Note from Author: As always, these characters do not belong to me, they belong to Namco Bandai. Of course as always if Namco Bandai is willing to give Asch, Guy or Jade to me, I would be happy to take them. But until then, all I can do is play around with them in my writings. This is a creation of my own overactive imagination and serious boredom, nothing more and nothing less.

Asch found himself pacing the small room at Oracle Headquarters that served as his home as of late. He had been pissed to hear that his time was running out and that of all people, Luke might be taking Natalia away from him.

He just couldn't believe that idiot. After all this time of him acting like he didn't care and wanted to be with Tear, now he changes his mind. Why would he even change his mind like that?

Then it came to him. Damn his replica for becoming a good liar. No, Luke wasn't considering marrying Natalia at all, at least not now, and probably not ever. Well, there was one way to find out the truth. He opened the connection back up.

What the hell do you mean that you're thinking about marrying Natalia?! You're such a liar, replica!

Asch could feel the fear in his replica at that very moment. Wh-what do you mean, Asch? I wasn't lying to you.

Shut up! Why the hell would you have risked Father's ire this past year if you were going to comply now? Even you aren't that stupid.

Well, maybe I decided that Tear isn't worth losing them.

Liar. You two may be having problems, but it's not over yet.

So? When she hears about this, it probably will be. She won't come between me and my family. If she knew about you, then maybe she would understand, but I've kept my word. Really, Asch, why can't I tell people? It's getting harder and hard to keep it a secret.

It's not that hard. I've kept it from your little friend Anise.

Why don't I believe that Asch? She's not an idiot. She has to have figured it out even if she's only seen you once.

She hasn't.

She hasn't seen you or figured it out?

That I know of, she hasn't seen me.

You liar, she has to have seen you. And if she did, she would know since she knows I'm in YuliaCity with Tear.

Well, she didn't see me, ok?

That doesn't matter though. What matters is Natalia. Do you think it’s going to be better to keep on keeping this secret from her? She'll find out someday, we can't keep this from her forever. And do you think that will go over well if she's married to someone besides one of us?

I'll deal with it when the time comes. If I don't decide sooner.

You don't have much time left. The way it sounded, her father wants her to be settled with someone soon, or at least an announcement made.

And you are going to delay them as long as possible, right?

I only get three months to decide. Then they look for a new suitor and we are both out of the running.

Then delay for three months or I tell you otherwise.

Can I tell her after that?

Hell no! And not even Tear. You deal with your own relationship, and I'll deal with mine.

You sure are dealing with it well, I really feel for Natalia thinking you're dead when I know better. I wish you could see the sadness in her eyes when your name comes up.

I don't want to hear about it!

Only because you don't want to admit that you are being an idiot Asch. She's going to be mad no matter what. At least you can tell her and she won't be grieving for a man who isn't dead.

I told you my reasons. I'm not going to repeat them if you can't get them through your head.

I remember, and I think it was the dumbest thing I ever heard.

Just shut the hell up already and stop telling me how to live my own life when yours isn't much better!

Luke could feel the connection drop. Though he had gotten used to the connection itself, there was very little he could do when Asch did the equivalent of screaming at the top of his lungs within his mind. It always left a lingering headache that he had a very hard time explaining to Tear.

He was clutching his hand to his forehead to help the pain to his head when Tear saw him sitting there on her way home from her duties. "Luke, are you all right?"

Great, just what he needed, Tear to catch him like this. He obviously couldn't tell the truth of what had happened, and he could only come up with so many excuses otherwise when he wasn't in the least bit sick besides Asch's yelling. "I'm fine."

"You don't look fine at all. What are you even doing out here?"

"I just needed to go outside to think about something. Natalia brought a message for me."

"A message? What sort?"

"Can we talk about this later? I can't think straight right now."

"Sure. We can talk later if that is what you want. How long is Natalia going to be in Yulia City?"

"For a week. Why don't you two catch up while I go get some rest?"

"Sure. I'll do that. Are you sure you're okay, Luke?"

"I'll be fine. I'm just a bit tired. A short nap should do wonders."

He gave her a quick kiss on the cheek and walked inside to go get some rest. She had no idea what to think about this. He was holding something in, but she couldn't ask if he didn't want to talk about it or wasn't feeling well. Maybe Natalia knew something? She sure did hope so, because this silence of Luke's was not boding well for the future of their relationship.

--

Luke sat in bed trying to get some sleep. He knew from past experience that the only way he was going to be relieved of this headache was to sleep for at least two hours. No matter how much he tried however, he could not stop thinking about everything that had happened these past few days.

He really wished Asch would just give in already and let him tell the others or tell them himself. That one thing that he had given his word about, was causing him no end of grief.

Tear walked into the bedroom and sat down beside him, "Are you feeling any better?"

He shook his head. "Not really. I couldn't get any sleep, so I'm still tired. Where's Natalia?"

"She wanted to speak with Grandfather while she was here. Can you talk with me for a few minutes?"

"Tear, really, I'm not feeling good at all."

"Please, Luke. We really need to talk about this. It's not just your own problem."

"What's not just my problem?"

"Natalia told me about the message she brought. I'm sorry I've caused you such grief with your family."

"Tear, it's not your fault. I made the decision on my own."

"But now it is at least partly my fault. I don't want to be the cause of you being disowned from your family."

"I'll deal with it if it comes to that."

"Luke...you can't want to be disowned. Don't you care about them?"

"I do. I love both you and my family. I can't just decide between one or the other."

"From what Natalia said, you will have to do just that. I love you too. I don't want to lose you, but I also don't want to come between you and your family."

"I know. Tear, do we have to talk about this now? I can't make such an important decision when I'm not feeling good."

"Fine. I won't bother you any more tonight. We'll talk about it tomorrow. Get some sleep so you'll feel more yourself in the morning."

"I will. We can talk then."

She got off the bed and walked out of the room. Luke was relieved that for now he was able to avoid that subject. He was so scared that she was going to say that she no longer wanted to be with him. He knew that she hated causing tension between others. The fact that he gave up his family for her had bothered her at first. Until now, his father had let the matter be and let Luke live his own life, now things had changed.

Tear didn’t like the idea of coming between Luke and his family. He may not say it, but she knew that he wouldn’t be able to deal with being separated from them forever. She knew he had hopes of gaining their blessing someday. That hope was now gone forever.

She sat down to think about this until Natalia returned. She didn’t understand why he wouldn’t talk about it. She was a part of his problems too and deserved to have a say in the matter. No matter how Luke decided, his decision would affect her greatly. Was he serious about their relationship and considering marrying her someday? That made a big difference, because he wouldn’t ruin his life over someone he wasn’t that serious about.

The problem was that she knew he was keeping secrets from her. Something was bothering him that he couldn’t bring himself to speak of. She had no idea what this secret was; only that he was keeping something from her. She could tell that he had been keeping some sort of secret ever since he came back. If he didn’t stop keeping things from her, it wouldn’t matter what he decided.

She had been so deep in thought that she didn’t even hear Natalia return from speaking with her grandfather. It wasn’t until the Kimlascan Princess sat down beside her that she knew she wasn’t alone. “Tear, are you all right?”

“I’m fine.”

“You look miserable. I hope my message didn’t cause problems between you and Luke.”

“No, it’s not that. He was feeling tired and couldn’t really talk about it. I wish I had more of an idea of what he was thinking. I don’t want to come between him and his family.”

“I don’t blame you for that, Tear. I wish it hadn’t come to this, but it has.”

“Yes, and either way he decides, it could be bad.”

“Why do you say that?”

“If he decides to go back to his family, both of us will always wonder what we will have missed by not staying together. But if he decides that he prefers to be with me, then what if it turns out it wasn’t meant to be between us? Either way he could lose. That is what bothers me.”

“But yet he could very well be happy staying here with you, even without his family. I doubt he will be cut off from them completely even if he decides that he doesn’t wish to come back.”

“Duke Fabre didn’t strike me as the type to relent,” Tear commented.

Natalia nodded. “He isn’t. But there isn’t a kinder soul than Aunt Susanne. She would not willingly cut herself off from her only son.”

“But what about Duke Fabre? Would he do anything to prevent her from keeping in touch with him?”

“He’s stubborn, but he also loves his son. Give it time and I think he will come around and relent.”

“It’s already been a year and he hasn’t. I can’t cause Luke such heartache. It would probably just be for the best that we end our relationship now before it’s too late for him to reconcile with his parents.”

“Tear, don’t think like that. Talk to Luke before you do anything drastic. It would be a shame if both of you loved each other and you ended the relationship because of something like this. He returned to us, and I think you two can work things out.”

“You still miss Asch, don’t you Natalia?”

Natalia nodded sadly. “I do, and I probably won’t ever stop missing him. At least you and Luke have a chance for happiness together, don’t lose that chance.”

“I’ll take your advice. But what about you? What’s your own opinion on all of this?”

“I must do what is best for Kimlasca, my own wishes don’t matter.”

“But you still loved Asch, right?”

“When we were children I did. Now that I think on it more, I’m not sure if I loved him, or our shared memories.”

They then heard a knock on the door. “Let me go answer that. I’ll be right back.” She said before she went over to the door and opened it. “Grandfather! What happened?” She said to him as she opened the door to let the elderly Mayor of Yulia City inside.

“Don’t worry about it, Tear. I won’t be staying long; I know you have an important guest. I just came to deliver something to you,” he told her holding out an envelope with the symbol of the Order of Lorelei on it. “This arrived for you, and considering the sender, I thought you would want it right away.”

She took the envelope from Teodoro. “Thank you for bringing it.” She looked at the envelope and saw that it was from Anise.

“I’ll leave the both of you now to hear whatever news your friend has for you.”

“Who is that from that Mayor Teodoro would make a trip just to deliver it?” Natalia asked once Tear returned to the living room and saw Tear with the envelope in her hands.

“It’s from Anise. Considering the seal, she must have sent it with the Order’s dispatches that get sent here. Knowing her, it could be important, or it could be just a regular letter from a friend and she didn’t want to spend the money to send it through normal means.”

“Why don’t you read it then? I would like to know how Anise is faring, it has been some time since I’ve seen her.”

Tear opened the envelope and unfolded the piece of paper within it. She quickly read it over and found herself shocked when she read one paragraph of it. “That can’t be possible!”

“What isn’t possible?”

“Most of the letter is just news from the Order and Anise herself. But then Anise goes on to describe something that is just impossible. I’ll just read it. ‘What happened between you and Luke? Last I heard he was living with you in Yulia City, and now I’ve seen him in Daath and he’s joined the Oracle Knights! I would have asked him myself, but he completely ignored me. I guess Asch rubbed off on him after all, I couldn’t believe he wouldn’t even say hi!’ Then she goes on about more idle gossip from the Order.”

“But Luke has been here, right? How could he be in two places at once?” Natalia asked.

“I don’t know. I know he hasn’t left Yulia City in months, it’s been another source of conflict between us because he doesn’t like it here.”

“Then how could Anise have seen him?”

“That’s the question, but the way she describes his behavior, could it be a replica? That would explain why he ignored her.” Tear suggested.

“Why would someone make a replica of Luke? Is it even possible to make a replica of a replica, or do they still have the ability to make a replica of Asch?”

“Maybe I should write Anise back. Her position within the Order may be able to get that information. Maybe I should also write the Colonel, if Anise can’t answer this, he should be able to.” Tear suggested as she folded up the letter.

“I agree. Between the two of them, we should be able to get an answer.”

“Natalia, can I ask a favor of you? Don’t mention this to Luke. Not until we have further information at least.”

“Why? He deserves to know if there is a replica of him or Asch,” Natalia asked.

“I have some suspicions that he may already know something and has been keeping it from me. I know he’s hiding something from me; this could have to do with it. But with only this information, he could easily deny it just by saying it wasn’t him.”

“Do you promise to tell him once we have an answer about this person?”

“I will. And I’ll tell you what I find out, since his parents deserve to know if there is another replica of their son. I just hope this wasn’t the Colonel’s doing.”

“I doubt it was him. It has to have been the Order, or someone else entirely.”

“Well, let’s get those letters written. I don’t want to delay finding out what is going on with this.”

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