A/N: I've been long overdue for a Tales of Symphonia fanfiction, so here's a story that was inspired by the incredible Renegade fanfiction Reliance, which can of course be found here on FFN and which I consider essential reading material for any Renegade fan. This takes place roughly 50 years before the events of the game.

Disclaimer: Um, Tales of Symphonia belongs to Namco and the characters belong to Kosuke Fujishima, or whatever his name is. They're not mine; shocking, I know. If they were, do you think Botta would have died? Of course not.

Spoilers: Whoppers. If you haven't beaten the game, you're going to regret reading this.

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Welgaia hadn't changed a bit, not that Yuan had expected it to in the short year he was away. He felt an acute sadness at having to return, but in a way the lifeless marble halls were almost preferred to the state that the once-flourishing Sylvarant was in. Yggdrasill was cold and distant, as always, Martel still imprisoned in the Great Seed Chamber; the angels remained vacant and emotionless, the bloodthirsty Desians still their complete opposite in personality, if not in their goals.

"Lord Yuan?"

He turned, slowly. "Hello, Pronyma," he said steadily. Apparently the Grand Cardinals also still had that annoying habit of popping up where you least wanted them to. "It's been a while."

"Indeed," she said coldly, not having lost her lack of respect, either. "Did you enjoy your little jaunt on that filthy world?"

Yuan's eyes narrowed. "Our ancestors would never have come down from Derris Kharlan had they found the planet and its inhabitants 'filthy'," he quipped. "And having been gone for a year or so doesn't mean that I deserve any less respect. I will always be a Seraph, or do you need Lord Yggdrasill to remind you?" Always a Seraph. Yuan winced inwardly at his own choice of words.

"Of course not," Pronyma corrected herself with a small bow. "Forgive me, Lord Yuan." Her voice still held a trace of mockery, but the time spent on the surface had been like a breath of fresh air to Yuan and he was able to check himself. He'd always held a certain dislike for Pronyma, with her blind loyalty to Lord Yggdrasill and her scheming against the other Cardinals with no purpose other than ambition. But he'd had his year of freedom; now it was time to put up with this place, and all of its inhabitants, once more.

And speaking of inhabitants… "Pronyma," Yuan asked as she was about to leave, "Have you seen Kratos recently?"

Pronyma stopped, and looked at him with a strange expression. "Not more than anyone else," she said a little stiffly. "Almost not at all in the last few months. If you mean to go find him, he's probably in his chambers, but I'll warn you," here she allowed her mouth to twitch into a faint derisive grin, "he doesn't like company."

Strange, Yuan thought. Kratos always welcomed visitors; they helped break the monotony. "Well, I understand him preferring not to have you around," he retorted, "but I get the feeling I'll be much more welcome."

Here her grin widened ever so slightly. "I wouldn't be so sure about that, Lord Yuan." When his eyes demanded that she explain, she added, "He hasn't been himself recently, you could say."

Yuan stared at her warily. "Not been himself?" he repeated. "How can you tell?" How could you possibly know he's not himself when you don't even know the real him?

Pronyma looked offended at the Seraph's presumption. "I may not have known him for thousands of years, Lord Yuan," she sniffed, "but I can see clearly enough that something is troubling him. At least I've been around to notice."

This last comment hurt Yuan more than he would have liked, but he managed not to let it show on his face. "Some of us have work to do," was all he said. "Has he given any indication as to what it is that's bothering him?"

"Well, it's not like I've made a point of following him around, " she sighed, "but not that I've seen. He doesn't say much of anything, really. Some weeks he doesn't leave his room for weeks at a time." She shrugged. "Not like any of that matters to me," she added haughtily. "And besides, I should have thought that had any of it mattered to you, Lord Yuan, you wouldn't ever have left Welgaia to begin with."

With that last stinging comment, Pronyma floated off, leaving a speechless Yuan staring down an empty hallway. He should have upbraided her again for her impudence, but he was too preoccupied with her words. It was true that he'd been away for longer than he'd intended, certainly longer than he should have, but the Renegades had required constant attention, and this was a critical stage: soon, he planned to transfer full control of the Renegades to Botta, remaining in the shadows while his trusted second-in-command took on the full responsibility of the organization, as well as the weight of being recognized as their leader when the time came to openly oppose Cruxis.

He'd told Kratos when he'd left that he could contact Yuan any time he wanted, and Yuan would answer. But the messaging system had been oddly quiet all year, Yuan now realized, and he'd been too busy to notice. He'd been happy for those 12 months, genuinely so, happier than he'd been in a long while. It was almost like during the Kharlan War, when he'd had friends he could depend on and work together with them, knowing they were doing the right thing… he and Botta had grown closer than ever, almost as close as he and Kratos had been, although of course no one could take the Seraph's place in Yuan's heart.

Yuan stopped for a moment; without realizing it, he'd begun to head down the corridor towards the room Kratos called home. His train of thought had begun to worry him; he'd been gone for an unusually long time, saying only that he was working from his base on the surface of the planet… what if Kratos thought he had been replaced?

No, he's not that stupid. Yuan shook himself, resuming his march down the hall. Kratos had always been the most brooding and uncertain of them all, deep down, but not to this extent. It must be something else….

Maybe he's beginning to doubt Mithos! The thought struck Yuan suddenly. Of course. That would explain his distance from the Grand Cardinals, as well as his lack of action. He doesn't know what to do… he must think I'm his enemy, which is why he hasn't contacted me…. Filled with sudden excitement, Yuan hurried the rest of the way to his oldest friend's room. If Kratos had realized that what Mithos was doing was wrong, Yuan felt sure that he could convince him to join the Renegades. And with two of the four Seraphim on his side… no, he reminded himself, three, three of the four Seraphim were on his side, no matter what Mithos might think… if it was indeed so, there was no way Yggdrasill could oppose them. And they could finally make amends for their mistakes, together.

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A/N: I know every author in the fanfiction world wants reviews, so I won't waste your time begging. But I put my heart into this story, and if you like it enough to care, I'd like to hear what you have to say!

Yes, there will be a second chapter. And, hopefully, a third, if anyone actual bothers to read this.

Also, I stole the following phrase from Meowzy-chan because I love it and I love her. If you like KratosxYuan, or even just Yuan for that matter, then go check out her fics, and be prepared to meet the most hilarious ToS parodies in the history of ToS parodies!

"Every time you flame, a Mithos kicks a Yuan. Please, think of the Yuans."