A Cure For Loneliness
Disclaimer: Tales of Vesperia rightfully belongs to Namco Bandai.
A.N: I know I seriously ought to get on with my 30 days challenge, but this one was prompted a few months ago by Lady Amarant and I finally got around to finish it. Enjoy!
The sun shone high in the clear spring sky when Flynn put an end to his morning duties, finishing the last of his reports. He didn't feel any excitement filling these documents on a daily basis, but it was a necessary task and with time he'd learned to deal efficiently with them. Still, that didn't mean he wasn't feeling any less proud of himself when he did finish them all little over an hour before his next meeting. Ah, right - that meeting.
Flynn leaned back against his wooden chair and stretchted a little, his muscles sore from staying in a bent position for hours. If he was being honest with himself, he'd rather take the afternoon to focus on something more productive to do than meeting with the Council a couple corridors further. He knew how important it was, but most councelors remained so conservative and uncooperative that sometimes Flynn was convinced he'd have better chances seducing Repede than finding a compromise with half of them.
Letting out a sigh that sounded more like a quiet groan, he was about to stand up and work on something else when-
"What are you sighing for?"
Flynn nearly jumped out of his skin.
As he turned around sharply he was greeted with the sight of someone sitting at the window, but not the person you'd have usually found there. It took Flynn a few brief seconds to register that Patty was straddled on the windowsill and swinging her legs on each side of it, a large grin gracing her lips.
He quickly recovered from his surprise and dropped the gaping face for a serious, reprimanding scowl. "Patty! How did you get up here? Are you alright? You might have gotten hurt!"
By the time Flynn reached the window she'd already jumped off it into the room, shaking her head. "Nah, I'm fine. Yuri taught me and he said I was really good at it nanoya~"
Flynn held back from facepalming and settled with a glare, already mentally preparing a lecture for his childhood friend on how you didn't simply teach children to climb walls and encouraged them to sneak into people's rooms. The next time he saw Yuri, he was going to get an earful. However, the young girl's broad grin dimmed his mood enough to slump back into his chair, sighing yet again.
"So, what brings you here?"
Almost immediately Patty's grin quivered, but she was quick enough to cover it with an even bigger one. "Well, you know, it's been a while and I thought I'd just drop by to see how you're doing. Yuri told me I'd probably find you working yourself mad again. Hehe, looks like he was right."
Her giggle didn't fool him. Not the way she'd forced it, nor the way she fiddled with the end of one of her braids, nor how much enthusiasm she was putting in her voice. But Flynn chose not to mention anything yet and with one last suspicious stare, he nodded.
"Yuri of all would know how busy this job is keeping me. But thank you Patty, I appreciate your visit. However, I'm afraid I can't be of good company for now as I still have a few papers to take care of." he smiled apologetically.
"Then I'll just wait here until you're finished nanoya~"
Surely another of Yuri's habits she'd learned. Well, as long as she wasn't bothering him, he didn't mind in the slightest.
And so he just nodded and turned back to his work, which wasn't nearly as urgent as the reports he had finished a moment ago but needed just as much thoughtful consideration.
When Flynn focused, he did it efficiently and shut any other matter out until he deemed his task done, with Yuri being one of the few exceptions that managed to slip through that carefully built focus wall. For a while he was actually able to concentrate enough to work in peace without being disturbed much, if at all.
This led Flynn to frown and stare at his paper, though. As much as he'd thought an energic child such as Patty would grow restless after minutes of silent waiting, he was surprised to realize she was being rather quiet. Which in itself wasn't a problem, but he had to admit it was more unusal than anything he'd known from her so far, not to mention her fidgety behavior from earlier.
When their light conversation found an end with the young pirate not replying to Flynn's question, he finally looked up from his work and turned around in his chair. What he saw settled light worry within him: Patty had moved back to the windowsill and was gazing outside with the same thoughful look he'd sometimes see on Yuri. He knew her past had revealed her being much older than she actually looked like, but right then she was a child just like any other and that look was one of melancholy that didn't fit her young age.
Patty didn't seem to have noticed him staring, but right as Flynn opened his mouth to ask her if she was alright, she spoke up.
"Ne, Flynn, what's it like to have a family?"
Her eyes hadn't stopped staring out the window and her voice sounded anything but her usual carefree self. It was nothing more than a whisper, and it did nothing to ease the knight's worry.
Flynn didn't really know what to answer. The topic had become some sort of an unspoken taboo, but she was clearly upset and he didn't want to brush it off.
"Well…" he started slowly, "It's a little different for everyone I suppose, but it feels like home. I wasn't able to spend much time with my parents, but with them I always felt safe and warm no matter the circumstances." Flynn halted, choosing his words carefully. Patty still hadn't looked at him. "Family doesn't have to be blood-related. It's a bond of mutual respect, trust, love and protection. When my parents died…Yuri became all I had. He became family."
Not knowing where to draw the line for private confessions he looked up at her, expecting the younger girl to react. For one very long minute, then two, then three, Patty didn't say anything or made a move. She watched knights patrolling in the courtyard, birds flying off the roofs into the midday sky. Flynn wasn't sure what to do nor what to expect, but what he certainly didn't anticipate was her soft giggle. It wasn't forced this time, and when she finally spoke her smile wasn't fake, yet neither sounded particularly cheerful.
"That's right…" she murmured, "I don't think I've ever had a real family. Seifer…he was closest to it, but now he's gone, too. It's been a while since I felt at home."
Her whispered words were almost lost in the noise of an imperial guard shouting downstairs, and in that very moment she looked much more vulnerable than Flynn knew she was. Whether it was the softness of her voice or the sadness in her words, he didn't really know, but something inside of him snapped and without thinking he stood up and reached for her.
In an instant Flynn had wrapped his arms around Patty's small figure, his mind not quite catching on with his sudden move yet. While he didn't exactly know why, the moment he'd seen her speak of her past in such a frail manner he'd been overwhelmed with a sense of strong protectiveness. Maybe, in some distant memory hidden far away, he'd seen the same sadness he had once felt. The loss of what a small boy called family inevitably after losing it, and the glimpse of a desperate time.
"…Flynn..?"
Patty's small, hesitating voice resounded from beneath him, and within seconds the knight fully registered just what he was doing. Apart from a slight flush reddening his cheeks however he didn't move, merely loosened the embrace. Patty didn't seem to mind much.
"It's okay. You-…er.." Dammit, Flynn had never been good at this. "…you can come to me whenever you feel like that."
There was so much more that he wanted to say, yet the words remained stuck in his throat as he fumbled with them. While he was definitely better at expressing his feelings than Yuri was, that didn't mean he'd had much expertise with comforting children's chagrin anymore. Consolation was hardly needed when you were in charge of an entire army.
Still avoiding looking down as long as his faint blush hadn't faded away, Flynn suddenly felt a pair of small arms cling on his tunic and Patty's head lean on his chest. None said a word, adjusting to the new feeling of a warm, awkward hug. Eventually Flynn allowed himself to gently rest his chin on the younger girl's blond head as she tightened her grip on him.
"You know…I think I've found it."
Patty's voice reached him through the embrace and was muffled by his tunic. Her words startled him - what did she mean? Flynn meant to ask but before he had the chance to she went on in a soft tone, nearly whispering.
"I've felt alone for so long, I didn't even remember what it felt like to have a family. But then I met Yuri. And Brave Vesperia. And you." She took a shaking breath, but when she spoke again the fondness in her voice was clear. "And now I know I feel warm and safe with you guys."
"You will always be welcome, family or not."
Flynn's words had slipped almost unconsciously. Patty chuckled, the motion shaking her back lightly, and she looked up at him. Her honest smile couldn't have been broader. "I know."
And with that, she laughed and hopped down from his lap. Her long braids bounced on her shoulders when she climbed back on the windowsill and swung her legs on each side of it, humming quietly.
A few baffled stares later Flynn cleared his throat, rubbed his neck and slowly turned back to his desk. He sat back on his chair and leaned over his work with a sigh and a relieved smile. He really wasn't used to giving pep talks anymore.