Konnichiwa Minna-san! Has it really been nearly seven months since I updated last? Seriously where does the time go? I don't have much to say about this chapter so enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own Tales of Vesperia or the characters. If I did, Karol's default outfit would be the girly outfit with the small pipe attachment (I'm sorry it's amusing)

Happy Reading!

Chapter Four: Finally on the Mend

He didn't like where he was or what he was seeing. He was back on the top of the Sword Stair of Zaphias Castle and Estellise was standing in front of him wielding her sword and shield.

"Estelle," He called, "What's wrong?"

"Kill me…"

"No," He called, "I can't do that! Estelle, We're gonna get you back!"

"No…you have to kill me…" She said as she charged at him. Her sword was poised ready to attack.

"Don't do this Estelle…" He gasped as the girl struck him in the side.

"Kill me," She said as reared back for another strike, "You've killed comrades in the past…you can do it again."

He gasped as Lambert, Alphonse and John appeared besides the girl. "No…" He gasped, "I can't…not again…not again…"

"Kill us Yuri…" The girl said, "Kill us…before we can kill you…"

"No…" Yuri muttered as he raised his sword without commanding his body to do so, "No…no…oh please…no…"He struck down the three dogs, "No…I don't want to…kill you…" He slashed at the girl, "Estelle…"

"Yuri! Yuri wake up! Come on Yuri! Wake up!"

Estellise woke up in the middle of the night freezing but there was something else that had brought her out of her slumber. It sounded like someone was moaning the word "no" over and over again. She looked over to the window to make sure it was closed then she looked at Yuri. The twenty-two year old was breathing heavily and almost thrashing around in his bed. Repede was lying besides the dark-haired man in an attempt to both keep him warm and to keep him in his bed.

Estellise carefully placed her hand to the young man's forehead and found that he was much warmer than he had been earlier in the evening. "His fever must be breaking but…I don't think the temperature in here is good for him."

"Yuri!" She called as the swordsman cried out, "Yuri wake up!" She exclaimed as she nudged his shoulder, "Come on Yuri, wake up!"

Yuri stirred and slowly opened his dull, stormy gray eyes, "…Estelle…" he mumbled as he shook almost uncontrollably.

"What's wrong?"

"It's nothing…" He whispered. Estellise didn't need to know what he had been dreaming about. It was still a touchy subject for the both of them, "I'm just cold…"

"Yuri," Estellise said, "If it's alright with you…I think I'm going to bring you to the castle for the rest of the night. It's too cold in here."

Yuri nodded a bit then burrowed deeper into his thin blankets, "Do whatever…In the end you won't listen to what I tell you anyway."

"I'll be back in a little while," Estellise said softly, "Just hang in there."

"I'm not dying Estelle," Yuri called as loud as he could as Estellise left the room, "I'm just sick."

Flynn groaned when Sodia burst into his room and woke him up. While he would never admit it, sparring with Yuri had worn him out and he didn't want to be awake yet. It wasn't even the slightest bit light out and therefore far to early, "What do you want?" He mumbled.

"Sir," His red-headed lieutenant called as he sat up, "Lady Estellise is requesting your assistance!"

"Didn't she spend the night with Yuri?" Flynn asked tiredly.

"She did sir," Sodia responded, "Apparently Lowell's condition has worsened and Lady Estellise wants you to bring him to the castle for the rest of the night!"

"I'll be right there!" Flynn called as he flew out of bed and threw some clothes on. He rushed out of his room and met with Estellise, "What's wrong? How's Yuri?"

"I think his fever is breaking," Estellise said, "His temperature seems really high. And his room is so cold it's making it worse."

"Alright," Flynn said as he grabbed a thick blanket, "Let's go."

Yuri was still awake when Estellise returned with Flynn.

"Yuri," Estellise called softly, "I'm back. We're going to bring you to the castle okay?"

"I don't have much of a choice now, do I?" Yuri asked, "Flynn's gonna force me to go whether I want to or not."

"You can come with us Repede," Flynn said as he covered Yuri with the thick blanket then lifted him from the bed, "I'd forgotten how cold it gets in here. I'm sorry Yuri, I should have let you stay in the castle for the night. This is my fault."

"Flynn you idiot…" Yuri said as he lightly punched Flynn.

"I still forgot how bad you get when your fever breaks."

"Stop it commandant…" Yuri muttered as he punched Flynn again.

"Knock it off Yuri," Flynn warned.

"Does this always happen when Yuri gets sick?" Estellise asked.

"Pretty much," Flynn said, "Yuri can handle a fever pretty well until it breaks. Then once it breaks he's pretty much bedridden until his fever falls completely."

"He caught a cold while we were traveling once and the same thing happened." Estellise said, "We had to stop in Mantaic for two days until Yuri felt well enough to travel again."

"Mantaic must have been tough on him," Flynn said, "Yuri's not a fan of the heat."

"I can still hear you, Commandant," Yuri muttered then he started coughing violently.

"Stop talking Yuri," Flynn said, "We should hurry. The cold air can't be good for him." Yuri coughed for several more minutes and Flynn sighed, "I think I'm going to have the castle's doctor take a look at you Yuri."

"Dammit…Flynn…" Yuri coughed.

"Yuri," Flynn said as Yuri stopped coughing, "You could have something worse than a cold. Humor me just for once."

Yuri sighed then started coughing again, "Only if I don't have to stay in the castle's infirmary." He said once the coughing fit ended.

"He can stay in my room," Estellise said, "He can use the bed and I'll sleep on the couch. How's that?"

"Fine," Yuri muttered as they reached the castle.

"Lady Estellise," Flynn said as they entered the princess's room, "Will you run and get the doctor?"

"Okay," Estellise called as she ran off towards the infirmary.

"You just couldn't let it go could you commandant?" Yuri asked as they entered Estellise's room.

"Yuri," Flynn sighed as he carefully placed his friend on the bed, "I just want to make sure you don't have something worse than just a cold…I don't want you to develop pneumonia again…you nearly died that time…"

"Oh yeah…" Yuri muttered, "I forgot about that. But then again…I don't really remember that…"

"Like I said Yuri," Flynn said, "You nearly died. It started out as just a cold but you wouldn't rest like Hanks and the others wanted you to…and you got sicker. You were unconscious for most of it and when you were awake you were in severe pain and you wouldn't stay awake for long…Then we got lucky…thanks you a festival, a noble doctor from another town had to stay at the inn and agreed to treat you for almost nothing."

"How the hell did you manage that?"

"The woman said that she couldn't bear to watch a child suffer," Flynn said, "She also said that she wouldn't be able to live with herself if she just let a child die."

"How did they pay her in the end?" Yuri asked tiredly, "Hanks and the others don't have much money."

"She really wouldn't accept any sort of payment from any of us," Flynn said, "Finally agreed to getting free meals and lodging while she was here. She even turned down the ten gald you tried to give her at one point."

"I tried to give her money?"

"You were still pretty sick when that happened," Flynn said, "I don't even think you knew what you were doing."

"I see…" Yuri murmured as he started coughing again.

"Flynn," Estellise called as she entered her room, "Is Yuri still awake?"

"Yeah," Yuri answered as he started coughing again, "Just because the Commandant talked my freaking ear off."

"My, that cough does sound bad," The doctor said as she entered the room after Estellise. She walked up to the bed and placed her hand to Yuri's forehead, "That's quite the fever you have as well. So what seems to be the problem?"

"I told them that it was just a cold but they wouldn't listen to me," Yuri said.

"It's better to be safe than sorry," The woman said as she placed a stethoscope to Yuri's chest, "I once saw a young boy nearly die because he wouldn't let a cold get better. Take a deep breath for me." Yuri did what he was told and the woman nodded, "It sounds like you have a touch of bronchitis."

"A touch of what?" Yuri asked.

"Bronchitis," Estellise repeated, "A virus that causes inflammation of the main airways in the lungs. Symptoms include fatigue, low-grade fever…"

"Estelle please," Yuri said as he shut his eyes, "I'm in no mood for a health lesson right now."

"Here," The doctor said as she handed Yuri a cup of odd smelling liquid, "Drink this."

"What is it?" Yuri asked as he cautiously took the glass.

"It's a medicine to help the cough," The doctor said.

"Do I have to drink it?" Yuri asked as he sniffed it a bit.

"Yes you do," Flynn said, "I don't want you to develop pneumonia again."

"Fine," Yuri said. He drank the contents of the cup and grimaced, "Ugh…that's disgusting…Do you have anything better tasting?"

"I'm afraid not," The doctor said, "But don't worry, you'll only have to take it one more time."

"Are there any side-effects we should know about?" Flynn asked.

"Just a bit of drowsiness," The doctor said, "I'll give him the second dose tomorrow night. I'm pretty sure his fever will be down by tomorrow so don't keep him cooped up in bed all day. A little bit of exercise will do him some good. However take it easy. It isn't going to take much to throw you into a coughing fit and the medicine for that tastes even worse than the one I just gave you."

"You hear that Flynn?" Yuri asked as he folded his arms in front of his chest, "I'm not gonna stay in bed tomorrow if I don't want to."

"Thank you doctor," Flynn said ignoring Yuri, "We'll make sure Yuri doesn't do anything crazy tomorrow."

"Yuri…" The doctor muttered as she looked like she was remembering something, "Your last name wouldn't happen to be Lowell would it?"

"My last name is Lowell," Yuri said, "Why?"

"I thought you looked familiar," The woman said, "I treated you for pneumonia that time years ago. I'm not sure you can remember it. You were just about on your deathbed. You tried to give me ten gald when you started to feel better."

"Flynn told me," Yuri said as he yawned.

"Wait," Flynn said, "You were the one who saved Yuri's life that time?"

"I was," The woman said, "None of the other doctors in the Capital would treat you just because you were poor. I believe that as a doctor, you shouldn't deprive anyone of treatment regardless of social status or financial situations, especially a child. I wasn't about to deprive a dying boy from the medicine that would save his life. In the end, I was in Zaphias nearly two weeks longer than I was supposed to but it was worth being able to see you run around and play."

"Is it too late to say thanks?" Yuri asked tiredly as he rested again the pillows.

"No, it's not," The woman said with a smile.

"Thanks…" Yuri muttered as he shut his eyes, "For saving my life when I was a kid…"

"You're welcome Yuri-kun," The woman said, "Now get some sleep."

Yuri nodded then drifted off to sleep.

Karol was rather surprised when he saw Estellise in the dining hall the next morning.

"Good morning Karol," The pink haired woman greeted.

"Good morning Estelle," Karol responded, "I thought you stayed with Yuri last night."

"I did," Estellise said, "But Yuri got worse in the middle of the night so Flynn and I brought him here. He's still asleep right now but I'm pretty sure his fever is down."

"That's good," Karol said, "So Yuri got worse in the middle of the night?"

"His fever started breaking and his room got so cold that I thought it would be best to have him rest in the castle until his fever fell," Estellise said, "We had the castle's lead doctor examine him last night and Yuri has bronchitis."

"Yikes," Karol said, "So it's worse than that time in Mantaic then. Did he complain about having to take medicine?"

"He did," Estellise said, "Thankfully he was too tired to fight us about it. Flynn and I got him to take the medicine without a fuss."

"That's good," Karol said, "At least he'll start feeling better soon. And it's a really good thing we took this week off. It would have been really bad if this happened while we were traveling."

"It would have been like that time in Mantaic only much worse," Estellise said, "Because this time he ended up needing a doctor."

"Is Flynn watching Yuri?" Karol asked.

"He should be," Estellise said, "He told me to get something to eat."

"When he wakes up tell him that I hope he's feeling better."

"I will."

Yuri sighed as he stared at the ceiling in Estellise's room. He was thinking about the dream he had had before he had been woken up. His battle with Estellise had been one of the hardest battles he had been in. The high concentration of aer on top of trying to defend the girl's uncharacteristically aggressive attack style had completely drained him. Estellise might have been a princess but she was quite skilled with both a sword and magic and with that bastard of a commandant controlling her during that time, the girl was just about lethal.

He sighed as he remembered that Estellise was almost the second person to defeat him in a battle. While he did his best to hit her only with the backside of his blade, she had no such intentions. He had been hit countless times by the edge of her blade or her powerful artes. And he remembered coming dangerously close to blacking out several times during the battle.

The only thing that had saved him was the keepsake that Estellise had nearly thrown away months before at Mantaic. Towards the end of the battle it had fallen out of his pocket just when he thought that the other members of his group were going to have to witness his death at Estellise's hands. Seeing her mother's memento had been enough to snap Estellise out of the control spell long enough for them to break Alexei's hold on her.

After the battle, he had managed to welcome Estellise back before losing consciousness and remaining unconscious for nearly two days.

"Oh, you're awake," Estellise's voice called, pulling him from his thoughts.

"Estelle…" He muttered, "How long have you been here?"

"Not long," She said as she placed her hand on his forehead, "I just came back from breakfast. How long have you been awake?"

"Not long," Yuri responded, "Sodia burst in here not too long ago yelling something about monsters near the edge of the city or whatnot and she woke me up."

"I see," Estellise responded, "How are you feeling today? You don't seem to have a fever anymore."

"I'm alright," Yuri said, "I'm still kinda tired and I want to get rid of this cold already."

"You have to let it run its course," Estellise said, "But it's good that you're feeling better. Are you hungry?"

"Yeah," Yuri said, "I wouldn't mind grabbing something to eat."

"Okay," Estellise said, "Do you want me to go get you something or do you want to head down to the dining hall?"

"I guess I'll eat in the dining hall," Yuri said, "I need to stretch my legs a bit and walk around."

"Sounds good," Estellise said as Yuri sat up, "But before we go down to the dining hall the head doctor wants to give you a quick check up."

"Do I have to?" Yuri asked.

"I'm sorry Yuri," Estellise said, "But Flynn told me to make sure you visited the doctor this morning. We can go before or after breakfast if you would like."

"Dammit," Yuri swore, "He would do that…fine. I guess I'll go before breakfast."

"I'm really sorry Yuri," Estellise said as they left her room, "Flynn just wants to make sure you're alright."

"I know he does," Yuri said, "But he's a pain in the ass. I am capable of taking care of myself."

"I'm sure he knows that you are capable of taking care of yourself," Estellise said, "He just doesn't want to see you get really sick again."

"Yeah whatever."

"Ah, you're looking well this morning Yuri-kun," The head doctor greeted as Yuri and Estellise walked into the infirmary, "How are you feeling?"

"Better," Yuri responded as he coughed a bit.

"Your cough is sounding better too," She said, "Sit down on the bed and I'll try to make this quick." She placed her hand to Yuri's forehead, "You feel cool but we're still going to check your temperature just to be safe." She handed Yuri a thermometer and a few minutes later she took it from him, "Thirty-six point eight degrees. You're definitely on the mend," She said as she placed a stethoscope to Yuri's chest, "Your breathing sounds better than it did last night as well."

"Does that mean that I won't have to take the medicine tonight?" Yuri asked enthusiastically.

"I'm sorry Yuri-kun," The woman said, "You'll still have to take the second dose tonight."

"Dammit," Yuri moaned, "That stuff was nasty!"

"Don't worry," The woman said, "I doubt you'll have to take it a third time."

"That's good."

"Alright Yuri-kun," The doctor said, "You're free to go."

"Thank you doctor," Yuri said as he stood up.

"You're very welcome Yuri-kun," The woman said, "Take care of yourself now."

"I will," Yuri said as he left the infirmary.

"YURI LOWELL!"

"Man, what the hell did I do this time?" Yuri asked as he was greeted by a very angry Sodia, "I've been awake for what twenty minutes? How the hell did I manage to piss you off in that amount of time?"

"Commander Flynn has fallen ill," Sodia exclaimed furiously pointing her finger at Yuri, "He's experiencing the same exact symptoms that you were! You made him sick you bastard!"

So Flynn came down with what Yuri had. And Sodia's out for Yuri's blood. What's going to happen now? At least Yuri is finally feeling better…for good this time I promise. I'll torture someone else for a while. I'm not sure how many more chapters there will be after this but I'll figure it out as I go along. So until next time! See ya!

Ex-Shark-V-005