It had been three years since Brave Vesperia had defeated Duke and destroyed the Adaphagoes, restoring peace to the world – the new world; the world without Blastia. Brave Vesperia had become a highly known guild, and one of the most called on of them all, although Estellise – or Estelle – had left shortly after defeating Duke. She had said she wanted to continue traveling with her newly found friends, but Flynn finally had convinced her to return to Zaphias. Now, the remaining members were Karol – the captain of Brave Vesperia, Yuri, Rita, Judith – or Judy, and Raven. Repede was obviously still around, deciding to stick with his owner. The group had a guild hall in Dahngrest that they barely ever got to stay in for long. Thankfully, it was a holiday, and guilds had the few days off, because barely anyone needed help during this time.
Yuri was sprawled across the floor, with his hands behind his head. He was bored, the festival held no interest to him, and he honestly just wanted to fight some monsters. Something to do at least. He turned slightly to face Karol, he had grown a lot in three years, making him 15. His outfit was significantly less dorky then Yuri could remember as well. Karol's light brown hair was down and his bangs hung over his left eye. His shirt was still dorky, it was very similar to a white dress shirt, and his shorts were bright green, and sadly, he still carried around his giant bag of everything. Okay, so his outfit was still ridiculous, but not as ridiculous. Karol was flipping through quest papers, something he had to do as the captain of the guild. Thankfully, Yuri wasn't stuck doing that.
Judy on the other hand was still as beautiful, being the bright age of 22 she looked like she hadn't aged since 19. She wore her hair like always, only just a little longer, but instead of her 'armor' she wore a white blouse covered by a bright red vest and laced dark blue dress pants. She was polishing her spear, which made Yuri wonder if she liked fighting just a little bit too much, even for her.
Yuri turned again to face Raven. Raven hadn't changed at all, only the number in his age had transformed from 35 to 38. It had taken a lot to get the old mans 'age' out of him. In all thankfulness, Raven had also changed his attire. He was clad in a green t shirt with long black pants. It wasn't a big step, but it was an upgrade. He was sleeping. Of course, Raven was sleeping. Stupid old man.
Yuri set his head back to normal and just so slightly tilted it back, Rita was sitting behind him against the wall, reading a book about Mana. Even after all the Blastia was destroyed Rita was still doing the same type of research, just with Mana instead of Aer.
Rita was wearing her 'official' mage outfit. The previous mages of Aspio had had it tailored just for Rita, making sure it matched her style, and that she would actually wear it. As much as Rita disliked those mages, she was thankful of them for that. Her dress was orange and covered slightly by a black cape thing. I say thing because it covered her shoulders like a shirt, had a hood on it and was bigger around her neck, but was far from a cape. She had ditched the sock on her right leg and only wore a black and orange leg warmer on her left and black gloves; though she still sported goggles on her head. The mages were right, it was very…Rita.
Although she had her face in a book, Rita's eyes moved up and their almost permanent glare shot into Yuri. "What are you staring at?" She asked as if she knew the entire time what he was doing. "And a better question, what are you doing? You obviously can't keep still." She knew everything – of course she did – Rita had more then two eyes, especially now at 18, she had perfected her third, fourth and probably fifth set of eyes.
"Nothing." Yuri grinned at her as he set his head back. "I'm just bored." He shrugged as best he could.
"We could go do something?" Karol suggested; everyone in the room knew he wasn't enjoying his work.
"Like what?" Judy's voice perked in interest.
"I don't know, anything but sit around here." Karol grinned.
Yuri heard Rita sigh. She finally had a day off to study (although she did that everyday anyways) and they were going to make her move.
"Why can't we just stay here for once?" Rita asked, trying to make it sound as logical as possible. "Everyone needs rest and we never get any, enjoy the break."
Yuri attempted not to laugh, Rita's eyes were still scanning the book as she talked, and she hadn't even noticed Repede flop down by her. She was just as she had always been; and for that there was still only one word – Rita.
"Or we could kick the kiddies out and have some of our own time." Raven grinned over at Judy, as if he wasn't sleeping and had heard everything.
Yuri turned to Raven in time enough to see a book slam right into his head from Rita's direction.
"Shut up old man, you haven't changed at all." Rita shouted.
"And you've gotten more violent!" Raven stated as he stood.
"Calm down, both of you fight like children." Karol stated grinning slightly.
Rita's face puffed up. "Children! He's the one acting childish! Everyday he says something stupid about trying to get with Judy!" She grabbed another book but set it down. "Forget it." Rita closed her book as she stood up, and walked out the door of the guild hall.
Everyone stared to the door. Rita was right about Raven, but she had never gotten so mad as to leave the hall.
"We could always go visit Estelle." Judy brought up, breaking the silence.
"It is a festival, so she wouldn't be busy, and she would probably be excited to see us." Karol smiled.
Yuri kept his eyes locked on the door. Something was bugging Rita more then she was showing.
"I wouldn't mind goin' to see her." Raven stated as he sat down again.
"Yuri?" Karol glanced over at him as he stood up.
"Yeah, I wouldn't mind." Yuri stated as he walked over and pushed the door open.
Rita sat quietly with her book open, leaning against the side of Brave Vesperia's guild hall. She really wasn't interested in hearing Raven go on and on about wanting to sleep with Judy, besides, she still thought that was gross. She glanced down at the page, barely comprehending the words. "S-Stupid old man." She muttered slamming the book shut again.
"What are you going on about?" Yuri laughed as he walked out of the guild hall. "You haven't completely lost your mind to the point of talking to imaginary friends have you?"
"I'm not five." Rita stated coldly, opening her book again.
"Oh come on, you're gonna treat me like that? After I came out to see you?" Yuri laughed.
Rita didn't answer, and just looked up to face the black clad man. Yuri was 24, and his hair was still the same as three years ago, though his outfit had changed. Yuri wore a black jacket which was much longer on the left side, reaching down to his ankle. The chest of the jacket was decorated with buckles, and a red scarf that Yuri usually had covering his mouth. His pants were black and ran into his boots. He looked a lot better then he used to. Rita quickly turned away as her face went red. Yuri was into Estelle, besides, the princess was closer to his age anyways.
"What's up with you? You're acting strange, even for you." Yuri laughed trying to cheer her up at least a little bit.
"Nothing, I'm just sick of that stupid old man." Rita pouted hiding her face in her book again. She wasn't quite sure when she had fallen for Yuri, just that she had.
"Don't worry about it, Judy's got better taste then that." Yuri laughed.
"Like what, you?" Rita looked up at him again for a second. It was kind of funny, Judy openly flirted with Yuri, Estelle didn't mean to, and Rita hid every little bit of it.
"Well I can't blame her for that." Yuri joked. Rita glared at him.
"Just never mind. Did you decide on something to do?" She asked pretending to hold interest in her book.
"Yeah, we're going to go visit Estelle. Do you want to come?" Yuri teased. He knew perfectly well Rita would say yes.
"You already know the answer." Rita sighed as she stood up. She loved Estelle like a sister; it was crazy for her, but true.
"Yup." Yuri grinned as they went back inside.
"Did you clear missy's head?" Raven laughed slightly.
Rita shot a glare towards him. "You're such an idiot." She muttered as she set her book down on the floor. She had decided to be mature – ignore him.
"Are we ready to go then?" Judy asked as she stood up. She already knew they all were so she continued out the doorway.
When they arrived at Zaphias castle, Estelle was immediately there to greet them, glomping Yuri as she did. He smiled at her as usual and said hello, but the smile wasn't as sincere or kind as it usually was. Was there something wrong with him?
Estelle gave Rita a huge hug, and then everybody else – even Raven.
"How are you all today?" She asked with a bright smile. Anyone could tell she didn't like being here alone.
"Bored." Yuri grinned.
Flynn came out behind Estelle. "I've booked you rooms at the inn for tonight." He stated, kind as usual.
Basically, he just wanted to let them know right away that they weren't staying in the castle.
Estelle was 21, and was dressed in the bright blue dress that Yuri claimed to meet her in.
"Well, what should we do?" She grinned at them. They were going somewhere, and Flynn was coming, but that was about all they knew right away.
"I don't really care." Yuri shrugged. Rita gave her usual cold shoulder to the topic, and Judy suggested they go to the festival. Of course, Raven and Karol agreed right away, and Estelle was excited.
Rita sighed. She really wasn't interested in any of that right now. She just wanted to go home and continue her book. Sadly, home had been destroyed when Duke raised Tarqaron right over Aspio.
"What's wrong?" Yuri laughed, noting her sigh.
"Doesn't matter," Rita stated.
"Really? It sounds like it does."
"Well it really doesn't, no matter what I say I'm going to be forced into this one way or another."
Yuri laughed, and Rita glanced down. "What if it's fun?" He asked, smiling at her.
"It probably won't be…" Rita muttered as her face lit up a little.
The festival was that night, in the streets of Zaphias. That was why Judy had suggested visiting Estelle. Karol, Raven and Judy had wandered off somewhere anyways, and Rita was left alone with Yuri and Estelle. Talk about a third wheel much.
"Can I…go please?" Rita asked sighing loudly.
"Why, don't want to have fun with us?" Yuri laughed grinning at her.
Rita shook her head. "No, I want to go to bed, so the night is over, so I can go back to the hall and read." She stated. She really regretted not bringing the book on mana with her.
"I wonder where Judy ran off too," Estelle pouted a little bit. "I wanted to ask her about something."
"Why don't you go look for her? We can wait here." Yuri stated sitting down on a bench. Estelle almost immediately rejected his offer, not wanting to leave his side, but decided against it. She figured Yuri was bored, and she knew Rita was.
"Alright, but you have to wait here." She stated as she walked away.
Rita sat down beside Yuri. "This is so boring…" She muttered as she stared down at the ground.
"Yeah, hopefully it's over soon, I'm getting tired." He stated.
He looked down at Rita, she had completely lost focus in that ten seconds.
"Hey, Rita." He stated glancing at her.
"Rita?" He said her name again and grabbed her shoulder.
Rita jumped a bit. "Hm?" She looked at him.
"What's up?"
"Just thinking." Rita's face went red, it was hard to miss.
"About what?"
"Th-The ways in which we can use mana as a generator instead of aer." Her face went brighter.
"That makes you blush?" Yuri laughed a little.
"N-No!" Rita shook her head.
"Then what were you actually thinking about?"
Rita shook her head at Yuri again. "It's nothing important…" She muttered. In honesty, she was thinking about a dream she had had. One were her and Yuri had run away together, not to be bothered by their friends, or Rita's 'competition' that she really had no chance of winning.
"It sounds a little important." Yuri looked concerned for her.
"It's really not…" Rita stated trying to collect her thoughts of reality.
Reality for Rita at the moment sucked, in her world, no one knew her and Yuri. It was just them, together. She felt her face get hot again.
"You've been acting so weird…" Yuri laughed a little.
She actually wanted to run away with him, deep, deep in her heart she really did. She wanted a place where no one would know them, and no one would want to take her Yuri.
"I-I haven't!" Rita stated shaking her head.
"It's hard to miss." Yuri stated.
"How?" Rita puffed out her cheeks again.
"Because, you're usually over the top weird, now you're just being girly weird, like you've fallen in love with some guy." Yuri's face went a little blank as he stared in front of him.
"As if," Rita scoffed. "Not interested."
"I don't believe you, but okay." Yuri laughed looking down at her again.
"And why not?" Rita glared at him.
"Because you're a girl, and you're an 18 year old girl." Yuri grinned.
"Still not interested." She laughed slightly.
Yuri felt his heart sink. His feelings for Rita had clicked, more so then with Estelle. He knew how Estelle and Judy felt about him, but they were just friends. Rita was more. He wanted Rita, badly. He wanted her heart.
Her laugh made him smile. "This festival really is boring." He stated, wanting to keep conversation with her. If this genius mage was hiding anything, he would get to it eventually.
"It is, I can't believe I got suckered into coming." Rita sighed. He saw her look up at him.
"Will you tell me what you were thinking about?"
"Noope." Rita grinned. Her smile almost made Yuri melt.
"You suck." He laughed.
Rita did a mock sigh. "I know." She stated yawning.
"You can head to the inn you know, Estelle will understand if you're tired."
Rita nodded a little. "I might." She said, a small smile appearing on her face.
"So happy about going to bed," Yuri laughed. "Not even going to read a book or anything!" He pretended to be surprised.
"Nope." Rita's smile stayed, she wasn't really paying attention.
"I'll let Estelle know then." He stated looking at her.
Rita stood up. "Thanks." She stated.
Rita walked to the hotel, feeling small tears filling her eyes. She would retreat to her dream world, where love was everything between the two of them, not just silly childish feelings for her. She always retreated to her world at night. She had convinced Brave Vesperia that she would sit up and read for hours into the night, but as soon as they were all sleeping, she would go to bed to drift into her dream land.
The inn was boring, as most were, but thankfully they all had their own rooms. Rita told the keeper who she was and went to the room he had told her to. She shut the door tightly and closed the curtains of the window then stripped down to her underwear since pjs were unavailable at the moment. She set her clothes on the small dresser and walked over to the bed. "I'm so tired…" She muttered yawning again as Rita pulled the covers away from the soft looking pillows on her bed. She sat on the bed and flopped down, pulling the blankets up to past her chin.
It was late when Rita was startled awake by a crash. She sat up quickly, her heart pounding. "Fireworks…" She muttered as it dawned upon her what had woken her. She cussed under her breath. Rita stretched her arms up a little bit, and was just about to flop down and return to her sleep, when she noticed a black figure sitting by the door.
"You know, I don't think that's appropriate sleeping wear." The all too familiar voice grinned.
"G-Get out of here you pervert!" Rita practically screamed as she pulled the blankets up over her body.
Yuri's laugh sounded again as he got up and walked into the stream of moonlight that managed to get into the room.
"I'm joking." He stated.
Rita glared at him. "What do you want Yuri?"
He looked towards the window. "I didn't like not having you next to me, it felt too empty, so I asked the inn keeper which room you were in." He spoke quietly.
Rita's face dropped. "I must still be dreaming…" She shook her head and shuffled back into bed. "The real Yuri would never say something like that, or sneak into my room." She laughed a little.
"So that's what you were day dreaming about." He said with another grin.
Rita's stomach dropped. She sat up again. "Wait…" Her expression was blank.
Yuri laughed as he glanced at the girl. The blankets had fallen again, and her breasts were barely covered by the white bra that was slipping off of her shoulders from sleeping. His face went red. "Uhm…" He turned his face a little but watched Rita from the corner of his eye.
"I-I…" Rita shook her head. She had lost all of her act, in seconds when she was sleeping. She wasn't that harsh genius mage side that Yuri had grown to love, but a side of an innocent girl, that had let her entire guard down for him. Rita's face was a bright, bright red.
"So? What's this dream me like, compared to reality." Yuri laughed trying to avoid looking at her chest.
Rita didn't answer, and just pulled the blankets up over her head. Her entire world was crashing around her.
"Hey…" Yuri sighed and walked over to the bed. He sat beside the Rita blanket lump and wrapped his arms around her.
"Please go away…" Rita's muffled voice was quiet.
"Why?" Yuri laughed.
Rita shook her head as best as she could. "Because…I-I didn't mean to say that."
Yuri smiled slightly and pulled the blanket off of Rita's head. Her eyes were wide, and had tears filling them. Her hair was a mess from the blanket and her sleep.
"You've lost your guard. That makes it easier to talk to you." He said softly looking her in the eyes.
"So? What do you want?" Rita blushed turning away.
Yuri didn't joke, he didn't laugh, nothing. "I told you. It was empty without you, so I asked the inn keeper what room you were in."
"Stop joking around." Rita muttered.
Yuri sighed and turned Rita to face him. "I'm not…" He muttered as he leaned in and kissed her gently on the lips.
Yuri felt Rita practically melt in his arms before he pulled away. Rita leaned into his chest and started to cry. The great Rita, was crying over him.
It was then that Yuri realized, the entire time, for over 3 years. Rita had been his. He already had her heart, she was just afraid to tell him, and it caused her to want to live in her head. Yuri set his head on top of Rita's.
"I love you…" He muttered into her hair.
"I love you too…" Her voice was muffled, but the words came out clearly to Yuri.
Yuri wrapped his arms around Rita and pulled them under the blankets on the bed. "Sleep okay?" He stated as he tangled himself comfortably around Rita.
"I don't want to…" She muttered.
"Don't worry; I'll be right here when you wake up." He stated in an assuring voice.
Rita stared at him for a second and finally nodded. "Alright…" She cuddled into Yuri's chest and closed her eyes.
