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Rating: G

Couplings: Slightly JadexLuke.

Warnings: Spoilers after Akzeriuth.

Summary: Everyone worried about Luke, but only Jade wanted to do everything he could. Oneshot. Spoilers. JadexLuke?

Disclaimer: Tales of the Abyss and its characters are owned by Bandai Namco Games.

A/N: There is a scene in the game where Jade said something along the lines of, "I know about your nightmares/night terrors." I have not scene it in a while, but my friend recently had and told me about it. So, being the kind of person who likes to write off of scenes, I decided to type my own version of that scene. And, for the third time, I really do not know if it is JadexLuke, or not… I do not think it is, but it could be. For the ones who want it to be, that is.

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Luke lazily dragged his feet across the forest ground, listening as the leaves crunched under his soles. It had been a while since that day at Akzeriuth, and almost everybody had started to treat him nicer again, but he still could not get over his inferiority complex. His dreams did not let him.

Just about every night, he would have nightmares. There were people dying, children crying, and flames rising… all because of him. Sometimes the dreams would be the same, and sometimes they would vary slightly. But, in each one, Van deceived him. He still could not believe it. How could someone who treated him so nicely, and promised him so much in life, stand up and betray him? It pained his heart just thinking about it.

Jade glanced over at Luke. He could tell that the boy was thinking about Akzeriuth again, because his eyebrows would lower in over his eyes and he would clench his fists. Was there nothing nobody could do to help him? Even Guys words could not penetrate into his consciousness, and Luke held him dearest. Even the infamous "cold-chick" Tear attempted to pull him out of his misery. But, alas, they all failed.

The sun already started to set before they could reach Daath. Its evening rays painted the sky with brilliant, peach colors. These beautiful colors, however, posed as a warning sign for them to hurry before nightfall completely fell over them. The monsters near Daath were worse at night, and any traveler would do best to hurry into the city.

Luckily enough, the small hill just before Daath began coming into view. The party did their best to hurry without running.

"We should make it before nightfall, right Colonel?" Anise asked, wondering aloud. The Colonel, however, did not heed her words. His mind drifted off, along with any awareness of who spoke to him. "Colonel? Are you listening?" Jade snapped out of his muses and faced Anise.

"Oh, er, we should make it in time. Don't worry," he finally replied. Anise sent him a confused expression, but quickly shrugged it off and continued with her own business. Guy and Tear also exchanged confused glances. However, Luke did not pay any attention at all. He continued to watch the ground as he walked, his eyes following small grooves in the dirt.

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The party gathered and stopped in the city gates. Natalia looked behind her before pointing out, "Looks like we made it just in time. There are already stars in the sky." Guy followed her movements and glanced at the same location.

"Yeah. Now let's get to the inn, I'm beat!" A group of tired moans joined him in agreement. After they started to head for the Daath inn, Guy came up behind Luke and rested his arm around the redhead's shoulders. Luke flinched slightly in surprise and looked up at Guy's smile. "So, who are you roomin' with tonight?" It was common for the party members to ask who would room with who, since it was polite and all.

Luke sighed, before saying, "Can I just… have my own room tonight…?" He gently slid Guy's arm off him and continued walking with his head hanging low, ignoring the saddening expression Guy flashed at him. The blonde stopped, waiting for the others to catch up, before turning around with a worried look on plastered on his face.

"Should we let him…?" Guy questioned, the concern leaking from his words. He watched until Luke was out of earshot before adding, "He could do anything alone…"

"Well, we don't want to stress him out by invading his personal space," Tear began, "so, we should just let him have his own room for tonight and check on him every now and then." Everyone else nodded in agreement.

"Sounds good to me," added Guy, still feeling concerned for the mental stability of his best friend.

After the short conversation, the remaining party members took off towards the inn. When they got inside, they saw Luke quietly sitting on a nearby chair, his eyes preoccupied with wandering off into a nonexistent space. The innkeeper happily greeted Jade and co., asking them how many rooms they would like. Guy replied with the usual, but did not forget Luke's request and asked if they offered single bedrooms.

"Of course! It's upstairs and to the right, along with your other rooms!" The girl appeared more than twenty years of age, but her vocals screamed five year old on crack. Jade tried discovering his wince as he handed the Gald over and motioned everybody, including Luke, to follow him.

Once upstairs, Luke did not even say goodnight as he drawled himself into his isolated hole. The replica closed the door behind him as Tear and Natalia both frowned. Anise clutched onto her Tokunaga, sighing then striding off towards the room she shared with the mentioned Natalia. Jade, Tear, and Guy headed for their destinations as well, Tear deciding to have the other lone room in response to Guy's gynophobia. Before long, stars littered the night sky with their radiant gleams and sparkles, letting the horrid city of Daath rest.

With these resting townspeople, Luke dozed. The redhead shifted slightly in his sleep, squeezing the sheets closer to his chest in a pleading call for comfort, since he always denied receiving it from his friends. In another room, not too far away, Jade kept himself awake the whole time until he sought it out to be safe enough to leave the room. Guy snored lightly, rolling over now and then, so that allowed Jade some comfort that he was a heavy sleeper.

Tiptoeing quickly, but softly, Jade exited the room and made his through the hall towards Luke's residence. He ceased his walking a few inches in front of Luke's door. Pressing his ear against the cold wood, Jade listened carefully for the familiar sounds he often heard Luke excuse from his nightmares. Not quite hearing anything yet, Jade cautiously creaked the door open, slipped his way in, and then carefully closed it back up. He remained idol in the dark, watching as the boy clenched his blanket even closer.

"I didn't… I didn't…," he repeated, almost inaudible to the human's hearing senses. He almost whispered the words, but his voice faltered slightly, creating more of a whimpering sound than a whispering one. Jade's eyebrows twitched upwards in distress. He knew that Luke frequently had nightmares about Akzeriuth, and many other episodes that troubled him, but the Necromancer (along with everybody else) hated seeing him in such grief. So, as the kind, caring adult that he was, Jade took it into his own business to rid Luke temporarily of some of his nightmares, if not all.

Tiptoeing closer to the bed, Jade sat down on the side close to Luke's head and watched for a little longer more. Luke had stopped whispering, but then Jade noticed a small sparkle escaping down Luke's milky cheek. Jade frowned and reached his hand over, softly swiping the tear away. Luke shivered as light sobs began to disturb his sleeping body. Jade began to fret even more, seeing that Luke's nightmares seemed to get deepen. "My fault… died… because… me…" He mumbled the lines more than spoke them, but Jade could still understand him.

Since he could not tolerate seeing Luke wallow in his own sorrow any longer, Jade shifted more onto the bed and leaned over, holding Luke in his arms. Luke barely reacted, for all he did was curl up closer into Jade's chest, as though the father of fomicry had always been there. Whispering gently into his ear, Jade told him, "No… it's not your fault." He made sure to disguise his words into the dreams of Luke, as though he were present in them.

Luke must have received Jade's words, for he slowly shook his head and grabbed onto a portion of Jade's nightshirt. "Y-yes it is… it is…" he choked out in reply. More droplets fled from his eyes and ran down his cheeks, but Jade continued to rid of them, carefully rubbing them away, as though his fingers were caressing Luke's delicate skin.

Jade pulled him closer, resting his head atop of Luke's. "Don't be silly," he uttered, "It wasn't your fault, Luke…" The aristocrat quieted down, releasing his grip on Jade. A slight grin tucked at the corners of Luke's lips, raising them by the smallest amount. His breathing steadied, but within seconds, his eyelids began to twitch open. Jade slightly panicked, unsure of what to do, until he decided to remain calm. If he freaked out, Luke might have freaked out, which would have lead to the rest of the inn freaking out, and that could cause the innkeeper would have freaked out, making a stray cat outside freak… Jade mentally slapped himself for carrying such a long and pointless subject with himself.

"Who…?" Luke could barely keep his eyes open as he glanced up to see who was cradling him. He let out a small grunt, confused and dazed. He knew that someone spoke to him in his dreams, trying to comfort him, but he only remembered that much. Jade changed the focus of his eyes as he looked down at Luke. Luke blinked once again, his eyes to blurred to make out any shapes, before speaking, "Jade…?" Jade, still deciding on what he should do, just chose to coax Luke back into slumber.

"Shh, just get some rest," he kindly ordered, pulling Luke back against his chest. Luke smiled again, closing his eyes and relinquishing a long sigh.

"If you say so." He snuggled against Jade, making the older man blush in embarrassment. He was becoming way too soft for his own liking, comforting youngsters and killing less. Some necromancer he was.

Jade sighed in relief when Luke finally drifted back off into his kinder dreams. He could not leave, though, for Luke had completely wrapped his arms around him and felt completely at home. Well… maybe he had helped in his own way. Luke definitely seemed more peaceful, and he could sleep without mentally stressing himself out. Jade grinned, feeling as if he had accomplished a task, and kissed Luke on the forehead, brushing the bangs out of his face.

Doing this every once in a while would not hurt, right?

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