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 Posted: Thu Mar 08, 2012 8:11 pm
Rosie was left completely speechless where she stood. She tried to find something to say, but everything he had said was rushing around in her head and numbed her in place.
How could she respond to something like that? what could she say?
He not only learns that he has a brother, but that he was involved in some kind of kidnapping.
The blond's very breath seemed to stop in her lungs, as all she could seem to do was watch him.
She tried quickly to think of something to say.
"Oh Luke..." She finally found some words she could use.
"But... but it might not even..." she paused, looking a little lost again.
"Are you okay?"
Stupid question, of course he was not okay, one look at him and she knew he was not okay! Think of something different to say Rosie!
Nothing.
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Posted: Thu Mar 08, 2012 9:06 pm
He stood with his head bowed, his green eyes locked on the ground, his posture tense. Rosie's hopeful words trailed off into the abyss of unlikelihood, where Luke had buried hopes of his own. Why would Natalia outright lie to him about something like this? ...Not that that had stopped his parents, evidently.
Luke forced an angry breath, brow knit and jaw clenched. "I'm just..." Just what? Shell-shocked, mostly. Caught between believing and disbelieving, and leaning in a direction he didn't wish to lean. Despising of his brother, of his parents, of himself. "Can I just... tell you some things? Just talk for a while. And if it's stupid or it doesn't make sense, you can tell me to shut up or whatever. I just..." Thinking about it wasn't helping him sort out anything, but he wasn't about to launch into a rant against Rosie. He could easily substitute those feelings for violence by taking his sword back into his hand and returning to his previous activity.
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Posted: Thu Mar 08, 2012 9:39 pm
She was getting to the feeling that she couldn't figure out what to do to help Luke.
And the more she watched him the more horrible she felt, This wasn't fare... he shouldn't have to deal with this... he didn't deserve this kinda of pain.
Hair fell against her cheek when her head tilted up when he spoke again, and the request that followed... Actually warned her heart a little.
This she could do for him, if this is what he needed.
Rosie nodded, walking over next to him where she leaned up against the tree as well, looking over at him to show that she was listening.
"I will listen as much as you need."
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Posted: Thu Mar 08, 2012 11:36 pm
He drew a slow breath and exhaled just as slowly, allowing the anger to disintegrate from his fists and gaze.
"Where I come from, Grande Ile, my father is a big shot politician, so my family is nobility," he explained, keeping a slow pace to avoid stumbling over or confusing his words. "My memory starts eight years ago, after I was rescued from a kidnapping attempt. When I recovered, I was told that my name was Luke and that I was the family's heir. I was told that Guy was my best friend, and that Natalia was my fiance. I didn't really have any reason to doubt all that, so of course I believed it."
He shifted his posture slightly, sinking his hands into his pockets. "Before any of this, apparently, Asch was the fon Fabre heir." He faltered momentarily, "...He was Luke. And then he disappeared, and when the family couldn't find him, they replaced him with me." The fists returned, as did the doleful heat of indignation in his eyes. "And everything my parents told me about me was just Asch. Right down to the only name I've got."
He took an aggressive stance suddenly, turning to Rosie with an expression that could only be called betrayed. "That's messed up, right?! There's no way something like that could happen, right? That's just like... something out of a television show or something... What would possess Natalia to tell me something like that...?"
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Posted: Fri Mar 09, 2012 12:12 am
It broke her heart... leaving an uncomfortable weight in her chest that she was trying to ignore.
His tone carried weighted words, telling a story that... honestly, horrified her.
She wasn't aware that her mouth had fallen open a little as he continued to talk, and explain what Natalia and Asch had both told him.
No.. No way... No one was that... No parent was that...
He turned with a spur of movement and fixed her with a look she had never seen on the boy's face before.
Her chin lifted suddenly, eyes growing wide in the surprise of the change, but her eyelids relaxed when he continued on with what was almost a plee.
"...Its hard to believe." she said quietly, after she had given it a moment's consideration, the weight in her head growing more and more as she recounted what he had told her, hands clasping together tightly in front of her.
"Why would..." she struggled to find words.
"Just... why?"
yes, indeed, Why everything! Why would they tell him that! why would something like that be true! and if it was, WHY would his parent do that!? To Luke!
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Posted: Fri Mar 09, 2012 12:23 am
"I don't know!" Clearly it was a question he had been asking himself for too long already, and his want for an answer drove him to frustration. He stood rigidly, his arms at his side, his shoulders raised, his head down - all the nuances of a child trying desperately not to cry. "But that's no surprise, is it? I don't know anything, apparently. Not even my own name. I'm just some cheap throwaway, and if Asch ever went back there--" And if Asch ever went back there, who would Luke be then?
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Posted: Fri Mar 09, 2012 12:44 am
It was at this point that Rosie took a turn to move.
His words pushed her off the tree, and she closed the distance between herself and her friend.
"No!" Her voice, though laced with remorse, was forceful, as if attempting to drive those thought away from Luke's mine.
"Luke, No!"
A blond head shaking, she put a hand to his chest, and pushed it gently. "That isn't true, don't you ever think like that!"
her hand lifted a few inches then patted back onto his chest. "You are Luke, You are Luke,"
She tried to catch his gaze,tried to pull his eyes away from whatever void they were staring into.
"And you will never ever ever be someone to throw away, no matter what anyone ever says to you."
Her voice softened, but it kept the heavy sadness she was channeling from Luke.
"Don't think like that. You can't know what would happen, or what might happen. and I'm sorry... I'm so sorry any of this had to be put on you... I'm so sorry."
Her hands curled into a fist. "But you can't just let this make you lose sight of what kind of man you've become, or what your going to be. You've faced everything head on so far. Luke always faces everything head on! Nothing about a man like that is cheap!"
Her face was flushed, trying to hold back tears of her own.
She wanted to cry for him, but that's now that he needed right now. She didn't exactly know what he needed... but it was certainly not crying.
"Nothing of what they say changes who you are."
she pushed her hand into him again. "You are Luke."
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Posted: Fri Mar 09, 2012 1:07 am
The sudden objection snapped Luke's attention away from the ground and up to meet Rosie's expression. He couldn't find words to counter hers, even in his thoughts - he merely stared with green eyes wide and received the unexpected lecture. There was a truth to her words that should have been obvious from the beginning, and he had to admit some shame to have only realized after being explicitly told.
By the time Rosie finished speaking, his eyes had pulled from hers again, though this time in reflection rather than aversion. He stood silently for a time after, his shoulders stiff and rocked by the slightest tremble. Eventually he raised a hand pull over his face and through his hair where it then lingered. Finally, he spoke, "Can I at least have the luxury of calling myself stupid for needing to be told all that...?" The vague bite of humor in his words was emphasized, if only barely, by a slight, forced smile.
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Posted: Fri Mar 09, 2012 3:13 pm
His eyes turned away, and she followed them, watching as the subtle change took over his features as he seemed to soak in what she had just told him.
Luke didn't say anything for a long time, but Rosie didn't add anything new as he seemed to be thinking.
She did pull her hand away from him, reaching up to clasp her own shoulder with it as a knit brow watched her read haired friend.
He finished with a gesture that ended with his hand in his hair and then spoke.
Rosie felt a rush of relief go though her body.
A soft gasp, that took on the likeness of a laugh escaped her throat and her hand reached up to brush at one of her eyes.
"No" she answered, with a bitter sweet smile "I think you did that enough for today... but maybe tomorrow."
she lowered her hand, lifting her head back up. "Maybe."
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Posted: Sun Mar 18, 2012 3:22 pm
"Heh, okay, fine." Not that the promise couldn't stop him from cursing his short-sightedness internally - he couldn't really stop himself there. Why should knowing that he grew up living as someone else change the fact that he was who he was? His name wasn't his identity; it was nothing more than a way to get his attention. It still bothered him, and he imagined it would continue to bother him until the day he knew everything about himself, but for now at least, he could make do knowing that all his memories and all his choices and all his actions were his own. That was his identity, and Asch couldn't take that from him.
At length, Luke breathed a long, slow sigh, expelling the weight of the anger and frustration he had carried since his conversation with Asch and Natalia. "Well, thanks," he murmured. But that could be construed as rather insincere, couldn't it? He shook his head slightly and properly met her eyes, "I mean really, though. Thank you, Rosie." A rare and unpracticed expression of actual gratitude with no room for misinterpretation - that was better.
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Posted: Sun Mar 25, 2012 11:07 am
The murmured 'thanks' would have been enough for Rosie, it was the look of him slowly letting the anger go, the more calm feeling that she was getting off of her friend that spoke to her. So long as he was feeling better, nothing else mattered.
But he finished with a more genuine thanks, and a look she had never seen on the man before.
Rosie blinked back, but returned the look with a compassionate smile.
"You've pulled me out of the darkness before. You've been there for me, and I'll always be there for you."
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Posted: Tue Mar 27, 2012 10:11 pm
As long as you're putting one foot in front of the other, you're making progress.
Luke had never been especially skilled at remembering details, but the phrase came to mind suddenly as words he had spoken himself some time in the past. They had been words of encouragement for Rosie, and now they resurfaced as words of encouragement for himself. Every step forward was a step away from the past. It was just as she said: who he used to be had no weight over who he would become.
"I could say the same to you," he said, his words accompanied by a smile that was surprisingly gentle. Luke had never been skilled at befriending others, given his smug, standoffish disposition, and if he could meet himself at the docks as he first arrived in Kodo a year prior and tell himself what a valuable friend he would find in Rosie, there was no way he would have believed it. He surprised himself with how important an existence the girl had become, easily standing equal with Guy and Natalia.
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Posted: Sun Apr 01, 2012 8:00 pm
Her head lifted at his words, blinking once at him before a smile spread across his features.
A gentle look that was not seen on the other trainer very often, but it made Rosie happy to see, and she couldn't help but smile back.
"I'm glad."
She felt something warm press into her hand, and glanced down to see Pastin had come over.
Rosie slid her hand over the Pony's head in greeting, Then looked back up at Luke, so relived to see the pain and anger gone from his face.
"I think Mieu was really worried about you."
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Posted: Sun Apr 01, 2012 8:35 pm
Mieu had taken Pastin's forward movement as a cue that he should move to his trainer as well; he had watched their exchange with rapt attention and a growing sense of relief as his master's anger had been defused. Rosie really was the best!
Rosie's words, combined with the approach of the eeveelution and the gentle expression it wore, struck a brief chord of guilt in Luke. Of course Mieu was worried, with the way he'd acted. And what had he done but bat the thing aside and shout at it? He stared momentarily, meeting the Flareon's blue eyes, and eventually crouched to bring himself closer to Mieu's level. "Sorry," he murmured, reaching out a hand to pat the pokemon's head, "and thanks."
Mieu cooed happily at the unexpected touch, nuzzling into it with building memories of days long past. He'd missed his master's kind side; hopefully it wouldn't vanish again.
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Posted: Sun Apr 01, 2012 9:01 pm
Rosie watched as the Flareon walked over after Pastin, Luke and his pokemon had come a long way since she had met them, the training had brougth them closer, she knew.
An arm slipped around Pastin's neck as she knelt down next to her pokemon, half hugging him, a smile on her face at the sweet Flareon's happy expression, and affection toward his trainer.
Pastin's whinny followed with a nuzzle of his own to Rosie earned him a loving embrace.
She was glad things were back to normal now.
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