Title: A Cleansing as Earnest as the Rain
Fandom: Fire Emblem: Three Hopes
Characters/Pairing: Yuri/Ashe
Rating: PG-13
Disclaimer: Not mine, anything mentioned here by name isn't mine
Warnings: Spoilers for the end of Golden Wildfire. Discusses past child abuse.
Notes: Takes place right after the end of the Golden Wildfire route.

--

The rain was coming down hard enough that Yuri was thankful that Lysithea and the Shady Lady had cast a spell on the tents to better repel rain, but his hearing was still sharp enough to discern Ashe’s light footfalls. He didn’t leave his vanity when a thoroughly soaked Ashe poked his head into the tent. “Oh, so you’ve finally given in to your desires and are here to seduce me. Good for you, but do towel yourself off first.”

“Yuri, please.” Ashe frowned at him (and Yuri felt a little guilty about teasing him, but he was so cute when he was grouchy). “Speaking of, do you mind if I dry off and change before dinner? I was training with Raphael and we got a little too into it. We didn’t even realize it was raining until we were both soaked.”

“Ain’t that always how it goes? But sure, feel free. You can borrow some of my clothes as well.” He started working out a knot in his hair. “Although you may want to avert your eyes to avoid the horror of witnessing the Savage Mockingbird barefaced.” He was (mostly) joking about that. The goddess had blessed him with good looks, but the powerful weren’t impressed with just that. They wanted perfection, and Yuri had only survived for so long because he could feign perfection through his persona and powders.

Ashe glanced at him, confused. “You look pretty no matter what.”

“Well, aren’t you adorably earnest,” Yuri replied archly as Ashe disappeared behind the curtain that separated the ‘living room’ from the ‘bedroom.’ Still, he could feel his face heat up. Despite all his experience and cynicism, a sincere compliment from a cute guy still did the ego wonders. He debated asking Ashe if he wanted company once it was nice enough to venture out for dinner… but, wait, this was Ashe. He always wanted company when it was time to eat. Some of his few good memories about living in Rowe involved sneaking off to Gaspard without permission (he would always be thankful that Lord Lonato and Gwendal looked the other way the countless times he did that), and Lonato’s tiny second son sneaking food and milk for them to nibble on together while Yuri was ‘hiding’ in the castle.

Those memories and Ashe’s earlier words made Yuri feel… lighter. Like there really was a world outside all the power struggles he was involved in. Besides, who wouldn’t want to break bread with a beautiful man like him? After a few more quick brushstrokes, Yuri stood up and pushed the curtain aside. “Hey, Ashe? Let’s grab dinner together. I’ll even cook—”

It wasn’t that Ashe was naked from the chest up. He’d seen that before. One couldn’t be shy when you lived in a camp with almost a hundred people. It wasn’t that Ashe sported an ugly scar on his chest. They all had scars; that was the nature of war. It was how faded and aged it appeared. As if he had received it when he was a child—

“Yuri, what’s wrong—woah!” Ashe blinked, startled when Yuri grabbed him by the shoulders.

“Tell me who hurt you.” Yuri needed to hurt them back.

“Hunh? No one! All I’ve done today is train with Raphael. The war is almost over; we haven’t even had to deal with bandits for a week.” Ashe gazed at him in concern. “What are you even talking about?”

Yuri pointed at the scar. “This. Who tried to kill you when you were a kid?!”

“Oh, that.” Ashe glanced down at the old wound. “It’s been so long, I almost forgot that was still there.”

“That doesn’t answer my question.”

Yuri was infamous in the underworld for his ability to intimidate thieves, murderers, and nobles into submission. Thanks to the rumors of his viciousness and whisperings that he wasn’t quite human, he sometimes didn’t even have to take out his blade for the more intense interrogations. A piercing glare was often more than enough to cow his opponents.

Ashe, however, just rolled his eyes at the lord of the underworld in all his dark fury. “Yuri, it happened a decade ago. The man who tried to kill me is probably dead at this point. He was old and not especially healthy. And even if he is still alive, you know I wouldn’t allow you to risk your life for my honor or some outdated notion like that.”

That was enough to shock Yuri out of his vengeance schemes, at least momentarily. “The kid who wanted to be a knight more than anything is telling me that honor is an outdated notion.”

“Former knight,” Ashe corrected him. The regret in that outcome still resonated in his tone, but it was not as pronounced as it used to be when Yuri and Claude persuaded him to defect to the Federation. “Working for King Claude has given me the chance to… reconsider some of my past beliefs. I’m not saying all chivalry is bad, but there’s no point in trying to kill the person who attacked me when not only did I survive, I’ve already processed the trauma of what happened.”

“Maybe you have.” Yuri knew he was being stubborn, but he didn’t care. “But you were the sweetest kid in the world. There was no way you could have done anything to deserve that. No child could.”

Ashe frowned but nodded. “All right.” He pulled away to tug on the white linen shirt he had borrowed which contrasted with the dark trousers. “I’ll tell you what happened but only if you promise not to do anything about it. And I want a real promise, not something you can weasel your way out of.”

Ugh. If this was what it was always like with childhood friends, Yuri was glad he’d met the Wolves when he was older. Still, he nodded solemnly. “I swear. If I break my promise, the goddess has my permission to strike me down where I stand.”

“Good,” Ashe said with a smile. He led Yuri to the ‘living room,’ and then peeked out the tent flap. The rain was coming down in torrents. “I don’t think it’s going to stop anytime soon. Do you have any snacks or supplies we could eat instead?”

“Of course. You happen to be looking at a master of obtaining snacks.” Yuri opened a small box near the cushions that served as chairs. It was filled to the brim with beef jerky and dried fruit. Nothing amazing, but it would keep them full until breakfast. “There’s a tea set on your left. Don’t tell Balthus, but there’s a bottle of wine under the bed if you’d like that instead.”

“I think we’ll stick with the tea.” Using fire magic, some old leaves left on his table, and a flask of water to make tea wasn’t the most sophisticated way to do make tea, but they weren’t sophisticated guys. (Well, Yuri was, but only in public spheres.) A few moments later, the aroma of mint tea filled the tent. Ashe poured some of the tea into a plain brown mug and offered it to Yuri. “Do you remember when you were so proud of yourself for discovering that I came from an ignoble background?”

It had been anything but a proud moment. Ashe had been lecturing him about right and wrong (again), and the worst part was that Yuri agreed with most of it. But instead of admitting that like a rational person, he tried to drag Ashe down to his level by making a big deal out of the story Gwendal had told him in an attempt to make Yuri feel less alone when he was young and stuck in Rowe territory. Listen, runt, you’re not the first person to rise from the gutter. Lonato’s second son had to choose between thievery and starving to death before the lord found him. “Maybe.”

Ashe sat down on one of the cushions, catching the jerky Yuri tossed his way. “Well, this happened around that time. Usually, I avoided noble households since they were more trouble than they were worth. But we were starving and I was under the impression that the family was on holiday. So, I decided the potential reward outweighed any risk and broke in.” He took a bite of jerky. “Unfortunately for me, the lord was at home. He also had a sword and no qualms with attacking me.” His tone was even, but there was a cloudiness in his eyes. “I don’t really remember the fight. The stab didn’t even hurt that much—I was just really cold.”

The tea was all but forgotten on the tiny end table where Yuri had placed his mug. “Ashe. How did you escape?”

“Ah, that.” Ashe poured himself a mug of tea and helped himself to some dried apple slices. “I had enough of my wits to take out my knife. He was an experienced swordsman but also well past his prime. I managed to land my knife in his thigh before I escaped.”

It wasn’t fair that Ashe had to risk his life just to feed himself and what remained of his family. It wasn’t fair that some damned noble tried to kill him for that. It especially wasn’t fair that Ashe had to fight for his life when he was maybe ten years old at the most.

“This is why I don’t like it when I see you stealing, Yuri,” Ashe said sternly. “I know from personal experience how dangerous a life like that is. I couldn’t live with myself if you died because some punk struck you down.”

Despite everything, Yuri smiled a little as he finally had his tea. “I guess I should have known that you would see telling me this horror as a chance to lecture me some more.”

Ashe shrugged. “Someone has to.”

“I don’t get it, though. How can you not want vengeance? How can you…” How can you not want to rip him limb from limb, as I do with Count Varley?

Done with dinner and tea, Ashe began to clean up after himself. “Don’t get me wrong. If it turns out that I’m right and he really is dead, I will shed no tears. It’s just that I’ve never had the luxury to fantasize about hurting those who hurt me. Not when I have two siblings to feed.”

Ashe really was too good for this world, even when he was being almost scarily pragmatic. “Okay, but how did you survive all of that?”

“The second he was down; I ran for it. I was lucky to find a priest that wouldn’t ask any questions and was willing to take a rain check on payment. After that, I tried to avoid stealing from nobles. Until we were starving again, at least.” He smiled weakly. “Then I met Lonato and then I met you.”

“I don’t like admitting when I don’t understand something, but I cannot figure you out for the life of me,” Yuri confessed. “Sometimes you’re like a squire from a fairy tale. Sometimes you’re made of sterner stuff than the Lord of the Underworld.”

“Maybe I just have more than one character trait. That’s a possibility.”

Yuri gave him a look. “And sometimes you have one helluva snarky streak.”

“I work with you,” Ashe replied. “I had to develop one to survive. Also, you’re not the only person that’s hard to figure out.” The cloudiness in his expression was still there, but it wasn’t tinged with sorrow anymore. If anything, Yuri would describe Ashe’s gaze as dreamy. “You pretend to be cold and cruel like a fairy tale villain, but you care so much for your mother and your friends. And honestly? You showed more concern for me just now than the priest who healed me that night. The second she was done; she wanted a hard date for her payment.”

The nerve of such a person! “You know, Ashe, you never made me swear not to kill snobby priests—”

“Yuri, no.” Yet… was Ashe blushing? “But thanks. It’s nice to know that someone is looking out for me.”

“You don’t say. Speaking of, that rain is still going strong. Do you want to spend the night?”

Ashe relaxed in relief. “I’d appreciate it. Just give me some blankets and I’ll sleep here.”

“Hardly. My bed can fit two people.” He winked at Ashe. “If your hormones can deal with sharing a cot with the sexiest man in Fodlan, that is.”

Ashe let out a put-upon sigh. “Somehow, I’ll manage.”

--

A few hours later, Ashe was curled up next to him. It was a cold night, and they were both grateful for each other’s body heat. “Thanks again,” he murmured sleepily.

“Any time.”

“This is nice,” Ashe said as he drifted off. “I like you a lot, Yuri.”

This wasn’t the first time someone had ‘confessed their eternal love’ or something like that to him. They also did so in ways so eloquent that their words belonged in celebrated love poems. But this young man with his simple, true words managed to make Yuri not only want to cry but start to wonder if it was time to stop being a coward and try to pursue an official relationship with this doe-eyed, damnably snarky noble-hearted archer. The three nations were still squabbling, but peace negotiations were proceeding as scheduled. It wouldn’t be easy, because both of them would still have dangerous jobs even in peacetime, but it could work.

I like you a lot, too.