Song of the Caged Bird
Series: Tales of Vesperia
Pairing(s): Flynn/Yuri, one sided OC/Yuri, possible hints of Ristelle(?)
Summary: When Yuri mysteriously disappears, Flynn and the others go on a search that takes them to the realm of the angels where Flynn discovers that it will be harder to bring Yuri home than he expected.
Warnings: m/m slash (with possibly some hints of f/f ), possible spoilers, and pathetic attempts at chapter titles
(There is currently no explicit content planned, but I'm rating it M just in case such elements work their way in later.)
A/N: Hello everyone. This is my first attempt at a fanfiction with multiple chapters, so I hope I don't do too badly with it. I want to say thanks to the people who read and reviewed my previous stories, since I feel more motivated to do this from your wonderful compliments. I think I've improved a lot since the last story I uploaded on here. I hope that you enjoy this story and I'll do my best to update this story as often as I can. I might even finish it before the summer is over. Also, this story doesn't have a beta like I hoped it would, so please forgive the spelling or grammar mistakes that I may make. Constructive criticism is much appreciated though.
Disclaimer: Tales of Vesperia and its characters do not belong to me. The only thing that belongs to me is the story and any original characters that appear. The social hierarchy of the angels, who appear later on in the story, is based loosely on that of the social hierarchy of the Celestians in Dragon Quest IX (which is an awesome game by the way and was part of the reason that I was inspired to write this story. I really recommend playing it). You do not have to have played that game to understand the story though.
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Chapter 1 - A Birthday Spent Together
It was a beautiful spring day outside, and Flynn took a moment to appreciate it before turning away from his window and back towards his work. There was not much of it left, since Flynn had already taken care of most of it the night before. He had also requested that Sodia deal with any incoming paperwork that had to be done. Flynn felt slightly guilty about having to do so, but once Sodia had learned that he was going to be celebrating his 25th birthday, she quickly insisted that she was more than happy to help him out and do a little extra work. She had also insisted that he let her help out a lot more, but despite telling her that he would, Flynn knew that he would most likely end up doing it all himself. That was just the sort of person that he was. Perhaps Yuri was right to say that he worked too hard.
At the thought of his childhood friend, Flynn couldn't help but smile. Recently, Yuri had taken to visiting him more often than usual, and despite complaining about it the truth was that Flynn didn't really mind. Actually, he was quite pleased that Yuri was spending more time with him. It had started to feel as if they were drifting apart, and every time Flynn considered that, he felt a little empty inside. His work left him with little free time, so he was never able to take the initiative to visit Yuri.
Luckily, Yuri still took time to visit him even though Flynn seemed to have a terrible habit of saying something insensitive and pissing Yuri off. At least their fights had become somewhat more subdued in recent years. Perhaps that was because Yuri was more well traveled and was actually doing things with his life instead of sitting around the Lower Quarter all the time. Or perhaps it was something else entirely. When Flynn thought about it, he realized that a change had come over his friend after their battle at Aurnion where Yuri had defeated Flynn in battle for the first time. It was almost as if a peace had come over him, and Flynn couldn't help but wonder if it was the first time Yuri had ever felt equal to him.
Flynn had always considered himself Yuri's equal, but certain things that Yuri would say or do tipped Flynn off that he saw Flynn as being on a different level from his own. The way Yuri would pin all the glory on Flynn and take the blame for everything onto his own shoulders had always irritated Flynn. He simply could not understand why Yuri didn't realize that they were equal with each other. Flynn was not so perfect that he was above anyone else, and likewise Yuri was not so flawed that he deserved to be seen as a common criminal. Flynn had his imperfections and Yuri had good intentions for everything that he did. It had taken a long time, but it was finally beginning to seem as if Yuri understood this as well as Flynn did.
Because Flynn was lost in his thoughts, he didn't realize at first that he had finished all his work. When he reached for another report, he was shocked to find that there were no more reports left. He had just been signing things and had hardly read the reports at all. Flynn sighed, knowing that he would have to read over the reports again to make sure that everything was in order. After taking a few more minutes to go over the files again, Flynn was satisfied that he was finished with his work. He placed them into a neat pile for Sodia to retrieve later, then went back to his room to change into civilian clothes.
As Flynn made his way out of the castle, he received several surprised looks from the knights on patrol. Had they really never seen him in civilian clothes before? Flynn smiled at them and nodded in acknowledgment as they saluted him. He was a little relieved once he made it out of the castle. Although he loved his work, he could do without all the formalities that came with it. The castle always felt fairly stuffy, and once he stepped outside into the fresh air, he felt instantly relieved. It was fairly obvious why Yuri hated the castle so much. Perhaps he really should try to get out a bit more.
Flynn made his way down to the Lower Quarter where he had arranged to meet Yuri. He sat down on the edge of the fountain to wait, feeling quite excited that he would get to spend the rest of the day with Yuri. Since it was a special occasion, Yuri had promised to cook for him, and that was always something to look forward to. As he sat waiting, he noticed a group of boys carrying wooden swords that were crowded around someone who was sitting on the ground. Fairly curious, Flynn got up and walked closer. As he walked closer, he noticed that it was Yuri who the boys were surrounding. Upon noticing Flynn approach, Yuri looked up and grinned at him.
"Hey Flynn," he greeted. "Just give me a minute. I'm currently being vanquished."
"The monster isn't supposed to talk Yuri!" one of the boys cried.
"Sorry," Yuri replied, chuckling and throwing his hands up apologetically. "Could you hurry up and defeat me already? I promised Flynn we'd hang out."
One of the boys turned to Flynn and grabbed onto his arm, looking up expectantly at Flynn with a bright smile on his face.
"Will you help us vanquish the monster Flynn?"
"It'll be my pleasure," Flynn said, chuckling and placing his hand on his sword.
"Hey! No fair!" Yuri protested. "You can't gang up on me with Flynn!"
"Die foul monster!" the boys cried in unison as they all charged at Yuri.
Yuri quickly threw up his hands to defend himself as the boys all tackled him. Despite having agreed to help, Flynn stayed back and watched as Yuri tussled with the boys. Yuri pretended to put up a fight, but submitted fairly easily and allowed the boys to 'kill' him. When the boys finally backed off, Yuri sat up and grinned at them.
"That was fun guys, but that's enough for today," Yuri said.
The boys all whined in protest and tried to convince Yuri to play with them some more, but they eventually let up on him and went off on some new adventure. Yuri watched them go and chuckled to himself. Flynn offered his hand to Yuri and helped him to his feet.
"Are you alright Yuri?" Flynn asked, causing Yuri to laugh and wave a hand dismissively.
"Yeah, I'm fine," Yuri said. "Those boys really don't hold back though."
"I can see that," Flynn said, looking up and down at Yuri's disheveled appearance. He was covered in dirt and his hair was fairly mussed up from rolling around on the ground. Yuri noticed this as well and smiled sheepishly at Flynn.
"Sorry about this," Yuri said. "They asked if I wanted to play with them and I couldn't say no. I figured that I could change quickly before you got here. I didn't know that you'd get here so early."
Flynn smiled at Yuri, understanding exactly how persuasive children could be when they wanted to play. He himself had often been coerced into joining in the make believe games of the children. Of course, Yuri was even more of a pushover then Flynn was when it came to children. Flynn had never seen Yuri turn away a child who wanted to play.
"Its fine," Flynn reassured him. "Lets head over to your room so you can change out of those dirty clothes. Then we can decide what we want to do today."
"Alright," Yuri said, nodding.
Flynn followed Yuri as he led the way to his small room in the inn. He waited outside as Yuri slipped inside to change quickly. After a few minutes, Yuri opened the door and stepped outside. Flynn gaped at him, noticing that Yuri had changed into a suit and a purple dress shirt. It was much more formal than Flynn was used to seeing him, although Yuri had still left his shirt open halfway.
"Wow... You look... nice..." Flynn said, still slightly awestruck.
"Well, I thought it'd be nice to dress up. Especially since it's your birthday," Yuri said, shrugging as if it wasn't a big deal.
"I didn't even know you owned clothing like that."
Yuri merely shrugged in response and began descending the stairs. He paused halfway down and waited until Flynn began to follow him. They walked side by side around the Lower Quarter for a while, catching up with each other. As usual, all of Flynn's stories seemed to be focused around his work, while Yuri's stories were all about traveling to exotic places and fighting powerful monsters. Flynn couldn't help but feel a little jealous of the freedom that Yuri had. Perhaps one day, Flynn would get the opportunity to join Yuri on one of his adventures.
"It sounds like you've been having a lot of fun," Flynn said, chuckling.
"Yeah," Yuri said, nodding. "Between the jobs I do for Brave Vesperia and the adventures that Estelle drags me on so that she can get material for her books, I have a lot to do. Its really been fun."
Flynn nodded, smiling at Yuri. He was glad that Yuri had finally found his place in the world instead of hanging around the Lower Quarter causing trouble all the time. At times though, Flynn wondered if Yuri might one day leave him behind in favor of his more like-minded friends. But Yuri always came back to him no matter what, so Flynn's worries were always quickly dispelled. It was kind of reassuring in a way.
"You sound pretty busy," Flynn commented. "Thanks for making time to spend time with me today."
"Are you kidding?" Yuri asked, giving Flynn a playful punch in the shoulder. "I would never miss a chance to celebrate your birthday with you. You're still my oldest and closest friend. I'll always make time for you. Besides, you're more busy than I am. I'm surprised that you actually took the day off for once."
"Well you're the one who insisted that I had to do so. You were more insistent that usual this time."
It had been rather surprising actually. Flynn was used to being pestered by Yuri to take a day off, especially when it neared his birthday. He had expected Yuri's usual visits where he would say that he could think of to try to convince Flynn, ranging from from "the empire isn't going to collapse if you take one day off" to "you're going to take the day off if I have to tie you up and physically drag you outside, so you might as well make it easy for yourself". He hadn't been expecting Yuri to get both Estelle and Ioder to tag team him and all but command him to take a day off though. It was clear that Yuri was very intent on getting Flynn to spend his birthday with him.
"I had to. I really wanted you to take the day off," Yuri said, shrugging.
"I was planning to anyways you know."
Yuri seemed surprised by this at first, then he pretended to be annoyed. It wasn't very convincing though since Yuri had a huge grin on his face.
"You should've told me that before I took all that trouble to try to convince you."
"Sorry. I'll let you know next time."
For a moment, it appeared as if Yuri's grin faltered. It came back almost immediately though, so Flynn didn't think much of it.
They had walked up the stairs to the Public Quarter and Yuri immediately headed towards the marketplace. Flynn was wondering why Yuri had brought them here until he saw that Yuri was buying ingredients from the food stalls. Flynn watched in fascination as Yuri judged the quality of each ingredient that he purchased. Flynn didn't really understand what sort of criteria Yuri was using to judge the ingredients, but it was pretty interesting to watch him nevertheless. He tried to guess what Yuri might be cooking based on the ingredients, but he couldn't figure it out so eventually he gave up trying to do so.
Once Yuri was finished, they went back to the inn. Flynn sat down to wait while Yuri borrowed the kitchen to cook a quick lunch for them. After eating, the two friends decided to kill some time fighting monsters. Although it was not the sort of thing most people did to unwind, the two skilled swordsmen were easily able to take down the weak monsters in the area without any trouble. By the time they were done, the two of them hadn't even broken a sweat.
"You've improved a lot," Flynn commented.
Yuri turned and threw Flynn an amused look. Yuri seemed a little flattered that Flynn had complimented him, but it was clear that he didn't think that he had really improved all that much.
"I can't really say the same for you," Yuri teased. "You should get out of the castle and practice more or you'll get rusty."
"Ah... Sorry," Flynn replied, looking fairly embarrassed.
Yuri laughed at how embarrassed Flynn seemed, but it wasn't a derisive laugh. He still seemed genuinely amused.
"You don't have to apologize Flynn. I was kidding."
"But you're kind of right," Flynn pointed out, shaking his head and smiling sheepishly at Yuri. "I haven't been training properly recently. I just have too much work."
"Can't you delegate some of your work to someone else?
"I could but-"
"I'm serious Flynn," Yuri said, looking sternly at the blonde. "You work yourself too hard. If you don't slow down even a little bit, you're going to collapse or something. I know you think you have to do everything yourself, but you should trust your subordinates more."
"I do trust them."
"Really? Then why don't you let them do any work? They're gonna get lazy if you do it all yourself."
Flynn paused, thinking about this for a moment. It wasn't as if his knights slacked off all the time, Flynn did assign them work. However, he didn't order them to do nearly as much as they were capable of. Perhaps Yuri was right. The more he thought about it, the more Flynn could understand why everyone kept telling him to stop working so hard when he could easily pass on some of the work to his knights. Even the emperor Ioder had commented that he did more work than Alexei had done. Flynn always thought that the amount of work was normal if he wanted to change the way things were, but now the corruption in the empire was all but completely wiped out.
"I... guess you're right," Flynn admitted. "I'll try to start relying on other people more."
"So will you start taking breaks without me having to pester you for days?"
"Yeah, I will," Flynn replied, laughing. "I think it'd be nice to take some time off every so often and spend more time with you."
To Flynn's confusion, Yuri seemed to be slightly dismayed by his response. Didn't Yuri want to spend more time with him? Flynn pushed the thought out of his mind. No, he was sure that Yuri didn't mind spending time with him. After all, it was Yuri who had always taken time to come and visit him whenever he got the chance. Taking another look at Yuri, Flynn couldn't see any sign of the distress he had seen earlier. Perhaps he had just imagined it.
"Lets head back now," Yuri suggested. "I've planned an amazing dinner for tonight. Look forward to it."
Flynn grinned and followed Yuri as they walked back towards the inn. Yuri led the way back up to his room where Repede was waiting for them. Repede barked in greeting and bounded over to Flynn, his tail wagging excitedly. Flynn knelt down to pet Repede as Yuri walked past him into the room and began to set the small table in the center of the room. Flynn hadn't remembered seeing it there before, and wondered absently if Yuri had carried it up there so that they could have dinner together in private. Something about the thought of Yuri going through so much trouble for him made Flynn smile.
"What's so funny?" Yuri asked, tilting his head to one side and looking at Flynn in bewilderment.
"Its nothing," Flynn said, shaking his head. "I was just thinking about how much fun I had today."
"Oh really? Well, I'm glad you enjoyed yourself," Yuri said, grinning. "Wait here a minute while I get the food ready. Repede will keep you company in the meantime."
Yuri waved before heading downstairs Flynn took a seat at the table to wait and Repede curled up beside his chair. Flynn looked around the room, which was a little neater than it used to be when Yuri spent most of his time in Zaphias, but still looked distinctly like a room that Yuri stayed in. Flynn resisted the urge to straighten up the room a little, knowing that Yuri would tease him for being a neat freak if he did that. Instead, he turned his attention to Repede.
"Thanks for looking after Yuri for me," Flynn said, scratching behind Repede's ears.
Repede barked in response, looking up at Flynn with his one good eye.
Flynn smiled and continued to pet Repede until Yuri returned carrying a tray laden with delicious smelling food, which he set down on the table. Repede yawned and got to his feet, walking towards the door and glancing over his shoulder before leaving the room and kicking the door shut behind him. Yuri chuckled and took the seat across from Flynn's.
"Looks like Repede's got other plans," Yuri remarked.
"Mm... Well, I suppose that's fine," Flynn said.
Flynn turned his attention to the food, and he placed a generous portion of each dish Yuri had prepared onto his plate. Lunch had been delicious, but Yuri had really gone all out in preparing dinner. All of Flynn's favorite foods were there, and Flynn was a little awestruck by the amount of work that Yuri must have done to make such an elaborate meal. Flynn took a bite and closed his eyes as he savored the flavor of the dish. Flynn had been told that his sense of taste was off, and perhaps that was true since other people were rarely very eager to eat his cooking, but Flynn could certainly tell when food was good, even if he was not much of a cook himself.
"Yuri, this is delicious," Flynn said, causing Yuri to grin and look quite pleased with himself.
"Of course it is," Yuri said. "My cooking is always great."
"You really didn't have to go through all this trouble though. It must have been a lot of work."
Yuri shook his head in response.
"It was no trouble at all. I was happy to cook for you. Especially since its your birthday today."
They continued eating in relative silence, Flynn enjoying the peaceful atmosphere that had settled between them. Every so often, Flynn would notice that Yuri was looking at him strangely. Whenever he did though, Yuri would turn his attention back to eating and if it hadn't happened multiple times then Flynn would have been certain that he was imagining things. Once Flynn had finished eating, he placed his fork down and leaned back in his chair to wait for Yuri to finish. When Yuri looked up at him and quickly looked away, Flynn decided that he should say something.
"Is something the matter Yuri?"
Yuri jumped slightly, startled by the question. He quickly regained his composure, but there was still something about Yuri's demeanor that seemed troubled.
"I'm fine Flynn, really," Yuri insisted.
"Are you sure?"
Yuri hesitated a moment, seeming to seriously consider this question. Flynn became worried at this, but soon relaxed once Yuri gave him a reassuring smile.
"I'm sure," Yuri replied. "I was just thinking about how much I've enjoyed my time together with you."
"You make it sound like you're going away somewhere," Flynn said, chuckling.
Yuri looked out the window, a slightly wistful smile crossing his face as he watched the sun dip below the horizon and the sky fade to a dark blue.
"I suppose it does sound that way," Yuri said quietly. "Its not as if I want to go anywhere though..."
"Yuri? Are you sure that you're alright?"
Flynn frowned in concern as Yuri continued to stare out the window a moment before looking back at Flynn. Yuri smiled faintly, resting his chin against his hand.
"Yeah. I already said that I was fine," Yuri replied. "I've just been thinking a lot today."
"Really? That's unusual for you," Flynn teased.
"Hey!" Yuri exclaimed, swatting at Flynn's arm and frowning. "What's that supposed to mean?"
Flynn chuckled and Yuri was unable to suppress a grin himself. Flynn was glad that his attempt to lighten the mood a bit had worked. Yuri seemed to have forgotten about whatever it was that was troubling him and had returned to his usual carefree self.
"Shall we go for a walk?" Yuri asked. "Its not too dark yet."
Flynn nodded and got up, helping Yuri clean up the dishes and bring them downstairs to the kitchen. Yuri had halfheartedly insisted that Flynn let him do it himself, but Flynn knew that Yuri hated to clean up so he decided to help out anyways. Once they had finished cleaning up, they began to take a walk around outside. They didn't go very far, staying nearby the fountain in the Lower Quarter. The streets soon became deserted and they were alone, walking side by side in the moonlight. After a while, Yuri walked over to the fountain and sat down. Flynn did the same and took a seat beside Yuri.
"Its a beautiful night out tonight," Flynn remarked.
Yuri looked up at the sky, frowning slightly as if trying to understand what Flynn found so beautiful about it. Flynn looked curiously at Yuri, who glanced over at Flynn and smiled.
"I suppose it is in a way," Yuri replied. "But it doesn't seem any different from any other night."
"No... There's something about tonight that makes it seem special."
"Really?" Yuri asked, looking amused. "Maybe its because you're actually outside for once."
Flynn chuckled and turned his gaze upwards towards the sky, admiring the bright full moon and the beautiful twinkling stars.
"You may be right Yuri."
The two friends sat in silence for a moment. A gentle breeze caressed Flynn's skin, causing him to let out a contented sigh. The moonlight lit up the square and reflected off the surface of the fountain. Yuri had begun looking up at the sky once more, smiling wistfully.
"Hey Flynn."
"Mm? What is it?" Flynn asked, turning to look at Yuri.
"Do you remember how we first met?"
Flynn considered the question for a moment, then nodded. He smiled fondly at Yuri as he recalled the events of that fateful day.
"It was here by this fountain right?" Flynn asked.
Yuri nodded, turning to look at Flynn. He was grinning, obviously happy that Flynn had remembered their first meeting. Of course, there was no way that Flynn could ever have forgotten it.
"Yeah," Yuri replied. "You were sitting beside this fountain and I came over to sit next to you since you looked lonely sitting there all by yourself."
"And you looked like you had just been in a fight," Flynn replied. "I was worried because you were injured, but you didn't seem to care at all. You had a huge grin on your face."
"That's because I won that fight. It wasn't so uncommon for me to get injured, so I wasn't worried about that at all."
"You were more worried about me than you were about yourself. I didn't understand that at all at the time. I wasn't the one who was injured. Now though... I think I understand how you felt a little better."
"There's nothing worse than being alone," Yuri said quietly, reaching out and taking Flynn's hand in his. "But now you have Estelle, Ioder, and all of the knights. You've got a lot of people supporting you."
"And you," Flynn said, squeezing Yuri's hand. "I have you."
Yuri smiled sadly at Flynn and pulled his hand away. Flynn frowned slightly in confusion and began to question Yuri's actions, but the words he had wanted to say died on his lips as he was suddenly pulled into a tight embrace. Flynn gasped in surprise at the sudden gesture. It had been a long time since Yuri would so willingly display any sign of affection. When they were kids, it was different. Yuri would always hold hands with Flynn and give him hugs whenever he was feeling down.
It had been so simple back then. They could be as close as they wanted to be and no one would say anything about it. Once one became older though, such gestures took on a different meaning completely. Their relationship was no longer the same as it had been when they were kids. Sometimes, Flynn found himself wishing that he could go back to those days...
"You've always had me Flynn," Yuri replied, resting his chin on Flynn's shoulder. "And you always will. Even if it doesn't seem like it."
"Y-Yuri?" Flynn asked, tentatively returning the embrace. "What are you saying?"
The was a pause, and then Yuri pulled back, smirking again. The familiar expression was comforting to Flynn, who was still bewildered by Yuri's uncharacteristic actions.
"I'm saying that you'll never be rid of me," Yuri replied. "Even when I'm not by your side, you'll always have my support. So if I disappear, I want you to remember that."
Flynn began to protest that Yuri wouldn't disappear, but stopped when Yuri placed a finger against his lips. Flynn could have sworn that the gentle touch sent a spark or electricity through him. Was this the sensation that Estellise had always talked about when she wrote her love stories? Flynn stared at Yuri with wide eyes as his friend leaned in a little closer.
"Close your eyes," Yuri whispered, his expression holding a genuine warmth in it that Flynn had never seen before.
Reassured that Yuri was serious for once, and not trying to pull some sort of prank on him, Flynn did as he was asked. Yuri smiled upon seeing the faint blush on Flynn's cheeks, and leaned forward so that their lips were mere centimeters apart from each other's. When Yuri spoke, his breath ghosted across Flynn's lips and cause Flynn's own breath to become caught in his throat. Yuri reached up to cup Flynn's face in his hands, and gently stroked Flynn's cheeks with his thumbs.
"Its been fun Flynn," Yuri said softly, pressing his forehead against Flynn's. "I'm glad that I was able to meet you. Thank you for everything. Please never change Flynn... Goodbye."
After Yuri finished speaking, his touch seemed to fade away. Confused by this, Flynn opened his eyes to see... nothing. Yuri was gone.