Disclaimer: Don't own Tales of Symphonia, not at all.
Rating: M (won't appear until after a few chapters, so it's T otherwise)
A look at what might have happened after the ending of Dawn of the New World (spoilers for the True ending).
Marta sighed, standing there against the railing in Palmacosta, wind lightly blowing through her hair. It was the day after she had last seen Emil, after he had told her that he would always love her too, then the Ginnungagap had been sealed.
She didn't know what she was gonna do without him... except for trying to protect the world he was guarding, as she said to the open air, hoping he heard her. It was certainly not gonna be easy, trying to reconcile the two worlds, removing the last remnants of the Vanguard- but that was worth doing anyway.
She heard footsteps from her right, so she slowly leaned backward from the railing, closing her eyes as she prepared herself.
She turned around... only to slow in shock.
Emil stood there, green eyes and familiar outfit - he rubbed his head with a sheepish look, but didn't say anything, just smiling a bit as he waited for her to say something.
"...It can't be" she breathed, only for her eyes to grow wet... she ran straight forward...
"EMIL!"
In what seemed like slow motion, Emil caught her and they spun around, just holding each other close. They stayed that way for a second or two, her grip tight and trembling before slowly pulling away, her eyes still teary.
"Emil... how... I thought you..." she tried to say, a few tears falling.
"Marta" Emil breathed gently, moving closer slowly and closing his eyes before- mmh! Her eyes widened faintly, his lips on hers, but this quickly turned into all the proof she needed that he was here, and real. She closed her eyes, kissing him back gently, still holding onto him tightly.
"Must you really make me watch your public display of affection?" came a voice from the air, causing Marta to break their kiss in shock, not that Emil was offended or anything. Just as she was about to call out his name, Tenebrae appeared, floating in mid-air from his usual puff of darkness. "It is quite nauseating, you know."
"Tenebrae?" she breathed, staring at him, then she brightened considerably as she rushed at him. "Tenebrae!"
"Lady Marta" he greeted, letting her grip his fur in her hug.
It took them a bit of time to calm Marta down, or at least enough to get her back to normal - much of it was accomplished by her simply holding Emil close, hands included, not that he minded much, other than blushing a bit.
"Emil" Marta whispered, still dazed as she looked up at him. "How are you here? I thought the Ginnungagap was sealed..."
"It is" he said gently, his voice still the same, just a lot more confident that he had been at the start of their journey. "No one can approach the Ginnungagap entrance again... but that hasn't stopped Ratatosk from letting people in or out of it, including himself, as long as the Centurions allow it."
"So..." she whispered nervously, her fingers touching his cheek. "Who are you? Are you... Emil? Or Ratatosk?"
"Lord Ratatosk has decided to live the life that Aster, who died by his hand, could not, as Verius herself said" Tenebrae answered, floating by their sides. "He is currently split into two forms. The Emil that you see in front of you, with his personality and body the same; and the core currently on Richter's forehead. I am here to protect my Lord's physical body, in addition to my job of distributing the world's mana through my monster servants"
"So" Emil added gently, hands on her shoulders. "I have Ratatosk's body, but I'm me... Ratatosk's core will stay on Richter's forehead, until his part is done"
Before she could say anything to that, Tenebrae seemed to divine it instantly. "I know you wished for Richter to pay for his crimes, Lady Marta" he said, dipping his head. "But somehow, I doubt that any earthly crimes would be appropiate for a man who is supposed to be guarding the door to the demonic realm. And sadly, I feel that the pain he is willingly feeling right now, is more than any of your punishments could ever be."
"Is there nothing that can be done for him?" she asked sadly, looking down. "I may not like Richter... but I don't want him to suffer like that."
"Centurion Aqua is watching over Richter" Tenebrae continued, though it seemed with faint distaste. "Whenever she's not doing her job recreating her bond with Lord Ratatosk, or distributing mana as my Lord commanded, she's always at his side."
"Don't worry, Marta, he'll be okay" Emil whispered, tilting her head up gently, but nervously. "And Tenebrae can fill you in on all the details later... I think some of our friends will want to know I'm back."
Marta smiled, nodding as she took his hand. "You're right, Emil" she said, nodding. "They'll be just as happy as I am that you're back."
They had just started walking off the bridge before Marta stopped, making Emil stop and look at her. "Marta?" he asked, tilting his head.
She turned to face him, her eyes wet but sparkling. "Well, maybe not QUITE as happy as I am" she whispered sweetly, closing her eyes and kissing him again.
Emil blushed faintly, as he was prone to doing, but he slowly and gently kissed her back - he loved her, and she loved him, so what was the harm?
Tenebrae just sighed and shook his head, then he disappeared in a puff of darkness, not that anyone noticed. "Love can truly blind you to all else" could be heard from the air, but it wasn't clear where exactly it came from.
It took half the day, but Marta finally managed to gather all their friends in one place, which happened to be Altamira. They stood at the very top floor, the terrance, which was big enough for all of them.
"Marta, my dear" Zelos spoke up in his usual flirty tone, though it wasn't a serious effort. "You've kept us waiting long enough, what's this 'surprise' you mentioned?"
Marta sweat-dropped at his tone, but she smiled. "I'll let my friends speak for himself" she said simply, to their confusion.
With a puff of darkness, Tenebrae and Emil appeared by their side. "We are pleased to see you all again" Tenebrae said simply, even as he sat back.
"Emil! Tenebrae!" came from a surprised Lloyd, followed by the others' surprise half a second later, if non-vocally, while he just grinned. "Ratatosk goes to all that trouble of us never seeing you again, and then you change his mind?"
Emil smiled sheepishly, rubbing his head in response. "Well, uh, it's more complicated than just that, Lloyd" he admitted, just standing, "Still, it's nice to be back, everyone" he said.
"No doubt this complexity has to do with the Centurions?" Raine said, sounding like her usual unfazed look, but nobody decided to bring up her initial surprised look. "If the Ginnungagap is sealed, they must been the way out of there."
"Yes, that must be" Presa added, looking similarly unfazed, before blinking. "However, I must admit that my heart is still racing, even though it is going down now. It is just like the startled sensation, before we infiltrated Altamira."
"Startled sensations aside, any questions you wish to pose, I would be happy to explain later." Tenebrae spoke up, still in his sitting position.
"Even still, this is great" Colette said immediately, taking Emil's hand and pumping it. It was a friendly gesture, clearly, so Marta took little offense at it... though she did admit to slowly averting her eyes from the sight, while Emil was just sheepish. "The door is still protected, and we all get a dear friend back. After all, he's the one who helped us make friends with Ratatosk, who we might have had to fight otherwise."
"Yes, indeed" Regal said, arms crossed (friendly), smiling. "Quite a surprising, but pleasant, turn of events - but now I can fully have both of you as VIPs. And we could certainly use the help across the two worlds."
"You've got that right" Sheena added. "There's still a lot that needs to be done, and I'm glad that final goodbye just didn't take. Especially now that Emil gets a chance to be with Marta" she added slyly, to their faint blushes and everyone else's chuckles.
"Well, it was bound to happen eventually" Genis added brightly; the kid had a big grin.
"As Sheena said, 'you got that right' kiddo" Zelos added, smirking a bit to himself, even as Sheena glanced at him - but she didn't seem annoyed or anything, probably because that comment hadn't been perverted or anything.
"Hey! I told you I'm not a kid, Zelos!"
This would have turned into a mini 'conversation', if not Tenebrae clearing his throat, drawing attention again.
"I'm sure you can all friendly argue and discuss later" he said mildly, chuckling. "But besides, there are still explanations to be given."
"He's right, guys" Lloyd said, stepping forward a bit. "Such as this: Richter's still guarding the door, and I don't think that's gonna be easy. Is there anything we can do here, to ease his task? Or ease it for Ratatosk?"
"Only that you all continue your tasks in this world" Tenebrae said simply, to which Emil nodded. "Lessening the violence around the world, easing tensions between Sylvarant and Tethe'alla, as well as between humans and half-elves, protecting the new World Tree until it's stable, and so on. This will reduce the negative energy that the demons love, lessening their power, and Richter's pain as well."
"You didn't need to ask that" Colette answered, smiling like she usually did. "We were gonna do that anyway."
"We were, but it's still good to hear that it will help" Regal noted. "Still, I believe now would be time for those explanations."
...
They talked for a good while longer with those explanations, but eventually, Emil was able to talk with Marta alone - the others had insisted, without them having to ask.
"Oh, Marta, I almost forget" Emil breathed, looking at her.
"What is it, Emil?" Marta asked, head tilted.
"How's your father doing?" he asked, then he glanced down. "I know you said he was gonna be transferred to Meltokio's prison soon, but has that happened yet?"
Her eyes saddened a bit, but she shook her head, remaining strong. "No, that's tomorrow" she said, looking back at him. "He'll be put on trial, me included a bit, with me and our friends to speak on his behalf. I want you and Tenebrae to be there as well, but you don't have to say anything."
He smiled, nodding. "I'll be there, Marta" he said gently.
"And wherever Lord Emil goes, I follow, even if only to keep an eye on his location" Tenebrae said, then he seemed to grin. "Though I won't peek in on whatever you two choose to do."
"Tenebrae!" Marta exclaimed, more in embarrassment than anger. Tenebrae merely chuckled as he vanished in a puff of darkness.
"Some things never change" Emil thought, then he blushed faintly as he looked at Marta. "Um... Marta?" he breathed, not sure how to ask this.
"Yes?" she asked softly.
"Um... where will..." Emil struggled a bit to find the right words. "Where will I... sleep? Now that I'm back?"
She did blush faintly, though her eyes sparkled. "You can sleep with me" she whispered softly but nervously, hands behind her back as she swayed on the spot. "Regal gave me a room with two beds here, as a V.I.P guest at Lezerano Headquarters"
"He did?" Emil asked in slight shock, blushing harder as she mentioned sleeping in the same room with her... well in separate beds, yes, but that was still embarrassing.
"Yeah" Marta breathed, bending over toward him. "And you're a V.I.P. guest as well, now that you're back, just like Regal promised" she added, then she slowly tilted her head, her face as red as his. "So, Emil... do you, you know... want to?"
Blushing hard, he took a second before answering, thinking this over a bit. They both loved each other, and he wasn't sure how fast anything was gonna happen, but they wanted to be together... so long as things were fine, what was the real harm in sleeping in the same room together?
"Y-Yes" he answered, still blushing hard.
Marta pretty much threw herself at him, surprising him as he instinctively held her against him. "Oh Emil" she whispered softly, resting her head against his shoulder.
Emil slowly smiled as he held Marta, his face still red. The next few days, and quite possibly weeks, were going to be interesting.
EmilXMarta seriously needs more love... but that's why I'm writing this fanfiction ;)
And there'll be more, for sure. Up next will be the trial and it's results.