A/N: Sorry this is out so late, my computer was being a spaz (I can only use Internet Explorer to get the chapters done, and so everything just goes ridiculously slow...)

Anyway, onto the stuff!

One sandwich later, Luke was again sitting on the chair, except with a bag full of ice bandaged to his burn. Asch was again staring out of the window.

The silence was almost deafening to Luke, who was used to the hustle and bustle of home, and the chattering of his friends. It must have been normal for Asch, however, as he didn't seem bothered in the slightest.

Luke sighed, curling up on the chair and laying his head on the arm. How was his original so...boring? All he seemed to do was lie around all day and scowl at things. They were so vastly different, it was ridiculous.

As he continued to think, his eyelids began to droop. Briefly, he wondered how irritated Asch would be if he fell asleep, before he drifted off.

Asch heard a quiet snore and turned, seeing Luke curled on the chair asleep. He frowned as he gazed at him. If he and the dreck were the same...was this what he looked like when he slept? Then again, Luke was a much gentler person. It was likely that the peace he had when asleep reflected that.

Without really thinking about it, his eyes slipped over Luke's face taking in everything about him. He saw the little frown on Luke's forehead - probably the only outward sign he gave that he wasn't enjoying his predicament.

As the sun began to set and the street lights came, it occurred to Asch that Luke probably didn't have any other clothes or toiletries. He wasn't even sure where they had found the clothes Luke was wearing at the moment; then again, Suzanne had probably kept some from when he was younger.

He glanced up at the clock. It was getting on for supper...knowing the dreck he'd probably want something to eat.

Asch sighed and stood up, resigning himself to the fact that he was now Luke's babysitter, whether he wanted to be or not.

Luke yawned as he woke up, glancing around blearily. He could smell something delicious cooking...Then again, knowing Asch, he probably wouldn't be allowed any.

He slipped off the chair and into the kitchen, watching as Asch easily cooked. Luke was a little surprised at his ease, but guessed he must have learnt while living on his own for so many years.

Asch glanced at him as he entered, frowning. "What, you think you can get free food after sleeping half the afternoon?" he asked. Luke hesitated, glancing hungrily at the food, and Asch sighed. "If you help me with a few bits, I'll let you have some."

Luke blinked then grinned, eagerly rushing forward. "What do you want me to do?" he asked, glancing around.

Asch considered, then started giving Luke instructions, which the younger boy happily carried out.

Finally the food was ready and Luke slipped onto his seat, swinging his feet. Asch set the plates down and silently started eating. Luke watched him for a moment before also eating, glancing up from time to time. Finally he worked up some courage.

"How come you don't like talking?" he asked. Asch glanced at him, about to deliver an insulting reply, then paused as he watched back away slightly.

Considered, he decided he could spare a decent reply. "I've been living alone for a while, so I haven't really had a chance to just chat with people. It's habit more than a dislike," he said.

Luke blinked, surprised he'd gotten an answer. He considered for a moment.

"Well, why don't you just try talking to me? What do you want to talk about?" he suggested, grinning.

Asch scowled. "Why would I want to talk to you, dreck?" he snapped, finishing his food and putting the plate on the side. He headed out, Luke watching him go.

"...Sorry," he mumbled.

It had been a couple of days, and Luke was starting to think Asch felt he was more trouble than he was worth. Asch had to make all his meals and wash his clothes, and stall keepers wouldn't sell anything to Luke unless Asch was with him. The irritation coming from Asch was almost palpable.

Late on the third night, Luke opened his eyes from where he was curled up on the chair. Glancing over at the bed, he saw that Asch was asleep.

Slipping off the chair, he slipped his shoes on. He hesitated then grabbed Asch's sword, deciding he could pay Asch back when he was back to normal.

He quickly wrote a note - though Asch probably wouldn't care - and headed out. There was no one at the counter, which he was grateful about, and he easily slipped out of the building and into the streets.

Glancing up at Asch's window, he hesitated briefly before heading for the town exit.

He was starting to regret his decision now.

He'd been happily trekking through a nearby forest when he'd been attacked by a roaming pair of ligers. Automatically he grabbed the handle of Asch's sword, then struggled to pull it out.

As he suddenly realised he wasn't strong enough to even handle a full-sized sword, the ligers attacked. He stumbled back, clutching his leg where the liger had hit it, then scrambled back as the other attacked. Pushing himself up, he gritted his teeth against the pain flaring through his leg. He limped away, the ligers giving chase through the forest.

Looking around, he spotted an easy-to-climb tree and pulled himself up. Years of tree climbing from when he was younger quickly came into play, and he was soon halfway up the tree. Sitting back, he made sure he was securely up the tree before glancing down. The ligers were circling the tree, growling up at him. He sighed and ripped the sleeve off his shirt, wrapping it around the cut. Balefully, he realised his blood covered the tree slightly.

'Ugh...Maybe this would have been better if I'd just stayed with Asch...But I'm such a nuisance...'

One of the ligers leapt at the tree and he yelped as it shook, scrabbling for a hold.

'I'm not even going to live much longer at this rate!'

Asch woke to a sudden panicked thought, though it faded before he could properly grasp it. He sat up, rubbing a hand through his crimson locks, and automatically glanced over at the chair. He frowned as he realised Luke wasn't sitting in it, and stood up, walking into the kitchen.

It took a moment to register that Luke wasn't there either, before he turned and strode back into his room. Glancing around, he spotted the sheet of paper on the chair Luke slept on and picked it up.

'To Asch,

Sorry I've been bothering you so much. Thanks for looking after me anyway. I'll head out and see if I can find one of my friends.

From Dreck.

P.S: I'm borrowing your sword.'

Asch stared at the note in disbelief for a moment, then scowled.

"That dreck!" he hissed, realising the panicked thought that woke him must have been Luke's.

Turning, he grabbed his jacket and automatically reached for his sword before remembering the idiot had it. Giving a little growl, he stormed out of his room and down the stairs.

He stopped at the counter briefly, slamming a hand down on the desk. The innkeeper looked up with a jump, looking at him hesitantly.

"H-How can I help you, sir?" he asked, recognising the man who stayed in his room constantly.

"Did a little kid who looks like me with a sword come through here?" he snapped.

The innkeeper shook his head. "I've been up since dawn and I haven't seen anyone," he replied, uncertain how he would react.

Asch scowled then stormed out, trying to pick up Luke's fonon frequency. He eventually found it a few miles out of town, but not too far. He could probably make good time if he hurried.

Sighing and wondering how Luke got himself into such trouble, he ran to the edge of town.

Luke whimpered as the tree shook again, nearly getting unseated. He'd been hoping the ligers would get bored and leave, but they could smell fresh blood and they wanted it.

'Asch is right...I really am useless...' he thought to himself, closing his eyes as he clung on for dear life.

'Yes, you are. Now give me my sword,' Asch snapped back.

Luke opened his eyes in surprise, looking down. 'Asch? Where are you?'

'Coming, but I don't want to face enemies bare-handed. Just chuck my sword clear of whatever it is.'

Luke glanced around, then thrust the sword across the ground. It clattered against a tree a little way off, distracting the ligers. They glanced around for it, then a figure stepped forward and pulled the sword from its sheath.

"You're irritating, dreck. Did you know that? Making me do all your dirty work."

Luke glanced over, giving a relieved smile as he caught sight of Asch. "Sorry," he said.

Asch snorted. "You don't sound very sorry," he noted, before facing the ligers. Raising his sword, he gazed at them a moment before attacking.

The fight didn't last very long, and soon the ligers were lying dead on the floor. Asch swung his blade, getting most of the blood off it, then looked up at Luke.

"Are you coming down at all?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.

Luke glanced around, laughing tiredly. "Yeah, sure, if I can figure out how..." he mumbled before his eyelids drifted closed and he fell.

Asch swore and leapt forward, dropping his blade and catching Luke at the last second. Almost instinctively he cradled him close to himself, checking him over.

He saw the bloodstained cloth and scowled, quickly straightening. He grabbed his sword and flung it back in its sheath before picking it up and starting back to town.

A/N: I suppose the first bit could have been in the last chapter, but like I said before, I was rushing :/ Anyway, this is basically just going to be Luke getting in lots of trouble (what's new?) and Asch helping him! With bonding bits in between :3

Also, this is the explanation for why they're both alive. This was provided by Lanane in her story 'Promises', which you should all go check out because it is super adorable and really well written!

The most popular end theories are that either Luke comes back alive, which makes the most sense with the story elements of the game; or that Asch comes back alive, which makes the most sense with the science elements of the game. I, however, never like to make things easy, so of course, I read between the lines and read waaaaaaay too much into different events of the game, and I have now come to the conclusion that both of them made it out alive (obviously, as the above chapter indicates). So where's my proof? Well, read on, reader!

Okay, first, we need to know a bit about "The Big Bang." Based on two conversations Jade has with Spinoza and Dist, we know these three things: The Big Bang is a theory developed by the almost-never-wrong Jade, that it is supposedly inevitable between an original and replica when they are perfect isofons of each other, and that the original's fonic and strike artes weaken as the time of the Big Bang approaches. What we don't know, however, is what the Big Bang actually is. Although it is never actually stated, what happens to Star the Cheagle is implied to be a Big Bang.

So what happened to Star? Well, the poor thing was used as a lab rat by Dist, who replicated a perfect isofon of Star. When your party first encounters Star, it has been about a month(+) since Dist started experimenting on him. At this point, Star's fonic abilities are much weaker than its replica's, even though the original is supposed to be stronger. This suggests that the process leading up to the Big Bang had already begun. In fact, the process may have begun the moment the replica was created. After about three more months(+), when the party finally lets Star out, the replica is missing. When Jade later questions Star about this, Star says that he himself had died, and after he died, he felt something warm flow into him. The next thing he knew, he was alive, and the replica was gone. To sum up: When the Big Bang occurs, the original dies. The replica then sends its life force into the original, both causing the original to revive and the replica to disappear. (Dist also says something implying that the disappearing party's memories would also be inherited, but Star never confirms this.)

We now look at Asch and Luke's case. In the Cheagle case, the original became weaker immediately, but Asch was fine for over seven years. Why is that? I believe that the answer lies with Lorelei. When people keep saying that the Big Bang needs to happen between Asch and Luke because they're perfect isofons, a lot of them seem to forget that Lorelei is also a perfect isofon of the Fabre boys. Of course, no one suggests a Big Bang involving Lorelei. (And I doubt one could have happened, considering that he shoots up into the fon belt in the end.) My thinking is that Lorelei somehow inhibited the whole Big Bang process, that his presence as a third wheel of sorts helped to ground Asch and Luke, and it kept them from merging. When Van absorbed Lorelei, however, this influence weakened. That may be why Asch started to freak out after the Absorption Gate. (He could feel his abilities decline after Lorelei was trapped.)

Now let's talk about Lorelei. We know that Lorelei is the collective conscience of the seventh fonon, the healing fonon. But what's the extent of those healing powers? Well, Van shows us that Lorelei can stabilize separating fonons (Van said that his fonons were separating when he was falling toward the core.), as well as resurrect the dead (There is no way that Sync was still alive. Even if he had survived the plummet to the core, he would have starved to death by that point.). Now, who else do we know that either died or had their fonons separating?

Fast forward to the ending. Luke just freed Lorelei, Luke is now holding Asch's body, and Lorelei is congratulating Luke for screwing over the planet's memory. I think it would have been awfully rude for Lorelei to just go, "Kthxbai!" and leave the two guys that just saved his ass to their unfortunate fates. No. Lorelei resurrected Asch (You saw the hand move, right?) and stabilized Luke, and Lorelei's renewed presence in the world kept the Big Bang from happening. The big flashy part was just the finalization of what Lorelei had done.

(+)These time frames are estimates I made from looking at the three dates given in the game (Beginning—Rem-Decan 23, ND2018; The Return to Baticul—Gnome-Decan 2, ND2018; Post-Absorption Gate—Gnome-Redecan 28, ND2018), and the time frame given in the Star-Jade conversation (six months). As these are just estimates, they may be off by a month or so.

I understand it's a long read, but it's really fascinating and personally I agree with it, which is why I had the confidence to write a post-game fic with them both alive. As I said before, go check out her story! It really is a good read :) (I don't know why I assume they're a girl...meh. Sorry if you read it and you're a guy, Lanane)

Review?