/*Wow Yuan is a totally different person than I originally imagined him! But, I like him... he is so cool. I wish I knew him in the real world... -sigh-

Oh! By the way, the story is going to get much more interesting in the coming chapters, I promise!

Thanks again for your support!

PS. Sorry I've been so much slower the past few days. Winter break, visiting with family, and all that jazz... and it doesn't help that I am addicted to playing Path of Radiance (Fire Emblem) which I received as a Christmas gift. xD*/

Chapter 9

"Finally, I found you."

Kratos sat upright, stunned, because he knew that voice all too well.

"Yuan, what are you doing here?" He warily turned to face his friend.

"Kratos, I was going to ask you the same question. Mithos asked me to start keeping tabs on you, but I had no idea you were…"

"Tabs on me? Why?"

"Well, Kratos, I don't blame him. You can't deny that you have been acting strangely…"

"Humph."

"Don't you start with me. Come on, let's go back, we can talk there…"

"Don't treat me like some sort of invalid. And don't talk to me like you have control over me. I may be human, but that gives you no right to-"

"Hey, hey! What is wrong with you, Kratos? Seriously, what the hell happened to you?"

Kratos sighed heavily.

"What's with the sighing?"

"Sorry, Yuan. I honestly don't know what's happening. It all started after-" he stopped abruptly, as he realized he was leading Yuan toward the answer he was looking for. If Mithos was trying to get answers, Kratos was determined not to let him find any. The kid hated him enough as it was, he didn't need to add anything which could be grounds for something worse…

"After what? Keep going."

He wondered how long he would be able to withhold information from Yuan. If he made a run for it, he would only be followed, and there would be no escape since they were matched in their abilities. Not to mention it would be even more out of character. He stood firmly on this, much as he was tempted to flee: Kratos was not a coward, and he would not behave as one.

"I see I cannot hide anything from you, so I will tell you what I know. But I guarantee it isn't much, and it won't make more sense to you than it does to me."

"Try me."

Kratos stood up from his tree stump and looked his friend directly in the eye. They hadn't ever been on the greatest of terms, but just their shared existence was enough for him to feel as if they were brothers.

"Do you remember when I came to your room the other day?"

"Yes, how could I forget? You were so flustered, but I thought you would come back to talk to me when you were more..."

"Well," Kratos continued, ignoring the other man, "it all started when I was doing inspections, and at the Asgard ranch I ran into a human who was attempting to escape…"

Kratos told him the factual details of that event, and of his return for the inspection a few days prior, but kept everything else to himself. He would not let on anything more than Yuan needed to know. He wasn't even sure what else there was to say, anyway.

"So a host body made you feel uncomfortable, and you wound up like this?" Yuan still had a serious face, but from the light in his eyes he was clearly amused.

"..." He had no retort prepared for such a blunt statement.

"You're saying that you're acting this defensive because you ran into a piece of research?" Yuan was incredulous. Kratos sighed loudly, as clearly, this was not going to end well.

"You know what I think, Kratos?" He snorted haughtily, as his eyes regained their cold nature. It was a half-elf thing, that unfeeling gaze, but Kratos was well used to dealing with it; it had no effect on him anymore.

"I think that you're affected because you like her."

"I what?"

"You think of the test subject as a woman, Kratos. You respect her."

"How do you figure that? She's just a human."

"So are you."

Kratos was at a loss for words. Of all the degrading things his friend had hurled at him over the years… to suggest that he, angel of Cruxis and co-ruler of the worlds, could be feeling attached to a human… it was a good point, and perhaps he did respect her a little for being strong, but this conclusion made absolutely no sense. Yuan was trying to mess with his head, he could see it now, and he was trying to manipulate him into saying something more believable. Kratos was pretty sure he had it all figured out, so he tried to throw him off guard with the truth.

"I don't like her, Yuan. I was interested because of the circumstances, but she is nothing to me."

"As if, Kratos. You're lying to yourself. Look how much she's influenced you already. You may be partly angel like me, but your reactions are as human as any of these…" He waved his hand for emphasis, across the open green land in front of them. "You were one once, you know. Human."

"…" Kratos searched for words he could say to that. "Well you're half human yourself. Why are you so beyond this that you can diagnose me?"

"You forget, I was in love once. I at least know what that means, I can at least see it for what it is. I'm not saying that I understand it, or that I can guide you through it, or that I was any better at it than you- I am just able to see it because I've been through it before."

"You're saying that you think I love her now? This is ridiculous. I haven't ever said a word to her."

Yuan just shook his head, grinning slightly and struggling to ignore the humor he found in that statement.

"Why are you making a joke of me? Cut the crap and go home, Yuan."

The blue-haired man broke into a wide grin. He couldn't help himself. "Sure, sure, I'll just go back all by myself. And what reason am I going to give Mithos for your stay here?"

"Tell him whatever you want. It's your job to find out, isn't it? And you know as well as I do that he's not going to believe this stupid concoction of yours anyway."

"Come on, Kratos. You don't have to take it like that, I'm trying to help you out here. You don't really want me to report this as the reason you came down, do you?"

Kratos took a minute to think it over. No matter how he looked at it, this was an elaborate ruse to get to the real reason he had left, and that was fairly unbelievable as well. The fact was that he didn't like Derris-Kharlan, and he never had enjoyed being there at all. He had come here in order to take a break from it, was all. And here this guy was trying to make something bigger out of it. He knew Yuan wouldn't understand, so he decided to let him win this time.

"I don't care, Yuan. Do whatever you want." He tried to sound as menacing as he could, but Yuan wasn't impressed. I forgot, that only works on humans. It's been a while since we've argued like this.

Yuan stared at him while he tried to form another coherent thought. He really just wanted Yuan to get out of his sight, but he had enough of a handle on himself to remember his manners- unlike that half-elf.

"She's about to die anyway, Yuan. Why would I love her? It would be illogical." He was talking softly, trying to bring down the intensity of the argument and make his friend see reason. He was trying to gently tell him that he was wrong, or rather, to prove that there was no possible way he could be right. Sadly, his words had the opposite effect.

"See? You do love her, you said it not me. And you were a human once, you should know that humans by nature are never logical. It was bound to happen to you someday."

"Really, Yuan, is that all you've got to say?"

"Well, no. But I can see that this is where you're going to stop listening. You're only human, after all…"

"Listening to you make up stories about why I've been feeling off lately isn't exactly something worth listening to."

"I suppose from your perspective, that makes sense. Look, I don't want to argue with you anymore. But I am curious, so I have one more thing to ask you."

"Go ahead, I don't really have a choice."

"I've always thought your old outfit looked pretty uncomfortable, but why did you buy a new outfit without Lord Yggdrasil's permission? You know how he is… and it's rather bland, I must say. He won't be very pleased…"

They both thought immediately of Mithos in the white spandex suit he had designed, and Yuan began to chuckle before quickly stifling his blasphemy.

He cleared his throat loudly. "Why do you wear those things he makes, anyway, Kratos? They're hideous." He had managed to regain a serious tone of voice, but amusement was still visible in the corners of his eyes.

"He's never much liked me, Yuan. As you can see he gives me all the mundane work already. I didn't want to make things worse."

"No, I suppose not. Well, anyway, come back with me and we'll try to work this out with him. And we've got to get you straightened out, too. You could do much better than an exphere, you know."

Kratos wasn't sure whether to take that as a compliment or an insult, but it didn't make him feel any better so he decided to lump it in with the rest of the demeaning conversation. He tried to think of a good reason to stay on Sylvarant, but he couldn't come up with anything at all. If he tried to stand up to Yuan again, he knew it would only put him deeper into the hole he had dug for himself, and he knew he would never be able to outrun his fellow angel of Cruxis if he tried to get away. So, he allowed Yuan to escort him back to Derris-Kharlan, where he would be forced to spend the rest of the month trying to regain his dignity.

...

A/N from the Author: This scene wasn't originally part of the story, but I decided it was a good way to sum up Kratos' transformation thus far. He may seem to be acting out of character, but it's because feeling "love" is out of character for the Kratos we know in the game. Father-son love is much different than boy-girl love, so that is why he seems like he's going crazy... he can't remember ever having loved somebody else before, and it took him by surprise when he met Anna (he's still in denial about it though ;D).

And if that's still not a satisfactory explanation, then I'll just rationalize it by telling you that if Kratos was the same person before he met Anna as he was in the game, then he probably wouldn't have gone to the trouble of saving her. Yuan himself tells Kratos "You changed after you had a family" or something to that effect. So since we don't really know how the guy came to love somebody and have a kid, I made it up =)

Long live Kranna!! =D