/* Disclaimer: I do not own Tales of Symphonia, or any of the amazing characters... although Anna's personality is for the most part guesswork.

Sorry it's taken me a few days to get up this chapter, I've had a lot of stuff to do for school and I also spent a while trying to make this chapter have a little more substance. I'm trying something a little differently, to add some spice. ;D

When I switch to Anna's POV, just bear in mind that she doesn't know everything that's going on. Actually, neither does Kratos whenever we're looking from his perspective, but that's what will make it interesting. Well, that's what I'm aiming for anyway. lol*/

Chapter 16

Kratos and Anna sat in the darkness after they finished eating- Anna had insisted that he share the bread with her- and they sat in silence just staring into the flames of the small fire he had built. It was starting to go out, but something about the glow made it hard to look away. He wasn't sure how long the silence lasted, but it was the good type of silence- it was the kind that could be shared in good company. He was glad he didn't have to speak, because lately he had been having trouble finding words, anyway.

Eventually when embers were all that remained, Kratos tried to decide whether to rebuild the fire. It wasn't cold at all, to him- then again, he had never been one to feel hot or cold very often.

"Anna… are you cold?" he spoke quietly, because he felt odd breaking the comfortable silence.

She said nothing.

"…Anna?"

Panicked again, Kratos listened for her heartbeat. But he quickly felt stupid for being so excitable- it was loud, and strong. She's asleep. He couldn't help smiling. It was difficult to keep himself from laughing too. How was it possible he could care so much about one person? He didn't even care that it made no sense anymore- he had accepted it.

Kratos looked up through the trees toward the sky, and kept on grinning. He was so happy, to feel alive again. It felt so good to get away from his work, and to have a real, living person next to him. It had been such a long, long time. Through a gap in the trees he started counting stars- it was his favorite way to pass time. After he numbered each point of light, he was still too happy to sleep, so he watched the shadows made by moonlight move with the night as it progressed slowly toward morning.

…

When Anna woke up, she found herself laid out on the forest floor. She realized as she sat up that her hand was still clutching a corner of that man's jacket- he must have draped it over her when he finally went to sleep. She looked around, but felt somewhat uneasy when she learned that he was gone. The campfire was just ashes now, and she placed her hand over it to see if it was still warm. It wasn't, so she assumed that it had died hours ago while she was asleep.

She wondered why he had left, after being so nurturing the night before. Had this been his plan all along? He never said anything about staying or leaving, that she could remember. He so rarely said anything at all. What was his name again…?

"…Kratos?" she called out to see if he was still nearby. Happily she noticed that her voice sounded much better already. It was slightly hoarse and deeper than usual, but she figured it would be back to normal soon. There was no response, so she tried to say his name a little louder.

"Kratos?" it hurt to yell that loud, but Anna still felt it was a worthy try all the same. There was no response, only the chirping of birds in the treetops.

Where is he?

She couldn't believe that he would just disappear like that. Would he really leave half of his costume behind just to get away from her? She turned it over in her hands, listening as the belt buckles clicked together. The clothing was surprisingly light- it never became any less fascinating. Yet again, the bright white fabric didn't have a speck on it. She was curious what kind of material would be resistant to blood, first of all, and now dirt too…

But the clicking belts reminded her of Kratos, and she was brought back to the dilemma. She tried to think of a reason for him to leave, and it struck her that perhaps it was because they were even now- she had saved his life and he had saved hers. It called to mind that time right before she had left her parents' house, and she had been angry with him for having no feelings… she realized now that she had been wrong. And he had tried to warn her… she felt slightly guilty for not listening. But he couldn't honestly expect her to listen either, being so demanding like that. She sighed heavily, and tried to forget about it.

"The most important question at the moment is- where am I?" it came out a whisper, a way to seek direction- but of course she knew that she was probably the only human for miles around. How did that guy expect her to find a way out of the forest? It made no sense. How could he be nice, and be this cold at the same time? She remembered the way he had held on to her, all night until she fell asleep. He had certainly been nice enough then, perhaps too nice… she wondered why he had gone to the trouble if he was just going to disappear by morning.

Then she remembered that he had wings. That does change things…

The night he had come through her window, she had seen the bluish glow- even though the memory was fuzzy, and she hadn't been able to control her body, somehow she could remember that specifically. Or when they had made the escape out the window, she definitely remembered flying… and they had landed so gracefully in the forest. Actually, it wasn't clear to Anna exactly when he had hurt himself so badly, because she had landed without a scratch… it was all sort of a jumble anyway.

She turned her head suddenly as she heard someone walking through brush, somewhere off to her left. She stood, still holding the jacket in her hands. She looked down at her arms, and noticed the whip marks were just shadows now, slightly darker than her skin… she wondered if they would actually disappear. It was unexplainable except by magic… that was what Kratos had said, wasn't it? That he had used magic? And when he had built the fire that quickly, it was because he used his sword to make fire… she shook her head, overwhelmed. She had been wrong from the very beginning, somehow… even if she had imagined the wings there was just no way that guy could be human.

She started walking towards the sound, suddenly extremely glad that she wasn't alone. She smiled, and held the jacket closer to her chest- the clothes she was wearing were ripped and torn in some… well, rather revealing places. Not that it could be helped, not that it even mattered, but she figured he had given her the jacket for a reason… she tried to pull it over her head, but one of the buckles which she had been ignoring got stuck in her tangled hair. She walked slower, trying to figure out how to disentangle it. As she put her arms over her head she felt her skin stretch, but it wasn't painful- whatever Kratos had done, she was extremely grateful. Even her swollen eye wasn't bothering her. She would have to thank him as soon as he helped her get un-stuck…

She heard him much closer now, the underbrush was crackling and she called out to him. She had almost freed herself from the belt buckle, when she heard the feet walk right up to her and stop. She heard him breathing, but he didn't say anything, which was mildly unusual. Usually people say hello when they-

She heard another pair of feet stop just behind her, and she froze. Why were there… two sets of feet now? Someone was laughing softly, but she heard it clear as day. It was unnerving. She lost patience and ripped her hair free, quickly tugging the jacket down to cover her chest… it wasn't Kratos, at all.

"Stay right where you are, or we'll kill you where you stand."

...

She didn't have any idea what to do... there wasn't really anything she could do. But she didn't want to die now, after all that...

"Not a chance." The voice didn't have a body, but Anna welcomed it if it was going to spare her life.

The Desians who had just threatened her suddenly looked around wildly, drawing swords and shouting for him to show himself. A man appeared so swiftly that she wondered where he had even come from. There was a whirl of blue, and suddenly the two soldiers were dead, bleeding into the ground. It was absolutely terrifying. Anna looked around, trying to figure out what had just happened…

"Allow me to introduce myself…" the man was now right in front of her, smiling faintly. The most noticeable thing about him was the luminous color of his long blue hair… other than that, she noticed that he was a half elf. Is this another Desian? But why would he try to save me…?

Suddenly she heard something crashing through the woods behind her, and she jumped when a moment later she felt herself being lifted off the ground. It was Kratos, apparently- she was now standing directly behind him, with absolutely no idea what was going on. There was no doubt about his identity, however, because his scent was familiar and his clothes were unmistakable. She wasn't sure why he had decided to come back, but she was extremely glad to see him. She was tempted to reach out and hug him, but decided against it. It made no sense to distract the hero at work. That's what he had really become, after all…

"Yuan. What are you doing here?"

"I could ask the same of you, Aurion." He sounded rather peeved. "I wouldn't have harmed her, you know…"

"I wouldn't risk it."

"What's the big deal, anyway? Thinking nobody would notice if you took off for a few days?"

"…"

"Didn't I tell you that Mithos asked me to keep tabs on you? Naturally I went to check up on you… and once again, you weren't there."

"Did you tell him that I was gone? No, it doesn't matter… more important is, how did you find us here?"

"Us? So then, that settles it…" Yuan smiled, and Anna was taken aback by how easily he had changed moods. It was impossible to tell whether he was still angry or not.

"Answer the question." Kratos seemed to be getting more irritated, she noticed. It was definitely interesting… apparently these two people knew each other. She wondered how they knew each other, though… she couldn't be sure about the blue-haired man, but why would Kratos have a position with the Desians if he was willing to kill them too… was he a spy? Who is the blue haired one…and who is Kratos really? They both killed Desians, but are they enemies? But why the familiarity…?

"What's her name? Where are you planning to take her?" Yuan was smiling knowingly, stepping closer and trying to look around behind Kratos to get another glimpse of the woman.

"It's none of your concern." His voice seemed to be getting angrier very quickly, and for a moment Anna wasn't sure which of these characters was the safer one to be standing next to.

"Of course it's my concern, Kratos. And no, I did not tell Mithos anything yet… I figured I would let you have your chance to tell him later. But look how well you've done!" he wheedled around Kratos' arm and extended his hand towards Anna. She flinched, before she realized he was just trying to engage her in a handshake. He drew back his hand quickly, trying to be cordial without frightening her further.

"I'm sorry if this is a bit unsettling to you- you see, Kratos and I have had our differences over the past… years." Yuan was still smiling, despite the things he was saying.

"I see…" she mumbled, still slightly hoarse. His smile was slightly infectious, somehow. Anna was half grinning, unable to decide what the mood here was supposed to be. But she did realize that there wouldn't be a fight, at least. These two people were arguing, but somehow they were acting almost like siblings. It reminded her of her own family, and she felt a wave of nostalgia coming on, which she tried to suppress for the moment. She had to try to follow the conversation... it could be important.

"You see, he's been a pretty stuffy fellow, up until a couple months ago. He forgot that he was alive, probably…" Yuan glanced over at Kratos before continuing, "but now he's got you. He's already so much more interesting…" She could see that he was trying to taunt Kratos again, but had no idea what he was talking about.

"Yuan. If you came looking for me, then talk to me. Leave her out of it. You still haven't answered me."

"Well, fine then." Yuan was grumpy again. "If you must know, it was rather easy to figure out you were in the Luin area…" he looked meaningfully at Anna this time before continuing… "and once I got to close to the town the only thing people were talking about was the wild man who kidnapped a girl that had just escaped from Kvar's ranch, and three mysteriously dead Desians." His tone was matter-of-fact, down to eath again, and Anna felt uncomfortable in that he was so unpredictable.

"Did you kill them yourself? I would have never thought you capable…" he seemed lost in thought, frowning slightly.

"I have my reasons."

"Of course you do. Anyone could see that." Yuan was exasperated, and probably losing patience as well. He paused for a moment, and then continued hesitantly.

"If you're going to travel around you should take better care of her next time, though. Don't leave her unguarded like that…" he looked down, and now he had became strangely somber. "You were lucky this time, but next time, there's just no guarantee…"

Anna wondered if he had been the one laughing in the trees before while she was apprehended by the Desians. So, Kratos really had left her to fend for herself, then… but why did he come back?

"I wouldn't have let them touch her." Kratos spoke very calmly, and was suddenly much softer toward the man called Yuan.

"I see. Well, I won't keep you. But since I've found you, I do want to remind you of something."

Kratos sighed heavily. "And that would be…?"

"Just remember that you can't run forever. You can protect her carefully from now on, which will buy you time, but Kvar is not going to stop chasing her. Although he alone is not really a threat, if Mithos discovers what you're doing…"

"I understand that much, at least."

"Do you really? Think about it, at least a little. I don't know what your plans are, or how long you plan to-"

"It's none of your concern. Besides, what could he possibly do to me? He needs me, and he needs you, so really no matter what either of us does we risk nothing."

"You think you've got it all worked out, but you're just scratching the surface. Whether you come back to Derris-Kharlan or not isn't my problem, but… I'm telling you that if you stay here you're endangering her life." He inclined his head toward Anna, and Kratos turned to look at her too. She seemed slightly fearful, but otherwise unharmed…

"Leaving her alone would be even more dangerous, don't you think? You pointed it out yourself. And why should you care what I do? It doesn't affect you in any way. Just go tell him you found me, if that's your job..."

"You know, that's your biggest problem Kratos. Following orders. Now you think you can handle anything, don't you? I had forgotten how alike all humans are… so irrational. I thought Mithos liked you because you were different, more sophisticated than the rest of them- but really, there are some things which just cannot change… but despite that he still trusts you more than anyone, you know." Yuan sighed before continuing, "I'm going to stall for you while I can, but don't expect me to do anything else. I've already given you more help than I probably should have."

"…I see. I can't agree with most of what you're saying, but... thanks I suppose."

"You probably won't be thanking me later, but I'll accept it where I can. I just want you to finally see the things you should have… already known." There was a sad aura about him as he turned around, blue ponytail swishing behind.

"Humph."

Pink wings unfurled behind him as he took off gracefully towards the afternoon sky. Kratos cringed, and looked over nervously at Anna. She noticed him watching her face, but she was too fascinated to look away. When Yuan had cleared the trees he spoke in a barely audible voice, probably thinking that nobody would hear-

"Do what you like, Kratos. It's your choice, just... don't waste your time anymore."

.

A/N: Just so you know, Yuan still doesn't particularly like Kratos. It's more of a "been-around-you-for-thousands-of-years" kind of sentiment that drives him to be "nice"... more about that coming up later. Besides, if Yuan doesn't say things like this, who will? lol