A/N: This story goes from the present to the past in verb tenses, and I'm saying this because I don't want people getting confused. It's basically Emil thinking about something during the present, then explaining what happened beforehand to make him think of what he was thinking about.

I also want to mention that this entire story is in Emil's point of view. I might have a few moments here and there that are from the author's point of view, but overall, the story will be explained from Emil's point of view.

---

--Emil's Point of View--

It's so strange…

I couldn't figure it out then, and I can't figure it out now. Yeah, sure, I go off with him whenever I get the chance, but… why does it seem like it means so much to me…? He says he's my enemy, but then he goes and helps me, travels with me, and thanks me… And I just can't help but run off to him when I see him. Tenebrae keeps teasing me over it, saying, "It must be love", and even though I know he's just joking… maybe he's right. But if we really turn out to be enemies, what do I do then? I couldn't just betray everyone to be with him… right? But still, I—

"..il! Emil!"

"Huh?!" I sat up rather quickly from my place on the grass near a large tree, watching as Marta rushed down over to me, then casually leaned over and started talking to me.

"Emil, what are you doing? Why are you by yourself? Is something wrong?" She asked me, tilting her head sideways.

"Uhh…" I blinked uncertainly upon being attacked by her questions all at once.

"Oh! Sorry." She said, smiling, apparently noticing my confusion. "I just wanted to know why you didn't show up to lunch with me and the others."

"Oh, you needn't worry about that." Tenebrae snickered in his own way. "He's just out here thinking about his love life! Everything is fine."

"T-Tenebrae!" I stuttered, but Marta didn't seem to be thinking too deeply about it.

"Oh! You mean, he was dreaming about us? Oh, that's so sweet, Emil!" She said cheerfully, while I just nodded stupidly and responded with a simple, "Uhh, yeah. Right."

"I couldn't really say he was dreaming about you two." Tenebrae snickered again, earning a saddened look from Marta, which quickly turned to one of her 'Oh-I-See-How-It-Is!' looks.

"I bet he was thinking about Colette then! Yes, that's it! I'm going to have to have a talk with that girl! I meant it when I said I wasn't going to lose to her!" She insisted, standing upright, then bolted back to the inn of… wherever in the world we were.

I just blinked stupidly while watching her head off, not even sure what to make of the situation.

"Wasn't going to lose to Colette? What's that about? Does Colette like me or something?" I asked, turning to Tenebrae, hoping I'd get an actual answer for once.

"No, no, it's nothing like that. It's just… when Marta and Colette first met in Asgard, Marta ended up with the belief that Colette liked you in that sense, so Marta asked if she liked you. Colette said 'Well, sure, I like him', and Marta believed she meant it in a romantic sense. Of course, Marta is truly the only one in our group who thinks that way…" I sighed, relieved I had gotten an answer worthy of my question, instead of one of Tenebrae's casual jokes.

I looked around for a moment, realizing now how bored I actually was. There really hadn't been anything to do in the last week or so for most of my group. The only person who had to head back and forth between us and somewhere else was Regal, but that's because he's the President of the Lezerano Company. Of course he'd be busy.

I sighed again and leaned against the tree, looking at the cloudless sky. While doing so, those same thoughts came back to me, along with the one question I honestly couldn't find the answer to: What are these feelings I have for him?

I was snapped out of those thoughts yet again when I heard the unmistakable voice of a Vanguard member— Decus.

Yet again, I sat up, looking in the direction of his voice. From the sound of it, he was alone, just being himself and mumbling then shouting things to himself. I was sure it was him as he walked closer. Oh, that dreaded smell…

"…prove myself by protecting her, and— Oh! You! My fan! So nice to see you!" Decus shouted cheerfully, and rushed over to me, leaving me gaping at him, confused.

"Ahh, my wonderful fan! To be honest, I actually need to ask you something!" Decus said, pulling me up from my spot with a very determined look.

"Uhh… well, to start things off, my name is Emil, and no, I'm… not… your fan…" I blinked.

"…Oh. Well, then… Emil. I've been hearing some terribly odd rumor going around that you, my friend, are infatuated with a member of the Vanguard like, just as my dear Lady Alice says, Marta is with you. Wouuuuld this be true?"

"Uhm… Sure…?" I said, nodding my head almost involuntarily, almost like I wanted to say Yes, but not able to say that directly.

"O-Oh dear! With Marta being a former Vanguard member, this means it is not in fact her! Does this mean… I have competition over Lady Alice's heart?!" Decus asked, looking utterly shocked.

"Huh?!" I, too, was actually shocked to hear that. "No! I don't like Alice! You can… um… have her for yourself, Decus…" I said uncertainly, blinking at him with a confused yet still shocked look to match his own.

"O-Oh, I see… Well, I mean, it's obviously not… Marta's father, so… so wait!" He paused, sounding like he'd figured something out.

"Uh, w-what?"

"…It must be me!" He said, jabbing his thumb towards himself.

"Huh?!" This time, I was even more shocked than before. "You?!"

"Yes, me! Truly, I don't believe you could like Hawk, and after him, have you really ever spoken to a Vanguard member before? So you really are my fan! You could've just said so! You didn't need to try to hide it!"

"Uhm, Decus…? I think you should just… be on your way now…" I said, staring and blinking at him in disbelief.

"…Oh, yes! I was on an errand and got sidetracked when I saw you because of that question! Well, in the end, it's quite good to know you're still my fan! Well then, my friend, I shall see you again someday!" He said, yet again cheerful sounding and ran off, waving.

It was after he'd left that I realized my heart had been pounding ever since he'd told me he'd been hearing some rumor of me being infatuated with a Vanguard member. Was I actually afraid of him figuring it out? Maybe something else? I couldn't really tell… But there a lot of things I couldn't tell at this point, so I figured there was no sense in worrying about it. Well, at least it cured my boredom for a bit… Although, it's really going to suck on my behalf if he spreads that rumor as far as the other Vanguard members…

"Oh, Emil. Is that Richter over there?" Tenebrae said, moving in the direction he'd nodded his head to, then sat down.

"Huh, what?" I asked, looking in the direction he was looking towards, only to see that he was right.

'Well, this is certainly an… eventful afternoon…' I blinked, realizing he must've wanted to see me, hence him walking in my direction.

Once he walked up to me, I started getting… those feelings again, and felt my heart start racing again.

This can't be… fear… I decided, finally taking one option of my list. It was true that I didn't feel scared of Richter…

"Emil." Richter said, looking straight at me, stopping in front of me.

I tilted my head and asked, "Uhh… Yeah, Richter?"

"Did Decus pass by here?"

"Yeah, he did. …But, uh… why?" I asked, my head still tilted.

Richter sighed, then said, "That idiot went and lost Solum's Core. It was decided that I would be the one to retrieve it, and I decided it'd be easier if I came to you for help."

"Huh? Easier if I went with you? Don't I just always… get in your way?" I was a little shocked to hear him say that, but it certainly made me stand upright in a heartbeat. And not just any heartbeat's length of time, but my own heartbeat's length of time; which would be… rather fast.

"You have Tenebrae with you. He should be able to sense Solum's Core, which makes my job practically ten times easier. I wouldn't mind the addition in fighting power, either. Assuming, of course, you don't plan to get in my way. You don't, by any chance, do you?" I quickly shook my head at this, feeling unusually happy that I was practically being invited to go somewhere with Richter, and without him even telling me not to get in his way. Instead, this time… he asked that I wouldn't.

But I couldn't stop getting the feeling that there had to be something else behind this sudden… surge of happiness…

"Well then. Shouldn't you go tell the others you have something you have to do? I'm sure you can find tons of excuses. Surely, they wouldn't allow you to go out if you told them you were heading somewhere with a Vanguard member. Especially under the circumstance that you don't plan on taking the Core from me after we find it."

"Uh… I guess I should just tell them I'm going out for a lone walk… Although Marta might think something's wrong and ask to come with me…"

"Then tell her you don't want anyone to come along." Richter shrugged.

"Uh… I'll try it." I shrugged back, and he nodded. I nodded back, and headed off to the inn.

Once I walked in, I had every pair of eyes in the room on me, and I asked, "Uhhh… Did I… do something wrong?"

"No. We're just wondering where you've been all day!" Genis huffed, crossing his arms, sitting on the couch beside Lloyd, who was sitting… unusually… close to Zelos.

"Oh… Sorry… I was just outside relaxing. And actually, I just came in here to tell you guys I'm going out for a walk."

"You just got back, and you're leaving again?!" Genis said, gaping at me.

"I-I only came in to tell you guys I was taking a walk! I just wanted to let you guys know!"

"Well, alright…" He sighed.

"You're going alone? Isn't that dangerous? Maybe I should come along…" Colette suggested with a worried expression on her face.

"Nooo, no, no! I'll go with you, Emil!" Marta said, jumping up in front of me.

"Actually, I was… gonna go by myself." I said, backing up from Marta due to having too little space between us.

"Awww… Emil, is something wrong?" She asked, clearly wanting answers.

"No… Marta, you're always over worrying about me. It's not like I'm going all the way across the continent by myself or something." I sighed. Well, at least that much was true.

"Awww…" Marta said sadly. "Well, okay then… But since you're not going with any of us, don't go too far, okay?"

"O-Okay." I nodded, then headed back out and ran straight to Richter.

"It's okay. We're set." I nodded to him, getting a nod back in response, followed by a simple, "Good."

As we started walking away, I had really started to feel guilty for lying to everyone, but knew what I said wasn't really a big lie. I mean, I was walking, but I just wasn't… walking by myself. But then, there had been other times where it was only me and Marta, and I headed off with Richter without even saying a single word to her ahead of time. I always told her something after… But this time, since I had actually said something beforehand, it made me feel a little less guilty about it.

And I had apparently gotten used to the speed my heart was beating at, because I hadn't realized then that my heart was still beating faster than usual the entire time since Richter arrived.