This is my first fic...ever. To be honest, I was surprised I’d ever write one.

I would like to bother the people who actually read these things at the top to say thanks to Beev for catching a lot of my mistakes, and for the good advice he gave me.

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There was not one single day that passed that Locrian Colonel Tear Grants did not think of the events on Eldrant. They consumed her thoughts every day, to the point that it almost drove her insane. She dreamt and thought of many things—she dreamt of Van, she dreamt of Legretta, and, more than the other two combined, she dreamt of Luke. No matter which of these three people her dreams and thoughts centered on, two things were always the same—they were about the same day on Eldrant—the same battles, and none of them were pleasant in the slightest.

Van’s body lay dead on the cold, bloody ground of Eldrant after a brutal fight to the death—a fight that Tear felt guilty about taking part in. She had just sung the Grand Fonic Hymn, allowing Luketo deal the final blow with the cold steel of the Sword of Lorelei. Tear simply could not bring herself to watch her brother breathe his last breath—she had to look away as he was stabbed for the final time.

With those memories fresh in her mind, she realized that she still had to let him—Luke—release Lorelei from her brother’s motionless body. True, someone had to do it, but Tear wanted someone, anyone, other than Luke to do it.

But alas, he did free Lorelei after saying his final words to Tear: “I promise. I’ll come home.”

Before Tear finally parted with Luke to let him begin his deed, she turned around, looked at him, and muttered, “ I love you,” so softly that he (or anyone else for that matter) could not hear her say it. The classic three-word phrase ended up being an admission to herself.

Tear had to get out of her bed, even if it was soft and warm. She was already thinking too much, and the day had just begun. If this was what she was thinking before she even woke up, then she wondered how she would be by the day’s end. And yet Tear couldn’t stop her reminiscences, no matter what she tried—even looking at cute rappig dolls didn’t help.

She wanted things to return to the way they were before, but she realized that they could not. She couldn’t turn time backwards on a whim like some sort of deity just so she could prevent her brother from trying to replicate the world, nor could she reverse it just to so much as see Luke again (even for one short second).

Despite how hopeless the chances of changing her brother were, she still clung to the belief that Luke would fulfill his promise to come home. Tear didn’t care if she had to wait until the end of the very time she could not reverse—she would hold Luke to his promise and see him again.

In a futile effort to keep herself from thinking too much, Tear got dressed in her normal brown uniform and left her small room. However, the room in this case was a room in an inn at Chesedonia, not Yulia City. In a few short hours, Luke’s coming of age ceremony would begin, but Tear had no intention of attending it at Baticul. The event was not a large birthday party, complete with happy smiles and balloons—it was nothing more than a funeral. The people there who knew Luke would pretend to be happy...to act as if he was still there, but Tear knew that on the inside, they had given up all hope for Luke’s survival.

Tear scowled as she thought of them—of how easily they had given Luke up for a fancy grave. Before she started to get too visibly angry, she left the inn in yet another attempt to clear her head. Tear decided to go to some small bazaars to do so.

Even around the smaller shops during the early hours of the morning, Chesedonia was packed with people rushing to work, and of course, the bickering, hardcore bargain hunters. The bargain hunters were especially unruly—they were already fighting over dirt-cheap blankets. Tear wondered what would happen if something really good came out...but on the other hand, she probably didn’t want to know how far the vicious shoppers would go for a good deal.

As she wandered around the small stalls aimlessly, Tear quit paying attention to what she was doing and lost herself in the same, recurring sea of thoughts...

“Tear!” called Guy as Luke thrust his sword into the ground, making a blue pattern in the ground as he turned it. Tear understood what Guy wanted, so she took one last glance at the redhead, and started to run down the stairs—out of Eldrant, and away from Luke.

The entire place was falling apart—huge pieces of marble fell from the ceiling, walls collapsed and crumbled, statues fell over and shattered into hundreds of raining fragments... There was not an end to the chaos that ensued in the replicated city. More than once Tear had to sing the hymn, Force Field, to protect not only herself, but also her friends from falling chunks of white marble. Van’s replica army and the monsters had fled the island long ago or had been crushed in the process, so at the very least, there weren’t any enemies to deal with.

First Tear ran past the place where Sync, one of the seven Ion replicas, was killed. There wasn’t a ceiling there, so Tear didn’t have to use her hymns. She was running behind Jade at this point, but he suddenly stopped...and she saw why.

“I thought this would happen,” remarked Jade with his typical smirk. “The earthquakes were so violent that they tore the bridges down.”

“Well then, we’ll just have to find another-” Natalia would have finished that sentence, but the floor started to sink. With a final, loud crack, the floor collapsed, and lots of screams and surprised yelps followed.

Tear, being vigilant as always, sang the hymn Force Field—which protected everyone from most harm. The only injuries were “Tokunaga’s shredded arm,” as Anise put it and a lot of sore butts (from landing on them).

As Tear was reminiscing, she turned around a corner near one of the numerous bazaars, and ran straight into Guy. The collision put her in a daze, but the following, high-pitched shriek from Guy—obviously due to his gynophobia—brought her out of it.

“Guy?! What are you doing here?” asked Tear, startled by his appearance.

“Tear? I should be asking the same!” replied Guy as he trembled violently. “Shouldn’t you be at Luke’s coming of age ceremony? It starts in a few hours, and you’re in the wrong country.”

Tear looked at him with a solemn, yet determined look in her eyes. “I’m not going,”

“Why not?” he asked, still trembling slightly from the connection they made. “I thought you’d want to go, seeing as it’s for Luke.”

Tear couldn’t help but blush slightly at his comment. “I don’t want to go to...” she paused for a moment here, then with a disgusted look on her face spat out, “Luke’s grave.” She made another brief pause, saying her next words even more vehemently. “I don’t believe he’s dead.”

“I was starting to think I was the only one who thought that,” Guy’s face darkened as he continued. “Everyone else always speaks of him as if he is really gone.” Suddenly, he gave Tear a confused look and asked, “Where are you going then?”

“I’m going to Tataroo Valley instead,” Tear paused for a few seconds, before continuing. She hadn’t really thought of why she was going there—it was almost as if something had possessed her. However, a short answer like that would only lead to more confusion, so she hastily came up with a reason. “That’s where Luke and I were blown away to when we caused a hyperresonance a few years ago. I feel like it’s a good place to go—to show that I still believe he’s alive.”

Guy just stared at her for a few moments. Tear was beginning to think he spaced out, but he suddenly said, “I’m going with you.” His declaration surprised her—he normally wasn’t one to invite himself. He “explained” himself saying a completely different sort of statement: “It’s not safe to go there alone, and the monsters are everywhere.”

It was sort of a nice gesture to her, but it was altogether unnecessary—not that Tear minded too much. She knew the real reason he wanted to go to Tataroo Valley anyways. “If you want to come, then you can.”

Guy just grinned in return, grateful for not being hugged (or something similar) by her in return for his demand. Women were so unpredictable...and scary. He could never tell what they were going to do next, and yet somehow he always attracted them with the words that came out of his mouth “naturally.”

The two of them just got a little food and some other provisions from one of the merchants (for a cheap price of course—they weren’t going to let some avaricious peddler get away with their money), and left the crowded city. But as they left, there was a strange, feminine, yet familiar giggle.

“Tear, was that you?” asked Guy incredulously.

She just glared at him as she curtly answered, “I didn’t say anything.” With that said, she proceeded to get further away from the city.

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And that’s it for now. I apologize, but I won’t be updating this with the next two chapters for at least two weeks (probably more).

Reviews would be greatly appreciated!

Oh, and happy (belated) birthday to Rydia Asuka! Good to be eighteen, right?