Story Title: Young Love

Author: Mathais

Rating: T

Fandom: Suikoden III

Warnings: Slash aka. male/male.

Pairings: Louis/Melville

Summary: When the Zexen Knights return to Vinay del Zexay for a brief stay, Louis returns to the one he loves... Complete and utter fluffiness.

Disclaimer: I don't own the characters of Suikoden III.

Notes: The Castle's name is Orange Castle, the Former Flame Champion's name is Ryo, and the Flame Champion Successor is Hugo.

OoOoO

"I'll be back soon, okay?"

"Okay."

"I'll write when I can."

"I don't doubt that for a minute."

"Nice to know you have so much faith in me."

"What's with the sarcasm?"

"Nothing."

"Well, I have to go now."

"Bye."

A kiss on the lips.

"Bye."

The sound of a door closing, echoing in the early morning.

OoOoO

"We're heading back to Vinay del Zexay tomorrow. There is some business to attend to there and I am sure everyone would like a break."

A young blonde's ears twitched. "Would you please repeat that Lady Chris?"

"We will be heading back to Vinay del Zexay tomorrow." Chris repeated and the young blonde's face colored just for a moment.

No one caught that except for one man. I'll have to look into that later. Percival thought.

"You are dismissed." The eight people in the room left, except for Chris and the young blonde.

"Will you need anything Lady Chris?"

"No Louis. I will be fine." Chris dismissed him and Louis readily headed into the small room he had.

Locking the door, Louis buried his face in the pillows. "We're finally going back. After a week, a week too long! We're going back." A smile spread across Louis's face. "Back to him."

Taking out the golden locket that he had hidden in his armor, Louis opened it and smiled at the brown-haired person inside.

OoOoO

The next morning, three of them left while four remained.

The three went along in Zexen Forest in silence until Percival leaned over to Louis.

"So Louis..."

"Yes Sir Percival?" The young boy looked up at the older man.

"Do you like anyone?"

Surprisingly, Louis minimized the blush that stained his cheeks. "Umm... I... Um... Well... You see... It's..."

Percival chuckled. "I bet I could show you some pretty girls your age."

Louis's blush deepened in response.

"Would you like that?" Percival smiled.

Louis muttered something unintelligible as his blush started to fade.

"What was that?" Percival asked.

"I already have someone." Louis repeated, louder.

"Is it someone we know?" Normally Chris wouldn't get involved in such affairs, but this was just so interesting that it drew the knight in.

"Not really." Louis replied.

"Are they cute?"

Louis's blush returned in full force and Percival just had to laugh.

"Have you gotten her in bed yet?" Percival dared.

Louis was so embarrassed that he didn't even think. He didn't care that Percival was a superior. He just reacted and smacked the guy on the head.

"You beat me to it." Chris muttered, trying to hold back laughs.

"Ow!" Percival rubbed his head. "That hurt!"

Louis colored again and started apologizing. "I'm so sorry Sir Percival. My emotions got the better of me. I promise it won't happen again."

"I guess I deserved it." Percival admitted. "I should have said that."

"That's right. You shouldn't have." Chris reprimanded.

"All's forgiven?" Percival asked.

"Yes, yes it is." Louis nodded.

OoOoO

The three made it to Vinay del Zexay with little to no trouble.

"May I have some time to myself, Lady Chris?" Louis asked politely.

"Of course Louis. Just be careful." Chris nodded. Louis scampered off pretty quickly from the gates.

He maneuvered through the crowds and made his way toward the harbor. Ducking into a nondescript alleyway, he climbed several ladders and made it to a window. Louis tapped lightly on the glass.

"What's the password?" A voice asked, slightly muffled.

"The Three Knights of Zexen." Louis's voice was clear and a gleeful shout was heard as the window was opened and Louis admitted.

"LOUIS!" He was immediately pounced on by a brown-haired boy that was seen in his locket.

"Hey Melville." Louis smiled. "You too Elliot." The other blonde nodded. "Where's Alanis?"

Melville sobered a bit. "She left while you were gone."

"Sorry." Louis frowned. "Do you have my spare clothes here?"

"Yeah!" Elliot piped up. "They're in the chest behind the barrels. You can change while we look away, right Melville?"

The sound of dripping was heard as Melville scrambled to hide a rather large nosebleed. Elliot chuckled as Louis started changing.

"Whew. That armor was getting stuffy." Louis dropped the clunky armor along with his gloves and boot, leaving him in his underwear and two necklaces. It showed off his build, which was muscular enough for his age. Reaching into the chest, Louis grabbed a green tunic and a pair of brown breeches. He put them on, but they were a bit small and clung tightly to his body. Louis also grabbed a pair of brown boots and put them on. To top it off, he also put on a small circlet that fit on his head perfectly and didn't seem feminine. Coming out, Louis grinned. "How do I look?"

"Great!" Elliot chirped.

"Cool!" Melville grinned as Louis gave him a hug.

"I missed you, you know that?" Louis whispered into Melville's ear. "A week is too long."

"No doubt."

Both turned their heads and their lips touched. The kiss became a little fierier as the two started to make their hands grow lower and Melville moaned into the kiss. Their tongues clashed as Louis gripped Melville's behind.

A soft cough made them break apart and blush. "Save it for the bedroom you two." Elliot grinned cheekily as he headed out the window.

"You think?" Louis raised an eyebrow.

"I know." Melville confirmed.

"You have a speck of blood on your nose." Louis commented before running out the window.

"Get back here!" Melville cried as he chased his boyfriend.

"Run!" Louis called as he and Elliot sped up, Melville hot on their trail. Soon enough, Melville caught up to them and grabbed the two by their shirts in an alleyway.

"Don't do that again." Melville gritted.

"Fine. Just let me go." Louis struggled.

Melville released them and was about to give a rant when Louis turned and silenced him with a kiss.

"Ooooh." Melville cooed. "C'mon! Let's have fun!"

"All right!" The three cried as they started to play games.

Soon, however, it was nice and it began to rain. Elliot already ran home, leaving Louis and Melville standing at the fountain in the rain. They were embracing each other.

"I have to leave soon." Louis whispered.

"I know."

"I'm sorry."

"Don't be."

"I won't. Can I have just one more kiss?"

Melville leaned in, clothing soaking and brown hair matted down, but all Louis saw was a beautiful person and a lover. Louis captured Melville's lips as they embraced. The rain poured on their bodies, but neither paid any mind, caught up in their own little world.

At that moment, a certain black-haired knight was walking through the area, making sure that no one was out.

"Hey you two!" Percival called to the two. He couldn't see what they were doing, however.

Louis and Melville immediately parted as Percival came over to them.

"Let's get you two over to where I'm saying. I'm not trusting either of you to go home by yourselves." Percival grabbed each boy by the arm. Louis startled as they were dragged over to the Lightfellow household.

The door was opened by a servant. "Oh! Sir Percival! Who are these young lads?"

"Two kids I found in the rain. Would you please get them towels and maybe some spare clothing if you have some?"

"Of course. Right away." The servant hurried off as Percival directed the two boys to a room with a warm fireplace.

"Sit and get warm." The knight then left. Melville and Louis moved a bit close to the fire and removed their shirts.

"That wasn't smart." Louis muttered.

"No doubt." Melville replied, reaching over and removing a strand of hair from Louis's face. "Now where did we leave off again?"

"How's this?" Louis wrapped his arms around Melville's body and started a kiss. Their tongues clashed in a war for dominance and their bodies grew hot.

Percival opened to door to the room with some clothes in hand, only to catch the two sharing a passionate kiss.

"Eep!" He squeaked.

Both boys turned in a flurry of hair to see Percival dropping the clothes in shock.

"Sir... Sir Percival!" Louis squeaked.

Getting over the shock of finding the two boys kissing, he moved over to Louis. "You look familiar."

"Ah... You see... We... Um..." Louis stuttered. "Just don't tell Lady Chris!"

"Wha?" Percival took a closer look at Louis and then his eyes grew wide. "Louis?"

"Hi Sir Percival." Louis said sheepishly. "This is my boyfriend, Melville."

"Hi..." Melville did a small wave.

"But... He... You... Him... Eh?" Percival was dumbfounded to say the least.

"Please don't tell Lady Chris." Louis pleaded.

Percival sucked in a breath and regained his cool demeanor. "Lady Chris has no authority over your relationships and I will not tell her. However..." Percival gave a small grin. "Are you two still innocent?"

Both boys blushed and Percival laughed out loud.

OoOoO

The next two days were a blur and it was time for Louis, Percival, and Chris to leave.

"I'll miss you Melville." Louis whispered, hugging his boyfriend with all his might.

"And I, you." Melville replied, tears forming in his eyes.

"I'm not sure when I'll be back, but I am going to miss you and you'll have my love forever." Louis sniffled. "Here." He placed a star-shaped locket in Melville's hand. "Keep that and if you ever start to miss me deeply, open it."

"Same thing for this." An oval shaped pendant was placed in Louis's hand. "Please be safe. I love you Louis."

"I love you too Melville. Bye..." Louis started walking away as Melville walked in the other direction.

"Is something the matter Louis?" Chris asked, concerned about her apprentice.

"Nothing, noting at all Lady Chris." Louis smiled, but Percival could see that it just didn't reach his eyes. The three left, but Percival stuck close to Louis.

"It's about that boy, Melville, right?"

"Yes, Sir Percival. It is." Louis's tone of voice ended the conversation effectively.

OoOoO

However, Louis did not see Melville again for a while. After that trip, he had been stuck at Brass Castle. And even after that, he had been sent to Orange Castle with no chance of returning to Vinay del Zexay.

At Orange Castle, Louis was having a very bad day. He had bumped into Thomas and Hugo, successor of Ryo.

"I'm sorry Lord Thomas, Lord Hugo." Louis bowed.

"No problem Louis." Hugo smiled.

Louis caught all the secretive glances, the way their hands touched oh so innocently. And so he backed off. Both of them had rushed toward Hugo's room soon after. All that did was leave Louis is a real slump. His heart was aching to see Melville again, but he was trapped here.

After that encounter, he was unfortunate enough to be in the path of five racing dogs. Louis was thrown into the harbor and he was wearing the same clothes that he wore at Vinay del Zexay. He ended up soaked and irritable. Heading to a lone beach, Louis stripped to his underwear and waited in the sun to dry off. Around his neck, there was that locket and the oval pendant that Melville had given him. "I miss you Melville. I can't leave here though." Remembering Melville's words, Louis opened the pendant.

If you're listening to this, Louis, then it means that you miss me very much. Louis gasped. Melville's voice was coming out of the pendant. I'm using a record and replay crystal to send you this message. I just want you to know that I miss you and I spend every day loving you. So please, don't be so sad. We'll meet each other soon. Love ya! The recording ended, but Louis was smiling with tears in his eyes. "I love you too Melville."

"I'm glad to hear that." Louis whipped around to see Melville above him, wiping the remnants of a nosebleed away.

"I thought we were past the nosebleed stage?" Louis raised an eyebrow.

"But you're really hot!" Melville grinned as Louis stood up.

"Why thank you." Louis smiled. "How did you get here?"

"Hugo convinced Elliot's mom and my mom to come. My dad's here too. And Alanis is here also!"

"Wow!" Louis's face threatened to split with his smile. "But I missed you the most." Louis's voice then became low and husky.

"You did?" Melville brightened.

"Of course!" Louis nodded. "I love you with all my heart! Of course I missed you the most!"

"Louis..." Melville whispered as he leapt towards Louis.

Anything else he was going to say was silenced by Louis catching Melville and giving him a long, loving kiss.

And the sun set behind the kissing couple, making everything complete.

OoOoO

End Notes (2010): I removed the god-awful framing script that I couldn't stand to see anymore, but that and the line breaks are the only things that have changed, except some grammar errors.