A/N: Hello readers. I hope you have enjoyed this story so far. Sorry it took so long to post this new chapter, but I have been really busy with my new job and writing my other fanfics. The past couple of weeks have have literally been wake up, eat, work on fanfic, go to work, come home, fall asleep from exhaustion. It took me a lot longer than I thought it would to write this out.
Unfortunately I have some bad news. This will be the last chapter for this fanfic. I apologize to all of you that really love this story, but as I said in the beginning, I can't make this an extremely long fanfic. Please enjoy this last chapter to the fullest.
Asuna woke up with the light piercing through the cracks of her curtains. She let out a big yawn and stretched her arms out. As much as the chestnut haired girl wanted to fall back asleep, she knew she couldn't. Not today at least. Today was going to be special.
The chestnut haired girl quickly got dressed and headed downstairs for breakfast, which was already on the table. Sitting at the table already was Asuna's mother. Usually when the mother and daughter sat down together there was a tense atmosphere. Lately however that tension had been absent. It was like a weight was lifted from them. It had been that way ever since Kyouko had talked with Yui a week ago.
"Good morning Asuna" Kyouko greeted with a faint smile.
"Morning mom" Asuna replied back. In the back of her mind she couldn't help but feel how much the middle aged professor had changed. 'I can't even remember the last time she showed any signs of smiling. Meeting Yui really changed her.'
"Are we still doing that thing today?" Kyouko asked her daughter.
"Yep. We're supposed to meet the others at one o'clock"
"Your brother and father know what time to show up too?"
"I told them a couple days ago" Asuna told her mother.
Saying Asuna was excited for today was an understatement. She was thrilled, ecstatic, mere words couldn't even describe what she felt. The chestnut haired girl ate her breakfast. She didn't know why but something about this meal tasted different. As she ate, Asuna noticed her mother looking her way slightly.
"What is it, mom?"
"I just wanted to know if you… liked the meal."
"Liked it?" Asuna questioned. "… Wait, did you make this?"
"I tried to do it myself, but it was a bit… difficult." Kyouko admitted. "Sadly, I needed Akiyo to assist me in the kitchen."
"Why'd you go to all that trouble mom?"
"Well Yui was talking about how she loved your cooking. She said it had a nice homemade taste to it"
"And you wanted to try it? Mom, you didn't have to do that"
"Akiyo said you were far easier to teach than I was" Kyouko said with a small chuckle. "You were a natural in the kitchen. I on the other hand was a complete disaster."
Asuna chuckled a little at the mental picture she painted of her mother struggling in the kitchen. She remembered back when she had gotten Akiyo Sada, the Yuuki's housekeeper, to teach her to cook back when Asuna was younger. The memories made her smile. The cooking skills she had acquired had also come in handy quite often. After all, it had helped get Kirito to fall in love with her back in Sword Art Online.
"It just takes a little practice mom. You'll get it down… eventually."
"Eventually? I was hoping for a little more confidence from you"
The mother and daughter both laughed jokingly together. It had been a long time since they had shared a moment like this, years in fact.
"Oh that's right!" Asuna remembered. "I promised Yui I'd log on and spend some time with her before the meeting today. I gotta go mom. See you later" With that said, Asuna got out of her seat with her breakfast finished and headed upstairs to log onto the virtual world.
XXXXXXXXXXXX
The Kirigaya house was hectic as ever this morning. Kazuto and Suguha were trying to eat breakfast in peace. Unfortunately that plan was thrown out the window the second Midori came downstairs. The two cousins didn't want to have to deal with her antics this early in the morning. Especially today of all days.
'Oh god, what's she gonna do to embarrass me today?' Kazuto wondered. To his surprise, Midori didn't have that devilish grin she usually had whenever she was planning to embarrass Kazuto or Suguha.
"Good morning Kazuto, Suguha" Midori greeted.
"Good morning…" Kazuto and Suguha nervously replied. Something was off. Midori was acting… normal. Both of them knew that a normal Midori was anything but normal for the Kirigaya house. What was she up to?
"So, did you two sleep well" Midori asked.
"…"
"…"
"Kazuto? Suguha? Is something wrong?"
"Alright mom, what's going on? You haven't even tried to embarrass us yet? It's not like you" Suguha said.
"Well I must say, that's a little hurtful" Midori told her daughter. "What kind of mother would even think of… damn it, I can't even say it with a straight face"
"I knew it" Kazuto sighed. "What are you planning?"
"It's quite simple Kazuto. Why should I embarrass you two now when I can do it this afternoon?" Midori said.
'And there's the mom we all know and hate' Suguha silently thought. "Seriously mom, why today? We've got the big thing planned for this afternoon."
"I'm well aware of that. After all, I'm going too" Midori reminded them.
"Please can you not make this day hell for us" Kazuto asked pleadingly. "Everyone's going to be there"
"Oh that's right! Asuna will be there too!" Midori remembered. "Maybe I can show her some baby pictures of you"
Suguha couldn't believe it, but the once proud swordsman she knew Kazuto to be in ALO had been reduced to a frail child that was currently sobbing tears of self-pity. Even she couldn't help but pity her raven haired cousin.
"Could you not try to embarrass Kazuto in front of everyone today please?" Suguha asked.
"Oh look at you coming to Kazuto's defense" Midori said somewhat teasingly. "If you two weren't related, I'd think you were a couple"
"Wh-What?! M-Mom don't say stuff like that! Th-That's crazy!" Suguha exclaimed in a very flustered manner. Her face was blushing red. 'Why did she have to bring that up? There's another thing to talk about at therapy now.'
"Why are you acting so weird Suguha?" Midori questioned. "It was just a joke"
"I-I'm not acting weird! You're acting weird!" Suguha replied. "Yeah, that's it. You're acting weird."
"Ooooookkkkaaaaayyyy" Midori said, wondering what was up with her daughter.
Kazuto was silently eating his breakfast, not wanting to get caught in the awkward tension that was currently present in the air. 'As if Sugu's therapist didn't have enough to deal with'
After finishing breakfast, Kazuto and Suguha did the chores they had to do around the house. The meeting time was quickly approaching so the two siblings went into their rooms and fit their Amu Spheres around their heads. Midori would soon be following them into the virtual world so now was the best time to see Yui.
"Link Start!"
XXXXXXXXXXXXX
Kirito's avatar manifested into the world of ALO in the small cabin he shared with Asuna and Yui. Leafa soon emerged next to him. Being here always made him feel at home, almost more than the real world. After all, this was the place he had started a family together with Asuna and Yui back in SAO.
Soon the sound of footsteps was heard as Yui entered into the living room from the bedroom. Seeing her Spriggan father, Yui ran at him and jumped into his arms. "Daddy!"
"Hey Yui" Kirito greeted with a smile as he embraced his daughter.
"Hey! What about me?!" Leafa whined with a joking smile. "No love for Aunt Leafa?!"
"Sorry" Yui apologized as she left her father's arms and ran to Leafa's. "Hello Aunt Leafa!"
"Sugu don't act like that in front of Yui. You'll make her think she can get whatever she wants by whining" Kirito complained.
"So? Crying and whining is the best way to get things"
"How old are you, five?"
"Oh, this coming from the guy who's still afraid of the dark?" Leafa teased.
"Hey I'm not afraid! I'm just… nervous"
"Daddy's afraid of the dark?" Yui asked.
"N-No, of course not." Kirito said.
"Oh really? Let's test it out then" Leafa suggested. "Yui, close the curtains."
Yui went to all the windows in the house and closed the curtains letting no light through. Leafa then went to turn off the lights.
"S-Sugu, is this really necessary?"
"Is someone getting cold feet?"
"N-No. Fine then, turn them off."
Lefa hit the switch and all remaining light in the room vanished. It was pitch black and none of them could see anything. After waiting for aout thirty seconds, the blonde Sylph finally turned the lights back on. "I'm impressed bro. Not a single-" Leafa stopped mid-sentence as she stared at the raven haired Spriggan, who was currently huddled on the floor as if he had just seen a horror movie.
"Wow… this is just sad" Leafa said, shaking her head. "The once proud black swordsman has been reduced to a scared little kid."
"So Daddy IS afraid of the dark" Yui giggled.
"I-I wasn't a-afraid" Kirito shivered. "I'm just… faking. Yeah, that's it!"
Leafa and Yui laughed together at Kirito's expense. As the mocking continued, another person entered the cabin. The trio looked over to see Asuna standing before them.
"Hey guys. What's going on?" the female Undine asked.
"Oh just teasing my brother about his childish fear." Leafa explained.
"You mean his fear of the dark?"
"Asuna?! How do you know about that?!" Kirito questioned.
"Your mom told me one time"
Kirito groaned, wondering why he didn't see that coming. A thought entered his mind that made him shiver. If Midori had told her that, what else had she told Asuna?
"Don't worry Kirito. I love you even with your silly fear of the dark" Asuna assured her boyfriend.
"It's not silly! I was really traumatized when I was younger!"
"Traumatized? By the dark?" Asuna questioned.
"It's all Sugu's fault anyway" Kirito moaned.
"Hey! It is not my fault… entirely"
"What exactly happened?" Asuna asked the two siblings.
"I wanna know too!" Yui said, bouncing in agreement.
After listening to the two girls plead over and over, Kirito finally gave up and decided to tell them the story.
-Ten years ago-
Kazuto sat on the couch inside his house. Outside, a huge storm was raging. Rain was pouring down and the loud thunder was deafening. The young raven haired boy could feel the intensity of the storm just by looking out the window.
Suddenly, a loud boom was heard outside and the lights shut off. It was a power outage. Kazuto couldn't see anything around him. It was already night and with the addition of the power outage, no light was around to show the young boy his surroundings. The next thing he knew, a low moan was heard.
"Kazutoooooooooooo"
Kazuto wondered where the sound was coming from. He soon heard rustling around nearby. The moan was heard again.
"Kazutooooooooooo. Kazuto Kirigayaaaaaaaaaaaaa"
Terrified, Kazuto huddled on the couch and covered himself with the blanket that was right next to him. He felt something approaching him slowly. Finally the lights came back on and he dared to peek out from under the blanket. His vision returned to him and the first thing he saw was Suguha's face centimeters from his own.
"Boo!"
-Present day-
As Kirito finished his story, Asuna and Yui looked at each other, following up by bursting into laughter.
"It's not funny! That was crazy scary!" Kirito argued.
"I-I'm sorry Kirito" Asuna apologized as she rolled on the floor laughing. "But that's hilarious! Hahahaha… ow! M-My funny bone! Hahahahahaha!"
Kirito glared over at his sister who had started all this to find her trying to hold back the laughter as well. "Come on. You gotta admit, that was pretty funny"
"It most certainly was NOT!" Kirito argued. "If you ever do something like that again I'm gonna-"
"You're gonna what, Kazuto?"
The group all turned around to see Midori in the ALO avatar Suguha had made for her. She was giving a stern glare at her adopted son.
"H-Hey mom" Kazuto nervously said.
"Granny!" Yui cheered, excited to see Midori once again. She ran up to her and wrapped herself around the Sylph.
"Hello Yui" Midori greeted. "Have you been doing well?"
"Yup!"
"And has your father been behaving?"
"Nope!"
"Yui! Come on!" Kirito complained, earning a laugh from everyone at the raven haired boy's expense. 'Why is it always me?'
Soon enough, three more people appeared inside the virtual house. The three new arrivals were Asuna's parents and her brother. Yui ran up to Kyouko and hugged her. "Hello Grandmommy!"
"Hello Yui" Kyouko said with a smile.
The Kirigayas looked at each other in confusion. Kazuto leaned in and whispered into Asuna's ear. "Who is this woman and what has she done with your mother?"
"I don't know, but I like this one a lot better" Asuna giggled.
"So you're Kirto?" Kouichirou asked, looking at the raven haired Spriggan.
"Y-Yes" Kirito replied. He once again whispered into Asuna's ear. "Who is this?"
"My brother" Asuna whispered back, causing Kirito to worry. The Undine giggled at her boyfriend sweating in distress. "Don't worry. He's more like my dad than my mom."
"Uncle Kouichirou!" Yui exclaimed, smiling in delight at the sight of her uncle.
"Hey Yui" the Undine smiled back. "You excited for today?"
"Of course! Can we get started right away?! Can we?! Please, please, please, please!"
The group smiled at the young girl's boundless enthusiasm. "Alright Yui. Let's get started. Everyone get into place"
The Kirigayas and Yuukis all got together in front of Asuna with Yui in the center having a wide grin on her face. Asuna brought up her menu and set it to camera mode. After setting the timer, she quickly rushed into the group herself, next to Yui.
"Alright everybody! Time for the first Kirigaya and Yuuki family picture! Everybody smile!"
The virtual camera window flashed, taking the picture of the two families smiling together with Yui happier than anyone. Finally the little girl's wish had come true. Finally, they were all a family.
A/N: And that's the end. I hope everyone enjoyed the final chapter to this fanfic and I'm sorry I couldn't add more chapters.
I want to take a moment to thank all of you that have read this story and made it so popular. This was my first extremely successful fanfic, and I can't thank you all enough for your support. It has meant so much to me as a writer. I'd like to especially thank all of you who commented and posted reviews to show your support.
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