Family:

With her hand in her mother's young Yuuki Asuna looked every part the young corporate daughter. Eyes downcasts, not speaking, she followed her mother into the house of her grandparents.

Her grandfather greeted the two and her mother spoke briefly with him before turning back to her daughter.

"Asuna I shall be back in a couple days. Be good for your grandparents." With that she nodded before making her way outside.

"Asu-chan," her grandmother called to her.

"Obaa-chan." She finally said, rushing into the arms of her beloved grandmother.

"Asu-chan… We have a surprise for you. Your aunt and cousin will be coming over for a couple days as well." Her grandmother told her, winking in a joking manner.

"Really?!" Asuna said in excitement.

"Really." Her grandfather chuckled.

"Asu-chan, why don't you come help me with dinner while we wait for those two okay?"

"Un!"

When the two arrived an hour later Asuna all but flinged herself into her aunt.

"Aunt Nana! Cousin Tsuna!"

"Why hello there Asu-chan? How have you been lately?"

"Good!"

"Asu-nee!" Tsuna called out to her hugging her tightly.

"Tsu-chan!" Asuna giggled. Her mother might have been cold but with her other family Asuna truly felt like she belonged.

Perhaps that is why years later when she is trapped in the death game SAO when she spots her younger cousin she decides with all the strength of the future 'Flash' that she would protect the one family member she had here. That he would not die, for she would die first if it came to it.

Because family? Family was important to Yuuki Asuna.

Start:

It was a very well hidden fact that Kirigaya Kazuto, better known in SAO as Kirito, had a huge sweet tooth. Cakes, Eclairs, Ice cream; you name it and he loved it. But ever since getting stuck in SAO he had been without sugary goodness.

Oh sure there was NPC run bakeries and the like. But they just weren't… delicious truth be told. Players had learned quickly that while they could buy NPC made food it is the player made food that stuck out with amazing taste.

But no one really wanted to dedicate the time and effort it would take to skill up the Cooking skill (and its branch skill Baking) when they could be out there fighting mobs and leveling up.

The only players who did rank the skill up were people who weren't going out of their way to clear the game and were just content to sit back and be support.

Kirito sighed, his stomach grumbling, as he made his way from the coliseum that the planning had taken place for the first floor boss. He had ended up partying with another player named Asuna who was already in a party with another player named 'Cielo'. He briefly remembered the sad tear streaked face of a player a year younger then him on the first day.

Finding Asuna with someone else sitting on a bench he saw that the younger male player had… was that a canolli?! He wanted one so bad. Stepping closer to the two with a hand half reaching out, the boy noticed him.

"Ah! You're Kirito right? We met on the first day!" The boy grinned happily. "I saw that Asu-nee added you to the party. So you're going to be taking on the boss too with us?"

"Uhm, uh, yeah…" Kirito said, shy in the moment as the boy continued grinning up at him. Something in Kirito awoke as if there was a fire in the pit of his stomach and was trying to reach out to the boys equal, if not brighter, fire.

"I'm Cielo if you don't remember. Why don't you come sit with us? I saw you staring at my canolli~" It was said teasingly. From beside the boy Asuna chuckled.

"Ah… don't mind if I do." Kirito mumbled sitting next to them. The teasing smile changed to a cheerful one quickly as Cielo opened up his player menu and scrolled through his items. Selecting one he summoned it. A box with decorative design on it appeared and Cielo passed it over to the boy.

"Sorry it's not Canolli's but I have some mini eclairs I can give you. I hope you like them. Sorry if it doesn't taste alright, my cooking and baking skill isn't the best at the moment." Cielo sheepishly told the older boy.

"No, its alright." Kirito made to assure the boy. Cielo beamed. Opening the box Kirito was rewarded with the sight of 4 mini chocolate covered eclairs. It was the best damn sight Kirito had seen in a month.

Picking one up he lifted it up to his mouth and took a generous bite. Tears suddenly sprung to his eyes.

"Eh?! Kirito-san are you alright?" Cielo asked frantically.

"I'm fine it's just… this is the best dessert I have eaten yet in this game."

"Eh?" Cielo said dumbstruck.

Kirito gave a small smile. "Thank you Cielo."

Cielo blushed. "It was nothing…" He mumbled. From beside the young 13 year old player, Asuna laughed.

"Asu-nee! Don't laugh at me!" Cielo almost screeched.

"How can I not though Cielo!" She laughed. "You're so cute haha.

As the two argued a little Kirito looked at them in amusement. The two almost reminded him of how he was with Suguha before he found out they weren't really siblings.

Kirito laughed a little and the two turned to him pouting.

Kirito felt like he belonged with these two. It was… nice. He felt like he was in their little family.

This is something Kirito would feel for the entirety of SAO and even afterwards.

New:

"Hm." Cielo hummed a little as he studied the description and stats of an Ax weapon. It really sucked that his old Ax had broken while he was grinding exp earlier in the day. Honestly it was his own fault for being careless and not noticing his weapons durability. He had to rely on his somewhat mediocre dagger skills instead.

"Interested?" A voice asked him. Looking up Cielo smiled a small smile at Agil.

"Sort of. The Ax of the Blood Warrior is very good. It was a last attack bonus a few floors down right?"

"Indeed someone sold it to me because they didn't have the Skills for it. I would use it for myself but my current Ax is better." Agil commented.

Cielo hummed a bit. The price was a bit steep but this Ax would probably last him a while if he just kept repairing its durability.

"I'll take it." He told the merchant.

Agil initiated the trade and Cielo entered the amount. Accepting the trade Cielo equipped the Ax.

It was really a thing of beauty. A handle stained red and the rune work on the Ax itself was breathtaking.

Yes, he was sure this Ax would last him quite a bit.

Tragedy:

The bell of his cafe jingled as Cielo placed a plate of cookies in the display. Dusting his hands off on his apron he lifted his head to greet the new customer. The greeting died on his lips as he spotted Kirito. But this wasn't the normal confident 14 year old Cielo had come to know in the the time of the death game.

This Kirito looked like he had gone to war and hadn't returned all too sane.

"Kirito? What's wrong?" Cielo asked as he made his way to the other. Thankfully no one was in Cafe Horizon's Dawn (named after his guild and also doubled as their guild headquarters). That meant it was quit easy to flip the open sign to closed and signal to the system his shop was not open to the public. Kirito had been keyed into the security for a while now.

"They're dead Cielo…" Kirito murmured stepping closer to the other boy and resting his head on the shorter male.

"Who?" Cielo gazed at the others name and noticed the guild symbol attached to the other in game name. His breath hitched as he moved the boy slightly back and gazed into empty lifeless eyes.

"Sachi and the others… It's all my fault."

"No!" Cielo harshly, perhaps too harshly, told the other. "It's no ones fault but their own they should have known better by now. Kirito you need to stop blaming yourself for everything!"

"But I'm higher level if I didn't hide my level!"

Cielo sighed. "It probably wouldn't have helped at all. Kirito… Please stay with me tonight I don't want to chance you doing anything to yourself. To lose you…"

Cielo's fire roiled as if upset that the other would do something like that .

Kirito nodded absentmindedly and Cielo grabbed his hand and brought him to the upstairs apartment. He lead the other to his own room and urged him into the bed.

"Sleep Kirito. And I will be here when you awake."

A couple months later when Kirito heard the rumors of a revival item even if he had come to terms with the deaths of his guild he tried for it anyway. And then he received Sachi's message and he cried. Cielo was with him the entire time, arms around him, warm. Kirito felt like he was home. And that's what Cielo was to him.

Home.