Master…
Mieu let out a long, soft sigh. From his perch on Tear's bedside table, he observed the young man that until very recently was known as Luke fon Fabre. Now he had to digest the fact that Luke was nothing more than a replica of the real Luke fon Fabre―now known as Asch the Bloody of the Six God-Generals. Asch had ambushed Luke in Yulia City, revealed his replica status, and very nearly killed him. Had it not been for Tear, Luke wouldn't even be lying here right now.
Mieu turned his head so his eyes rested on Asch. The God-General was currently staring at the mirror with a cold expression. Mieu had never seen Luke make a face like that, so seeing it on someone who looked just like his master honestly scared him a little. It was the expression of someone who would kill without hesitation or remorse―an expression that didn't belong on Luke, who hated killing people.
"Are you listening, Asch?" Tear's voice caught the cheagle's attention. Asch continued staring at the mirror, so Tear stepped in front of the God-General and called him again. "Asch!"
"I'm listening. Don't shout." Asch's voice, while similar to Luke's, carried the grating tone of someone who had seen much hardship.
"Talk to the mayor―to my grandfather―about launching the Tartarus," said Tear. Mieu watched as the melodist walked down the stairs. Once she was out of sight, he hopped onto Tear's bed, where Luke was sleeping. Asch was glaring at the replica, and while Mieu didn't think he would try to do anything bad, it was his responsibility to look after his master.
He quickly became glad that he made this decision when Asch made a threatening gesture towards Luke, as if to grab the replica by his hair or clothes and physically or verbally torment him. Mieu sprang into action immediately. He stood up straight and held out his arms, and his fur bristled in order to look as big and threatening as possible.
"I won't let you bully my master!" he shouted.
Asch withdrew his hand as his icy stare fell on the tiny cheagle. "You still call that worthless loser your master?"
"My only master is Master Luke! I'll stay by his side forever!" Mieu declared. He stared right back at Asch, not allowing himself to be intimidated. Luke was completely helpless in his current state, and Mieu wasn't about to stand by and let him be bullied.
Asch's eyebrow twitched in annoyance. Deciding that swatting the cheagle aside wasn't worth the effort, he scoffed and left the room. "Whatever."
Mieu watched Luke's original depart and proudly put his paws on his hips. He felt really happy about chasing Asch off. Now all that was left to do was wait for his master to wake up. Mieu still wanted to be useful to Luke even now, so he borrowed a pen from Tear's desk and wrote in Luke's diary. Luke hadn't made an entry in a while because of all the things that had happened since Akzeriuth's destruction.
As he wrote, Mieu again felt empathy for his master. When Mieu had accidentally burned down the ligers' forest, hundreds of his people were devoured before the cheagle elder stepped in and had the cheagles send the ligers food offerings. Mieu could still remember the hateful glares of cheagles who had lost friends or family because of him and the sickening guilt he felt from having caused such a tragedy.
It was the same for Luke. Jade, Anise, Natalia, Guy, and even Tear had scorned him for what he had done. They had left him on the deck of the Tartarus, Mieu being his only company as he collapsed to his knees and fought back tears. He was so crushed he couldn't even bring himself to kick the cheagle away like he usually did.
Master has done some bad things, but Master is a good person. He proved that when he saved me.
Having finished writing, Mieu closed the diary and hopped back onto the bed, continuing his vigil for Luke. The replica was completely still except for the steady rise and fall of his chest―the only indication that he was still alive.
Hours passed, but Luke's condition did not change. Mieu was beginning to get scared. Normally, Luke tended to move around in his sleep, but he hadn't even twitched since he fell unconscious.
What if… What if Master never wakes up?!
The very thought was terrifying to Mieu. Even though his year of servitude had barely begun, life without Luke was hard to imagine. How would he get by without the redhead yelling at him or calling him "Thing" or playing their usual game of "punt the cheagle as far as you can"?
"M-Master…" Mieu whimpered as his ears drooped and his eyes filled with tears. He crept up to Luke's head and nuzzled his cheek. Then he gently licked Luke and said, "I don't care that you're a replica, Master. Asch may be the real Luke, but you're my real master. If you went away, I would be very sad. So, please, wake up…"
The cheagle nuzzled Luke some more and mewled softly, but the replica made no response. A yawn escaped Mieu's throat and he realized how late it must have been. In the Qliphoth, there was no sun, so his only indicator of the time was Tear's clock. He wished he could stay awake longer, but he was still a child after all. He settled down for the night using Luke's leg as a pillow and drifted off to sleep.
Perhaps it was just his imagination or a result of his fatigue, but just before his eyes slid shut, he could have sworn he saw Luke's left hand twitch.
Mieu was abruptly awoken when Luke's leg shifted under him. The cheagle's eyes shot wide open and he leapt to his feet. Upon seeing that Luke was awake and alive, he almost exploded with joy and relief.
"Master, you're awake!" Mieu pounced on Luke's shoulder and nuzzled his master's face again. "I'm so happy! I was worried!"
Normally at this point Luke would tear the cheagle off his shoulder and throw him to the ground while spitting out some insult. Instead, something amazing happened. Luke reached up and gently stroked Mieu's fur.
"Mieu… Thank you."
Mieu felt his little heart leap with elation. Master thanked me! I did something good for him!
The haunting melody of Tear's fonic hymns filled the air, drawing both Luke and Mieu's attention. The replica gently placed Mieu back on Tear's bed and then followed the voice to the garden. The cheagle watched, already sensing a change in his master's demeanor.
Go on, Master. Go show Tear and everyone else how good a person you are!
When Luke came back with his hair cut and a vow to change for the better, Mieu knew he couldn't have asked for a better master.
LunaClefairy: So I recently had the pleasure of playing the 3DS port of Tales of the Abyss. My gosh, it was SO good. I'm already on my second playthrough, and I watched the whole anime! And this little one-shot popped into my head when I got to the point where you get to play as Asch for the first time again.
I don't know if I should be ashamed of this, but out of all the relationships in the game, I liked Luke and Mieu's the most (although the interactions between Jade and Dist were hilarious enough to warrant a close second). I was very disappointed by how few fanfictions involving Mieu there are on this site, so this should help compensate for that. I hope it was sufficiently cute!