Note from Author: As always, these characters do not belong to me, they belong to Namco Bandai. Of course as always if Namco Bandai is willing to give Asch, Guy or Jade to me, I would be happy to take them. But until then, all I can do is play around with them in my writings. This is a creation of my own overactive imagination and serious boredom, nothing more and nothing less.

Tataroo Valley was indeed more beautiful at night. Lit by only the dim light of the moon, the selenias could be seen very well carpeting the whole field. Then there was the addition of the beautiful voice he could hear singing a song very familiar to him.

He kept on walking towards the sound of the voice, as if it was calling to him. It may very well have done so, because he couldn't think of why he would come here. It was as if fate were calling out to him.

Then he saw her, sitting upon a rock, her hand stretched out towards him, as if beckoning him to come to her. He could see the others behind her, but honestly, she was the only one he cared about right now.

How long had it been since he last saw her? He didn't even know. His memories were rather hazy and he had no idea how much time had passed since defeating Van. All he knew was that it had been long enough that his hair grew out again.

The singing stopped all of a sudden, she must have reached the end of the hymn. It was a shame, he wanted to hear it again. He doubted he could ever grow tired of her voice.

He couldn't hear what they were saying; they were speaking too softly for him to hear. He didn't know what caused him to start walking faster, but he did.

Then he saw Tear turn around and get up off the rock she had been sitting on. She looked about to depart with the others when all of a sudden she looked back.

She must have seen him, she didn't turn around towards the others, she turned towards him and started walking in his direction.

Each step he took towards her was pure sweet torture. She was so close, but he was so afraid. How would she react? Would she be happy that he was alive and had finally returned to her? Or would she be mad that he had been gone for so long, letting her think that he was dead?

She was close enough that he could speak to her, but he couldn't find the words to say to her. Thankfully she spoke first, though her voice was shaky. It was as if she couldn't believe what she was seeing, "Why are…you here?"

"This place has a nice view of Hod...also, I promised someone..." he answered her, hoping that would ease her fears right off.

He could see the sparkle of tears in her eyes as she came towards him. Before he knew it, she was hugging him tightly. He wrapped his arms around her and held her tight against him.

"You came back…" she sobbed.

The others walked towards them, but kept back a bit, allowing him to have a moment with Tear. Only Jade stood in the background, a mysterious smirk on his face. Some things didn't change indeed.

So, aren't you going to come and greet Natalia?

Not yet.

Why?

Have your reunion. I'll come to her when and if I'm ready.

I can't believe you would let her continue to think you are dead!

And you better not tell her otherwise, or any of the rest of them. Do I have your word?

I still disagree, but she won't hear it from me. Where will you go?

I'll let you know when I figure it out. Goodbye.

He'd grown much more comfortable with that voice, it no longer gave him headaches at least. But still, he couldn't help but wonder how Natalia would take it if she ever found out.

"Are you all right? You seem distracted," Tear asked him.

"I-I'm fine. I'm just surprised to see everyone here, that's all." He released Tear from his embrace and soon after he felt a playful punch on his arm that had to come from Guy.

"Didn't I tell you that you shouldn't keep things from your friends? What took you so long?" His best friend asked.

"I don't know. How long has it been?"

"You don't know?" Natalia asked.

He shook his head, "That's why I asked."

"Damn Luke, did you lose your memory or something?" Guy asked him.

"No, I don't think so. I seem to remember everything, I just don't know what day it is."

Natalia looked down at the ground as she answered, "It's your coming of age."

His eyebrows raised. That much time had passed? That was two years he had been gone! It was amazing any of them still held out hope that he lived if that much time had gone by.

"Don't worry about it, Luke. You're back now, that's all that matters." Tear told him as she hugged him again.

--

One year later

Luke sat down in the brand new restaurant that had opened in Yulia City with Guy who was in town for a short time and thought to see how his friend was doing. Yulia City was seeing a lot of growth as far as trade went in a short time. It had been so isolated for so long that there was little for visitors as far as places to stay and eat. But since it was nearly as important to the reformed Order of Lorelei as Daath was, many came on pilgrimages along with diplomatic visits from both Malkuth and Kimlasca.

When Guy wasn't busy walking rappigs, he was often sent on diplomatic missions, so it was no surprise that he found himself in Yulia City.

After Luke's return, he decided to stay with Tear in Yulia City once he made sure his family knew he lived. His father had been quite upset about it, but his mother, uncle and Natalia did understand his feelings. He promised to visit as much as he could.

His thoughts were interrupted all of a sudden, "Hey, Luke, you okay? You haven't said a word since I got here other than greeting me."

"Yeah, I'm fine."

"You seem distracted. Is everything going okay for you?"

He thought a moment before answering. He knew that if he were to tell Guy about his problems with Tear, that his friend would listen and offer assistance. But he didn't really want to get his friends involved in their problems. It was between him and Tear, so he decided instead to just give the polite answer that things were fine instead. "Really, Guy, you don't need to get so worried. I was just thinking about some things, that's all. Nothing is wrong."

The blonde nobleman looked at his friend and could tell he wasn't telling the whole truth. Something was bothering his friend, and he knew it, "So, things are going great with Tear then? And you're liking it here in Yulia City still?"

"Well, yeah, of course they are."

"And you can stop lying at any time. Didn't I tell you not to keep things from your friends? If you and Tear are having problems, you should talk about it. Maybe I can help."

"I doubt it. It's mostly my fault really. I just need to deal with it."

"Deal with what? Come on Luke, it can't be as bad as you think."

"You're wrong there. After all the trouble I caused by leaving Baticul for Tear, now things are going badly. If it keeps like this, we may no longer have a relationship."

"So? People argue. You and I sure did our fair share at times. No two people are ever going to agree on everything, but that doesn't mean they don't care about each other."

"It's different from that."

"Then tell me about it. I can't help if you keep it to yourself."

Before Luke could say anything, the waitress came over and took their orders. Luke couldn't help but notice how much better his friend's phobia had gotten over the years. The waitress accidentally brushed up against him as she left for the kitchen and he only looked a bit tense.

Luke smiled at his friend glad to see how much better he has gotten since their adventure, "I see your phobia isn't as bad as it used to be."

"I'm trying. Emperor Peony has been talking about finding me a nice woman to marry, so it's a good thing. Anyway, I'm not going to let you change the subject like that. What's going on with you and Tear?"

Luke sighed, Guy sure wasn't going to let this issue drop, "Fine, I'll tell you. In truth, I can't stand being cooped up here. This place brings back memories that just bother me. On top of that, it's just like being confined to the manor, except larger."

"And let me guess, Tear can't leave, so you're stuck in a place you hate? Have you talked to her about it? Maybe she could ask about getting a mission outside the city and you could go with her?"

"I tried, but it didn't help much. Yeah, I was better during the trip, but once we returned, it was back to the same old problems. It didn't change a thing at all."

"What about a vacation? Maybe she could get some leave and you two could go somewhere and spend some time together outside of your work for the Order and Kimlasca? I'm sure if you asked, Emperor Peony would get you two passes to the spa in Keterburg again."

"I'm not sure if that would do it though. Yeah, it will be nice while we are not here, but once we get back, the problems will come back again like they do every time."

Guy leaned back in his chair and thought for a moment on what Luke had said. They sat in silence for about a minute before Guy spoke again, "Luke, do you love Tear?"

"Of course I do."

"Well, Luke, if you want to have any hope of continuing your relationship with her, both of you are going to need to work something out. She's probably hurting because you're miserable due to her. And you're miserable because you want to be with her, and can't stand this place that is her home. Either you are going to have to get over it, or you and her are going to have to agree on leaving. Have you told her how you feel about living here?"

"The only other place she can go is Daath, and that's not much better."

"I don't blame you for thinking that. I don't really like Daath either, but still, you might want to consider it. At least in Daath you may not feel so confined, then you can deal with your other problems. And you would have friends there besides Tear. Remember, Anise is still with the Order and living in Daath, and so is Florian."

The waitress returned with their order. Luke thought over his friend's words while they ate. It made sense, another location might suit them better. The only problem was, he couldn't say his real reason for not being able to go to Daath beyond a visit to anyone.

A year had passed and Asch still hadn't spoken with Natalia. To this day, Natalia continued to think he was still dead, and Luke couldn't say a word otherwise about it to her or to anyone else. He regretted having given his word when they both came back, but he couldn't go back on it without losing the tenuous friendship they had gained over the past year. All he could do was to hope that during some visit to Daath that he could talk some sense into his original at last and convince him that he belonged in Baticul, not in Daath.

No, he definitely couldn't explain that to Guy. So he would have to come up with some other reason why Daath wasn't an option, at least not now, since it wouldn't be unless Asch finally got up the nerve to go back to Natalia. Or else he could just agree to at least talk to Tear about it, though he wouldn't even consider bringing that up with her. He couldn't risk that she would agree, not yet at least.

Guy put down his fork and knife, "Thinking it over then Luke? You haven't said a word since our meal came."

"Yeah, what you said made sense."

"Good. I don't want to see you two fall apart over this. If you don't work this out somehow, that will be the result."

"Yeah, I don't want that to happen either. I'll talk to her about it."

"Well, I better get going. It's nearly time for me to meet with Teodoro. I'll stop by later to see how you two are doing."

"Thanks again, Guy. I'll see you later!"

Guy left to go pay for his meal and then to go meet with Teodoro, which was the actual reason why he was in Yulia City. The moment he was out of the restaurant, Luke's lighthearted feelings that came from seeing his friend again disappeared and the misery he had dealt with since he came here came back.

He was definitely going to have to do something about this, or else Guy's prediction would come true. His relationship with Tear would be over.

--

Asch laid on his bed in his quarters in Oracle Headquarters staring at the ceiling as seemed to be his habit these days. He was starting to get comfortable with his new life here at last. It took some getting used to at first, and he doubted he would ever be fully back to his normal self. But he was alive and that was all that mattered. He could deal with the rest of it.

Then as always happened when he did this, he started seeing Natalia's face within the pattern of the ceiling. No matter how much he tried, he couldn't forget about her. But at the same time, he couldn't get the nerve to just go and face her.

What made it even worse was that his damn replica kept trying to convince him that he should just tell her that he was alive. That she deserved to know so she could no longer grieve for him.

If it was that easy, he would have done just that when he saw her in Tataroo Valley that night a year ago. He knew what would happen if she knew, she would want him to come home to Baticul.

And that scared him more than anything else. Maybe someday he would be able to fully face what happened in the past, and leave it in the past. He was trying to do that already. It took a lot for him to forget his hatred and try to find something to like about his replica, enough that they could try to get along.

To his surprise, he found himself actually growing to slowly trust his replica, as he hadn't been able to do for the longest time. He was actually amazed that the idiot was able to keep his word for this long already. He knew it wouldn't last forever. Either Luke would slip up somehow, or Natalia would somehow find him.

He just needed some more time. That was all.

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