There are just so many ways to apologize for... my god over a year of not updating. But I can't. You guys deserve better. I will try to do better. I am sorry. Also, it's short and that's disappointing as well.

Sugu's POV

Logging back in, I was faced with the boy in black sitting lazily, sucking on some sort of stick. "Any trouble here?" I asked, glad that even as a newbie, he had kept me safe.

"Nah, A'hs quiet 'ere" he mumbled through his treat.

"What is that?" I don't remember seeing anything like that. Did he just pick up a stick from the ground or something? Somehow I could totally see him doing that.

Pulling it out and tossing it to me, he explained it was apparently a spicy food offered in Sylvain. I never knew. Hm. I eyed the slightly chewed part he had in his mouth hesitantly, and then pretended it didn't make me feel weird as I proceeded to put it in my mouth. ! My whole body immediately became ice cold compared to how lava hot my mouth turned. Imaginary flames were spewing from my throat as I took some quick breaths and threw the offending stick o' fire back at the boy. He simply laughed and caught it, tucking it away.

"Guess it's my turn to head out. Keep me safe." He threw a wave at me while I physically clawed at my tongue, trying to remove the offending taste. I nodded through teary eyes as his avatar went limp.

Standing up, I went and sat next to him, his slumping over body being a good back rest. In that moment I heard a faint rustle as a small but by now familiar pixie flew over and sat on Kirito's shoulder. Expecting peace and quiet for the next twenty or so minutes, I was taken aback. "You can move without your master here?!" I shouted, almost falling back.

"He's not my master. He's my papa. Plus I'm my own person too." She said confidently. Can AI's even be confident in their own personal existence? Is this like some horror movie where the machines become self-aware and take over Japan?

"Right. Why do you call him your papa anyway?" Those two had a relationship I couldn't understand. Kirito was a puzzle in himself and this AI that apparently had a soul and personal ideas just didn't make any sense; and they both seemed to be hiding something in half of everything they said. Then again I've never talked to Yui alone.

"Because he's my papa." She said, again full of conviction. "Just like mama is mama. They told me they were when they were." They told her?

"I see…" I don't see. "So you love your papa then?"

"I do not understand what it is to love." She said with a tilt of the head, both like a computer and a little girl simultaneously.

"Er…" I thought, trying to find the best way to explain to a computer… girl…thing. "Well when you love someone, they become super important to you. They can become the most important thing. You always want to be with them. You want to treat them special." My eyes glazed over slightly as I couldn't help but dip into the vast feelings I had developed for my faux sibling. It was turning to the point where I was already done with the denial part of my 'never getting the love I want' program.

She sat there contemplative for a moment. "So like how Leafa feels for her not-boyfriend?"

"What!? No no no no. I said he's just a friend! It's someone else!" I slipped out. Oops.

"Who's something else?" a deeper voice came out from the now moving avatar.

The small pixie, apparently unaware to her papa's return to the world until now, turned her small head towards him. "Leafa was saying that she…"

"It's nothing!" I shouted, drowning out the AI, all the while waving my arms frantically hoping that if she could understand 'love' then she could understand a sign for 'shut the fuck up pretty please.' Wait, that wasn't a long conversation at all. "You're back fast. What happened?"

Seeming content to let the topic slide, he replied with, "My family left me some food."

"Ah." I stretched as I stood up. "Let's head out then. Might as well get as much flying in as possible."

"Wait…" He stood up slowly, closing his eyes. "Yui, are there any nearby players?"

"Nothing detected papa." She responded quickly.

He mumbled a small "Could've swore…" before shrugging.

We took off to the skies, flying just above the trees towards the opening in the mountain. I took a deep breath, knowing soon I would be limited to cave air and zero flying capability.

"You must really prefer flying over walking" Kirito said, noticing my behavior.

"Definitely. It's so free. It helps me think and calm down. When only bad things were going on, I could always rely on the open skies to open up and comfort me."

"I feel bad for dragging you to this cave then." He chuckled lightly. "Hope you can find comfort another way while we're down there."

I rolled my eyes. "I'll be fine. I'm not that fragi…" I trailed off, thinking over my… oh so numerous break downs over the past few days. I shook my head in attempt to change the subject. "One day I had Recon take a screenshot of my avatar flying and print it out for me. So even if I can't log in, it gives me some peace." The poster over my bed coming to mind in detail.

"What a good friend-boy." The spikey haired kid laughed, obviously referring to our earlier conversation.

"Oh shut up."