Okay, here's the thing. I haven't actually PLAYED TotA. I watched a walkthrough on Youtube, which took forever, and I fell in love with it (and Jade, but that's irrelevant), and I'm currently searching every Gamestop I can find. Um, enjoy, I suppose. This is part of a series. I hope.

UPDATE: Added a few new bits that are ACTUALLY important, so reread it! Also, I lost ALL of my files, since my computer crashed a couple of weeks ago. I backed it up, and I have my computer back, but the files are nowhere to be found. Damn it. Oh, and if you got an email and figured out that this was the new thing, congratulations! You're intelligent!

It happened in Keterburg. Actually, it happened above Keterburg, but that's not the point.

The group of weary travellers- well, weary except for the Colonel, of course- arrived in the Silver World, as it's known to many tourists, just before sundown, and still didn't make it to the inn until well after midnight. Even then, when Luke left, quiet as he may have been through the wall, he roused Tear from her light slumber, leaving her unable to get back to sleep. After a few minutes of tossing and turning, she gave up and headed for the roof after pulling one of the blankets off of her bed.

She pushed the door open, stepping through and closing it behind her quietly. She did not, however, see the tall figure sitting on the edge, his long legs hanging over the city as he rested back on his elbows. His shoulders were dusted with a fine powder that, if left too long, would soak through his commander's uniform. Wait, where was his uniform? It was gone, a black dress shirt in its place, which, really, didn't leave a lot to the imagination. As he turned his head to the side, the defined muscles in his back flexed, and Tear backed into the shadows. He spoke before Tear could make a sound.

'I thought you had gone to bed, Tear.' Tear jumped. She never did figure out how he managed to sense her presence, even when she was hidden in a shadow, or so silent that even she couldn't hear herself.

'L-Luke woke me up,' she stammered, not leaving her place beside the door and quickly recovering from her shock, 'he's not as quiet as he thinks he is.' The Colonel smirked.

'Sounds like someone else I know. But that still doesn't answer my question. Why aren't you back in your room?'

'I…' Tear hesitated. She was about to divulge personal information, something that she hadn't ever told anyone, and she was about to inform the Colonel, of all people about it. 'I'll make you a deal,' she said instead, 'I'll tell you my secret if you tell me one of yours. A meaningful one, not about the time that you stumbled across a-' She was interrupted in the middle of her proposition by the Colonel pointing out a trivial nuance.

'Tear, I never stumble. Everything I do is with a certain grace that only a commander could-'

'It doesn't matter, Colonel. You know what I meant. If you want to know something about me, I'm going to have to demand compensation.' A light smile ghosted across the Colonel's features, though Tear didn't see it, since she was still at the door.

'Gald, then. My apologies, I don't have any on me right now, Tear. Sorry for disappointing you.' Tear sighed and swiped a hand over her face, already tinted red from the cold, in exasperation.

'You're being especially difficult tonight, aren't you?' The Colonel chuckled at that.

'It's one of my more endearing features, wouldn't you say? In any case, I accept your proposition.'

'Just like that?'

'Just like that.'

'No arm twisting, no begging, no teaching me a valuable lesson on exactly why you won't accept?'

'I prefer you don't twist my arm, I am getting quite old, you see, I'm disgusted by begging, and I hate teaching.' Tear left the door, then, and walked over to where the Colonel was sitting as she wrapped the blanket more tightly around herself.

'All right, then. What are your terms?' The Colonel laughed again.

'My terms? This was your proposition. I do have one rule, however. I must insist on one hundred percent confidentiality. Anything that transpires on this roof tonight will stay here, so to speak. Neither of us will speak of the events to any of the others, and I will not repeat anything that I've said.' Tear nodded.

'Yes, I was just about to suggest that myself. One more for the record. There will be no ridicule on your part or mine, and no pity, if it applies. What's done is done. Those are my terms.' The Colonel pushed his glasses higher on his slender nose and nodded.

'I accept. Now, sit down and share that blanket with me. It's freezing outside, even if I was born here.' Tear smiled and obliged, unravelling herself from her cocoon and sat down beside the Malkuth soldier.

'No, Tear, I'm afraid that won't do. It's not that big of a blanket.' In a very uncharacteristic manner, he wrapped his arm around her shoulders and pulled her closer, slinging the blanket around both of them, either ignoring or not noticing Tear's shock at his close proximity.

'That's better. I think I can feel my fingers again.' Despite her nervousness at the strange affection the Colonel was showing, Tear giggled.

'I can't help but notice your uniform and gloves are oddly absent, Colonel. Perhaps that's the reason for your frozen appendages.' A low chuckle rumbled through the Colonel's chest.

'Hmm, that may have played a pivotal role in my discomfort, that's true.' He leaned his head on top of Tear's, and she couldn't help but smile. 'However, my current state is something a little easier on these old joints.' Tear snorted, but let that comment pass.

'S-so, who's going first?' Tear asked, still unnaturally nervous, which the Colonel picked up on.

'My, my! Are we a bit nervous, Tear? Who's afraid of old Jade?'

'Watch it, Colonel; I said no ridicule, which you agreed to. And… Besides… You've always been the Colonel to me.'

'Tear.' She looked up to see the Colonel staring intently down at her with his ruby eyes. It was a gaze that she held, but not easily. 'Please, call me Jade, even if it's only when it's just the two of us. With the rest of the group, I can be the Colonel, but when we're alone, please. Just Jade.' Tear swallowed and tilted her head.

'Co- Jade?' He relaxed into an easy smile.

'What is it, Tear?'

'Why?' A soft laugh escaped from his throat.

'I'm afraid you're going to have to be a little more specific than that.' A slight frown creased Tear's face in irritation, but it vanished quickly due to, well, a number of things. First and foremost on that list was the fact that about forty percent of her brain activity was held by the fact that the Co- that Jade's arm was still draped around her shoulders and was holding her to his warm side.

'Why do you want me to call you Jade?' she specified, and a dark look passed over Jade's face, though it, too, cleared like Tear's irritation.

'For information like that, I'll have to have something from you as well,' he teased light-heartedly, and Tear thought for a moment.

'All right, I'll tell you why I'm out here, instead of a warm bed.' Jade pondered this for a moment, then extended the hand that wasn't drawing lazy patterns on Tear's upper arm.

'That seems like a fair trade, you've got a deal.' Tear took his hand and shook it, both of them waiting a moment longer to release the other's appendage. Crimson met cerulean, and Tear knew her next question before the first had even been answered.

'All right, here's my secret. Though you may think of it as a symbol of respect, calling me Colonel is too reminiscent of my other title. The Necromancer.' He all but spat the word. 'It's not something I admire about myself, but it's not something I regret, either.' Tear waited for him to elaborate, but was met with hearty laughter, not something that many people heard from Jade.

'That's all I'm saying until I get your piece of gossip, though gossip may not be the right word for it, since I'm not actually allowed to say anything to anyone.' Tear rolled her eyes good-naturedly and began her tale.

'In Yulia City, I was always an exceptionally light sleeper. It was one of the few merits I had as a soldier in the Order of Lorelei. This trait plagued me during my childhood, though.' She broke Jade's gaze and looked out over the city he had once called home. 'I'd wake up almost every night, perhaps because someone was talking too loudly outside my room or because of a simple nightmare. Whatever the case, I used to wander the city, clutching my blanket until I…' She trailed off, saddened by her own story.

'Tear?' Jade prodded gently, but when she avoided his gaze, he put a hand on her slight jaw and turned her head to face him. 'It was Van, wasn't it?' Blinking back the tears that suddenly formed in her eyes, Tear nodded.

'I would wander around until I found him, and he was so kind. He never scolded me, and he would take me back to my bed and rock me back to sleep, every night.' She looked up at Jade, into his deep red eyes with her own, the azure irises swimming with unshed tears. 'He was like a father to me, Jade. I don't want to fight him tomorrow. I love him.'

Jade's impassive expression softened, and he wrapped his other arm around her waist, pulling her into, of all things, a hug. At this incredibly rare show of Jade's human side, silent tears began to roll down Tear's face and in a moment of weakness, she flung her arms around Jade's neck and buried her face in his shoulder, sobbing. Jade pulled her closer and gently rocked her until her sobs subsided a few moments later. She didn't move away, but looked up into his blood red eyes once more.

'J-Jade?' she asked as she sniffled, and Jade gently brushed the tears from her face.

'What is it, Tear?' he said, not unkindly.

'Your eyes… They weren't always red, were they?' It wasn't really a question, but Jade answered her anyway.

'No, that's a result of the fonic arte I applied to them many years ago.'

'What… What color were they before?'

'So many questions,' he teased, and then answered her more sincerely, 'they were green. At least, that's what Dist told me. I can't quite remember, myself.'

'I would have loved to see them,' she thought out loud, and asked another question. 'That arte doesn't give you any special power, does it? I mean, does it let you see a very long way, or in the dark, or through solid objects?' The eyes in question began to sparkle as Jade laughed.

'If you keep asking questions, I'm going to ask some of my own. Unfortunately, my eyesight is quite average. The arte may have made things a little easier on them, but that's all. The arte was designed to amplify my other fonic artes in battle.' He paused, then, 'they don't shoot lasers, either.' The last part was to make Tear smile and forget about Van, and it worked. She laughed.

'That's too bad. We could really use keen eyesight in the Sephiroth.' Jade poked her in the side.

'Excuse me, who keeps finding all that treasure? It's the attention to detail that matters!'

'Ah, but what good is attention to detail if your eyesight is poor?' Jade knew she was teasing him, then, and he laughed outright.

'Oh, very good, Tear. I daresay you've been spending too much time with me if your wit is that sharp.' A mischievous smile crossed her face.

'Yulia help me. I'm turning into a cynic.' Jade burst out laughing again.

'Touché. I won't deny that one. I'm definitely a little bit pessimistic.' Tear giggled.

'A little bit? Jade, you make Dist look like a barrel of laughs.' Instead of laughing along with her, a dark look passed over Jade's face again, and ice ran down Tear's spine.

'D-did I say something wrong?' Jade sighed and shook his head, his light brown hair landing on her shoulder and tickling her neck.

'No, I just don't like talking about Dist.' A sly look crossed his face. 'But… I suppose I would be willing to divulge a bit more information for another piece of gossip, so to speak.' Tear gulped.

'What did you have in mind?' she asked nervously, and Jade smiled.

'I want to know what the story is with you and Luke.' Tear stiffened, and Jade knew that he had hit his mark.

'I- there's nothing. How many times do we have to tell you that?' Jade rolled his eyes.

'Oh? Then, why don't I believe you?'

'Jade, you're imagining things. He just- no, it's nothing, really!' Jade raised an eyebrow skeptically.

'If you tell me about this, I'll tell you about Dist.' Tear's eyes widened impossibly, then narrowed so far that Jade wasn't sure if she could even see anymore.

'That's not fair, Jade.' He laughed at that.

'Oh, all's fair in love and war, my dear,' he said before he could stop himself, and it was Tear's turn to raise an eyebrow.

'So which would this be, then? Love? Or war?' Jade pretended to think.

'As of now… This would be war.'

'Heh, this is hardly a war.'

'It's not exactly love, either.'

'Touché.' A companionable silence fell, and for some reason, Jade's comment saddened them both, but they pushed the thought to the back of their minds.

'Luke… Luke is a tough subject. While it's true that I had feelings for him at a time, with everything that's happened with Van and the Sephiroth… Those feelings just kind of faded away.' Their faces were inches apart by this point, and Jade closed his beautiful eyes and rested his forehead against Tear's.

'Are you sure they've faded away, or have they simply been transferred elsewhere?' Tear gave him a sideways smile as she closed her own eyes.

'That information will cost you, you know.'

'Curiosity is a dangerous thing,' Jade said with a half-smile, his red orbs still closed, and Tear changed the subject.

'I've held up my end of the bargain, now it's your turn,' Tear said, as she slowly moved her head away from Jade's, though she didn't stray too far, 'what happened with Dist?' A low laugh rumbled out of Jade's throat.

'What makes you think something happened? He's a despicable excuse for a human being, isn't that enough?' Tear shook her head.

'No, I'd like to think I know you well enough to know that something happened that you don't like to talk about. Now, I've explained two things that are very hard for me to acknowledge. It's your turn.' Jade sighed again and adjusted his glasses.

'Oh, I suppose it is. All right. When we were young, Dist was weak. He would cling to my side constantly, and he would run after me when I stalked away. I- there was a professor at the school; Professor Nebilim, she was called, and she could use the Seventh Fonon.' He grimaced at what he was about to reveal, and continued.

'As a child, I wanted to learn everything. I had mastered many fonic artes, ones that most adults couldn't even perform. The one thing that always eluded me, though, was the Seventh Fonon, and I wanted it. I was at the Professor's place of residence, Dist ever present, of course, and I accidentally unleashed an arte couldn't control, one that set the Professor's house ablaze. Dist and I dragged her outside, but it was too late. Her blood was already turning the snow beneath her redder than my eye.' He swallowed, but pressed on.

'That was the day I created living fomicry. I made a replica of the Professor, which went out of control, and the real Professor died. I was eleven. That's why I don't like to associate with Dist, or talk about him.' Tear unwound her arms from his neck and picked up his hand, lacing her slim fingers through his long ones.

'I'm sorry,' she said softly, but Jade shook his head.

'That sounds an awful lot like pity, my dear. What's done is done, remember?'

'Yes, but you-'

'I did a terrible thing that day, I'll agree to that. A lesser man might say it was meant to be, that it was written in the Score. I like to think that I have enough integrity to own up to what I've done. I banned fomicry, and I've worked my entire life since then to atone for it. The thing is, I don't regret what I did.' Tear was shocked.

'What? How can you say that?'

'If I hadn't done it, I wouldn't be the man I am today. Luke also wouldn't have been born, and I doubt we would be sitting on the roof of the hotel discussing the matter in this most, may I say, compromising position.' Tear's eyes widened at that, and a blush crept over her cheeks to Jade's delight.

'I… I'm just cold, that's all, and you're… You're warm! Besides, you seem quite comfortable with the current situation.' Jade smirked.

'Well, I never ignore someone in need,' he declared, and Tear burst into laughter.

'Are you kidding me? You ignore everyone. Well, unless you're making a sarcastic comment, of course…' Jade's smirk turned into a wry smile.

'Am I ignoring you right now?'

'Well no, but-'

'And am I being even slightly sarcastic?' Tear sighed in defeat.

'No.'

'That would be because I don't ignore the people that I care about, my dear,' he murmured in her ear, making Tear's breath catch in her throat when his warm breath ghosted across her neck.

'And- and what would that imply, then?' A low laugh ripped its way through Jade's throat.

'I would think that would be obvious. There aren't many people I could work with every day, and even fewer I would share my secrets with.' Tear turned her head then, not realizing just how close Jade was, and her lips touched his for the barest of moments. She whipped her head around to face the city, not realizing that Jade had leaned into her, just barely.

'S-sorry. I didn't realize how close you-' Jade took hold of her chin and tilted it upwards as he leaned forward and pressed his lips gently against hers, lingering for a moment before he drew back and looked her straight in the eye.

'Heh, I think I'm the one that needs to apologize. I shouldn't have-' Tear cut him off now, kissing him again, deliberately this time, her hand finding its way to his jaw while he, though shocked at her forwardness, threaded his fingers through her hair as the hand still at her waist pulled her closer. He nipped at her bottom lip playfully, and she smiled, breaking the kiss reluctantly.

'You- you shouldn't be so good at that,' she mumbled against his lips, slightly out of breath. Jade grinned, a little flushed.

'Tear, you would doubt my skill? I excel in everything! I must say, I'm a little hurt.'

'Well, you excel in everything except for that pesky empathy thing. Human emotion is so fleeting, isn't it?' Jade quirked an eyebrow.

'Oh, you're one to talk.' He pulled her into his lap, eliciting a surprised squeak from her. 'You're not exactly the kind of person to wear their heart on their sleeve.'

'I have good reason for what I-' Tear began to retort hotly, but Jade cut her off again.

'So do I. It's still no excuse for how cold we are to the people around us.' Tear frowned.

'If you're going to lecture me, I'm just going to go back inside.'

'By all means, go ahead. It's cold out here, and I can't say I'm the best company,' he said casually, calling her bluff and making her glare at him.

'Oh, I hate you,' she muttered, making him chuckle.

'Oh, I think we both know that's not true, now don't we?' He thought for a moment. 'It wasn't my intention to lecture you. I just don't want you to turn into… Well, me.' Despite how sincere he'd been throughout the night, the fact that Jade was genuinely concerned in her well-being was what struck Tear as odd.

'T-thanks.' She was confused. It wasn't like her to stammer so much, but this infuriating man rendered her completely useless. Her eyes flickered down to his neck, and she caught a glimpse of a chain. She frowned, and ran her fingers across it, then pulled it out of Jade's open collar. Crimson eyes were watching her intently, but he said nothing as she examined the pendant that was hanging off of the thin silver links. There were intricate loops and swirls engraved in the platinum pendant, obviously meaning something, but Tear couldn't decipher it.

'What is this, Jade?' His eyes flickered down to his own pendant, but returned to Tear's face almost immediately.

'It's my capacity core,' he said simply, and Tear smiled.

'I thought so, but that's not what I meant. These engravings… They must mean something.' Jade's eyes brightened, and he smiled.

'Oh, you're a perceptive one. Yes, they do, actually.' Still, he didn't elaborate, and Tear rolled her eyes in frustration.

'Are you ever going to tell me, then? Or do I have to drag it out of you with another secret?'

'As tempting as that sounds, I won't take you up on that. That pendant is laced with magic. No doubt you felt it because you're a Seventh Fonist. If you want to know what it means, just ask it, and it'll tell you.'

'You know, you could just tell me yourself,' she muttered, and Jade laughed.

'Oh, where's the fun in that? Where's your sense of adventure?'

'All right, all right, we'll do this your way.' Tear closed her eyes and concentrated on the pendant, forming something of a psychic link with it, and all at once, she knew what it meant.

'It's your name,' she whispered, and Jade kissed her temple.

'It's not the name you know, though, is it?' Tear shook her head, then tilted her face up to his.

'No, it isn't. Your last name… It wasn't Curtiss. I don't know what it was, though.' He tightened his hold on her, and she relaxed into him.

'Balfour,' he whispered, 'my real last name is Balfour.' Tear smiled contentedly.

'Jade Balfour. It has a nice ring to it.' They stayed like that for a while, not needing to say anything more. Finally, Tear spoke up, half asleep and warm in Jade's strong frame.

'It's my turn now, right? What do you want to know?'

'I think that's enough for tonight,' Jade whispered in her ear as his nose brushed the nape of her neck, 'I don't want you to catch hypothermia.'

'But, you told me-'

'I wouldn't have told you what I did if I didn't want to.'

'I won't be able to sleep, even if we weren't fighting Van tomorrow.' Jade pondered this and extended a tentative suggestion.

'Would you like me to come with you?' Tear was speechless, and Jade realized how that sounded after a moment, and corrected himself while she was fighting to find words. 'Not like that, of course! I just meant to help you fall asleep. Granted, I'm not the most comforting person, but I could, I don't know, hum?' Tear smiled.

'It's all right, Jade. I should be fine. I'd like to take you up on that offer sometime, though.'

'I'll hold you to that.' With that, Tear eased herself off his lap and stood up, taking the blanket with her. He, as well, rose, and she led him back to the door, where their deal was first proposed, then they slipped through it, leaving nothing on the roof to suggest that they were even there. Nothing but two places where the snow hadn't fallen.

Pretty good, right? Heh, right. So, on the off chance that someone has stumbled across this and likes it, go ahead! Drop a review, send me a message! I'll reply to any signed ones! We'll be buds. If you like, I can call you 'Sir Bud.' Yes, I love Tales of Symphonia, too.

Olivia