Abyss - On the Edge of Dawn
And so I am late for my own challenge, orz. Those of you who requested extensions, please get your fic in within the next couple of weeks! I-I'll have some information on round 3 up by tomorrow.
This fic has so many inconsistencies, sob.
Title: On the Edge of Dawn
Author/Artist: effaced
Pairings/Characters: Tear
Prompt: Abyss - Luke/Tear - [Spoilers] Tear at the end of the game, but before the ending. I'd love to see a piece where she's thinking about what happened to Luke and trying to move forward.
Rating: PG
Warnings: Massive spoilers for the entire game.
Every morning, Tear awoke to darkness.
Once, when Yulia City had still been part of the Qliphoth, Tear the disciplined soldier had gotten up every day before what-would-have-been-dawn to train. Now, she did the same for an entirely different reason. She wanted to watch the sun rise.
Every morning since the lowering of the Outer Lands, she'd gotten up to watch sunlight pour into a city that had never known any. It was a sentimental idea, to be sure, but Tear had come to believe that there was nothing really wrong with a little sentimentality, so long as she didn't let it interfere with her work. Besides, it was--nice.
She dressed in darkness, tucked a book under her arm, and headed for the edge of the city. At this early hour, most of the city was still asleep, but there were still a few people wandering about. Some of them nodded in her direction as they passed; one or two glanced questioningly at the book she was carrying. "It's a journal," she explained, and that was true, in a sense.
"You keep a journal?" they would ask, and Tear nodded.
"I find it helps me organize my thoughts," she said, and that was true too.
Finally, she reached her destination, the place where her city met water, just as the sun was beginning to peek over the horizon. She sat down at the water's edge, opened the book to a new page, and began to write.
Dear Luke...
It had begun as a way of...missing him, she supposed, for lack of a better term, and then she'd decided to keep writing to inform him of what had passed while he was away. These days, she had to admit she wrote just as much for herself as for him: it was a way to maintain her connection to him, and she found that writing down the things that had happened helped her to put her own thoughts about them in order, even if she kept most of those inner musings off the page. She would still have to give this book to him when he came back, after all.
Things are going well here, as they were when I last wrote you, she started. The rebuilding process is proceeding smoothly, thanks to the leadership of Emperor Peony, Ingobert and Natalia, and my grandfather. People are beginning to resume their normal activities, and we're trying to integrate the replicas into society as well, though it hasn't been easy. Progress is being made...but slowly.
Some of the replicas had been unable to walk or talk. They'd had to be taught, like infants--in fact, she remembered, from what he'd told her, Luke had been the same way. Even when she'd first met him seven years later, he'd been so sheltered. She smiled a little sadly at the memory.
Guy came to Yulia City a few days ago for a diplomatic meeting. I wasn't privy to the details of the meeting, but he and I were able to talk briefly before he left. He misses you as well.
She paused, made to cross out that last part, but left it instead. Apparently, his condition has improved since I last saw him; he didn't jump away quite as much when I inadvertently moved too close to him.
Anise still writes often; she's rising very quickly in the Order, due partially to the vacuum created by Ion and Mohs's deaths. She tells me that she expects to become Fon Master within the next few years. I expect Natalia's duties keep her very busy, but she still finds the time to send a letter or two. I haven't heard from Jade at all, but I know he's working with the replicas.
People still talk about you and Asch, but less so now. The memorial ceremony a few weeks ago seems to have put everyone's minds to rest on that front. There used to be candlelight vigils all over the city, but they're gone now. Memories fade over time. It's only natural. They all call you a hero, like I knew they would. Are you--
She stopped and carefully blocked out the last paragraph, drawing straight line after straight line across the paper until that section was solid black. Then she put down her pen. I'll never forgive you, she'd told him, but of course that was a lie. He was so stupid, always trying so hard to think about other people that he couldn't see past himself. She couldn't hate him. She doubted he'd even understood what she'd been trying to say back there--
--but no, that wasn't fair to him. He had gotten it, right before the very end. He'd promised her that he'd come back, and...Luke had become a person who would keep his promises. She knew that better than anyone.
He'd come home.
She closed the book and stood up. In the east, the sun was still rising.
This fic has so many inconsistencies, sob.
Title: On the Edge of Dawn
Author/Artist: effaced
Pairings/Characters: Tear
Prompt: Abyss - Luke/Tear - [Spoilers] Tear at the end of the game, but before the ending. I'd love to see a piece where she's thinking about what happened to Luke and trying to move forward.
Rating: PG
Warnings: Massive spoilers for the entire game.
Every morning, Tear awoke to darkness.
Once, when Yulia City had still been part of the Qliphoth, Tear the disciplined soldier had gotten up every day before what-would-have-been-dawn to train. Now, she did the same for an entirely different reason. She wanted to watch the sun rise.
Every morning since the lowering of the Outer Lands, she'd gotten up to watch sunlight pour into a city that had never known any. It was a sentimental idea, to be sure, but Tear had come to believe that there was nothing really wrong with a little sentimentality, so long as she didn't let it interfere with her work. Besides, it was--nice.
She dressed in darkness, tucked a book under her arm, and headed for the edge of the city. At this early hour, most of the city was still asleep, but there were still a few people wandering about. Some of them nodded in her direction as they passed; one or two glanced questioningly at the book she was carrying. "It's a journal," she explained, and that was true, in a sense.
"You keep a journal?" they would ask, and Tear nodded.
"I find it helps me organize my thoughts," she said, and that was true too.
Finally, she reached her destination, the place where her city met water, just as the sun was beginning to peek over the horizon. She sat down at the water's edge, opened the book to a new page, and began to write.
Dear Luke...
It had begun as a way of...missing him, she supposed, for lack of a better term, and then she'd decided to keep writing to inform him of what had passed while he was away. These days, she had to admit she wrote just as much for herself as for him: it was a way to maintain her connection to him, and she found that writing down the things that had happened helped her to put her own thoughts about them in order, even if she kept most of those inner musings off the page. She would still have to give this book to him when he came back, after all.
Things are going well here, as they were when I last wrote you, she started. The rebuilding process is proceeding smoothly, thanks to the leadership of Emperor Peony, Ingobert and Natalia, and my grandfather. People are beginning to resume their normal activities, and we're trying to integrate the replicas into society as well, though it hasn't been easy. Progress is being made...but slowly.
Some of the replicas had been unable to walk or talk. They'd had to be taught, like infants--in fact, she remembered, from what he'd told her, Luke had been the same way. Even when she'd first met him seven years later, he'd been so sheltered. She smiled a little sadly at the memory.
Guy came to Yulia City a few days ago for a diplomatic meeting. I wasn't privy to the details of the meeting, but he and I were able to talk briefly before he left. He misses you as well.
She paused, made to cross out that last part, but left it instead. Apparently, his condition has improved since I last saw him; he didn't jump away quite as much when I inadvertently moved too close to him.
Anise still writes often; she's rising very quickly in the Order, due partially to the vacuum created by Ion and Mohs's deaths. She tells me that she expects to become Fon Master within the next few years. I expect Natalia's duties keep her very busy, but she still finds the time to send a letter or two. I haven't heard from Jade at all, but I know he's working with the replicas.
People still talk about you and Asch, but less so now. The memorial ceremony a few weeks ago seems to have put everyone's minds to rest on that front. There used to be candlelight vigils all over the city, but they're gone now. Memories fade over time. It's only natural. They all call you a hero, like I knew they would. Are you--
She stopped and carefully blocked out the last paragraph, drawing straight line after straight line across the paper until that section was solid black. Then she put down her pen. I'll never forgive you, she'd told him, but of course that was a lie. He was so stupid, always trying so hard to think about other people that he couldn't see past himself. She couldn't hate him. She doubted he'd even understood what she'd been trying to say back there--
--but no, that wasn't fair to him. He had gotten it, right before the very end. He'd promised her that he'd come back, and...Luke had become a person who would keep his promises. She knew that better than anyone.
He'd come home.
She closed the book and stood up. In the east, the sun was still rising.