With nothing else to do until evening, Asuna had taken the light throw blanket from the sofa and gone out onto the patio to read, sitting in the shade offered by the awning. She'd been joined a few minutes later by an expectant Yui who waited for her approval before crawling up in the rocking chair beside her and snuggling close.
It wasn't long before the warm body at Asuna's side fell still, and when next she looked up from her book, she found Yui, eyes closed, with a blissful smile on her sleeping face. Setting her book down, Asuna carefully wrapped the blanket closer around the sleeping girl and kissed her forehead. If there was anything in this world that Asuna was grateful for, it was the opportunity it had given for her to meet Yui in the flesh. And it seemed that the former AI, now a very real young girl, thought the same way.
Listening to the birds and the rustling of the leaves, Asuna closed her eyes, weariness overtaking her. Even after a week's rest, she found herself tiring early, and sleeping late. At times she'd found herself waking from nightmares, feeling like she was still trapped in Sugou's cage, recalling the sensation of warm blood seeping down over her hands, or the indistinct shouts and flickering lights of the Skiesedge ambush.
Yui, drawing on her own expertise, had coaxed Asuna into talking about these things, not just with Kirito, Yui said it was important not to rely on him alone, but with Klein and Lisbeth as well. Klein and Liz could understand a little of what had happened and their acknowledgment and acceptance meant a lot.
Thanks to all of them, she was able to face the bad memories and slowly accept that they had happened, that they were over, that she had survived, and that good things were happening now.
So many good . . . wonderful things. She thought as she held onto Yui. She didn't even realize that she'd fallen asleep again until a hand gently shook her shoulder.
"Mmm?" Blinking the sleep from her eyes, Asuna realized that the sky had gone from blue to pale violet and that the warmth from earlier in the day had been replaced by a pleasant coolness.
"Is it time?" Asuna asked.
Kirito nodded. "Un. I'll wake Yui while you go get ready, okay?"
"Thanks." She whispered, taking Kirito's hand to rise and slipping back inside quickly.
Goodness, she must have slept full five or six hours! But, there hadn't been any bad dreams this time. That was right. Everything was going to be okay.
They'd chosen this house in part because of its size. Homes like this would have been owned by small guilds, so there were multiple bedrooms. Asuna and Kirito shared the largest room on the third floor, overlooking the main street on two sides.
There hadn't really been any time to do much decorating just yet, but the house had come equipped with basic furniture, including a dresser that Asuna and Kirito used to store their meager wardrobes.
Some of the Faeries now starting their own small businesses had taken advantage of their aptitude with the less frequently leveled skills. The craftsmen setting up shop every morning in the square had been joined in the past weeks by tailors and seamstresses providing both ALfheim styled garb as well as more traditional or casual clothing. Such was the case with Asuna's own white blouse, loose knit sweater, and knee length skirt.
Straightening out her clothes in the mirror and grabbing a pair of socks she hurried downstairs to find Yui, still sleepy, being helped into her coat by Suguha who was likewise dressed in a white jacket, light green dress, and khaki shorts.
Kirito was the last to arrive, putting out the ore lamps in the living room, he paused as he received stares from Asuna, Suguha, and Yui.
"What? I-Is something wrong?"
"Onii-chan, you're really going to wear that?" Suguha asked, looking over her brothers dark pants and button up shirt.
Kirito frowned. "What's wrong with it, you said I had to wear something that wasn't black, this is dark blue."
"I'm pretty sure that's black." Asuna said.
"It's black." Suguha agreed.
Squinting hard, Yui shook her head. "It's 151B54." Asuna and Suguha turned and stared in confusion. "It's not black." Yui elaborated. "It just looks that way because of the light."
"See." Kirito said. "Not black."
Suguha and Asuna exchanged glances. "You know, you shouldn't be so proud of winning on a technicality Onii-chan."
"Next time we're looking for clothes, I'm going with you." Asuna decided.
"What?" Kirito looked a little offended. "I just think black is an easy color is all."
"Exactly." Asuna said as she slipped out the door and onto the slowly lighting streets of Arrun.
* * *
On a narrow side street in Arrun's central district, nestled between a pair of defunct, formerly NPC run shops, there existed a small, recently opened hole in the wall establishment marked by a hand painted sign describing a pair of playing dice.
The Proprietors, a Gnome couple recently arrived from Tau Tona, had former experience as entrepreneurs and small business owners back in Japan, and had cleverly timed their grand opening to coincide with the first trickles of income that were beginning to flow into Arrun as business dealings were finalized with the local Nobility and contracts were payed out by the Crown and Faerie Lords.
The growing number of Faeries with coin in their purses had found themselves confronted by something that they had not seen on the streets of Arrun in over a month. A cafe, a real restaurant, and it was serving food and drink a good couple of cuts above what was being rationed at the inns and barracks.
The Dicey Cafe had become an almost immediate success among the Fae, particularly the former and current members of the mob patrols and the victorious volunteers of Operation Dunkirk who had come to adopt the Cafe as their new watering hole.
This was in part due to the excellent food and drink, the product of an Imp employee who had been hired on after demonstrating his exceptionally high cooking skill and the Proprietor's excellent negotiating skills, as well as a number of Secret Recipes that had begun to crop up on the menu, carrying with them the nostalgic flavors of home.
It had thus been a great shock and disappointment for most of the instant regulars when they discovered that the Cafe would be reserved on the evening of the next Day of Void for a long awaited reunion between the Proprietor and some old friends . . .
"Wait, are we late?" Kirito asked as he stepped over the threshold and into the warm, wooden interior of the Cafe. Reminiscent of one part bar and one part bistro.
The small dining area was already half filled with their friends and acquaintances as Kirito held the door for Asuna, Suguha, and Yui.
Liz grinned as she looked up from her decorating. "Nah, you're right on time. We wanted to get set up before you got here, so we told you to come later."
"Is that so," Kirito said as he looked around the room. Silica and Pina were already seated at the nearest table, the blue feathered dragon wrapped greedily around a bowl of peanuts while Silica sipped at her own ice tea. The Cait Syth girl brightened up immediately, rising from her chair to greet them.
"Kirito-kun!" Silica greeted with a smile and then turned to Asuna. "And Asuna-san. I'm so happy to finally meet you in person."
Silica's job as a courier for important dispatches and parcels had really taken off after the adventure she had shared with Suguha and Yui in Northern Tristain, and she'd had hardly any time off since as she crisscrossed the country delivering dispatches and retrieving written reports.
The same was also true of many of tonight's guests, who were being kept busy either by the Faerie Lords or their own self found occupations. Just finding time for everyone to meet up had been tough enough.
"And I'm happy to meet you too. Silica-chan." Asuna smiled back. "Kirito-kun has told me lots about you and Pina. I'm grateful that you helped out." Asuna allowed herself to be lead back to a table by Silica and Liz, Yui trailing close behind.
Kirito meanwhile sidled up to the bar, taking a seat beside Argo who for once had chosen to forego her hood and even appeared to have properly combed her hair into some semblance of order rather than the golden brown mop that it usually resembled.
"How's it going, Kii-bou?" The Rat that had become a Cat asked as she stroked the head of her Nav Pixie partner. The tiny girl had seated herself atop the bar and was in the midst of nibbling away at a nut and slice of apple.
"I feel like I've aged twenty years over the last month." Kirito answered tiredly, looking over his shoulder to where Asuna was laughing softly about something Liz had just said. "And I'm the happiest guy in the world."
Argo chuckled. "So, Kii-bou and Aa-chan are back together. Congratulations."
"Thanks." Kirito said. and then added slyly. "That almost sounded genuine."
"Tis the truth sa!" She protested with another chuckle before leaning in cautiously. "Really, I'm glad for you and Aa-chan. You two deserve to be happy, especially with what's happening."
Kirito nodded, before raising a hand. "Barkeep, whiskey on the rocks." Kirito said half seriously, accepting a dark, ice filled glass. Taking his first sip, he blinked. "Wait as second, is this . . . Oolong tea? Hey, Agil, where did you get this?" He was almost certain that this wasn't one of ALfheim's food stuffs.
"You like it?" The burly Gnome behind the bar counter asked. "It's something I picked up from a trade Caravan. Apparently it comes from someplace beyond the Rub'al Khali desert. I guess maybe this world's version of China is out there somewhere. Who knows, maybe there's even an little island Kingdom where we can get our hands some soybeans."
"Don't joke about that." Kirito grumbled as he took another sip of the surprisingly nostalgic tea. He didn't want to get his hopes up in case Asuna couldn't repeat her miracle from Aincrad with the ingredients available in Halkegenia. "By the way, congratulations on your grand opening. I hear business has been doing good."
Agil gave a wide smile that could have made little children cry. "Funny, it seems I have good luck with business in any world except the one I was born in."
"And how does your wife feel about that?" Kirito asked.
"She feels like her husband should have spent a little bit less time playing full dive games and devoted some of that enthusiasm to real life." The reply came not from Agil, but another Gnome, a woman with warm, earthen skin and long black hair who had just appeared from the kitchen area. "You must be Kirito-kun." She bowed slightly.
"Ah, Kathy-san, or is it Eda-san?" Kirito bowed his head in her direction. "Yes, Agil's told me plenty about you."
"Whichever you like." The attractive Gnome woman tilted her head, smiling mischievously. "And I hope I don't have to set the record straight."
"He said that you were his beautiful and virtuous wife and that it's only thanks to you that he had a business to return to in the real world." Kirito said with complete sincerity before eyeing Agle with a silent stare that he hoped said this was his apology for denying him a taste of Asuna's Ragout Rabbit Stew all of those months ago.
"Well, well." The Gnome woman eyed her husband. "That sounds about right. Though," she sighed, "I'm afraid it was a wasted effort now. Though I suppose it's not all bad, flying is an amazing experience, and now I don't have stand on my tiptoes to kiss my husband." She demonstrated by giving Agil a small peck on the cheek.
Kirito's own smile widened as Argo snickered beside him. It seemed Kathy really was exactly the sort of faithful wife Agil had described. Agil was lucky to have her, and she was lucky to have him.
"Oy, Barkeep, give me a you know what!" A familiar, brash voice came from his back as Klein, dressed in full gear, took a seat at the bar, followed by two more of the former members of Furinkanzen and Schmidt, formerly of the Divine Dragon Alliance.
"It it really okay for you to be drinking if you have to go back on patrol?" Kirito asked.
"Eh? You can't pull double shifts without a drink." Klein defended, knocking back a round with a small cough. "Besides, it burns off pretty fast. Unless I really hit the heavy stuff, I won't even get buzzed." A hand fell heavily on Kirito's back. "And thanks again for lunch today. Man you must have used up all of your Luck Stat getting Asuna."
"Some days it feels that way." Kirito agreed. By now, more people were trickling in. Yolko and Caynz, two of the former members of the Aincrad Guild Golden Apple and then a rather happy looking Old Man, the fisherman Nishida setting down his tackle box by the door and taking the last available seat at the bar.
"Hey, it looks like the heroes are all here!" Caramella said as she came through the door, followed by her ever present partner, Kino. "Hey, Asuna, thanks for the invite!" The former army player found a spot to stand beside the bar while Kino took Argo's seat when she slipped away to join the rest of the girls.
"If it isn't Caramel." Klein said as he took another sip of his drink.
"Bite me you redheaded ronin wannabe." Caramella replied cheerfully. "If I known you were in this world I might have just stayed in Albion."
The banter between the two went on, leaving Kirito quite at a loss. He guessed they must have known each other from SAO, which made sense. Klein had probably interacted with a lot more people as a guild leader than Kirito ever had as a solo player.
"Um, excuse me." A small voice at Kirito's elbow drew his attention." Kino glanced about anxiously and then leaned closer. "That girl with the ears . . . "
Kirito glanced over his shoulder. Currently, Asuna and others were doting on Yui, his adopted daughter beaming with delight at all of the attention.
"Which one?" Kirito asked.
"Th-the one with the dragon." Kino mumbled face turning faintly red. "T-that's wouldn't be any chance be . . . be Dragon Tamer Silica . . . would it?"
It suddenly clicked, Kirito grinning as he leaned in conspiratorially. "Why? Are you one of her fans?"
Kino swallowed and nodded slowly. "Everyone in the middle levels thought that only the clearers could rise really fast in level and that nobody else could ever catch up, but then she started leveling up really fast, almost as fast as the clearers. A lot of her fans couldn't keep up with her and had to give up following her around once she got up to the fifty fifth floor."
Kirito listened carefully as Kino continued to gush. It wasn't the usual fan boy stuff either. He didn't seem to care at all about Pina's status as a mascot. Instead he did nothing but recite how she'd started leveling up and going on out of her way to train her dagger skills.
Well, it didn't sound like he was a bad kid. And Asuna trusted him. "You know." Kirito said casually. "You could always go over and talk to her."
"W-what?!" Kino looked about in terror. "Who said anything about that? I . . ."
Kirito's smile widened. "Come on, he who dare's wins, right?" He nudged Kino gently on the shoulder and for a second he was worried that he'd broken him.
The Faerie boy had frozen up completely, barely even breathing. Then, in one quick motion, he snatched up his glass of tea and downed the contents in one gulp. Yanking off his hat, he tried to comb his straw colored hair back with mixed success and then, taking a breath, hopped down from the seat began to make his way towards Silica who was busily showing Yui how to hold out her arm so that Pina would know that she could land.
"Heh, poor little guy looks like he's going to faint." Caramella said as she stole the seat and watched with an amused look. "Hey, Klein, looks like you could learn a few things from Kino!"
Well, he'd managed to get Silica to notice him. Kirito wished him luck as Agil suddenly drew his attention and began to discuss a joint venture he was looking for a competent swordsman to help him with. A little bit of low risk mob culling in support of the Cait Syth domestication efforts. The pay was supposed to be good, and if they managed to retrieve the eggs without damage, the omelettes promised to be fantastic.
Kirito was so absorbed in the conversation that he barely noticed the way that Suguha had quietly taken a step back, observing, but not participating in the festivities around her.
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