A/N: MAN, it's been so long since I've had a full day off! Decided to put it to good use and pump out this quick filler chapter for you guys! Don't worry, there's only one more before we get back to the main plot where the Shepherds will finally get to fighting Grima! Enjoy, and I hope this chapter finds you well!

Unexpected

"So, this kid in black…" Rika said as she and Asuna stared out at the ocean on the deck of the command ship. "You're sure he's yours?"

Asuna hid a smile at the question her old friend had asked. She had just finished getting the blacksmith up to speed on recent events, which had left her somewhat shaken. In response to the question, she answered, "About as sure as we can be. I mean, given what's been happening with the other Shepherds, it makes sense."

"But then…" Rika hesitated with a frown.

"What is it?" Asuna asked.

"Does… Does that mean that you and Kirito will decide to stay here, in this world?" the leprechaun asked her undine friend with worried eyes. "Are you guys just going to give up on going home?"

The question surprised Asuna. In truth, it had been some time since she had thought about how to get home, and even longer since she had discussed it with Kazuto. "Well…" she hesitated, and Rika's eyes widened a bit, so she hurried to say, "It's not that we don't want to go home. But we have no idea how to do that, and we haven't have much time to work anything out. Not to mention, times seems to move differently between our worlds, so there's no telling how long has passed since we've left."

"Oh, right…" Rika's face became thoughtful as she stared back out at the ocean. "Hey, Asuna? How is life here? I mean, the war must be scary and all, but it doesn't really seem like you're opposed to staying here if that's what it comes to."

"Life is…" Asuna had to smile at the absurdity of what she was about to say, but it was the undeniable truth. "It reminds me of the good days in Aincrad," she said. "When you have a group like this that cares about each other, and will do whatever it takes to make sure everyone gets through a fight, it's a big reassurance, even when you know your life is on the line."

"Heh," Lisbeth grinned. "Had a feeling you were gonna say that." Asuna smiled as well, then gripped the boat railing tightly as they hit a larger wave than the usual ones. It must have been noticeable, because Rika looked at her with concern and asked, "Are you okay, Asuna? You look kinda pale."

"Gee, thanks," the other girl grunted as her stomach churned uncontrollably.

"Want me to go get Yui?" Rika asked, still concerned for her friend. "Maybe she can-" Her words were cut off as Asuna leaned over the railing and expelled all of her breakfast- and possibly some of the previous evening's dinner.

Mataras was resting in the infirmary, his arm still in bandages from his run-in with the Plegian mage. Yui was sitting beside him, humming a tune that resembled some of the background music from the twenty-second floor of Aincrad when Rika came in with Asuna, the latter of which didn't look too good.

Lissa stood up from where she had been sitting while writing in her journal and looked Asuna up and down. "What happened to her?" she asked worriedly. "She looks as pale as a ghost!"

"Say that again, and you'll be the only ghost around here," Asuna growled as she tried to stand on her own. "I said I'm fi- ow!" She stumbled and fell on the floor. Lissa and Rika helped her stand up, much to her protest, and made her lie down on one of the beds next to Mataras, who was now waking up while Yui moved to get a staff.

"What happened?" he muttered groggily.

"Your mom is pretty sick," Rika informed him. "She threw up pretty bad a few minutes ago, and I think she's running a fever."

"It's not a fever, she's embarrassed," Mataras smirked. The others stopped what they were doing and looked at him questioningly.

"What are you talking about?" Lissa asked.

"Yes Asuna, what am I talking about?" Mataras snickered.

"Listen here, you little brat, I will-" Asuna's threat cut off as the boat rocked again, and she had to fight to keep her stomach under control.

"Uh-huh," he grinned even brighter. "That's what I thought."

"Look here id, if you know something from the future that tells us why she's sick, you'd better tell us, or else I'm gonna put a hole in your arm." Lissa said shortly. "Now spill it."

"Fair enough," Mataras said as he closed his eyes, his smile remaining a smug one. "She's got a parasite in her stomach."

"A parasite?" Lissa gasped. "How did it get there? Is there any way to get rid of it?"

"It got there because of Kirito, and no, there is no way to get rid of it, at least, not for a few months," Mataras replied, his sides beginning to shake as he tried not to laugh.

"What are you-"

Rika was cut off as Mataras continued, "See, this parasite is only going to get bigger and bigger, and then her and Kirito are going to name it, and it will call them Mommy and Daddy." There was a profound silence for several seconds in the infirmary.

Then Rika shot a look over at Asuna and asked, "So when did thi-"

"Rika if you say one more word, I will tear your world a-freaking-sunder!" Asuna shouted. Mataras erupted into an intense round of laughter, which got Yui smiling, even as Lissa used her rod to check Asuna's stomach for confirmation.

"Yep," she nodded as she pulled the staff away. "You've got a little one in there, all right. They're about a month old from the look of things." Mataras' laughter became even louder at the look of shock on Asuna's face as her suspicions were confirmed. Yui rolled her eyes at him and decided that her mother had been picked on enough for one day.

"I'm happy for you and Dad, Momma," she said as she hugged Asuna, who returned the embrace after a stunned moment. The others were also quick to congratulate the new mother, and although Mataras was still laughing at her shock, he was smiling brightly.

I'll make sure that this world is a safe one for you to grow up in, little one, he vowed silently. I swear this in the name of my fallen comrades and family.

Kazuto was going over some maps of Plegia with Robin so that if it ever came to hostilities between their countries again, he would have the knowledge of the landscape to aid him in coming up with strategies for how to use the terrain to their advantage. "Okay, so there's a lot mountains between Plegia and Ylisse," he mused aloud.

"Yes, it's one of the reasons mobilizing an army to get into either country is so difficult," Robin nodded. "Gangrel mostly resorted to sending small groups across the border for terrorist attacks when he was alive."

"Yeah, sounds like something America had to deal with back home," Kazuto muttered.

"What was that?" Robin asked him to clarify.

"Nothing," Kazuto replied as he waved the matter aside. "It's nothing that'll help us here. But I was thinking that we could use the mountains to our advantage in a pretty big way."

"How so?" Robin was intrigued.

"Well, a lot of mages would have to deal with ground troops attacking them at every turn, so casting big spells is too risky, right?" Kazuto asked. "Well, my Alfheim troops can get up in the air, where there's not as many troops to let loose with the big ones. Bring down an avalanche on the bad guys before they can even make it into the mountain passes."

"What about aerial troops?" Robin asked, though he was liking the idea already. "How will you deal with them?"

"I already thought of that," Kazuto answered. "Those of us that aren't quite so good with magic- like Agil and myself- can engage those troops at close-quarters. You said that Plegia's Air Force wasn't that good to begin with, right? And they mostly use wyverns, which are a lot slower than Pegasi."

Robin nodded, impressed. "You've been doing your research," he said.

"Not much else to do besides spar on the ships, and I think everyone's tired of getting their butts kicked," Kazuto smirked.

"Don't get too cocky," Robin warned him. "You still haven't had your rematch with Lon'qu, and you've never fought Chrom or my kids- or me for that matter."

"Uh… No offense, Robin, but you don't strike me as a martial artist," Kazuto said carefully, not wanting to offend his comrade.

"None taken, a lot of people think that about me," Robin shrugged. Then a slow grin worked its way across his face as he said, "And that's exactly the point."

"Misdirection, right?" Kazuto guessed.

"One of the most basic rules of tactics," Robin nodded. "Another is to always have a backup plan. What happens if I don't have time to cast a spell? Do I just let a foot soldier chop me to death?"

"Okay, if that's the case…" Kazuto grinned. "How's about we see which one of us comes out on top?"

"I'm curious to find the answer to that myself," Robin grinned back. "Shall we go get a set of practice-" He was interrupted as Sumia crashed through the door and fell on her face.

"Ow…" she groaned as Robin rolled his eyes and helped his queen to her feet. "That's gonna bruise…"

"I'm beginning to understand why Lissa started training you in using staves," Robin chuckled.

"Thanks, Robin," Sumia said as she regained her balance. Then her eyes widened as she remembered why she had come in the first place, and she looked directly at Kazuto. "Sir Kirito, you're needed in the infirmary!"

"Why?" Kazuto frowned at the level of alarm she was displaying. "I thought Mataras was recovering fine."

"It's not him, it's Lady Asuna," Sumia said. "She's-" Unfortunately, she was cut off as Kirito flapped open his black wings and shot out the door like a streak of black lightning, scattering the papers and maps in his wake.

"Great…" Robin sighed as he looked at the room. "What a mess."

"I'm so sorry, Robin," Sumia winced. "I didn't mean to startle him like that."

"Just for the sake of my curiosity, and hopefully the knowledge that this didn't happen without some kind of good reason, would you mind telling me what happened to Asuna?" Robin said as he began collecting the parchments scattered about the room.

"Oh, yes!" Sumia said with a smile. "She's preganant!"

"Huh?!" Robin looked over at her with shock. Then a smile spread its way across his face as he said, "Tell Gaius to break out some of his special ingredients! The Shepherds are having a party tonight!"

"Aye aye, Commander!" Sumia laughed as she gave him a mock salute. Then she turned on her heels to walk out the door- only to smack her head on the doorframe and fall to the ground. "Ow ow ow…" she groaned.

"In retrospect, that one was probably my fault," Robin sighed as he went to help her up. But still, he couldn't keep a massive smile from his face for long as his heart was filled with joy for his two friends.

As he saw Lucina coming up to check on her mother, flanked by their two children form the future, he felt a stirring of longing in his chest. Maybe it's time.

"Asuna, what's wrong?!" Kazuto asked as he burst into a scene that took him several seconds to process. Mataras was on the floor, laughing uncontrollably, Lissa was going through a list of confections, Rika was muttering something unintelligible under her breath, Yui was grinning at him broadly, and Asuna had a look of complete shock on her pale face while she was lying back on one of the infirmary beds.

"Hah!" Mataras cackled. "Nice one, old man!"

"What is he going on about?" Kazuto demanded. "I thought my wife had been hurt! What's going on here?!"

"The only thing hurt around here might be her pride," Lissa said without looking up. "Now shut up. I'm concentrating."

"Tell me what-"

"Asuna's pregnant, Kirito," Rika said as she looked up at the Black Swordsman with hollow eyes. "Congratulations." And with that, she walked out of the room.

"Asuna…" he said as he turned to look at his wife with wide eyes. "You're… We're…"

"I can't work in here!" Lissa shouted as she stormed out of the room, muttering angrily to herself.

"Isn't this great, Papa?" Yui asked as she came up to give him a hug, which he returned in stunned silence. However, this did not stop his eyes from slowly sliding over to the boy dressed in black with a bandaged right arm, still cackling where he lay next the bed he had fallen off of.

"Uh, sure…" he said quietly. "Great…"

"Nice sword technique, Black Swordsman!" Mataras howled with laughter.

Suddenly, there was surge in magic energy as both Kirito and Asuna reached for spells at their disposal. "I think we should even him out, honey," he said as shadows emanated from his palms.

"Why stop with the arm?" she added as lightning sparked in her eyes. "Maybe we should even him up on his legs, too."

Yui backed away from the scene slowly, fear in her bearing. I think Brother may have pushed them too far…

Agil: Boy, I think you're the one who's gonna need a senzu after that scene.

Mataras: Pffft, I have plot armor on my side. Besides, it's my story, I can get away with murder if I want- which we've seen in the Red Swordsman.

Sachi: Speaking of which, didn't you have an announcement regarding the Red Swordsman?

Mataras: Indeed I do. For those of you that have been reading the Red Swordsman Abridged, you'll have already heard this, but to those of you that haven't... I have unveiled the release date for the The Red Swordsman: Shattered Fragment as being none other than Thanksgiving Day this year! If any of you enjoyed either of my renditions of Sword Art Online, I can promise you that this one is going to be bigger, better, and more intense in every way!

Leafa: Man, it's been a while since we've seen you this fired up.

Mataras: Why shouldn't I be? This will be my finest work to date, bar none. In addition to that release, I will be making a very special announcement on Thanksgiving, and I suspect that many of you will be both surprised and pleased by what I've prepared.

Aiko: So what makes this story so different from the others?

Mataras: In case I haven't covered it in this story, Shattered Fragment will be following the video game canon, which means more characters to have along for the adventure, and perhaps more importantly, all one hundred floors of Aincrad!

Yuuki: Aw, heck yeah!

Mataras: Couldn't have said it better myself.

Agil: Next time: Coming Home.