I don't own or have any affiliation with Sword Art Online. I apologize for any grammatical or spelling errors, made in the text. Big thanks to the suggestions from some of my friends!

Chapter 22: Honey Holiday

"Thanks goodness we finally made it." Rinko flopped her body onto the hotel bed, after dropping her suitcase on the carpeted floor.

Her husband closed the door behind him carrying an addtional two more suitcases with him. "What do you want to do first?" Klein asked.

Exhausted from the overwhelming car ride from their apartment to Kazuto and Asuna's apartment to the couples booked hotel room was close to a five-hour road trip.

Rinko had protested the idea of traveling via a speed bullet train to cut the time for the very long excursion since it will limit the time they could sit together hand-in-hand privately. A decision she didn't regret to make.

The belated honeymoon was all planned out by their five-year-old daughter, with some assistance of her honorary relatives, secretly swiped Klein's credit card and copied down the number on a piece of paper, booking the room a whole week in advanced before the respective couple's fourth wedding anniversary.

"Sleep." His wife simply answered.

"Are you sure? The pool's still open for another two hours."

Rinko shook her head, removing her thin cardigan exposing her bare arms from the sleeveless tank top and nestles her body in the soft mattress laying on her left side in a fetal sleeping position. Klein joined her as he changed his shirt.

After their brief nap, they ordered room service for dinner and celebratory champagne.

During the meal, they both decided to look through some of the photos in the album. Most of them years old. Smiling at the good times in the beginning of their parenting.

"I can't believe I fell asleep during her homecoming party." Rinko admired her focus the snapshot.

Klein chuckled. "Hey, you both deserved it."

"At least being cuddled by you... Until you fell asleep." She smiled.

"It's not my fault, she started to level up on her AOE skill..." He muttered softly.

Turning a few pages, the mother pressed her fingertips on a picture showing her daughter's first steps, then smoothed her hand over to the one underneath it, showing Yumeko face-down on the floor. Klein gently rubbed her lower back.

"I was really surprised when you held me back that time." Rinko looked at him.

Klein circled thumb on her hand which was covering the printed retentiveness.

"You didn't freak out like I thought you've would. You just looked sad and touched her face."

Klein nodded at the years old memory.

"I'm actually a little envious of you." She conceded.

"Why?"

"I may be her favourite parent, but I wasn't her first word."

"She called for you after me. Two words in one day was a really big deal for her." He slowly raised his laying self, giving her a short shoulder rub.

Rinko quickly wiped her eyes.

Klein kissed her neck. "If you're the one that's crying, then who am I going to be in this relationship?" He closed the book of memories for now at least.

"I think I should give them a call..." Rinko envisaged the intention.

Klein sighed taking the phone away. "You called them when we reached the lobby and before dinner. If you do it now she'll get worried that something's wrong. And since kind of a long distance call, it'll charge me more. It's even costing me laying down and breathing." He nuzzles her face with his sharp nose.

Taking a moment to calm down, Rinko played his hair. "In that case, how about we go to the pool after breakfast?"

He agreed pulling her closer to him as she laid her body, filling in the small gap in between.

"You know I always felt bad for you, when she was a baby." She sighed.

"How come?"

"In the first few months you always came home to her crying." She continued.

"That was because of the colic. I felt so sorry for her when it went from mild to worse. She tried really hard to stop crying, but her face would get redder."

"And I would call you at work all stressed out then you would have to drive all the way back home just to hear all of that screaming." Rinko sounded apologetic.

"She was worth it. I felt more bad for you. You had her a lot longer." He pressed his hand on her top of her head.

The woman's smile slowly reemerged. "She always liked your massages. Put her right to sleep."

"She never liked when I stopped." Klein stretched his arms.

His wife sat up straight again and turned to a group of similar pictures. She wanted to make a personal scrapbook of her own but didn't have a proper chance or time to. Which she didn't really mind since there were already so many snapshots and no real room for any handwritten sentimental messages or page decoration. In fact, due to the colossal amount of colourful digital printed film paper, she decided to arrange them like an old colorful puzzle game Rinko loved since childhood where the tiles must create one or multiple diagonal lines in order to pass each level.

The two back-to-back pages were strategically placed massage pictures of her then adjusted newborn little loved love. "Her favourite part were those beautiful back massages you did. They kept her so relaxed. They were my favourite too."

"It was the least I could do. You two were always stressed out even more then me, and they were good excuses to kiss her." Klein made small circular motions on her neck.

"So did you ever reach those one million kisses you promised to give when she got of the hospital?" Rinko teased.

Klein carressed the left side of her face. "I lost count years ago."

She smirked and turned to the pages that were closer to the front cover of the book. "Remember this?" Her slender finger pointed to the one that showed a topless version of Klein carrying a very small body, with wires and tubes attached to it, being covered in a pink blanket and small pink cap.

A reddish hue grew on his face. "It was the first time I held her. I was really nervous."

"You took such good care of her, you knew she loved you." Rinko pecked his left cheek.

"Yeah, but I wasn't the one who clung on to. When you were about to kiss her, she moved her head closer, and your lips almost touched her mouth. That was a beautiful sight."

Rinko nodded lightly at his words. "Even the nurses and doctors didn't see anything like that." She then laid her head on his shoulder.

"You wanna know what another beautiful sight is?" Klein closed the book.

"What?"

"You dreaming with your eyes closed." He pressed his lips on her hair.

Rinko laid on left side, her ear close against his chest. Her heart felt heavy with all of those timeless recollections being forever sealed in pictorial film paper.

The woman wished she could experience them for the first time again but at the same time wanted to make them stay in picture form forever.

It was some time after the couple's room ordered breakfast.

Klein was in the shower some minutes after his wife had started to dry off her short black hair.

Putting down the dryer for a brief moment, she flipped her hair to brush it and check for any wet clomps that may have been left behind.

Finishing the step, Rinko double-checked that the door was locked before unloosening the belt from the short white robe.

Reaching for her one-piece swimsuit, her hands stop what they were doing.

Her slender fingers brushing the area just between her stomach.

Its now five years post the caesarian surgery, with some advice from the nurses and online articles, the transverse cicatrix was minimized, but not entirely vanquished, neither body or memory. Though, the mark on her sternum seemed to vaporize from her skin, during her body's gestational period.

She hated the blemish that prevented her from wearing a two-piece bathing suit with gentle ease, but in an odd intricacy, appreciated the fact that obtaining this scar, also led her to obtain the knowledge of her daughter's inexhaustible, perplexing and enigmatic strength. How her darling one is much more stronger than her brought her great reticent satisfaction, but also to her trepidation, possibly smarter than the scientist as well.

However, the woman loathed thinking about the scar nonetheless looking or touching at it. In all integrity she didn't want to go to the hotel pool in the first place, however only suggested the activity for the sake of her husband after being charged a great sum of money for the luxurious suite.

When finding out this secret plan on the morning of their wedding anniversary, she chuckled at her daughter's reveal of acquiring such a divine room, declaring that 'deluxe parents deserve a deluxe room and nothing less'. Rinko then retaliated by saying the main reason why they are like that is only because of their 'deluxe daughter'.

The woman quickly put on her tankini as the sound of running water behind the bathroom door had came to a sudden halt.

She was standing next to a duffel bag, in her blue flip-flops and towel which matched well with yellow suit and shorts outfit and huge black sunglasses.

Her husband came out wearing a longer robe then what her's was. Try not to nosebleed. Klein quickly thought to himself. Old habits die hard.

After roughly drying his own hair, he had gotten himself in a pair of simple swimming trunks matching his bandana wearing a pair of light sandals and holding a towel.

Klein opened the door and nearly stepped out into the hallway, feeling her hand pull him slightly aback.

"Remember what ring you're wearing." Rinko whispered the remark and ended with a rather dry , smug laugh, leaving the lavish in front of him.

Now I really need to try not to nosebleed. Klein gulped.

Rinko was lying in a small cabana just several inches from the enormous, deep, ceramic tiled body of chlorinated water, meanwhile Klein was getting them drinks as they wanted to enjoy the glorious weather of the day.

"Are these chairs taken?" A female voice sounded similar to that of a composed elegant alto met with Rinko's ear drums.

Taking off her big sunglasses, her eyes met with the of a tall woman with long silver hair tied of in a ponytail signifying intelligence, wearing a dark red bikini swimsuit matching her intensely shining, sky-blue eyes and gold earrings. She was also holding two half-folded towels on her left arm.

Rinko wore a duchenne smile telling the stranger both chairs were available.

In effort to be better acquainted with each other, the woman informed Rinko that she can be called by her real name, or by her in-game name, Yulier.

In the beginning of their conversation they discovered that they were both married, and have daughters of their own and even showed some pictures from their cell phones.

"How long have you've been married?" Yulier asked.

"We just had our fourth anniversary yesterday." Rinko fondly smiled.

"How old is your daughter then?"

"She's five now." Rinko gave a half smile.

"So you had her before you got married?"

Rinko nodded.

"She looks a lot like you, but not at all like your husband." Yulier recited her observation, hoping she didn't offend the mother.

"He's her step-father." Rinko's eyes lowered, trying not to bite on her lips.

"I see."

Klein came along with another man, who had wavy, umber brown hair and brown eyes. He also had what only could be described as having a quality of gentleness.

Like his wife, he also gave the option of addressing via his real life name or by his gaming alias, Thinker.

Klein mentioned that they originally met him years ago during the Aincrad Capture Commemorative Party on the day of the ALO relaunch, and is a reader of his website,

Rinko told them she wanted to attend that offline meeting, but had other business to attend. Then she teased her spouse, commenting that she had gone, would have definitely forced him to wear better clothes.

Klein glared his narrow eyes and pinched his partner's cheeks until red.

Thinker and Yulier invited the couple over to lunch before parting their ways.

As she got to properly Rinko then unexpectedly tripped over her flip flop stumbling over it and dunked into the large hotel pool.

Yulier instantly went into help her as Thinker passed a towel.

Klein was trying to dry off his shivering wife, but seeing both beautiful women in soaked bathing outfits, unintentionally triggered a small spot of crimson liquid to exit from his right nostril. Prompting his wife to lightly slap him with the towel, reminding him what kind of ring he had on his finger.

"We should really get out of these wet clothes. Our daughter's wouldn't like it if we got sick during our vacations." Yulier took her hand and led her into the changing room.

The two began changing after receiving pairs of fresh clothes from their partners.

"I can't tell you how sorry I am. I'm not a klutz really. I don't know why I didn't pay proper attention hard enough." They were the words Rinko had used as her sincere apology since both women wanted to sit down and chat and didn't want to go into the water.

"It's alright really. It wasn't very smart of me to think I was going to be one hundred percent dry sitting and talking a few inches from a pool that size." Yulier said while switching from a drenched to dry wardrobe. "But my hair isn't too thrilled about it." She showed an encouraging smile.

Rinko lowered her head, hanging it above her hand which was laid in a diagonal fashion just above her stomach. Even with this colour, you can still see that thing when this is wet. She helplessly thought.

Yulier's smile faded. "Is something wrong?" The silver haired women asked.

Rinko blinked and raised and shook her head. "It's nothing." She put on a brave smile. "It was just thinking if I really do end up catching a cold after all. My daughter would be upset." She answered after disloving from her own wet attire.

Yulier nodded in agreement and sat closer to her. "That's the last thing a mother ever wants for their child."

"You said your daughter is five, correct? That mean's she's in third year kindergarten?" Yulier brought up for more talk.

"That's right."

Yulier heavily sighed. "Mine just entered her first year in April. I must admit it's a bit lonely..."

Rinko touched her knee. "The first few months are always the hardest."

Yulier showed a small smile. "It's funny no matter how much you prepare them for life, then the first day of school comes along..."

"I still think I was more nervous than her. She was calm, excited, shy and reluctant all at the same time." Rinko gave a little snicker.

Yulier chuckled. "I'm glad to know I wasn't the only one."

After getting a tad more acquainted with each other by their talking, which made them stay much longer then they hoped for until they reminded themselves they had husbands.

After their lunch, they decided the mothers showed more pictures of their children, while their husbands were pouring their own drinks and holding their own personal chat session.

Looking at Yulier's healthier and full-term pregnancy was a nice change for Rinko after she showed her incomplete pregnancy photos alongside ones that were taken in the hospital's neonatal intensive care unit. Ultimately, leading the silver haired woman to be awestruck by each one.

"Your daughter is so beautiful." Rinko awed, pointing to a little girl with sliver hair and brown eyes.

"Let's not forget about yours. She's called Himeko, Yuriko and Yumemi? No wonder she looks so happy."

Rinko turned to the same picture showing Yumeko had fallen onto the floor. Then a humorous one Klein sputtering his drink.

"Um, why is Klein-san choking?" Yulier wondered.

"Oh, a friend made a joke about she's going to run after boys instead of them lining up at our doorstep."

The women glanced at each trying to keep their quivering lips intact, but failed and starting guffawing out loud until their eyes began tearing.

"It looks like we have a couple of heart breakers on our hands." Yulier laid her hand on Rinko's shoulder, who returned the same gesture.

"Of course we do!" Rinko's chest puffed in maternal pride.

Klein coughed as he was swallowing. "Like hell, you do!" His face turned red.

Thinker handed him a napkin. "Dear, we've talked about this..."

Rinko kissed her husband's face in apology.

That night came along with great ease until the time came to finally depart from each other and bidding an expected adieu.

Until the roar of thunder echoed outside the Rinko and Klein's window.

Thank you very much for reading! Leave a review if you'd like! :)