Frankly, Ashe was amazed Yuri could even stand at this point, much less help them take down that thing Cardinal Aelfric turned into. He'd lost so much blood to that creepy ritual, plus all the blows he'd taken during both battles. On top of that, he'd insisted on dealing the final blow to Aelfric both times. Because even after what he did to me, he still took us in and helped us and I owe him at least that.

He was wobbling a bit when the dust settled, not near collapse, but Ashe ran to his side and gave him his shoulder to lean on anyway despite being considerably shorter.

"I'll be okay," Yuri panted, "It's just a little scratch here and there, I've been through worse." Ashe shook his head firmly, wrapping an arm around his waist.

"I'm taking you back to my room. The infirmary's all the way on the second floor, but I know a few things about healing without having to bother Professor Manuela," he said.

"Lucky for you the Church doesn't look down on herbal remedies and bandages," Hapi muttered as she leaned against Prince Dimitri. Hilda and Claude were attempting to hold up a protesting Balthus while lady Edelgard carried Constance in her arms and the Professor carried a sleeping Linhardt on his back. Ashe wondered how they were going to make it back to the surface like this, but so far they seemed to be doing fine.

"We should report to Lady Rhea," Yuri muttered. "Gotta tell her about-"

"Later." All four of the Ashen Wolves badly needed to be taken care of, but Yuri seemed to have borne the brunt of it. It had taken longer to close off his vortex than the others, he was covered in scratches, and there was a bruise forming on the side of his face.

I'm worried about all of them after that, but Yuri... Yuri was different. Special. An old friend he'd missed when he went off to the Officers Academy and suddenly stopped replying to the letters Ash had written him. I found you again after all this time, I don't want to take even the smallest chance of losing you.

--

They made it to Ashe's room in short order, thankfully without getting caught.

"Lie down," he said, and Yuri complied without an argument as Ashe got to work. A solution of elixir and herbs for Yuri to drink to relieve any dizziness, vulnerary and the juice from some leaves applied to his wounds, and finally fresh bandages. "So what happened, exactly? Aside from Aelfric thinking he could bring a dead body back to life? And where did that bruise come from?" Yuri tensed.

"The bruise didn't come from Aelfric, if that's what you're thinking. It's..." He sighed. "It's a long story." Ashe tied off the bandage around his arm.

"We have time." He felt Yuri's muscles tense even more, the pulse in his wrist speeding up, saw his eyes dart around the room before finally meeting Ashe's own.

"He took my mother and all of my people hostage," he finally said. "He'd been planning this for years, ever since he found Sitri's body. I was always one step ahead of him and he knew it, so he kidnapped everyone I cared about just to keep me in line." He laughed bitterly. "I've done worse to pull one over on guys like that, but my options were...really limited this time."

"Why didn't you say something?" Ashe asked, shaking his head. "You could've told us and we could've helped you without you having to put yourself in danger!"

"You don't know how blackmail works, Ashe," Yuri said bluntly. "If I'd squealed to you and the other surface-dwellers Aelfric would've gone ahead and killed everyone to punish me. I was walking a tricky tightrope as it was, having to keep this from the other Wolves. We're like family, you should've seen how pissed they were at me for lying to them."

"So that's where the bruise came from," Ashe realized. "Well, I would've been angry, too."

"Spare me. They already gave me the how could you not trust us lecture," Yuri grumbled. "Look, I already told you I've been in worse situations than this. I almost died once thanks to a botched-" He cut himself off. "You don't need to know that."

"Yuri." Ashe finished with the rest of the bandages and pulled his chair over to the bed, sitting down and taking one of Yuri's hands. "This isn't about trust, it's not about me, it's about you. I'm glad you managed to outsmart Aelfric, and you did great helping us put him out of his misery," he said quietly. "But-"

"Haven't changed a bit since the old days, have you?" Yuri gave him a smile so forced it almost hurt Ashe's face to look at it. "Always trying to make it better for everyone just cause you can't stand to see people suffer. Like the time I ran away from Rowe Manor when the Count was in one of his moods, you offered to take me back to Gaspard with you."

"It was going to rain that night and you were hiding in the forest," Ashe said. "I'd do it again, too. But back to the subject-"

"There wasn't anything you could've done for me, Ashe. And you could've gotten hurt, too." Yuri's smile turned sad. "The thought of losing my mother and my people was scary enough, but if something happened to you..."

He was right, of course. Yuri had been dealing with this for far longer than he and the others had been in the Abyss. It wasn't as if he was totally helpless, either, he'd still managed to outfox Aelfric. But all Ashe could remember was the bright red vortices, pulling the blood from their bodies, Yuri's pained grin as Ashe bolted towards the final vortex to block it.

And we were still too late, Aelfric still got away with at least part of it. The revival failed, but...

"I still wish we could've done something before you had to get hurt," he sighed. "You're still so pale. I wish I could get you some food, but the kitchen's closed."

"I'm not that hungry anyway."

"If you're sure." Ashe didn't believe him, but he didn't want to leave Yuri alone. "Sorry, I know I'm being overprotective."

"Eh, you're just being you." Yuri shrugged, then smiled a little. A real smile, Ashe noticed. "It's kinda nice, actually."

"Really?"

"Yeah. I mean, it's just like when we were younger and I'd be upset or get hurt and you'd fuss over me like it was serious or something," he said. "So it's nice that you haven't changed."

"Oh." Ashe could tell there was more to it than that; Yuri's assertions that he'd been through worse before all this, the way his eyes occasionally flickered around the room to avoid looking Ashe's way, the pauses as he spoke.

Just what happened to you between the Officers Academy and the Abyss, Yuri?

"What, what did you think I was gonna say?" Yuri asked.

"Nothing." Ashe looked down, realizing he was still holding his hand. "S-sorry, I-"

"It's okay. Actually...could we stay like this just a bit longer?" His fingers tightened around Ashe's, his face grew soft, it was the most vulnerable he'd ever seen Yuri look. Am I really the only person who's ever cared for you this much besides the other Wolves, or Lord Gwendal?

Yuri was far from a weakling, he was one of the cleverest people Ashe knew. But right now, all Ashe wanted to do was keep him safe.

"As long as you want to," he said, running his thumb over Yuri's knuckles, his other hand moving to stroke Yuri's face. Yuri smiled a little more and closed his eyes.

"Thanks."