Fairylucy's Notebook

"Usagi, it's time to wake up. You're going to be late for school!"

Princess Serenity sat up from her bed and was startled to not see a burning battlefield, but instead a teenage girl's bedroom.

Her bedroom.

It was her bedroom from when she was a teenager. Complete with purple bunny print bedding and her pink vanity.

Wait, the vanity!

She quickly stood up and ran over to the vanity, careful not to get tangled up in the sheets and fall on her face. She sat in her chair and got a good look at herself.

The first thing she noticed was her hair. It was blonde again. She hasn't had blonde hair since before she took the throne.

The second thing she noticed was her face. She had dark circles forming under her eyes from her many sleepless nights. She also saw that her forehead was bare.

She frowned.

Her moon was gone.

Her face shape was different, too.

As a teen she had a round face that still held on to her baby fat, but over the many - many years her face had taken on a more sculpted look, much like her mother from her past life.

As she looked at her face in the mirror, her door suddenly opened, and her mother, her earth mother, came in yelling.

"Usagi, please hurry up or you're - wait honey, are you okay, what's wrong?" her mother asked.

The question took her by surprise, and suddenly, she noticed the warm tears running down her face. She tried to compose herself as she answered with a shakey voice.

"I- I'm sorry, mot- mom. I'll get ready. I just. I think I had a bad dream." Serenity said.

She wiped the tears from her face as her mother walked over to her and put her palm to Serenity's forehead.

"Well, you don't feel too warm," she said. Her mother took a step back and looked at her with a worried expression. "If you still don't feel okay, I can call the school and tell them you're sick."

Serenity shook her head and refused.

"No. No, I'll be okay. I'll just get dressed and be down in a few minutes, " Serenity assured her mother.

Her mother looked at her in worry for a moment longer before reluctantly agreeing.

Once her mother left the room, she finally allowed herself to sob. She didn't know what was going on, but this was a second chance nonetheless.

She got herself dressed and made it out the door, thanking her mother for the packed lunch.

On her way to the school, she was broken out of her autopilot by a cat's cries and children's laughter.

"Luna."

Sure enough, as she turned the corner, a group of elementary school-aged boys held down Luna while she screamed and struggled, unable to talk.

Serenity stood over the boys and yelled, making them run away, leaving poor Luna to try and scratch the band-aids off of herself.

She knelt down next to Luna and scooped her up. She tried to remove the bandages off with the least amount of fur coming off with them.

"Here you go Luna," Serenity said with a smile.

Luna's head snapped in her direction before jumping away and landing on the wall next to her.

"Who are you, and how do you know my name?" Luna asked with a growl.

Usagi distantly heard the school bell ring and sighed before looking Luna in the eyes.

She longed for her powers. They would make this so much easier. She could make her moon glow and prove who she was, but she needed to get her transformation broach first.

"My name is Princess Serenity, heir to Silver Millennium of the moon kingdom. I was reincarnated into the body of Tsukino Usagi, a human on earth. I would love to fill you in on this some more, but I need to get to school."

Luna studdied the girl and asked:

"How can I trust you?" asked Luna.

Serenity shrugged.

"I'm not really sure, but if you'd like I can talk with you more later. I'm sure you can figure out where I live." She said.

And with that, she took off, leaving Luna where she stood on top of that wall.

The school day went about as she remembered it.

She ran late, got a low score on a test, had to stand outside for a few minutes, and Naru invited two other girls to partake in a sale at her mom's jewlery store.

She tried her best to act like her teenage self but her mind was fighting her to think about other things.

"Are you okay, Usagi?" Naru asked.

Serenity startled.

She looked around and noticed that it was just her and Naru in front of the store.

"I'm so sorry, Naru. What did you ask?" Serenity asked.

"Are you okay? You looked out of it again. Are you having trouble sleeping again?" Naru asked with a look of pure sympathy.

Serenity felt terrable for making Naru worry. She was best friends with the girl since they were toddlers, but she lost her after high school.

"No, I'm okay. I'm sorry for making you worry," Serenity said. "I'm just upset over my test grade."

Naru looked like she didn't belive her.

"Why don't we just head in?" Serenity asked.

Naru silently agreed and led them inside. They held onto each other to not get lost in the crowd and made their way over to Naru's mom.

Serenity frowned at the percent off signs on the walls and the sound of Naru's mom announcing sales on jewlery.

When they got to her mom, Serenity noticed the woman's eyes. They were lifeless and dark, a sign of a fake human.

She tried not to show any signs that she knew this woman was a fake. Her friend would be getting left with a Youma, but she didn't want to put her in any more danger than nessasary.

The Youma looked at them with a fake smile.

"Hi mom, I invited my friends over for a little bit," Naru said.

The creature placed its hands together and grinned widly.

"Oh, how sweet," It said.

The other two girls showed up and praised the jewlery that Naru's mother was selling.

"Well, any friend of my sweet Naru gets to have a special friend discount," the Youma said.

Serenity tried not to frown at this statement. She still remembered how the money loss scared the family last time around.

She noticed Naru's conflicted expression, although the other two didn't seem to notice as they cheered in excitement. They thanked the Youma before walking off together, talking about how their parents might be likely to buy her anything when they saw her new test score.

"Are you okay, Usagi?" Naru asked.

Naru turned to Serenity with a grin.

"Do you want to look around with me Usagi?" Naru asked her.

The Youma leaned on Naru and grinned even more.

"I know we have a pair of pink diamond earrings that would fit you quite well." the Youma said to her.

Serenity frowned and hoped it looked sad and not uncomfortable.

"I might look around for a bit but I'm not sure I'll be allowed to get anything when my mom sees my test." Serenity said with a sigh.

Naru nodded and locked arms with her.

"I'll walk around with you and make sure you can get out without getting lost." Naru said and led her friend into the crowd.

When Naru noticed her friends complete disinterest in actually looking around, they headed out of the store.

They adapted to the less noisey streets of the city and leaned against the wall.

"Does my mom seem off to you?" Naru asked her.

Serenity stalled for a moment.

"Why do you ask?" she asked.

Naru frowned at the sidewalk underneath her.

"I don't know, sorry. It's just that I noticed that something about mom has been off. Not just today, she's been like this for a few days now." Naru said. "And mom never does big sales."

Naru sighed and leaned her head on her friends shoulder.

"I don't know exactly what it is, but i just feel like something is wrong." Naru said.

Serenity hummed and leaned her head on Naru's. She used to do this with Small Lady when she had big and hard to deal with emotions.

"I'm not sure," Serenity said. "I think you're right tho. I felt like something was off too."

Naru started to shake.

Serenity pulled her friend into a hug and let Naru cry onto her shoulder until she calmed down.

"I don't feel safe, Usagi. I just don't know what's wrong. Like she's my mom. I dont know why I feel so unsafe." Naru said.

"I'm not sure, Naru. I'm so sorry." Serenity said.

She combed her fingers through Naru's hair, letting her fingers masage the scalp.

"If you feel like you need to talk so someone, you can call me anytime. I'll hurry home. I'll answer at any time." Serenity assured her.

She kissed her friend's forehead, making Naru giggle.

"Thanks Usagi. I'll definetly call you." she grinned wipeing her tears away.

Naru pulled away and leaned on the wall again.

Serenity followed.

"How soon do you need to leave?" Naru asked.

Serenity looked at a shadow from a nearby lightpost.

"Probally soon, but I want to make sure you're okay before I leave." Serenity said.

"Thanks, Usagi." Naru smiled.

She then looked over serenity's shoulder and giggled.

"Who wears a fancy tux like that at this time of day?" Naru said.

Serenity's eyes widened.

She turned her head and froze.

"Momarou"

"Do you know him?" Naru asked her.

Mamo looked at her with a confussed face before looking back down at his watch.

Serenity teared up and shook her head

"I don't know. He just looks like someone from one of my dreams." Serenity said.

"Oh, like a dream boy?" Naru teased.

She lightly elbowd her and giggled, making Serenity blush.

"Yeah, he's pretty cute," Serenity said. She watched Mamorou's face turn red as he tried to hide his face.

Serenity glanced back at the shadow again and sighed.

"I'm sorry, Naru. I should probably get headed home," Serenity said.

Raf set down her teacup on the plate, making sure not to make too much of a clacking noise as the two pieces of China met. She sat in the sunlit window seat of the coffee shop that she had started to frequent since her and Sulfus had been shunned.

She had taken taken to people watching in the last couple months.

Despite now living among them, she still enjoyed watching the humans like she had before. The many sounds of the human's voices and devices around her relaxed her mind as she thought about her life over the last few years.

Her and Sulfus had gotten married and now lived in a rundown, but cozy apartment in the downtown area.

Sulfus had found in love for creating art through graffiti. Through this, he had gotten himself a job at this little studio a few streets down

Sulfus found this job from a nice human girl named Regina, who had caught him tagging up brick wall one night. She had complimented his skills and offered him a job soon after, the two had struck up a nice friendship.

He gained a section in her studio to legally make and sell art.

Raf herself found it difficult to keep a stable job and had gone through multiple workplaces, not finding one that exactly suited her. But she really didn't mind all that much. Although she had trouble keeping jobs, she had found quite a few humans who she had considered close friends.

Just like her Angels.

She felt her phone buzz and glanced at the screen, noticing the time.

"Oh, shoot, I'm late."

She quickly grabbed her purse before paying and rushing out the door her bag , dragging in the air behind her

"Hey there, Angel." She heard Sulfus's voice when she entered the studio.

"I'm sorry. I lost track of time again."

She made her way over to him. Dodging, painting supplies and food. How he could stand his food that close to chemicals was beyond her.

He pulled her into a gentle kiss and held her close

"You're all right. I'm just going to go finish up, and then we can head out, okay?"

" Yeah, that sounds good." Raf answered and separated after another kiss.

She moved over to one of the empty chairs by the wall and watched sulfus finish painting.

No matter, how much her fellow angels had said that she would have regretted this

Alice was trying to get herself synced up to the house’s Wi-Fi but up until now she was having no luck. Alice tinkered with her Bluetooth and the Wi-Fi router until she finally got it.

“Yes. Finally!” Alice cheered quietly to herself pumping her fist in the air in celebration. The girl giggled a bit before seeing if anything was different. She looked around until she saw a small black-haired girl in a dress watching her from the crack of her door make an  “eep” noise before sprinting away from her down the hall. Once Alice registered what just happened in her mind she took off after the girl. Once in the hallway she watched the girl's dress disappear into Kirito’s room without the door even opening.

What was going on? She thought the girl was an intruder, but now she was thinking she was maybe a ghost. Either way she rushed over to Kirito’s door and knocked twice before going inside.

She was still working on personal boundaries.

Alice searched around and couldn’t find the girl anywhere. Not the closet, not under the desk or under the bed. Where could she have disappeared to? She didn’t appear to be much larger than her own sister Selka.

Alice stood next to Kirito’s bedside and shook his shoulder trying her best to wake him.

“Kirito. Kirito wake up. I think there’s a ghost.” Alice said.

Eventually her persistence worked, and he awoke with a start.

“What? What’s going on?” Kirito asked and stumbled trying to keep himself from falling off the bed. “Alice what’s?-”

Alice cut him off when she saw the girl once again appear behind him.

“Kirito there is a ghost girl behind you.” Alice warned him while pulling him out of the bed. The girl silently gasped while reaching out to Kirito which made Alice panic more and pull him down quicker.

Kirito complained at the pain of hitting the floor so harshly. He rubbed his backside and stared at the bed not seeing anything.

“Alice, there’s no one in here except you.” Kirito said sleepily glaring at the girl. He shook his head and pressed his palms into his eyes trying to wake himself up.

“But she’s right there.” Alice insisted and pointed at the edge of the bed, but Kirito once again saw nothing and yawned.

The girl on the bed looked like she was trying to say something, but no sound was coming out. The small girl frowned at Alice before shuffling over to Kirito’s desk and pointing at his Augma and then at Kirito before motioning for him to put it on. Alice quickly explained what the girl was doing. Kirito just nodded before putting it on and starting it. When he looked at the bed, he looked at the girl in familiarity.

“Oh, Good morning, Yui.” Kirito said. The girl—Yui—shook her head at him and mouthed something to him. “Well, it’s still technically morning sweety.” He said in a slightly sarcastic voice which only resulted in the girl glaring at him. Kirito laughed at this.

“Kirito, what’s going on? Who is this?” Alice asked.

The girl slipped off the bed and walked over to her looking like she was trying to say something but once again no sound came out. Yui frowned and turned to Kirito and said something to him. Kirito nodded his head before turning to his computer and asking Alice to wait a second. Alice shakenly agreed while keeping an eye on this child. Yui walked over to Kirito and leaned on the desk next to where he was working and kicked her feet while she watched. Eventually Alice heard another voice in the room and connected it to the girl.

“Alright,” Kirito said before turning around and Yui on the head. The girl giggled. It reminded her of Selka. “That should have fixed your audio functions.”

Yui’s eyes lit up as she asked, “Can you understand me now, Alice?”

Alice nodded her head before kneeling in front of the girl.

“Yeah, I can.” Alice said.

The girl cheered.

“Okay, good.” Kirito said before standing up and leading Alice to sit on his ‘spin-y’ chair. Kirito then sat on the bed across from her and asked Yui to sit next to him. Yui happily did so and leaned on his shoulder while continuing to kick her feet. Kirito smiled and leaned a little into the child as well. Kirito then looked at Alice. “Now that we got that fixed. We can do introductions.” Kirito said.

Yui smiled and introduced herself, “Hi Alice. My name is Yui. I’m sorry it took us this long to meet.”

Alice was calmed by the child’s voice. “Nice to meet you, Yui. I see I don’t need to give you, my name?” Alice asked.

Yui giggled and said, “Nope. Mama and Papa have been telling me about you since they left the Underworld. I’ve been so excited to meet you.” She smiled at the older girl.

“Oh, are you Kirito and Suguha’s younger sister?” Alice asked.

Kirito shook his head and ruffled Yui's hair.

“Nope. Yui is mine and Asuna’s daughter.” Kirito said.

“Oh?” Alice asked. When she looked at the girl, she appeared to be just a few years younger than Selka in age. When she thought of Kirito’s age, she didn’t like the implications. “So that’s why you acted so hastily with those two children. How despicable of someone to do something like that to you.” Alice looked at him in pity.

Kirito turned to her and sputtered while going red.

“What, no. Asuna and I adopted her. Neither me nor Asuna had her in that way.” Kirito quickly explained. Yui giggled at the two’s trouble.

Alice flushed red in embarrassment and said, “Oh, I’m sorry. I just assumed.” She paused, “Adopted. What does that mean?”

“You know all those children in your world that are living in churches without parents?” Kirito asked.

“Yes?” Alice replied.

“So, I’d be like if someone were to take one of those children into their home and treat them as if their own.” Kirito explained. “I’m actually adopted too. When I was really young my parents died, and my aunt and uncle took me in and raised me as their son.”

Alice’s eyes lit up, “Like Uncle did with me?” Alice asked.

Kirito laughed and said yes. Alice paused and looked at him after a moment.

“Aren’t you really young to take in a child?” Alice asked. “You’re nineteen.”

Yui pitched in, “Papa’s seventeen,” as Kirito tried and failed to shush her.

Alice's eyes went wide. “He's what?”

“Yeah, Yui was created as an artificial intelligence. Kind of like the people in your world. After Asuna and I got married Yui showed up in our cabin and we just kind of took her in.” Kirito said, smiling at Yui.

 “Papa stopped the server from deleting me and after we saved Mama from ALfheim Papa built a machine that lets me exist in both the real and digital worlds.” Yui added while grinning wide. “Now I'll always be with Mama and Papa!”

Alice asked, “Do you think that Rath would make her a body like they made for me?”

Kirito hummed in thought. “I have thought about that. But I think it would make it harder for Yui to be with us this soon.” He looked at Yui and she tilted her head. “I've been discussing it with Asuna, and we basically agreed that once we graduate and get our own place, we would work on something like that but only with Yui's imput.”

Yui beamed at him and wrapped her arms around Kirito's waist.

"Really?” She asked.

“Yeah.” Kirito said and kissed her on the forehead. “But your Mama wanted us to tell you together so let's keep you knowing a secret for now.” He put a finger over his mouth and said, “Okay?”

He held out a pinkie finger to her and she locked her own around his with a wide grin.

“Okie Papa!” Yui said.

Kirito yawned and stretched his arms before looking at his clock.

“Ok welp I’m tired so I wanna go back to bed.” Kirito said.

Alice stood up straight and apologized. “R-right. I should let you go back to bed. Sorry for waking you Kirito.”

“Naw it’s alright Alice.” Kirito said, waving off her worry. “You were worried, and it was nice for you to finally meet Yui.”

Alice nodded her head and smiled.

“Yes. I’m glad I got to meet you, Yui.” Alice said.

Yui smiled and said, “I can't wait to finally start talking to you Alice!”

Kirito frowned and poked her cheek making Yui frown. “This doesn't mean that you can start waking her up to talk in the middle of the night.”

 “Okay Papa.” Yui grumbled. She then giggled and laid back on the bed.

Kirito smiled down at her and laughed before turning to Alice.

Kirito said, “You should try to sleep too Alice. Maybe tomorrow we can try to ask about making you an account to join us in ALfheim.”

“I would love that.” Alice grinned. “Thank you, Kirito.”

Kirito smiled and got back into bed lying next to Yui.

“You're welcome.” Kirito said.

Alice turned to head back to her room. Right before shutting the door, she said, “Good night, Kirito. Good night, Yui.” Alice then shut the door and headed back to her room.

Once she made it, she quietly shut the door then let herself collapse on the bed. She adjusted herself until she was laying on her back and staring at the ceiling.

Alice had been living with the Kirigaya’s for about a week now. They had taken her in when she didn’t feel comfortable staying with those scientists and when her own father refused to take her in. She had been staying in the guest bedroom which was nice. It was comfy so she had no complaints. Well, she did, but she would never voice them as it wouldn’t really go anywhere.

Alice was trying to get herself synced up to the house’s Wi-Fi but up until now she was having no luck. Alice tinkered with her Bluetooth and the Wi-Fi router until she finally got it.

“Yes. Finally!” Alice cheered quietly to herself pumping her fist in the air in celebration. The girl giggled a bit before seeing if anything was different. She looked around until she saw a small black-haired girl in a dress watching her from the crack of her door make an “eep” noise before sprinting away from her down the hall. Once Alice registered what just happened in her mind she took off after the girl. Once in the hallway she watched the girl's dress disappear into Kirito’s room without the door even opening.

What was going on? She thought the girl was an intruder, but now she was thinking she was maybe a ghost. Either way she rushed over to Kirito’s door and knocked twice before going inside.

She was still working on personal boundaries.

Alice searched around and couldn’t find the girl anywhere. Not the closet, not under the desk or under the bed. Where could she have disappeared to? She didn’t appear to be much larger than her own sister Selka.

Alice stood next to Kirito’s bedside and shook his shoulder trying her best to wake him.

“Kirito. Kirito wake up. I think there’s a ghost.” Alice said.

Eventually her persistence worked, and he awoke with a start.

“What? What’s going on?” Kirito asked and stumbled trying to keep himself from falling off the bed. “Alice what’s?-”

Alice cut him off when she saw the girl once again appear behind him.

“Kirito there is a ghost girl behind you.” Alice warned him while pulling him out of the bed. The girl silently gasped while reaching out to Kirito which made Alice panic more and pull him down quicker.

Kirito complained at the pain of hitting the floor so harshly. He rubbed his backside and stared at the bed not seeing anything.

“Alice, there’s no one in here except you.” Kirito said sleepily glaring at the girl. He shook his head and pressed his palms into his eyes trying to wake himself up.

“But she’s right there.” Alice insisted and pointed at the edge of the bed, but Kirito once again saw nothing and yawned.

The girl on the bed looked like she was trying to say something, but no sound was coming out. The small girl frowned at Alice before shuffling over to Kirito’s desk and pointing at his Augma and then at Kirito before motioning for him to put it on. Alice quickly explained what the girl was doing. Kirito just nodded before putting it on and starting it. When he looked at the bed, he looked at the girl in familiarity.

“Oh, Good morning, Yui.” Kirito said. The girl—Yui—shook her head at him and mouthed something to him. “Well, it’s still technically morning sweety.” He said in a slightly sarcastic voice which only resulted in the girl glaring at him. Kirito laughed at this.

“Kirito, what’s going on? Who is this?” Alice asked.

The girl slipped off the bed and walked over to her looking like she was trying to say something but once again no sound came out. Yui frowned and turned to Kirito and said something to him. Kirito nodded his head before turning to his computer and asking Alice to wait a second. Alice shakenly agreed while keeping an eye on this child. Yui walked over to Kirito and leaned on the desk next to where he was working and kicked her feet while she watched. Eventually Alice heard another voice in the room and connected it to the girl.

“Alright,” Kirito said before turning around and Yui on the head. The girl giggled. It reminded her of Selka. “That should have fixed your audio functions.”

Yui’s eyes lit up as she asked, “Can you understand me now, Alice?”

Alice nodded her head before kneeling in front of the girl.

“Yeah, I can.” Alice said.

The girl cheered.

“Okay, good.” Kirito said before standing up and leading Alice to sit on his ‘spin-y’ chair. Kirito then sat on the bed across from her and asked Yui to sit next to him. Yui happily did so and leaned on his shoulder while continuing to kick her feet. Kirito smiled and leaned a little into the child as well. Kirito then looked at Alice. “Now that we got that fixed. We can do introductions.” Kirito said.

Yui smiled and introduced herself, “Hi Alice. My name is Yui. I’m sorry it took us this long to meet.”

Alice was calmed by the child’s voice. “Nice to meet you, Yui. I see I don’t need to give you, my name?” Alice asked.

Yui giggled and said, “Nope. Mama and Papa have been telling me about you since they left the Underworld. I’ve been so excited to meet you.” She smiled at the older girl.

“Oh, are you Kirito and Suguha’s younger sister?” Alice asked.

Kirito shook his head and ruffled Yui's hair.

“Nope. Yui is mine and Asuna’s daughter.” Kirito said.

“Oh?” Alice asked. When she looked at the girl, she appeared to be just a few years younger than Selka in age. When she thought of Kirito’s age, she didn’t like the implications. “So that’s why you acted so hastily with those two children. How despicable of someone to do something like that to you.” Alice looked at him in pity.

Kirito turned to her and sputtered while going red.

“What, no. Asuna and I adopted her. Neither me nor Asuna had her in that way.” Kirito quickly explained. Yui giggled at the two’s trouble.

Alice flushed red in embarrassment and said, “Oh, I’m sorry. I just assumed.” She paused, “Adopted. What does that mean?”

“You know all those children in your world that are living in churches without parents?” Kirito asked.

“Yes?” Alice replied.

“So, I’d be like if someone were to take one of those children into their home and treat them as if their own.” Kirito explained. “I’m actually adopted too. When I was really young my parents died, and my aunt and uncle took me in and raised me as their son.”

Alice’s eyes lit up, “Like Uncle did with me?” Alice asked.

Kirito laughed and said yes. Alice paused and looked at him after a moment.

“Aren’t you really young to take in a child?” Alice asked. “You’re nineteen.”

Yui pitched in, “Papa’s seventeen.”

Alice's eyes went wide. “He's what?”

“Yeah, Yui was created as an artificial intelligence kind of like the people in your world. After Asuna and I got married she showed up in our cabin and we just kind of took her in.” Kirito said, smiling at Yui.

“Papa stopped the server from deleting me and after we saved Mama from ALfheim Papa built a machine that lets me exist in both the real and digital worlds.” Yui added while grinning wide. “Now I'll always be with Mama and Papa!”

Alice asked, “Kirito, do you think that RTH would make her a body like I have.”

Kirito hummed in thought. “I have a little. But I think it would make it harder for Yui to be with us.” He looked at Yui and she tilted her head. “I've been discussing it with Asuna, and we basically agreed that once we graduate and get our own place, we would work on something like that but only what Yui wants.”

Yui grinned at him and wrapped her arms around Kirito's waist. “Really?”

“Yeah.” Kirito said and kissed her on the forehead. “But your Mama wanted us to tell you together so let's keep that a secret for now.” he put a finger over his mouth and said, “Okay?”

He held out a pinkie finger to her and she locked her own around his with a wide grin.

“Okie Papa!” Yui said.

Kirito yawned and stretched his arms before looking at his clock.

“Ok welp I’m tired so I wanna go back to bed.” Kirito said.

Alice stood up straight and apologized. “R-right. I should let you go back to bed. Sorry for waking you Kirito.”

“Naw it’s alright Alice.” Kirito said, waving off her worry. “You were worried, and it was nice for you to finally meet Yui.”

Alice nodded her head and smiled.

“Yes. I’m glad I got to meet you, Yui.” Alice said.

Yui smiled and said, “I can't wait to finally start talking to you Alice!”

Kirito frowned and poked her cheek making Yui frown. “This doesn't mean that you can start waking her up to talk in the middle of the night.”

“Okay Papa.” Yui grumbled. She then giggled and laid back on the bed.

Kirito smiled down at her and laughed before turning to Alice.

Kirito said, “You should try to sleep too Alice. Maybe tomorrow we can try to ask about making you an account to join us in ALfheim.”

“I would love that.” Alice grinned. “Thank you, Kirito.”

Kirito smiled and got back into bed lying next to Yui.

“You're welcome.” Kirito said.

Alice turned to head back to her room. Right before shutting the door, she said, “Good night, Kirito. Good night, Yui.” Alice then shut the door and headed back to her room.

Once she made it, she quietly shut the door then let herself collapse on the bed. She adjusted herself until she was laying on her back and staring at the ceiling.

As usual, when the group arrived at the grounds Gou was surprised as officer Jenny immediately recognized Satoshi and made some small Jokes to him, she told him to not stand in the road again.

“Again?” Gou thought, confused.

Satoshi laughed at Jenny’s joke and waved at her as she got back to work. Satoshi turned around to see the confused looks on his new friend and daughter’s faces. He quickly explained what he and officer Jenny were joking about. Ruby found the story funny and Gou sweatdropped, not finding stories like this surprising anymore.  Even with only the short amount of time they've known each other, they’ve seen enough of the boy's randomness that they didn’t bother questioning it anymore.

“Hey Satoshi, I don’t think you've told me anything about when you traveled here in Kalos. Who'd you travel with, where are they now?” Gou asked.

“We all went our separate ways. Citron and his little sister, Eureka, stayed here in Lumiose City. Citron is the Gym leader there and Eureka still wasn't old enough to travel on her own.” He started.

“How old was she?”

“Eureka was ten when we were traveling here. I’m pretty sure she turned twelve around a month ago. So she's either started traveling recently, or she is going to start soon.”

“Daddy, didn’t you start traveling when you were ten?” Ruby asked, Gou seemed to be asking the same.

“Well, unlike in Kanto, Hoenn, and Sinnoh, where the age you can leave home is ten, Here in Kalos the starting age is twelve. It’s not much different, but I guess they did it for the trainers’ safety.”

“I guess that makes sense. What about your third companion?” Gou asked.  He made a Mental note to ask his friend about the rules about traveling in different regions.

“Serena took a while to figure out what she wanted to do and what her dream would be. Around a month into our journey, Serena decided that she would compete in showcases,”  Satoshi saw the confusion return to their faces. “Showcases are like contests, only without the battles, and it's only for girls. The performers show off their pokemon’s moves in a coordinated performance, and sometimes they bake pastries to earn points. The showcases are also more focused on the performers than the pokemon. Also unlike in contests, in showcases, the audience votes not the judges, and the winner wins Keys instead of Ribbons.”

“People find those fun to watch?”

“I mean I guess, all the ones I've been to have all drawn in large crowds.  Honestly though, I find contests more fun to watch.  I've even performed with friends in contests before.”  Gou was most likely going to question him on this more, but they were interrupted by a yell that startled Ruby. The girl backed herself between Satoshi and Gou, to watch from behind her dad.

“Satoshi!” They saw a girl with blonde hair running over to them.

Satoshi smiled as she stood next to him but she was standing close to him in a way that Gou knew was irritating Satoshi.  ”Serena, what are you doing here?”

“My mom brought me. She’s one of the judges.” as she spoke she seemed to lean even more onto him. “Oh, I’m sorry,” She looked at Gou, “I’m Serena from Vaniville Town!”

“I’m Gou from Vermilion City. You’re one of Satoshi’s companions that he traveled with here, right?” she agreed. “Nice to meet you, Serena.”

She turned to Ruby, once again introducing herself. “What's your name?” Ruby mumbled out an inaudible answer and hid farther into Satoshi’s vest.

Satoshi sighed and said, "This is Ruby."

“Well, it’s very nice to meet you both, Ruby. Gou. Are you three traveling together now?” Serena asked.

Satoshi answered smiling. “Kind of, Gou and I work under Professor Cerise as research assistance. It’s really fun if he needs us to go look at something for him we’ll travel and study it and send him back the results!”

“That's cool, you were always so interested in everything Citron made.” She paused but continued before anyone could add in. “Citron Invited me to the gym so we could all catch up. I’m sure they won't mind having three more guests.” Satoshi smiled. He hadn't had the chance to hang out with them in over a year.

“We’ll be here for a few days so we’ll definitely come, how about you Gou do you want to come?” He asked this and threw an arm over Gou’s shoulder.

“Of course, if he doesn’t mind me coming along.” Gou noticed how Serena’s eye twitched when Satoshi hugged them. 

"If you want, I'm sure my mom wouldn't mind if you spent the night and we could walk together in the morning." She grabbed his arm and pushed herself closer to him. Ruby noticed Serena getting closer, so she moved closer to the other side of Gou. As far as she could get from Serena.

Satoshi declined, “As fun as that is, our Pokemon are at the Pokecenter. We're staying there over our trip." Serena frowned but not for long. The race started up so she detached herself from his arm and backed up.

“Well, when you are ready tomorrow, call me. We can walk together.” She waved as she started to walk back to the race. “It was nice to meet you, see you all tomorrow!” They waved her off before going to get food to eat while they watched the race.

-----------------

After the race, Satoshi had to carry Ruby to the pokecenter. She fell asleep around eight p.m. so he let her sleep. He got her into pajamas and tucked her into one of the beds. As the two friends were getting themselves ready for bed, Gou had a thought that crossed his mind.

Gou asked, “Hey, Satoshi, does Serena make you uncomfortable?” He tensed up so they continued, “Why don’t you tell her that what she was doing was making you uncomfortable?”

Satoshi answered, “She’s always been like that. I know she likes me, I just don’t want to push her away by telling her that I don't like her back.” Gou didn’t see it often but every once in a while Satoshi would say something that would make them remember how insecure their friend was. Gou wasn’t that good at knowing how to help people with their emotions, but they tried in their own way.

Gou looked him in the eyes. ”Satoshi, I know that the idea of possibly pushing her away scares you, but think about this. What about Ruby? She knows Serena makes you uncomfortable. What example do you think you're setting by forcing yourself to be around someone that makes you uncomfortable? '' Satoshi stayed quiet, thinking of how to answer. “Do you want her to think that she should have to let people push her around?”

“No,” Satoshi answered. “Could you watch Ruby for me if I get a chance to talk to her tomorrow?” Gou agreed.

“Are you sure you want to do it tomorrow though?” Satoshi nodded. “Alright, just remember how many people are behind you. If something happens, I’ll be here for you!” Satoshi smiled sadly, thinking about the possibility of it going bad the next day. They finished up and went back into the room. They filled the pokemon in on the plans for the next day and went to bed. Pikachu made sure to cuddle closer to his friend than usual, knowing that the next day would be stressful for Satoshi.

-----------------

“Daddy, Daddy, get up, we're going to see your friends today!” Ruby yelled jumping with her knees on the bed bouncing Satoshi annoying him into actually getting up to make her stop. He reached out and grabbed her by the waist and started tickling her. She started giggling and asking him to stop so he did. “Morning Daddy, c’mon you gotta get up!” he groaned but eventually got up and went to the bathroom to get dressed. When he came back out he saw that Ruby was already dressed and ready to go. She was sitting on the floor with Pikachu, Raboot, Lucario, Gou, and Crystal, they were playing cards. The two eeveelutions were laying on the bed watching. His Dragonite was asleep in his pokeball.

“G’morning everyone, did Serena say when we should call her?” Gou shrugged their shoulders. “Alright, I’ll try now.” Satoshi walked out of the room and called his friend. After a few seconds, she answered.

“Hello? Oh, Satoshi, Good Morning.” She yawned. “Why are you calling me so early?”

"What?" He checked the time, seven a.m., "I'm sorry I didn't realize how early it was. Well since we're all up, do you wanna go get breakfast?” he offered. She accepted it. “Okay, if you want, you could just eat here at the pokecenter or we could find something else.” he heard her yawn again

“The Pokecenter’s fine, just let me get ready and I'll call you when I get there.” she said.

“I’ll send one of my pokemon to fly you here, it'll be faster.” She agreed and hung up. He went back into the room to tell the others what's going on before sending his Dragonite to get her. The group finished up their game and recalled their pokemon. Crystal, Pikachu, and Raboot stayed out.

They ordered drinks and waited for Satoshi and Serena. They ended up eating outside so their larger pokemon could eat without disturbing anyone. Satoshi and Serena came in a few minutes later. Satoshi sat next to Ruby and Crystal leaving Serena to sit in the booth next to Gou.

"I'm Serena, what's your name?" She introduced herself expecting an answer. She instead got a smile and a wave. The rest of the group started laughing a bit. "What?"

Ruby Said, "Crystal can't answer, she doesn't talk!" Serena asked if she was mute.

Satoshi said, "Sort of." Before she could get more of an answer their waiter came over with pokemon food and Ruby and Gou's drinks. Satoshi and Gou both stood up and started distributing bowls of food to the pokemon leaving one bowl on the table in front of Crystal. The waiter took Serena and Satoshi's drink order and left.

"Hey, why ar- ow!" Everyone at the table had their attention on the blonde. "What happened?" She rubbed her left hand in pain. They didn't even have to look to know what happened. Crystal's eyes were glowing a dark purple color, her tail and ears sprouted, and she was growling.

"Serena, Crystal's possessive over her food. Don't touch it." Satoshi said, still dishing out the pokemon food. Serena mumbled a curse out under her breath, still confused. Ruby scratched behind Crystal's blue ears and pushed the bowl closer to the Mew. She calmed down and started happily eating her food again. As she ate, her tail swished back and forth. Satoshi and Gou finished giving food to the pokemon and returned to their booth. Satoshi tapped on Krystal's shoulder and pointed to her ears. She gasped and ran her hands over them. When they disappeared along with her tail, she went back to eating her food.

“What happened?" Serena’s voice shook.

-------------

Once they had their food Satoshi explained about Krystal.

"Wait, she's a Mew? Like the legendary, barely ever seen pokemon?" Satoshi told her to keep her voice down.

"Yep, Ruby found her when we were back in Kanto for a trip with the Alolan school I was attending. Team Rocket was experimenting on her so we ended up saving her." He smiled fondly of that trip. Serena nodded along trying to possess everything.

"It was the same trip that I met Lucario. She was just an egg at the time, but her Aura was so strong that I could feel it calling to me. She was sent from Sinnoh, to a pokecenter just outside my hometown. The Egg Hadn't moved in months. But when I touched the egg Lucario spoke to me. When Nurse Joy came into the room she gave me permission to touch the egg. When I did she hatched. Joy let me keep her after that and now I'm able to use Aura again."

Lucario looked at the group and barked in agreement.

“Wait, I think I remember seeing you! You bumped into me when you rushed in.” Gou said.

“Oh yeah, I remember seeing you now! Bumping into you knocked me out of my trance for a minute.” Satoshi recalled. “But what were you doing that far from Vermillion?”

“It was one of the days Koharu had convinced me to go to school. We had a field trip but I don't remember what it was for.” Gou answered. “I tried to follow you but she told me I had to stay with the group.”

“Typical Koharu,” Satoshi said. The two researchers snorted at the comment.

“Wait, who’s Koharu?” Asked Serena.

“She’s our friend. Her dad’s the professor, but she isn't really into anything having to do with pokemon. She still goes to school so she’s not at the lab very often.” Gou answered.

She rested her head on her hands while she asked, “So neither of you are dating her?” She tried to see Satoshi's answer without him noticing, but he did.

“I’m not really interested. She’s nice but she’s also kind of bossy. Plus I haven’t known her for very long.” Satoshi said.  She leaned closer as he finished.

“I’m not into girls, so no.” Gou said. “Why, are you interested? We could set you up to meet.” Gou tried to get her to leave Satoshi alone.

“Thanks for the offer,” She flushed and looked down “but no thanks. I’m only interested in one person right now.” She said, Satoshi grimaced. 

“Oh look, it’s almost time to leave! What time are we supposed to meet with them?” Satoshi asked, changing the topic. Serena looked up in confusion but looked at the phone. They had to leave by noon so they hurried up and went to collect their belongings from their room.

-------------

They entered Lumiose city. Ruby walked between Satoshi and Gou while holding their hands. Serena walked next to Satoshi, and Pikachu walked between them. Their other pokemon were resting in their Pokeballs.

When they entered the gym, Citron and Eureka were sitting together on the floor talking and doing their own things. Citron was tinkering with a small device and Eurika was playing with Dedenne. The two electric mouse's electric pouches sparked. Dedenne leaped off his trainer's lap and ran over to Pikachu to greet him.

“Serena! Satoshi, what are you doing here?" The two hugged their friends and greeted the other two.

“Sorry I didn’t tell you I was coming. Serena invited me yesterday when she saw us at the Rhyhorn race. It was kind of last minute, I didn’t get a chance to ask you whether it was okay to bring anyone along.” Satoshi explained.

“It’s fine, we were just meeting up to go get Eurika’s first pokemon from Professor Sycamore.” Citron said.

Eureka walked over 

Gou introduced himself, “I’m Gou from Viridian City in the Kanto region.”

"Ri!" Riolu hovered her hands in front of herself trying to form a larger vacuum wave.

Pikachu tried getting Ash's attention "Pika-pi?" The mouse stood on Ash's head and pushed down on the brim of the hat. Ash stopped Pikachu from falling forward off his head.

"What’s wrong buddy?" Pikachu climbed down Ash’s side to the ground and started digging through his bag.

He pulled his head out “Pi-pikachu” and dived back in. Kukui was watching Satoshi train from the porch but came down to see what Pikachu was looking for. Pikachu, with an achieved coo, crawled out of the bag and handed ash a pair of black and blue gloves with gold accents.

"Oh my Mew, I forgot about those! Thank you, Pikachu." Riolu took a break to see what her trainer was doing. “I haven’t used these since Kanto!” he said mostly to himself.

“What are those Satoshi”

“They're gloves that were given to me by Queen Ilene when I was traveling with Brock, May, and her brother Max,” he explained.

“Wait, you got gloves from a queen, how?”

“When we were traveling in Kanto for a while, we saw that there was a festival in Rota. It had a battle tournament where the winner is labeled the 'Aura Guardian' for the year. Sir Aaron's staff is given to the year's winner to hold for the night during the dance. When I held the staff a Lucario was released from the staff and mistook me for Sir Aaron because our Auras were similar. Lucario was able to communicate through Aura.

At some point during the party, our pokemon had run into Mew who took Meowth and Pikachu as playmates to The Tree of Beginnings. After Lucario calmed down a bit, he helped us and this girl Kidd find the tree. When we were taking a small break, I was telling them how me and Pikachu met. After I told them about when we were attacked by a flock of Fearow he yelled at me and said that Pikachu had probably run away from me because I was a terrible trainer. I tackled him and we had to be pulled apart by the others. After a while, we calmed down and I apologized and so did he. After that, he asked me to never abandon Pikachu.

Later I found a weird flower that could show past events. Because of these, we found that Sir Aaron had tricked Lucario to save Lucario from the war. When we finally found the tree it's antibodies killed anything that it considered an intruder. So any humans that entered would be consumed. Everyone, Team Rocket, Brock, May, Max, and eventually me and Kidd. Mew convinced the tree to release us, but they used so much of their energy when doing this that they became dangerously sick. Mew, Lucario, Kidd, and I went to the heart to see if we could help. When we got to the heart we found Sir Aaron's body suspended in a crystal-like rock. Next to him was another time flower. When it was activated, it showed Sir Aaron using Aura to help the tree.

Sir Aaron's gloves were lying next to his body. I used the gloves to help Lucario save the tree, but it was a lot. It used a lot more energy than we realized it would need, so he pushed me out of the way so it couldn't kill us both. It was almost too much for him to handle on his own. The time flower was still playing, showing that as Sir Aaron was dying he was saying his goodbye to Lucario. He was telling Lucario that he was like family to him and he wished that they would be able to see each other again someday. I did my best to comfort him.

As he was dying he thanked me for helping him have trust in humans again. He faded away in my arms with a smile on his face."

As the images flashed in his head, he burst into an uncontrollable sob. Kukui pulled him into a hug and let him cry into his chest. At the same time, Riolu climbed into her trainer’s lap and was trying her best to calm him down. Pikachu laid next to him and pressed himself into his friend to try his best.