I haven't written for this game in quite some time... I still don't think that my other Vesperia fanfics could be considered anything of quality, but I'd hate just deleting them without reason. At least one person has enjoyed both of them, thus, I'd feel as if I were stealing them away by removing them. Either way... I do apologise to everyone waiting for me to update my Persona 4 fanfiction. Writing one-shots is actually really helping me get back in gear and grab my ability to write again. It's also fun and slightly fulfilling to be able to post something that's completed.

Anyway, I wrote this a long time ago on a whim, and a friend and I cleaned it up today. I hope it is enjoyable for you you all~

Another one shot will be posted either today or tomorrow; Tales of Graces.

It had all started with an accident.

He'd watched Flynn kicking the small red ball around all morning, happily chasing after it and bouncing it off cement walls before darting after it once more. Neither of them had known how it had gotten to there or where it had come from, but the small rubber sphere had managed to evoke a sense of thrill that the children of the lower quarter seldom experienced. His friend had simply shown up at his door one morning, proudly holding the ball out before excitedly listing off all the various games they were now able to play with it.

How was he supposed to have known that it would pop so easily?

One moment the two of them had been rushing down the street, kicking the ball back and forth between one another, and the next, Yuri had given it a particularly hard kick, sending it flying toward a pile of rubble it ricocheted off before landing in the middle of the road with a 'plop'. The two of them could only watch in silence, a soft hissing filling their ears as the air rushed out of their now useless toy. Normally, an incident like this wasn't a big deal; living in the slums quickly taught its occupants to deal with loss and move forward. Happiness was only fleeting in the lower quarter, after all.

But be it that the sudden loss had been so unexpected, or that the blond's mood was already low and he'd simply been hiding it, or by some chance he'd actually grown attached to the toy, Yuri didn't know. All he knew was that as the last dregs of air escaped from the ball, he heard the distinct sound of a sniffle from his right. Oh, crap…

Turning abruptly, the raven-haired male watched as Flynn stubbornly rubbed the back of his first against his eyes. Another sniff broke the otherwise silent road and a second hand joined the first. The blond's shoulders trembled slightly, the movement almost invisible to the eye that didn't know to look for it, and small teeth dug into a lower lip. He sniffled again, inhaling sharply.

Crap! Yuri thought again, taking a step closer to his friend as he glanced around the area. Flynn had never been a weak person, but he was a bit more openly emotional than Yuri had ever been. While Yuri was the type to conceal his behind a cocky attitude, Flynn had always worn his heart on his sleeve and expressed himself openly, good or bad. And if there was one thing that caused the hold he had on his feelings to release and send them swirling around in a violent storm, it was tears. Especially the tears of his best friend.

Desperation grasped the trouble-maker's mind as he tried to find a means to distract Flynn from the deflated ball. As his gaze darted left and right, something drifted through the air, and pulled Yuri from his internal panic. He watched in silence as the single blossom fell downward slowly, carried only by the light wind, before landing gracefully on the ground a few feet away. Staring at it for only a moment, the raven darted forward on a whim and scooped flower into his palm and hurried back to his still-sniffling friend.

"Hey, Flynn… Don't cry, alright? Here, look; take this. It's better than a ball, anyway."

Lowering his small fists, Flynn blinked owlishly at the object being offered to him. Most children would have looked at the flower and scoffed at Yuri's claim; a flower was temporary, unlike a ball. One could play with a ball for days, weeks, even years and still have it around when they needed it. A flower lasted only a few days at best, maybe a week if it was cared for.

But Flynn wasn't most children.

Reaching out, he gingerly took the flower form his friend's hands and cradled it between his own, staring at it in wonder. The petals were a snowy-white; delicate and silky to the touch with pale silver veins branching outward from where petal met bud. It's unusual near-perfection looked out of place in the dirtied and cracked slums.

"It's pretty," Flynn murmured, bringing the flower closer to his chest as he looked up at Yuri and smiled. His sapphire orbs brightened as he looked at his gift again, his tears having stopped almost immediately, as he gently brushed a finger over one of the outer petals. The raven let out a breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding and returned the smile with his own. Much to his relief, the ball was left forgotten as the two of them turned and walked back toward their home, intent on asking the innkeeper for a bowl with water.

Yuri sighed loudly as he leaned against Flynn's desk, earning a small glare from the blond commandant as he looked up from his current report. The look was enough to stop the sarcastic comment on the tip of the raven's tongue, but not enough to keep him from rolling his eyes and slumping backwards dramatically. The two of them had been in the office for almost two hours now; Flynn working diligently to finish his work for the day, and Yuri chastising him every few minutes for being a "workaholic" in an unsuccessful attempt to rouse the other form his desk. As much as the commandant's dedication to his job was to be admired, the raven-haired vigilante was well aware that his childhood friend was more than likely work well into the night, only to collapse before he was able to eat if not pestered.

"Aren't you done yet?"

"Yuri," Flynn began in an exasperated tone, "you have been watching me this entire time. You see how many pages there are and how many are left. You will know when I'm done. Stop asking."

"You'd think you'd be a little faster with these…" Yuri murmured, poking at the objects on the desk at random. "I mean, you've filled so many of them out. How complicated can they get? 'Goodie-two-shoes followed my orders obsessively and apple-top cast a few spells and said something squeaky and smart. We saved the citizens from the monsters and partied it up with a round of beers. All was well.' End of report. Can't this wait until the morning? It isn't as if the council is waiting around for you to finish."

"If you're so bored, why don't you go and entertain yourself elsewhere? And please make use of the door for your exit."

"No way, commandant," Yuri snorted. "If I walk out of this room, you never will. I think I'll stay right here and keep you entertained until it's time to go."

Flynn scoffed and shook his head, returning his attention to the paper in front of him and began writing again. Just a few more pages were left.

Knowing that Flynn's limit of 'acceptable distractions' had been reached, the raven focused on a solid object to his right he hadn't noticed before. Raising an eyebrow, he picked it up, and turned it over in his hands. Of all the things on the blond's desk, this was obviously the oldest. Despite its clean state, the glass of that Yuri had deduced to be a paperweight held the faintly clouded appearance that came with age. Small scratches marred its surface, but it was clear the object was well cared for. However, it wasn't that which had caught his attention; it was the item inside.

Protected by the glass barrier was a single, flat flower. Its colour had greyed with time, but it was perfectly preserved, its original beauty still easy to see, even now. …Wait a miniute, I know what this—

"I pressed it." Flynn's voice pulled Yuri from his thoughts, making the raven look up.

"Huh?"

"The flower," he nodded to the paperweight in the hands of his childhood friend, looking off to the side as a faint dusting of pink began to grace his cheeks. "I pressed it in one of my father's old books a few days after you gave it to me."

"Seriously?" Yuri brought the paperweight closer to his eyes for inspection, "What the hell did you keep something like that for? Isn't that a little girly? I mean, come on, a paperweight? Why didn't you just toss it when it died?"

"…I didn't want to," the blond muttered, suddenly very interested in his pen. "It was… important to me."

"It was a flower, Flynn. If you wanted another one you just had to go outside and look around."

"It was the first gift you ever gave me."

The teasing remark Yuri had ready was lost, dying in his throat as he mouthed wordlessly as he felt something light and warm suddenly swirl around in his stomach. He wasn't the type for sentimentality, he never had been. Material objects broke or faded away and were lost with time. Things lost value and place, cast aside in the flow of time or handed down for someone else to enjoy and repeat the process once they no longer needed it. Yet there, sitting in his palm, was a complete contradiction to all of that. Who would have thought the great vigilante and 'guild rouge' Yuri Lowell would be floored by a single flower.

"Flynn…"

"If you're just going to me smart about it, then put it down and go. I don't feel like—" Flynn's sentence trailed off as arms suddenly wrapped around his shoulders from behind. Yuri had never had qualms with touching others, but he wasn't exactly the type for 'mushy cuddles and snuggles' as he'd called it. The blond's sapphire orbs widened in surprise as he felt the raven's face press into his shoulder followed by the muffled murmur of 'sentimental wuss'.

Chuckling, Flynn leaned back and placed his hands over Yuri's, turning his hand to whisper into the other's ear. "Perhaps, but only for you."

"…Just shut up," the raven grumbled, feeling his cheeks heat up. "Finish your stupid report."

"Heh…" Standing, Flynn pushed his work aside and stretched, earning a quizzical look from his still-flushed company.

"Eh? What are you—"

"You offered to cook tonight, yes?" the blond cut Yuri off. "I've not eaten all day. Shall we use your kitchen or the castle's?"

"Uh…" Yuri blinked, taken aback as he watched Flynn remove his armour before walking toward the door. "Mine. I can't stand the stuffy atmosphere around here anymore. Smells too much like nobles."

"Only you would detect such a scent," Flynn shook his head. "I look forward to this; I haven't had your cooking for a while now."

"Yeah, well, if I were you, I'd look forward to anyone's cooking if I had to survive off my own for so long."

Ignoring the quip regarding his talent in the kitchen, Flynn listened as Yuri began to talk animatedly, with a content smile. Maybe Yuri was right; the report would be fine waiting until the morning.

The next day, Flynn entered his office to find a single, white blossom sitting in a bowl of water on his desk.