Note: I do not own Tales of the Abyss characters...but I own the OC (as usual)

I like exploiting Asch's naivety and emotional side. Enjoy people! n_n

Oh yeah, before I forget, the OC is the same age as Asch...

~~o~~

Asch never really liked to travel around much, but for the past two months, he'd noticed that he's been moving about the land nonstop, even if there's no pressing matter at hand for the God Generals. But for today, he considered to stay at home with his personal "maid". Asch had saved her from the dungeons for the traitors who were caught by the God Generals and were sentenced for life imprisonment. He had always wondered why she'd been chained down there, with no real accusation against her by the people who had caught her. He never really asked her what was charged against her, but when he saw her down there, thin and pale, his heart took pity on a cute girl like her, an emotion he, Asch the Bloody, rarely feels. He ordered immediately for her release without knowing why, startling the guards who had accompanied him and another God General, Dist. Asch threatened them to the point of his blade, until Dist coerced and let the girl go. Asch saw the disgust on Dist's face when they freed the girl, and even more so when the girl looked at him with her soft eyes. Asch was certain that Dist is going to slap her, and he was about to act on it when the girl slipped on her own feet, and was about to fall. He caught her with his fast reflexes, and he assumed that she wasn't being fed with healthy food.

Asch had always asked himself why he saved her. Many times over, when he tried to cook personally for her but in the end she's the one cooking for the two of them, Asch feels as though he had seen her somewhere before. Asch feels at ease whenever he knew she's around or near him, without knowing the reason. And for today, he wondered where she is.

Asch moved around the house, looking for her. He cannot forget her name, for it was a name of that girl who had helped him to escape from Van's clutches: Rosienn Wyon Neis. For some reason, he's a kind of uneasy whenever he remembers her last name, though she had insisted that he should just forget her last name and just call her Rose. Asch shook his head and entered the backyard where he saw Rose, chatting cheerfully with none other than Dist. For some reason, Asch felt a pang of jealousy and he immediately supressed that feeling. She is but a servant, though he never really considered her as his servant. And showing emotions in front of Dist, he's sure that the Reaper will blackmail him into his experiments and Asch knew better not to get involve in such things.

"Rose." Asch called. The girl looked up at him.

"Master Asch!" she gasped, standing up. Dist only looked at her.

"Master Asch?" Dist said questionably, raising an eyebrow. He looked at Asch. "And since when you ordered her to call you 'Master'?"

"I didn't say anything of sorts to her." Asch said. "She took it up herself."

"Oh really?"

Asch was about to reply when the doorbell rang. Just what he needed, more headache. Before he could even turn, he heard Rose said, "I'll go get it!" He saw her hair flash by him, and he caught her sweet shampoo's scent before she had disappeared to the main door. Asch turned to look at Dist. They're alone now. By the look Dist is giving him, Asch knew he had done something wrong. He wouldn't be pressing his lips together tightly, or looking at him with dagger eyes.

"By the way, Dist." Asch said, careful not to make eye contact. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm here to visit Rose." Dist replied. "Does that bother you?"

"Yes." Asch thought. "It doesn't suit you visiting a woman at this early hour." Asch eyed Dist carefully. "What is it that you're really up to, Dist?"

"MASTER ASCH!!!!" Rose yelled from the hallway. "Colonel Jade is here!!"

"Jade?" Dist and Asch said in unison. Asch looked at Dist, whose eyes seems to sparkle. Rose appeared, with a smiling Jade behind her.

"What are you doing here?" Asch said directly to Jade while Rose took the used up tea cups and went back to the kitchen to prepare more.

"Nothing in particular." Jade said, taking his seat uninvited. "I'm quite surprised to see you here, Dist."

"You already know the reason why I'm here." Dist said, unable to take his eyes away from Jade.

"Ah, yes...because of her..." Jade murmured, unnerved by the fact that Dist is somewhat drooling at the sight of him. The Colonel turned to look at Asch.

"Why do you look so sour, Asch?" he said.

"The two of you are invading my privacy here, early in the morning." Asch said, feeling a vein pulse on his temple.

"Is there something going on with the two of you then?"

"Who?"

"Rosienn Wyon Neis." At this, Dist looked sharply at Asch.

"Keep thinking like that, I'll slice you into two." Asch said through gritted teeth. Jade smiled.

"Then why are you being defensive?" Jade said. "I didn't mean anything in that statement."

Rose returned at the backyard, feeling the tension building up rather than cooling down. She set down the tray on the table, saying loudly, "Anyone cares for tea?"

The three looked at her, noticing that dangerous tone in her voice. Dist didn't miss the annoyed smiled she had hidden behind a sweet one.

"I'll take one, Rose." Dist said. She smiled at him and gave him his cup. After serving the tea, she stood at the side lines, listening to their rather concealed chatter of hatred towards each other through snappy remarks. Later on, Dist and Jade left, with the Colonel trying so hard to shake Dist off his tail. After seeing them off, Asch turned to look at Rose.

"Tell me, what is really your relationship with Dist?" he asked pointedly. "He won't be coming here early in the morning once a week, even if he has work, to see you."

Rose didn't bother to look at his face. She replied in a straight facial expression, "What is wrong with a sibling coming to a visit? He's coming here to check on me if you're really taking care of me as you had promised when I was released."

Asch blinked. "Sibling?"

"Yes." Rose said, turning to look at him. "Dist's real name is Saphir Wyon Neis. Jade knows our relationship too well, since I've been a close friend to Nephry before I got imprisoned from freeing you from Van at Choral Castle how many years ago."

The look on Asch's face was something Rose held on to until she slept that night, with an evil smile on her face as she sleep.