Packing

Kirito got dressed quickly while Asuna went to find her clothes in the bathroom and fix her hair. Kirito felt a twinge in his heart as he approached the door, wishing whoever it was behind the door wasn't there. He just wanted to disappear with Asuna in their bedroom.

He opened the door without checking in the peephole and was met with the concerned stares of Sinon, Suguha, and the woman he knew as mom. His sister pushed into the apartment, pulling Shino behind her before his mom came in with a polite smile.

"Ugh— what are you guys doing here?" He sounded nervous. Especially with his mom being there.

"We came to help you pack." Sinon said sounding concerned as she twisted one of her side braids.

"And to see you off before you head off to America." Suguha tried to not sound too sad for her big brother.

"Oh. I'm glad." He weakly smiled.

Sinon started to look around the apartment "is Asuna still here?" She asked.

"I'm right here." Asuna was just walking out of the bedroom. "I'm so glad you're here." She smiled before running to hug her friends.

"How long before your flight Kazuto?" His mother asked as she placed a hand on his shoulder.

"We need to be at the private air strip by 1am. So we have —" he glanced at his digital watch while running his other hand over his forehead and through his hair "four hours."

"Well then we don't have time to waist." Suguha said as Asuna released her from the hug.

"I'll take Asuna home so she can pack and we can meet you at the plane." Sinon said.

"Yeah, okay." A cloud came over his face.

Sinon gave her best friend a couple pats on the shoulder before heading towards the door. "Don't worry. I'll drive extra careful with your princess in tow." Kirito managed one chuck of a chuckle before speaking "the only person I trust more with her on a motor cycle is myself." She softly smiled as she leaned in the open door frame to wait for Asuna.

Kirito's mom pulled Asuna into a surprising hug. "Just in case I don't get to see you before you leave." She released her from the hug and gently grabbed his shoulders. "I'm looking forward to the next time we see each other, hopefully—" tears started to form the corners of her eyes. "It will be to celebrate your wedding."

Asuna sadly smiled before pulling her future mother in law in to another hug. "Thank you."

"Okay! We have a lot of crying— " Suguha coughed at her own words "I mean packing... to get done."

As Suguha gently ushered Asuna towards the door Asuna giggled a little while Kirito let out a little frustrated growl.

She walked out the door and a weight dropped in Kirito's heart, he really didn't want to be away from her right now. When she suddenly peeked over the door frame it was like the weight suddenly disappeared for a moment. "Make sure he packs warm clothes! New York is pretty cold this time of year." And with a cute smile she was gone again and the weight sunk in his chest, just a little lighter than before.

Suguha and Kirito's stomach suddenly growled which made their mother laugh a little. "It's been awhile since I last made you two a meal... let me see what I can come up with while you two pack."

Sinon took Asuna home and before they even got their shoes came off Asuna's mother was waiting for her in the hallway, wrapped in her robe and looking like she was ready for sleep.

"Mom?" Asuna was surprised to see her mom like this and a little embarrassed that Sinon was seeing her mother like this. "I didn't think you would still be up. I'm sorry if we woke you."

"No. I was waiting for you. How much time do you have?" Her mother squeezed her arms tightly and rubbed her upper arms.

Asuna checked her phone. "I need to be at the plane in three and half hours..."

"Oh— so no time at all really. Hello Sinon, it's nice to see you."

"Hello Mrs. Yuuki. It's nice to see you as well." Sinon smiled and did a little bow.

"Why don't the two of you get started on the packing and I'll bring you some tea." Her mother was already walking to the kitchen.

The girls went up to Asuna's room. Sinon sat on the edge of the bed as Asuna pulled out red and white set of matching luggage luggage.

"How did Yui take it?" She asked while Asuna pulled out her warm weather clothes and started folding and packing them.

"Not very well." Asuna's head hung as she thought about how heart broken her virtual daughter is right now. "We worked really hard on her flower girl dress and a special gift for Kirito and it upset her that all of that was put on hold. That was nothing to how angry she got when we told her that she won't be with us for awhile since we don't have access to any of the networks or systems over there yet." Asuna sighed and looked up at her friend. "She actually yelled at us, which is when Kirito told her she wasn't allowed to talk to us like that. She started crying... and said she hated us just before ending her transmission. I swear it's like she's becoming a teenager or something lately with all her attitude." She chuckled even though she was already missing her daughters little voice.

"Do you think she'll start noticing boys soon and start calling you Asuna and Kirito instead of Mommy and Daddy?" Sinon's words had a hint of laughter in them.

Asuna clutched the small pendant necklace that Kirito had given her on the year anniversary of her rescue from ALO that looked an awful lot like the one she had in game to keep Yui. "I'm not sure I'm ready for that..."

A moment of silence passed between the two friends as Asuna continued to pack her things.

"So... I'm just wondering... which one did you pick?" Shino's eyebrow raised.

"Mmm mm" Asuna shook her head. "No way I'm telling you."

"Oh come on. I won't tell anyone. I just want to know if I won— the— bet..." a blushing shameful smile came over her face as she saw the furious look in Asuna's.

"What bet?" She asked in a low and angry tone.

"Well— after your dress shopping trip Suguha, Lizbeth, Silica and I placed bets on which dress you actually picked. You can hardly blame us." Her arms crossed over her chest and her nose lifted a little as she teased her friend.

"Which dress did you bet on?" Asuna asked very intrigued.

"I was torn at first between the champagne spaghetti strap, sweetheart neckline, handkerchief cut tulle dress with the sparkly leaf appliqué on the waist. You looked like a fair queen in that one. Or I thought you might pick the one that made you look like a Greek goddess with the single strap and sparkly rope just under the bust. I decided to go with the first one in the end though." Sinon kept a close eye on Asuna as she spoke of her guesses and knew that offering the two she didn't actually put her bet on paid off and she had guessed correctly.

"Well I guess you'll all just have to wait a little while longer —" Asuna felt a twist in her gut as she wondered how much longer they'd be waiting.

"I'm sorry Asuna— I didn't mean to—"

"No. It's fine" Asuna interrupted with waving hands and little tear at the corners of her closed eyes.

Sinon went to her friend and hugged her and sat on the ground next to her luggage.

Asuna pulled away from the hug after a moment. "I'm okay. I mean I'm sad that everything is being put on pause again..." her eyes and fists clenched as she remembered sitting by his bed praying he would wake up from the Under World. She shook her head to stop herself from crying. "I'm mostly concerned about him."

"Yeah... I'm worried about both of you, but he seems a bit more— I don't know— lost?" Simon's head titled.

"I think he's blaming himself." Asuna relaxes her hands from the clenched fists.

"What?! Why?" Sinon asked in shock.

"He put the seed out there for the world to use it and now it's growing weeds. He never imagined someone would use it as a weapon again." She smiled a little at her friend. "But I know he can fix this and I'll be there with him to remind him that he's a hero."

"He's lucky to have you Asuna." Sinon hugged her friend again. Her heart felt heavy with concern for her friends realizing that what they were about to go through was just as hard as her journey to hold and shoot a gun in the real world again.

Meanwhile Kirito and his sister were at the apartment. She sat in the chair at the desk in his room watching her brother pick through his clothes and throw them haphazardly into his black duffel bags. When he pulled a charcoal grey t-shirt and then put it back she saw her opportunity to hopefully start up a conversation.

"Not black enough for you? Do you wear any other color Kazuto?" She poked around his ego. It took some time for them to become close, but now he was one of her closest friends, and she hated seeing him so depressed.

"No. It's not that. I don't know why I still have that shirt. I really should throw it away." He tossed the shirt towards the trash can by the desk, missing in by an inch.

"Nice throw." She poked again this time getting a little shoulder shrug and growl from him.

She picked the shirt up off the ground to see that on the front of the shirt was the original art from SAO. "Is this from when you were a beta tester?" She asked as she folded on to her lap so she could still se the artwork.

"Yeah." He huffed with his back turned to her as he started grabbing pants from a drawer.

"I think I remember you wearing this. Yeah!" She held it up to make it look like it was on his body in from her point of view. "You wore it for days when you were first playing until mom finally made you bath and washed it for you!"

With his back still turned to her she could feel his frustration in the air. "Can you just put it in the trash Suguha?"

She squeezed the shirt in her lap. "Why?" She asked.

He turned to look at his sister with very dark and pain filled eyes. "Because it reminds me of the kinds of monsters people can be." He fists balled at his sides. "And now I'm some of those monsters."

"What are you talking about?" She stood up, ready to hug her big dummy of a brother.

"I was given that seed and I gave it to the world trusting that this shit wouldn't happen again. Now look! The same thing is happening and I'm partially to blame for giving them a tool to do it."

"Kazuto—" her voice was full of gender concern.

"Don't! Don't feel sorry for me Suguha." He barked at her.

"I don't." She sounded firm and confident. "I don't feel sorry for you at all. Look at how much this shirt has given you Kazuto. You found a purpose and a skill because of this shirt. You developed a kind and loyal heart because of this shirt. And most importantly, this shirt lead you to someone who loves you so completely. So no, I don't feel sorry for you at all."