Luke and Asch

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Drawn for Meimi no Kage's Nezach: [link]

There are so few multichapter Tales of the Abyss fanfics out there, and would you believe Meimi finished with 61,148 words in 28 days? Utterly amazing.

SPOILERS for the game though:

Fic clip:

"Uhm," Luke began uncertainly, casting Asch an anxious glance before calling out. "Hey, Ion?"

/Address him with his proper title, you ingrate./ Asch punctuated his reprimand with a moderate shove.

Luke scowled at him and then rolled his eyes. "Fon Master Ion." /There, happy now?/

/Not particularly, but there may be some hope left for you after all, miniscule though it might be./

/Shut up./

Ion looked back at the pair and couldn't help but smile. They really did almost appear like mirror images in that moment: sitting across from each other on the bed, one leg curled up, their knees touching, and the other leg hanging carelessly off the side. They looked awfully cute like that, but he would keep that observation to himself. They might take offense if he gave it voice. And... he just wanted them to be happy. "Yes?" he prompted after a few seconds spent simply enjoying the view.

"Well, uh," Luke scratched the back of his head nervously and glanced over at Asch again, then sighed and looked back at Ion solemnly, "We're very sorry for all the trouble we've caused you the past couple of days."

"Oh," Ion murmured, his eyes widening in something akin to awe. Then he shook his head, raising his hands and waving them gently, as if to ward off any further apologies. "No no no, please don't apologize. I'm glad that you came to me. That you... even thought of me when you needed such desperate help. I just... wish I could have done something more for the both of you."

Asch and Luke looked at each other thoughtfully for a moment, then they both turned and smiled gently at Ion. "You did much more than we could have hoped for, Ion. You kept us safe. Thank you."

Ion laughed weakly and reached up to wipe surreptitiously at the corner of his eyes. How silly of him, he shouldn't cry when he felt so happy. They were his friends. It was the least he could have done for them.