Even after her breathing had slowed back to normal, Tear made no effort to move. Her eyes were closed and she allowed herself to indulge in her recently acquired sense of peace. The smell of the flowers blooming around her mingled pleasantly with the alluring scent of her lover, lulling her into a state of absolute bliss.

She likely would have drifted off to sleep in that moment had she not felt Luke's heart rate suddenly increase and his body tense. Slightly resentful of the interruption from her blissful state but more concerned than anything, Tear lifted her head from where it had been resting on his chest to look over into his eyes, which were currently resting on her.

"What's wrong?" she asked worriedly.

"Uh..." He looked distinctly nervous. "Was that... was what we just did... was that okay? I mean, because you're... you know..."

Tear laughed, partially at his ignorance on the subject, and partially out of relief that it was nothing more serious. "Yes, it was. There's nothing to worry about."

"Are you sure?" Luke still looked concerned. "It won't... hurt the baby or anything?"

She could not help but smile. She did not particularly like it when Luke worried, but she had to admit that he looked irresistibly adorable when he did so. "I'm positive. You did nothing wrong."

At that, Tear felt him relax considerably. "Good. For a moment I was afraid I'd really screwed up."

With that settled, Tear lowered herself back into her previous position. "Don't worry. I would not have allowed such a thing to happen if I thought it posed any kind of threat."

"Yeah, guess I should've known that," Luke replied, absently running a hand through her hair.

It was not long before Tear was able to slip back into her previous mental state, except this time she was not being threatened by sleep. Now she was thinking, about many things, but mostly about the future.

"Luke?"

A muffled "Hmm?" told her that he was at least half listening.

"Where did you want to move to?"

The question seemed to wake him up a bit, and he turned his head to look at her again, seeing that she had done the same. "I was planning on asking you that. I'll gladly live anywhere, as long as it makes you happy."

Tear considered this for a moment. "I'm not entirely sure where I would want to live. I don't have a particular attachment to anywhere else."

"If you want, we could move to Yulia City."

She shook her head. "No, that part of my life is over. I'd rather not go back."

Luke reached out a hand and gently stroked her cheek. "Take as much time as you need to decide where you want to live. I'll be ready whenever you are."

Tear placed her hand on top of his and held it in place, then sighed despairingly. "I wish it were that easy."

"What do you mean?"

She smiled sadly. "Did you forget? We can't afford to just move out on our own."

"Oh. Right."

"I was just curious where you had been thinking of."

"Well," Luke said thoughtfully, "At first I was thinking we didn't have to leave Baticul at all. We could just find our own place on the other side of town or something. But then I started thinking maybe you'd rather be somewhere else, since you've never seemed very fond of Baticul."

"It is an impressive place," Tear replied, not wanting to sound like she was putting down Luke's hometown, "But I'm really not used to living in such a large city."

"I understand," Luke said, smiling kindly to show that he meant it. "Like I said, take your time figuring out what you want."

Tear nodded, then said somewhat resentfully, "Noelle is waiting for us."

Luke looked somewhat surprised that she had brought that up. "Do you want to go back now?"

There was a pause as Tear decided how to respond, then she finally admitted, "...No, not really."

"Then we won't," Luke stated like it was a given.

"But-"

Tear found herself unable to finish her sentence as Luke brought up his other hand and placed a finger against her lips. "Did you forget why we're here? This is for you. Don't worry about Noelle. She doesn't expect us back until morning."

He moved his hand away and Tear took the opportunity to speak again. "I just do not like the idea of someone waiting on me."

Luke grinned deviously. "Alright then. Say you want to go back."

Tear looked incredibly confused by this change in his attitude. "What?"

"Just say it," he insisted, his eyes glinting in the way they did when he thought he was being clever.

"I want to go back," Tear reluctantly stated, with a decided lack of confidence in her voice.

"No," he quickly responded, still smiling pleasantly at her.

She looked at him questioningly, still not following what he was trying to accomplish.

"See?" he explained, "Noelle isn't waiting on you, she's waiting on me. I'm the one holding us up."

Tear stared at him for a couple seconds before laughing. "Thanks for trying, but I don't think that's quite how it works."

"Why not?" Luke asked in his most innocent voice, his ridiculous grin still on his face.

Tear found herself at a loss for words as she stared into the smiling face of her husband. It fascinated her that despite everything he had been through he still managed to retain a piece of his childlike innocence.

She decided to give into his little "game," and returned his smile. "I suppose I'll just have to explain to Noelle that I was forced to stay here against my will."

Luke was clearly pleased that she was going along with it. "Exactly."

"Okay, since you want to stay here so badly," she continued the joke, "What would you like to do now?"

"Well," Luke said playfully, "We already did what I really wanted to do."

Tear shook her head and muttered something that sounded suspiciously like the word "men."

Luke chose to ignore this statement. "You probably need rest. You should go to sleep."

Out of habit, Tear was about to insist that she was fine, but her body betrayed her as she let out a yawn. She laid her head back down, using Luke as a convenient pillow. He did not object in the least to being used in such a manner.

It took a bit of effort, but Luke managed to keep himself awake long enough to watch Tear slip quietly into the realm of sleep. He made sure she was comfortable and paid close attention for any tell-tale signs that she might be cold. When he was finally satisfied that she was sleeping as peacefully as she could, he allowed himself to doze off, not even caring that he had nothing to rest his head on but the hard ground.


The next morning it was Tear who decided when they should finally leave, though not in a way that either one of them would have expected.

"I'm hungry," she stated matter-of-factly after they were both awake and sitting in the flowers facing each other.

Luke reached over and grabbed a bag that contained several supplies he had thought to bring. "Well, I did bring sandwiches if you want one." He reached into the bag and pulled one out, holding it out to her.

Tear took the sandwich, sniffed it, then, to Luke's incredible surprise, threw it as far away from her as she could with an absolutely revolted look on her face.

"What's wrong?!" he asked with great concern.

"I'm not exactly sure," Tear admitted, looking slightly baffled at her own actions. "It just made me sick smelling it. I didn't want it near me anymore."

"Well..." Luke said slowly, still trying to process what had just happened, "What do you want to eat?"

Tear paused for only a moment to think before she announced, "A kirima."

"A kirima? I didn't know you liked those so much."

"I don't," she said simply, "But I really want one."

"Are those even in season?" Luke's knowledge of when different fruits grew was extremely limited.

"I don't know, but I'm sure your parents could import anything they want with their money."

At this Luke stared at Tear like she had been suddenly replaced by an entirely different person. "Jeez, you must really want one if you're suggesting that we use my parents' money."

Tear looked a little ashamed of herself at this statement. "That was rather unlike me, wasn't it?"

"Hey, don't worry about it. We'll get you your kirima somehow. I guess that means we're leaving now?"

"Yes." Tear looked back over the selenias sadly, though at the moment she was too hungry to be as torn up about leaving as she might otherwise be.


Luckily for Tear, the Fabre household was stocked with several somewhat exotic foods, including the kirima that she suddenly craved. Though by the time they made it home it took much more than that to satisfy her. Luke was also hungry enough to eat the entire kitchen by the time they got back. As a precaution he had gotten rid of the rest of the food he had brought, not wanting to take any risk of making Tear sick. She told him it was unnecessary but he did it anyway, declaring that if they starved to death at least they would do so together. She then told him he was being stupid and to get in the Albiore before they really did both die of malnutrition.

After the two of them had cleared out a good section of the food storage, Duke Fabre informed Luke that he wanted to speak with him. The tone of his voice made both Luke and Tear get a bad feeling about what he wanted to say, but since the Duke specifically asked that Tear not be present during the conversation she was forced to wait it out.

Tear sat on one of the benches in the courtyard, staring at the statues that decorated the corners and trying not to worry about whatever Luke and his father were discussing. The Duke had not sounded pleased.

A butterfly danced over the flowers to her right and she idly watched the little creature's flight while her thoughts wandered elsewhere. When she turned her head to the left she was startled to find someone standing near her. She noted that she seemed to be losing some of the instincts she developed as a soldier, and wondered if this was a good or bad thing.

Susanne smiled pleasantly at her. "I'm sorry dear, I did not mean to frighten you."

"It's alright," Tear assured her, "I was just thinking."

"Is it alright if I sit with you?" Susanne asked politely.

"Of course." Tear had always been fond of the older woman. Though when they first met a part of that was guilt for having blasted her son halfway across the world.

Susanne sat beside her on the bench. "Is something bothering you? You seem troubled."

"I'm a little concerned about what the Duke wanted to speak to Luke about. It did not sound like it was going to be good, and Luke has a pretty short temper..."

"He gets that from his father, I'm afraid."

"That makes me all the more concerned," Tear said with a sigh.

The Duchess looked thoughtful for a moment before speaking again. "I realize that my husband has not made the best impression on you, but I want you to know that he really is a kind man."

Tear said nothing, unsure of what she could say that would not sound insincere.

"He really does want what's best for Luke. Unfortunately the two simply do not understand each other well. Luke does not understand the importance of duty to my husband, and my husband does not understand the importance of love to Luke." Susanne smiled a bit sadly. "I think he may also be a bit jealous. His marriage was arranged for the sake of joining the Fabre family with the royal family. But his son got to choose his own bride."

"Your marriage was arranged?" Tear had suspected as much, but thought it would have been rude to ask about it.

"Yes. I'll admit that at the time I was not pleased with the idea. I was young, and not ready to settle down with a man I had only met once. I was not in love with another, but there were plenty of men that I found much more pleasant and attractive than the one I was told I would be marrying."

Susanne's eye's glazed over as she sank deeper into her reminiscences. "I thought he was harsh and uncaring, but the day before our wedding he showed up at my doorstep with flowers. I could tell how nervous he was, and that's when I realized..."

Susanne stopped herself and blinked, eyes focusing back in on Tear. "Oh dear, I'm sorry, I seem to have lost myself in the past. I did not mean to bore you."

"Not at all," Tear replied, shaking her head. "I am fascinated to hear about your past."

"You are too kind, dear," Susanne said, smiling sweetly. "I can see why Luke cares so much for you."

Tear blushed slightly, not sure how to respond to the kind of praise she was receiving.

Susanne seemed pleased with her reaction, and decided to continue. "He really does, you know. Before you two were open with your relationship I could always tell which days you spent together because Luke would come home looking happier than I have ever seen him.

"I would also like to thank you. He grew up so much while he was out adventuring with you and his friends. He was always a nice boy but he was so miserable when he was stuck in the manor. It was so difficult, knowing that someday he would die for the fulfillment of the Score. Yet that day passed and he still came home. He always came home. Every time I thought I was going to lose him for good he would eventually show up back at the manor. And you were always at his side."

Now Tear was completely overwhelmed. "I-I didn't... There's no need to..."

"It's alright dear, you do not need to say anything. Please just keep in mind that my son loves you with all his heart, and my husband is a much better person than he often makes himself seem."

Tear smiled appreciatively. "I will." For the first time since her marriage, Tear felt that she had truly been accepted into the Fabre family.