A/N: You know me by now. Nothin but previews all around until I can sit down and actually buckle down to write something halfway decent. Please bear with me! I hope you like Lu/Elsword. Because this is exactly what it is.

Til next time!

~shine

Cherish

Disclaimer: As always, I'm too broke to even consider owning Elsword.

Her voice was like music to his ears. He couldn't get enough of her laughing, her sighing, her...well. Everything. The way she nuzzled into his neck and pouted when he teased her as they lay in bed, the way she laughed at his silly jokes, and the way she would blush when he kissed her fingertips. She was just so cute, and he loved every bit of her, from her horns to her toes, and he made perfectly clear of that.

Lu couldn't help but blush at the attention she was given from the boy. She was a noble, so there should be nothing surprising by the obvious shows of affection. All her life she had been literally drowned in words of praise and suitors came from miles around to sing to her their love, and try to entice her with words of what they would do to try and win her heart. But this boy...he was different from them. It was clear the day she had found herself falling for him.

He was unlike the conventional knight in shining armor that many girls fantasized about. In fact, he stated rather bluntly that he hated it. He hated being forced into a role that he didn't want to play, and he made it clear that he would rebel the moment she tried forcing him to play any part. He was simply himself, and he refused to be otherwise. And something about those words sparked something in the Noblesse.

Being herself, and no one else.

For so long she had grown up being someone else. A pawn in a game she was forced to play from birth. Even when she wanted different things, she had to conform to rules and regulations, status and social caste systems that were both unfair and honestly, quite dull. So...she let herself be just that. Herself. She grew into her power yet again, but she was no longer the woman who ruled with fear, but with grace and dignity...a woman who had finally allowed herself to open up to...love.

And with him by her side, there was nothing she couldn't do. Along with Ciel's help, she had unlocked powers she had long forgotten she'd possessed. With the red head's help she had become someone she truly felt she should have been. She smiled much more easily, she cried, she raged, she...felt. She did not just go about her day wishing it would end and she could envelop herself in the waiting embrace of darkness. She felt emotions as she made her choices. Fear, apprehension, confidence, pride. And she loved every second of it.

And now, here she was, staring down into fierce red eyes as warm hands found themselves entwined in her hair. She smiled down at the boy as he grinned up at her, his ruby orbs burning into her as her own midnight orbs washed over him. And it felt as if all were right with the world. Her world, that he had quickly become a part of.

"Truly," Lu began softly, bending down to place a kiss on the red head's lips. "What would my life be without you in it?" she asked sincerely. She truly wanted to know, too. What would her life have been like? Who would she be with now? Would she even have come to be the woman she was now if not for him? Perhaps not. His words were a large part of her transformation, and he had stood by her even when Ciel had grown frustrated by her wavering. When she began to show fear when at first she had thrown herself into their cause head first, he had grown frustrated. Perhaps not at her, but it was enough for Lu to realize that something must be done. She did not like to see the man worry. Even more so she hated to see him worry over her.

"Nobody knows." Elsword replied, cutting through her thoughts like a knife through butter, and Lu smiled. That was true, and honestly, she didn't want to know the answer to that question. She asked merely to fill the void of silence between them and hear his voice. To feel his chest rumble underneath her hands as he spoke, and to see his face come alive as he spoke animatedly about anything at all.

It was a secret, though loosely guarded, that Lu loved watching Elsword's facial expressions change. She would observe him when he was with the others, even as Ciel teased and prodded for her to join him. She would instead just watch as he would glare childishly at Aisha, grin foolishly at his sister as she praised him, pout when Rena teased him about anything at all, and even blush when Ciel hinted that a certain white haired noble required his undivided attention.

She loved to watch him with the others. Everything about him was interesting, and there was hardly anyone who could tell her otherwise. Aisha might complain that he was a brat and many other things, but Lu could tell that the mage was intensely jealous. She did a poor job of hiding it, and Lu could sense it in her words.

"I know." Lu smirked against the boy's lips, all but purring. Elsword blushed at this. He always blushed so easily, at the smallest things. She wasn't even seducing him, and he was already as red as his hair! Perhaps it was because she was leaning so far forward that he could see down her nightgown, or maybe because her lips brushed against his? She had been under the impression that he liked that...he never complained when she did it those many time before they started dating. Oh well. "It would be a boring life. You bring all the joy and the laughter that I never thought I would need or want."

"I'm glad, then." Elsword smiled, running his hands up and down Lu's back. She shivered at the contact. His hands were cold for some reason. Likely because of a rune or something. He was known for being cheeky like that, and that was the only hing Lu disliked about the boy. She disliked the cold. But at least it was good for one thing: cuddling up against the one you love and stealing their body heat. Which is exactly what she did just then, despite her chattering teeth. Elsword laughed at this, planting a soft kiss on Lu's forehead as well. "But really, I'm glad I had such a huge impact on your life."

"You've become important to me." Lu replied simply. "More than you will ever know."

"...when all of this is over," Elsword began, rubbing his nose in embarrassment. Lu looked up just then, curious as to what he was going to say. A part of her was excited, expecting a proposal or something like it. But another part was apprehensive, wondering what he could be suggesting. "Let's—let's take a trip together. Just you and me. And Ciel too, I guess, but you get the point. Some place where we can be together."

Lu smiled mischievously. "Are you proposing to me?" she asked, teasingly. Elsword went red once again, and fell silent for a long while. It amused Lu how he didn't outright deny it, and now that she thought about it, something told her that she had just given him that last push he might have needed.

"A—actually...th-that doesn't sound so bad." Elsword replied sheepishly. Now it was Lu's turn to blush heavily. "Maybe...when this is all over, we could to that too. If—if you want to."