Disclaimer: Legend of Mana and all of its properties are copyright of Square Enix. This is purely a fan made with no intention of gaining any profit.

Authoor's note: Before you begin with the story, I need to inform you that English is not my native language. So, expect some errors, though I tried my best to make it as grammatically correct as possible.

Lost and Found

Imu had been missing. Elazul despised losing, even to his own feelings. However, he could not defeat this worry. Not anymore.

It had been fifteen days, the knight recalled. Three days of unresolved fights. Most of them consisted of pointless bickering and unnecessary argument.

"You annoy me! Like, a lot!"

Elazul's memory flashed those words. Words which stung, he could guess. Specifically, they stung her feeling, as the memory of her hurt expression surfaced. Now he regretted it: every single bickering, also argument.

The Jumi's once brilliant blue irises lost their colors, just as his core was slowly losing its shine. It was sunny in the Marketplace of Domina. Unfortunately, the sun could not expelled the dark clouds over his mind.

He had made contact with both of her disciples. However, they knew very little. Thus, the answer "Master just told us that she will be going on a quite long adventure." did not satisfy his thirst for answer.

"You look troubled, Mister," a lady in a basket of fruits greeted. "I can provide you the answer you need—with ten lucre, of course."

The Jumi Knight spontaneously turned around to meet eyes with the famous fortune teller. For approximately five seconds, he was contemplating, as well as painting a deep frown upon his facial expression.

"Here," the young knight finally voiced as he took the ten lucre and handed it to the lady in front of him. "A friend has been missing for more than two weeks. And... I'm worried."

The lady wore a smile on her face as she took the lucre. "I can see that," she simply responded.

In no time, the fortune teller's fortune reading ritual began. "Vitamins, carotenes, potassium, fiber... polyphenol!" she shouted the spell out loud while she was spinning on a mad speed. The speed, nonetheless, decreased by time. Momentarily, the ritual stopped with the lady holding an apple.

"Hm... it says Geo," the fortune teller foretold as she was reading through the apple.

"Thanks," Elazul mumbled then walked away.

His mind, as well as his paces had been determined. It was Geo.

Elazul's mind inevitably wondered in silence, Just what did she need to do in Geo?

Nonetheless, both of his feet were still searching with determination, through the main street to the cafe on the Avenue Street. Unfortunately, there was still no sign of his missing companion. Instead, he spotted Mister Nunuzac sitting by a table while enjoying a cup of tea.

"Hei," Mister Nunuzac spontaneously called.

Elazul turned. "Me?"

"Yes, you, Jumi Boy. C'mon, sit here with me," the old conjuror casually requested. Elazul absent mindedly complied.

"I heard about the recovery of your race," Nunuzac began. "How is Esmeralda doing?"

"She's doing alright," the Jumi answered.

"I'm glad. Thanks to those exotic pipes, I guess." Nunuzac laughed, waving his entire body in a happy manner.

Elazul's brows were immediately crinkled into frowns. "Did Imu came here?" the Jumi Knight spontaneously asked, ignoring the previous conversation about his own race.

"Yes, she did come to Geo," Nunuzac answered as he took a sip of his tea. "In fact, she came to see me."

"Why did she need to see you?"

"She asked me about a book of healing technique. I don't know what she's up to though."

At the teacher's answer, the frowns on the knight's face were only getting deeper.

"Well, Pearl doesn't boss me around and she definitely knows how to heal, which is an important thing for a knight like me."

"Sorry for not being girly like Pearl. And sorry for not being a beautiful guardian, just like Pearl."

"Yeah, whatever, you're annoying though."

Elazul spontaneously cursed as those words surfaced into his memory.

"What?" Nunuzac asked in confusion.

"Is she still in Geo?" Elazul shot another question.

"No. She left a few days ago, saying that she would visit Gato Grottoes."

Without conversing any further with the round conjuror, Elazul immediately got up and took his leave.

Nunuzac snorted indignantly. "Still a rude boy."

The sun was still as bright. In fact, it was even burning—especially when you were walking on a highland like Gato. Elazul grunted, sighed—occasionally wagged his green mantle to the back. Nevertheless, the search had not come to an end.

Elazul's memory reminded him about an acquaintance. Somehow, he recalled only the unusual cat ears. However, he knew where to find the said acquaintance.

A few minutes of suffering, Elazul would say. Walking under the merciless sun beam, his thick mantle was an addition to his suffering. His misery, however, finally meet its end when his feet reached the Temple of Healing.

The knight impatiently made an entrance, quickly navigating through the temple to find this acquaintance. His visions swiftly spotted the acquaintance. The woman was talking to a nun in front of the Dreamweaving Room.

"Cat ears!" Elazul called to the talking woman.

The woman rotated her head 180 degrees at the absurd name. "It's Daena," she corrected.

"Alright, Daena. I Need to ask you something important."

Daena turned to the nun then indicated for her to leave.

"I'm available now. Ask," she demanded.

"Do you know where Imu is?"

"No," she answered. "But, she came here about five days ago."

"So, you met her. What did she come here for?"

Daena put a finger to her lips as she recalled the previous event. "Well, she asked me to give her some herbs and elixir which I recognize are used to do a healing magic," she replied while crossing both of her arms. "Why do you need to know about her current location anyway?"

"It's... nothing—it's none of your business," the Jumi stammered, facing the woman with his back instead.

"Is that so? You know, when Imu came here, she looked really troubled. Is that because of you?"

"Because you're loud and annoying while Pearl isn't like that!"

Elazul remembered the shout—

"Just be like Pearl for a while."

—As well as the irritated snarl.

"Fine. I will shut up."

The Jumi Knight groaned in frustration.

"You should apologize," Daena suddenly spoke. "I don't know what kind of relationship you two have, but Imu is a kind girl."

The female warrior's words slapped Elazul in the face. Hard. His eyes were wide. Realization had just sunk in.

"I don't know where she is now. But, she said about going to a harbor," Daena indicated.

"Thanks, Daena," Elazul responded solemnly. "I will go and apologize."

Daena radiated a smile in response. She witnessed in silence as the knight made his way out of the temple.

Elazul's feet kept pacing forward. As the contrary was his own mind. Unfortunately, it just kept flying backward, afflicting his heart with an undeniable feeling of guilt. The perplexed knight did not even realize the moon which was unwillingly replacing the sun's position.

By the time he faced the night sky, the view of Lumina greeted him in warm, welcoming silence. Of course, he would not make it to the harbor tonight. His mind instantly persuaded him to rest in an inn.

"Elazul, I notice your changing behaviour towards me lately. Did I do something wrong?" Imu suddenly inquired as both of her hands were holding a glass of diceberry juice.

Sitting just a few centimeters across of the heroine, Elazul spontaneously looked up from his own juice. "What are you talking about?" he beset a query with another one of his own.

"Well, you seem..." Imu put a halt to her sentence. Reluctantly, her visions were drifting apart from Elazul to Rachel who was working in Domina Pub. "...A bit too harsh. And I feel that you're trying to push me away."

"Stop talking nonsense."

"See? That's what I'm talking about. You just get colder and colder." Imu immediately snapped. "What's wrong?" she later asked in concern.

"Imu, just stop."

"No. I need to know."

"You're really annoying aren't you? Just stop!" the irritated knight spontaneously blurted out.

"Is that because I'm not like Pearl? Or is it because I'm not your shy, beautiful guardian who can heal?"

"You wanna know why?"

The sprite bit her lower lips in anticipation. "Yes."

"You annoy me! Like, a lot!"

"No! That's not what I mean!"

Elazul woke up with a disastrous shout as the start.

"Damn it...," the blue haired knight mumbled a curse under heavy breathings. "Damn that dream!" He ruffled his uncapped head in frustration.

As a spice to his frustration, the sun was—without mercy—penetrating his room with burning heat and blinding light. Of course Elazul took notice of it.

"Damn it. It's already noon!" he cursed again, for the third time this day.

In rapid movement, the Jumi knight hurriedly put his sand mantle on and gathered all of his belongings. He later exited the room with a loud bang to the innocent door and made a ran for the harbor.

Upon arriving at Polpota Harbor, the first place Elazul checked was the hotel lobby.

"Did a girl named Imu check in?" without any single courtesy, he suddenly shot the clueless Mister Moti with a direct question.

"Yes. Miss Imu checked in a few days ago. But, she checked out this morning."

"Damn it."

That had made it the fourth curse this day.

The confused Mister Moti, however, could only give the disordered knight a skeptic gaze as he stomped out of the lobby.

Elazul's searching was bearing no fruits. Sure, he had immigrated through the Seaside Restaurant to the Waterfront Mall, all of which did not result significantly.

At the current moment, the knight's steps were moving forward lethargically. His irises were changing hue as he witnessed the sun reluctantly went down. It was evening. Where would she be?

"Oh... do you hear? Flameshe is singing," one of the flowerings exclaimed merrily, Elazul had noticed.

"Her voice is beautiful, isn't it? But, I hope she won't sink any ship."

"I don't think so."

"Why?"

"She's singing because a friend requested."

Elazul paid no mind to the flowerings' chatters. However, the mermaid's song was without any doubt gorgeous and mesmerizing. His mind was inevitably drawn to it. Slowly yet precise, he led himself to the bay of Polpota Harbor.

Standing on top of the cliff was a woman, Elazul noted. He chuckled. Flameshe's intoxicating voice must be deluding his mind.

Mermaid can't stand.

Nonetheless, he came closer, just to make sure. As the distance between him and this woman narrowed, however, he had come to two conclusions. First, the woman was not a mermaid. Second, the woman was actually...

"Imu?"

...Yes, it was her.

Imu rotated her blonde head to face her companion. "Elazul...?" she questioned absent mindedly.

Elazul froze, his breath hitched. His eyes did not even move an inch at the scene before him. Imu's round face, framed by the fabulous sunset was just breathtaking—for Elazul, at least.

"What are you doing here?" the knight inquired based on reflex.

Imu giggled. "I think I should be the one asking you that question. What are you doing here, Elazul?"

"I... I came to Geo, asking Nunuzac about your whereabout," the knight replied as he increased a level of earnest into his eyes. "Then, I came to Gato Grottoes and got lectured about my own feelings by Daena. Finally, I came here..."

Imu tilted her head to the side. "What?" she inquired, dumbstruck.

"I'm sorry for being rude to you; for always comparing you to Pearl; for being a jerk; for being someone so annoying; for—"

"Wait, Elazul, what are you implying here?"

"I love you."

Both of the heroine's blonde brows were raised, and there was a definite gap between her lips.

"I know I had been harsh to you, but that's just because I was too reluctant to admit my own feelings. I was being a coward with my own feelings." Elazul gave a pause for a brief moment, taking a deep breath in the process. "But, you don't need to be like Pearl. You don't need to be shy or quite. You don't need to be able to heal like her. I like you for who you are, Imu."

"Wait for a moment. So... you actually think that I came to Geo and Gato to be able to heal, like Pearl?"

"Is there any other reason?"

"Yes. I did all those stuffs because my pet, Rabite, is sick," Imu answered precisely. "According to Gaeus, I need to perform a healing magic. So, I went to Geo to get the instructions then to Gato to get the materials."

Now, it was Elazul's turn to get dumbstruck.

"What?"

"Don't tell me you actually believed that I was jealous of Pearl." Imu instantly chuckled. "Oh, c'mon, Elazul, both you and Pearl are my companions."

At Imu's respond, Elazul's courage immediately decreased significantly. He spontaneously turned around, back was now facing her.

"Just... forget about everything that I've said."

The heroine's chuckle suddenly came to a stop. Her facade was now a mirror of Elazul's previous expression. "How can I forget it when I also have the same feeling?" she countered with determination.

Elazul distorted his head in pure reflex and was immediately greeted with Imu's warm smile.

"I know you have loved me since that encounter with Florina. I realized it when you were staring at me, because your stares indicated needs and wants," she confessed as she closed the distance between her feet and Elazul's. Softly with affection, she embraced the knight's rough hands into hers and whispered, "I... love you, too. If I hadn't loved you, I wouldn't have cried for you."

In an instance, both pairs of eyes constantly met and locked themselves in silence and affection. Nevertheless, Elazul suddenly broke it as he intertwined his body with Imu's petite body. She could feel the great force of strength in his embrace, as well as the great force of affection. She actually enjoyed this and constantly returned the favor.

As the sun continued to set, Flameshe's beautiful tone continued to drown the new couple into the bliss of love.

"Say that you love me again," she requested as she closed both of her eyes.

"No," Elazul deadpanned.

"Please~"

"I love you, damn it."

Imu instantly laughed in joy. For today, that would be Elazul's last curse.

FIN

Another author's note: In case you have not guessed, Imu is the heroine's name in the manga. I took the name, but I did not take her cold personality from the manga. Well, you can just say that I have my own vision about her personality.

So, that is it. A real cheesy love story. Review? :)