Words
Characters: Yuan Ka-fai, Martel Yggdrasill, Kratos Aurion.
Fandom: Tales of Symphonia.
Pairings: Yuan/Martel
Warnings/rating: PG!
Summary: Yuan attempts once more to confess his feelings to Martel. Will he succeed?
(Late) Christmas present for
countercolette!
Words
They'd done it. The world was split in half and the Great Seed- all that was left of Ratatosk's mighty Kharlan Tree- was placed in the middle. There was still a lot of political debate going on, along with civilians being displeased that their world had literally become twice as small, but Yuan decided to ignore such conversations whenever they overheard them. Humans were always prone to being ingrateful. The situation was only temporary, either way. Derris-Kharlan would pass by soon enough, and when it did, the two countries would be united once more.
No, Yuan had other matters to worry about. Other matters that absorbed all his attention. Now that the four of them were done traveling- now that they'd halted the Ancient War and were left to play the waiting game, it was the perfect time for him to approach Martel. The perfect time to finally tell her how he felt.
All he needed was the perfect atmosphere. This proved to be more difficult to find than he thought. Now that their travels were over, they'd moved into a small cottage near the holy ground of Kharlan. Mithos seemed to be practically glued to Martel's side. Wherever she went, Mithos would be only a few steps behind. And whenever Mithos would go out to spar with Kratos, Martel would follow to watch. After a few weeks of this, Yuan realized that he would have to swallow his pride and ask for help. From the person whose help he would usually ask last.
"I need you to keep him busy."
"Excuse me?" Kratos Aurion stopped sharpening his sword to look up at his friend, raising an eyebrow at the abrupt request. Noishe, who was slumbering beside him, gave a quick twitch of the ears.
Yuan's eyes scrunched shut for a moment, before he tried again. "Mithos. I need you to take him away from the house. Anywhere. Just the two of you."
"... So that you can be alone with Martel?" It wasn't a guess, it was more of a statement.
"Nobody said anything like that!" Yuan's cheeks flushed. "A-anyway, I just want him gone. He's always hanging around here and I'm sick of it."
Kratos lowered his gaze to his sword again, continuing to sharpen the blade. "You mean to say that he is always hanging around Martel."
"... So are you going to do it or not?!"
For a long moment, there was no sound but the steady metallic hiss of stone brushing past the blade. Then Kratos spoke up again. "Very well. Just tell me when."
----
The very next day, late in the afternoon, Kratos and Mithos departed on a secret training expedition. As much as Martel had hoped to come along, Kratos had insisted that this was a special excursion, meant only for a student and his mentor. Meanwhile, Mithos had assured Yuan that if anything happened to Martel while they were gone, Yuan himself would be held responsible.
The moment the two left, an eerie silence fell throughout the cottage. It'd been so long since the four Kharlan Heroes were separated, it seemed Martel wasn't entirely sure how to handle herself. She stood by the window for a while, staring listlessly at the horizon behind which Mithos, Kratos and Noishe had disappeared, even as Yuan took a seat by the table and watched her anxiously.
He still didn't know what to say to her. He'd been mulling it over for months on end, but still nothing. Still not enough words to describe his feelings. While he wanted his confession to be perfect, he had to concede that perhaps his standards were too high. That, perhaps. trying to come up with the perfect words was just a way for him to stall the moment. And that at this rate, he would never get around to telling her anything.
He knew all this, but still he didn't have a clue how to begin explaining how he felt.
After a while, Martel joined him at the table and Yuan pretended to be deeply immersed in a book. However, he wasn't truly taking in the words and therefore failed to realize he was holding the book upside-down until a good fifteen seconds had passed. Too late for him to correct the mistake without drawing attention to it. Martel didn't mention it, though whether it was because she hadn't noticed either or because she wanted to spare Yuan's pride was debatable.
"... Well, I'm sure those two will be all right," Martel's voice piped up, cheerful as ever. "They can defeat any monster that crosses their path."
"Yes..." Yuan gave a vague nod, though he didn't really know what he was agreeing to. His thoughts were too preoccupied to listen to Martel's words.
He had to do it now. If he ruined this chance, when would he get another? And what would Kratos say? He went through all this trouble to lure Mithos away. If Yuan failed to tell Martel how he felt... Well, he could already picture Kratos's smug face. And it'd be followed by a condescending comment about how Yuan would have to do better next time.
No. He couldn't suffer that sort of indignity. He had to tell Martel today.
"-do you think, Yuan?"
Yuan looked up with a frown when he realized Martel had just asked him a question. "I'm sorry, what?"
"I asked you if vegetable soup is all right for dinner," Martel replied with a kind smile. "Your book must be very interesting."
"Oh, yes. It's... interesting. And vegetable soup is fine."
He watched as Martel got up from her chair again, striding towards the kitchen. He tried to stop her, but as he opened his mouth he found that no words would come out, so he hastily closed it again. He couldn't blame Martel for wanting to keep busy while two of her companions were out, but it only made things more difficult for Yuan.
Weren't there tricks for dealing with nervousness when you had to give important speeches? Like pretending your audience is naked? ... Well, Yuan strongly doubted that picturing Martel naked would help him, at this point.
After about a minute, he got to his feet and wandered into the kitchen as well. Martel was already selecting vegetables. He lingered by the doorway for a moment, before clearing his throat awkwardly and approaching her. She looked up at him with a curious expression.
"Are you all right, Yuan?"
He paused for a moment, his gaze straying to the vegetables lying across the table. "I think that... dinner can wait a bit longer."
"Is something the matter?"
When Yuan didn't respond in the slightest, Martel walked around the table to stand in right front of him, hoping to catch his eyes with her own. After a few seconds, he reluctantly met her gaze, only to look away again almost immediately. He was feeling rather like a cornered animal.
"You know you can tell me anything, Yuan," Martel continued.
Yuan silently disagreed with that. It was true that Martel would understand anything he told her- wouldn't judge him for his pessimistic remarks or blunt ways of dealing with others, but... That still didn't mean he could tell her anything. Such a thing was hard to do when no words would come out. At this point, the only thing stopping him from just pulling Martel into his arms and pressing his lips against hers was the notion of what would happen if the feeling wasn't mutual. There was no way Yuan could put her through that. No, he would have to let her know before doing anything else.
They were three simple words and he just couldn't bring himself to utter them.
He was snapped out of his thoughts again when Martel took his right hand in both her own. "Do you remember what I told you before? It does no good to keep your feelings to yourself. You need to share them, or they'll hurt you from the inside."
Yuan gave a vague nod in response. She did tell him that, but it was in a completely different context. She didn't know about the feelings Yuan harbored towards her.
"So if you're hurting, Yuan-"
"I'm not..." He trailed off, shaking his head. That wasn't entirely true. He was hurting. Just not in the way she thought he was.
"You can trust me, Yuan." Her warm hands gave Yuan's own a soft squeeze, causing him to look up, into her beautiful green eyes. "No matter what happens, you can always trust me."
"I..." He cleared his throat awkwardly, then sank to one knee. He wasn't sure what made him do it. Judging by Martel's expression, she was just as surprised as he was.
Yuan realized. It wouldn't matter if he didn't word it perfectly. The way he voiced them wouldn't change his feelings in the slightest. Nor would it determine whether Martel felt the same way or not.
"... I c-care about you. I care about you more than anyone else. And I want to spend the rest of my life by your side. Because... I want to make sure you're happy."
"Yuan..."
Martel sounded lightly amazed, but he just shook his head again. He couldn't let her interrupt. Not now that he'd finally found the motivation to start talking. "Not just because you're one of my closest companions. Not just because you look out for all of us. It's because I... I-I love you."
"O-oh Yuan...!" There was a flurry of movement, as Martel released Yuan's hand, sank closer to the floor and slung her arms around his neck. Now he could see nothing but locks of green hair. He could only smell a faint, flowery scent. Martel always smelled like that. He was faintly aware that her chest was pressing up against his, making him fidget uncomfortably.
"I'm sorry. That I hadn't noticed sooner, I mean! I should've realized...- I'm so sorry," she murmured into his ear, sounding slightly out of breath.
"That's... nothing you need to apologize for."
"But you must've felt this way for so long and I never... I should've paid more attention to you."
"I-it's fine. Really. It's fine."
Yuan was starting to feel a little queasy. He'd finally confessed to Martel and all she was doing was apologizing- Taking the blame for something completely irrelevant. She was neither accepting his feelings, nor rejecting them.
After a few seconds, Martel broke away again, sitting back to fix him with a smile. "I'm glad you told me."
"But are you..." He looked away again, his cheeks burning. "Do you feel the same?"
This was it. All or nothing. Yuan's heart was beating so fast, he thought it might break through his ribcage at any moment. Yet, that's when Martel's hands found his own again, their fingers entwining, and he felt himself calm down somewhat. Everything would be fine.
"I'm sure I do, Yuan. I love you."
Fandom: Tales of Symphonia.
Pairings: Yuan/Martel
Warnings/rating: PG!
Summary: Yuan attempts once more to confess his feelings to Martel. Will he succeed?
(Late) Christmas present for
countercolette!
Words
They'd done it. The world was split in half and the Great Seed- all that was left of Ratatosk's mighty Kharlan Tree- was placed in the middle. There was still a lot of political debate going on, along with civilians being displeased that their world had literally become twice as small, but Yuan decided to ignore such conversations whenever they overheard them. Humans were always prone to being ingrateful. The situation was only temporary, either way. Derris-Kharlan would pass by soon enough, and when it did, the two countries would be united once more.
No, Yuan had other matters to worry about. Other matters that absorbed all his attention. Now that the four of them were done traveling- now that they'd halted the Ancient War and were left to play the waiting game, it was the perfect time for him to approach Martel. The perfect time to finally tell her how he felt.
All he needed was the perfect atmosphere. This proved to be more difficult to find than he thought. Now that their travels were over, they'd moved into a small cottage near the holy ground of Kharlan. Mithos seemed to be practically glued to Martel's side. Wherever she went, Mithos would be only a few steps behind. And whenever Mithos would go out to spar with Kratos, Martel would follow to watch. After a few weeks of this, Yuan realized that he would have to swallow his pride and ask for help. From the person whose help he would usually ask last.
"I need you to keep him busy."
"Excuse me?" Kratos Aurion stopped sharpening his sword to look up at his friend, raising an eyebrow at the abrupt request. Noishe, who was slumbering beside him, gave a quick twitch of the ears.
Yuan's eyes scrunched shut for a moment, before he tried again. "Mithos. I need you to take him away from the house. Anywhere. Just the two of you."
"... So that you can be alone with Martel?" It wasn't a guess, it was more of a statement.
"Nobody said anything like that!" Yuan's cheeks flushed. "A-anyway, I just want him gone. He's always hanging around here and I'm sick of it."
Kratos lowered his gaze to his sword again, continuing to sharpen the blade. "You mean to say that he is always hanging around Martel."
"... So are you going to do it or not?!"
For a long moment, there was no sound but the steady metallic hiss of stone brushing past the blade. Then Kratos spoke up again. "Very well. Just tell me when."
----
The very next day, late in the afternoon, Kratos and Mithos departed on a secret training expedition. As much as Martel had hoped to come along, Kratos had insisted that this was a special excursion, meant only for a student and his mentor. Meanwhile, Mithos had assured Yuan that if anything happened to Martel while they were gone, Yuan himself would be held responsible.
The moment the two left, an eerie silence fell throughout the cottage. It'd been so long since the four Kharlan Heroes were separated, it seemed Martel wasn't entirely sure how to handle herself. She stood by the window for a while, staring listlessly at the horizon behind which Mithos, Kratos and Noishe had disappeared, even as Yuan took a seat by the table and watched her anxiously.
He still didn't know what to say to her. He'd been mulling it over for months on end, but still nothing. Still not enough words to describe his feelings. While he wanted his confession to be perfect, he had to concede that perhaps his standards were too high. That, perhaps. trying to come up with the perfect words was just a way for him to stall the moment. And that at this rate, he would never get around to telling her anything.
He knew all this, but still he didn't have a clue how to begin explaining how he felt.
After a while, Martel joined him at the table and Yuan pretended to be deeply immersed in a book. However, he wasn't truly taking in the words and therefore failed to realize he was holding the book upside-down until a good fifteen seconds had passed. Too late for him to correct the mistake without drawing attention to it. Martel didn't mention it, though whether it was because she hadn't noticed either or because she wanted to spare Yuan's pride was debatable.
"... Well, I'm sure those two will be all right," Martel's voice piped up, cheerful as ever. "They can defeat any monster that crosses their path."
"Yes..." Yuan gave a vague nod, though he didn't really know what he was agreeing to. His thoughts were too preoccupied to listen to Martel's words.
He had to do it now. If he ruined this chance, when would he get another? And what would Kratos say? He went through all this trouble to lure Mithos away. If Yuan failed to tell Martel how he felt... Well, he could already picture Kratos's smug face. And it'd be followed by a condescending comment about how Yuan would have to do better next time.
No. He couldn't suffer that sort of indignity. He had to tell Martel today.
"-do you think, Yuan?"
Yuan looked up with a frown when he realized Martel had just asked him a question. "I'm sorry, what?"
"I asked you if vegetable soup is all right for dinner," Martel replied with a kind smile. "Your book must be very interesting."
"Oh, yes. It's... interesting. And vegetable soup is fine."
He watched as Martel got up from her chair again, striding towards the kitchen. He tried to stop her, but as he opened his mouth he found that no words would come out, so he hastily closed it again. He couldn't blame Martel for wanting to keep busy while two of her companions were out, but it only made things more difficult for Yuan.
Weren't there tricks for dealing with nervousness when you had to give important speeches? Like pretending your audience is naked? ... Well, Yuan strongly doubted that picturing Martel naked would help him, at this point.
After about a minute, he got to his feet and wandered into the kitchen as well. Martel was already selecting vegetables. He lingered by the doorway for a moment, before clearing his throat awkwardly and approaching her. She looked up at him with a curious expression.
"Are you all right, Yuan?"
He paused for a moment, his gaze straying to the vegetables lying across the table. "I think that... dinner can wait a bit longer."
"Is something the matter?"
When Yuan didn't respond in the slightest, Martel walked around the table to stand in right front of him, hoping to catch his eyes with her own. After a few seconds, he reluctantly met her gaze, only to look away again almost immediately. He was feeling rather like a cornered animal.
"You know you can tell me anything, Yuan," Martel continued.
Yuan silently disagreed with that. It was true that Martel would understand anything he told her- wouldn't judge him for his pessimistic remarks or blunt ways of dealing with others, but... That still didn't mean he could tell her anything. Such a thing was hard to do when no words would come out. At this point, the only thing stopping him from just pulling Martel into his arms and pressing his lips against hers was the notion of what would happen if the feeling wasn't mutual. There was no way Yuan could put her through that. No, he would have to let her know before doing anything else.
They were three simple words and he just couldn't bring himself to utter them.
He was snapped out of his thoughts again when Martel took his right hand in both her own. "Do you remember what I told you before? It does no good to keep your feelings to yourself. You need to share them, or they'll hurt you from the inside."
Yuan gave a vague nod in response. She did tell him that, but it was in a completely different context. She didn't know about the feelings Yuan harbored towards her.
"So if you're hurting, Yuan-"
"I'm not..." He trailed off, shaking his head. That wasn't entirely true. He was hurting. Just not in the way she thought he was.
"You can trust me, Yuan." Her warm hands gave Yuan's own a soft squeeze, causing him to look up, into her beautiful green eyes. "No matter what happens, you can always trust me."
"I..." He cleared his throat awkwardly, then sank to one knee. He wasn't sure what made him do it. Judging by Martel's expression, she was just as surprised as he was.
Yuan realized. It wouldn't matter if he didn't word it perfectly. The way he voiced them wouldn't change his feelings in the slightest. Nor would it determine whether Martel felt the same way or not.
"... I c-care about you. I care about you more than anyone else. And I want to spend the rest of my life by your side. Because... I want to make sure you're happy."
"Yuan..."
Martel sounded lightly amazed, but he just shook his head again. He couldn't let her interrupt. Not now that he'd finally found the motivation to start talking. "Not just because you're one of my closest companions. Not just because you look out for all of us. It's because I... I-I love you."
"O-oh Yuan...!" There was a flurry of movement, as Martel released Yuan's hand, sank closer to the floor and slung her arms around his neck. Now he could see nothing but locks of green hair. He could only smell a faint, flowery scent. Martel always smelled like that. He was faintly aware that her chest was pressing up against his, making him fidget uncomfortably.
"I'm sorry. That I hadn't noticed sooner, I mean! I should've realized...- I'm so sorry," she murmured into his ear, sounding slightly out of breath.
"That's... nothing you need to apologize for."
"But you must've felt this way for so long and I never... I should've paid more attention to you."
"I-it's fine. Really. It's fine."
Yuan was starting to feel a little queasy. He'd finally confessed to Martel and all she was doing was apologizing- Taking the blame for something completely irrelevant. She was neither accepting his feelings, nor rejecting them.
After a few seconds, Martel broke away again, sitting back to fix him with a smile. "I'm glad you told me."
"But are you..." He looked away again, his cheeks burning. "Do you feel the same?"
This was it. All or nothing. Yuan's heart was beating so fast, he thought it might break through his ribcage at any moment. Yet, that's when Martel's hands found his own again, their fingers entwining, and he felt himself calm down somewhat. Everything would be fine.
"I'm sure I do, Yuan. I love you."