Summary: The first time Ashe learned Yuri had a mother was after they put down Aelfric. Yuri had just shrugged, stating that he'd had his reasons, and Ashe had backed off. Right then wasn't the time to bug him about the particulars of how he'd wound up underground after going to the Officers Academy, he'd just been too relieved Yuri was safe. Five years later, they return to that dropped conversation topic, and then some.
The first time Ashe learned Yuri had a mother was after they put down Aelfric, making a mess of the mausoleum in the process and hoping Lady Rhea wouldn't get too angry at them.
"We were friends all that time you were living at House Rowe and you never told me about her?" Yuri had just shrugged, stating that he'd had his reasons, and Ashe had backed off. Right then wasn't the time to bug him about the particulars of how he'd wound up underground after going to the Officers Academy, he'd just been too relieved Yuri was safe.
(And that he'd somehow survived fighting a giant beast with half his blood missing.)
Yuri rejoined the Blue Lions after that, and to Ashe's surprise they'd picked up right where they left off. Yuri took the seat next to him, helped him with his math, they shared meals and tea together, the professor paired them for tasks. It didn't take long for feelings to blossom, and just before the battle of Garreg Mach, Ashe finally worked up the nerve to kiss Yuri.
Five years later, they were dating. Amidst the tragedies and losses of the past five years and the uncertainty of their next steps, Ashe did his best to find solace and stability wherever he could, and his visits to the Abyss to see Yuri were one he looked forward to the most.
"I'm glad you and the Abyss survived," he said one afternoon as Yuri made them tea and brought out cookies he'd baked the day before. "Between so much of the Kingdom being swallowed up, His Highness in such a state...Dedue..." Yuri patted his hand.
"He was your friend, wasn't he? Sorry for your loss." Yuri sighed. "Some of our people tried to go out there and fight the Empire, and they never came back. It was their choice, but..."
"You still feel like you failed them," Ashe murmured, setting down the cookie he'd been nibbling on. "I felt that way when Lonato rebelled against the Church, and when I realized the Western Church was using him the whole time. I know he was determined to go through with it no matter what I said, but I wish I'd known so I could put a stop to the whole thing."
"We can't always save people from making mistakes, no matter how much we love them," Yuri said.
"Yeah, all we can do is be glad they survived, right?"
"Or punch them in the face and take turns lecturing them on how stupid they are." Oh, right, Ashe thought, the other Ashen Wolves hadn't taken it well when Yuri pulled his little stunt.
"Sorry."
"Nah, I kinda deserved it for getting them captured and their blood drained, no big deal." Yuri shrugged. "But anyway, I remember another thing you asked me while I was recovering."
"Your mother." Ashe hadn't forgotten, only put the question on the back burner as he tried to focus on his schoolwork and training, then later the escalating dangers leading up to the Empire's declaration of war. "I always thought you were an orphan like me and that's why you were at House Rowe," he said. Yuri took a long sip of his tea, looking away for a moment. Ashe almost apologized again before Yuri turned back to him, holding up his hand.
"I'm not ready to tell you the whole story of my ending up at House Rowe," he began. "All I can say is that the count needed an heir and I needed connections so I could make a better life for my mother. So I pretended to be an orphan."
There was obviously more to it, Ashe could tell, but he would respect Yuri's privacy and not ask.
"I get it," he said. "You had to keep up the lie or get kicked out."
"Yeah...pretty much." Yuri bit into a cookie, chewing slowly and loudly. Ashe dragged his finger along his plate, collecting the crumbs. Yuri had always been cagey, secretive, even when he admitted Ashe was one person he felt comfortable talking to.
You could've told me about your mother, he wanted to say, I'd have kept your secret. But he was also notoriously bad at lying, and he supposed there was too much risk of someone asking him about Yuri and where he came from, or why he disappeared for a few days every month.
"It must have been hard, being away from her," he said. Yuri shrugged.
"Yeah, but it didn't matter much in the end. I got expelled from the Officers Academy, ended up down here, and she came with me. Of course, then I had to keep her a secret for other reasons, but..." He sighed. "Usually it's the mom's job to be overprotective, not the kid's."
Ashe smiled sadly.
"If I'd managed to talk Lonato down and let him escape with his life, I'd be the same way." He polished off the cookie he'd almost forgotten about. "I wonder, if I could have, then-"
"You could've brought him down here to hide out, sure, I'd have looked after him," Yuri cut him off. "But we both know there's no sense in wondering what if, right?" Ashe sighed.
"I know." Yuri reached across the table and patted his hand.
"Listen, now that you and I are together, I think it's time." He polished off the last of his cookie and daintily dabbed his lips with his napkin before standing up. "There's a small healers' house down here. It's pretty well-hidden, even the professor doesn't know it exists."
Ashe quickly gulped down the rest of his now-lukewarm tea and wiped his mouth on his sleeve. He could sense what this was leading up to, and he stood up, taking Yuri's offered hand.
"Show me the way."
The healers' house was just as shabby-looking as the other buildings in Abyss, but only from the outside. Inside it was sparkling clean, just as any infirmary would be, and two priests were meticulously folding up sheets and scrubbing down glass jars.
"Ah, Yuri! We'd been expecting you," said one of the priests, an elderly woman. "And...you've brought a guest?"
"Ashe, Agnes. She and Garland here take care of Mom while I can't, they're two of the best healers the Abyss has to offer." Ashe glanced at a nearby table full of jars, each jar filled with herbs he recognized on sight thanks to Lonato. Garland wore a rosary, while Agnes wore an amulet of some figure that reminded Ashe of Petra's stories of the spirits in her homeland.
Neither looked like they can from Fodlan, and Ashe could see why they'd feel more comfortable down here.
"A pleasure to meet you, Ashe," Garland said with wink. "So you're the one Yuri talks about all the time." Yuri's cheeks turned pink, but he shrugged.
"Voices carry and this is a pretty small place," he said. Agnes laughed softly, ushering them towards the back room.
"I'm pleased to say your mother is doing especially well this noon," she said, "but even if not, your company always lifts her spirits." Ashe sighed with relief, he wouldn't have wanted to disturb someone who wasn't feeling their best.
Yuri led Ashe to the back of the small house, where a small lamp lit up the dark room. He lit another one, and as the area brightened Ashe caught sight of a small, thin woman sitting up in her bedroll, a book on her lap.
"Yuri." Beside Ashe, Yuri sighed with relief and Ashe raised an eyebrow. Yuri gave him an I'll explain later look.
"Mom," he said, "this is Ashe." The woman's eyes lit up, Ashe held out his hand, and she shook it warmly.
"It's a pleasure to finally meet the man who's stolen my son's heart." Ashe's cheeks flushed, and his heart skipped a beat. Yuri had said the same thing to him almost verbatim when they confessed to each other, Ashe knew he meant it, but it was still weird to think someone as suave as Yuri was so head over heels for a guy like him.
"It's a pleasure to meet you too, Ms. Leclerc."
"Carolina," she gently corrected him.
"I've been wanting the two of you to meet for a while now," Yuri said. "There just...hasn't been a lot of time." He opened his satchel and took out a few packages. "Here, I brought you something to eat from the dining hall. Hope it's still warm."
They sat and talked while Carolina ate the meal Yuri had brought her. Very daintily, Ashe noted, just like her son. Actually, it was easy to see where Yuri got his looks, and some of his sass. She was more polite about it, but she teased her son just as easily as Yuri did Ashe and anyone else he was close to.
And she was blunt. She knew about Yuri's shady dealings and dangerous missions, just how far he was willing to go to protect his world, his people. And she knew about the incident with Aelfric, naturally.
"I wish I could bring him back to life just to deck him for taunting you with it," Yuri said. Carolina dabbed her mouth with a napkin and rolled her eyes at him, even as she smiled.
"I've had worse taunts and verbal abuse from others," she said. "Besides, I know you too well. You've put yourself in far worse danger and come out of it with little more than scratches and bruises. As worried as I was, I knew you'd come back."
"And that's why you hugged me and cried for hours after I finally came home?" Yuri countered. Carolina set her fork down and ruffled his hair with her free hand.
"I was emotional because my only child was captured, blackmailed, and nearly sacrificed to a crazy man's inability to move on. You suffered. Parents are allowed to cry when their children suffer," she said. "And it wasn't even for an hour, by the way." She turned to Ashe. "Thank you for helping to rescue him, by the way."
"Don't thank me. The moment I found out Yuri was in danger, there was no way I wasn't going to help him," Ashe said. "I still wish there was some way we could have prevented it, but..."
"You couldn't. Any guy who can outsmart me is too clever." Yuri smiled. "The important thing is that like a true knight in shining armor, you came to rescue me." He snorted. "He even insisted on bridal-carrying me even though he was one of the shortest kids in the whole school." Ashe blushed, remembering how he'd gotten about ten steps before he just decided to let Yuri lean on his shoulder as they walked.
"I didn't have a horse back then, and Yuri did most of the heavy lifting even after losing so much blood." Carolina sighed, ruffled Yuri's hair again, and they swiftly moved onto lighter topics at her insistence.
Thankfully, Yuri could always talk about cats without breaking into a sneezing fit.
"Your mom's great," Ashe said as they left the healing house; after a lengthy chat, it was time for Carolina's medicine, and since it made her sleepy they decided it was time to let her rest. "Sometimes I forget I kind of miss having a mother." Lonato had been a widower when he found and adopted Ashe, Julie, and Arthur, and while his stories about his late wife Arabella had been wonderful to listen to, Christophe often lamented that she'd never get to meet his new siblings. "It seems like the medicine is working for her." Yuri smiled sadly.
"It is for now. She's not at death's door like she was when we first came down here, but there's no telling how long something will work. All I can do is hope and pray," he said. Ashe nodded as they settled back down in the boys' dorm room. Leaning back against the bottom bunk's pillow, Ashe nestled under Yuri's arm. "Some days it's harder than others."
Ashe was never one for prayer, even before Lonato's death had soured him on the Church and their doctrine. But if therw was a chance it could help Yuri's mother, he would try.
"I'm glad I got to meet her," he said, leaning his head further into the crook of Yuri's neck. Yuri's fingertips brushed against his cheek, tracing the patterns he swore he could see in his freckles.
"It was time to introduce the two people I love the most to each other."
This time, it wasn't surprise or disbelief Ashe felt, but a warm sense of affirmation; the man who stole the Savage Mockingbird's heart. Yuri pulled him in closer, and Ashe closed his eyes, breathing in the familiar scent of smoke and lavender that clung to him.
"I love you too, Yuri."