SORRY SORRY SORRY SORRY

I am very sorry I took so long to update. I apologize profusely. It wasn't all my fault what with the holidays. And I had to play Animal Crossing! I swear I'll be better. I'm not doing the school play this semester, so I'll have more time. I'll be good sorry!

Oh., and I don't own Tales of Symphonia. I'm sorry about that too.

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As the days passed the temperature rose quickly. Walking home from school with the sunlight beating on their backs left Kratos and Yuan thankful for the shade of their hideout. But still., it was hot. Yuan was learning quickly, he had already learned to write a couple more words the Kratos deemed important. Words like, the, a, I, is, in, Kratos, and Noishe. However Kratos was beginning to enjoy digging more, so he spent a lot of time doing that. This was mainly due to the fact that it was slightly cooler in the hole, and there were less bugs. Poor Yuan on the other hand was stuck studying in clear view of mosquitoes and other biting pests.

Despite this the pair was still happy. They spoke often to each other about almost any subject you could imagine, but there were some subjects they skirted about nervously. The fight still lingered in the back of both their minds, and they tried as best they could to ignore any talk about the war, any talk about race, and any talk about slavery. This was of course nearly impossible considering that Yuan was a slave, and Kratos's father was a general. It was most awkward at nights when they separated. The contrast of their positions was shown a little too vividly as Yuan left for his slummy quarters and Kratos stood on the steps of his mansion. It bothered Yuan far more than Kratos, solely because he saw both places so often. Kratos had never seen the house slave quarters and contented himself with the idea that they couldn't be too bad. Things probably would have stayed that way, except that one day Yuan didn't show up.

Kratos woke up and yawned rolling over in his bed. He sat up slowly feeling more rested than normal. Confused he looked around and grabbed his clock off his side table. It was nine o'clock and he was late for school. However he was less concerned about that than the where abouts off his friend. He dressed quickly and hurried from the house, no small task considering the its size.

" Oh, man where could Yuan be?" Kratos asked aloud. He stood silently on the steps of the mansion, unsure of what to do next. His imagination began to run wild as he worried, he convinced himself that something awful must have happened. Frightened he began to cry. Kratos sat on the steps weeping from frustration and fear. He didn't move for along time, until a slave woman came outside with the laundry.

" Why young master Aurion! What are you still doing here? Shouldn't you be at school?" She said looking down at him. Kratos looked up at her and wiped his eyes. He was embarrassed to be found here like this, he hadn't even washed this morning. Still he didn't say anything, he just stared back and hoped she'd stop looking at him.

" Is it really so hard to get your own self out of bed. Do you really need that poor kid help you everyday. I swear you could give him a break just once in awhile," she said to him.

" Wait, you know where Yuan is?"

" Yuan? You call him by his name? Well, yes he's in the slave quarters just over there. Just 20 feet away from the edge of your mansion," She told him looking surprised.

" Gee, thanks a lot!" Kratos said jumping up and smiling at her. He took off as fast as he could, running towards the slave houses. He left the woman staring after him as if her world had been turned upside down.

Kratos slowed down just as he reached the building. It was awful. The building smelled of mold, and there were bugs everywhere. The mosquitoes seemed to have taken over the whole area. Outside the open door was the carcass of something, that had been eaten the night before, and the entire thing was now a swarming, buzzing mass. Kratos's immediately covered his nose and mouth, but still the bugs bit him, he ran quickly into the slave's quarters. The inside wasn't much of an improvement, but in comparison to the slave hut where Kratos had first met Yuan, it was much better.

The building was long and thin, with the sides lined by cots. Above each cot was another bed sticking out of the wall, each which looked like it might fall at any moment. There were a few bugs inside too, because the door was wide open in an attempt to catch a rare breeze. Kratos stared in brief amazement, he had never seen bunk beds before. Quickly, however he realized he was being stared at. The handful of slaves still left in their quarters were watching Kratos as if he had three heads.

" Excuse me, sir, but do you know where Yuan is?" Kratos asked, running up to one of the slaves. The half-elf continued to stare at him in amazement. Kratos then remembered that he was not supposed to call slaves, things like sir.

" Well, um, Yuan is the kid with the blue hair, right? He's in his bed. It's right by the door. You ran passed it," Answered the slave as he pointed the bed out for Kratos. Kratos nodded, so that he couldn't say the wrong thing. Quickly he walked over to Yuan's bed and leaned over the side. Inside Yuan lay asleep, but he was not sleeping well. Yuan moved constantly, and had long ago kicked his sheet to the ground. He was sweating profusely, and every once in awhile he would groan pitifully.

" Hey, Yuan? Are you alright? Wake up," Kratos whispered, shaking his friend gently. Yuan opened one bloodshot eye and stared up at him. Yuan stared for awhile without saying anything, before abruptly getting up and going to vomit outside the door. Kratos watched wide eyed, as Yuan shook violently by the door. Gently Kratos lead him back to his bed.

" You stay here. I'm going to get a doctor," Kratos ordered, and Yuan nodded groggily. Kratos ran quickly from the slaves quarters as Yuan lay back down. Not quite able to think clearly, Kratos began to run across the plantation, with the intention of running straight to the doctor's in town. There was, of course, no we he could have made it with his level of physical ability, but lucky for him he was stopped by the front gate.

" There you are! Young master, your mother had me out looking for you. Where have you been?" Kratos looked up to see a slave driving one of the Aurion's carts back onto the property.

" Quick, hurry! I need to get to the doctors!" Kratos shouted as he clambered up into the cart. Not questioning the boys authority, the slave turned the cart around, and set off down the road back towards town. Kratos sat besides him, nervously perched on the edge of his seat. He watched the road carefully, as if something that would help Yuan would come down the street. All his thoughts were on getting that doctor back to his house. Kratos was so worried that he did not worry about anything else. He didn't worry about his usual fear of carts, or the fact that upon finding her son missing from school, his mother had never thought to check his bed.

Soon the cart was riding into town, and as they reached the doctor's office, Kratos leaped from the cart and landed, with little skill, on the path before it. As the slave waited in the cart, Kratos hurried in. Quickly the boy walked up to the front desk rang the service bell many times, to get the attention of the doctor's secretary. A kindly looking woman, with a little to much make up leaned over the counter and looked down at him. She smiled at him a little to sweetly, and then patted his head gingerly.

" A what is it you'd like, little boy?" She asked him broadening her smile.

" I need a doctor," Kratos demanded.

" I see. Now what is this for? Also will you be able to pay up front, or not?" She questioned slowly. Kratos watched her incredulously as she spoke. He had never been spoken to in this manner. Not to say he hadn't been spoken down to, but when he asked for something he usually received it immediately. As for being asked about money that was something completely new!

" I need a doctor for my slave. He's sick. I can pay anything you ask as soon as we get back to my plantation," Kratos told her, standing on his tiptoes so that he could see over the counter better.

" Is that..? Why I didn't recognize you! You're the Aurion boy, aren't you? And here I was treating you like one of those hooligans who can't pay for anything! I'll fetch the doctor right away," She hurried off muttering to herself, leaving Kratos to wonder just how bad he looked after the mornings events. He didn't have to wait long, the doctor didn't have to much to do. After all it was a rather small town, the amount of citizens in the town was about the same as the amount of slaves of Kratos's plantation.

As the doctor hurried out, Kratos lead him to the cart which was still waiting outside. The doctor sat in the back where Kratos decided to join him.

" Now what seems to be the problem?" the doctor asked Kratos.

" It's my slave sir, he's very sick," He replied.

" He's your first slave isn't he?" The doctor asked, then laughed when Kratos nodded. " Kids are always extra responsible when their parents actually trust them with a slave of their own."

Kratos nodded, deciding it best to go along with the story the doctor had given him. After all, he couldn't think up another excuse for being so worried over Yuan. When they reached the plantation, the cart was driven all the way up to the slaves quarters, saving Kratos and the doctor from a long walk. Kratos lead the doctor inside to where Yuan lay in his fitful sleep. The doctor was taking in his surroundings very carefully.

" It shouldn't be to hard to diagnose. There are a handful of diseases bred by mosquitoes in places like this. I'll bet my house it's one of those," The doctor put on a surgeons mask and leaned over his patient. " You can go if you'd like, all come up to the house when I'm done."

Kratos nodded and took the doctor's advice. He hadn't known that mosquitoes carried disease, in that case it was no wonder Yuan was sick. After all Yuan's bed had been right by the open door. For the first time all day Kratos walked slowly. Everything he'd seen that day was beginning to catch up to him. The slaves lived like animals, and there he was living in a mansion big enough to house them all. There were at least ten large spacious guest rooms, that we're used only during large parties that lasted multiple days. When Kratos walked into his room, he had made his decision. He rang for one of the slaves and waited patiently.

" Yes sir, what would you like?" Said one young woman as she entered his room.

" I've decided that it would be more convenient for my slave to sleep in my room," Kratos said choosing his words carefully. " Would you bring a cot and some bedding please. The woman nodded and left. As he waited, Kratos cleaned himself up, and filled the tub with warm water. When he was finished, Kratos walked back in his room and found the cot already set up. While it was much smaller than his own, but it still had a down pad that made it extremely comfortable.

Kratos rushed down stairs to discover the doctor in the entrance way talking with his mother. The two stood rather close to one another, and his mother was giggling. Something Kratos had never known her to do. When he was noticed the two sprang apart.

" Um, how is my slave?" Kratos asked going over to is mother and taking her skirt protectively.

" He'll be fine. Here is some medicine that he should take, but he'll be better in about a week," The doctor told him, handing over a small paper bag.

" What do I owe you," Kratos asked.

" Owe? Don't worry about it. You don't owe me anything," The doctor said, his eyes meeting with those of Mrs.Aurion. As the man left, she waved him off. When he was gone she patted Kratos on the head and walked away humming. Both glad and bothered that his mother had forgotten he had never gone to school, Kratos left the house and headed back to the slaves' quarters.

" Hey Yuan. Come here," Kratos said putting his arm around Yuan and helping him stand. In this manner the two boys walked into the mansion. Yuan followed without question, as he was still not quite aware of everything that was going on. When they reached his room Kratos sat Yuan on the cot.

" Can you take a bath alright, or do you just want to sleep?" Kratos asked his friend gently.

" Yes," Yuan replied, staring off into the distance. Kratos decided this meant he should sleep. Yuan snuggled into the comfortable cot and let out a contented sigh. Patting Yuan on the head, Kratos went off to use the bath water for himself. After all, he felt it shouldn't go to waste.

So that's it. Very Kratos centric this time. Yuan only got one syllable in. Any way I'm still sorry I took so long. Don't beat me.