With my life
Disclaimer & Author's notes
Well, first thing's first. Sadly, I do not own Tales of the abyss. But, if I was able to own only one character, it would be Guy -( … (obsessive much?) Anyways, I wanted to write this fic because I was inspired to write a certain genre. I won't say which because that would give away the second chapter. But, whilst I was reading another fanfiction (moonlit passion /s/3361244/1/MoonlitPassion) by gamegirl244, I was also driven wildly to do an intense romantic kiss scene between Guy and Natalia so, get ready for the cheese! I'm really happy with what I have so far and I really hope this turns into a great fic!
The Inista marsh. It could be called nothing short of disgusting, vile and putrid. The only time anyone would ever venture into its boggy landscape would be if they were foolish or desperate. Luke and his friends were the second. They were six companions in all: Luke, Tear, Guy, Natalia, Jade and Anise. Fleeing from Baticul, wrongfully accused of crimes they had not committed, they had no choice but to run into the poisonous land. When they entered the marsh, Jade the Necromancer stopped cold.
"What's wrong Jade? We gotta keep moving!" Luke turned around. He was surprised. Jade was the last one to pause when they were running for their lives. Normally, Luke would've made a mistake like that and Jade would be the one scolding him.
"Yes, I suppose you're right." Guy turned around and looked Jade in the eye. Something was definitely wrong. He had never seen the Malkuthian colonel lose his composure for one second but something had shake him.
The group continued tirelessly for another hour running through watery gardens filled with explosively colorful foliage and more than a few hungry mouths. Twice they had been attacked by fish-men from which they had barely escaped. The number of other monsters they were fighting was ridiculous and by the time they reached some high ground, all of them were exhausted- even Anise being the ball of energy she was couldn't continue another step.
"We should set up camp. I think we all need a little rest." Jade said after taking a few moments to catch his breath.
"We don't want to use too many of our supplies but, we need to heal and, if you want me to do it, I'm going to need an Orange gel. I think I used up the last of my strength reviving Luke back there." Tear said with a pant
"Hey! It wasn't my fault! You let your guard down Tear! I ran in to protect you and some of the monster's attack got through. If I hadn't already been bleeding from the wound that you failed to heal, I wouldn't have passed out!" Luke exclaimed. Instantly he felt bad. He knew Tear was doing her best. Everyone was a little on edge. The incident at Baticul didn't make things any better.
"Luke, I didn't let my guard down, I was casting a spell and if you had a better guard…" Tear stopped for a second, "We can't do this not here. If there has ever been a time where we've all needed to cooperate it's now." Tear regained her composure not a moment too soon. She stopped when she realized her eyes had been welling up in frustration. She tossed a small orange gel into her mouth and swallowed.
Throughout the entire race from Baticul to the marsh, Natalia hadn't said a word. The man she had known as her father her whole life had simply seen fit to reject her.
"And he should. I'm not even his proper daughter. How could I ever fill the royal shoes of a princess?" Natalia questioned herself. This thought and many others had been streaking through her mind never slowing throughout the entirety of the escape. Tears streamed down her face but nobody noticed. Jade was deep in thought, Anise looked like she was about to cry too, Luke and Tear were still bickering and…
"Natalia, are you okay?" Natalia almost jumped when Guy came up behind her. "What a stupid question. Of course you're not." He sat down beside her. If nothing else, it felt better to know that someone acknowledged that she was there.
"What happened back there in Baticul…Natalia…" Guy didn't know what to say. He tripped over his words. He felt bad for the princess but had absolutely no way to convey his sympathies.
"I'll be fine Guy. Thank you for worrying about me." Natalia informed Guy in the most composed way she could.
"I'm sorry for bothering you." Guy looked sad. He knew that she wasn't alright he just didn't know what he could do to help her. He started to get up feeling a little more depressed himself.
"Wait!" as soon as Natalia had begun to say it, she wished she hadn't she didn't mean to say it. The words just spilled out of her lips. She didn't even know why she called after him. She just…did.
"Yes, your highness?" Guy asked being a bit more formal. Natalia felt bad. She could sense that he was upset too. If he hadn't been, he would have addressed her less formally.
"Please stay. I…I need someone here with me." Natalia knew that she wanted one person more than anyone with her. She wanted Guy to be with her. He had a kind of cooling effect on her. Something that Luke- the sacred flame of course didn't do for her or even Asch for that matter.
"Alright then." Guy looked a little happier. He was always happier when he was doing something to brighten up someone else. Especially Natalia. They both had feelings for each other and both refused to betray those feelings to the other. However, as the two sat in silence, more conversation was had in 10 silent minutes than could ever be had in an hour.
"Guy, we need to set up camp." Jade shattered the silence that entrenched the two friends.
"Huh? Oh, right. What do you need me to do?" Guy responded slowly. He and the Princess were in an almost dreamlike state induced by the shock of Baticul's events and being in the presence of the one they loved.
"Stay here with Natalia. Luke and Tear have gone off to find some food and do some hyperresonance training. I'm going with Anise to find firewood and scout out the area." Quietly he added, "Natalia doesn't look too well. For obvious reasons, I'll need you to keep close tabs on her." Guy nodded.
"Well, then we'll be back in an hour or so. Guy, be ready to cook up something good!" Jade said in a sing-song voice that annoyed everyone.
"Why me?" Guy burst out. He was known for not being a great cook. Though, he wasn't quite as bad as Luke or Natalia- he was no Anise.
"Because you're the lazy bum who wants to sit here at camp rather than scout out the land or look for food." Jade said in an incredulous tone in disbelief that Guy could be so inconsiderate.
"Hey wait! You're the one who volunteered me to stay!" Guy protested he was quite sure he was not a lazy bum.
"How could you ever accuse an old man like me of doing something like that? Volunteer myself to go out and do the work while leaving a young buck like you here sitting around? Unthinkable!" Jade uttered the sentence in his usual sarcastic tone and acted as if he was shocked to the core.
"Whatever, just get out of here." Guy was exasperated. Talking with the good colonel always made him feel like he had swum the length of the Rotelro bridge with bricks tied to his hands and feet.
"Very well, come Anise, it seems that Guy doesn't wish to interact with us mature folk." Jade acted as if he was cut to the core and stalked away with the Fourteen-year old blowing raspberries back at Guy. Guy felt like pouting a little. Jade was as annoying as ever but now even Anise was getting on his nerves. He felt strange. It wasn't like him to get so upset so easily.
"It's not surprising with everything that happened in Baticul, having to walk through this death trap of a marsh and just all around fatigue- I definitely have an excuse to be a little bit grumpy." Guy thought quietly. He knew he couldn't stay upset for too long even if he wanted to. It wasn't in his nature. He was a tolerant, cool-headed person and he couldn't be annoyed for too long. Besides, he had more problems to worry about than the two "mature" folk teasing him. He was bound and determined to help Natalia any way he could.
"Natalia, Luke and I will just be over beyond that hill. Call if you need anything." Tear was kneeling down and looking the Princess in the face with sympathetic eyes.
"Thank you Tear. I shall let you know at once if anything goes amiss." Natalia said as composed as she could be. As Tear and Luke left or rather while Luke was being dragged by his carmine locks, a sort of silence filled the air well- after Luke and Tear were out of earshot. Natalia was still shaken but for the moment she would be content to have Guy sitting next to her. A moment passed and then a minute. The two sat in silence once again much more passed between them than could ever be expressed by any amount of words in the same amount of time.
"I know I have feelings for her. I've known it for a long time. Even when she made fun of me and ridiculed me for my gynophobia. I guess…it's just the way she carries herself. No- it's definitely more than that. Natalia is a special person." Guy was lost deep in thought. His train of thought came to a screeching halt as he realized that he was touching Natalia's hand. His fears of past events reawakened and he quickly withdrew.
"Guy!" Natalia started at his reaction. She had been conscious of their touch for longer than a minute though, for a while it was no more than their fingers that had connected. She had felt the warmth of his hand and, wondered why he had made contact but was too happy to contest the sensation.
Immediately after withdrawing his hand, Guy felt terrible.
"Why do I keep dangling my feelings in front of her like bait on a hook?" Guy wondered tormenting himself with accusations of his own weakness. Just as tears began to leak out of his own eyes, the princess began to cry.
"Natalia, what's wrong?" Guy chastised himself once again asking an obvious question. Her answer came swiftly.
"Everything that happened in Baticul today. All that I've known throughout my whole life. Has it all been a lie?" She still troubled herself with thoughts of her lineage. It was indeed a shock for one who believed herself royal to uncover the fact that she was the undeniable daughter of a commoner. In a single moment, Guy realized he understood, to a degree how this felt. He had lived the majority of his life as a servant when he was the heir to a royal and noble house. But, he knew that in this moment, he could offer much more than just simple friendly understanding. He knew what she had thought when their hands touched. He was painfully aware of how terrifying the sensation was for himself but, right now, Natalia needed him and, he loved her.
"How can I deny her the simple touch of my hand because I'm scared? I can't. Not when she is in so much need of it. I love her." Guy spoke these thoughts in his mind and then, turned to the Princess.
"Natalia, I don't care who you are. I don't care whether you're the princess of Kimlasca, the mayor of Belkend or the daughter of a farmer from Engeve. I…I fell in love with you, the girl I'm looking at right now. I didn't fall in love with Natalia, Princess of Kimlasca-Lanvaldear. That was simply the name you went by then. But, even if that changes, you don't!" Guy was out of breath and his face was the color of Luke's hair by the time he had finished. Natalia was astonished.
"You love me? How could you love me when I…" she began. But she was quickly interrupted.
"When you what? When you made fun of me? When you lived like a spoiled palace girl? I don't care about those things. What is important to me are the good things you've done. If there's one thing I've learned about love, it's that you have to take the good with the bad and, your good is certainly sweet enough to take along with your character flaws. As long as you can accept mine too… then I guess…" Guy's own head slightly fell. Natalia lifted Guy's sharp chin gently with her fingers. A small tremor rippled through his body. Their eyes met and, as their hands had before, their lips began gravitating towards each other. Before either knew it, they were locked in a kiss. A sign of affection neither of them had been able to share before. Guy was trembling Natalia couldn't tell whether it was from excitement or his fear. But, whichever, it only made her want to kiss him more. She rolled her hand from his chin to behind his head and she pulled his lips even closer. Guy responded by moving his hands up to the back of Natalia's shoulders and locked her in a passionate but gentle embrace.
Guy slowly opened his beautiful green eyes and drew back once they had finished. Natalia didn't break eye contact. Her stare was one of curiosity and wonder more than affection.
"Are you all right Natalia?" Guy asked tentatively.
"I'm fine. It's just… I thought you weren't able to be near girls." Natalia didn't want to say that Guy was scared of women. It was certainly more than that but, she also didn't want it to seem like she was taunting him as she used to.
"I've decided to try. Before…I think it was just easier to…well to hide behind a mask. But, Mary my Mother, my Father- none of them would want me to live like that. So, I've decided that, for them. I'll try to live life like normal." Guy was smiling. He wanted to change his fears- leave his past behind him but, that wouldn't just come with time/ No, the first step on the path he was taking had to be the most difficult thing he's ever done. But, in the moment, he hadn't been scared. He just had seen Natalia and she was all that mattered.
"Isn't it silly? I was scared of you." Guy looked a little embarrassed.
"Of course not!" Natalia exclaimed. "There are a lot of things that frighten different people. I- I'm scared. I'm scared of the future, of the battles that lie ahead and the sadness that will most definitely accompany all those conflicts." Natalia recalled events not too long passed. Her thoughts once again turned to King Ingobert in Baticul.
"Natalia, I promise whatever puts you in danger physically, mentally, emotionally or otherwise, I will protect you. I will protect you with my life if I need to!" Guy looked back in to her eyes his own full of gravity and the most serious of oaths.
"Let's hope it never comes down to that. But, if it does, I will fight right next to you." Natalia replied her eyes filled with the same amount of intensity. Guy wanted to dissuade her. He wanted to tell her to stay. He wanted to tell her to find the safest place in all Auldrant and stay there. But, he knew that her feelings for him were just as strong as those he harbored for her. And, had he been in her place, there was no force in Heaven or Hell that could bar him from coming to help her no matter what the cost.
Guy had turned his eyes to where he saw the Colonel leave with Anise. He watched the rocky pass waiting for some sign of their return. He was getting nervous. He and Natalia had been at camp for an hour and a half and still no one had returned. As he was pondering this, the earth began to shake. He and Natalia were thrown to the ground by the strength of the tremor. The quaking lasted for only a few seconds but, it changed much of the face of the marsh.
"It must be because of the weakening Sephiroth trees. Without them to support this continent, the whole thing is falling apart." Natalia observed. She scanned the area and looked where Jade and Anise were supposed to be coming from and let out a sharp gasp. Much of the land had sunk into the swamp. Guy was looking where Luke and Tear had gone only to see the pass covered by rocks.
"Guy! Natalia! Are you there?" The cry came from the other side of the rock shelf that separated Jade and Anise from safe ground.
"Jade! We're here! How do we all get back together?" Guy had to shout to get his voice projected all the way over the rock.
"The earthquake sunk the stable part of the swamp into the mud beneath. However, I think that if we all continue on, we should eventually meet on the other side." Guy saw the logic behind Jade's plan.
"What about Tear and Luke?" he remembered they were gone too.
"Tear should be just fine. I'm sure she'll know what to do. And, if she has to, she can baby sit Luke." Jade had mostly abandoned his sarcasm. This was a serious situation after all.
"Alright, we'll head as quickly as we can for the exit where we'll meet up with you guys. If Luke and Tear aren't there though, we'll head back in to the marsh to find them." Guy finished planning with Jade. Before Guy left, Jade shouted, "Wait! Guy!" But he had already gone. Jade wasn't able to tell him about the strange flowers he had found. He had heard that the vegetation had been planted to keep a monstrous beast locked inside. The discovery of the foliage only continued to add to Jade's suspicions.
"They should be fine. It's probably just a myth anyways." Jade tried to reassure himself but somehow he couldn't stop the feeling that they were all in danger.