A/N:Well, it's just one day later but after Festus Flare made me aware that the pacing of the original chapter seemed a bit off (to put it nicely) I decided to rewrite some parts and add in some more stuff to make it seem less rushed.

Anyway: Have fun reading and please leave a review.

Tears of the maid

Three days after the events in the Starting City the two top-players from the KoB were sitting in Silber's living room on the second floor of his café.

While Asuna hadn't even touched the teacup in front of her Heathcliff was delightfully sipping on his.

"I still don't understand why you want me to join your clearing group." Silber complained, sitting in the rocking chair on the opposing side of the small table with a teapot sitting in the middle of it.

"With the way you fought the other day you should be on a high enough level to hold your own on the front lines without much help. " Asuna stated matter-of-factly.

"Your support could prove invaluable in the exploration of the dungeons. " Heathcliff added, again sipping on his tea.

"If you really want me to join the clearing group…" Silber said while refilling his teacup,

"…you should stop trying to convince me to join your guild."

"But…" Asuna started but was interrupted as Heathcliff raised a hand to silence her.

"So you would be willing to help us then. " He stated more than asked.

"I could close down my café once or twice a week. " Silber said rocking in his chair while sipping on his tea.

"However…"

~ The next day…

The café was practically bursting with customers. For one, it was the fact that instead of Silber serving the dishes and drinks on his own he had three maids helping him out today. But most of it was probably due to one maid in particular.

Asuna, the sub-commander of the KoB herself, wearing a maid uniform and serving drinks and dishes.

After the first customers of the day had been left with their jaws hitting the floor at the sight the word about the new waitresses had spread like a wildfire.

Right now most of the guests were probably just here to get a glimpse of the aforementioned girl in a maid uniform than to eat or drink something. Nevertheless, more people meant more income and Silber and the three maids were constantly reminding their guests to either order something or leave the café to give the other guests a chance to get something to eat or drink.

Around noon Kirito, Lizbeth and Yui decided to show up.

"Please feel free to make your way to my living room!" Silber whispered to Kirito as he was the only one of the trio who went inside to get a seat.

Kirito just nodded and proceeded to lead his, now official, girlfriend and their foster daughter upwards into the living room. Everyone who was watching Asuna closely as the trio made their way through the crowd could see the envy clearly written across her face.

"I'm going upstairs, if you need me feel free to call. " Silber said to one of the waitresses before he followed Kirito and company upstairs.

"It feels like half of Aincrad is down there. " Lizbeth stated after Silber closed the door behind him.

"How did you even convince Asuna to do something like that?" Kirito asked, his curiosity getting the better of him.

"It wasn't exactly I who did the convincing. " Silber stated.

"Then who did it?" Lizbeth asked, being as curious as Kirito.

The name that Silber mentioned next made Kirito and Lizbeth almost fall over the back of the couch, which was pretty hard to do.

"Heathcliff."

"How in the world did you manage that?" Kirito and Lizbeth asked in unison.

Yui was just smiling as to the positive effects an event like this had on the overall mentality of the players.

"I agreed to help out at the frontlines starting tomorrow. " Silber stated blatantly.

"So uncle Silber will keep papa company in the dungeons?" Yui asked innocently.

"As much as I'd like to, that probably won't be the case." Silber answered, followed by a heavy sigh.

"How so?" Lizbeth asked, hoping to find a way to convince him to give her boyfriend some backup.

"I've had to promise Heathcliff and Asuna to party with them when going to explore a dungeon. " Silber started rocking in his chair as he answered the question.

"You know… " Kirito started with a grin, "…you really look like the uncle-type when sitting in that chair."

That statement was followed by a universal laughter.

About ten minutes later Asuna showed up saying that Silber was needed down in the café because of the many customers.

"Well then..." Silber began as he got up, "…I'll better head back down."

"You should talk it out with them or you'll never get over it." Silber whispered to Asuna as he passed her at the door.

Asuna just stood there, dumbfounded as he closed the door behind him. She stood there thinking of what to do for a few moments as the little girl hopped of the couch and approached her.

"You look sad." Yui said, eyeing Asuna with her big black eyes.

Asuna drew a sharp breath as she snapped out of her trance and saw the little girl standing in front of her. She looked at those black eyes for some time before she finally answered.

"You're right."

"Would you be a good girl and leave us alone for a few minutes?" Asuna asked only a moment later.

"No, I want to stay with mama and papa." Yui answered as she shook her head.

Asuna looked at Kirito and Lizbeth with the word confusion practically written across her face.

"How did you?"

"We just take care of her until she regains her memories but somewhere along the line she started calling us that." Kirito explained.

It was the story they had both agreed on. Since they could no longer be sure that Yui was an ordinary girl after what had happened in the Starting City. Not that they really needed to hide it in front of Asuna who had witnessed the whole incident with Yui firsthand, but some things should be left unspoken nevertheless. For example how much Yui's menu differed from theirs or how she sometimes seemed to just disappear for a few moments if they weren't watching.

Having spoken her mind, Yui took her place between Kirito and Lizbeth again and looked at Asuna with great expectation. Asuna sat on the chair at the head of the small table before starting the talk.

"Where is Asuna?" One of the other two maids asked as Silber came down the stairs without the girl in question.

"She has personal matters to deal with, I guess she'll come back down here when she's finished." Silber answered as he took one of the trays on the bar and took it to the kitchen.

The maid just sighed and went on with her business. Which meant trying to convince a certain redheaded, katana-wielding man that she was not his personal waitress and that Asuna was unavailable at the moment.

"You make it sound like I stole him from you!" Lizbeth yelled at Asuna after she had stated that she had met Kirito first.

Kirito had moved to the other end of the couch with Yui because it looked like that both of the girls were ready to jump at each others throat at any second. Two years ago he wouldn't have even dared to imagine two girls fighting because of him. Looking at Yui, he saw a look of fear while she observed this whole shouting match.

After a few minutes in which the debate didn't deviate from the point 'Asuna saw him first', Kirito decided to intervene in order for this not to go completely south.

"Calm down you two!" Kirito yelled as he stood up.

The two girls quieted down and looked at him as if he were some kind of alien.

"I probably don't understand why you two are shouting at each other like this…" He began while Yui grabbed his hand, "…but I understand the situation well enough to say that it doesn't matter whom I met first."

Asuna and Lizbeth both stared at him like dears at a headlight. Kirito and Yui could literally see how they slowly took in what he had said and came to a conclusion.

"If you put it that way…" Lizbeth begun, with guilt in her voice, "…there is nothing that would change how he feels now by just arguing over who he decided to be with."

Lizbeth now kneeled down in front of Asuna, who was still sitting in the chair looking at her with empty eyes. She grabbed one of her hands and cupped it with both of her own.

"Can't we just go back to being friends?" Lizbeth asked with a smile, knowing that this might not be the best way to put it.

Yet she couldn't find any other way to express herself right now.

It took Asuna a while before the light returned to her eyes and she swallowed the lump that blocked her throat. She took her free hand and placed it on top of Lizbeth's hands.

"That would be nice." Asuna whispered hoarsely.

Kirito, Lizbeth and Yui collectively let out a breath they didn't even knew they were holding. And all of a sudden the room felt a lot brighter than a minute ago.

"I have the greatest mama in the world!" Yui exclaimed as she jumped Lizbeth from behind and hugged her.

After Asuna had went to get them some tea they were just sitting there, chatting about all kinds of things. For example about the (mis)adventures of Kirito and Asuna at the beginning of the game or about the time Lizbeth was just a smith on the street among many others. They had been talking for over half an hour before Silber decided to show up again.

"Is it safe to enter my living room again?" He asked jokingly.

"Yeah, we managed to settle everything peacefully." Lizbeth answered as she was resting her head on Kirito's shoulder.

"Great."

"But now I need Asuna back or that Klein guy will never leave the store."

At that Kirito just shook his head with a sigh. However, he still wore a small smile due to the mentioning of Klein's antics.

"Be sure to come back for the next maid-days, now regularly every Thursday and Saturday." Asuna said with a smile as the last customers left the café that evening.

"That was a hell of a day." Silber said as he slumped down in one of the chairs at the bar.

It was evening and the other two maids had already left, leaving him and Asuna as the only ones to tend to the store. Asuna was the one who volunteered to stay behind so that the other two could get some well deserved rest.

"Thanks for giving me the opportunity to talk it out on neutral ground." Asuna said while bowing politely.

"Don't mention it." Silber said while he waved her off.

"You mentioned some form of new business idea earlier?" Silber said as he stood up and went to clean up the kitchen.

"We should start selling lunchboxes." Asuna stated flatly.

"I know that a good meal is invaluable to the morale..." Silber began as he was starting clean the dishes, "...but have you thought about the time it takes to farm the ingredients and to prepare them properly?"

"I could get some help in regards to farming, but…"

"But?"

"You'll have to compensate us for that."

~ 48th floor Lindus

Kirito and Lizbeth were watching the fire flickering in the fireplace while being cuddled up together on the couch. Yui had fallen asleep in her bed as soon as they got back.

"It was nice to see you to make up." Kirito said while stroking his girlfriends back.

"Without you we probably wouldn't have stopped for the next hour or so." Lizbeth replied as she cuddled up even closer.

"Just promise me one thing."

"That depends on what you're asking of me."

Lizbeth pouted at that answered and pinched his cheek playfully.

"Just that you won't die before this game ends."

"That's something I'll promise you gladly." Kirito answered just before he kissed her.