Disclaimer:I do not own Tales of the Abyss or any of the characters

The Last Memory

Chapter 1: The Painful Farewell

I stared into her blue eyes, no longer showing ice but an expression of helplessness. She seemed hesitant like she didn't want to say anything to me at all.

"Come back," she pleaded, no longer able to hide the pain. "I'll be waiting . . . always." Her voice cracked as the words escaped from her mouth.

"I will. I promise. I'll come home," I said. I swore I would return. Upon my sacrifice I would keep this oath.

I turned away looking towards the sky, thinking this would be the last time I would see it and her. The silence was so strong I could hear her every step, getting farther and farther away. It echoed in my head like the minute hand of a clock. All of a sudden she stopped not knowing why, the seconds felt like hours waiting to hear what she was going to do or say next. My heart began to beat faster with anxiety.

"Luke . . . I love you," Tear whispered so softly it carried on with the wind piercing my ears. I could not believe what I heard. All this time she didn't just watch over me, she really cared for me, loved me. After all the jokes that everybody said and it still went over my head, am I really that thick? Those three words did more damage to me then any other pain that had been dealt to me on this journey.

I had my chance to tell her how I felt and still I didn't take it.

My heart was breaking.

It took everything I had not to turn around and tell her the same. Idiot, why didn't I tell her before? A small tear ran down my face. I couldn't, what if I . . . never see her again . . . it will hurt her, no that wouldn't be the half of it. First Van, now me, I couldn't forgive myself for what I was going to do yet at the same time I had to show her that I really had changed, I wasn't the same person that she met at the beginning. I was no longer thinking about myself but everyone on this planet. Besides if I stay, I will just fade away and she will be alone again. If I die now my sacrifice will save all the people of this world. I finally have some sense of why I was born, but I have one more reason to live, I will not break my promise to her.

Tear, I thought as I lifted the Sword of Lorelei above my head ready to strike the ground.

I love you too.

I pierced the sword into the ground causing a blue light to emit; a protective barrier engulfed me as I descended into the depths of Eldrant.

"Tear," Guy called after Tear, even over the earthquakes I heard him shout knowing that Tear was watching everything. I wanted to give her a look of assurance, show her that I would be ok, but my heart couldn't take the pain of seeing her face as my life was ending.

A piece of the ground I was standing on served as a platform on which I stood. Going lower and lower unaware of what was happening or where I was going, all I could think about was Tear. The island continued to collapse, causing shards of stone to fall and break apart. The platform passed the room where I fought Asch that room too had begun to crumble. His body lying against the wall, lifeless. As the floor gave way he fell but landed on the barrier that was protecting me, absorbing him and I caught him in my arms. We made our way lower until it seemed we were not in Hod, but perhaps inside Auldrant itself. A fixture of colors floated around us as if it was alive, moving and darting until it appeared before me, a face could be made out but still it continued to shift.

"So the world did not vanish. To think, the future I saw would be rewritten. You have done admirably."

At last Luke was in the presence of Lorelei, not expecting what he would look like. Lorelei continued to fly around Luke then flew past him and disappeared into thin air. Luke felt his body fading as the Seventh Fonons began to separate. He and Asch slowly became particles that were carried away into the depths of the Abyss.

Ok I know that this part has been written numerous times both from Tear and Luke's perspective but this is necessary for the coming chapters. Anyways reviews are always welcomed and appreciated; also let me know what you like better in terms of the way the story is told, either through Luke's eyes or through narration. Thanks for reading and I hope to have ch.2 up as soon as possible.