Disclaimer: I don't own Tales of the Abyss characters!

Tales of the Abyss – The Proposal

It had been a year since Luke returned. Luke and Tear had been going out and their relationship was doing well. Not only with Tear, Luke's relationship with his former travelling companions were also doing well, including Natalia. Although he had Tear living in the Duke's mansion, he hadn't forgotten about Natalia, his supposed-to-be fiancé.

It was a sunny day in the land of Kimlasca, in the town called Baticul to be exact. Two nobles, a man with long red hair and a woman with short blonde hair were having a friendly chat in the garden in Duke Fabre's mansion. They looked at the flowers grown there while chatting between fellow nobles.

"I see that your gardeners have done a good job with the flowers," The blonde haired noble, Natalia, commented while smiling.

"Yeah, my father only hires the best gardeners here so it's pretty obvious they would do a good job," Luke replied, "By the way, is there anything you want to talk about after you purposely came here?"

"Actually, there's something important I want to talk to you about," Natalia replied with a serious face, "It's about our engagement that our fathers decided a long time ago."

"Oh, the engagement, huh?" Luke replied sadly and sighed, "If our fathers have decided that, then there's nothing we can do to cancel it even if we want too…"

"We have to talk to them first. In order to convince them, any of us should propose or be proposed so they can cancel the engagement," Natalia explained and suddenly frowned before turning away from Luke.

"What is it, Natalia?" Luke asked with worry.

"Luke, you have already had Tear. I still wish that I can still be with you, but…" Natalia turned back to Luke, "Luke, my feelings for you is still as strong as before, but I can't let myself get in the way of your love life. It's sad to see that you choose Tear instead of me, but I already know that both of you love each other."

Luke blushed after hearing what Natalia had said and chuckled, "Yeah, I guess you're right…"

"Speaking of relationships… White Day is coming up, right?" Natalia asked out of the blue.

"Yeah, it's next week. Is there anything special about it?" Luke asked clueless.

"Luke! Don't tell me you've forgotten!" Natalia raised her voice in anger, "White Day is the time for boys to give gifts to girls as thank you gifts for Valentine's Day! Tear did give you something last month, right?"

"Oh yeah, she gave me a basket of homemade chocolate," Luke replied, 'But it tasted really weird despite of its pretty appearance…'

"Luke! You have to give her something in return! Anything that she would like!" Natalia told him sternly, "If you have been in a relationship with her for a year and a month, you should know what she would want for a present the best!" Natalia turned to the mansion's entrance, "I'll leave it up to you and good luck!"

"Wait, Natalia!" Luke called out in panic, but he was too late as Natalia had already left the mansion, "But I have completely no idea what normal girls would like!" Luke yelled out before he held his head in frustration. When he was taking a deep breath to calm himself down, he looked at the sky and noticed that it was almost noon, 'It's almost noon… Father usually needs me for something around this time…'

Luke left the garden and entered the mansion, heading to his father's room. Just like what he had expected, he came in the right time as his father had asked him to go on an errand. He often asked Luke to do some errands instead of locking him inside the mansion like he used to, but Luke felt that doing errands for his father was better than staying in the mansion all day doing nothing interesting other than training.

He took off to the town to do an errand, which was to deliver a letter regarding jewelry prices to a jewelry shop. After he had delivered the letter, he decided to look around as he remembered what Natalia had told him earlier about White Day and giving gifts.

-Flashback-

"Luke! You have to give her something in return! Anything that she would like!" Natalia told Luke sternly, "If you have been in a relationship with her for a year and a month, you should know what she would want for a present the best!"

-End of Flashback-

'If I'm not wrong, most girls like jewelries…' Luke looked around the small jewelry shop, which had necklaces, bracelets, and rings in many shapes and colors on display. Luke stopped when he saw a ring with a big sapphire stone attached to it, 'Oh, this one looks nice… I wonder how much this ring is…' Luke checked the price and was shocked about it, '1 billion Galds!? You've got to be kidding me! As the son of the Duke, it's really shameful if I don't have that much money to buy it!'

Luke sighed in defeat and left the shop, feeling disappointed. He walked back towards the mansion and headed towards his father's room. When he went inside, he can't find his father anywhere. He only found his mother, who noticed him coming in and walked over to him.

"Mother, I'm back," Luke said, "Is Father here?"

"Your father is in the garden. Luke, could you come with me to my room? I have something important to give you," Luke's mother, Suzanne fon Fabre, led him to hers and Duke's bedroom. She pulled the drawer and took out a gold ring, "Luke, take this ring."

"M-Mother… Isn't this an engagement ring? But why are you giving something as important as this ring to me?" Luke asked.

"Luke, your father and I have heard from Natalia that you're going to marry Tear but you were still tied with Natalia in the engagement," Suzanne started.

"EH!?" Luke exclaimed in surprise, 'But that's not what I said to Natalia!'

"Your father and I along with your uncle had discussed about it with Natalia and we had come to an agreement that the engagement would be cancelled if you are going to propose to Tear," Suzanne continued, "If you don't have a ring to propose, please take it."

"Mother…" Luke studied his mother thoroughly before he took the gold ring from her hand, "Thank you, Mother…"

"Luke, you mustn't forget that you have to take care of her more after you are married," Suzanne told him.

"Yes, Mother. I won't forget it," Luke bowed politely before he left the room.

Luke stopped in front of the room after he closed the door and looked at the ring, 'I hope proposing to her is the best White Day present for her…'

A week later, the White Day had come. Things seemed normal around the mansion, as if it was just a normal day. Luke had been locking himself in the room from the morning until the sun was about to set again, trying to figure out how to propose to Tear properly. When the night came, someone knocked on Luke's door.

"Luke, what are you doing in there? You have been spending the whole day in your room!" It was Tear, and she sounded like she was angry.

Luke took a deep breath and put the ring into his pocket before he went to open his door, "Sorry, Tear… Can you come with me for a moment? There's something I want to talk to you about…"

"Okay…" Tear nodded and followed him to take the carriage to the Cove where he returned a year ago.

The place was still as beautiful as ever. The ground was covered with selenias and the view of moss-covered Hod replica made the place remind them of their journey together to stop Van from destroying the world and replace humans with replicas to live in the new world. Tear stood near a big rock and looked at the night view of Hod and the selenias, still reminded of her deceased brother.

"Tear…" Luke spoke up quietly from beside Tear. He took a deep breath to remain calm, "I have a reason choosing this place to give you your special White Day present…"

"Reason? White Day present?" Tear asked.

"This place is the start of everything for me. The start of our journey, my new life as a real human being… and the start of our relationship…" Luke took her right hand in his left hand while his right hand pulled out the gold ring from his pocket, "Tear Grants, will you marry me?"

Tear gasped after Luke had proposed her, "Luke…" Tear paused for a moment before she reached the ring on Luke's right hand, "Yes… Luke…"

"T-Tear…" Luke smiled at her before he put the engagement ring on her, "I hope you like my White Day present…"

Tear wrapped her arms around Luke and kissed him on the lips and Luke kissed her back, wrapping his hands around her waist. After they broke the kiss, both of them smiled at each other with a faint pink color on their faces. After looking at each other lovingly, they cuddled into each other.

"I wasn't hoping to get a White Day present from anyone, but I'm glad to have got one from you, Luke fon Fabre…"

Another short sequel is being planned, but I'm still not sure when I'll make it. Anyways, please leave a review!