Disclaimer : I do not own Tales of the Abyss or it's characters, but it would be pretty awesome if I did!

My Asch, The Bloody Valentine

I watched, helplessly, as a soldier plunged his sword into Asch's back. I saw my original freeze from the pain.

"Asch!" I yelled. The vision then vanished from my mind, but I could still sense Asch's pain.

"What is it, Luke?" Natalia asked, worriedly.

"I...it's Asch...he's dying..." I said, almost in a whisper. The group stared at me with shocked expressions.

"What!? We must get to him!" the Kimlascan princess answered.

"Listen up, everyone. All of you, head out of here. I'll go get Asch. Who knows what may happen if we stay here too long," I announced.

"Luke, that's insanity! You could be killed if you go by yourself!" Guy yelled, shaking my shoulders in hope of knocking some sense into me.

"Without you guys and my original, I'm nothing anyway."

And with that, I ran off to find Asch.

I could tell I was getting closer to him by the pain I could sense. It was increasing by the minute. I opened the huge silvery-white doors and that's when I saw him. The red-haired god-general was lying against the wall with not one sword, but two, protruding from his back.

"Asch..." I called out as I ran to his side. No response came from his blood-stained mouth.

"Asch, can you hear me?" I asked, touching his shoulder. He then coughed up a bit more blood.

"Hey, dreck..." he managed to say.

"Asch, I'm going to help you out of here."

"Why bother?"

"What?!"

"Why would you want to help me?"

"Natalia and the others care about you, and so do I. Good enough answer?"

"You guys...care about me?"

"Of course we do. And besdies, what would I do without my original?"

Asch just grunted.

"Okay, come on. We need to get out of here," I said, putting his arm behind my neck to help him up.

"Please, just leave me behind, replica."

"Don't give up, Asch. Come on. There's a doctor in Belkend who'll fix you up."

"Belkend? I can't make it to Belkend."

"You can if you try. Why are you so insistant on giving up?"

"I...don't know..."

"Well, let's go! Asch, please!"

"But...oh, fine..." he said. I attempted to pull him to his feet, but his legs were too weak, and gave out underneath him. The god-general fell to the floor and cursed under his breath.

"Just try again," I insisted.

This time, I managed to get Asch standing without too much of a hassle.

"There. That's a start," I said.

"Why don't you just give up on me, replica?"

"Because that's not the kind of person I am. I'm risking my life for you. I wouldn't do that if I didn't care about you, you idiot!"

"..." Asch's cheeks became slightly flushed all of a sudden. I never thought I'd see the day when Asch the bloody would actually blush.

"Heheh...you're blushing..." I said to him, smiling.

Asch began coughing again, this time, worse than before.

"Asch? ...Are you okay?" I asked, starting to get more worried.

"...Sorry...I'm okay... I didn't scare you, did I?" he asked me, becoming his crude self once again.

"Of course, you scared me. I don't want you to die."

"...I don't understand why..."

"So, anyway, what happened to you?" I asked, as I helped him start walking. He winced every step he took.

"I just got careless... Then the soldiers took advantage of my idiocy."

"They stabbed you twice? I only saw it once in my vision."

"Three times, actually. I pulled one out already," Asch said, forcing out a slight laugh that seemed to cause him pain. That was when I noticed a gaping hole in his abdomen where a sword had clearly entered. Blood soaked that entire area, as well as a good portion of his armour.

"Asch...don't worry, I'll find help," I told him, as comfortingly as I could.

"Heh...I'm not worrying... If I die, what the hell, right?" he laughed again. I turned to him and slapped him on the face.

"What in the name of Yulia was that for?!" he yelled.

"For being such an idiot! How can you laugh about this?! You're in a terrible state. You're dying, Asch, yet you think it's all a big joke! Also, I already told you that people would care if you die!! What part of that don't you understand!?" I screamed at him. The red-haired adolescent stared at me, astonished.

"You're ri-" Asch started choking worse than ever now. Blood trickled from his mouth. I helped to get him sitting on the floor again.

"Are you okay?" I asked, rubbing his back in a spot where there were no blades. He gasped for air between coughs. Finally, he caught his breath.

"...Sorry..." he whispered before he fell unconcious.

"Asch?" I asked. He didn't respond. At least he won't be arguing with me every time I try to move him.

With a bit of difficutly, I managed to get Asch on my back. I was extremely careful not to harm him any further. I then hustled my way around until I found the exit.

"Luke! Asch!" Guy called out when he saw us approaching. I took a deep breath of the fresh, outdoor air. Natalia came running over to me when she saw Asch's wounded body on my back.

"Oh, Asch! Luke, what happened?" she asked, panicked.

"Some soldiers did this to him," I explained, glancing back at him.

"We should get a doctor immediately. We can't afford to lose a pretty boy like Asch," Anise commented.

"Come on, Anise. Now's not the time for that," Tear interrupted.

"Actually, I found it rather amusing," Jade smiled.

"Boo..." Anise whined to Tear, who simply walked away from her.

"The Albiore's not far from here. But do you want me to carry Asch until we get there?" Guy asked.

"Nah, I'm fine. We just need to get him to a doctor, quick. There's one in Belkend, right?" I asked.

"That's right," Jade answered.

"Let's hurry to the Albiore, then," said Tear.

Asch stayed unconcious for the entire trip. It wasn't until the Albiore landed right outside Belkend that he woke up.

"Where are we?" Asch asked, groggily.

"We're in our ship right now, but we're landed just outside Belkend," I told him. Asch was laying on his stomach, across a row of seats in the ship. They weren't great, but it was as close to a bed as we could get just then.

"We're going to help you get in there, okay? Guy and everyone are here to help, too," I said.

"I...have to move again?" he asked.

"I'm afraid so. But it won't be so bad. In just a few minutes you'll be feeling much better."

"Okay..."

Guy got on one side of Asch and I got on the other. Asch put an arm around each of us to help him get balanced.

"Okay, now take a step," I told him. Asch did as he was told, but choked back a whimper. I knew I would probably be doing the same thing if I had blades wedged in my back.

Eventually, we made it to the doctor's room. Asch seemed overly worn out. His face was pale and his eyes seemed to want to close.

"...I hate doctors..." Asch muttered to me.

"They're only here to help," I answered.

"Here, have him lie down on the bed," the doctor said.

Guy and I helped Asch lie down on the bed, on his stomach. Guy whispered a "good luck" to Asch before leaving the room.

"Are you two related?" the doctor asked me.

"Yes... I'm his...twin," I replied.

"Ah, yes. Just checking. Only family members are permitted to stay with the patient," the doctor explained. Asch gave me a questioning look, as if to say, "Twins? Since when are we twins?" I gave him a look to warn him not to tell the doctor any different. He seemed to understand.

"So this means...Natalia can't come in?" he asked. I was shocked for a moment. I had forgotten that he was the one who had really proposed to Natalia. I was also a bit taken back at the fact that Asch was still in love with her, and that Asch the Bloody could be in love at all.

"Yeah, I guess she can't come in. But you'll see her again soon. It's probably best she doesn't come in now, anyway. She wouldn't want to see you in pain," I said.

"You're right..." he answered.

"Okay, I'm going to remove these swords now. It'll probably hurt, though. You're lucky to still even be alive right now, you know?" the doctor said.

"Asch, you should hold my hand while he does this," I told him.

"Why the hell would I do that?" Asch answered.

"If you squeeze my hand, the pain won't seem as bad."

"Tch... Yeah, right. I'm not going to hold your hand."

"...Okay, then..."

"Here we go," the doctor said. He placed a hand on Asch's back and gently tried to slide the blade out. Asch closed his eyes tightly.

"Looks like these are in deeper than I thought. Have to try again," said the doctor. Again, he placed his hand on Asch's back. This time, he tugged at the sword more violently. Asch let a few curses escape his lips. The doctor pulled again and I saw the sword move in a way that made me squirm. Asch let out a cry.

"I'm sorry," the doctor told Asch. The doctor then jerked at the sword once again and it came free. Asch let out a sickening scream and quickly grabbed onto my hand. He looked up at me slowly.

"What did I tell you?" I said.

"..." Asch looked embarrassed.

"Look, it doesn't matter to me. No one's going to know about this anyway. There's still one more sword left to go, and if you just squeeze my hand, it'll make things a lot easier on both of us," I smiled.

"F-fine..." he said, wrapping his fingers tighter around my hand.

The doctor removed the second sword with just as much difficulty as the first, but I had been right all along. Asch didn't seem to mind the second one as much.

"Well, I'll go get rid of these swords now," the doctor said, wiping blood off his hands with a cloth.

"Okay," I said.

"I'll only be a minute," he said, leaving the room. Then came silence. Asch and I avoided eye contact as much as we could.

"Do you feel better now?" I asked.

"...I guess... Don't tell this to anyone else...I don't want them to think I'm weak, but it really hurts a lot," Asch answered quietly.

"I would imagine. And you know what, Asch? You'd actually seem weaker if you didn't confess that it hurt. Otherwise, you'd just trying to be acting tough and hiding your pain."

"..."

"What...?"

"You're strange, replica."

"Why do you say that?"

"I-..." Asch winced and then began to cough once again. I rubbed his back once more, hoping that would ease his breathing, or at least his pain. When he continued to cough and gasp for air, I started to panic a little more.

"Asch...? Can you breathe okay?" I asked, nervously. He shook his head weakly and his eyes began to flutter closed.

"Asch, don't die! Not now! Not after we've come this far!" I yelled in horror. Asch's eyes then closed completely and his breathing slowed...then stopped.

"What the hell?! This can't happen! Breathe, Asch!!" I shouted. I rolled him over and got closer to his chest, but there was no doubt about it; Asch wasn't breathing.

"Hurry up, you moronic doctor!" I looked at Asch, then at the closed door where the doctor had left, then at Asch again. No one's coming... No one will ever know... He'll die if I don't... Oh, hell... why me? I bent over and placed my lips on the god-general's. I then began breathing air into his mouth. I looked up at him... Nothing. I repeated the actions again. Regardless of the situation, I couldn't help but notice that Asch's lips tasted...nice. I couldn't deny that I enjoyed touching my lips against his, despite the life-threatening state Asch was in at the moment. I breathed into his mouth once again. This time, his eyes opened...and focused on me. They then became angry-looking, and he pushed me away so there was no longer any contact between us.

"Is everything all right?" the doctor asked. I turned embarrassedly to him. He was smirking. I guessed it wasn't every day that someone got to see something like that.

"Everything's okay...now..." Asch said, as calmly and casually as he could.

"...No! Everything's not okay! Asch was here coughing and nearly choking to death while you were out disposing of some stupid swords! Don't you think that could've waited until a better time!? And also, don't just sneak up on people like that! I didn't know you were standing there while I was..." I decided not to finish my sentence.

"...Anyway, the main thing is, you're both alive," the doctor answered, smiling, but looking a little afraid of me. I clenched my fists, but decided not to make any remarks to what he had said.

"Asch, as you might've guessed, you'll have to stay here for the night. Luke, will you be staying with him?" he asked.

"Yeah," I answered.

"Okay. I'm going to bring in an extra bed for you. And, if there are any problems, just ring this bell. Either me or one of the nurses will come help," the doctor said, handing me a small metal bell. He then exited the room again. I placed the bell on the table beside Asch's bed.

"...Hey, replica?" Asch asked.

"Yeah?" I answered.

"...T-thanks...for helping me."

"Oh...no problem... Sorry about that little akward moment..." I said, rubbing the back of my head.

"Yeah... I'm sorry too... Replica?"

"What?"

"Don't leave me, okay?"

"I didn't expect to hear that from you."

"I know. I've been a jerk to you all along. I'm sorry. But after I get out of here, things are going to go back to the way they were before. Just be prepared for that," he answered.

"Why? It doesn't have to be that way."

"Yes, it does. If Van or anyone else found out that you were the one helping me, it would be the end of me."

"Why do you think that?"

"That's just the way it has to be, okay!? Don't ask any me anything more."

"Okay... I just don't understand."

"No... You wouldn't understand just yet. Of course, I doubt you'd ever understand... I can't tell anyone about this. I know I'm going insane for even thinking that..."

"What are you talking about, Asch?"

"I... No, it would ruin everything were I to say anything. It's just wrong. It shouldn't...it can't be like that..."

"I can't help you if you don't tell me..."

"F-fine... Replica...what would you say to me if I said I didn't love Natalia anymore?"

"I'd be surprised because just a little while ago you seemed disappointed that she couldn't come in here with you."

"No, I wasn't disappointed. I was pleased. I was making sure she couldn't come in."

"Why would you want that?"

"So I could...be with you..."

"You actually want to be with me?"

"...Yes. You see, Luke, I've been having these feelings lately... Very strange feelings... Like the ones I used to have for Natalia. Except for lately, they haven't been for Natalia..."

"...Y-you just called me 'Luke'. You didn't call me replica or any other insulting name..." I said, shocked.

"That's not the point! The point is... these feelings have been towards you, Luke..."

"..."

"Damn! I shouldn't have said that! You're going to reject me!"

"No, no! I...feel the same way... Rescuing you, helping you, saving you... That was my way of showing I cared. I didn't ever expect you to feel the same way. I thought you hated my guts. But I just wanted to let you know that I cared, even if I didn't get any respect back."

"...I...don't really hate you. I just have to act like that. Of course, don't think I never hated you, because there was a time. Actually, it lasted for about seven years... Until I found out what you were really like. You're not like me. You're like the perfect son that Duke Fabre would want. I...wasn't..."

"Asch, I'm really sorry."

"Don't be. If all this hadn't happened, we wouldn't be together right now."

"You're right. But, man, this is all so weird. I can't believe how different you are right now."

"Remember, not a word of this to anyone...EVER! Or, consider yourself dead!"

"Got it!"

"Good. Now, could you help me roll over again? My back hurts."

"Sure," I smiled.

Author's Notes : Hey, there! This is only the beginning for these two. I hope to get at least 5 reviews before I update. Hope you enjoyed it!