-1"Thank god, a town." The red haired replica said with a relieved sigh. The group had been traveling for nearly a week without any stops to a town or village. They had relied on their own camping equipment, and the floor wasn't nearly good enough for the high maintenance needs of Luke and Natalia.

The group went into town and split into their own ways as usual, all going in their own direction.

There was a secret among the travelers. Guy and Luke had hidden feelings for one another. Feelings they expressed to each other, but not with their fellow comrades. Were they afraid of being discriminated?

Guy looked up at the clouds, sitting beside his lover near a tree. Daath was a sunny place, perfect for a couple to cuddle next to one another.

"Do you remember, Luke? When I used to take you out to the park all the time when you were little. We would cloud watch, like this."

Luke shot him a funny look. He sat Indian style with his hands on the ground behind him, supporting his upper body. "Like I can remember anything back then."

Guy only laughed at the shy replica. Of course Luke remembers. It only happened 4 years ago.

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From afar, a pair of red, gleaming eyes watched, as an eagle would stalk it's prey. He watched intensely, surveying their every move on each other. His every smile, his every laugh. His blonde haired beauty.

Jade turned away, pretending to examine the quality of gels from a local market.

He had an attraction for Guy.

He has ever since he found out he had gynophobia. The way he avoids women and clings to men makes his skin crawl with delight. The way he constantly hides behind Jade from the bothersome Anise excites him.

But Luke was his obstacle, he knew of their relationship. He had a funny way of finding things out.

He flipped his hair off his shoulders and with a careless look on his face, he made his way towards the secret lovers. As he began to approach them, the two scattered away from each other.

"I trust you two are enjoying your day break?"

"Of course." Guy responded.

Luke looked away, a rather annoyed look on his face. "We were." He grumbled underneath his breath.

Jade merely looked at him with a blank stare. "My, my. I had no idea I had barged into your fun."

Before Luke could snap back with an insult, Guy spoke up. "Just cloud watching, nothing especially fun. What brings you over here?"

Deep inside his head, he wanted to respond 'you'. He knew very well that was out of the question. "I just happened to stumble upon you two."

"You're welcome to join us."

"No, he's not. I don't want that weirdo with us." Luke snapped.

"Luke? What's up with you? There's nothing wrong with Jade." Jade seemed to beam with joy with Guy's compliment. Although he kept his happiness well hidden.

"Thank you Guy, but you shouldn't bother. It's no use trying to teach a baboon manners."

"What?!"

Jade smirked at Luke's response. He began to turn as if to walk away, but stopped upon hearing his name called.

"Jade, don't let him bother you." Guy reassured.

"I wasn't." He began walking away, his hands stuffed into his pockets. "I have important business to take care of. I'll see you later, Guy."

The two swordsmen watched as the colonel walked away, who seemed to have a fit of pride in him. Luke gave the blonde a cold stare. "I don't like him."

"Why?"

"I see him…staring at you all the time."

Guy laughed, seeming to think Luke was only delusional. "At me?

"Yeah. I don't trust him. I'd stay away from him if I were you."

"Don't say that, you make him sound like a murderer."

"Well, he does kill people."

"You do, too…"

"It's not the same!" Luke looked away and scoffed, he had lost this war. "Whatever, he still creeps me out."

They sat in long silence. Why was Luke acting so aggressive all of a sudden? Guy shrugged the thought from his head, deciding not to worry about it. It was a decision he soon learned to regret.

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The group reassembled at the inn later that night as usual. It was routine to have the girls in one room and the guys in another; as it was also routine for Tear and Luke to argue.

"Why do I have to buy everything? I did it last time!"

"You don't do anything else." Tear said flatly. They seem to argue over the same thing every night.

"Shut up, I'm the ambassador. I don't have to do anything."

"Luke, if you're the ambassador you should start acting responsible like one. Until you begin to show that you can be a mature 17 year old, you'll be stuck on gel duty." Tear lectured him but it seemed to fall on deaf ears.

He didn't show any signs that he was listening, which only fed Tear's anger.

Jade walked up to Luke and slapped a piece of paper to his chest. On the paper was a to-do list, hand written by the colonel himself.

"Buy everything on this list. I've written everything so your small brain won't have to suffer trying to remember it all."

"Excuse me?" Luke looked like he was ready to fight.

"Enough! Go!" Tear yelled, shoving Luke out the door without giving him the chance to say anything.

Tear and Jade watched the door as they heard an angry replica swearing and kicking things outside. They both sighed.

"Quite a handful babysitting him." Jade remarked, finally releasing his stare from the door.

"You have no idea."

He smirked. "Then I suppose you'll need a good night's rest for tomorrow. He won't be a happy camper in the morning." He walked away from her, heading upstairs towards the rooms.

"Are you going to bed? So early?"

"An old man needs his rest." He found himself always making old jokes to himself in order to make the perfect excuse. "Goodnight, Tear."

He disappeared upstairs. Now with Luke 'shopping', he'll have enough time.

Jade walked past the girl's room, where Natalia slept silently. Where was Anise?

He opened the door to their room, finding the answer to his question.

The bubbly girl jumped in circles around the terrified Guy. He was crouched down in the middle of the room with his arms over his head as if to protect himself from the ceiling falling on him.

"You have a cruuush!" Anise sang. "Tell me who it is! It's Noelle isn't it?"

"No I don't! Please! Just leave me alone!" He pleaded, his voice trembling.

"Anise." Jade warned, stepping into the room. "You know it's not nice to play with Guy like that."

"Booo."

"Don't you think you've had enough fun for one night?"

"Colonel, you always ruin my fun." She pouted. She looked back at Guy. "I'll get you tomorrow, sleep well!" Then she wrapped her arms around him in a tight hug, which only made him shriek in fear.

She skipped past Jade and out the room, seeming full of joy as always.

Guy gave a sigh of relief when Anise released him from the hug.

"Please, Guy. You have to find male friends to play with."

He frowned. "She just jumped into our room and started to dance, I didn't do anything."

"I believe you owe me. That was a rather risky save I made for you. I nearly died."

Guy laughed, walking over to the desk which had a couple screwdrivers on it and a fon machine. It looked as though he's been working on it for a while. "Now I can get back to work." He said as he began to repair the broken machine.

"Do me a favor and lock the door? I don't want Anise coming back in…"

"Gladly." Jade smiled wickedly behind Guy's back and closed the door.

'Gailardia, that one was your call.' Then he locked the door.