Disclaimer: Tales of the Abyss and its characters are copyright Namco Bandai Games Inc. This work is not for profit.

Luke wove his way through the trees, stopping here and there to pick up another piece of wood. He shivered. The sticks scratched his bare arms. It wasn't that cold, but he'd rather be sitting by the fire than out here collecting fuel for it. Besides, he was starving. Dinner had to be nearly ready by now. Grabbing one last stick, he made his way back toward the firelight that flickered between the trees.

Stepping out of the woods and into the open, Luke crossed the camp to dump his load next to the fire. He straightened up, frowning. Their cooking utensils and food supplies were sitting next to the fire, looking as though they'd been abandoned mid-preparation. Luke glanced around the campsite, mentally counting the people scattered around it. Tear, Anise, Jade, Natalia, but where was...

Guy. Luke finally found him standing near the edge of the campsite with his back to the others. He'd been on cooking duty that night, so what was he doing over there? Luke had just started to walk toward him when he noticed something was off about Guy's posture. His curiosity turned quickly to concern. Reaching his friend, Luke put a hand on his shoulder.

"Hey, Guy?"

Guy looked up, and Luke started. Was Guy... crying? "Oh, hey Luke. What's up?"

"...Are you okay?"

"Huh? Oh, yeah, I'm fine." Guy gave Luke his characteristic grin, at the same time reaching up to firmly wipe tears from his eyes. Luke's brow furrowed.

"Are you sure?"

Guy laughed a little, but rubbed at his eyes again. "Yeah, really. Don't worry about it."

"Guy. You're crying."

"That," Guy interrupted flatly, "is because someone" and here he shot such a vehement glare across the campsite that Luke nearly recoiled, "decided we needed to have some very strong onions for dinner tonight."

"Onions?" Luke repeated blankly, following Guy's line of sight. His friend's watery eyes narrowed.

"Isn't that right, Jade?"

"I'm sure I don't know what you're talking about," Jade replied lightly, turning a page in his book without looking up.

"Oh really?" Guy said skeptically. An annoyed breath hissed out from between his teeth and he rubbed at his stinging eyes again.

The colonel's eyes remained calmly on his book. "I merely suggested that you make something warm for dinner since the night was becoming cold. You decided to use the onions on your own."

"Well, that's funny. I seem to recall you telling me to make vegetable soup for dinner, while you were perfectly aware that the only vegetables we had left were onions," Guy answered.

"My apologies." Jade's tone made it clear that the apologies were in no way actually meant. "But if I recall correctly, the reason we have no other vegetables is because Natalia burned last night's salad and had to make it again."

Natalia's indignant voice came clearly over the camp. "I did not! That was because Anise bumped into me while I was cooking and knocked the salad into the fire!"

"Hey! You can't blame me for that!" Anise's loud protest was just as indignant as Natalia's, if not more so. "I was just bringing water like you asked me to, and it was so heavy that it was hard to concentrate on where I was going too!"

"Really, this doesn't have to-" Tear's attempt to keep the peace was drowned out by the ensuing squabbling.

"You did that on purpose, Jade," Luke accused as chaos reigned on the other side of the camp.

The colonel's glasses glinted in the firelight as he sighed, continuing to read. "Young people are so sensitive these days."

"Is it just me, or did he completely avoid the question?" Guy muttered to Luke, wiping his eyes again. Luke didn't get the chance to answer before Jade cut in.

"By the way, Guy, don't you have some work to finish? It's going to be fully dark by the time we eat at this rate."

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure he did." Luke muttered back.

Guy let out a loud sigh of frustration and returned to doggedly finish chopping the onions as Tear continued trying in vain to stop Anise and Natalia from bickering. Turning another page, Jade smirked, his eyes never leaving the text.