[[Thanks for the encouraging reviews, guys! I hope you enjoy this chapter as much as you liked the last two~

Also bonus points to whoever can tell me what game Stella is from. YES I PUT A RANDOM CAMEO IN THE FANFIC. Because I can.]]

"Oh, Good morning, Raven!" a young blond woman shouted out as she spotted him passing by. "It feels like you almost never stop by anymore," she said, lifting up the signboard she held in her lap, on which was displayed the tavern's specials for the day.

Raven stopped, and laughed, "yeah well, ol' Raven's been busy, miss Stella" He shifted slightly, adjusting his hold on the bag of groceries he was carrying, "haven't had much time fer my usual carousin', y'see."

"I heard," she responded, somberly, "It really is a shame; he seemed like a good guy."

"Still is, he just ain't right in th' head fer now," he said, smiling calmly.

"So then... you think he'll recover?" Stella asked, turning away for a moment to hang the sign by the door behind her.

Raven nodded, "I'm sure he will. It's a slow progress, but he is getting better."

"Well that's good then. I'm sure you're taking good care of him," she said with a smile. "Still though, you should stop by sometime; have some time for yourself, y'know?"

"I s'pose you're right," Raven mused, half to himself. "Listen, I gotta get goin', you do take care, Miss Stella."

"Same to you," she said, and watched the older man trot off down the busy street, expertly navigating through the crowd.

Upon his return, the sight of Flynn looking rather upset, slumped with his back against the door greeted him.

"Flynn? Y'alright? Where's Yuri?" Raven jogged the remaining distance between him and the younger man, afraid something was wrong.

"He's inside..." Flynn responded in a tired sort of tone. Raven waited for him to elaborate, and when it was clear he wasn't going to, he turned his gaze to Sodia, standing at Flynn's side.

"He tried to give Yuri a hug," Sodia said with a sigh. "I tried to tell him it wasn't a good idea but he insisted that it would be alright. It wasn't," she said, making Flynn flinch slightly.

Raven rolled his eyes, a tired look falling over his face, "I guess it's up ta ol' Raven ta calm him down then. Miss Sodia if ya could get the Commandant outta th' way of th' door while I get Yuri I'd appreciate it." He set the bag down and sidled around to the side of the small house, locating the window he had left half open to let the warm spring breeze in, "Hey now Yuri, it's alright, no one's gonna hurt ya," he assured gently as he opened the window to its full extent. He began to poke his head in before sharply retreating and ducking instead, just barely missing the glass vase that had suddenly been sent flying out the open window, flowers and all. It collided with the wall of the neighboring building, shattering into a slew of pastel colored pieces. The flowers had left the vase in the course of its flight, and now laid strewn around the small alleyway, like the victims of a terrible car accident. Raven sadly regarded one bright purple flower that had fallen in front of him before leaping to his feet again, "Damnit, Yuri! What'd ya do that for?" he yelled, all pretense of gentleness gone, as he clambered in through the window. "You know it ain't right ta go smashin' other people's things," he folded his arms, surveying the room, looking for a certain- "ah, there ya are. Curled up in the corner. I shoulda guessed."

He crouched next to the younger man, who sat with his head between his legs, his long dark hair falling like an iridescent curtain, obscuring his face from view. His body seemed to shake slightly, an effect that Raven's proximity seemed to only amplify."Hey, hey, it's just me. It's just the ol' man. You're alright, I promise. I ain't gonna let anythin' happen to ya and neither is Flynn. He's just kind of an idiot sometimes," Raven talked in a soothing but casual voice, rather regretting yelling moments before.

Sitting there curled up quivering, Yuri seemed so small and frail, it was almost as if he was a different person. And really, in some ways, he was, as if half of Yuri had left his body along with his voice. It still pained Raven to think that the last time he had heard Yuri's voice it had been in the form of a scream, a wordless, gut wrenching, involuntary cry, asking for someone, anyone, to help him. It wasn't a scream that Raven found easy to forget. Even if Yuri did eventually get better, even if he eventually did forget the terrible sight he had found when he ran to answer that cry, Raven knew that the sound would always lurk in the far corner of his mind, resurfacing in his nightmares.

He detected a slight movement in Yuri, and turned his attention outwards again. Slowly, Yuri lifted his head, looking at Raven with those dark, bewitching eyes. They seemed to be filled with so much despair, anger, and fear, and yet seemed completely blank, an effect that had puzzled Raven since he had first seen it. It had been at that time as well that he realized that none of them was going to hear the sound of his voice in a good long time.

He entered the room, greeted by the sight of Yuri, propped up slightly in the bed, his fair skin seeming even paler than ever. He was covered in bandages; a few still bearing splotches of red that had soaked through. Yuri was technically awake, but his mind seemed only half there, as he vacantly watched Karol rest in the bed next to him. The boy's expression seemed pained as he tossed and turned in his sleep, occasionally letting out small whimpers of pain that would rouse Estelle from her fitful state of half sleep at his bedside. She would check to make sure he hadn't opened up any of his wounds before falling back into sleep.

Raven approached Yuri, a floorboard creaking slightly as his weight pressed down on it. The sound drew Yuri's attention towards the older man; the younger man's gaze causing Raven to stop dead in his tracks. "H-hey..." Raven rasped quietly, barely above a whisper. He could only see one of Yuri's eyes, the other being covered by a bandage, but that was all he needed to see to understand. There was something missing in Yuri's gaze, and it wasn't coming back anytime soon.

He turned his gaze to Judith, who sat at the foot of Yuri's bed, and asked, despite feeling he already knew the answer, "hasn't said anythin' yet, has he?"

Judith shook her head, her usually radiantly beautiful face marred by a look of distress, "All of his wounds have closed up now though, thanks to Estelle... well, all of the one's we can see, anyway."

Karol squirmed, faintly murmuring a pained "Yuri..." in his sleep.

"See? Nothin' to be afraid of, just me," Raven smiled calmly. He got to his feet, offering Yuri his hand, "I think Flynn's gotta get goin' now. You aughta come out an' say good bye, he's awfully worried about ya."

Yuri seemed reluctant at first, but gingerly took Raven's firm callused hand, allowing the shorter man to pull him to his feet and lead him to the door. Raven turned the handle and pushed the door open. He had barely gotten Yuri out the door when Flynn rushed to his side.

"Yuri, I-I'm sorry I didn't mean to upset you..." Flynn said, seeming flustered and desperate to amend the misstep he had made.

Yuri gave him another halfhearted shove as he had the day before, his gaze blank.

Flynn laughed slightly, "I suppose I should be acting more professional since we're down in the city today, shouldn't I?"

Yuri nodded simply in response.

"Flynn, we really should get going now," Sodia interjected, tugging gently at the blond man's sleeve, "We need to be back at Zaphias to meet with His Highness Ioder in a few hours."

Flynn seemed reluctant to leave Yuri, but at the same time knew he couldn't neglect his duty. "A-Alright, you go on ahead, I'll be right there..." he then turned his attention back to Yuri, "I'll come visit you again Yuri as soon as I can, alright?" Upon receiving a nod of affirmation from his friend, he turned to Raven, "Thank you again for doing this... I can't imagine it's easy for you..."

Raven laced his fingers behind his head, nonchalant as ever, "don't worry yerself about it. We're doin' just fine. Now go on, ya don't want ta keep Miss Sodia waitin', do ya?"

"Ah, yes," Flynn seemed slightly distracted, glancing over in the direction Sodia had gone, "I should probably go..." He turned to follow her, yelling over his shoulder, "take care Yuri, Raven!"

Yuri and Raven watched him go in silence, until they could no longer make him out among the thick crowd. "Looks like it's just you an' me again, huh?" Raven mused, then adding "and Repede too, 'a course," as he turned to see the dog suddenly at Yuri's side.

Yuri nodded slowly, giving the dog a pat on the head.

Raven then cast a sideways glance down the alleyway and sighed slightly, "looks like I'm gonna hafta get a new vase."