Author's Notes: I enjoyed writing Raven WAY more than I should have. He really gets a lot more focus than the other characters during this fic because the events impact him in a different way than they do everyone else.

Also, in case you were interested/confused, I have posted on tumblr my very brief interpretation of Sodia and what her role in this story is/isnt. ( post/40738728275/if-you-are-reading-my-tov-fanfic-legacy-please-note)

Tales of Vesperia is property of Namco Bandai.

Chapter 21 - Help

Effortlessly, silently, he walked up the wooden steps. He spied the two young girls in front of the door. The pink haired one was sleeping, her head propped up on the brunette's shoulder while the other girl was reading. He may have been quiet, but his brightly colored clothing and grin gave him away.

"Hey, Old Man. What are you going here?" Annoyance constantly laced Rita's voice. She peered over her book at him with suspicion in her teal eyes.

"Just come to take over watch for you and Sleeping Beauty there."

She always looked at him as though doubting his true intentions. After the things he had done, he didn't blame her. She had never really forgiven him for kidnapping Estelle during the events of the previous year, in spite of everything that motivated him to do so. Rita was very protective of Estelle. One could say it was because the pink haired princess was the genius mage's first friend, but he was pretty sure that there was more to it than that.

"How's the patient?"

"He ate a bit, and he's been asleep for a while now thanks to Estelle singing to him."

Raven smiled, a genuine smile, which was rare for him. Estelle and Yuri's sibling-like relationship was refreshingly sweet. It helped that it reminded him of a relationship that he once had. "Alright, ladies. I'll take care of things from here."

Estelle stirred a bit as Rita shook her gently. "Oh, Raven..." She smiled sleepily, rubbing her eyes.

"You two go get some rest."

She nodded and stood slowly. He watched as they walked down the steps and toward the palace.

He didn't enter through the door. That sound would have woken Yuri up. Instead, he crawled to the roof, and climbed down to sit in the open window of his room. At least it wasn't raining tonight, and he'd be able to look at the coldly twinkling stars for a while.

The dark haired swordsman was sleeping soundlessly, curled into a fetal position. Normally he slept sprawled out spread eagle, but since the events in Yumanju, when he managed to sleep, he curled tightly into himself as if trying to disappear. It was painful to see how much the boy had changed in less than a week's time. He knew how it felt because he had been there, and it didn't sit well with him that another was now sharing his fate when he hoped no one else would ever have to.

Raven was lost in thought after not too long, thinking about this and that: the boy's condition, the previous year's events, his own mortality, Casey, and Alexei. There was scarcely a day that he did not think about that man at least in passing. The man who brought him back from death's door and who pulled his strings like a puppet for years afterward. He owed a lot to that man, and he hated him for it.

There came a creak from the bed and he turned sharply. Yuri had awoken, terror gleaming in his charcoal eyes, the little bit of strength that his body had welling just enough to nearly knock him out of the bed. He knew that this was not the kid's first nightmare. He had been there to witness his waking from several others. He knew those nightmares too. They might be different, but their cause was the same.

Yuri spotted him in the window, and tried to play it off, but he was panting heavily and drenched in sweat.

"Evening, Sunshine." That came out a little more sarcastic than he had intended. He was trying to be encouraging, but his attempts usually fell flat.

The dark haired man groaned and pulled himself up against the wall into a sitting position. His hair and clothing were soaked from the night terror. "What are you doing here, Old Man?" He was trying to be calm about it, but his voice trembled a little.

"Just takin' my turn keepin' an eye on ya."

Yuri nodded but kept silent. He was staring down at his hands, which lay limp on the bed.

"Need anything?" He had been through the very same things that Yuri was now struggling with, and he was still unsure on how best to help. No two people would deal with this trauma the same. He was not Yuri, and his dealings with this had been much different, along with the circumstances that followed. He only hoped that this would be easier on Yuri than it had been on him.

He shook his head.

There was a long silence between them.

"Nice busted nose you've got there," Yuri said. "What happened?"

Raven had almost completely forgotten about the fact that the Commandant nearly broke his nose in anger over Yuri's condition. "Lady decked me with a planter. All I was tryin' ta do was sneak a little peek." He was grinning. It was a lie, but Yuri didn't need to know that.

The dark haired man didn't question further. He picked at his shirt that was becoming plastered to him. "Hey, Old Man."

"Hm?"

"Would you..." he paused, "Would you mind helping me change?" That shirt could not have been comfortable, as cold and wet as it was.

That surprised him a bit. This was the first time he had asked for help from any of them. He hopped out of the window and dug around in Yuri's dresser for another shirt. There was only one left now. Looked like about time to do the wash. When he turned back, shirt in hand, Yuri had mostly been able to pull the sweat soaked one off. He was hunched over, one of his arms mostly hiding that thing that shamed him.

Seeing a blastia heart still made his own sink. Yuri's body was still adjusting to its replacement heart. The glow had softened, but still emitted light with each beat. The scars around it were no longer dark, but were still healing.

Raven tried to push those thoughts out of his head. He wished that he could have just one day when these things didn't haunt him. He held the shirt open and helped Yuri pull his obviously aching arms through it.

Yuri turned away, but he could tell that he was buttoning his shirt up slowly, his fingers struggling with the tiny buttons.

"Need some help?" he asked offhandedly. Even little tasks like this were difficult when your body didn't want to work with you.

He took a sharp breath. "Yes..." He turned back. He managed to get the bottommost button, but the rest of his shirt hung open haphazardly. He looked down and away. He didn't want eye contact, not that Raven blamed him. Everyone had seen Yuri's blastia heart, but it was not on his terms by any means. He probably hadn't shown it willingly to anyone yet. Well, with the exception of the Commandant.

Raven leaned in, and buttoned his shirt the rest of the way, careful not to look at or touch the curse on his chest. He stopped just underneath his heart.

"Keep going."

His weathered fingers did the last few buttons all the way up the shirt. Another sign of his shame.

"Did yours sicken you at first too?" Yuri asked softly, staring into the bed sheets.

"Mine still sickens me." Maybe it wasn't the answer he was looking for, and maybe it was a little harsh, but it was the truth. He moved back to his perch in the window. The boy needed some encouragement, which, when dealing with the current situation, was not exactly his forte. He struggled for the words to help. There had been no one there to help him through this time. There had only been Alexei, leering over him like some dark god. There had only been weeks in bed, the last moments of his previous life playing over and over again in his head. The war raging all around him. Blast after blast ringing through his ears, the cries of battle. He had been hit. The wound in his stomach was bleeding badly, and another hit was incoming. Casey stood in front of him, shielding him. His world darkened and she screamed.

He wasn't sure how long they sat in the heavy dark silence before he spoke once more. "It's hard for a while. But you're a tough kid. Tougher than Ol' Raven. I know that if anyone can live with it and overcome this, it's you."

He didn't know if that helped, but he could hope.

"Thanks, Old Man," he smiled halfheartedly, and lay back down.

"No problem, kid."

As much as he loved traveling, Dahngrest always felt like home to him. He had been born here, to parents that he didn't like to talk about. He had joined guild after guild here, struggling to prove himself, to be strong, and in the end had run from them all like a coward. Each failure only made the next attempt harder until he finally wanted to give up. But then he met Yuri Lowell, strong and sarcastic, but a nice guy. He was like the older brother he never had, not against picking on him, but always there to back him up. Yuri believed in him, even in the face of adversity. And now, he had to believe in Yuri.

He had been thinking for a while of a way to help. Standing vigil at his door and trying to get him to eat didn't feel like it was ever enough. He needed something else. What would Yuri do if their places had been reversed?

"Hey, Judith?"

"Hm?"

"I've been thinking about how to help Yuri get back on his feet."

She was staring up at the red-orange sky, but nodded to signal that was she listening.

"I think we need to get him on a training regimen!"

"That sounds like a great idea, Karol." She smiled and opened the door to their cramped headquarters. "What kind of things did you have in mind?"

Karol thought hard for a moment, rubbing the back of his neck. "We'll have to start him out slow, and get him able to walk again, and then we can move it up from there. Maybe we could get someone really strong for him to duel with at the very end like a test!"

Asch and Luke were there eating dinner, and were surprised by their arrival.

"Boss!"

"We didn't know when you'd be back. We hadn't heard from you in almost a week," Asch said. Of the two, Asch was calmer, with long, dark red hair pushed back out of his face.

Orange haired Luke was a little more impetuous, but was just as eager as his counter part. "Where's Yuri?"

"Yuri..." Karol thought of how to explain it, but Judith came to the rescue.

"Yuri is back in Zaphias for the time being."

"That's right!"

"Is everything okay?"

"Everything's gonna be fine. Judith and I came to put a hold on the guild until we can get some stuff sorted out in Zaphias." He didn't want to give them too detailed of an explanation. They would have to be satisfied. Luckily, they didn't question him. They sent the two young men home until further notice.

Judith wrote out a note to leave on their door, briefly informing any who came by that the guild was not currently accepting jobs, but hoped to be back soon, and thanked them for their kind consideration. They stayed the night.

Karol was up all night, writing out a training plan for Yuri. It would start small, with Yuri just taking steps, and building up from there. He had an idea for how this would work, and who would be the final test after it was all over. In the morning, he would go over the finer details with Judith, and plan from there. They had to do something to help Yuri. He hoped that this would help. He was running out of ideas.

He woke the next morning at the conference table where he had been all night writing. A soft, green woolen blanket was draped over his shoulders and his papers had been moved off to one side of the table in favor of a small pillow for his head. It could only have been Judith, since they were the only two in the headquarters.

She rose a little while later, and he had already made breakfast. He was feeling a little more lighthearted as they ate together and prepared to head back to Zaphias.

"I'd like you to take a look at my idea for helping Yuri."

Judith took the papers that he had been writing all night, and looked over them for a few moments, nodding slightly every now and then. "This looks great, Karol. I'm sure this will help." She handed them back. "Who did you have in mind for the 'final test'?"

"I was really hoping to ask Flynn."

Her thin smile spread further across her face. "Why Flynn?"

"Well, he and Yuri have been friends for a really long time, and of everyone Yuri's ever fought, Flynn is closest to his own strength. He just seemed like a good choice." Did she think it was a bad idea? Did she have a better idea? It was so hard sometimes to read her thoughts past that confusing smile of hers.

"I think that you're right." She paused for a moment, looking skyward once more. Her crimson eyes became so distant all of a sudden. He noticed that this happened when she was talking to Ba'ul. "They do make quite a match." The way that she said that made it seem like she meant something else by it, but he wasn't sure what.

They left Brave Vesperia headquarters, locking up behind them.

"Let's talk to Flynn when we get back. I hope that he'll go along with it!"

"If it's for Yuri, I'm certain that he will," Judith replied. "But what are we going to do about Estelle? She wouldn't agree to this at all. Sweet girl wouldn't want Yuri to get out of bed."

Karol hadn't thought of that. "Yuri can't get better just sitting around. Do you think we could distract her with something?"

"How about we leave that to Rita?" There was that slightly devious smile again. "Ba'ul will be here soon. Are you all ready to leave?"

Just as he was about to answer, a girlish, slightly shrill voice came from behind them.

"Karol! You stopped by Dahngrest and you're leaving without coming to see me?!" It was Nan. She was visibly angry, although that seemed to be a default for her. Karol didn't mind though. He thought she was cute when she was angry.

"Uh, s-sorry, Nan!" He turned, his face red. "I've been really busy with important guild stuff and we were only in town overnight. We're heading back to Zaphias."

Her anger faded. She was a guild member too, so she understood what he was talking about. She boldly grabbed his hand. "When you get back into town, come and find me. Promise?"

"I promise!"

She leaned over and kissed him on the cheek. "Be safe." She turned, and ran off into the twilight-skied city.

He watched her go, his face redder than before. He rubbed his cheek agitatedly.

"Ba'ul's here. We need to get back to Yuri. After we go see Flynn."

He turned back to the entrance of the city. "Let's go!"