A/N: My dear beloved readers, I present to you the rewritten version of Tears of Darkness. Because I just couldn't handle it anymore about the fact that the previous version was in fact so badly written that I just wanted to poke my eyes out with scissors. I'm so damn glad that I improved my writing style, 'cause goddamn. It gave me goosebumps when I re-read the whole thing (in which there were a helluva lot of grammar/spelling errors). Okay, this newer version isn't maybe all that better (I won't deny that), but it wasn't easy to change everything, so I had to keep a few original parts in it from the older version. Though Luke's not so OOC anymore now. Made some research through all the ficlets and Tales of the Abyss Guide about his personality. Huhu :3

Anyway! Hope you will fully enjoy this newer Tears of Darkness, maybe even more than the old one?

Rating: this chapter is rated T. This story will become M.

Genres: Romance, Drama, a weensy bit of Angst (if you squint), and maybe Humor.

Warnings: for all the chapters, this fiction is a boy x boy story. This means Yaoi / Shounen-ai. Boy on boy action. Buttsex, if you prefer. Or at least a bit of smutness. Swearing too. Action, violence and blood? THIS CHAPTER HAS NOT BEEN BETA'D YET.

Pairings: AschxLuke

Editions: this chapter has been rewritten and edited on the third of March, 2009.

Disclaimer: we all damn know that I don't own TotA. I wish I did, but I don't.

Summary: Luke's injured but luckily Asch saves him. Problem is: they're alone in a cave, and no one knows about their whereabouts. Will hate cope with love for once?

"There is only trouble and desire."

- Simple Men

Chapter 1: The Crying Sky

Luke Fon Fabre was walking alone in the Cheagle Woods, heading nowhere in particular. He was tired to see his friends hurt because of him, so he had silently escaped out of the inn they were resting at in Daath.

Of course, he hadn't left any message behind, that would just cause more problems and Guy and the others would probably try to track him down. Into more nasty and dangerous situations.

Not that he led them into danger on purpose. It was more like danger got attracted to him while he and his companions would walk around, going from town to town to replenish their food stock or buy new weapons and armoury while Luke would ask around if they had heard any news about a certain redhead that looked very similar to himself.

Of course he could have guessed that no one had seen such a person before, so there: he felt miserable and angry at the same time because he didn't know why he cared so much about that idiot anyway. It wasn't like the man treated him nicely or was even remotely polite towards him. In fact, the God-General only made him have even more confusing thoughts.

So Asch was actually the main reason why he had left his team behind. Because of one stupid asshole that he couldn't get out of his mind. And not just because Asch was his original, rather because the redhead infuriated him in a way he couldn't describe.

Luke first wanted to try to open a mind link with the redhead (just to have an idea of where he could be), though he quickly had changed his mind—you didn't have to be smart to know that Asch would just snap at him and call him names again. Like Asch's personal favourite one, and I quote: 'You stupid dreck'.

The second reason was because he felt empty, now knowing that he was a replica of the God-General. He felt so empty that it was almost sickening, though didn't understand why. Would their relation had been any different if the two didn't know that they were somehow connected to each other?

Frankly, Luke didn't think so.

"Like that bastard really would treat me differently in any other life. Maybe if he got rid of that huge stick shoved up his ass, then maybe, really maybe, would he start calling me by my name."

He suddenly heard a twig crack. Luke stopped in his tracks and perked his ears, listening and trying to pinpoint from where the sound had come. Honestly, it was impossible that Guy and the others had found him this fast already. Silence reigned for a few moments and then, almost unnoticeable, the ground started to shake.

A loud thump. Then another one, and another. It sounded like a really big monster. A fiend that approached the young boy. He quickly swirled around and came face-to-face with a mean-looking creature: a Liger Queen.

"Oh crap."

Luke immediately unsheathed his sword and began attacking it, slicing deep cuts in its skin, making the greenisch blood pour out of the wounds. It was not because he was a skilled swordfighter that he should let his guard down—he was alone after all, and no matter how cocky he could act in front of his comrades, he wasn't quite tired of his life yet.

The monster roared and rose up its very sharp and deadly claws, swinging the weapons at Luke's side. Unfortunately, Luke had been a bit distracted so that he wasn't able to dodge the attack, with the expected consequence of this: the claws dug into his skin, ruining a part of his clothes along the way, and small droplets of blood splattered on the ground when the fiend retreated its paw.

Luke clenched his teeth together, suppressing a scream and trying to ignore the stinging pain. The Liger Queen prepared itself to launch another attack, but before it could even manage that, Luke had already composed himself and jumped high in the air. While he was in mid-air, not so far above from the fiend, he aligned his sword right and with all his force he came down, hitting the purplish monster on its head.

The monster emitted a deafening shriek and fell defeated on the ground, making a few disturbing twists before it stopped. It looked like it was dead, although the redhead knew for sure that he hadn't hit the Liger Queen that hard, but he wasn't going to complain.

It started to rain. The droplets pitter-pattering on the ground turning it slowly into mud, and before Luke could even enjoy the first little water drops, the clouds decided to bombard the whole place with rain.

He sighed softly. It wasn't the time to linger around when he had better things to do. Turning his back to what he supposed was the dead monster, he walked away. It was only thirty minutes later, when he started to gasp and breathe heavily, that he remembered that he was actually wounded, bleeding rather seriously—if the whiteness of his tunic that became sort of a pink colour was any indication.

He clutched his side, trying to at least suppress the injury (though it was more for the pain), hissing when he pressed a bit too hard.

"Damn it, why of all the time that I could have been wounded did it have to be now when I have nothing on me but my clothes and sword! Luckily I was smart enough to bring some medical herbs and bandages with me."

He looked around, trying to find a place where he could maybe try to heal his wound and make a fire. But he was too deep in the forest and there was no way to return back. Definitely not now with his injury. And his sense of direction—or rather the lack of it. Great.

Groaning when he realized that he couldn't do anything except keep on walking further ahead, he did so and hoped that he somehow could find a shelter. He was tired, damn it, and he wanted to sleep. Even food didn't matter at the moment.

With each step he took, more blood came dripping down, staining the grassy and muddy ground with crimson stains. That would certainly attract monsters, unless the rain would wash the scent away. Luckily, Karma didn't hate the young man that much, so of course the water washed it all away.

Luke's vision started to become blurry, seeing black spots dancing in front of his eyes. He wasn't so sure if he would make it. Maybe he'd die here, in the middle of the Cheagle Woods, where nobody would find him and be at the mercy of any fiend that would probably stumble upon him.

A sharp pain in his side alerted him, and he started to cough. When he brought his hand up to inspect the warm reddish liquid that had come out of his mouth, he cursed even more. That stupid fiend had poisoned him, and of course he hadn't any potion for that.

"I swear, if I knew something like this would happen…" he didn't finish whatever he was saying to himself, as his knees started to tremble under him before they finally gave up and he collapsed, falling quite softly on the wet ground. At least he had fallen on grass, and not in a dirty puddle of mushy brownness.

With a hiss he carefully tried to turn around so that he lay on his back. He gazed up at the gray sky, the stormy clouds looking down on him and he somehow had a feeling that they were mocking him for his stupidity. Like the Heavens were actually punishing him. But Luke didn't care. He was enjoying the rain splattering on his face, closing his eyes and thinking about another certain redhead.

"Asch… I'm so very sorry."

Without knowing, tears started to roll down his cheeks, whether it was from the pain or the clenching feeling at his heart he felt at the moment, it didn't matter anymore. His breathing slowed down; body going numb and a bit cold, his white cloth becoming even pinker. He couldn't help himself but chuckle when he saw this, cracking an eye open. Sure the colour made him look girly.

With a faint smile on his lips, he whispered to no one in particularly.

"See ya…"

And his eyes closed again, the smile never leaving his face when he started to lose his consciousness.

It was silent, very silent. The only sound that could be heard was that of the rain falling down, the wind whistling through the trees and the beating of Luke's heart.

The sky cried. The light became dark. Coldness replaced the warmth.

To be continued…

A/N: I hope it somewhat looked okay. I still haven't played the game, even though I imported the game. But I totally forgot that my PS2 can't read any American games (since my dear Roxas - yeah I named my PS2 - is made in Europe). It's so frustrating!! D: I want to play it (TxT). Unless I buy an import PS2? Oh dear...

Sorry for the shortness of the chapter! Please do leave reviews or any constructive criticism! Muchly appreciated :D

Yours truly,

Midnight Crisis.