A/N: I'm gonna write more Emil x Richter fanfiction 'cause there isn't nearly enough of it, so here are some oneshots. Not all of these oneshots are about the romantic aspect of their relationship. This first one is a twist on events from the video game.

I will update whenever I get a new idea.

Tales of Symphonia is not mine.

"One day he may learn to forgive those who hurt him in the past."

Mercy

Emil held his sword tightly with both hands while stepped away from the monster to catch his breath. It was no longer bouncing up and down, just lying on the ground without moving.

Did... did I really do that?

"That's enough for now," Richter said as he walked towards the blue creature.

From the corner of his eye Emil saw him draw his weapons to finish the monster. He looked at the polwigle again. So frail and helpless as it looked, he felt guilty for hurting it. He always thought that monsters were scary, but this was wrong. The poor thing was too weak to even protect itself.

Richter did not seem to be merciful; his weapons were crossed above his head, like he was ready to strike.

I can't let him do this!

"Stop!" Emil yelled, throwing himself in between Richter and the monster to stop the attack. It was a dangerous move, but it was the only idea he could come up with.

Frowning, Richter lowered his weapons.

"What are you doing?" he asked with a snarl. "Move."

"No!"

"We don't have time for this, Emil. Now get out of the way. I don't mean for you to get hurt, but if you keep interfering you leave me no choice."

The threat didn't get Richter what he wanted. Rather than moving away from the polwigle, Emil got on his knees and sat next to it. He reached out to touch the polwigle's smooth skin and began to pet the monster carefully. The polwigle's eyes opened slowly to look at him, but its body did not move.

Emil smiled and put his other hand in his pocket. He moved his fingers around for a bit and then pulled out his hand, holding some apple gel he had found after his battle with the bear outside the cave. When he offered it to the polwigle, it seemed to hesitate yet ate the gel anyway. Within seconds the polwigle was bouncing again.

"There you go," Emil said. "Now bounce along, little buddy."

The polwigle flicked its tail and got moving. Once it was out of sight, Richter turned to Emil again.

"Why did you do that?" He didn't sound angry, just confused. "I thought you were afraid of monsters."

"I am," Emil confirmed. "But that doesn't mean I want to hurt them. I only fought because you said I needed practice. There's no point in killing it if it's already too weak to do anyone harm."

"You say that now, but eventually you may find yourself in a situation where you don't have a choice." He took a moment to adjust his glasses. "Come on, we need to get going. If we don't hurry Marta will be gone before we can as much catch a glimpse of her."

"Right!"

They walked further into the cave and Emil felt proud of himself for showing mercy to a creature that he was usually afraid of. Richter may have thought he made the wrong decision, but he wanted to follow the righteous path.