Disclaimer: I don't own Tales of Symphonia or the characters mentioned, and neither do I own the Uriah Heep song Lady in Black. I'm not making any profit, either.
Rating: PG.
Warnings: Yaoi (male/male relationships / slash / shounen ai / BL / what have you), mentions of character death, spoilers.
Pairing: Yuan/Botta
Author's Note: Fifty one-sentence ficlets (the themes are from the Gamma set at the LJ community 1sentence) centering around this way underappreciated pairing. Don't like, don't read. Also, I'm usually open to criticism, but I'm full well aware the quality of these mini-ficlets varies a lot and some sentences are just... awkward, so I'd like to ask for no concrit on this fic. I also know I abused punctuation a lot. I promise to treat all the dashes, commas and semicolons more nicely in my other fics. :3
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01 – Ring
The ring Yuan wore was a symbol of love for another, but it had never even crossed Botta's mind that he could be offended by it.
02 – Hero
Yuan found it vaguely disturbing that he was still considered a hero by some when, to him, the real heroes were the likes of Botta and the other Renegades who risked their lives for a cause.
03 – Memory
The days of the Kharlan War were more than mere history to Yuan, they were memories – and Botta knew better than to disturb those.
04 – Box
When Yuan saw the small box containing all the personal belongings of the man who had been the Renegade second-in-command until recently, it took all his willpower not to rush to Derris-Kharlan and take out Yggdrasill with his bare hands then and there.
05 – Run
Yuan had the ability to send people running for the hills with a single glare, and there was only one Renegade who could weather out his wrath.
06 – Hurricane
Yuan's office looked like a hurricane had hit it, but when the Renegade in charge of cleaning it found certain misplaced garments, she only shook her head in amusement and thought that they could at least try to be a little less obvious about it.
07 – Wings
The only person worth being called angel didn't have white, feathery wings; his wings were sparkling and ethereal red in color, and for that reason they were all the more beautiful.
08 – Cold
Yuan wasn't half as cold on the inside as he would have wanted others to believe.
09 – Red
Yuan had always been fond of the color blue and, if asked, he would have associated death with red if he had to pick a color; he had to reconsider this when death suddenly came in the clearest blue of the oceans.
10 – Drink
The Renegades usually didn't get to drink much, but on those few occasions they did, Yuan usually stayed out of it and amused himself watching the others, discovering some carefully kept secrets along the way.
11 – Midnight
Because he didn't need to sleep, he sometimes forgot that others did; when he found his second-in-command asleep by his desk at midnight for the third time within a month he decided it might be a good thing to get a more or less regular schedule.
12 – Temptation
Giving up was a taboo subject in their conversation, because the temptation of doing just that was always lurking in their minds.
13 – View
The starry sky provided a romantic view to most; to them, it was a painful reminder of what it was that they were fighting against.
14 – Music
Yuan never was opposed to listening to music in general, but it would take a long time before he explained the odd look he got whenever he heard someone playing a flute.
15 – Silk
It was hard to understand why people would describe their lovers' hair as silky; theirs never was, especially not in the mornings.
16 – Cover
He understood perfectly well why he needed to keep his cover intact, but he couldn't help feeling frustrated every time the Renegades, with their second-in-command posing as the leader, went out to fight in the open risking their lives while he had to content himself working within shadows.
17 – Promise
He had taken the oath just like every other Renegade did, but he had also made a more personal promise to see to it that Martel would finally be allowed to rest and so, hopefully, Yuan himself could find the peace of mind he was missing.
18 – Dream
Some dreams and feelings, while mutual, were too dangerous to be acknowledged.
19 – Candle
No matter what was said about candles being romantic, they had unanimously agreed to toss them after Yuan's cape had caught fire.
20 – Talent
There were few people who were capable of reading Yuan to any degree – it was almost unheard of that anyone could practically read his mind with such ease.
21 – Silence
The base was deathly silent to respect his privacy in the moment of grief, but no one seemed to realize that now, if ever, Yuan really could have used the distraction called routine.
22 – Journey
He was sick of journeying in hopes of finding things that never were there, especially since some things could be found just by stopping the frantic search and taking a good look at what there already was around him.
23 – Fire
It was rare of him to laugh, but the very first time he had seen his second-in-command (who usually only used earth-based spells) attempt a fire spell, he simply hadn't been able to hide his mirth.
24 – Strength
"There is no strength in numbers, have no such misconception", he had been told; he could only disagree when he saw what an organization like the Renegades was capable of achieving in the hands of a skilled leader.
25 – Mask
It was easy to hide behind a mask of cold indifference most of the time with most people, but Botta could chip away at the carefully sculpted wall far too easily for his liking.
26 – Ice
Walking around Flanoir without looking where to step was a mistake Yuan didn't plan on repeating anytime soon, if for no other reason but to spare his friend the trouble of hiding his amused expression.
27 – Fall
If he were to fall off a cliff, he would just use his wings – but how was he supposed to save himself when he discovered he was falling for his subordinate?
28 – Forgotten
To be forgotten was better than being scorned, but he would gladly have been remembered and scorned if that would have enabled him to keep his loved ones alive.
29 – Dance
Yuan certainly could dance – now; he only smirked at the awed looks he got and chose to say nothing about how many decades he had spent mastering the techniques.
30 – Body
For someone with such an ancient body, Yuan was amazingly flexible.
31 – Sacred
There were some rules and taboo topics to take into account when dealing with an ancient hero whose fiancée had become a goddess.
32 – Farewells
He was so sick of farewells, he thought as he laid a dark red rose on the water's surface in the still partially flooded ranch, but the worst part was that, yet again, he hadn't been able to say his goodbyes before it was too late.
33 – World
There was a world, not two, but one; Lloyd and his friends had succeeded, but his heart was heavy because one of the most valiant heroes who should have stood by his side never got to see their work pay off.
34 – Formal
It had all been quite formal in the beginning, to the point that Yuan had felt half-tempted to kiss his second-in-command just to see whether he would have a heart attack because of shock.
35 – Fever
They had had to argue for hours, and even then Yuan wouldn't have admitted to having caught a cold if Botta hadn't begun to show the exact same symptoms.
36 – Laugh
Botta had never anticipated to hear Yuan laugh out loud for the first time while they were in the middle of a snow war, of all things, but he certainly didn't mind.
37 – Lies
"It'll be all right" was always a lie, because no one knew what future would bring – but when Botta said it, it didn't ring false to his ears.
38 – Forever
The thought of living forever and ever was bad enough before; it got only worse when he found himself alone, without the support of the one he had come to rely on.
39 – Overwhelmed
Yuan had long thought he had no emotions left – he didn't know what to feel when he was proven otherwise.
40 – Whisper
There had been rumors about them going around both of the bases for a long time, and yet no one seemed to realize that their leader could hear all the whispers with ease.
41 – Wait
He was an impatient person, but sometimes it was a welcomed trait; for most people, life was too short to spend second-guessing and waiting for decisions that might never be made otherwise.
42 – Talk
After several decades of easy companionship, Yuan finally realized how little they spoke when something didn't concern a mission or a report and thought that the phrase "actions speak louder than words" had never fit better.
43 – Search
Everyone loved to search for things that may or may not affect their lives and never paid any attention to whether they were ready to find their answers; Yuan was genuinely surprised to discover he was no different when it came to certain matters.
44 – Hope
Hope was what fuelled their actions and kept them sane, and that was why they held it more precious than their own lives.
45 – Eclipse
When the sun was eclipsed by the horrendous sight of Derris-Kharlan looming in the sky, Yuan thought it was fitting considering all the things that had happened, leaving several people dead and countless other people, himself included, suffering.
46 – Gravity
When asked about his new selection of bruises and cuts, Yuan had given him a dark look, avoided the question and stalked away, all the while muttering about a room with no gravity and how exactly could it be possible for such a place to exist where not even wings were enough to keep him from crashing headlong into a wall.
47 – Highway
Sometimes Yuan had to wonder if the corridor along which his office was located had become a Renegade highway, because it seemed there were always a bunch of curious underlings hanging about whenever he had a meeting with Botta.
48 – Unknown
Yuan didn't always seem to think all his plans through and certainly couldn't predict the outcome of all his actions, but Botta knew that whatever it was that he would come up with would usually turn out well, and that was good enough for him.
49 – Lock
Locks were a handy invention and usually kept most curious people from meddling in their affairs – and if that failed, an Indignation spell was always another good way to make sure they weren't disturbed.
50 – Breathe
He didn't appear any different after the news was broken to him; only a careful observer could have noticed he had quit breathing the second he heard what had happened at the ranch.