Disclaimer – All hail Bamco, owner of the wondrous Tales series. I offer up a fanfiction, no infringement intended.

Inspiration – Mistletoe

A/N – An outside looking in perspective on this one. :)

The Kids are Alright

There were a lot of orphans in the lower quarter of Zaphias. There was a single official orphanage in the entire city, located in the public quarter, and the matron there was a mean drunk with a habit of misplacing children. Leblanc had tried several times to have her arrested or replaced, but she was the youngest daughter of a small noble family and they always hushed things up for her.

Leblanc wasn't entirely certain why that woman wanted to be around children, but he had his suspicions... and would generally aid in the escape of any child who chose not to stay there. It was, unfortunately, the best he could do.

There were several unofficial orphanages in the lower quarter. The family that ran the Inn, for example, would fill up their empty rooms with orphaned children during their slow months, and their kitchen and personal home during the busy seasons. They had several friends, like Ethel and Hanks, who would help care for the children as well, taking the kids in when the Inn had paying guests and helping to keep the kids out of trouble during the day.

As a Knight living in the barracks, Leblanc didn't have a home of his own to share, but when he was both on and off duty, he spent time tracking down lost kids and trouble-makers who might otherwise land themselves in jail should other Knights be the ones to find them. Yuri Lowell and Flynn Scifo were some of the most well known trouble-makers amongst the lower quarter orphans and it was those two whom Leblanc found himself searching for on this cold winter's eve.

Naturally, the children were in the last place Leblanc thought to look.

"Yeah! You'd better run!" shouted a familiar voice as three of the local bullies came barreling around the corner of an alley and out onto the street.

The boys were bloodied and bruised and Leblanc paid them no mind for now. He'd track them down later and give them a nice tour of the jail cells – when the cells were full – to remind them of what bullies grow up to be if they don't choose to be better people.

Peering around the corner, Leblanc smiled at the sight of Flynn standing protectively in front of Yuri, scraped up fists raised and a defiant expression on his face. Leblanc frowned, however, upon getting a better view of Yuri; the child's arm was at an odd angle and tears were running silently down his face.

"What happened here?" Leblanc asked, fully rounding the corner.

Flynn relaxed at the sight of the Knight and Yuri pulled in an audibly shaking breath. "Those butt-faces," Flynn growled, "broke Yuri's arm. So I beat them up." The blond boy's expression was still defiant, as though he was daring Leblanc to say he'd done the wrong thing.

"My arms not broken," Yuri muttered around sharp, pained inhalations. "I..." he winced and tried to hold still as Leblanc knelt down beside him and began to inspect the boy's arm. "I think it's just dis..." Yuri frowned, thinking the word over and then nodded and wiped at his tears with his good hand. "It's dislocated."

"I think you're right," Leblanc agreed. "Dr. Everheart is still at the clinic down the street. Let's go see him and get your arm fixed."

With Flynn's help, Leblanc coaxed Yuri to his feet and led the two boys to the free clinic that James Everheart ran in the evenings. Though James had been packing up for the night, he took one look at Leblanc and the two children darkening his doorstep, smiled ruefully, and let them inside.

Yuri's arm was popped back in place fairly quickly and then wrapped up in a sling. The doctor made sure Yuri knew that if his arm felt prickly or numb or got worse instead of better to come back to the clinic. Any of that could be a sign of a more serious problem, like pinched nerves, and should be looked at immediately.

Once Yuri was done and sucking on a lollypop, James pulled Flynn aside to bandage his hands and check him over from any other injuries his beat down on the bullies might have resulted in. Flynn was never one to start fights – except maybe with Yuri – but Flynn always finished fights, and swiftly too.

While Flynn grumbled over stinging antiseptic, Leblanc watched Yuri wander under the mistletoe to look at some of the children's books James kept in the office. On a whim, Leblanc reached out and put a hand on the kid's left shoulder, which was the unharmed one, and said, "look up, kiddo. That is mistletoe. Your stuck until someone you like gives you a kiss."

"What?" Yuri's eyes went round and he scowled up at the little plant dangling from the ceiling. "Like a girl?" he asked derisively, making it clear he was still at that age where girls were icky. Well... that or there just weren't any girls he liked yet.

"Could be," Leblanc teased. "Best friends will do too, though," he added, tilting his head towards Flynn. "But if there is a girl you'd prefer..." Leblanc trailed off with a smirk as Yuri shuddered and shook his head.

"I don't like girls. They're boring and get in the way when me and Flynn are playing." Yuri started to cross his arms and then winced as he was reminded that his right shoulder still hurt.

"You might change your mind in a few years," Leblanc told him with a laugh. Even if girls didn't turn out to be Yuri's type, the kid had a good head on his shoulders and he'd realize that girls didn't always get in the way. Some girls liked rough-housing and playing at monster hunting as much as Yuri and Flynn did. Certainly the little Princess could be heard complaining about why she wasn't allowed to start learning how to 'sword at things' yet.

It was such a shame, really, that the girl wasn't allowed to leave the castle. These two boys were just the sort of friends she needed to stave off boredom.

"What's with you two?" Flynn asked as, lollypop in hand, he joined Yuri and Leblanc.

"Leblanc says I'm not supposed to leave the mistletoe until..." Yuri's cheeks turned pink and he mumbled, "youkissme."

"What?" Flynn turned his confused expression on Leblanc while Dr. Everheart snickered in amusement behind the blond boy.

"When someone steps under mistletoe, they aren't allowed to leave until someone they like kisses them. Best friends will do when crushes are unavailable," Leblanc informed Flynn solemnly.

Nodding in understanding, Flynn walked over and kissed Yuri on the cheek. Then he headed over to the exit, popping the lollypop into his mouth.

Leblanc let Yuri go, grinning in amusement as the child dazedly, and gently, put a hand to his cheek where Flynn had kissed him. Quietly, and probably not actually meant to be said aloud, Yuri muttered, "I am never going to like girls." Then, shaking his head a little, Yuri's hand dropped away and he rushed after Flynn.

"Looks like someone has a crush after all," James observed with a smile.

"Seems that way," Leblanc agreed.

It was hard to believe, sometimes, just how fast children grew up. The once adorable little hell-raisers were now sixteen and worked at the Inn, making enough for a shared room and food.

As far as Leblanc could tell, however, some things never changed. Yuri still had his crush on Flynn and Flynn was still completely oblivious. It had to be utterly frustrating for Yuri, but Leblanc had a feeling that all Flynn needed was time. The blond boy had a way of looking at Yuri that... well... spoke volumes, even if Flynn didn't realize what the feelings he was conveying actually were.

There were other things that didn't change either.

Tricked into walking under the mistletoe by a certain secretly mischievous Knight, Yuri scowled at the giggling girls who wanted to 'rescue' him as he tried to discretely back away. Instead, Flynn walked over and kissed Yuri on the cheek. Yuri, naturally, turned bright red and fled into the Inn's kitchen to start his shift early.

The world was a new place. Blastia was being replaced by electric powered technology, the Empire had an Emperor again (and a vice-Empress), there were Spirits floating through the world offering pacts to help people use magic, and Flynn Scifo was Commandant of the Knights.

Never would Leblanc have guessed that the little kid who used to beat up bullies in back alleys would one day be his boss. Leblanc had been certain he'd be retired by the time Flynn became Commandant.

Even more surprising was that Captain Schwann, now Raven, worked for Yuri Lowell in the guild Brave Vesperia. While Yuri joining a guild, even founding a guild, hadn't been a huge surprise for Leblanc, Sir... Raven's decision to join was. There had been times over the years when Leblanc had worried his superior, and friend, had a death wish... times when he feared that the world seemed such a dark and empty place that Raven would simply choose to end things. Sometimes laughter hid the deepest of depressions... but tonight Raven's laughter as Yuri shoved him under the mistletoe so Miss Judy could 'ambush' him there held no darkness at all.

Leblanc had never felt more grateful to Yuri Lowell as he did watching his friend show true signs of recovering. Not even saving the world compared to saving a friend.

There was one other change this past year had wrought that filled Leblanc with joy at seeing, however. As Raven and Judy stumbled off to a booth together, Flynn stepped purposefully under the mistletoe and pulled Yuri forward, planting a kiss on Yuri's lips and holding tightly to Yuri's waist.

A/N – Leblanc had just thought it'd be hilarious to mess with Yuri; he hadn't thought it would turn into a yearly tradition, but setting Yuri up to get kissed by Flynn was just too cute. Something that adorable has to repeated, right? (This story has an alternate title: The Unexpected Matchmaker.)