FIND ME TO DO IT. Your review did motivate me though, even if it was a little out there.

As a quick reminder

Kirito = Kazuto

Lisbeth = Rika

Leafa = Suguha

Aurain = Ryan

It's so weird switching between real and game names. I may give up on it, or make a poll asking what people think. It's the same dilemma I face when thinking about adding suffixes after names.

Chapter II: Flight and Fight

I sighed deeply and opened the door to Kirito's room. My friend was sitting on the bed, head in his hands.

"We're going to save Asuna no matter what you know. Even if I have to do it myself" I took a seat on the other end of the bed.

"I know." Kirito sighed deeply, "Sorry for getting so worked up. How'd Leafa take it?"

I snorted loudly, "She's just fine believe me. She's coming with us by the way."

"W-what?"

"She all but forced herself on me right before she left. I'm pretty sure if I'd said no she would've trailed us the entire way. Wouldn't surprise me if she was related to Lisbeth."

"Sheesh..."

Kirito leaned back on his hands and sighed deeply. Poor guy looked troubled, and I didn't know what to do to help him other than continuing to support him in his quest to save his girlfriend and my friend.

As it turned out, I didn't have to. Suddenly a small thing that reminded me of a faerie flew out of Kirito's chest pocket and sat on his knee. Then without warning, similar to it appearing, it grew suddenly and became a little girl in a white dress.

"W-Who is that." I stared blankly at the young child in front of me now sitting on Kirito's lap.

"Er." Kirito scratched his cheek as the girl stared up at him with an adorable grin on her face, "I never did tell anyone about Yui did I?"

"Is that her name?" I sat down on the bed next to Kirito.

"Yep!" She giggled, "Are you one of Papa's friends?"

"P-Papa!?"

I fainted.

I rubbed my eyes sleepily and walked down to the Kirigaya's kitchen wearily. Kazuto was already waiting, munching on a piece of toast. After I'd woken up last night, he'd explained the entire situation with Yui. Apparently she was some program that he and Asuna ended up adopting as their child. At first they hadn't known she wasn't real, and it had taken a run in with a thing that looked like the grim reaper. She had saved them by accessing SAO's system and stopping the monster in its tracks.

"Morning..." I yawned loudly.

"Good Morning Ryan." a cross tone came from my right. My blood ran cold, and I slowly looked to the right. A angry looking Rika Shinozaki was standing in the hallway just off of the kitchen. Any joy at seeing her in person was wiped away by her obvious anger at me. I took a small step back.

"H-H-H-Hi Rika!" I laughed nervously, "Look I reallllllly meant to tell you, but I wanted it to be a surprise. Unfortunately I kinda got wrapped up in some things an-"

Rika sighed loudly, interrupting my hurried apology. She walked up to me and kissed me quickly on the cheek before taking a seat across from Kazuto

"It's really hard to stay mad at you when you get all cute like that you know." She stirred a cup of tea with a straight face, "It's really not fair."

Cue my face turning bright red. I shuffled hastily over to the table, and took my own seat between her and Kazuto. It was a square table, with only really room for one person on each edge. Rika's face softened even further, and she grabbed my hand under the table

She whispered, "I'm really glad to see you."

"Me too." I stroked the top of her hand with my thumb.

Kazuto coughed loudly, sending both our heads rocketing upwards with massive blushes.

"To start this off." He began, "My sister is at school, so no worries of her eavesdropping. Secondly, I already told Rika everything about the Asuna issue. I figured she was going to stick to you like glue anyways, so I might as well tell her right now."

'Well that was blunt.' I blinked, ignoring the glare Rika was giving to Kazuto "Go on."

"Like I've told both of you, we have to rescue Asuna in a little under a month." Kazuto continued, "And the only clue is that picture Agil got a hold of. We have no idea if it's actually Asuna, and I might be leading your boyfriend on a wild goose chase, but-"

Rika interrupted Kazuto by suddenly placing both her hands on his shoulders and looking him in the eye with a firm look on her face.

"Kazuto."

"Y-Yes?"

"Even if it's a goose chase, I know Ryan'd feel horrible for not even trying. So don't let those kind of worries get into your head. You know this idiot would do stupid things for his friends."

"H-Hey..." I muttered half-heartedly. I knew she was just teasing me.

"Anyways the point is." Rika continued, "Don't worry about. We're behind you 100%. We want to save Asuna too."

"Thanks guys." Kazuto smiled widely and wrapped us in an awkward hug over the table.

"So you guys want to reminisce about the good times we had in SAO before you and Ryan dive back into ALO?" Rika asked when Kazuto let go, "I've got some pretty funny ones to tell about Ryan. Have you heard the story of our first meeting?"

When afternoon eventually came, and Kazuto's sister had come home, our catching up was at an end. Kazuto and I had to take care of our ALO diving for the day, and Rika needed to go home and take care of some things her mother wanted her to do. But before she went, she wanted to have a private talk with me first. We went into the guest room, and stood awkwardly for a few moments, neither one of us wanting to start the conversation. Eventually I asked an innocent question, not sure why she'd asked for this.

"How'd you find out anyways?" I questioned, holding my NerveGear under my arm.

"Klein spilled the beans in our group chat. Apparently Kazuto told him."

I facepalmed and sighed deply. Rika giggled in response, though her giggle sounded a little half-hearted. Though I wasn't necessarily the most perceptive guy alive, I sensed that something was wrong. I dropped my NerveGear on the bed and wrapped my arms around my girlfriend. It was really weird how my frame dwarfed her, when only a few months ago I was around the same size due to the constraints of virtual reality. She must've been surprised to see how tall I'd gotten.

"What's wrong?" I asked softly.

"I'm worried. I know I shouldn't be, you've proved on so many occasions you can take care of yourself, and ALO isn't dangerous like SAO...but I still have this feeling."

"I'll be careful. If you're so worried, why don't you come with me and Kazuto?"

Lisbeth sighed deeply and looked up at me through slightly red rimmed eyes, "I'm still not sure I want to head back into a VRMMO. I know it sounds selfish since Asuna needs our help and all, but I just want to keep my feet grounded in reality for now."

"That's perfectly fine." I replied firmly, "Kazuto and I can handle it. Don't do anything you don't want to do. I don't hold it against anyone that doesn't want to go back to virtual reality after SAO."

Lisbeth giggled into my chest, and wrapped her arms around me tighter

"You've become so mature since I first met you Ryan. I remember when you ran away from me terrified when we first met."

"I probably still would." I muttered, only half serious

"Really!" She said in an excited whisper, "It's amazing where you've come from since those early days. Now you're so much more calm and you've still retained all the traits I love in you."

I felt my face become burning hot, and I just hugged her tighter in response

"The point is," She continued, "I just want you to stay safe alright? Do whatever it is you came here to do, as well as rescue Asuna and then come back to me alright? You'll promise me right?"

Lisbeth's voice was trembling at this point, and her body was shaking as well. I wasn't all that used to her being so vunerable, but I did what came to mind first.

"I promise." I rubbed her back softly, "But what do you mean what I came here to do?"

The girl stopped shaking, and stared up at me. Her eyes were even more red-tinged than before, but she managed to give me an amused smirk.

"Girl's intuition. Go make me proud yeah? And never give up."

The Sylph capital was as pretty as it was the day before. It was a tad too green for my personal liking though. Other than that, I wouldn't have minded living there permanently.

When Kirito and I logged on, we were greeted by the smiling Leafa. At least she wasn't going to be grump while traveling with us. I breathed a little sigh of relief, hoping she'd be nice. We grabbed a quick meal at the tavern, since our character's needed something, and headed out the door. Kirito stated almost immediately that his current sword wasn't going to cut it, so we headed to the local npc stores.

After a quick browsing at the weapon shop, He ended up grabbing a sword longer than his own torso, and practically wider, to Leafa's and my own amusement. To my own amusement, he picked up a mix of cloth and leather armor that gave him a cloak very similar to his old SAO outfit.

'Here's to hoping we don't have to deal with any trouble.'

Too bad Kirito and I were trouble magnets.

"Do you know how to fly?" Leafa suddenly asked as we walked away from the stores.

"E-Er fly?"

"I'm only asking because Kirito didn't know how." Leafa rubbed the bridge of her nose, "I'm guessing from your response you don't know?"

I could only nod dumbly in response, I was only really used to this assertiveness from Lisbeth and my own mother. I didn't really expect it from others. I didn't actually know how to fly. Kinda obvious if you knew I was a new player. I didn't even know HOW to trigger the wings.

"I'll just have to teach you on the fly then." She sighed deeply and suddenly tugged me along by the hand. Kirito gave me a bemused look as I almost fell over, and had to struggle to stay on my feet. She kept on dragging me through the wide streets until we were out of the market area. We ended up in front of a giant tower.

"What's the giant tower for?"

That was Kirito. He asked the question I was thinking myself. Why were we heading to a giant tower?

"It's for long journeys. This way we'll have extra altitude when we take off?"

That just seemed off to me. The tower wasn't all that high, and I imagined it didn't take THAT much stamina to fly that high. I didn't question it however, since I didn't really want Leafa to go off on me. She seemed like she'd be scary when angry.

We entered the tower, where quite a few Sylphs were standing around or sitting on strange rounded blobs that came up from the ground. We were oh so close to the stairs to the top when...

"Leafa!"

'Oh this better not be trouble. I jinxed it earlier didn't I?' my shoulders sagged, and I looked over my shoulder to see a tall Sylph flanked by two other Sylphs.

"Sigurd." Leafa raised a delicate eyebrow, "Good afternoon."

"You're leaving the party Leafa?" the man asked, anger lacing his voice.

"Er... yes?" Leafa replied in confusion, "Why do you care, and even more importantly how did you even find out? I haven't exactly been spreading around that I'm leaving."

"Recon let it spill earlier today when we were talking casually at headquarters," the man scowled even deeper, "So I'll ask again. Why are you leaving out party Leafa?"

"I just want to group up with Kirito and Aurain for a few days." Leafa replied, confusion still evident in her voice, "I don't understand what the big deal is. I'm just going to group up with them to do a few things, and then I'll be back. You're being absurd Sigurd."

The man took a step forward, and I didn't like the look on his face. I fingered the release on my claws that would slide the blades out of their sheaths.

"It'll hurt our reputation if you leave. You're a well-known party member, and leaving without any other excuse other than to 'have fun' will embarass me and the rest of the group"

I had had enough at this point. People thus far were taking the game far too seriously. I stepped forward next to Kirito and tried to keep my voice as steady as possible. My words came out slow and deliberate.

"Aren't you taking this a tad too seriously? Leafa's just going off with some new friends to do some quests. She'll be back in your party in a matter of a few days or weeks. Once again, why are you taking this so seriously? You look like an idiot."

"I was wondering the same thing." Kirito muttered next to me.

The man suddenly unsheathed his sword, putting it dangerously close to my nose. In SAO I might've been a little scared, but ALO was different. I couldn't die here, and this man was just being ridiculous.

"You're being a child." I pushed his sword out of the way, feeling unusually brave, "This. Is. A. Game. Leafa's just taking a temporary leave. Buzz off."

A temporary flicker of agreement flashed in the man's eyes before the anger suddenly returned in force. I shot a quick glance at Kirito, and he nodded.

'He must've seen it too.'

"Fine then." the man gritted his teeth, "Leave Leafa. But make sure you run and hide, because if I find you I will kill you from here no out."

I couldn't help it. I really couldn't. It was just a game and this man was taking it so seriously. I took one look at Kirito, grinned, and then the both of us broke out into a fit of laughter. The man turned a deep red and looked like he was going to attack us anyways, but one of his companions whispered in his ear. The man sagged, and stomped off in a fit of rage.

Leafa slapped me across the back of the head.

"Ow! W-What was that for!" I felt a little bit of fear at the angry look on her face.

"You two were just laughing in his face!" Her cheeks puffed out cutely, "He could've killed you both on the spot! You aren't allowed to fight back in enemy cities!"

"So?" I replied, "This isn't SAO, I'll just come back to life. This world is so much less scary than SAO, to be honest. It feels nice to feel no fear when someone puts a sword in face eh Kirito? So what if we incurr a death penalty"

We entered the big pillar in the middle of the building and headed up the spiral staircase, Leafa in the lead.

"You two were a part of SAO?"

"Yeah." Kirito shrugged, "We were part of the group that cleared the game. Did you not watch it when Kayaba somehow put it on TV?"

"No." Leafa shook her head, "I was too busy sitting at my brother's side while he was sick and in the game. I only knew the game was cleared because he woke up."

"Ah."

We exited the giant spiral staircase and finally exited outside. I hadn't really realized how high we were going to climb. I thought then that I was probably wrong about that being a good launch point after all. I felt like I could touch the sky.

"So!" Leafa clapped her hands together, "Before we go, I've gotta teach you how to fly right Aurain?"

"Yep."

It didn't take long for Leafa to explain the whole process of flying to me. I bravely rejected the flying controller method and decided to go straight for the flying natural. If Kirito could do it first try, I could too, and I didn't want to be able to not fight in mid-air. I couldn't afford to be useless, not when I had a job to do and Asuna's life was on the line.

"So what was supposed to be so hard about this?"

Luckily I didn't have any issue. I took off first try, and was soon hovering easily. Leafa looked at me with a cross expression and muttered something under her breath. I didn't quite catch it, but it sounded a lot like 'him too seriously?'

The trip was relatively uneventful. The occasional monster harrassed us, but for the most part the journey was mostly us making small talk and enjoying flying. Which was much funner than I expected. It wouldn't have surprised me if the creator had coded a pleasure index into the game when a player took off into the sky. It was pure joy, and I didn't even really like riding in airplanes all that much.

"Right." Leafa suddenly stopped, "Our wings are going to give out soon, so we'll need to land so we don't crash land. How about that clearing over there?"

Kirito and I nodded, and we descended towards the clearing Leafa pointed out. Unfortunately, Leafa had forgotten an important part of the flying lesson. How to land.

I felt my wings starting to give out as we got closer to the ground. I tried my hardest to slow down, but I didn't really know how. The end result was me on a crash course for the side of a tree

'I hope the pain sensors aren't too strong in this gammmmmmeeee' my wings gave out suddenly and I smacked into the tree hard. My hp bar shot down to about half in my hud. I groaned and rolled over onto my back. Leafa and Kirito landed next to me, looks of concern on their faces, though I swore Kirito was trying his best not to laugh at my disgruntled expression.

Leafa sighed deeply, and the concern was replaced by irritation as soon as I affirmed I was okay, and my hp was just a little low.

"Let me just do some quick healing magic and we can move on."

I rubbed my sore head and let Leafa do the healing magic she mentioned without protest.

"Honestly." I heard her mutter, "Both of you are such naturals at flying, but you can't land to save your life."

"S-Sorry."

"Don't apologize." She sighed deeply, "I shouldn't get angry about a newbie crashing after his first time flying. Which speaking of, I've been wondering..."

"W-Wondering?" I took a step back, knowing that particular look on a girl's face was never good. At least not on Lisbeth it wasn't. Unless of course she'd already kissed me before making it...okay enough of that.

"How exactly are you a newbie anyways?" She circled around me like a shark sizing up its prey, "You're sporting some pretty nice gear for someone that just jumped into the game. Is there something you aren't telling me? I'd like to know I can trust who I'm traveling with."

'Well she's perceptive.' I felt my palms getting sweaty, 'How am I supposed to explain myself? C'mon Kirito give a poor guy some help!'

"Well you see." Kirito came to my rescue, "We've got another friend that just quit the game. He promised he'd give Aurain his gear before he deleted his account. So that's why he's got such good gear."

Leafa raised one eyebrow, and seemed to want to retort. She humphed and didn't say anything else. I supposed she was going to accept my story for now, but I could tell she didn't fully believe Kirito's cover story.

"Anyways." Leafa said, "Can you two keep going for today?"

I looked over at Kirito, and he nodded in response to my silent question. There was no way either of us were going to stop. It was only 7 pm, and even if I was suffering from minor jetlag, I could keep going.

"We're good for a while yet."

Leafa nodded at Kirito's response, and pulled up her user interface. She went on to explain how logging out in neutral areas wasn't instantaneous, and that we should take turns watching each other's.

"My sister'll probably have dinner ready." Kirito said, "If you want Aurain, you can log out and eat first."

"Thanks." I replied gratefully, "You'll watch both our bodies then?"

"Yup."

Both Leafa and I murmured our thanks, and I logged out. I shoved the NerveGear off my head, breathing out a sigh of relief. It felt so good to be able to log out. I felt a little nervous going in, but all my fears were mostly alleviated on seeing the real world.

Groowwwwlll

There was my stomach. I rubbed it hungrily and rolled out of the guest bed. I pushed the door open, and walked outside into the hallway. I practically ran into Suguha, who looked like she had just gotten out of bed. My hair probably looked similar to her's. Messy and out of order.

"Er h-hello." I waved awkwardly.

"Have you been sleeping?" Suguha raised an eyebrow, "Nevermind. Do you know if my brother's sleeping? He won't answer his door."

My mind wandered for a few brief moments. I didn't know if I wanted to tell the truth or not. Kazuto was being pretty secretive about us going to ALO, and I wasn't sure if It'd be fine to tell his sister. Me being me though, I decided to tell the truth in the end.

"Kazuto's in ALO right now." I replied, "It's a new VRMMO. It's a long story as to why we joined it, but I assure you that its for a good cau-"

Suguha silenced me with a piercing look. I eeped and shrunk back from her. She began to pace around me, looking me up and down. I felt rather like a piece of meat, or a small animal about to be eaten.

"Same mannerisms and height... no it can't be. Aurain!?"

Plot deviations soooooooon. Just gotta get a few things out of the way. First plot change is next chapter as a matter of fact. Also I have a really clever plot point that's going to be the focus once the guy with the god complex gets taken care of. I hinted at it in this chapter, so you might've been able to spot is :P I was really proud of myself when I first thought it up a few months ago. Also writing chapters the way I've been takes a little longer since I'm in school and all, but I think its worth it? One final note. My writing is so different from the beginning of JOT. Seriously. I'm amazed at where it's gone since then.