Tales of Free Falling

Summary: A year after Yuri's fall at Zaude, a broken world is putting itself back together and learning to adapt. Now it's Yuri's turn to confront his own mistakes, namely a decision he made in a haze of pain and pride. This time, though, mistakes have their prices and no one involved is getting off easy. Two-shot.

AN: Thank you for all of your support on the last part! Both Siri and I appreciate the feedback and we're so thrilled that people seem to like what we've put so much work into. This is our first collaboration together, so that it's been successful is the biggest reward.

Carry on!

Sodia has only the clothes on her back, the boots on her feet, and the nondescript knife at her belt that looks nothing like the one she dropped on the roof of Zaude. It looks nothing like the other one, the standard issue blade of the knights, because it makes her feel physically ill to look at it.

She only looks back once, when she's far enough away that she doesn't think Flynn will be watching anymore. She's right and what she sees leaves her hurting even more than she already is.

Her commander (former commander, she tells herself) is standing where she left him but has dropped his face into his hands, all appearance of storm and fury gone, replaced with a pain she feels as acutely as her own. She's hurt him unspeakably, she knows, and being expelled from the knights is the least Flynn could have done to her.

He could have had her arrested, he could have her tried in court, he could have her killed outright. That he didn't is a kindness that she knows she doesn't deserve, and she knows that he won't talk or gossip about her, that he won't tell the men under his command stories about her to prove a point.

Sodia doesn't know where she's going to live, what she's going to do.

She'll probably leave the city entirely, find a new place, find a new purpose.

But first she has to pay a visit to the Lower Quarter. She has to find Yuri Lowell and at the very least, find out why.

Yuri was glad to see no one hanging around his typical spot where he likes to sit on the bank to the river and think. Where he likes to sit and ponder. Sit and just be alone. Sometimes people will wander by and usually they will stop and talk to him, but so far today no one has paid him much mind and he is ever grateful for it. They could definitely tell he was not in the best mood. They could probably see his hanging head, his distant eyes, and the way Repede sat atypically closer to him than usual.

He had left the dog behind during his lunch with Flynn and he had really regretted it. He needed to have someone else there in Flynn's office and while Repede wasn't a human he was still a better person than most people are. Certainly his best friend next to Flynn.

He had half a mind to grab his bag from his room (kept clean and vacant just in case he randomly dropped by) and leave Zaphias. He had done what he came to do and he had done enough damage for the time being. He could leave, return to Dahngrest, do some work for the guild (maybe start fixing up their headquarters) and then return in a little when tempers had settled and everyone had had time to think things through.

But then Yuri imagined making it back to Dahngrest, to his new home, going to bed and waking up to find Flynn standing over him; that icy glare of his ready to throw him out his second story window. Yuri has done enough free falling in to last him a lifetime; he didn't want to do anymore if he could avoid it. So he found Repede and came to his spot hoping to toss some of his guilt into the raging water that was sweeping by under his feet.

He felt so, so guilty; he hurt Flynn deeply. He was angry at himself; he had let things rattle him more than he had intended to. He never came here for himself. He didn't come to get revenge or make himself feel better. This had been about Flynn, about making sure his best friend wasn't going to get more seriously hurt later on. This had been about righting what he had done wrong.

And he had. He knew the truth had to come out at some point, but it didn't make things suck any less at the moment.

Not sure anything can make things suck any more at least.

Yuri stops mid-thought as he gets that sinking feeling you get when something or someone is watching you. He tries to ignore it until Repede shifts next to him and turns and hunches over to begin growling ever so slightly.

Yuri doesn't need to turn around to see who is standing only a couple feet behind him. "What do you want, Sodia?"

Sodia finds Yuri easily, sitting in front of the murky river that runs through the Lower Quarter. He has the dog with him, who notices her immediately and starts growling seconds later. She crosses her arms over her chest and waits until Yuri turns around. He doesn't look surprised to see her, even disheveled and red around the eyes with scuffs of dirt on her knees from where she dropped earlier and her hair coming loose from its braid.

Good.

"I came here to ask you something," she tells him, and spreads her hands out wide at his wary expression. "I have nothing, Yuri Lowell." She means it in every sense of the word. "No need to look so suspicious." She steps closer to the river's edge but stops at a good distance. "Go ahead and look, then." She shifts the top of her uniform to show off the lack of stripes on her uniform and her belt, lacking a sword. "Are you happy?"

The dog continues to growl a low rumble from his throat and Sodia ignores him.

"I'm just here to ask a question," she continues. "Then I'll be out of your hair."

And do what, she doesn't know. Likely nothing of importance, but there's a whole world out there. Surely there has to be something. She'll do what she has to and forge what she has to. That's what Flynn taught her and after all she's done to him (because she still hates Yuri Lowell with an intensity that scares her right down to her bones), the least she can do is follow his lessons.

"Why did you wait until now to tell?"

There are more but that's the one that sums them all up, the one that keeps her focused on not screaming right there in the street.

Yuri turns back to stare at the water and lets a hollow laugh rise through his tightened vocal cords. "You have got to be kidding me. You came all the way down here to ask that? You really are worthless, aren't you?"

He stands up now. She deserves at least that much of his respect; it won't be in his words because he has nothing nice to say to her, but maybe he can convey something through his actions. He turns to her and puts a hand on his hip, looking her dead in the eyes. "Time ran out, Sodia. I never told you I was going to keep my mouth shut forever. I never told you that you were going to walk away from what you did with easily cleaned hands. I told you that I was giving you a chance and I did."

I gave you longer than I should have at that.

Sodia opens her mouth to respond but Yuri cuts in. "I gave you a chance and you didn't take it. I said that I was waiting for someone to come in and take the spot next to him that I could never fill. To be the friend that I can never be; you had that opportunity. You could have been everything Flynn needed to be the greatest commandant this kingdom has ever seen, but you let it all slip away when you lied to him."

Sodia had actually been feeling….well, not better in the least, but more grounded. Less hysterical, less out of control, less like a hurricane and more like a downpour. She had thought that she could keep that composure and stay grounded. She'd just been rejected by the one person she respected in the entire world, even more than herself, how could it get much worse?

She should know better than to think that.

It always gets worse.

All of that composure flies out the window when Yuri starts to speak, and all that control she thought she had disappears in the wake of it.

Absently, she glances down and realizes that her fists are clenching at her sides.

Violet eyes shine with that same hatred that makes her burn with both power and shame.

"You call me worthless?" she spits, suddenly trembling, "You say you gave me a chance? When you're the worthless criminal who couldn't even make it as a knight? When you're the one that everyone hurts and bleeds for every time?" she snorts out a laugh, hurting and furious and losing her grip.

She doesn't know what it is about this man. From the get-go, she's hated him. Even knowing that Flynn trusts him isn't enough to calm that, and irritation morphed to anger morphed to rage morphed to the strange and foreign hatred she feels for him, that sets her every hair on end and her blood boil. No one else in the world makes her feel this way, like she's not herself at all.

"Well, you've won now," Her laughter goes high and borders that knife edge of hysteria she wanted to avoid, "You got what you wanted, I guess. Not a knight anymore."

She can't keep back the grin, just a little bit manic, and feels the telltale feeling of tears building up behind her eyes.

She's already killed Yuri Lowell once. She's just lost everything, maybe she can do it again. And then she almost immediately flinches. What's she become? What's wrong with her? She hates herself even more for the very thought. But there it is.

Sodia reaches into her belt and unhooks the knife from her belt, watches as Yuri goes completely still. She fingers it for several seconds before whipping her hand back and flinging the blade into the river, watching it sink with a splash. It's all she had, and now she's thrown that away too.

She realizes that what she did was wrong. She hates that she hurt Flynn, that she forced him to do what he did. She knows and understands that. That doesn't mean that she feels bad for what she did. Sodia knows that it was wrong, that she didn't mean to do it, that it was an idiotic thing to do in every way. That doesn't mean that she regrets it.

For the first time, Sodia realizes what it means to regret without remorse and to do wrong without guilt.

Yuri blinks and takes a second to glance at the water behind him; as if to make sure the knife was really gone. His heart was pounding; he had honestly frozen when she reached for the dagger.

That look in her eyes; it reminded him of himself and that shook him to the core. He can hear the resolve and resentment and complete lack of guilt in her words in the same tone he has spoken in so many times. When he's determined, when he's seeing nothing but red and white in the corners of his eyes.

And suddenly he saw a bit of himself in her. He could become the very thing that stood in front of him. He too could turn into a person so driven by loyalty and anger and guilt that it warps them into seeing ideals that aren't real; ideals that are not humane. In a way, he had already become that person. He's murdered. He's had blood on his hands. He's found himself in that moment where nothing makes sense but a single thought in his mind. Good or bad as it may be.

It was wrong and he knew it. He became that person so others wouldn't have too. He had never meant to drive someone else into the very thing he resented about himself.

She had finally found the resolve he was pushing her to find and it was a resolve that lead her down all the wrong paths. He knew she hated him, but this…was completely different. Completely new. Sodia had gained something (or lost something if Yuri was looking at it realistically) and now she wasn't the same person from Zaude.

She's…snapped. He realizes suddenly.

Yuri feels his eyes widen and he finds himself shaking his head. "You think I wanted this to happen? No. I never wanted any of this for you or for me." He takes a deep breath trying to find the right words. It was going to be hard for him to get through to her. He had to be careful with what he was about to say.

But at the same time he had to tell her why he had done it. She deserves that. He was going to be honest; even if it hurt her.

"I made a mistake." He starts out slowly. "I should have told Flynn about you right after it happened. I should have told everyone the truth about what happened up there, but at that time I couldn't bring myself to do it. Everyone was worried about other things; about the Adephagos, the empire and the guilds, the future. Flynn was single handedly trying to pick up the pieces Alexei had broken and thrown all over the world. You were supposed to be the person to take my place next to him. I can't be a knight; I don't have the willpower or the resolve. I'm weak in everything that you have.

"But after things settled down. After I watched you standing next to him at the treaty signing, at commencement ceremonies and funerals I saw that I had been wrong. Flynn has worked his entire life to get rid of liars and the twisted minded people; those who are both like and unlike me. By lying to Flynn you started down the path of becoming exactly what he is fighting so hard to eliminate. If killing me hadn't been enough, what would have?"

He stops now to give her a chance to talk, but she just stands there, waiting. So he continues.

"I came back here today to tell Flynn that I made a bad judgment call because I believe in fixing my mistakes. In righting what I have done wrong. You did not right your wrongs, Sodia."

Sodia stops the words that are seconds away from spilling out of her, all the poison and hate that just make her hate herself more than she already does.

Flynn said the same thing, she remembers. Sodia remembers every word from that horrible conversation. Flynn can't trust her. Yuri can't trust her to not hurt Flynn. In the end it's all for him and she can't even fault him for it.

"How dare you," she finally grits out between clenched teeth, "How dare you lecture me? Do you think you have any room to talk? Any room to say a word?" the more she speaks the louder she gets until her voice pitches upwards and she drags it back down. "You're right about one thing, though," Sodia says and the tears finally come again, hot and angry, "I'm not worthy to be by Flynn's side. I've dirtied my hands for him for nothing and that's something that will never go away. I do know that much."

Sodia tilts her body to face the sun and pretends that it can burn away the moisture on her cheeks.

"Yuri Lowell, you—" she starts and can't finish, instead scrubbing a hand fiercely across her eyes.

She'll never return to Zaphias after this.

She'll never see Flynn again.

Sodia turns away from the sun, away from Yuri, and starts walking without a backwards glance towards the gate out of the Lower Quarter, leaving Yuri standing stock still. She doesn't watch him sink back down to the ground. She has nothing, she knows, and somehow the very thought is more freeing than anything could be.

As he takes up his seat again, a leg dangling over the edge to the river, Yuri isn't entirely sure he knows what just transpired. He's seen people in various stages of emotion; heart breaking, angry, raw emotion…but Sodia had shown him something completely new and he couldn't help but feel that part of it was his doing.

Or most of it.

Repede takes up his seat next to him and lies down with a sigh and a small 'womph' of air.

"Heh, you got that right, Repede. This day just keeps getting better and better." Laying a hand on top of blue fur he ruffles Repede's hair and scratches behind his ears letting out his own frustrated sigh. "She was right, you know. I don't have any room to talk. I should learn when to keep my mouth shut, might save me and other people a whole lotta trouble later on."

Estelle doesn't think about where she's going.

The afternoon sun is warm on her face when she steps out of the castle, because no one would ever dare try and lock her back up again. The Upper Quarter's nowhere near as bustling as the Middle or the Lower but somehow she finds herself taking all the back routes that Yuri showed her to avoid people because she doesn't want to stop or get wrapped up in anything else.

She does slow, just a little bit, through the Lower Quarter, just long enough to say hello to Hanks. He seconds Flynn's words and informs her that Yuri's down by the river, because he assumes correctly that she's looking for him.

"Thank you, Hanks!" she calls behind her and heads down to the river.

It doesn't take her long to find him; Yuri's in his usual spot.

"Yuri—" she cuts herself off because Yuri's not alone, and Estelle ducks behind a wall without thinking about it.

Sodia? What's Sodia doing here? There's never been any love lost between her and Yuri (to say the absolute least) and it certainly doesn't look or sound like they're starting a friendship right now. She can't hear what they say until Sodia raises her voice. They're arguing, or…something. Sodia turns and Estelle finds her attention drawn to…

There's no sword at her hip.

Estelle remembers Flynn and the haunted look on his face and a sword that wasn't his leaning up his desk that he didn't want to look at. Now there's Yuri looking upset like she's never seen. And Sodia.

Estelle remains hidden until Yuri's seated and wonders why her heart's pounding so hard, like she's just witnessed something really important that she doesn't quite understand. She doesn't mean to eavesdrop and it's probably better that she hid instead of risking catching their attention by finding another place, but she still feels a little bad about it.

Flynn said that he was injured, Estelle reminds herself, and approaches.

"Yuri?" she asks. She doesn't feel the need to raise her voice; she knows that Yuri will hear her.

Yuri practically jumps at the sound of his name and his jolt of shock causes Repede to bolt up beside him. They both spot Estelle at the same time and Yuri's jaw drops as Repede lets out a yawn and lays back down. He had recognized her voice, but it still startled him. He wasn't expecting Estelle to show up out of the blue like this. How did she even know he was in town?

Well that's a stupid question.

Of course she would show up. She would show up while he was still rattled from his conversation with Flynn and of course she would appear after Sodia decides to come make him eat his own words (and scare him a bit). As he stands up he can't help but cast an eye roll up at the blue sky.

Seriously, Fate?

Turning just as Estelle reaches him, he looks down at her with the best smile he can muster, but he can still feel the corners of his lips threatening to twitch downwards.

"Hey you, what are you doing down here? I was going to come by later and-" and he freezes as she immediately starts looking him over in a panicked fluster he was all too used to seeing. "Hey, hey Estelle. What's going on? I'm not hurt or anything."

Estelle pauses in her scrutiny and glances up sharply when Yuri says that he's not hurt.

"That's not what Flynn said," she says without hesitating, "He told me you were injured. I got worried, so… You should come straight to me when you get hurt." Her hands brush his shoulders and she doesn't pull away. He's solid and warm under her fingers, just as he should be, and she can't see any bandages anywhere and he doesn't flinch like he hurts, but...

Still.

Flynn wouldn't tell her such a thing without a reason, would he?

Yuri's upset, that much is more than obvious. It doesn't take a genius to see it. It's obvious in the way that he smiles like it's the last thing he wants to do, like it's for her benefit and not his. It wouldn't be the first time and she hates it just the same every time he does it.

Yuri takes both of her busy hands and holds them in one of his and puts his free hand to his face. "Flynn said that huh?" He lets out a short, frustrated sigh. "I should have seen this coming, that bastard."

He had already been surprised when Flynn didn't give him a black eye, but he should have known that Flynn wasn't letting him get away this easily. But telling Estelle that he was hurt? That was low…even for Flynn.

Giving Estelle her hands back he takes a couple steps away and sits back down to dangle his legs over the ledge, just above the quickly flowing brown water. Repede looks up at him, suddenly curious about the change in his master's voice.

Yuri puts a hand next to Repede's dagger hilt and looks up at Estelle. "I promise you I'm not hurt, Estelle."

Estelle doesn't look convinced in the least. She taps a foot and her small hands curl into fists. "Then why would Flynn tell me that? He wouldn't just play that kind of joke on me Yuri."

Quite suddenly Yuri realizes what Flynn's true intentions are. He wasn't getting out of this without giving the princess an explanation, without admitting to the lies he told her. Great, just what he needed: to recount the tale he never wanted to recount in the first place, one more time.

Dammit, Flynn, I'm going to kill you.

Even though Yuri knew he totally deserves this. He just wasn't in the mood right now. He felt bad enough already; he knew he was hurting Flynn not only by forcing him to see the betrayal of one of his best friends, but for being a part of that betrayal himself.

Telling Flynn had been one thing, telling Estelle is going to be completely different. She was more sensitive about these things not to mention he had lied to her first and foremost before seeing anyone else. In fact, he had made up his lie while she was trying to heal him that night they reunited.

And now he felt like he was going to be sick again.

Yuri knows that telling Estelle is going to be much harder than telling Flynn. It had taken him a long time to get up the courage to tell his best friend in the first place, but Estelle is a whole new level. This he was not prepared for. He should be; he should have expected this confrontation coming to Zaphias, but he had been so focused on the whole Sodia thing, telling Estelle hadn't really crossed his mind.

Crap, this day sucks.

Yuri's change in demeanor doesn't go unnoticed to her, not a bit. He's suddenly tense and anxious in a way that can't simply stem from annoyance or long-suffering resignation. Not to mention that he's not moving like he's hurt, but Flynn... he told her. Why would he lie? He wouldn't just do that to her on a whim, not when he knows that she puts so much of herself into the well-being of the people she loves.

He wouldn't do this to her if there wasn't anything more to it.

Estelle tugs off her gloves and joins Yuri at the edge of the river and sits down next to him, ignoring the scuffs of brown that show up on the white of her dress.

Estelle reaches out once more for him but instead of touching like a healer she touches like a friend, sidling a little closer to take his hand in hers. She gives it a squeeze and his fingers curl around hers, warm and familiar.

Flynn's upset, she remembers. Yuri's upset too. She doesn't believe in coincidences anymore, not after everything they've been through, and there's something in this. She just doesn't know what it is, but she doesn't like seeing him hurting.

And he's hurting now, even if it might not be physical.

Estelle tries to put the pieces together but it's not coming out right. Flynn, who's anxious and wearing his dress uniform that he hates so much and carrying a sword that's not his. Sodia, who just left like she's never coming back. And now Yuri, who doesn't want to so much as look at her, who looks so very unlike himself right now that it's not funny. She keeps adding two and two and coming up with three. There's something missing from this equation, something very important.

"Yuri..." she begins eventually, then pauses to begin again, looking worriedly up at him, "What's wrong?"

Sodia stabbed me last year on the top of Zaude and I lied to you and Flynn and everyone about it so I decided to wait an eon and come back today to tell Flynn and ruin Sodia's life and now I get to tell you.

Oh, does he wish it was that easy to explain. Yuri hesitates before letting out a long winded breath. "I had to tell Flynn something this afternoon that I never wanted to tell him. That I thought I wouldn't ever have to tell him." Yuri closes his eyes and raises his face to the sun. "I hurt him and it didn't exactly bring up good memories for myself."

No, stop. This isn't about you. This is about Flynn and Estelle. It's about Karol, Raven, Judy, and Rita.

Yuri puts a hand to his face and shakes his head. "Something happened awhile ago and I made a bad judgment call."

Estelle gives his hand another squeeze and shifts to lace her fingers with his.

"I don't know what it is you had to tell him," she says finally, "But I know that if you hurt him, it was because you had to or because something else would hurt worse." She knows this like she knows the sun rises, because Yuri and Flynn have their problems but more than anything, they're so close and they care about each other more than anything. If Yuri hurt him, it was because he felt he had to, of this Estelle has no doubts.

Sometimes, people don't understand why Yuri does the things he does. Sometimes she doesn't know why he does the things he does.

There aren't really any platitudes she can give him and he wouldn't want them anyway. It's clear that he feels bad and nothing she can say can take that away, especially not without her knowing what happened. And oh, she wants to know. She wants to know very badly.

But he hurts and the last thing she wants to do is make it worse. But she doesn't know how to make it better, or even if she can.

Estelle leans a little bit closer until their sides brush in wordless support.

"I wish that I could heal your heart as well as your body."

Yuri lets out a small snort. "I don't deserve that right now."

He doesn't need to look at Estelle to know that she was now completely confused. He is going to have to tell her. He has done enough lying...enough hurting. If she didn't hear it from him she would hear it from Flynn and that would hurt more. Just like hearing about Sodia from someone other than Yuri would have hurt Flynn more. It was just as Estelle said. He's doing this because it's the right thing to do; even if it's the last thing he wanted to do. Besides, if he didn't, Estelle would spend the rest of the day, weekend (until he found the gall to tell her), wondering about what had happened.

He takes a minute to think before turning to her and starting slowly, the same way he had with Flynn and it's easier this time. Partially because he has already done this once already, but also because as hard as it was to tell Flynn he was glad, if not a little relieved, to have it off his chest. That was one down, six to go (well five because Repede isn't stupid and probably figured it out months ago). This would be another step in the right direction. Not the wrong one.

"Do you remember the days after Zaude? After you returned to Zaphias and we ran into each other just up the street from here near my room." She nods and he looks away, but continues. "You had healed me after I told you I was sore from falling. I showed you the wounds on my arms and the broken ribs."

Estelle remembers well. She remembers a constant fear and a cold chunk of ice sitting in her stomach for that entire time. She remembers looking for him right after the battle, and when she says right after she means for three days straight without resting, until she drops to the ground and doesn't get up. She remembers digging through rubble and searching through water, of ignoring everything (including trivialities like food and sleep and everyone's words) in favor of ceaselessly searching, of being scolded by Judy and of hitting her breaking point and screaming at Flynn right there in front of everyone only to apologize and start crying seconds later.

She remembers the trip back with Repede, the combination of hope and despair that nearly takes her over until there's nothing but pure relief when she sees Yuri stagger around the corner, half-dead but not quite. She remembers being so happy that she hadn't even gone to the castle first before checking his home in the Lower Quarter. She remembers healing him, healing the cuts and bruises that he showed her, knitting bone and muscle back together.

So yes, she remembers. To say she doesn't is an insult of the highest caliber.

She thinks all of this but only says, simply,

"Yes, of course I do."

How could she ever forget?

Yuri nods as he continues to stare into the water under their feet. It had been a stupid question (and Estelle had answered it as gracefully as he expected), but asking it gives him the time he needs to formulate the words he is going to use next.

"The story I had told you, the same one I told to Flynn and everyone else, was a lie. Those bruises I showed you were only part of the story."

He felt her grip around his fingers loosen up a bit and he grasps at her slender hand tightly; silently begging her not to let go. He knew that telling Estelle about Sodia wasn't going to be as heart breaking to her as it had been to Flynn, but he had still lied to her. To make it worse he had lied to her about one of the subjects she was always the most serious about; someone else's health.

Guilt starts to tug at his spine and Yuri mentally shakes himself, trying to keep it down. He remembers a conversation he had with Raven a few weeks after Zaude; one night over a dying campfire when he couldn't sleep and the old man was on watch duty. Raven had told him about their searches for him; how Estelle had pushed herself further than anyone thought a human could possibly go. About how even Rita looked between researching the shrine and Judy took Ba'ul over miles and miles of ocean and coast. That he and Karol would go out on the ships with Flynn until Raven had a talk with the commandant about maybe moving on in a fashion that Yuri would approve of.

They had done everything in their power to try and find him. Save him. And then he lied to them.

I'm kind of a terrible person aren't I?

Repede shifts and sits up staring at him curiously. He was just as interested as Estelle was. After taking a couple breaths Yuri slowly recounts the events at Zaude the same way he had earlier that afternoon; from the blastia falling, to him hearing armor, and then feeling the air rush past him before he couldn't remember anything else.

And when he is finished he keeps talking. He doesn't know why, but he can't seem to stop himself. He tells Estelle about his discussion with Sodia after that massive monster battle and how he watched Sodia change over time and how his rationale for waiting dwindled to the point where he couldn't take it anymore. He even told her about his journey from Dahngrest and how he had practiced what he was going to say to Flynn, but that's where he stops. He wasn't going to tell her about his conversation with Flynn or the most recent one with Sodia; that wasn't for him to talk about. Not right now at least.

Realizing he has been talking for a good twenty minutes Yuri looks over to his friend, trying to show every ounce of sincerity that he can."I'm sorry I lied to you, Estelle, but at the time I felt like it was what I had to do."

For a good three minutes after Yuri finally goes quiet, all Estelle can do is hold his hand and sit next to him to let the information sink in. She listens to every word, takes it all in and adds it in to what she already knows… and doesn't like what comes out of it. He...Yuri almost died. He almost died and she wasn't there to help him. He was up there on that building by all by himself, dying at the hands of a knight, a loyalknight, and no one had been there to help him.

She feels his grip tighten and she gives a squeeze in return.

She won't let him go.

"Yuri..." she says when she can and when the lump in her throat doesn't make her hurt, "That must have...you must have been so scared." She doesn't pity him, she respects him and cares for him far too much to ever pity him, but her heart aches for him anyway.

A part of her can't help but be more than a little angry at him for keeping this from her but those feelings are kept at bay thanks to the sympathy, for now. Actually, she's quite angry at him, but that can wait for at least a little while. She takes no satisfaction kicking a man when he's already down. Then there's the rest of her that is unashamedly angry, at the fact that a knight, a knight loyal to Flynn of all people, would dare to-

Estelle drags in a breath and realizes that she's shaking. She steadies herself and gathers her composure before she asks, quietly,

"May I see it?"

It's a question that isn't a question so much as it is a demand, steel wrapped up in velvet.

She feels like the biggest idiot for not seeing, for not checking, for not—she can't believe that he would hide that from her. She doesn't like to think that he would but it's clear that he did and it's a thought that makes her seethe with an anger she doesn't recognize.

Yuri knew she was going to ask (well insist is a better word for it), but he still grimaces at the question (demand). He nods curtly before pulling his hand from hers and lifting his shirt. Next to him he feels Repede shift and let out a small whine as he reveals the pink scar in the sunlight, way too bright against his pale skin.

It's a mark he has gotten used to at this point. He barely notices it when he catches himself in the mirror and he is alone, but when other people are around, Yuri could almost call himself paranoid. He had always worried about someone spotting it by mistake when he was trying to hide it. If he was honest with himself he had been more worried about someone seeing it rather than someone seeing him react to pain from it. It was always easier to make up an excuse for a random ache rather than a blatant blemish on his skin.

When their journey was still going on he had made sure he bathed by himself; that when he changed his clothes or washed them no one was looking his direction and when they were at the onsen he wrapped his towel up on his hips just a little too high so no one could see. He carried a spare shirt around (if it could be called a shirt; it was a ratty, dingy, nasty piece of cloth that he would throw on and get made fun of for) and wore it if the one he was wearing got dirty, torn, or wet.

It had been exhausting trying to cover it up. Almost more exhausting than trying to cover up the pains he felt from it time after time.

While Estelle had healed the wound well enough it still ached for a long time after. Every once and awhile the scar would itch or send a small twinge across his stomach and he couldn't do much to cover up his initial flinch or hand twitch reactions.

Repede lets out an indignant huff and Yuri looks over at him. "I know Repede, I never told you either, but you figured it out pretty quick huh?"

Silent, Estelle shifts and brushes her fingertips to the scar, feeling the raised edges and mentally calculating how deep the blade that made it had to be. She lines it up with what she knows about the human body and her face goes stark white.

"Yuri...Yuri, this would have killed you," she manages to say and she hates how her voice shakes. A wound like that would have destroyed his liver, his appendix, a fair amount of his intestines...Estelle feels sick to her stomach and fights the urge to examine him again just because she can.

And...oh, spirits.

When she healed him, she'd been thinking that he'd been bruised and battered but otherwise alright. Broken bones and cracked ribs are no problem, bruises and cuts are no problem; she could take care of all of those in her sleep. Even the bigger, more gruesome injuries were a non-issue and she could manage what she could in battle to keep everyone safe and moving and alive, but after it was all over, there was no escaping a more thorough examination. A wound like that required a more thorough, delicate touch otherwise it would still hurt for a long time afterwards, and she hadn't taken care of it. How badly had it hurt him? How many times had he fought and kept going through that pain? How many times had she healed him from battles and hadn't touched what hurt him most.

It's suddenly obvious to her how much work he must have gone into to hide this, not just from her but from everyone else. Yuri's not exactly the type to wander around shirtless for fun but it wasn't like the world was ending when he did, but after Zaude he'd stopped washing up with Raven and Karol and he always seemed to have a spare shirt on him for when his normal one was being washed. She hadn't thought about it all that much but now it's just so obvious to her that something had been strange and hinky and wrong.

They'd all had other things to focus on at the time, though, like saving the world, and Estelle was mostly so happy to have him whole and alive that she'd look over about anything for it.

How much hurt could she have staved off had she simply noticed?

There's a sudden burning behind her eyes and she blinks rapidly to cover up tears.

Estelle opens her mouth to speak but the words don't come and she knows that if she forces them, she'll probably sob instead. So she says nothing and instead continues running her fingertips along the mark. She can't heal it fully or take away all the residual pain but she can examine the tangles in the wound and use her artes to remove and loosen what she can, and she does.

"I'm sorry," she says when she can, "I can't fix it completely. It's had too long to handle itself, I'd hurt you even more if I tried. It might ache sometimes when it rains or when you strain yourself too much but you should be fine for most everything else…it shouldn't hurt anymore. I'm sorry. I wish I could do more."

Yuri tenses and breathes in through his teeth as the scar tissue twinges and then suddenly loosens. He takes a deep breath, removes Estelle's hand from his stomach and lets his shirt drop back down. He grabs her hand again and rests it under his on the pavement.

"Thanks," He says softly. "That feels a lot better."

He's not lying either. The ever present knot and tenseness that had been there was suddenly gone. He had gotten so used to it he didn't realize how annoying it was. His body relaxes more than it has been able to for a long time and he sags a little; suddenly feeling tired. But he doesn't want to move. Not yet.

A silence falls between them and Yuri side-eyes Estelle wonder what she is thinking about. He can see that the princess is close to tears and he wants to kick himself or maybe throw himself into the river. She was angry at him and blaming herself and he knew it was all because he had waited so damn long to talk about this. He gives her hand a small squeeze.

"You know, you can't blame yourself for this. I brought this upon myself-"

"Damn straight you did."

What else could make this situation even better? Flynn.

"So you told her." Flynn's voice doesn't sound quite as angry anymore as he speaks up behind his two friends. He stares down at them with his arms crossed and gives Yuri his best glare.

Yuri doesn't look up however and just nods. His words sound far more tired than he wants them to, but they're honest. "Yeah, I told her."

Estelle glances up at Flynn's approach.

"Flynn…"

"Hello, Lady Estellise. Yuri," Flynn says and sits down on Yuri's other side. He's shed his dress uniform and composed himself, and while he still looks stressed, he's lost a good deal of the tightness around his eyes. It was half-impossible to actually get the alone time that he needed to cool down; after he ran into Estelle it was like people couldn't leave him alone, and Flynn eventually resorted to sitting underneath his desk and avoiding everyone for a good while, at least until he could look in the mirror and not look like he'd been sent through the wringer. He dangles his legs over the edge of the river and stares into the murky water, but not before eyeing the interlaced hands of his friends.

Good, then.

It's unexpected, then, when Estelle leans around Yuri and looks him straight in the eyes to say very calmly, "Please tell me that you've properly dealt with the situation," and Flynn can see her other hand clenched in her lap and hear the blade of ice in her voice. The only thing that goes unspoken is the steely Or I will.

Oh, dear. Oh, dear, she's angry. Estelle is about the farthest thing from happy right now and despite that Yuri seems calmer with her around than he was with him and she's not too angry to offer comfort, she's very, very not happy. She doesn't normally get mad, but…

Flynn doesn't know the extent to which Yuri's spoken, but he knows that it any given bit of it would be enough to make her angry.

It probably doesn't help that he scared her half to death in his efforts.

Flynn nods slowly. "Yes, I have." He says simply, quietly, turning his gaze away from the princess. Yes, he had, and there was that foul taste in his mouth that he knew was going to linger for a very long time. But still, he feels relieved and lighter and not as shell shocked.

Yuri looks between his two friends, not quite sure if he should say something, stay quiet, or move. He really, really wanted to move.

Estelle's...angry. He had seen her upset before, maybe a little testy about something, but never like this. Flynn is mad and sad and nothing Yuri could blame him for and he is the reason for it all. What is worse was that both of them are harboring words and emotions towards him, but they weren't letting them out. He knows Flynn wants to deck him a good one and he knows Estelle wants to have her words with him, but here they sat on either side of him, mouths shut, eyes wavering, and muscles twitching.

He is, quite literally, stuck in the middle.

Yuri Lowell does not like the middle.

Taking a small breath he looks at Flynn, maybe he could fix this situation. "I really am sorry, Flynn. I didn't want to be the one to tell you. Not like that."

Flynn sags a little a little at the apology and drops his head into his hands.

"I just don't… I don't know how I didn't see it now. I didn't think that someone I knew so well could have so much hatred. I thought I knew her. And now it just makes me wonder how well I know the others under my command. I have to be able to trust my soldiers. And now…" he almost can't say it because he doesn't want to believe it. "If Sodia could do that, what about someone else?" He shakes his head and folds his hands in his lap, twisting his fingers together.

"Please don't think like that," Estelle says. It'll poison you, she wants to say, because Flynn's soldiers adore him and that's one of the best things about him. It's what sets him apart from the other higher ups and it's the reason she trusts him so much to do what's right when so many others have taken advantage of their positions. He's warm and strong and likes people and she doesn't want him to lose that ever, to lose his faith in people. She won't tell him not to be paranoid; she'd be surprised if he wasn't for a good, long while. But he sounds so bitter and betrayed and she knows how that feels and how much it hurts and she wants him to fight it. She can fight for herself but she can't fight something like that, not for him. It's something he has to do for himself and it doesn't matter what it takes, she'll make sure that he fights.

"I'm so angry," Flynn says and cocks his head at Yuri, "At you, for you. You stupid moron. But I won't apologize for this. Ever." Yuri will understand that he's talking about Estelle. He's not sorry, not really, about siccing her on him and it still takes everything he has to not reach out and either strangle Yuri or punch him in the face. Several times. He has the sinking feeling, though, that Estelle will have more than a few words to say to him about it, though, after she's settled her own score with Yuri, because he can feel her seething in multiple directions.

Yuri just nods. He knows Flynn is angry and he knows he deserves the princess blindsiding. He knows he was wrong for lying and he knows that he's the reason for everyone's wavering emotions. He knew before he had even left Dahngrest that this was going to be the case.

It still sucked worse than he could have ever imagined. He didn't intend to cause his best friend to start second guessing everyone. He didn't intend to cause some unknown anger to surface in Estelle, but there it all is. The last thing he had intended was to get himself so shaken over it. Then again all throughout his life he had never intended for many things that have happened; some good, some bad. Perhaps he should just stop intending things in the first place then he would stop being so shocked when something turns out differently than he thought it would.

Stuck between wanting to say something to them and trying to sort out his own thoughts, Yuri has no idea what to do. They needed to get this over with; get these things out. Flynn started, but stopped and now his hands are twitching in his lap and Estelle's breathing through her teeth and he can see her jaw tensing out of the corner of his eye.

He could apologize over and over, but that wouldn't really help any of them. He could try and justify their anger; which would be easy because both of them were in their right, but also pointless because they didn't need to hear what they both already knew.

Figuring that staying quiet might be his best course of action Yuri leans back and looks up at the sky when he hears a rough growl behind him. He turns slightly to see Repede sitting and staring at him. Well, if dogs could glare, Repede was glaring. Yuri lets out a dry laugh. "You're mad at me too, huh, Repede? Though I bet I didn't fool you."

Repede gives a short bark in response which Yuri figures must mean "Well, I'm not stupid."

Flynn reaches over and gives Repede a scratch under the collar, the motion as familiar as breathing. He has the feeling that the dog won't be forgetting this anytime soon either, if the looks he's giving Yuri are any indication. Estelle looks like she doesn't know what to say. Flynn thinks that there just aren't any more words.

Not yet, anyway.

"At least someone had a clue of what was going on," Flynn says bitingly, catching a snarl between his teeth. He exchanges annoyed glances with Repede, "Unlike the rest of us, of course."

Estelle doesn't second his words but he's pretty sure that she agrees, sitting stiffly on Yuri's other side, distinctly like a princess instead of the way he's gotten rather used to, not quite to the indignity of sprawling but not far off.

Oh for the love of-

"That does it!" Yuri snaps. He rips his hand from Estelle and jumps up, startling Repede who jumps back out of his way with a surprised bark. Standing at his full height Yuri towers over Flynn purposefully and crosses his arms over his chest.

His face was going to regret this in the morning, but it is going to be so worth it once all of this was said and done with.

Narrowing raven colored eyes at his best friend, Yuri snarls through a clenched jaw, "Do you think this was something I planned out? That I purposefully waited all this time just so I could hurt you like this? Well, I didn't, Flynn. I made a mistake and I admitted that." He throws an arm out for dramatic effect. "All I am trying to do is be honest with you!"

Flynn goes stock-still.

Oh, that's it.

That is absolutely it.

"Oh, we're being honest now, are we?" he growls and scrambles to his feet as well so that he's face to face and chest to chest with Yuri. Estelle looks a bit startled at this turn of events but not particularly surprised, and she merely waits in silence, her hands folded across her lap. She knows that neither of them would dare step on her. "How's this for honesty?" And he reels his fist back and slams Yuri in the jaw as hard as he can, sending his friend flying a few steps backwards. "That's for lying to me," he says, and hits him again on the other side, "And that's for not trusting me." He stops then, breathing slightly heavy.

His knuckles ache a little bit but in a good way.

He feels better, actually.

Yuri catches himself before he can teeter over backwards to the ground and stands doubled over, rubbing his jaw for a good minute before his head stops spinning.

Freaking….ow! I knew he was pissed but jeez.

Once the ground has settled to its rightful, stable place he straightens himself up and cocks his head to the side at Flynn. "Better now?"

Flynn blinks at him. "Of all the-" He balls his fist up again and then lets it go and settles on grabbing the bridge of his nose. Of course Yuri did that on purpose.

But he does feel better. Much, much better.

Flynn remains standing until his breathing evens out and finds his gaze drawn to Estelle again, who's staring up at them with an unreadable look on her face. Somehow, that look makes something in him shift uncomfortably and he has the distinct feeling that she's going to do something, probably something that he's not going to like.

Yuri follows his stare and gulps a little bit.

The girl gets to her feet and bats the dust off of her dress with dainty hands.

She gives them both a crooked smile.

"Well, I suppose that if we're in the market for honesty right now…" she murmurs and approaches Yuri, reaching out to pat him on the cheek, excruciatingly gently where Flynn hit him the second time. And with that, she pulls back and clocks him right in the juncture where his arm meets his shoulder. Yuri makes a pained, choked whine when she hits him, reaching up immediately to rub gingerly at it. "That was for lying to me," she snaps, "How dare you hide something like from me? Don't ever do it again. Not when it involves your health."

Wide-eyed, Yuri can only nod at her.

And then Flynn makes his biggest mistake of the day and snickers under his breath. Three seconds later he finds himself faced with a furious green stare.

"And you!" Estelle shifts and walks up to him and gives no warning at all before smacking him upside the head, putting power into the hit instead of show, leaving Flynn wincing, "Don't ever worry me like that again. I don't care why you did it, it's not funny."

"Yes, Lady Estellise," Flynn replies immediately, blue eyes watering.

Spirits, he knew she was strong but he didn't call that one.

Yuri rolls his shoulder with a grimace and looks at Estelle wide-eyed. "God…damn. The old man wasn't lying when he said you could hit."

Estelle just smiles up at him with that sickeningly sweet smile of hers as Flynn raises an eyebrow at the princess.

"You…punched Raven?" He asks warily. He didn't know the guild member very well outside of a couple conversations he's had with him (which were mainly business), but Flynn knew that he got on a lot of people's nerves when he was trying; mostly Yuri's (in both endearing and not so charming ways). But…Estelle?

"Everyone else had had a chance to give them a piece of their mind. I only added my two gald to the pile." The princess says matter-of-factly. Yuri snorts under his breath as Estelle turns to Flynn, her expression completely sincere. "It was only fair and he deserved it."

Yuri rolls his eyes, absently alternating between rubbing his jaw and his shoulder. He sits back down at the river's edge with a stiff grunt. "You went easy on him, Estelle."

There's a sparkle in Estelle's eye as she shrugs innocently, watching Yuri from behind before turning to look at Flynn. Punches thrown, it was obvious both of them were feeling better, but only a little. Yuri stares distantly at the water in the river while Flynn has turned his gaze skyward, his eyes following a wayward cloud passing over them. She knows it is going to take time for this to settle completely, but if there was something she could do right now to help the process, she will.

Flynn drops back down to the ground seconds later and mulls that over.

"Wait a second…" he mutters and tilts his head up, looking the girl in the eyes, "Raven was Captain Schwann." He can't help but be kind of horrified at the idea. And kind of fascinated too. "You punched Captain Schwann." Estelle just shrugs a little bit and crosses her arms over her chest.

"I don't care if he was moonlighting as Prince Ioder, he still deserved it."

Yuri makes a strangled snort that most definitely covers up a laugh and Flynn buries his face in his hands.

"We're a sight, aren't we?" he declares to the lot of them, and Estelle moves.

"Don't move," she says firmly and even Yuri can't do anything but obey when she says it like that, and kneels down behind them, wrapping an arm around each of them and dragging them in close so that Flynn's cheek brushes hers and Yuri's does the same on the other side.

Flynn feels heat rising in his face and it's a good thing that his voice has apparently decided to stop working because if it hadn't, all that would come out would probably be a stream of incoherent flailing as opposed to something along the lines of Lady Estellise is hugging me, this is so inappropriate, oh spirits, this is inappropriate, I wonder what Yuri's face looks like right now?

He likes it, though, and will deny to the very end if anyone asks that he leans into it, the warmth of a friend and someone he can't help but trust very, very much.

Yuri, for his part, looks just as shell shocked as his friend. He's been hugged by Estelle before, sure, multiple times in fact, but it was usually for an understandable reason; a celebration, a victory in a battle or a reunion after they hadn't seen each other for awhile. Most of the time it was her simply getting overexcited about something like she always does and she flings herself around his shoulders for a brief second before pulling back, somewhat embarrassed by her own enthusiasm.

He's never had an 'I am furious at you, therefore I shall hug you' moment before, though. It made no sense to him. After the initial shock the punches weren't unexpected at all. In fact, from Flynn he was surprised he had to coax him into doing it. Flynn had hugged him earlier though, he now remembers.

Trying to reason it out in his head Yuri finds himself completely baffled. He had lied to them, made them angry and upset. So…they both hug him? It is a weird new trend that he's pretty sure he's never going to understand.

Not that he doesn't welcome it. Relaxing against Estelle, Yuri realizes just how tense he had been. His side twinges and he lets out a breath to allow his head to fall against the Princess' cool cheek. If he was tired before, he was exhausted now, but for the time being he doesn't want to move.

Tossing a sideways glance to Flynn, Yuri has to bite his tongue. The commandant looks more awkward than Yuri does in knight's armor, with his flushed cheeks and his eyes desperately trying to find something to settle on. Flynn is not used to being hugged by royalty.

Estelle just closes her eyes and holds them tight, feeling her heart lighten when they both lean in, Yuri first and then Flynn a heartbeat behind. There's nothing she can really say to make things better, nothing to keep Flynn from feeling hurt and nothing to keep Yuri from feeling guilty but she can still be there and maybe that will be enough to satisfy her own feelings, the ones that scream at her to protect them because she loves them both so dearly. Being able to be there is an upgrade from what she started with, and her only regret is that it took this long to get here.

Time will help, time and care.

Time will take care of itself but come hell or high water, Estelle will make sure that this time, she'll do her best to keep the care part covered.

"You're not allowed," she says suddenly, soft but a little bit steely, "This isn't your fault. You aren't allowed to take the blame for this." She emphasizes her words with a gentle tap of her fingers on Flynn's neck and she can feel more than see him take in a ragged, shaky breath.

"Yes, Lady Estellise," he answers, sounding a little choked, and if he turns his head a little until all he can see is pink instead of sunshine, he won't be saying anything about it anytime soon. He'll still feel guilty, there's no way to take it all away, but her words help. They're not the kind of orders he's used to taking (and giving, these days), go kill that monster, Scifo, go attend that military party, Scifo, go get Captain Farmon out of the mead again, Scifo, but they're orders nonetheless and right now it's easier to do what he's told than to fight it.

"You either," she whispers to Yuri and tilts her head in, close enough to kiss. She can feel the guilt coming off him in waves and yes, she's upset that he didn't tell her right away, but she doesn't want him to hurt. She just wants him to remember that he's not alone and that he doesn't have to take it all on himself, because it's so very clear now that he's been hurt and still is.

Yuri closes his eyes tight as he listens to Estelle's breathing. It's quick and short, but not as shaky as it had been before; there's no more anger or tension. He knows both Flynn and Estelle will forgive him with time. Just as he knows his own guilt will subside with time; after he tells everyone else. If only time didn't go so slowly when it came to these things.

Although for the moment, Yuri was glad for slow time. He is not known as a very touchy person, but here, now, he was just fine with being a little bit cushy. At least until he hears a small, low chuckle from a little ways away. It's a familiar, age worn chuckle and Yuri is suddenly aware of a rush of heat on his cheeks. He pulls his head off Estelle's shoulder and clears his throat loudly tossing a quick glance over his shoulder at Hanks who looks just as amused as he sounds.

Estelle raises an eyebrow at him as he shifts and Yuri reaches around her to give Repede a quick pat on the back to use as a diversion. "We're leaving someone out."

"Oh!" The princess practically throws Flynn aside as she turns towards the dog sitting just behind her. "Repede, you can join too!"

Repede looks up at her and if Yuri didn't know better he was sure the dog had sighed and would have rolled his eyes if he could. Taking the quick distraction, Yuri pushes himself away and stands up, stretching with a grimace. "Well, I'm beat. I think I'm going to turn in for the night."

Estelle snaps her head up at him. "Without dinner?"

Yuri resists the urge to groan out loud. He does grimace and scratches behind his head. "I'm honestly not all that hungry." He throws a glance at Flynn.

And grins wide.

"Unless it's on the commandant, in which case count me in."

Flynn sputters indignantly at Yuri's suggestion and glowers up at him.

"And why, exactly, is it on me? I paid for lunch, too. Cretin." he demands, still on the ground, and regrets asking almost instantly when Yuri smirks at him and jerks his head towards Estelle. The girl blinks rapidly and untangles her arm from round Flynn's neck and he almost hates that he misses it. Almost, because his skin's still warm where she touched.

"What, you're gonna make the princess pay her own tab?" Yuri tsks and shakes his head in a mockery of lamentation and it kind of makes Flynn want to punch him again, "That's kinda rude, Flynn. I thought you had manners; some commandant you are."

Flynn glares and scrambles to his feet.

"More like why am I paying for you?" he then turns to Estelle and extends a hand, "Let me help you up, Lady Estellise." Her fingers curl around his and he pulls her gently to her feet.

"No one has to pay for me," she protests vehemently, as both he and Yuri knew she would, and Flynn's a goner because if he doesn't pay for both of them, she'll insist on paying for all of them and his pride won't let her do that. Because he's a giant sucker. "I can—"

"Don't worry about it," he tells her with a sharp glance in Yuri's direction; the other man has yet to lose his shit-eating grin. Flynn sighs a little and lets the side of his lips tilt up the most honest smile he's given all day. "That guy over there can come too, I suppose. If he must."

This time it's Estelle who grins and shakes her head, feeling lighter and brighter like she's come out of a thunderstorm.

"Don't be mean."

Yuri flinches dramatically. "Ouch, that was harsh, Flynn." He puts a hand to his neck and cocks his head to the side, his grin widening even further (if that was possible). "I guess I should have seen that coming though."

Flynn just raises an eyebrow in response, his rebuttal loud and clear. Damn straight you should have.

This exchange however has completely sailed over the princess' head as she dusts off her skirt and then looks up, wide eyed. "Where should we go? I haven't eaten in many places down here." Excitement has seeped into her voice. "Everywhere Yuri's taken me so far has been delicious though, so you two decide."

Yuri turns to her and quirks his mouth. "Well, if you've eaten anything Flynn's made, you should be fine just about anywhere down here."

Flynn flails a little and sputters at his friend. "L-like you should be talking Yuri!"

"Hey, I think I'm a pretty decent cook."

Flynn's about to retaliate when Estelle interrupts the both of them by ducking in between them, taking one of Yuri's hands in one of hers and Flynn's in the other.

"Enough," she says with a wide grin that says she thinks they're hysterically funny, just in time to hear the bushes rustle and the sound of retreating footsteps. Flynn turns and stares in that direction, looking a little disturbed.

"Was that…?" he begins and trails off. Yuri shrugs.

"They're just jealous," he teases, "Good thing we didn't have that breakup chat, right?" Flynn gapes at him just as Estelle goes huh? and Yuri can't resist making a clicking noise between his teeth and a crooked grin, to Flynn's horror. "Come on, I know a nice little place a few streets down… Let's go, Repede."

"You kidding, Yuri?" Flynn protests even as they start walking and Estelle starts making their hands swing back and forth, "The place next to the inn's so much better."

"Trying to kill the girl now, Flynn? Get with it. Is that where you learned to cook? It'd sure explain a lot."

"S-s-shut up, Yuri!" Flynn stammers, and would probably protest further if not for the fact that the girl in the middle of them is now laughing outright, drawing all of the stares and glances that the sight of the princess, the commandant, and the local hero/shit-stirrer walking hand in hand hadn't. He doesn't even care.

It doesn't fix everything, they all know that well enough, but it can fix enough for now, and it can fix even more later and maybe there will be a time that Flynn doesn't feel quite so raw and that Yuri can think about what happened and have it not matter, but that time's not now and that's okay.

"Is my cooking really that bad?" Flynn can't help but ask on the way, ignoring Yuri's cut-off snicker. Estelle smiles at him and doesn't answer. "Come on, tell me. Is it that bad?"

"Yes, it's that bad—"

"I wasn't asking you—"

"Um, I think you and I could both use some practice?" Estelle says diplomatically. Well, it's not a lie.

Yuri grins and Flynn rubs his temples and Estelle holds on tight to both of them and it's enough.

None of them are alone and it's enough.

AN2: Thank you for reading! If you have anything at all to say, please leave us a comment; we'd love to hear what you think!