Bandai Namco holds exclusive rights to all characters and story elements appearing in the video game "Tales of Symphonia." The following story was created for entertainment purposes only, and no profit has been made by the author.
A Mirror in the Dark
or
Beneath the Tethe'allan Sky
One of the most curious questions in human language is "How do you feel?" It is so often dismissed as one of a number of innocuous greetings such as "How about that weather?" Or "How's the family?" and answered with a perfunctory, "Fine." But, on those rare occasions when one contemplates the question and answers it genuinely, what results can be a truly meaningful conversation. This is the lesson Lloyd Irving learned one night long ago beneath the stars of the Tethe'allan sky.
"Nothing."
Worry creased Lloyd's brow. "Huh?"
Sheena Fujibayashi looked up at the swordsman standing over her, his frame blocking out the moonlight, as steam from the bowl in his gloved hand drifted in front of his face. She'd declined earlier when he'd offered her the bowl and its contents. She still wasn't hungry. "I said, I'm feeling nothing. I'm numb."
"Really? I'd have thought you'd be feeling all kinds of things after...well, you know."
"Corrine's death."
He nodded, then verbalized his affirmation a moment later when she seemed not to notice. Her silence magnified the night's sounds: the crackling of the nearby campfire, the chirping of crickets and cicadas, and, in the distance, the hooting of an owl. On Sylvarant, owls always hooted in strings of three. Here, on Tethe'alla, they hooted twice. Lloyd chalked it up as just another difference between his world and hers.
When she was ready, she broke her silence. "There's grief, and anger, but it's as if I'm too frightened to let them out. No, it's not fear so much as wariness. As if...as if I know, once I feel these emotions, I will never feel anything good ever again."
Lloyd sank down beside her. Usually, he'd ask permission. Sheena liked her space, and he didn't want to presume. By the time he had adjusted his sword belts so that he could sit comfortably, she was staring at him with the strangest expression.
"I'll move if you want."
She shrugged, and he almost made good on his offer. Then he thought better of it. He came to comfort her, and no one was going to stop him. Not even Sheena herself.
"You know," he said, "there's plenty left in the world to feel good about."
"Name one thing."
"Friendship."
Sheena snorted. "My only friend died today, Lloyd."
"That not true."
Her hand contracted into a fist. "I was there. Are you going to tell me I didn't see my best friend die?"
Lloyd threw protective hands in front of his face."Your best friend, yes, but not your only friend. I'm your friend. So's Colette. So's Genis. We all are."
The fury drained from her face. "You are?"
"Of course we are."
She almost smiled. "I never considered...Corrine was my only friend for so long, the idea of making new friends seemed..."
"Impossible?"
She nodded.
Lloyd grinned. "But why? You're smart, funny, fun to be around, and you know how to perk me up when I'm feeling low."
"That's not who I see when I look in the mirror."
"You need a new mirror."
Sheena snatched up a blade of grass and twirled it between her fingers. "The kind of mirror I need, you can't find in a store."
"True. You have to make it yourself." Lloyd took the grass from her hand, twisted it into a knot, and tied it around her finger. "Fortunately, I'm a craftsman."
He dumped the bowl's contents, some form of stew, into the grass, and filled it with water from the canteen on his belt. He positioned the bowl so that it caught the moonlight , and pointed to the water. "Look."
"Lloyd..."
He rolled over onto his stomach. "Come on, Sheena, I worked hard on this mirror."
"You did not."
"Yuh-huh."
She stopped herself mid "nuh-uh," and--more to humor him than for any other reason--rolled onto her stomach beside him. Lloyd motioned her closer, and, with a sigh, she slid over until she could see a dim reflection in the water.
"What do you see?"
"My face."
"Describe it."
"Lloyd--"
"Please."
"There's uncertainty in my eyes, and dark circles benath them."
Lloyd inched closer and pointed at her reflection. "Uncertainty, yes, but there's something next to it. Do you see it?"
"I--" Suddenly, as if by magic, she did see. Images flashed in her mind. Of a young girl in the Temple of Lightning refusing to stop fighting despite the terror that squeezed her heart. Of a teenager dedicating herself to mastering the art whose use had killed so many of her kin. Of a young woman facing off against the very being that had killed them. "I see courage."
"Yes."
"And love."
"Right."
"And hope."
"You got it."
A smile as wide as any Lloyd had ever seen split her face. She took his hand and squeezed. She wanted to say thank you, but words seemed wholly inadequate. The grass ring, she noted, was still around her finger where Lloyd had tied it. So, plucking a blade of grass from the ground, she fashioned a twin ring around one of Lloyd's fingers.
"What's that for?"
"Friendship," she said.
END