Alright. Sorry for the long wait. This is the beginning of Act Two. This goes back to the very start of their existance as fonon sentiences.

Beginnings
By Neko-chan the Mewse
1/18/10

"I'm coming, Asch," Luke whispered as he shut his bedroom door behind him. He held his hands out in front of him, looking at the way they were slowly beginning to disperse into fonons. A tear slipped down his cheek. It seemed as if all his hard work had been for naught. The tear drop hit the floor with a splatter, the only sign that he had entered the room at all.

Luke knew it was going to happen before it did.

It was a feeling reminiscent of that day a few years ago when he began his journey to save the world. It was a day of many firsts; he left the manor for the first time, he fought a monster for the first time…he met Tear for the first time too. He smiled softly to himself as he strolled about the manor. "Young Master Luke!" He turned to find Pere waving to him. "I thought you were visiting that young girlfriend of yours. What are you doing back?"

Luke turned red at the mention of his 'girlfriend' and spluttered. "T-tear's just a friend! And I got back just now." Noelle had been more than happy to ferry him to Yulia City. He and Tear took turns taking trips to see the other each month and Noelle and Ginji switched off on piloting every so often.

Hurry up, you're running out of time.

Luke mentally frowned at that thought. "I'll see you later, okay?" The rampant thoughts running through his head reminded him of Asch…but he had left Asch with Lorelei, hadn't he?

Luke wandered into the drawing room, hoping to find something to do. Instead, he found his mother sitting in a chair, reading a journal with a nostalgic look on her face. She looked up when he closed the door and her face brightened. "Luke, good afternoon. Did you just get back from visiting Tear?"

"Yeah," Luke replied absently glancing about. The manor felt so much emptier without Guy around. It was a little sad that his first friend was gone. "Where's father?"

"He went up to the castle to take care of some business with my brother," Suzanne smiled, recognizing the lonely look on his face. "What are your plans for today?" Luke thought it over before concluding that he had no plans. When he said as much, his mother offered, "Would you like to sit with me for a little?"

Luke blinked and then grinned. "That sounds great!" He sat down next to her and scooted his chair closer to hers. He didn't spend all that much time with his mother, which made him feel slightly guilty. Hesitantly, he searched for a safe topic to start on before settling on "What're you reading?"

"It's my diary," Suzanne said softly. "I'm reading it and remembering what it was like when you were little."

Luke felt slightly downtrodden. He had never been little, so she must have been talking about Asch. "You mean…when Asch was still around?"

"Don't be silly, Luke." Suzanne scolded him gently, immediately recognizing the problem. "You are as much my child as Asch is. I don't care about how you came to be mine but you are. I'm glad for it. Now, what I was talking about was when you first came to live here."

"Oh," Luke said, feeling as if he had jumped to conclusions. He smiled at his mother sheepishly. "So, what did you think of me?"

"I was happy yet at the same time sad," Suzanne said with a nostalgic sigh. "You couldn't do anything on your own. I wrote that it was as if you were a baby again…if only I had known." She laughed awkwardly. Luke reached out to put his hand over hers.

"It's alright, Mother." He smiled warmly and Suzanne almost melted at the soft look. "I don't really mind. I didn't even know I wasn't Asch." He really should wrap things up. He had someplace to be. Where? He didn't know.

The blatant confusion must have been visible on his face because Suzanne worriedly asked, "Luke, are you alright?"

"I'm fine, Mother," he said. It most certainly was not okay though, because instead of just sensing Asch's thoughts, he was suddenly hearing Asch's voice.

Hurry up, you worthless dreck! We haven't got all the time in the world!

Asch?

No, it's Jade. Of course it's me, you idiot! Now hurry up and get to your room.

"Luke? What's wrong?"

Luke pulled away from his mental conversation and tried to give his mother a comforting smile. "It's nothing. I just remembered that I have some stuff I need to organize in my room. I'm sorry."

Suzanne smiled back. "It's okay, Luke. I'll see you later."

Luke got out of his chair and started to leave, but at the last minute he turned back to hug his mother. "I love you, Mother. Never forget that."

"I love you too, Luke. What brought this on?" Suzanne asked with a small chuckle. Luke said nothing, only smiling sadly at her before leaving the room. She didn't know that it would be the last time she or anyone else in the manor would see her son.