~*Like Monsters That Come In The Night*~

"I have had dreams, and I have had nightmares. I overcame the nightmares because of my dreams."

~*X*~

It seemed like an eternity ago, the last time she had stood here in Ion's office and chastised him for working himself to deat—to the ground, yes, to the ground. Let's not use the other word.

Oh, who was she kidding? Time to accept the fact that the Fon Master was dead and yes, he had a tendency to work himself to death if she wasn't there to drag him outside for some fresh air. Not only was he dead, but she, Anise Tatlin, had killed him.

Indirectly. But she had led him knowingly to what would be his death.

And, damn it, if she didn't curse herself every day and wish she could have taken his place, turned into golden particles or something instead.

They—that is she, Luke, and the others—were fresh from their terrifying battle with the grotesquely ugly and insane Grand Maestro Mohs. And no she'd not even think of calling him Fon Master Mohs because hell if he was. Freakish purple…demon…thing…was not fit to even be called "Grand Maestro".

…Anyway. He was gone, that was all that mattered. She felt like she had finally avenged Ion, in a way. She wished she could say a great weight had been lifted from her shoulders, but really, it hadn't. She still missed him so much that her heart felt like it was splintering apart, doing nothing but throbbing painfully with every breath.

Sometimes she'd forget and look behind her or to the side quizzically, wondering where Ion was whenever they walked. She would occasionally think, "Have we left him behind?" Then she would remember. And she would feel like crying all over again.

She thought that no one noticed these mental slipups of hers besides the Colonel, and the Colonel practically knew everything so she paid him no mind.

But, on the bright side, she had recently made a new friend. Florian, as she had christened the Replica, seemed to like her. He had a fear of other people since apparently the Grand Maestro had been a real bastard to him (unsurprisingly) so she didn't mind his gripping her shoulders and cowering behind her. She was a soldier, right? A Fon Master Guardian? Shouldn't it be her job to protect not just the Fon Master, but people in general?

Right…

So here they were in the Daath Cathedral, where they had decided to take some much needed rest after the exhausting battle with Mohs. Luke, Tear, and the rest had gone off into the city to rent some rooms at the Inn and do other things. She had decided to stay in the Cathedral. Not to see her parents so much as to stay another night with the flustered and frightened Florian. Despite Tritheim's promise to take care of him, the poor Replica was still uneasy.

So she promised to stay, at least for this evening.

The Order couldn't very well let a refugee run around in such tattered clothes, but they didn't have anything that fit Florian properly besides Ion's old things. So as she helped him straighten the white robes and adjusted the gleaming headdress with the Cheagle-fur tassels, she felt as if she was being thrown back in time.

The effect was heavily disorienting, and she blinked several times to clear her mind.

"How do I look?" Florian inquired, understandably happy to be out of the ragged vestments he had worn previously.

"There's a mirror in Ion's, I mean your room. For what it's worth, you look great to me." She turned, Tokunaga swinging from her shoulders, and pushed the door open into the Fon Master's old chamber. The bed was still made in Ion's ever meticulous fashion, and though the enclosure was mostly bare, she thought the place had a distinct scent to it that she had always associated with her dear friend.

Florian peeked at himself almost shyly in the mirror, his forest green eyes wide. "Wow…"

"Wow what?" Anise moved to stand beside him, hands on her hips as per usual.

He blinked three times before answering. "Nothing Anise, I'm just not used to wearing anything this nice." He grinned, and she couldn't help herself, she smiled too.

Staring at their reflections, Anise was nearly overwhelmed by the sucking embrace of the past. It was trying to take her back to…back to…

"Anyway!" She announced loudly, turning from the mirror with an over-enthusiastic grin that wouldn't have fooled her friends at all. "What do you want to do, Florian? It's too late to go to bed just yet." She stepped to the window and stared out it, watching the bustling marketplace of Daath and the movements of the Oracle Knights below.

He said in an unknowingly perfect imitation of Ion, "You don't have to stay up for my sake, Anise."

She shut her eyes tight and gripped the windowsill tightly, though she kept her tone light. "It's only been an hour since the sun's gone down. Don't worry, I'm fine. I…I want to spend some time with you."

Florian padded to her side and put his chin in his hands, elbows resting on the sill. "…Thank you."

"Huh?" Anise peeked at him past her ponytails. "What for?"

He straightened and gazed down at her with such an Ion look that she nearly shivered. "Well…I'm a Replica, and I…I thought no one would really like me."

"Florian," Anise growled crossly, folding her arms and tapping her foot. "Don't start talking like that, you sound just like Luke! And I can't stand it when he gets all depressed and starts putting himself down for no reason!"

Florian shrunk back from her. It was so abrupt and startling that she felt all of the indignation drain out as if a balloon had been popped. "Florian…?"

His eyes darted to the left and the right, anywhere but at her, and his shoulders hunched, making him appear far smaller than he was.

She inched closed and extended a hand. He retreated a little. "Hey," she said softly. "I'm not going to hurt you, okay?"

"You're not?"

"Why would I?" Understanding dawned, and Anise gnashed her teeth. "Grr! Did Mohs hit you? Or any of those God-Generals?" If he had, she had lost any and all sentiment for the former Grand Maestro. He wouldn't even be worthy of her pity.

"If he was mad enough, sometimes…" Florian blinked slowly at her. "But you won't?"

His tone was so piteously hopeful that she found herself nodding, not that she wouldn't have anyway. "Of course not. I promise." Anise crooked a gloved finger at him. "C'mere, Florian!"

At her cheerfulness, he brightened and walked back to her. She took one of his hands and squeezed it.

What did Ion like to do? Anise mused to herself. He was always in the library if I wasn't dragging him places, or whenever he had free time…

"Let's go to the library. There's a lot of things there I'm sure you'd love!"

Florian nodded quickly, and then he smiled, and Anise resisted the urge to shut her eyes tight and block out the view of his face.

Sometimes, she swore that this was destiny's way of kneeing her in the gut. She killed Ion and now she had a new friend that looked and sounded just like him.

And an enemy that loved to spite her by mimicking Ion's mannerisms just right.

~*X*~

There was a quiet thump.

Florian opened his eyes and sat up slowly, freezing, terrified of the night. Darkness wasn't anything new to him, but the sound he had heard…! What had caused it? What monstrosity had caused it?

His heart stopped its wild thundering as he turned and saw the culprit. The leather-bound book Anise had been reading to him, Fairy Tales and Daydreams, had slid from the girl's fingers and had landed on the floor in a pool of candlelight. The bronze letters glinted gold in the burning wax's radiance.

Puzzled, the Replica tried to put together what had happened. They had spent a while in the library, and Anise had encouraged him to pick a book, any book, and she'd read it with him. Truth was, he wasn't that great at reading. It wasn't like his forced readings of the Score, which came sort of naturally. Books were different.

So he had searched for a familiar word, something that Arietta had showed him once back when he had been nameless. Fairy.

If Anise had suspected anything, she hadn't shown it. She had taken it with a grin and led him back to his room. Then they had curled up together on the bed that was likely meant for just one person and she had started reading.

He supposed he must have fallen asleep, and so had she.

Florian tilted his head to the side, curious, wondering if Anise had drifted off willingly or had done so involuntarily. He liked her. He really did. She had kind eyes and a nice smile…

Anise was so close to him that they were touching. She was on her side, her back to him, her breaths coming faster than he thought a sleeping person's should. On closer inspection, he realized that she was grasping the sheets beneath her as if her life depended on it. Her eyes had creases above them, proof of how hard her lids were pressing against each other.

Worried, the Replica wondered what he should do. Should he…wake her up or…? What was wrong with her, even?

Then, she spoke.

"Ion…I'm so sorry, Ion…" Her words were so filled with pain that he felt his heart twinge in sympathy.

A tremble ran the entire length of her body. Well and truly anxious, Florian hesitated briefly, and then he put his hands on her shoulders.

"Anise? Wake up, Anise. It's just a dream." He assured her in the calmest, gentlest tone he could manage, despite his own worry.

She whimpered, but instead of opening her eyes, she rolled onto her other side and gripped his arms as if they were her anchor to reality. "Ion…please don't leave me…!"

Florian was confused. Then he felt sad. Did she only hang around him because he reminded her of her dead friend, Fon Master Ion? The seventh Ion Replica? Was that the only reason she did anything?

He saw her shiver again, and his resolve shattered. Even if that was so, she had done a lot for him. If he could make her feel better just by holding her, then he would. It was the least he could do. Florian pulled her into his arms and almost instantly her nervous trembles subsided. She clutched his robes and murmured something he couldn't catch.

"It'll be okay, Anise. Just go back to sleep," he said quietly.

Her only response was a barely audible contented sigh.

~*X*~

Florian distantly understood that he had fallen asleep at some point in the night. Because now, as he woke up, he found himself alone on the bed. Anise was frantically rushing around in the office extension of the chamber, and he rose from his spot to investigate.

The girl looked both embarrassed and infuriated, though—and he thought this somewhat smugly—she had no dark circles under her eyes. She was tying her hair back up into their customary pigtails, but he thought she looked prettier with the dark folds down.

"Oh, where did I put it…?" Anise perked up and snatched her satchel from the floor. Florian heard the soft noise of Bottles as they rattled against Gels. She noticed him standing in the doorway and he fancied that she was blushing. It was hard to tell past her tan. "Oh, Florian! Good morning! I've got to go meet Luke and the others, but I promise I'll be back!"

He nodded glumly, not really happy to hear that bit of news, though he had known it was coming. "Please come back soon, Anise."

"I will," she swore, doing a cross-my-heart gesture. Tokunaga, her cat-like stuffed animal, beamed at him from the girl's back as if in agreement.

"Okay. I'm counting on you, Anise." It would be considerably less interesting—and more frightening!—without his friend around. But he'd not have to wait long, right?

She stared at him for a few heartbeats. "...Okay, have a great day, Florian. Go ask Mama and Papa if you need help with anything." On that final note, she saluted him and rushed down the stairs, leaving the door open behind her.

He waved after her until he couldn't hear the mad rush of her footsteps. Then he went to the window and watched her as she bolted down the road, heading for her friends. He glimpsed Luke's familiar head of red hair amongst the dark browns and pale blondes of the crowds. He took her promise and held it close to his heart, because no matter what the reason, it was for him.

And that made it worth the world.

Author's Note: I finished playing Tales of the Abyss today and I thought to myself, "I have to write something!" My favorite pairing by far is IonxAnise but that'll come later. Here's a short piece I put together on the spot so it totally lacks planning. Very likely, it sucks. Reviews are appreciated!