And the Clock Struck Twelve
By seraphimstarlight
Disclaimer: Sadly, I do not own Tales of the Abyss or any of its characters.
Author's Note: Kyaa! Thank you all so much for all your reviews and support last chapter! It all makes me so happy!
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"Luke. Wake up."
The redhead rolled over onto his side, folded his pillow over his exposed ear, and mumbled something unintelligible into his arm.
The long haired melodist standing by the bed glared at the pillow while deciding whether or not to pull it away.
"Luke," she began in a somewhat dangerous tone, "Wake up. It's nearly noon."
He mumbled something that sounded that sounded suspiciously like her name but did not stir further. Sighing, she reached over and grabbed the pillow. He turned again, trying to keep hold of the pillow. When she pulled it away, he opened his eyes and blinked blearily at her.
"G'mornin Tear," he mumbled.
"Good afternoon, you mean."
He rubbed his hand across his eyes. "Afternoon? Really?"
"Yes," she said, punctuating the word with a sharp tone.
"Really?" he mumbled again, the declining volume of his tone indicating that he was, once again, in danger of falling asleep.
She sighed and shook him slightly, trying to wake him.
"Just let me sleep a little longer, Tear," he pleaded, covering his face with his hands, "I haven't slept properly for nearly a week! This is the first time in ages that I've even been able to leave Daath! Anise's been working me to the bone!"
She frowned. "Luke, we're not here on vacation, though, if you really want to sleep that badly, I'm sure I can find enough first fonons to cast Nightmare."
She let her voice trail off ominously. He flinched but did not stir farther.
"I'm getting my staff," she threatened.
He did not move. Her frown deepened.
For a moment, she was uncertain of what to do, but then, a wonderful idea struck her. She moved over and sat down on the edge of the bed. Leaning over, she whispered in his ear, "Luke, if you don't get out of bed right now, I'll bring Anise to wake you up."
The redhead's eyes shot open again, but he made no move to get out of the bed.
Tear continued as though she had not noticed. "And, knowing Anise, she'll bring the Colonel with her."
Luke paled visibly.
"And," she added innocently, "you don't want to be asleep when the Colonel arrives, do you?"
Luke shot out of bed, flinging off the comforter in a dramatic manner, nearly knocking her off the edge. "Okay! Okay! I'm up! Just don't bring them in!"
Tear laughed to herself and, standing, smoothed out the comforter.
"Good," she said, turning to face the redhead, her face reddening when she noticed that he was still in his pajamas, "now—get dressed, and I'll see you downstairs."
He blushed at her stares and, turning away, pulled his usual white coat from the dresser. "Y-yeah," he stammered awkwardly. "I'll be down in a bit."
"O-okay," she said as she slipped past him to the door. He started to say something else, but she had already shut the door.
Outside in the hallway, she hestitated for a moment, hiding her face in her hand and taking a few deep breaths to calm her heart which pounded madly in her chest.
It had been so long since that she had even had such a long conversation with him. She had thought that after his miraculous return from the ruins of Eldrant that they would be inseperable, but, in the end, they were pulled apart by various business. Luke had spent his time travelling between Baticul, Daath, and Yulia City on business for both Kimlasca and the Order of Lorelei, while she had spent most of her time dealing with issues concerning the reconstruction of the Order from Yulia City.
It was strange, she reflected, that although she and Luke worked on such similar things, their paths rarely crossed. If they did see each other, it was usually in a conference or in the few minutes between the meeting and his flight back to Daath, or Baticul, or…wherever he happened to be heading that day.
Truthfully, she wished that they were indeed here on vacation; at least that would give them some time to themselves—something more than just a parting word or a lingering touch. But, as much as she wished to spend some free time with him, she could not let herself be distracted. She was supposed to be the level headed one of the pair after all.
She descended the stairs slowly, distracted by her thoughts.
"Teear," called someone from the bottom of the stairs, "Isn't he up yeet?"
"Yes, Anise," she said, brushing a stray piece of hair from her eyes, "he's awake. He'll be down any minute now."
Anise placed her hands on her hips and gave a dramatic sigh. "It's about time!" she muttered. "I've been waiting for hours!"
"It's only been about twenty minutes," Tear corrected.
Anise pouted slightly. "Twenty minutes, two hours—he's still making me wait!"
"I said earlier that you didn't have to wait for him. You have your own business to attend to, don't you?"
The younger girl pulled a somewhat crumpled letter from somewhere in the folds of her robe. "Yeah, I do, but the Colonel told me that I had to tell both of you about what's going on here!"
"I already know what's 'going on'," muttered Luke, disgruntled, as he emerged at the bottom of the stairs, "after all this time, that idiot girl has decided to marry the Emperor."
"Luke!" Tear snapped, "It's not nice to call Natalia an idiot."
Luke plopped down on one of the couches in the lobby. "Only an idiot would do something this idiotic!"
"You'd know, wouldn't you?" Anise teased, giving the redhead a sly look.
Luke blushed so hard that the color of his face matched his hair. "T-that's—!" He looked away. "That doesn't matter," he said after a moment, "it's just that…I can't imagine why she'd do something like this?"
Tear joined Luke on the sofa. "What I want to know," she said, "is why the Colonel's so certain that she will marry the Emperor."
Anise shrugged. "What can I say? He's the Colonel."
"And he's probably right," Luke agreed. "I'm certain that, given the choice, she would marry the Emperor. I know her well enough to say that at least."
The trio fell silent for a moment.
"This might seem a strange question to ask," Tear began, "but, is there really a problem with her marrying the Emperor?"
Luke stared at her, incredulous."O-of course there is! He's twice her age!"
"Technically, I'm twice your age," the melodist pointed out.
"That's—that's not—!"
"Sooo," Anise asked, a mischevious grin crossing her lips, "are you saying you wouldn't marry Tear just cause she's older than you?"
Luke's face flushed a fine shade of crimson. "M-m-marry? M-me and T-tear?!" he choked out. "N-no way!"
Beside him, Tear stiffened, a frown marring her otherwise beautiful features. She stood abruptly, jolting him slightly.
He turned towards her. "Tear! That's not—!"
She headed for the door. "Forget it, Luke," she said, her tone frigid.
"But, Tear! Wait!" He started for her, but she had already stepped through the door and pulled it shut behind her. For a moment, he stood, frozen, before sinking back weakly onto the chair. He doubled over, hiding his face in his hands.
"I'm…an idiot," he sighed, after a long, silent moment.
"I hate to say it," Anise murmured, "but, yeah, you're right."
The puppeteer watched him for a moment before heading for the door herself.
"A-anise? Where—?"
"To see the Colonel, of course," she beamed.
The redhead seemed bewildered for a moment.
"I would just loove to stay and mope around with you, but we're here for a reason, right?'
"Yeah," he admitted.
"Well then," she smiled, "I suggest that you go and have a talk with Her Royal Highness." She pulled open the door and stepped through it, hesitating momentarily on the threshold. "And who knows," she called, " it just might help you work things out with a certain songstress."
He looked up at her, but she had already shut the door behind her and vanished into the street. He stared at the closed door for a minute, sighed, and pushed himself to his feet. It was no use to sit around and whine now. He'd just apologize to Tear when he saw her next.
"I'll start with what I can do," he said, as he stepped outside. "That's all I can do now." He looked off into the distance where the palace stood prominently against the sky. " And I'll start by having a talk with a certain very foolish princess."
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Author's Note:
Ahh, this is the chapter that didn't want to be written. This story has turned out so different from how I had originally planned that I'm a little uncertain of how to write it now. I do have a vague idea though of how the next chapter will be.
Anyway, sorry that this chapter was short and uneventful. I just felt like I needed to get this piece out of the way before proceeding. I'm on summer break now, so the next part should be out relatively soon. Until then!