This is the very first collab with Ancient Spoon, I'm quite open for collabs or other ideas :) Originally I intended the story for Ancient Spoon (also known as my muse), but she was busy so I had to take it over. Main Pairing: LloydxColette
WARNING: This fanfic was ridiculously made by two writers without non English-based country, one from German and one from Indonesia. There will be errors, so we're sorry, but if you want to edit it, we will welcome it. No warning for rating, but maybe some cursing occur.
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What is Luckenbooth?
The Luckenbooth brooch is a traditional Scottish wedding brooch given to the bride by the groom on their wedding day, and subsequently pinned to the shawl of the first baby to protect it from "evil spirits". The brooch was a heart shaped one, or two hearts joined often and crowned, given at weddings and engagements as tokens of love.
I suggest that title because most likely, Lloyd Irving (as a Scottish) will give that item to his bride to be. I speculate him as a Scottish, because both of his name are Scottish names...
For more information on Luckenbooth brooch see here (without space): http :/ www .scotlandinargentina. com .ar/luckenbooth_brooching. htm
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Chapter 1
You're always like that; you're worrying -
Even though you've already made up your mind…
… Your eyes show that you're pretending to be strong,
And your words are kind of clumsy,
And you end up bluffing
It was a miracle that the two of you met in this big world...
Maybe I'm exaggerating but it's fate...
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After years of training, saving the world from destruction, reuniting both worlds, and defeating the lord of monsters, the eternal swordsman had never run in clumsier steps. Lloyd Irving was known as a man without much demanding perfection. But now being 26 years old, he wished he could do things neatly, because tonight was the night of his dreams, a once in a lifetime experience. He hated himself for being nervous. Though his head was not used to this kind of thinking, he checked everything desperately in his mind.
One last most crucial item was hidden in his pocket, oh oh… wait it's there. Lloyd mentally kissed the appearance of that small object, as if he was hoping that thing will bring luck.
Please don't let me down.
Lloyd prayed for a minute, even though he no longer believed in Martel, any god would do.
Jumping through buildings was completely unnecessary, but he wanted to be as early as possible. He reached his destination in a small but neat and luxury restaurant located in Flanoir. He met the manager who was yelling at a subordinate, perhaps a waiter. That rookie waiter was a teenage boy on his first day on the job. The manager was furious, because the rookie was wearing a newsboy cap. Hats should not be worn during formal occasions, especially when the manager knew that Lloyd Irving the Great would have an important dinner with his date.
"This is your first day in work and you dare to wear a hat!"
"I had an accident and now I have a big bump on my head." The teenager replied lamely, a lie that the manager could see through.
"Blasphemy!" The manager yelled, "Take that off!"
When the boy's newsboy cap was forcefully taken off, Lloyd was only a feet from them.
"Oh my…" the manager was startled when he saw the boy's hair. He also realized Lloyd's presence, who was tonight's guest of honor in the restaurant, "Mr. Lloyd…! I…well…this boy…" He looked at Lloyd and then to the rookie.
Finally the rookie looked back and Lloyd saw his face for the first time. Now the red clad hero was amused. That rookie waiter looked exactly like Lloyd, but of course he was shorter, younger, and his hair's color was a golden shade of blond.
But nevertheless, he looked exactly like a teenage Lloyd back in his younger days. Even his eyes were as dark red like his.
"Is…he a brother of yours…Mr. Lloyd?"
"No, not that I'm aware of…" Lloyd gulped, slightly perplexed by the kid's garnet colored eyes. Frankly he never met a person with the same eye color.
…except…
"Tch…" The rookie waiter was slightly disturbed when he realized Lloyd's presence, "This is exactly the reason why I'm wearing a hat. Can I put it on now?"
"Y…yes, you may." The manager had no choice but to allow the hat. Besides, he wouldn't humiliate Lloyd by having a waiter working in here looking alike…heck, even the kid's spiky hairstyle matched with Lloyd's.
"Thanks…" the boy muttered as he put his hat back on, he went inside the restaurant without saying a word.
"I…I'm sorry Mr. Lloyd for the boy's insolence…" the manager muttered.
Lloyd who was still perplexed, wasn't disturbed at all. He was just confused as his eyes still locked to the door where the boy went in, "Manager…uhm who's that boy?"
"I…frankly, I don't remember. There are many who applied to work in this restaurant and he was one of them. I do apologize. We need more people since this is your most special day…"
"Argh! I forgot!" Lloyd stammered, "Are you guys ready for it?"
"We have prepared it!" the manager spoke it out proud, "Would you like to see it?"
"Sure!"
Lloyd followed the manager as he went inside the chef's room. This time, loud noises of shouting chefs or clanking metal fried pan couldn't stop his concentration to reach his destination…two bowls of parfait.
"Here it is…now all we need is the finishing touch." The manager grinned.
There are a pair of the dessert, they being the last of the scheduled course for his special. The parfaits were full of sweets and neatly decorated dessert made of fruits, confectionary treats and ice cream. Lloyd held out his pocket to see the most important object in this night's event. It was actually an engagement ring, which he crafted by himself. Ever since their childhood, Lloyd always gave Colette necklaces as presents…now, it was a ring. He put the small object on top of the cream for one of the parfaits.
This was a night in Flanoir, a special dinner, and a surprise in the last course? How could anything be more romantic than this?
With a clear reflection from one of the large frying pans, Lloyd fixed his suit once more. Then proceeded to the table in the other room.
There weren't any other guests yet, only Lloyd. It was normal, considering this restaurant only opened at night exactly at 7 o'clock.
But what surprised Lloyd was that it was the rookie waiter who set his reserved table.
"Your table? Mr. Lloyd?" the kid asked without hesitation. It shouldn't be abnormal that he knew Lloyd. He gained fame quickly after reuniting the worlds, and became infamous two years later because he was framed. Few years later people began to trust him again. Though so, this kid didn't seem to care who Lloyd was. He treated Lloyd like anyone else, a normal customer. For some reason, Lloyd felt comfortable that way. Deep in his heart he always desired to be normal again.
"Uhm…yeah."
"Have a seat and please wait." He pulled the chair slightly gesturing for him to seat, "It'll be done shortly."
Lloyd sat and watched the kid skillfully arrange the table, flipping the handkerchief, placing the utensils. In a matter of minutes the teenager rookie waiter was going to pour some wine which was immediately rejected by Lloyd.
"I don't drink thanks…"
The kid stared at Lloyd carefully, "It's cold and you look nervous. You need to drink something to warm you up. This is a port wine, a sweet one, and not too old. I think you'll be just fine."
"Oh but…uh okay." Lloyd wondered how many of the restaurant staffs knew that he was going to propose. This time he let the kid pour some wine.
The kid spoke calmly, "You should relax more."
Lloyd snorted, "In case you don't know, I'm going to propose."
"Congratulations…" the kid spoke those words apathetically.
Unsatisfied with the kid's reaction, Lloyd snorted, "Congrats? She hasn't said 'yes' yet! What if I mess up?"
The reknown hero almost slapped himself, why did he tell the kid fluently about his problem? He had just knew him for few minutes. But unexpectedly as he raised his head, he can see the rookie waiter patiently listening to his mumbles.
"The worst thing that can happen is if she says 'I'm not ready'. Other than that, I don't see why she'd refuse. But you shouldn't worry of things that aren't happening yet."
"…" Lloyd blinked at the kid's statement.
"Now, the finishing touch…" the rookie didn't wait for Lloyd's reply because he quickly put decorative lilies for the table.
"Uh, shouldn't you put roses? I mean, aren't lilies for funerals."
"Trust me, it'll work." The kid gave a wry smile before he left.
Lloyd hadn't got a chance to protest because another voice called him.
"Lloyd!"
In an instant Lloyd froze as he slowly looked back to the owner of the voice. There she was, Colette Brunel, the girl who was his lover, companion and childhood friend at the same time. Lloyd had been having special feelings ever since they were children. They finally were in relationship shortly after he succeeded in collecting the expheres in this unified worlds. They have dated few times for several years and she still managed to make him stutter. It was not the first time she wore a beautiful dress, yet Lloyd felt his cheeks burn at her sight.
Colette smiled, she also adored her boyfriend in his tidy suit. Lloyd wouldn't go formal every day, but his lover, of course, was an exception. Nevertheless both of them loved each other as they were, no matter what attire they were wearing.
"Oh, Lloyd you're early!"
"C-Colette!" he stammered and almost clumsily stumbled from the table, "I…you too…"
"I can't be late for our date, can I?" she giggled, "But the restaurant is so empty…"
"Yeah, they just opened." Lloyd stood behind Colette's chair. He pulled it gently, welcoming her to sit. It was a gentleman's way. He worked on it so hard with Zelos for the last couple of weeks.
"Thank you…oh!" When Colette sat she pointed the decorated lilies on the table.
"Is something wrong?"
"Lilies!" Colette pointed the flower on the desk.
"I…yeah, I know it's weird." Lloyd sighed, tempted to punch that stubborn rookie waiter.
She shook her head, "No Lloyd, don't you remember?"
"Remember what?"
"When we first met, you caught me when I fell near you in a Lily fields. Oh, you do remember Lloyd!"
Lloyd laughed, his fear vanished instantly. Half of his mind wondered how the kid knew her memories. Then again he was having his last date with Colette as his girlfriend, he could think about it later.
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Almost two hours passed, but time didn't affect the two lovers. Both of them shared dreams, memories, bitter and sweet, together. The restaurant was filled already, and Lloyd and Colette were no longer alone in that place. Few others lovers, families, and even businessmen enjoyed food and company in there. Sometimes Lloyd saw that rookie waiter come serve them. He was no longer the personal waiter because he had to serve other tables as well. It was a very busy day for the restaurant.
He was about to introduce that kid to Colette…but he didn't known the teenage kid's name. After all he might be humiliated because he looked like Lloyd. So all Lloyd could do was whisper to her, while pointing at the only waiter who was wearing a newspaper cap.
"Really, Lloyd? He really looks like you? When you were about his age?"
"Yeah…it's kinda creepy. But I think the kid's cool. Maybe, he didn't intend to look like me."
"It must be adorable… Since he looked like you when you were young, I want to see his hair." Colette giggled.
"Yeah, that's the thing… I don't think he'll like it. Besides…he's blond."
"Blond…?"
Lloyd couldn't answer because he was tense. The red clad swordman saw another waiter bringing their last course… His ring was on top of one of the parfaits. The waiters and waitresses in that restaurant were instructed carefully. Since Lloyd was too nervous to propose, he was told to try another bright idea that might work. So there the two parfaits were, placed in order. The plain one was Lloyd's and Colette had the one with the ring on top of it.
The problem was… Colette didn't see it, her blue eyes still locked to Lloyd.
Another problem was: Lloyd couldn't speak.
He wasn't sure what to say…all those words arranged to make the perfect proposal had vanished instantly.
Colette still didn't see. She was waiting for him to talk. Then she thought it was rude to wait for Lloyd, so she ate the parfait first…scooping right where the ring was placed.
She unintentionally swallowed the ring…
"Uh…Colette…" Lloyd choked.
But now Colette choked, literally. She was gagged with Lloyd's proposal ring stuck inside her throat.
"Colette…W-Whoa…HELP!" Lloyd panicked and immediately the serene sound of the restaurant broke once they saw the guest of honor had trouble.
"What's going on?" one of the guests replied to Lloyd's yelling.
"Mr. Lloyd, what happened!" The manager burst out from the kitchen to observe the problem.
"She got the ring stuck on her throat!"
"She swallowed it? My goodness!"
Now another guest of the restaurant, an old sympathical woman was accompanying Colette, "Breathe, girl…breathe…"
"I want to marry her! Not kill her, do something!"
"A glass of water." One of the waitresses handed Lloyd the object.
"How is that gonna help her?"
"I have no idea…"
"She's choking!"
In her failed attempt to choke it out, Colette stumbled from her table and randomly hit other tables. Lloyd struggled to save her; it was indeed a disaster. Finally, the rookie waiter who looked like Lloyd emerged from the cooking room to the dining room. He responded as quickly as his colleagues when seeing Colette. The kid didn't even hesitate to throw his tray of food aside…and he didn't care that the food on his tray landed on one of his poor colleagues. He held both of Colette's shoulder holding her side.
He asked, "What's the situation here? Was she poisoned?"
"N-no! She swallowed the ring!"
"Your…ring…?" The boy twitched both of his eyes uncomfortably.
"Well…I… Look, I put her ring on the last course parfait, I thought she would see it."
"You IDIOT! You actually put the ring on food?" The kid yelled, Colette was still choking, "That's the stupidest thing you'd ever done!"
Feeling humiliated, Lloyd spat back, "Hey, I was nervous, Okay? It's not my idea, so help her!"
The kid muttered another curse when he realized that he had forgotten Colette, "Excuse me, Lady…"
He flipped Colette until he was facing her back, skillfully he knocked right on her neck, and Colette gradually spit it out. Amusingly, after he succeeded everyone cheered, even the other workers and the manager of the restaurant. Feeling weak, Colette was on her knees breathing hard.
"Colette! I'm so sorry…breathe…" Lloyd was quickly on her side while the rookie waiter stepped back.
Colette didn't speak for a while. She was too busy breathing heavily, gasping for oxygen she missed for a few minutes previously. After she calmed down she picked the curious object which was once trapped on her throat.
She suddenly went on tears when she realized what it was.
"C-Colette…?" Lloyd stammered, he was afraid of upsetting her.
Now she was crying and smiling. She was happy in tears. The beautiful girl, though her dress was ruined on her previous accident, asked quietly, "Is this…is this?"
"I…uh…" Lloyd's face went red in both shame and awkwardness, "I'm sorry about before…Do…you…?"
"YES!" Colette cried without hesitation.
"Wh-what?" Lloyd was startled by her sudden outburst. He didn't get the message very well, "You…want to marry me?"
She threw herself at him, hugging him tightly.
"Yes! Yes, I do!"
"Y-you do?"
Everyone in the restaurant cheered loudly…except the rookie waiter who was sighing in relief.
"Marvelous! Well done, my boy!" The manager slapped the rookie waiter's back which was ungratefully replied with a grunt, "I shall promote you immediately! You are-"
"…quitting." He spoke suddenly.
"Pardon?" The manager whimpered.
The boy repeated as he took off both of his uniform gloves, "I quit."
Even between cheers from people who surrounded him, Lloyd could hear what that rookie waiter said.
The manager was baffled. He was wondering what went wrong, "But, you can't quit!"
"I'm leaving now." The rookie waiter quickly removed the bow tie as he walked hastily to the exit.
He was leaving so swiftly and quickly that nobody reacted fast enough to stop him…but of course that didn't stop our favorite hero to catch him. The rookie waiter was a few feet away from the restaurant, running hastily. Even the high leveled snow in the ground couldn't stop his escape.
Somewhere in the middle Flanoir, he heard Lloyd's calling, "W-wait!"
"What?" He stopped slightly, turning around with annoyance expressed fully on his face.
Lloyd felt like this teenager boy didn't want to waste more time, so he asked quickly, "I want to thank you but…why are you quitting? You just got your job. I don't understand why you quit because of what happen…"
The boy shook his head immediately, "Well, I'm still annoyed with what happened. But no…it's not the biggest problem. There's something I need to do, now I must go. You're welcome."
"Hey!" Lloyd yelled as he caught the boy's shoulder.
"What now…?" said the boy almost ignoring him, leaving Lloyd was a very tempting idea in his mind. Though so, he was trapped and unfortunately his strength could not compare to Lloyd's years of training.
"I… well." Lloyd thought hard about how to repay the boy, "Uh…a tip?"
The boy shook his head, "I don't want your money. I helped her by my own will."
Since this teenager didn't seem interested in anything, so Lloyd blurted, "Will you…come at my wedding?"
There was a silence and then the boy slightly squeaked, "Pardon?"
Strangely…the boy seemed interested, so Lloyd let go slightly, knowing that boy wouldn't leave too soon.
"Well, you saved Colette… So it's the least I can do. We…haven't decided about the wedding's date yet and I don't know how to inform you, so…" He felt stupid, he needed to know the boy's name but he had no idea who he was…or where he came from. Lloyd just realized how mysterious this boy was. Such strange things occurred like…why did he look like Lloyd in the first place?
He couldn't wait for Lloyd's silence, so the teenager boy asked, "When?"
"Huh?"
"When's the wedding?"
"I don't know… preparations will take about nine months, maybe…?"
"That'll do."
Lloyd blinked a few times to realize that the teenager boy had walked away once more, "Huh? Uh…Wait! How are you going to attend?"
"I'm not promising that I'll come. But…congratulations, Lloyd." He spoke briefly before his figure slowly disappearing blended with snow that silently fell in Flanoir.
"Wait, wait!" Lloyd called but the kid had been away too long, he sighed, "…I don't know his name, yet."
Lloyd's train of thoughts soon vanished when he heard another feminine voice calling his name, "Lloyd!"
Just a few seconds after Lloyd turned around he was pushed to the ground with Colette falling on him. She had thrown herself to the man she loved with his promising ring which she gripped tightly.
"Oof! Colette!"
"I'm so happy!" she spoke those words fully without any regret, even after her dress was ruined from her previous disaster.
"Do you want me to do it again?"
"Yes! Yes!" she spoke it with an outburst of enthusiasm.
Lloyd positioned Colette to stand again, now he was on his knees and somehow his courage had been restored.
"Colette Brunel… Since…we're kids we have shared sadness, joy and laughter and bittersweet moments. We faced those together, side by side. I would feel honored to spend the rest of my life with you. Will you be my loving wife?"
…and Colette was crying, but Lloyd already knew her answer, beneath the falling snow in Flanoir.
"Yes, I will!"
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Will I get to hear
Those magic words someday? Ah...
"Would you marry me, honey?"
Congratulations!
Now you've finally heard those magic words!
Look, it's a very small start,
But it will lead to a great big love…
(Magic Words-Would you marry me? – Do as Infinity)
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TBC
For those who read my other stories...YES it's 'that' kid. Hush..hush...I suggest all of you to keep quiet ;)