Disclaimer: Don't own Tales of Symphonia, not at all.

Rating: M (won't appear until after a few chapters, so it's T otherwise)

A look at what might have happened after the ending of Dawn of the New World (spoilers for the True ending).

The next day

"You ready, Marta?" Emil asked, holding her hand in his - normally he'd be shy and nervous about doing that, but he was doing it for support, which was different.

Marta nodded, looking at him with a smile, though it was small. "Yeah, I'm ready" she said in a minute, holding her cooked meal in a special box. It had been forged in a minute by Ignis, allowing whatever was inside to be the perfect temperature for eating.

They were let inside by a guard, who after a brief look at her cooked meal, let them through. It was a necessary precaution, but it was a little annoying.

When they rounded the corner to Brute's cell, they were greeted with a relieved 'Marta!"

"Daddy!" Marta breathed, quickly handing the box into Emil's hands (surprisingly light for it's modest size), then as soon as the cell door was opened for their visit, she immediately went into her father's arms.

Emil smiled, letting them have their moment, slowly placing the box on the bench beside them.

"Marta" Brute said in a soft tone, holding his daughter close. "It's great to have you visit me here."

"Well, of course" she said brightly, gently and slowly letting go of him. "And I brought you some of my home cooking, here, let me get it."

Brute kept his smile until Marta's back was turned, then his expression became considerably less enthusiastic.

"He doesn't know that Marta's improved" Emil thought, feeling he should say something, so he stepped closer. Before Brute could say anything, Emil whispered to him discreetly, so Marta wouldn't hear. "Don't worry, she's became aware that she was terrible, and has worked hard to improve" he said as quickly as possible, knowing he didn't have much time. "Trust me, sir, you'll like it."

He would have said more, but Marta took out her meal carefully; a simple omelette on a plate, but with a smiley ketchup face on it. It looked pretty good, and smelled pretty good, but the taste?

"Here you go, Daddy" she said sweetly, smiling at him.

Brute took it with a smile, though he quickly and discreetly glanced at Emil. "Thank you, Marta" he said, then he began to eat... mere seconds later, his eyebrows rose in surprise. "Mmh... you've improved tremendously, Marta" he said, almost eagerly eating the rest.

"That makes it sound like I used to be terrible" Marta answered, glancing down. Emil looked at her a little sheepishly, knowing that line, as she had said it to him once.

Brute looked like he was gonna react the exact same way he had, but Marta cut him off. "Okay, so I was pretty awful" she admitted, swaying a bit on the spot. "But thanks to Emil and all my friends, I've realized this, and worked to improve... I may not be the best cook ever, but my meals are still full of love."

"And I'm glad that hasn't changed, Marta, my dear" he said, standing and hugging her. She hugged him back with a smile, while Emil looked at the happy family with a smile of his own.

"What a lovely scene" Tenebrae said in Emil's mind, so no one else would hear, and Emil nodded. And unlike the last time Tenebrae said that line, he meant it.

Shortly afterward, they were told their visiting time was almost up, so Marta and Emil said their goodbyes.

"We'll visit you every week, daddy" she said, smiling with a tear in her eyes. "That is, if we're able to."

"Just do what you need to out there, and don't worry too much about me" Brute said, holding his daughter's hand from between the bars, and a tender smile appeared on his face. "Take care, Marta."

"We will" she whispered softly, nodding. "I love you, daddy."

"I love you too, Marta" he whispered tenderly back, Marta's hand slowly sliding out of his.

Emil waited as Marta slowly turned to leave, then when she turned the corner, he started to follow.

"Emil."

He stopped, turning to face Brute again, his head tilted. "Yes, sir?"

Brute looked right at him, a smile on his face. "Two things" he said firmly but not unkindly. "One, take good care of my daughter, you hear me? I may have told you this before, but I'm serious."

He blushed faintly, but he nodded, his expression serious. "I plan to, sir" he said sincerely. "I may not know much about doing so, but I have Marta, and all my friends to help me out... but no matter what, I'll do my best."

Brute nodded. "Good" he said, then continued: "And two..."

He tilted his head slowly, looking at Brute.

Brute smiled at him. "You and your friends are miracle workers" he said simply. "In addition to saving our world, you improved my daughter's cooking... you can't imagine how bad it was before."

"I think I can, sir... I've tasted her skills before she improved" Emil said, rubbing his head sheepishly.

He vaguely remembered the time, at least... Tenebrae had told him he had fainted.

He shook his head slowly with a smile. "You're a good man, Emil" he said. "Good luck."

He nodded again, waving goodbye as he left the building.

Some time later.

Emil slowly opened the door to their room, Marta walking in after him. "Oh, thank goodness" Marta breathed out, staggering toward the bed, more or less falling onto it. "I thought today would never end!"

Emil agreed mentally, leaning against the doorway, breathing heavily.

It's not like anything serious had happened, but they had been running all over the reunited worlds, trying to quell the ex-members of the Vanguard, those who wouldn't surrender. They handled it as best they could, but it had thoroughly exhausted them, and their work was far from over.

Emil slowly looked up as he breathed heavily, his gaze falling on Marta.

She lay there on her side, her legs open slightly, her chest rising and falling rapidly as she lay there. Along her legs, there were those small areas where skin was visible, just below the edge of her dress. Nothing was visible though, as she was wearing black tights like normal.

Emil blinked slowly, blushing. Why had he just been staring at her tights, including past the edge of her dress, as well as those small patches of skin? Sure he'd seen them before, but he'd never stared... was something wrong with him, or was it natural?

He glanced away, rubbing his head as he tried to figure it out.

In the meantime, Marta had recovered a little, while Emil watched from the corner of his eyes. She sat up, slowly looking herself up and down. "I need a shower" she decided, standing up. "It's been awhile since I've had one."

She started walking toward the bathroom, only to stop, looking down slightly as a blush came onto her face. That last part he didn't see, but the way she stopped got his attention.

Marta slowly turned to face him, and he took notice of her blush, including when she began to sway on the spot. "Emil" she said softly, but sounding nervous as well. "Perhaps... you could join me?"

"Wah?" Emil breathed, his eyes wide - in his shock, that's all he could really do.

She glanced at him, her eyes soft. "Only if you want to" she whispered nervously. "I understand if you don't... but the choice is yours."

"Uh..." he stuttered, staring at her, his face turning red as well. He tried to say or do something, anything, but he was unable to do so.

She giggled softly, smiling as she stepped closer to him. "Still as shy as the day we met, underneath all the maturing you've done" she whispered softly, touching her hand to his cheek. "Perhaps another day."

And with that, she kissed him softly, breaking him out of his trance - he managed to close his eyes, kissing her back, though his face was still red.

After ten seconds, she withdrew to breathe, then she resumed walking toward the bathroom, her hand sliding across his face as she did so.

Emil stared after her, long after she was out of sight.

As Emil will slowly learn, things like that are natural ;)

Next time, we will have part of a training scene with Emil and Marta, to make sure their skills stay sharp. Will also include another appearance ;)