Title: Shattered Hope
Dedication: finferwen (abyss_santa livejournal community)
Game: Abyss
Characters: Natalia, Luke, Guy, Duke and Madam Fabre
Pairings: (if any) slight Natalia/Luke(Asch) (onesided)
Rating: G to PG
Word Count or Media: 2,325
Warnings: (Include spoiler warnings, please) Spoilers for the 'big secret' and background info for Natalia and Luke.
Summary or Description: Events leading up from where Natalia first met Luke and after his kidnapping and return.
There was laughter. There was movement. Music encircled around the room, teasing the occupants with their delights. Soft lights graced upon those who seek to enjoy the beauty lightened by them. Noble people danced around the court as they chattered about the latest news that was happening in Kimlasca. One of the hot news was that of the young princess, whom many had rarely seen around the city, though rumors have often spoken highly of her…the future queen.
Today was her fifth birthday. A young girl, with blonde hair and striking green eyes, sat next to her father. This was the day that she would meet her future husband; one that would sit beside her as they rule over the country. So in her mind, images of a charming prince riding up to her on a horse, giving her flowers as he proudly declared his devotion and loyalty to her, played numerously in her mind.
"Please welcome the von Fabre family!"
Natalia sat up straighter in her seat; eager to see her relatives. She had heard that they have a son who was around the same age as her. Seeing her father standing up to greet his sister and her family, she did the same; although she made sure to stand behind him.
"Ah, Natalia," her father called. "Greet your Aunt Susan, Uncle Fabre and your cousin and bethroed, Luke."
Falling into protocol, Natalia gave a small curtsy as she greeted her relatives; though her eyes never strayed from Luke. This was the first time she met him. He was…perfect. It was like love at first sight. After talking to him, playing around the gardens with him, and meeting him. 'He was so cool…calm, collected. Just like how a future king should be.' Natalia thought as she observed him. She doesn't mind having being his wife when they were old enough.
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It was the princess's 10th birthday and just like before on her previous birthdays, and all the important people were invited. Natalia sat on her throne, beside her father, fidgeting. A reprimanded glance from her left warned her to behave and not to act like some commoner—after all, she is the princess and she must behaved at such. Still, Natalia thought. 'Father could not blame me if I am to be a little nervous and excited to see Luke again.' She last saw of him a couple weeks prior, but to any child, that was an awfully long time to be kept waiting. But, her patience was rewarded as the announcer called the von Fabre family.
'Luke,' His name rang through her mind as she greeted Aunt Susan and her family. Turning to face the youngest von Fabre member, she gave curtsy as he in turned, bowed to her; both knew that this was only a procedure, but did nevertheless as propriety called it. Susan turned to the two children.
"Why don't you guys go play out in the garden?" A serene smile graced Susan's features. "I'm afraid that Natalia will be bored just sitting here by herself with no one around her age. Luke, why don't you go accompany your cousin?"
"Yes Mother." Came a monotonous reply. Luke stood off to the side a bit, but not too far from his parents. He held out his left arm, edging Natalia to place her arm around his and walked her to the gardens. Truthfully, he rather not do this (he was only ten years old, proper behavior was not top of his list of enjoyment), but since it was in his teachings, he had no choice but to do so.
The walk to the reserved part of the palace gardens didn't take quite long. That is if one were to account at the quick pace the two set off instead of the prescribed (and mandatory) pace that nobles usually followed.
Lilies, roses, petunias, and much more scattered neatly in their respective spots. Breaking her arm away from his, she stood in front of him—green eyes meeting green eyes. "So Luke, how have you been doing?"
Luke placed his hands in his pockets, kicking a pebble neared him. "Fine. It's pretty much same old. Though Master Van has been teaching me sword practice. So that's pretty much the only thing to look forward to compare to all the studies."
Natalia clasped her hands behind her. Her feet moved back and forth with her body swaying. "Oh!" She said, shocked. Curious, Luke glanced at her. She grinned. "I got to show you something. Father recently placed it in the garden, but it has a great view. Come on Luke!" Without warning, she grabbed his hand and ran—forgetting for a moment that she was princess, but instead an excited girl wanting to show someone she cared about something.
"Gah!" Luke yelled at first. Noticing the loudness from the first sound, he lowered his voice (after all, he didn't want to have the guards come running). "Natalia slow down. Let go of my arm, you're squeezing it too tightly." Luke said, he did not complain because boys his age don't ever whined or complained—girls only do that.
A small, white gazebo sat in the middle of the courtyard. Stepping inside, Natalia continued holding over to Luke as she lead him over to a particular spot in the gazebo. "Isn't this amazing Luke?"
Luke was desperately trying to catch his breath from the sudden rush. For a princess, he was surprised to find that she has as much energy and stamina to drag him all the way out there—though he was forgetting that both of them are still children and as such, have tons of energy to waste. Another tugged at his arm. Luke sighed. He looked to see what Natalia was harping about. His eyes widen and his mouth gaped a little. He could definitely see why Natalia would like this place.
Far below was the city and right above them was the sun setting slowly, coloring the sky into different colors. One could see everything from here. At such, it made him realized how beautiful Kimlasca is.
"See Luke? I knew you would like this spot as well." A soft smile appeared on Natalia's small face. Imitating Luke's position, there was a wistful tone in her voice. "Luke…someday, you and I will rule this kingdom." She stopped, not knowing what to say further.
Enthralled by the peaceful beauty that was Kimlasca, Luke turned and faced Natalia. Grabbing her left hand, he said to her softly. "Let's promise to keep Kimlasca beautiful and peaceful." His facial features becoming softer, gentler, and kinder. "Right Natalia? It's up to us to see this kingdom's well-being. Let's give it our all."
"Luke…," Natalia replied softly. She noticed how warm his hand felt with her's. Thinking over at what he just said, Natalia felt her face warming. 'Was he…?' Embarrassed, she tried to release her hand, but Luke only held on tighter—not enough to cause her pain though.
"Natalia?"
Oh, what she was going to do. Natalia fumbled around in her mind, trying to come up with a decision. She glanced back at him. Seeing his face, Natalia answered without a doubt. "Yes, let's make our kingdom the best there is."
It was that moment in which Natalia wanted to keep that memory in her mind forever. After all, nothing was more perfect than this. Too bad, Natalia couldn't foretell the unfortunate event that would changed their lives forever.
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Only a couple weeks passed since her birthday celebration and Natalia was on her way to her aunt's and uncle's mansion. She had been invited to spend some time with them. Immediately, she noticed something was off the bat. There were no guards stationed near the entrance. A terrible feeling crept on to her. Natalia grasped the doorknob and turned. It remained unopened. Clutching her right fist tightly, she knocked on the door. Once, gently. Twice, a bit louder. Third, she was pounding the door as hard as she could. That lurking despair inside of her only grew each time she knocked until her knocking had become nothing more than frantic urgency.
Finally, the door opened. There stood one of von Fabre's servants. "Guy," Natalia called out to the fellow by the door, after recognizing him as one of the few servants that worked in the household. "What's going on? Why aren't there any guards posted by the entrance?" She stepped closer to Guy, who immediately backed away in fright. "Guy, answer me right now!" Natalia whined.
"P...Princess Natalia! You should head back to the castle." Guy stuttered a bit as he tried to put as much distance possible between him and the little princess.
Natalia stomped her foot in response. "No, I won't. Not until you tell me what is going on. Where's Luke?"
"He's…he's not here Princess Natalia." There was a small hesitation on Guy's part when he told her this.
She tilted her head in confusion and partly suspicion. "What do you mean he's not here? He's supposed to be here today. He knew that I was coming over."
Guy bowed his head down as he sighed in exasperation. "I'll explain to you once you're inside." He led her to a chair and offered her to sit down, once he did, he revealed what he was hiding. "Master Luke has been kidnapped."
A gasp left her mouth as her dainty hands flew to her mouth. "Kidnapped?" Tears began forming at the corner of her eyes. "It's can't be! He can't be kidnapped." Sobbing, she ran toward Luke's bedroom; hoping and praying to Yulia that this was all a big joke, that Luke wasn't really kidnapped. She slammed the mahogany door fast and hard. "Luke!"
There was nothing. No one in sight.
Lips curling as panic began to seize her. "Luke! Luke! Come out now!" She whimpered. "This isn't funny!" Eyes darting rapidly. "You're scaring me. Luke! Where are you!" Her body began to shook as she scourge through the room, looking through hiding spots hoping that this was only some sort of twisted game Luke was playing on her. Natalia failed to notice Aunt Susan entering the room and holding her in comfort. She failed to notice herself falling to the ground as tears shackled her body.
Days passed and Natalia found herself in solitude. Her father, after learning what happened to his nephew, immediately placed Natalia in house arrest for fear that the same thing might happen to her. But to Natalia, none of this matters. For each day that passed, she would always pray for Luke's return and for his safety.
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It was a bright morning. Natalia wearily opened her red-rimmed eyes. She had cried in her sleep again. As she was getting ready—helped by the maids—and was walking to the dining room, she overheard some servants talking about how Luke has been found a couple days ago. Hearing this small, yet, very important tidbit, Natalia rushed toward the Fabre's mansion.
Somehow, she managed to get passed the guards and some of the servants as she briskly walked to Luke's room. Once she arrived, she knocked on the door and opened. Her eagerness temporary destroyed any manners that she was taught. There, in front of her, was Luke sitting on the ground playing with some toys. "Luke!" She screamed as she walked toward her, ready to give him a hug.
Green eyes quickly looked up to meet hers. At the loud noise and seeing her coming toward him with her arms wide opened, Luke whimpered as he pushed Natalia away from him. Natalia stumbled; a large part of her was shocked and hurt at his treatment toward her. She watched him quickly crawled to under his bed. "Luke?" Natalia slowly rose from where she had fallen as tears gathered in her eyes. A loud, harsh, indefinable grunt answered her question. Her foot took a step closer to the bed as her hand reached for the covers.
A loud gasp shook her of her revere. "Princess Natalia! What are you doing here?" Natalia turned around and at the door, there was a maid. "Please Princess, you mustn't be in this room." Another maid appeared and gently led the small princess out of the room, though Natalia's eyes never strayed from underneath the bed as the other maid slowly attempted to coax Luke to come out. While she was gently being led back into the hallway, Natalia quickly turned around and faced the maid. "What's going on? What's wrong with Luke?" She said sharply.
There was a slight hesitation coming from the maid, but seeing the unwavering stare that was given toward her, she finally relented. "Master Luke has amnesia. He can't remember anything. …Even you Princess."
"No…no!" Natalia backed away from the maid, unable to comprehend that Luke had lost of all his memories—including her. She quickly ran out of the mansion and back into her room in the castle. She ignored shouts of worry and warning. Natalia dove into her bed and cried. The tears that were coming out of her weren't tears of happiness and relief that Luke was back safety, but rather those were tears of despair and sadness that although Luke was back unharmed, all those memories that they had shared together were gone…and might never be returned.
The next day, Natalia went to visit Luke—though without meaning to. Why she was there after what happened, she does not know. As she walked right into the dining hall and her eyes seeing Luke, a new resolve was formed.
Luke may not remembered their time together in the past, but there was always a chance that those memories would come back. At the moment, Luke needs someone to be there for him; and that is exactly what Natalia planned to do. Sooner or later, Luke will remember their promise of making Kimlasca better.
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Author's Note: It's my first time ever writing a fic for this particular fandom. Hopefully I didn't make them seemed too OOC. Oh, this has not been beta'ed or checked over, so forgive any grammatical errors or typos you'll find in here.