The meeting was long and tedious.

And after what seemed to be about an hour or so, it was finally concluded. Dismissing himself, Hanks left the conference room to take a stroll outside.

Walking out of the town hall meeting, Hanks noticed a familiar sight in front of him—Yuri and Estelle, standing together and staring off at the strange-looking sky.

Smiling, he wobbled over to their general direction. As he walked further, he began to pick out some of their conversations.

"…Yeah. That's enough, right?" Yuri said to her, his ebony eyes boring with hers.

Estelle glanced over to her partner and nodded firmly. "Yes, it is."

Once he was at close proximity with them, Hanks took this opportunity to speak up. "I thought I heard a familiar voice!" He cried, alerting the pair and the canine. When he got a good look at his foster son, he forced out a bit of a light-hearted laughter. "Oh, it's really you!"

"Hanks!" Yuri addressed the bearded man, then to the teenagers following after him. "And everybody!"

Placing a hand on his hip, Hanks shot him a wary glance. "Don't go taking that young lady around everywhere," He warned, "She must be tired."

Yuri cocked his head to the side. "What do you mean?" Motioning his head to face the pink-haired woman beside him, he asked her, "Estelle, were you using your power?"

Hanks noticed the hesitation on Estelle's part and took this opportunity to answer for her. "She fixed up every wounded person who came back." He answered in a gentle tone, shifting his eyes to the princess who was surprised by his compliment. "We're all in her debt."

"If there's anything else I can do, please let me know," Estelle affirms to him, taking a step forward.

In return, Hanks mouthed a "thank you" to her. He then averted his focus in on the swordsman who appeared to be looking around the perimeter in search of something. "Nice to see that the Lower Quarter's back to normal," He noted with a solemn expression.

Hanks crossed his arms over his chest and shook his head. "Well, it'd be perfect if only that thing in the sky weren't there."

"Don't worry," Yuri assured his foster father with an encouraging smirk, "Leave it to Brave Vesperia."

Hearing this, Hanks did his best to restrain himself from chuckling. "There you go again," He replied back, lowering his head and sighing. "Just how are you going to close up that hole in the sky?"

"Hey, if anyone can do it, Yuri can!" One of the teenagers assured the bearded man.

"Yeah!" Another one piped in agreement. "He never makes promises he can't keep!"

Hanks mustered a tiny smile of his own. Before he could say something, a loud voice erupted from nearby.

"THAT'S FAR ENOUGH!"

Everyone stopped and turned to the direction of the voice. Upon recognizing the appearance of the Schwann Brigade, Hanks exhaled a sigh of relief. It seems that they were here to escort the princess for the umpteenth time…

"Now you?" Yuri spoke up, sounding irritated. "What do you want?"

Adecor was the first to stroll forward, laughing rather cynically. "I say, take a look at this!" Stopping in his tracks, he presented the dark-haired man with what appears to be a slightly tanned paper.

Curious, Yuri approached the tall, scrawny knight and seized hold of the paper. Looking down, he narrowed his eyes. "A warrant?" He wondered aloud, confusion etched in his tone. "…for ME?"

Walking ahead and pausing in front of her male partner, Estelle wore the same shocked look as he did. "Wait, just Yuri?" She wondered, her eyes widening.

"I say, a knight's duty is to apprehend the unlawful!" Adecor proudly declared as he straightened his posture.

Rolling his eyes, Yuri angled his body and shrugged his shoulders. "I don't get it. So, I'm the only one with a bounty on my head?" He pressed on, getting peeved. "Nobody else?"

"That has nothing to do with the matter at hand!" Boccos interrupted as he followed after his subdivision leader.

Clearing his throat, LeBlanc spoke up. "We have a proposal," He began, gaining the latter's attention. "Return to the knights, and this all goes away."

Yuri blinked once, then twice. "…Wait, what?"

"Someone high up is making a fuss about leaving you to do as you please," LeBlanc explained to him, his words as firm as ever. "So…"

"You'd feel better putting the reins on me," Yuri finished his sentence for him, sounding rather displeased.

Registering his words, LeBlanc nodded in confirmation with Adecor and Boccos following after his example. "Now, you've got the idea."

Clicking his tongue, Yuri lowered his head, mulling over the thought of what to do next.

A moment of silence ensued.

Having heard and watched everything, all Hanks could do was sigh. Knowing Yuri, he was sure going to find a way out of this. Bringing a hand over to his temple, he softly started counting down to three. "Two…one…"

On cue, Yuri suddenly cried with a surprisingly high-pitched tone. "Hey, Schwann!" And raised his arm to perform a wave.

Alarmed by this, the knightly trio stiffened in place.

"What?" LeBlanc suddenly cried, his eyes widening. "Where?"

Blinking, Hanks and the others moved their heads to the descending staircase leading to the entrance of the walls. He frowned deeply. As expected, there was no one there. He looked the other way, just in time to observe Yuri and Estelle slyly making their escape.

Hanks peered over his shoulder, making contact with Repede and giving him a nod of approval to continue.

The canine barked in understanding before fleeing as well.

Catching sight of the bearded man looking elsewhere, LeBlanc did the same. And then a mix of disappointment and anger caved in his chest, triggering him to exclaim with all his might, "Hey! Wait!"

Despite the knight's outburst, Yuri and Estelle kept sprinting to the long, winding road that would lead them to the Public Quarter. "So long, everyone!"

Unfazed by the commotion, Hanks curved his lips into a prideful grin. "Take care!" He responded back, hoping that his words of encouragement have been reached and received by his foster son. As he stood and watched the pair and the canine leave his field of vision, his ears picked up the sound of a stifling chuckle.

Arching an eyebrow, Hanks turned the other way to glance at the subdivision leader, LeBlanc, who in return stared back at him with a smile of his own. "Just as I thought," He began, shaking his head and sighing. "And I wouldn't have it any other way." Regaining his posture, he hastily turned to face his subordinates and began initiating orders to them. "Let's go! Arrest that man!"

Right away, Adecor and Boccos rushed ahead of him. Before LeBlanc could follow after them, he stopped to sneak a glance at the bearded man and the two teenagers behind him. Slowly, he began to take notice of the other members of the community beginning to emerge from their hiding—with Marie, Ted, and the children near the public inn waving at him.

LeBlanc cracked a tiny smile, waving to them in acknowledgment. He veered his fixation on their mayor—Hanks, who offered him a kind smile.

Bowing his head, LeBlanc whirled his head to see his two subordinates waiting for him near the road. "Let's get going!"

A week and a half had passed since Yuri and his friends left on another harrowing journey—and as detailed from Flynn's letter that was delivered to him yesterday, it seems that this time was much dire than he anticipated.

To Hanks,

This is Flynn. I hope this letter finds you well.

I am writing to inform you that in about two days, Yuri and I—along with Lady Estellise, Repede, and the rest of the members of their guild, Brave Vesperia, are about to embark on a battle that would ultimately determine the outcome of our beloved Terca Lumireis.

We don't know what will happen to us but be aware that we are fighting the Adephagos—the calamity that is about to destroy our world as we know it—to save you, the Lower Quarter, as well as each and every person in this world. We hope that you can forgive us for what we are about to do as we all have agreed to stand firmly to our decision—to create a world without blastia.

That said, I cannot pinpoint when I will be able to send you another letter. For now, please don't worry. Believe in us and know that we will do whatever we can to come back home safely.

Best regards,

Flynn

Lowering the paper away from his face, the bearded man shifted his eyes to the window on the right side of his bedroom. Getting up from the bed, he wobbled his way over and proceeded to open the window pane as much as he could. Poking his head out, he gazed out at the starry skies before veering back to the letter he kept in his hand.

Flynn's letter was dated exactly two days ago—which means that any moment now, he might be able to witness the fruition of their efforts.

Before he could blink, something caught his attention.

There—in the direction of the floating castle were four flickering tiny, lights—blue, red, green, and brownish-yellow. Hanks squinted his eyes, trying to comprehend what was occurring. When he managed to set his sights on the scene, his mouth dropped open.

A burst of white lights came speeding through the skies, resembling those of shooting stars.

Awed by the scenery, he hastily rushed out of the room and headed for the staircase. As soon as he reached the ground floor of the living room, he pushed his way through the door, only to nearly trip halfway as he caught a glimpse of the colossal sword monument beginning to radiant brilliantly. Like the tiny, thousands of lights around him, the light from the sword was beginning to extract itself from its physical form to join the flock.

A high-pitched scream erupted, causing Hanks to turn his head quickly. "Ted!" And advanced toward the green-haired boy who was also being aided by Marie and some of the little girls around them. As he reached them, a bright blue light emanated from within the public fountain.

Without thinking, Hanks and Marie used themselves as shields to pry the light away from the children. Seconds later, the light diminished and the strange, eerie noises were gone. Reopening his eyes, Hanks dropped his arms and peered over his shoulder.

He glanced at the fountain for a few seconds, then lifted his chin to fix in on the large sword monument above their heads. Finally, he motioned his head back to the floating castle.

His eyes widened.

"Wow!" One of the little girls cried, jumping up and down. "So pretty!"

"What is that?" Marie voiced out her concern, though was unsure to receive an answer from the bearded man.

At the very tip of the floating castle was a gigantic white line in the shape of a bird feather. And up above, there appears to be some sort of monstrous void attempting to swallow it whole. The millions of tiny lights that he had seen were there as well, surrounding the feather and eliminating the wormhole for good.

Sprinkles of varied colors—mostly blues and greens, showered from down below. And it just so happened that Hanks, Marie, and the children were right on time to witness the beginning of a new age.

"…They did it." Hanks mouthed to himself, his lips slowly curving upwards as he continued to stare at the floating castle with admiration. "They saved the world…"

It was the beginning of a new world—one without the existence and dependence of blastia.

And though it was only two months since the final battle at Tarqaron, life continued to persist and prosper as it should be with new innovations rapidly spawning in response to the new change. For the Lower Quarter, this began with the installation of the public well.

For as long as Hanks could remember, the fountain was there long before he was even born. He'd admit, that the fountain was often quite a hassle as time and time again, the aque blastia would run out of power and the water inside would sprout out, leaving no available water to drink or use for bathing purposes for who knows how long.

But thanks to Yuri's suggestion—which by the way, was the first clever thing he came up with, Hanks and the community unanimously agreed for a well to be there, along with the implementation of a manual pump in case that the water from the well was not well-preserved.

By raising their funds, along with a bit of support from Flynn and Estelle who remained stationed at the Palace, their dream to build a well and a functional water pump became a success. And to commemorate on the success, Hanks requested for his foster son to invite his foster brother and the princess over to the Lower Quarter to join them for a celebration.

Later that afternoon, Yuri arrived back, only with Estelle. As for a certain blonde knight, his presence was nowhere to be found.

"As the new Commandant of the Imperial Knights, Flynn has a lot of business to attend to," Estelle explained to the bearded man in a polite manner.

Hanks nodded. "Well, that's expected," He drawled out, scratching his chin. He arched a questionable eyebrow. "And I'm guessing Yuri's got something to do with you being here, hmm?" Catching sight of her slightly flustered face, he chuckled lightly. "I'm just pulling yer leg, dear. I'm glad to see you well."

Beaming, Estelle replied back with, "Thank you for inviting me." Looking the other way, she smiled as she saw some of the children splashing water at Yuri and Repede who tried to counter back with their own. "It's wonderful to see everyone again." She then noticed a familiar middle-aged woman standing nearby, recognizing her instantly as Marie, and waved a hand toward her.

Catching this, the woman returned the gesture.

"You know, the children were asking for ya," Hanks pointed out, leaning back against a large crate and crossing his arms over his chest. "They were hoping to get you to read to them again. If yer up for it."

His grin widened when he saw her face lit up. "Really? I would love to!" She happily agreed.

Hanks chuckled lightly at how pure she reacted. "But for now, go have fun," He encouraged her as he jerked his chin over to the direction of where Yuri and the children were. "You came here to relax from all the nonsense in the castle, right?"

Estelle nodded, smiling sweetly. Bidding farewell, she advanced toward the direction of the public square where the others were.

Sighing deeply, the bearded man turned his head to take a look at the commotion—from where he stood, he noticed the princess conversing with the children who suddenly stopped what they were doing and flocked over to her, emitting cries of "Miss Estelle!", "You're here!" and "Storytime! Storytime!" in the open air.

Hanks slanted his head to the side as he watched Yuri observe the scene unfolding before him with a peaceful expression. Though his body language were the same—his left hand still situated on his hip and his impish smirk plastered on his face, it was the display of his facial features that seemed to change a little—particularly with the softness of his eyes.

And Hanks couldn't help but wonder if a certain pink-haired woman was involved somehow.

Nobody except for Hanks was aware that Yuri was a member of a guild—the infamous Brave Vesperia that became known far and wide as the group that saved the world from its inevitable doomsday. Though Hanks was conscious about this for quite a while now, it still pained him to see the piles of small boxes lined up outside of his foster son's room.

First, it was Flynn.

And now, Yuri.

Everything was slowly changing and poor Hanks was trapped in the middle between the past, present, and future. He knew that asking Yuri to stay with them in the Lower Quarter was a selfish thing to do. Then again, he also knew that this was for the best—as about a year ago, Yuri left Zaphias to find his place in the world and now that he has…

"You're growing up too fast," Hanks commented, gaining the attention of the dark-haired man sitting idly near the window. "Both you and Flynn…"

Yuri gave a half-shrug. "We can't stay like this forever, you know," He points out, choosing to avoid eye contact. "One way or another, this was bound to happen."

Hanks heaved a sigh. "I know…" With nothing left to say, the bearded man collected his hands on his lap and tightened his grip on them. "I just wish I could turn back time and relive some memories."

"You sure about that?" Yuri asked teasingly. "Flynn and I were full of trouble."

"Not so much with Flynn," Hanks corrected him, raising his head and turning to shoot him a glare. "But you…oh, I had a tough time controlling you. Couldn't sit still, kept stealing cookies from the cookie jar, and even brought home snakes and frogs from outside…"

The two sat in silence in the room that was originally meant for Yuri. Hanks took a moment to take in every little detail around him—the tiny cracks on the walls, the worn-out doggy bowl for Repede, and the drawings by the children displayed near the table. All of this—despite how trivial each of the possessions were, every single one of them contributed to some sort of memory, good or bad.

A few minutes passed and finally, Yuri spoke up.

"Don't know how much work I'll be doing but I'll make sure to visit every now and then," He assured, his voice becoming a mere whisper. "And maybe on my days off, I'll come running back and check up on you guys."

"…That sounds good," Hanks agreed, nodding along. "I'll tell Marie to reserve this room for you then."

Yuri glanced over at his foster father and frowned. "You don't have to do that,"

"I know, but you've been occupying this room for so long now," Hanks told him, followed by the shake of his head. "The least we could do is keep it clean and spotless for you until you come back for a visit."

Yuri opened his mouth to retort, only to be beaten by the latter again.

"You've done so much for us," Hanks added in, facing his foster son once more. "Let us do something for you as well."

Yuri closed his mouth, his eyebrows furrowed. Thinking it over, he cracked a grin. "Is breakfast on the house?"

Hearing this, Hanks snorted. "You wish,"

Yuri laughed earnestly as he leaned his back against the wall.

Catching this rare sight, Hanks couldn't help but widen his grin.

In the evening, there was a celebration throughout the Lower Quarter as a sort-of farewell to Yuri as he would be temporarily relocated at Dahngrest.

As always, Estelle was present and to their surprise, so was Flynn, the Schwann Brigade, and the entire Brave Vesperia guild.

The party was as eventful as ever—with Karol and Patty playing around with Repede and the children, Rita dancing with her decorative scrolls in response to the local band that Flynn hired for the occasion, Raven conversing with the knightly trio in the public inn and sharing drinks with them, Flynn chatting with old friends and those who admired him, Judith arm-wrestling any men who were swooning over her…it was a moment of solace and comfort, and another treasured experience that Hanks was more than happy to include in his memory of archives.

As for a certain pair, Hanks discovered them sitting on the steps of the staircase leading to the public inn. Away from prying eyes and ears, the two didn't seem to be at all aware of the latter's presence as they were too preoccupied with their own private discussion.

And then suddenly, the princess rose up and began making her way back upstairs.

Panicking, Hanks quickly hid behind the wall of a nearby house and silently observed them. He saw Yuri stood up as well, quickening his pace to catch up to her and once he did, took her wrist and opened his mouth.

Due to the loud noises in the area, he wasn't able to hear what they were saying. But from the looks of the gestures they were making, it appears as though he was trying to assure her about something.

Hanks watched as Estelle shook her head, said a few words, and then gently let go of his hold on her before bowing her head and walking away, leaving the dark-haired man alone to dwell in his thoughts.

As much as he wanted to know what was wrong and if there was anything he could do to help, he knew that this was a personal manner between the two of them. If he dared to step in and intervene, more problems would arise.

For now, the best thing Hanks could do was nothing and wait for either one of them to approach him.

…It never came.

One day, an announcement was made from the palace—the novel entitled Tales of Vesperia was recently published and distributed to the many stores throughout the world. The catch? It was written by the princess herself who wrote of the accounts and experiences she had prior to her journey which led up to her and her friends clashing against the Adephagos.

Immediately, the books were sold out in less than twenty-four hours and became critically acclaimed amongst the general public—young and old, men and women, including children praising it to be a literature masterpiece of the century.

To those who knew the princess, the fictional characters she wrote of were simple to distinguish—there was the rogue swordsman and his animal companion, the curious noblewoman, the cowardly boy, the genius girl, the man-eating lady, the traitor, the best friend, and the self-proclaimed love interest.

Marie and Ted, who went out the following day to purchase their own copies of the princess's book urged the bearded man to get one of his own.

"Why don't you just let me borrow one of yours?" He suggested innocently. "We save Gald and I get to read it!"

To his horror, both of them refused.

"We need to support Miss Estelle!" Ted argued, holding the book close to him.

Shaking his head, Hanks eventually admitted defeat and then went off to visit the nearby bookstore to purchase his own copy. A few minutes later and he made it back home. Brewing a cup of herbal tea and settling himself down on the couch, once he got himself comfortable, he began to open the purple cover of the book.

A light chuckle escaped his throat as he took note of the dedication page—

To the people I know, the people I don't know, and the spirits that were born anew

This is a book in dedication to you.

After that, there came the first chapter of the book. And in the next few hours, Hanks found himself engrossed with the narrative.

Similar to how Flynn inscribes his letters, Estelle wrote her book with impeccable penmanship. As for the imaginary events that she wrote of, everything was precise and to the tiniest of details. The adventure, the thrills, the horror, bravery and the main theme of justice—everything was there.

And yet, for some reason, Hanks couldn't help but be intrigued by the subtle romance between the two main protagonists. As he continued to read, the suspicion that he'd been having was gradually coming true. And on the sixth day, when he managed to completely finish reading the entirety of the novel, it finally dawned to him.

The two protagonists—the noblewoman and the rogue swordsman or in the princess's words, their names: Belle and Adam, were reflections of her and Yuri.

And then another thought occurred to him—

Did Yuri know that Estelle wrote a book about their entire journey?

More importantly, did he know that she wrote a romance about the two of them?

Luckily for Hanks, the answer would soon come into fruition as sometime in the afternoon, Estelle was expected to visit the Lower Quarter for her regular storytelling to the children in the orphanage.

…Unfortunately, Hanks had underestimated the princess's popularity.

Thanks to her book, Estelle was widely recognized throughout the general public, often being stopped to ask for autographs during her usual stroll. And as part of the success she attained, was even encouraged by Flynn and His Highness Ioder to write another one, preferably a sequel to the first one.

Despite the success she gained, Estelle remained sweet and humble as ever—viewing the success of her book as not a way for her to get popular but rather, to allow others to learn and understand why the decision to get rid of the world of blastia had to be done.

Much to the delight to the children and her fans who followed her to the Lower Quarter, Estelle thought that it'd be wonderful to read the book that she wrote aloud to them. For the past two and a half hours, that was exactly what she did.

"…Okay, let's stop here at chapter fourteen," Estelle noted, placing a floral-themed bookmark in the middle of the page and enclosing the book with her audience doing the same.

"Do any of you have any questions?"

At once, about ten hands shot up in the midst of the crowd.

Blinking, Estelle giggled lightly. "Okay, let's start with…" She pursed her lips, her seafoam eyes searching through the sea of many faces before finally landing on a small girl with pigtails. "Isabelle!"

The girl named Isabelle beamed, revealing her buck teeth. As she lowered her arm, she cried out, "What inspired you to write the romance between the two main characters?"

As soon as she finished her declaration, Estelle and Hanks (who stood from afar), widened their eyes. Immediately, heads were turned and eyes were zoomed in on the princess sitting in front of the crowd.

"Oh, well…" She trailed off, though the crimson flush on her cheeks was apparent. "No, I don't see them as being romantic partners…" She managed to say, nodding. "Adam and Belle have a platonic, almost a brother-and-sister like relationship."

Another hand shot up.

"Yes, Theodora?"

"I have a brother and he doesn't do things that the guy does to the girl!" The new voice, belonging to a teenager named Theodora, exclaimed, "Carrying someone bridal-style, catching them when they fall…that doesn't sound like what a sibling would do!"

Before Estelle could say something, she saw that another person stood up—this time, a young boy. "Yeah, I have a sister and I wouldn't do that to her!" He reasoned, "My mommy and daddy would read your book every night to us and they would even point out that some of the things that the guy does to the girl—daddy would do it to mommy!"

After that, more and more hands were raised abruptly.

Hanks sighed heavily. He then strolled over to where the princess was sitting and cleared his throat. "That's it for today's storytelling," He announced, which earned him loud groans and moans. Crossing his arms, he leaned a bit forward and shot them a glare. "If you don't abide by my orders, there won't be a next time!"

Threatened by his words, the children and fans quickly sprang into action, apologizing to them and excusing themselves—few minutes later, and the crowds have finally diminished, leaving Hanks and the pink-haired woman alone.

"…Thank you,"

Hearing this, Hanks moved his head to face the slightly worn-out princess. His facial features softened as he watched her slowly stand up and bow her head to him. "No, don't do that," He said to her, his voice gentle. "I read your book, you know. Pretty entertaining." Collecting his hands behind his back, he chuckled. "I liked the way you described everything."

Estelle smiled, thanking him again.

"…Something's bothering you," Hanks pointed out, after a moment of silence. "Why don't you tell me what's the matter?"

The pink-haired woman tightened her grip on her book, almost hesitated to say what was on her mind.

Sensing this, Hanks shook his head. "If it's troubling you, you don't need to tell me— "

Estelle shook her head and smiled. "They are right…" She mumbled, lowering her head and looking elsewhere. "About the main protagonists and the implicit romance between them."

Hanks stood quietly, waiting patiently for her to continue.

"No matter how hard I try to cover up the evidence or convince them that nothing's between the main characters, it's painfully obvious that there is," She went on, her eyes downcast. "Even the readers are aware of the relationship. And I can't help but wonder if that means…" And closed her mouth, chewing on her bottom lip.

But Hanks heard her words and caught on to what she was implying.

"The main characters—Belle and Adam, are they inspired by you and Yuri?"

Estelle meekly nodded.

"Does Yuri know?"

She shook his head.

Hanks smiled. "You know," He began, reaching out to place his hand on her shoulder and squeezing it. "It doesn't hurt to at least tell him what you truly feel. And if you think that your words are not enough," He then points to the cover of her book and added, "Let him read this and wait for his reaction."

As Hanks recommended, Estelle sent out a personal copy to Yuri who was currently stationed at Dahngrest. For extra measure, he also advised her to write a note to Karol, Judith, and Repede—instructing them to let Yuri read the book during his spare time.

Since the swordsman wasn't fond of writing letters, there was no telling how they were able to get a reply back anytime soon.

Together, Hanks and Estelle waited, filling the void with more accounts from each other. Few days passed and when Hanks had run out of things to tell her, he resorted to finally reveal something that's dear to his heart—how he first met his beloved wife, Jiri.

"We met in the outskirts of Zaphias," Hanks began, looking out into the distance. "I was pretty young, around my mid-twenties. I got attacked by one of the monsters in the area. I couldn't fight nor flee and they were advancing toward me pretty fast."

The memory of a mysterious silhouette—donning a hood and cape appeared out of nowhere, and with her signature, Second Star sword had slashed through the abdomen of the ferocious monsters in a few mere seconds. Hanks smiled as he remembered the first time he laid eyes on his savior—who was later revealed to be a woman, and a beautiful one at that.

"She looked strange to me, completely foreign from around here," He went on, placing a hand on his lap and nodding to himself. "It wasn't love at first sight but once we got to know each other, we knew that we wanted to spend our lives together."

Hearing this, Estelle curved her lips to produce a smile. "What a wonderful story," She commented, her eyes softening. Bringing her hands close to her chest, she closed her eyes and sighed heavily. "Kind of reminds me of how I first met Yuri—I'd admit, that I was scared of him and…"

While Estelle continued with her speech and Hanks keenly listened, something caught his eye—or rather, a familiar dark-haired man descending down the staircase with the canine at his side.

The bearded man's eyes widened as a burst of excitement spread throughout his body. He was ready to open his mouth and cry out his foster son's name when he noticed the latter bringing a finger to his lips, followed by a mischievous wink.

Immediately, Hanks realized his intentions and rolled his eyes. Even so, he closed his mouth and turned his attention back to the princess, who remained oblivious to the swordsman's presence behind her.

"…I hope that my words were able to reach him," She finally finished, smiling to herself. "I wonder…what would he say?"

Hanks watched as Yuri slightly crouched to his knees, leaning forward to whisper softly in her ear. "You don't need to wait anymore."

Estelle squeaked, jolting in her spot. She quickly turned her head to face the swordsman who looked back at her with a triumphant smirk. "Yuri—"

Suddenly, he took her into his arms and twirled her around, his laughter infectious and spreading throughout the perimeter of the public area. Seconds later, Estelle joined in as she tightened her hold on the man's tunic.

Hanks inwardly smiled, secretly pleased to see them to finally become reunited again.

"Hanks,"

Hearing his name being called, the bearded man blinked and peered upwards to look at his foster son.

"Mind if I take her off your hands for a few minutes?"

"Why ask for my permission?" Hanks retorted back, cackling. "We were just finished talking,"

Yuri nodded, followed by a smile. Keeping Estelle close to his chest, he insisted that they talk somewhere else. "You alright going outside the barrier and talk it over?"

Ignoring the burning sensation on her cheeks, Estelle bobbed her head. "I'd like that."

Yuri cracked a grin, her words music to his ears. "We'll come back,"

Hanks nodded and watched Yuri, who was still carrying Estelle bridal-style, jogged rather animatedly down the staircase leading to the entrance of the border.

"Woof!"

The bearded man turned to face Repede who was settling himself next to him and chuckled. He brought a hand to pat the canine in an affectionate manner. In response, the canine stuck out its tongue and released a wail.

And so, they both sat there in silence, admiring the splendor of the blue, afternoon skies.

About thirty minutes later, the pair returned—both walking side by side, their expressions neutral and with no trace of negativity. Down below, Hanks noticed that their hands were often brushing against each other, as if anticipating for the other's touch.

Choosing not to disturb their privacy, Hanks remained quiet about it and welcomed them back.

Yuri finally got around to visiting the Lower Quarter in the next few months, and quite often, Estelle would be there to join Hanks and the community whenever he dropped by—though to their disappointment, was mostly unannounced.

During his stay, Yuri would use his old room and assist at the public inn. Other times, he'd greet them and then claimed that he was only there to pick up Estelle to have a little journey of their own—with Repede if he'd like to be included. But most of the time, it would be just the two of them.

Over time, Hanks and the community became suspicious of their close relationship—is it platonic? Is it romantic?

No one knew for sure.

And this would continue for another few months.

In the duration of that time, Marie, Ted, the community—and of course, Hanks were beginning to question.

It just so happened that around that time, Brave Vesperia came over to pay them a visit. Here they were, huddled together in a small circle in the staircase near the public inn—often eyeing a certain pair who strayed a little far from them and having their own private conversation. Meanwhile, Hanks and Repede stood on guard, slanting their backs on the wall and listening attentively to their exchanges.

"I caught them sharing a cup of pudding together!" Karol points out, his eyes gleaming with interest. As his words settled in, he sheepishly grinned. "Well, they had their own spoons but that still counts, right?"

Judith pursed her lips and then shook her head. "No, that's not enough evidence," She commented, smiling pleasantly. "Oh! Remember that one time when Estelle visited our garrison? We had some spare rooms for her to choose but she went off to Yuri's and slept on his bed."

Rita scoffed. "What are you talking about? Anybody would do that!" She protested, folding her arms. "I do that with the floor all the time!"

Raven cast her a languid look. "Rita, darlin', that's just you…"

"Why would Yuri go with Estelle when he can go with me?" Patty inquired, sticking out her tongue. "I'm more wife material than her!"

While the friends were in a heated argument with each other, they failed to take notice of Yuri and Estelle walking away.

Cracking one eye open, Hanks fixed his sights on them as they began to scale the long, winding road overhead. Again, there seemed to be no hint of their intimate relationship but one thing was clear, there was definitely something between them.

Hanks was the first to find out that they were secretly dating.

…Despite them not announcing this, there was a certain incident that Hanks had stumbled himself into—and it happened on a cloudy morning.

Last night, Yuri had turned twenty-three years old, and to the Lower Quarter's delight, he stopped by to visit them along with his friends.

The party was small and simple—and in a typical Lower Quarter fashion, they danced and celebrated the night away…which resulted in the majority of the adults, including Flynn and Raven to receive throbbing migraines.

Because of this, Judith and Patty became the unfortunate pair to tend to them. As for Karol and Rita, they were instructed by Hanks to remove any dosage of alcohol in sight in case one of them were to show up and try to reclaim it.

As usual, the children were sent off to bed quite early and the ones who managed to sneak out got quite an earful from Marie.

Of all the things that happened at the party, there was one in particular that stood out to Hanks the most. It was Yuri and his drinking—usually in occasions like this, he'd be challenging others on a drinking game. And for some reason, he wasn't drinking as much as he regularly did, resorting with downing only one or two shots and then ending it.

At first, Hanks thought that the reason behind it was somewhat connected to Karol claiming that there was a lot of workloads to be done in their headquarters.

…Or so they assumed.

Luckily for Hanks, he wasn't a heavy drinker and managed to save himself from a migraine like the rest. With him being one of the few remaining somber, he took up the duty of gathering everyone at the inn for a serving of breakfast.

After his rounds in the neighborhood—knocking on doors and delivering the message to every man, woman, and elderly—he scurried off to the staircase next to the inn that would lead him to his foster son's room.

He knocked on the door, only to find out that it was unlocked from the other side.

Moving the door slowly, he was about to step in and project his voice out loud when something caught his attention.

There were clothes and undergarments on the floor.

Eyes widening, Hanks quickly glanced over to the bed—and there, he noticed long, dark mane and a blob of pink at the edge of the headboard, their naked bodies covered and nestled within the comforts of the blankets, with exposed legs twisted together.

Though he didn't have a proper angle of their faces, he could tell that they were embracing each other as he saw a slender arm gently placed on his foster son's head and another wrapped around a petite waist which belonged to the pink-haired woman.

Hanks stood for a moment, waiting for any indication of their breathing. And when he caught it, he let out a sigh of relief. Slowly, he closed the door shut and brought his hands behind his back. Smiling, he walked back to the staircase.

There, at the end of the steps was Repede waiting for him.

As he approached the dog, Hanks couldn't help but laugh. "You knew all along, didn't you?" He wondered, reaching out to pat him on the head.

Propping the large pipe from the left through right, Repede lifted his chin and barked in response.

Hello!
First, I would like to apologize for my lateness! I meant to publish this earlier but then sleep took over me and wasn't able to do it in time. To make it up, I inserted a bonus scene at the end -I hope that it satisfies you!

Also, this chapter concludes the end of the borrowed dialogue from the game and beginning the post-game credits and the future.

Chapter 7 was supposed to be the end but because I've enjoyed writing this so much, I decided to extend it a little more-there were three parts of each (chapters 1-3 were of Yuri's childhood, 4-6 is the game, which means that 7-9 would be the future)

Oh and one more thing-background of the title: Dawn of a new world was inspired by the chapter-changes are coming all over Terca Lumireis, which would also affect the cast as well.

...I honestly still cannot believe that I wrote this chapter, there's so much Yustelle fluff!

Also, sorry Hanks but Repede's the one who knew first! (but don't worry, you're a close second)

And in case anybody points out, yes-the references to the characters, Adam and Belle are of Beauty and the Beast (another allusion that the Yustelle community would often compare them with)

Later today or tomorrow, I will be updating chapter 7-and this time, we get to see a different perspective besides Hanks-wonder who it could be?

Anyway, that's all for now!

Gotta get back on the saddle and keep writing!

Again, thank you so much for your wonderful comments and (kudos in the A03 community!)

As mentioned before, feel free to leave a comment if you can! I'm open and eager to hear of your opinions and criticisms!

That's all for now! See you later!