"Shouldn't you be resting at the inn?"

Yuri briefly opened his eyes and gave him a smirk. He straightened his body from his initial sleeping position, stretched his arms, and yawned,

"Yeah, well, it's a bit too crowded for me" the dark-haired man shrugged, his fingers subconsciously ran through Repede's fur. The dog whimpered softly and buried his head deeper into his own fur, seemingly annoyed being disturbed from his sleep.

Flynn let out a short chuckle and sat, his back leaning against Yuri's own. He felt more comfortable just listening to Yuri's voice than looking at him in his current female outfit, thus he chose to not sit by Yuri's side. Somehow, looking at Yuri the way he was dressed, gave an impression to Flynn that his friend was a stranger - a person he hardly knew. But when he only listened to his voice, he knew it was always Yuri.

The area was empty and they were secluded from the main port and from other wandering people and knights. Yuri has chosen a narrow unfinished wooden bridge as his resting spot - that Natz was building to extend Nordopolica's port. From where they sat back to back, they could see the horizon spread in front of them, endless ripples of water and sounds of waves overlapping each other.

"Been such a long time since we're together like this…," he closed his eyes.

It felt so comfortable being close to Yuri and Repede – just like the old times. Since becoming the Commandant and ever since Adephagos was no longer a threat to Terca Lumireis, Flynn had hardly seen them around.

Now that they were in such close distance, somehow Yuri's presence became so much stronger than it used to be. This night, whatever odor emanating from Yuri, it was a very pleasant smell – almost intoxicating to him.

His friend smelled of grass field, a musk earthy aroma, reminding him of the small savanna outside Zaphias that they both used to go to when they were still boys, beating each other's path to be the first to reach the field all the way from the Lower Quarters.

A fleeting desire suddenly came to him, urging him to reach out his hand and ran his fingers through those dark tresses. Had Yuri ever smell so good before?

"Yep, a long time," his friend replied after a few seconds and his voice brought him back to his senses. As he recalled his most recent indecent intention, he could feel his cheek grew warm. Flynn was glad that it was dark and they could not see each other's faces with the way they positioned themselves,

"Who's protecting the castle and the little prince when you're away, Flynn?," Yuri asked.

"Master Drake is willing to be re-posted," Flynn replied,

"I am sure he's more than capable and the Royal Guards also look up to him. And please refer to His Majesty Ioder properly, Yuri. He can very well be the Emperor soon." He added with incredulous tone in his voice.

"Meh, details!" Yuri waved his hand, "This is the first time we get to speak after so long and you spend your quality moments lecturing me."

"Can't be helped though," Yuri shrugged once again, and Flynn's body shifted a little from the slight movement,

"You're the Commandant. You have to be in Zaphias constantly. And you have Aurnion to look after, too," he chuckled and dramatically added,

"And I, being the lone wolf that I am, have to roam the world with the mighty guild Brave Vesperia. So do forgive me, my dear friend, for being such an uncivilized man. Alas, being a member of a guild also does not necessarily mean I can have the luxury of visiting my Commandant friend of the mighty Empire."

"You can visit Zaphias and the castle anytime you like if you make a habit of using the front door for once," Flynn snorted, "Don't use that tone, Yuri. It is annoying."

His friend barked a laugh,

"There you go again. The castle without you is not fun, Flynn. Besides, lately being with Estelle is not fun, too," he sighed and muttered, "Though I can't say why everyone is so interested in dressing me up."

Flynn wondered whether he should talk to Yuri about Princess Estellise, about her book and her feelings to him. After all, if Yuri felt the same way about Estellise, that meant Yuri could live in the castle and Flynn could spend time together with him more often. But somehow, the picture did not quite please his mind.

He tilted his head slightly upwards and looked at the countless stars spread across the sky. The rhythm of the sea was calming and he swore he could even hear his own heartbeat, steadily like the sound of drum echoing amidst the silent music. He wondered what kind of melody he would hear if he put his head on Yuri's chest.

His cheek grew hot again and he mindlessly reached out to Repede, stroking the dog's fur to calm himself. The dog though, did not seem to appreciate his intrusion. Repede's eyes flew open and the dog stared at him with annoyed expression, low grunt coming out of him. Repede snorted and strolled a few steps away from where they were, before finding a comfortable spot to continue his sleep.

His left hand was still at the spot where Repede's body was, and suddenly there was another hand on top of his. Flynn almost too quickly turned his body around, too shocked at the sudden contact, when Yuri's body toppled over slowly and his head finally resting on top of his own hand – which was on Flynn's hand. The dark-haired man rolled his body and stretched his other hand and grabbed Flynn's arm in an attempt to draw it into a closer hug.

Flynn hold his breath and examined Yuri's face closely, not daring to move an inch. He slowly exhaled with relief as he realized that his friend seemed to have fallen asleep. He figured that Yuri thought Repede was still close by them, thinking Flynn's arm as the dog's body. Obviously, Yuri was too out of it to even muster his brain to recognize Flynn's armor clad arm was neither soft nor furry.

In such an awkward position, Flynn's muscles began to protest, tension and cramping started to threaten him. His mind though, forced him to stay still, concerned that he would wake Yuri up if he made even just the tiniest movement. He tried to find any view or object to distract him, but in such a position, he kept looking back at his sleeping friend.

How Yuri's chest moved steadily as he breathed,

How Yuri's lips were slightly parted, and soft snoring sound came out of him,

How Yuri's eyelashes were incredibly long, especially from that angle – Flynn wondered why he had never noticed it before, and more importantly why this fact bothered him now.

Shuffling his blond locks with his free hand, he grunted, exasperated at himself. He was glad that at least none of his knights saw him in that state. He was certainly not the perfect Commandant he usually presented himself as.

Looking at Yuri's face again, Flynn started to wonder if this kind of moment was what he had been aching for and liking the idea that he could really get used to it.

And he liked the warm feeling he felt within him.

The next morning, the three women were off on the Fiertia attached to Ba'ul. Flynn squinted his eyes following the Entelexia's movement until it disappeared in the clouds above.

Turning his back, he was pleased to see that his men were already properly assembled. Sodia was especially sharp and always the perfect second-in-command that she was. She paced back and forth making sure the small group of Knights they had brought along were of proper appearance and attire.

Estellise and the rest of Brave Vesperia's members were killing time looking at various things sold at the market, waiting for Ba'ul to return.

Repede sat by Flynn's side, his eyes still on the sky where Yuri had gone. Flynn gently stroke his fur. For the purpose of the mission, Repede would join Flynn's group, since Yuri could not possibly have him as a traveling companion with his current female status – it might jeopardize the mission.

Last night, after spending a good few hours lending his arm to serve as Yuri's pillow, Repede finally gave in and took after Flynn's role to be the cushion. Flynn decided to stay the night by his best friends' side, somewhere in his heart told him he should spend as much time as possible with them, considering he and Yuri would go their separate ways the next day.

He went back to the inn and borrowed some blankets for the three of them, then returned to the port.

Yuri's outfit was not fitting for the cold weather, and he was sure Repede would also appreciate the extra warmth the blanket would give them.

He could hardly sleep though. He had never found Yuri's presence so distracting before, even though Repede had mindfully placed his body in between the two young men.

At least Yuri had a good night rest.

They were setting up a tent just outside of the Aer Krene cave – an ancient formation of rocky pillars.

As soon as Ba'ul dropped them off, they rushed to check the condition of the Aer Krene. From the small patch of forest outside, they were relieved to see that none of the environment had been damaged by any human intervention. They could not sense any human presence nearby either. The Aer krene inside the cave was still the same as the last time they went there, almost a year ago before they defeated the Adephagos.

So they decided to wait. If the bad guys were targeting Aer Krenes, surely they would come to this one as well.

Preparing some ingredients for their supper, Rita was inwardly grateful that she was with two of the best cooks in her usual group. She was just chopping some potatoes and washed the raw ingredients as instructed by Judith. The Krityan and Yuri would be cooking after they were finished with the tent.

Judith and Yuri had even finished setting up the fire when she brought the ingredients to them.

"Well, what are we going to eat?," she dusted off a small log prepared by her friends for her to sit.

"I am cooking some Pork Stew. We don't have much meat left, but let's eat big tonight," Judith smiled at her and started to throw the ingredients into the pot she had set on the fire.

"I'll make some Estelle's potato soup," Yuri added, "Since you'll be hogging the fire for quite some time doing that stew, I'm just making something simple."

"Oh? You mean the vichyssoise?" Judith raised her eyebrows, "Aren't you just making it because you miss her? It is her specialty after all…"

Rita hugged her knees and curiously looked at the dark-haired man – his face unreadable. He was chopping the potatoes into tiny little pieces, almost a puree. Then he added some milk into the bowl and boiled the mixture in a smaller pan they have brought with them.

"I did not get to speak to her at all, thanks to all the commotion," his eyes were fixated at the fire, "I guess yeah, I kinda miss her."

Rita felt a pang of pain in her chest. She wondered if it was jealousy. Trying to shake the feeling away, she tore her gaze away from Yuri and caught Judith staring at her.

She swore she could see the Krityan smirking at her. Finally after a few seconds that felt like a lifetime, Judith stopped looking at her with that ever secretive smile of hers. She then open the pan lid, seemingly to check her stew,

"Well, I guess you like her, then," she muttered, loud enough to be heard by her two companions.

Yuri frowned, "Well, she is a spoiled little princess, but she's not a bad kid."

The Krityan rolled her eyes, "That's not what I meant," then she sighed,

"Okay, let me ask you a question. For instance; Estelle, Rita, and Flynn are held hostage by a very dangerous guy…. Hm… let's see, someone like Alexei?"

"Alexei's dead," Yuri retorted, much to Judith's annoyance. The Krityan held her hand up, signaling him to keep quiet.

"It is a hypothetical question," she continued, "Anyway, these three very dear friends of yours are held hostage and because Alexei has strapped some explosives to their bodies and only allow you to choose one to be saved; who would you choose?"

"It's a very weird scenario," Yuri protested, "Besides, I can kick Alexei's ass given any time of day."

"Yuri, just answer!" Judith rested her hands on her knees, her body leaning forward and her eyes stern on the swordsman.

"And there is no way Flynn will be held hostage," Yuri snorted, "He'll kick Alexei's ass any given time of day, too."

"I see you have a very high confidence in him," Judith smiled, "But you still have to answer my hypothetical question."

"And why are you not in there anyway? And what about Karol or … the old man?" Yuri frowned.

Even to Rita, the hypothetical scenario was absurd.

"Oh? You will not ever find me being held hostage," Judith tilted her head upwards, slight smug expression on her, "And for the purpose of the scenario, we'll leave Karol and Raven out."

Rita's heart skipped. From the quick glance and smile Judith threw at her again, she knew that the Krityan had an idea about her inclined feelings towards Yuri. Her cheeks grew hot and she knew it was not the fire that caused it,

"Y-you will never find me being held hostage, either," she stammered – partly annoyed, partly embarrassed, partly indignant, "I can kick Alexei's ass, too"

"What if I just kill Alexei? That way, everyone will be saved, right?" asked Yuri.

"Hm…. If you defeat Alexei, he will detonate himself, since he also has some explosives on him. It will kill you, too, since you will be caught in the explosion. And he will also detonate the explosives on one of the hostages," Judith replied, quickly coming up in an instant with a more ridiculous likelihood of events.

"Meh, I can't win?" Yuri asked, "What's the point of this hypothetical stupid scenario of yours? Not only it's an impossible one, it's not something where you can choose a happy ending."

The Krityan did not say anything as feedback, but just keep staring at Yuri - still waiting for his answer.

Rita suddenly found the dry leaves crunched under her boots very interesting. She could not help but feel a bit curious as well. She would like to know where she, and Estelle stood in front of Yuri's eyes; which one of them of the more importance to him. But why Flynn was in the equation, she had not the slightest idea. Probably due to the fact that he was Yuri's best friend.

"Urgh, fine!" Yuri growled and threw his hands in the air, "I have to kill Alexei, so I will kick his ass and give him the most painful death he could ever have."

"But you will die, and one of the hostages will die, too." Judith prompted.

Yuri merely shrugged, "Oh well, at least two will live, right? Better than if I have to choose one. I can die, and whoever die after me can keep me company in hell."

He chuckled, "I am kinda hoping it will be Flynn though, and we both can kick Alexei's ass again in the netherworld."

Without even looking at herself, Rita knew that her face must have changed color. She stood abruptly,

"Idiot!"

Yuri threw a confused look at her. Judith bit her lower lips slightly, and she was almost apologetic. And that made Rita even angrier,

"If it was me and if you are the hostage, Yuri," Rita glared at him, "I will save Estelle before you or Flynn. You and Flynn can have as much fun as you want after you die,"

She took a deep breath, "Oh and don't worry, I will burn Alexei to crisp and send him your way so you can have fun with him, too"

After that, she stormed off into the tent. She was not sure what exactly had made her so mad with Yuri.

Was it because she was not chosen in that stupid scenario?

Was it because Estelle was not chosen?

Was it because really, she and Estelle were of the same status in Yuri's eyes? Neither of them was more important.

Was it because in the end, even when Yuri chose to die and potentially saved both her and Estelle's life, he preferred Flynn's company after all.

She was so confused with her own emotions. It was true though - as ridiculous the scenario might be - if she really had to choose someone to be saved, she would choose Estelle over Yuri.

She hardly gave a damn about Flynn, so that was not rocket science.

She was still unsure of her own feelings to Yuri. If she could choose Estelle over Yuri so easily, then would it not mean that her feelings to him were insignificant even to herself?

Rita decided that her feelings were merely weed. She could easily get rid of it before it grew to be a pest.

She could hear Judith from outside the tent; "I guess she won't be having dinner then… ."

She forgot that she was really hungry until a minute ago. But her pride would not allow her to go back outside for a meal, besides she could still feel her face burning up.

Pulling the blanket over her face and tried to ignore her hunger, she finally drifted off to sleep.

The next morning she woke up, she felt a cold steel of blade on her neck.

- tbc

R/R please :)