Disclaimer – Trust me, I don't own this. I'm not making money off this either… both of which I wish were reversed.

A/N IMPORTANT! There are two stories here, both were too short to post alone and they happen sequentially, anyway. Both are quick glances into Yuan's mind and I hope that it's enjoyed.

Summary 1 – AU; Student-Teacher Universe. In a perfect world, Zelos never would have come into being. Yuan reflects as he watches his fourteen-year-old student sleep and muses on the fact that some good came of helping ruin the two worlds after all.

Summary 2 – AU; Student-Teacher Universe. Out in Tethe'alla, Yuan nearly has a heart attack when he sees Kratos, of all people, conversing with his student. Never has the secret of the Renegades been more at stake… or, perhaps, it has never been safer.

Not a Perfect World

He wasn't entirely certain when he stopped berating himself for the past and started genuinely anticipating the future again. He'd started toward that goal when he'd begun the Renegades and come closer still when the Senior Staff started treating him as a friend as well as a boss. It was, Yuan realized, only recently that he'd stopped lamenting what had been.

Staring across Yuan's office at the fourteen-year-old red-haired brat that he knew for certain what had changed him. Zelos, however, was oblivious to the gaze that watched him; the young teen had fallen asleep studying and was still sitting on the couch. He'd already tipped over and had his face resting on a pillow on his right.

In a perfect world, Zelos wouldn't be there. In a perfect world, the redhead wouldn't have been the Chosen. In a perfect world, Zelos wouldn't have existed at all.

The kid's parents had hated him, after all, Yuan mused. Though why they'd hate such a brilliant child is beyond me. Then again, they'd hated one another, too.

"Sir?" Botta walked in, spied Zelos, and grew silent. He walked up to the front of the room and took a seat in front of the desk. In a quiet voice, "here are today's reports." Gesturing to Zelos, "shouldn't he be getting ready to go back to Meltokio tomorrow?"

"Probably," Yuan shrugged. "I can't quite bring myself to wake him."

"He's like a lost puppy," Botta observed, smirking faintly. "And we keep taking him away from the pound only to send him back."

Yuan rolled his eyes expressively. "I highly doubt that he'd appreciate the metaphor."

"Yeah, well, that's his fault for having the wrong sense of humor."

"Your sense of humor, if it can be defined as such, would amuse him if it were aimed at somebody else."

"True… so, what's bothering you now?"

"Nothing."

"Riiiiiight." Botta stood. "Well, if you aren't going to say anything, I've got a few more pieces of the dreaded paperwork in my office. I'll see you tomorrow, sir."

"Good night, Botta," Yuan replied absently, already flipping through the report.

The moment the door shut, Yuan found his mind trailing off again. With a sigh, he dropped the report on his desk and stood. He stretched languidly and walked over to sit on the edge of the couch by Zelos.

The boy had barely even begun his life, yet somehow the redhead child had lived through more than his fare share of pain and disaster. Sort of like Martel had.

It wasn't something Yuan had considered before, either. But now… now he saw shadows of the Yggdrasill family in Zelos' facial structure. The kid might not have the telltale blonde hair that the Sylvarantian Chosen had, but somehow the resemblance remained. The intense cerulean eyes, however, were not the Yggdrasill family shade. Somehow, someway, the eyes were just like Yuan's.

Yuan ran his fingers through the boy's hair and muttered, "who's to say a blue-haired man and green-haired woman couldn't have had a red-haired son, anyway? Maybe the gene's recessive, or something to that effect. Besides, who needs a perfect world?"

A/N There's the end of the first one. The second one is just below…

Seraph Silhouette

Panic is not something a Seraph is supposed to be able to do. It's an unwritten rule, or should be.

If it was a rule, Yuan was breaking it and not caring. For some reason, Kratos was in Tethe'alla. More exact coordinates would be the nobles' district of Meltokio. Even worse than the burgundy haired angel being in Meltokio when Yuan was going to pick up Zelos was the fact that Kratos was conversing with a certain person with long-ish red hair.

Concealed in an alley several yards away, Yuan began to wonder what it was about his student… his brat-child, which drew trouble like electricity to a path of least resistance.

For the first time in several centuries, Yuan very dearly wished he could whine and complain to someone. Unfortunately, the only five candidates were back at the base or standing next to Kratos explaining the city's layout.

Now, on the plus side, Zelos had no clue that Kratos was an angel… probably. On the down side, Kratos knew about Zelos being the Chosen of Tethe'alla. Yggdrasill kept track of all the Chosen that ever existed and had noted Zelos' strange disappearances over the past two years. It had been written off as a chosen needing solitude from the adoring nobles, yet…

Why was Kratos there, anyway?

Creeping closer to the edge of the shadows, Yuan listened as best he could. The sounds of the city were somewhat overwhelming for angelic senses, though, and it was hard to concentrate on just two people.

"…the Cathedral is on the right side of the castle, opposite the noble's district. You probably walked right past it; there aren't any markers to distinguish it from the castle," Zelos explained.

Kratos nodded. "I've visited the city before, but it has changed a… great deal since then."

"It'll probably change some more in the next few years," Zelos agreed. "The local architecture firms are revamping the business district again."

"The business district?" the seraph asked in a genuinely surprised tone. "But the business district looks fine the way it is."

"It was either that or the slums and the idiots in charge don't want to help those in need." Zelos let out a deep, frustrated sigh. "If there's anything else you need, come by my house and give your name to my butler. He'll be more than happy to help."

"Are you going somewhere?"

"Yeah. The city's so stuffy sometimes… I'm taking a week for myself before my caretakers ship me off to school again." The young redhead smiled and waved as his auburn companion walked away. Turning away when Kratos was out of sight, Zelos hopped up the steps to his home and disappeared inside the mansion.

Yuan darted around the building to the back and, with a little magical help, vaulted the seven-foot wall.

"For the leader of the Renegades," Zelos remarked, somehow already at the back door, "you aren't very stealthy."

Yuan scowled. "I am very stealthy, thank you very much."

"I saw you when I was talking to that guy in the street. You're lucky he wasn't facing in your direction."

"You're right," Yuan agreed reluctantly. "That was Kratos Aurion."

"I… he… what! I was talking to one of your fellow seraphim!" young blue eyes widened as he spoke. "I… they don't suspect anything, do they?"

"No…" Yuan let out a sigh. "If anything, Kratos was probably sent to sound you out as a possible future edition to Cruxis. Yggdrasill wants to try for more equality in the ranks without adding many humans. Sometimes… it's a wonder he doesn't hear his own hypocrisy."

Zelos started uncertainly, as if lost in the setting of good humor, and then smiled. It wasn't something that happened often with the child; he would go through the motions of smiling, but this was genuine happiness. "I'm just glad you came. You shouldn't have. It's dangerous to risk anything that might tie you to the Renegades… but I'm glad you're here."

"You're a very confusing brat-child, do you know that?" Yuan let a smile appear for a moment and then gestured to the house. "Hurry up and get the rest of your junk together. We'll be leaving as soon as the sun begins to set."

Zelos nodded and walked towards the mansion.

Yuan tilted his head and wondered what the future would bring his student… his brat-child. For a moment, he saw orange feathers more beautiful than anything a glass blower could create settle to the ground and an older Zelos surrounded by the gently blowing objects. The vision was gone in an instant, the seraph-style silhouette gently retreating into what might be.

A/N Poor Yuan… the question of whether or not Cruxis is interested in Zelos is going to bother him for some time to come. Yggdrasill, however, is interested bringing in the best and the brightest to Cruxis. I'm going to highlight this more in 'Training of Angels,' but first I have to establish Zelos' intelligence in 'Syndicates and Other Illegal Activities.' (I was originally calling this the Second Lesson… but I like the new name better.)

Now, while I plan to make liberal use of the seer girl's talents in later parts of this universe, Yuan is going to see bits and pieces of the future from time to time.

Originally, the title was supposed to refer to something else, but the plot dachshund changed direction. They have a tendency to do that, though, so I wasn't worried.