Warning! Spoilers may cause brain damage! If you have not seen the Altessas's house scene with Yuan, Lloyd, and Kratos, GO AWAY NOW OR LIVE THE REST OF YOUR LIFE WITH A LLOYD-LIKE I.Q.!

Back to the point, this is yet another (but my first) Kranna fic describing how Anna and Kratos meet and what their lives are like until the inevitable end. Admittedly this idea has been done to death, but I really wanted to do this. So I'm writing it, and posting it on the Internet. If you don't like it then... fine. But at least leave a review... please?

Disclaimer: Tales of Symphonia is solely the property of Namco-Bandai. Also, the lyrics for the song "If Everyone Cared" belongs to the band Nickelback. (The chorus for the song is where I got the title and the inspiration for this story. While it seems pretty ironic now, considering how this is going to end, the title will make sense eventually.)

The Day When Nobody Died

Prologue: Dreams and Prayer

No windows, no room, no privacy, and no dignity. Stuck living in small rooms that were almost as far from sanitary as it was possible to be. All tightly packed together, they were forced to practically sleep on top of each other. Outside the cells, armed guards on patrol would walk by and glare at the captives, or maybe drop a scathing or condescending comment before walking on. Some of the more enthusiastic ones would even try to kick the prisoners through the bars.

The younger ones or the recently caught dreamed of escape, that maybe if they jumped a guard at the right time, they could get the keys to their cages and escape. They could run far far away, and never have to return to their prisons ever again. The older ones, the ones that had been there the longest just sat and stared into space, staring at things no one else could see. Their hope had withered and died long ago. They sat quite in their cells awaiting their final judgment.

Then there were the ones who were losing hope, but couldn't let it go. They knew they would never see the stars again, never live a life beyond the confines of the ranch. Yet some little piece of them begged for release, a freedom they had been denied. Stuck in the middle, between dreams and reality.

She was like that. She remembered life beyond the steel fence, which was more than what some of the others could say. She longed to be free again. Yet a little bit of cynicism was beginning to infect her hopes. She had been here for years, and no one had come to rescue them, and no one had successfully escaped.

And so Anna Cole spent her days at the human ranch clinging to a little shattered dream that she thought would never come true.

Prayer, to him, had always been about shouting into the dark of oblivion, begging for someone, anyone, to answer the plea. It had been pointless. Now he was praying more earnestly and more desperately then he ever had before in his life. He prayed that somewhere there was a real Goddess – or God, it didn't matter – to hear him. He prayed that no one had seen him leaving, or would miss him soon after his departure.

Kratos Aurion stared out of the window, looking in the direction of the Tower of Salvation. It was currently hidden, invisible to everyone, but he knew it was still there. It would only appear when some poor soul was named 'Chosen' and have to go on the journey to regenerate the world. He knew he was running away, but what else could he do? He couldn't just quit Cruxis, not after four thousand years of service. But he could not bear to continue to commit sins in the name of Lord Yggdrasill's ideals.

I should stop thinking of him as 'Lord' Yggdrasill, he thought.

He looked down at the sleeping form of Noishe, who seemed to be quite comfortable sleeping outside. The poor animal was tired after fleeing the tower and needed rest. Kratos didn't, but he couldn't just abandon his old friend, so they had stopped in this place for the night. The Hima inn had a strict rule about no pets inside the building, and Kratos wasn't willing to argue the matter. Noishe didn't seem to mind it however. When was the last time the protozoan had been 'outside' anyway? He couldn't remember.

Noishe rolled onto his back, his paws twitching. He was probably dreaming of chasing small furry things, Kratos concluded, and he walked away from the window. He sat down on the lone bed and stared at the far wall, for lack of anything better to do. He had been planning to leave Cruxis for some time now. Actually leaving Derris-Kharlan had turned out to be more of an ordeal than he had expected. This was due more to his fear of being caught, than from any actual risk. He had passed one or two lesser angels as he left Derris-Kharlan, but they all looked away and didn't get in his way. No one questioned the behavior of any of the Four Seraphim.

He was still anxious about when Mithos discovered that Kratos had run away. No doubt he would want to conduct a search – there was no way he would let Origin's Seal just walk away. Whether Mithos would then kill his former companion out of spite or keep him from ever walking under a blue sky ever again… he didn't know. Neither option held any appeal.

Now he had to put that all behind him. He had to make a new living as a mercenary – no one asked mercenaries any personal questions, and it should be a relatively easy way to make money. He could carve out a new life for himself, a new identity, and separate himself from the seraph that had allowed the world to degrade as far as it had. Just lie low, do an odd job here and there, and he could live a relatively peaceful life.

Just don't let them find me…

A/N: Ah, the stupid divider bar things are being stupid...

I bet you can tell I'm not very inventive when it comes to last names. Yes, 'Cole' was the best I could come up with for Anna. Nothing else seemed to fit.

I'm not sure whether or not I'm going to post the rest of the story, because this kind of story has been done to freaking death. If you would like me to continue, please review. And I do like constructive criticism, if you have any.