Koharu notices that Talia looks a little down. She asks her whats wrong and finds out that Talia is missing her real life more. Some smells, weather, and the sight of seeing an NPC mother and child bought these feelings on. Koharu wants to help her friend to feel better, so she goes to the others, private messaging them about a quest for their friend..

Paring: none, just friends being good friends (even Kibaou!)

Word count: 980

~~

It was an average day in Aincrad. The seventh floor had just been cleared. People were shambling through the snow on floor seven to get to the warm NPC town. Players were talking about information they’ve gathered about the new area, what they think the boss would be, and which places were good to grind…

In the pub of the NPC town sat one of the front runners of the boss battles. A sword user called Talia. She was a tall young woman, barely eighteen in the real world. She is always the first one to help others, but also the first one to refuse a good drop if she happens to be in a party with others. She never got in parties that often, unless it was to beat the floor boss. She was mainly seen around one other player. A young woman called Koharu. Her first friend here in SAO, and someone she promised to help beat the game with.

However, today this frontrunner wasn’t doing much. Right now, it seemed she was moping a bit. The ears on her avatar, an addition she got in the game after the first month because it was cute, were down as well.

“….” She sighed, looking down at her drink.

“Talia??” Koharu’s voice made her look up. “Are you ok?? Argo said you’ve been in here all day..” Her friend sat beside her, shaking her head at the NPC bartenders question for what will she have.

“I…” Talia thought about lying for a moment, saying she was sick but most ailments in the game could be cured by a debuff potion or antidote. “no. I just.. I was out this morning and saw an NPC child with their mom. It made me start thinking of my mom..”

“Oh..”Koharu said. Talia never spoke of her real life before. Koharu had to admit she was curious, but she had never wanted to pry. “…What’s your mom like??” She asked, her voice soft.

“She’s a really kind woman. Always willing to help however she can… She’s where I got it from.” A weak attempt at a joke, “…This floor just made me think of her too.. When I was little, whenever it was cold, she would make something called potato soup. It had potatoes of course, ham, bacon, onion and garlic in it… It was always something so yummy to have after playing in the snow… Then for dessert. M&M cookies…” Talia sniffled a bit, quickly wiping her eyes before any tears could fall. She couldn’t cry in front of Koharu.. “i-it’s silly, I know. Everyone wants to go home… But this is the first time it’s really hit me hard..”

Koharu listened intently. “… I see… Well.” She stood before giving Talia a quick hug. “I just remembered, I promised I’d help Argo with some information broker stuff! Do you wanna help??”

Talia gave a tired smile, “not today.. I think I’m just gonna stay here for now.. Give Argo my best!”

Koharu nodded and she left the tavern. She opened up the messaging system and selected a few people for a mass message. “Hey guys..! We have a very important quest to do..”

~~

Talia was now laying in the room she bought for the day at the inn. She was hugging the pillow and just staring at the ceiling. “ugh… I just can’t stay here all day… I should-oh.. Koharu must’ve read my mind..”she mused seeing the message appear. She opened it.

From Koharu: Talia! Come to the dining room of the inn! : D

Talia quirked an eyebrow. She shrugged, “maybe she got a neat drop…” she said as she stood and put on her armor. She rather liked this Violet armor. It fit well, and kept in heat. She then opened the door to walk down to the dining room of the inn.

When she opened the door to the dining room, a bunch of familiar smells met her. She saw Koharu with Kirito, Asuna, Argo, Agil, Lizbeth, even Kibaou standing at the end of the table. There was a pot of.. something, and a plate of cookies??

“W-what??” Talia blinked, looking confused.

“Koharu told us you were feeling bad and reminiscing about the real world.” Asuna said. “She also mentioned the foods your mother would make.. So, we decided to try and recreate them!”

“It took me forever to find chocolate candies, so you better appreciate them.” Kibaou huffed, crossing his arms.

Agil put his hand on Kibaou’s shoulder, “We had to do quite a few quests before we found out about the NPC that gave these.. It was a child NPC, so Kibaou is a little miffed by that..”he laughed.

“Kid NPC’s normally don’t give quests!”Kibaou huffed.

“Lizbeth and I got the meats.” Kirito chuckled, “The boars on the first floor gave us more than enough.”

Lizbeth nodded, “They were easy~!”

“And then Koharu and Argo helped me to make it all.” Asuna smiled, going over to give Talia a hug, “It may not be like your mothers, but we all hope you enjoy it, Talia.”

Talia froze as she looked at the food. She felt tears prick her eyes. “Y-you guys di-didn’t have too..”

“nyahah~ we couldn’t let you stay moping in here could we~?” Argo tittered, “’Sides, you’ve been one of the people turning the tides for us, we should do something for you hm~?”

“They’re right, Talia.” Koharu smiled a bit, taking one of Talia’s hands as Asuna took the other to take her to the end of the table with the food, “You’ve done so much for us all, we want to return the favor.”

Talia felt tears run down her cheeks, “Y-you guys..!!”

“Bah, enough tears! The food’s getting’ cold!” Kibaou said. “Eat up, you get first bowl of this soup!”

Talia smiled a bit, “R-right… Thank you everyone.. Let’s eat!”