Hello there everyone! :D This is my very first Tales of Symphonia fanfiction and I'm very excited about it! I've been a huge fan of it for a year now so I finally decided to write with the characters. This one does involve an OC so if you don't like them, please hit the back button now. :)

Now, for those of you who are still here, it's basically going to bounce back and forth between Zelos's point of view and my OC's point of view. (I haven't given out her name in this chapter yet so you don't get to know it in the author's note either, sorry!) I may end up changing the title of this story later on, so if you search for it later and can't find it I've probably renamed it.

Anyways, enjoy! :D

Disclaimer: I do not own Tales of Symphonia or the song Uchi e Kaerou by Nana Mizuki.

Screaming. There was someone screaming. I was running in darkness. Was I running to the screaming, or away from it? I couldn't tell, it was the same volume no matter which way I ran. I cried out, asking what was wrong, who they were, but all I got back as an answer was the scream. I couldn't take much more of this.

I shot out of bed and my eyes opened wide as I hit the floor with a loud thump. I groaned, rubbing my head as I picked myself up, relaxing as I realized it was just a nightmare. I stood up slowly as I heard Sebastian knock on the door.

"Master Zelos, are you alright?" he asked through the door.

"Yes, I'm fine. You can come in." he pushed his way into the room, carrying a tray with my breakfast.

"Master Zelos, was it the same dream as before?"

I frowned at how he had guessed it so easily. "Unfortunately."

"Are these dreams disturbing your sleep? Would you like to see a doctor?"

I doubted anything could stop them with the intensity they had, so I shook my head, taking my breakfast from him. "It's fine Sebastian. Thanks."

He bowed and left the room.

I sighed, looking down at my breakfast. It would be delicious, like all of the food that Sebastian makes, but my appetite was gone. I could still faintly hear the screaming in my head. I set the tray down, looking out the window of my room. The rainy day didn't help me to get my mind off of the nightmare. After all, it was raining that day too…

*Eight years ago*

"Master Zelos! Can I walk with you to school?" a pretty young girl with blonde hair stood in front of me, blushing the slightest. I grinned, tossed back my hair and was about to respond in the most dazzling way I could when a group of girls approached, fury written across their faces at the thought of not being the one to escort me to school.

"No, no! I want to walk with Zelos!"

"Who would want to hang out with you? He obviously prefers someone with a higher status."

"Shut up Denise. Your father is just going to waste all of that money on alcohol anyway!"

"Get out of the way, I'm walking with Zelos!" a fourth girl screeched.

The rest of the girls in my class who were on the way to school quickly spotted us and made a beeline towards us. It looked like I should stop this mess before it got any worse. I sighed, preparing myself to put on my public face and cleared my throat.

"Hunnies, hunnies! Obviously I would love the chance to get to walk with every one of you beautiful creatures. So why don't we-"

I was interrupted by another girl's scream, but by the tone of it she seemed to be protesting about something far more important.

"LET GO OF ME! LET GO, LET GO, LET GO!" the shriek came from the entrance of Meltokio, and all the girls around me were quickly hushed by this terrible wail.

"Someone shut her up!" came a man's order, followed quickly by louder screeching from the girl and the sound of a struggle.

"Excuse me hunnies," I said bluntly and rushed off to investigate the sounds.

"But Master Zelos! You'll miss morning class!" I ignored the girl who cried out after me, I hated chemistry anyway.

I rounded a corner and quickly discovered the source of the racket.

A young girl, who appeared to be a few years younger than me, was struggling in vain against the ropes that bound her body and the two Papal Knights who attempted to hold her to the ground. Her eyes were screwed shut in the effort and her mouth was wide open in a continuous shrill scream. She had blood running down her face from a gash right above her left eye and her brown hair was matted with sweat against her head.

I frowned, trying to assess the situation in front of me, but it was so hard to think with the high-pitched wailing. A third knight finally managed to stuff a cloth in her mouth, muting the sound, but the stubborn little thing continued her yelling and thrashing.

"Can't you men handle a little girl?" the commander of the knights asked angrily, stepping forward to intervene.

"Sir! She has an exsphere. It's very hard to manage!" one of the knights cried desperately.

"Well then, knock her out!" he commanded.

The girl kept up her struggles, but her movements were becoming more sluggish and her scream didn't seem to be as loud as before. Finally, after the ten minutes she had been yelling, a knight finally managed to strike her on the back of the head, and she collapsed, becoming eerily quiet.

The two Papal Knights who had been battling with her the whole time finally stood up, sighing with relief.

"Someone had better take off her exsphere before she wakes up." One of them suggested.

Another knight approached the group and asked, "What'd she do?"

"She was hiding half-elves in the Foogi Mountains. We suspect she was part of the group that helped them to the safe house just outside of Ozette."

"A nine-year old girl? Surely not!"

"Oh yeah. She took out a good half of our party. It took all our power just to capture her. Unfortunately the rest of the trash got away. We're here to present her to the Pope and then send out reinforcements to capture the half-elves."

"The Pope isn't here right now, he should be back by tomorrow though. For now, place her in the prison."

"Right,"

I slipped away unnoticed, my mind buzzing with thoughts about this girl and how she managed to fend off many Papal Knights single handed. She was certainly a force to be reckoned with. But when the Pope arrived she'd most likely be sentenced to death. I looked back once more at the retreating knights with the limp body held by one of them. The girl was damned unless someone helped.

I sighed and tossed my hair back again, huffing. Guess I'd have to help the poor hunny in distress.

It's pretty hard to be stealthy when everyone in your town knows your face. I was quickly discovering this fact after I'd been stopped five times on my way to the Coliseum.

"Chosen One, what are you doing out so late?" an older woman asked me as I tried sneaking past her. "Shouldn't you be at home?"

I resisted the temptation to roll my eyes and smiled up at her. "I have been requested to see the King, but I thank you to for your concern. But shouldn't someone as lovely as yourself have an escort? It's dangerous for beautiful women to be out late at night."

The woman giggled behind a hand at my charm. "Oh, you naughty boy. I'll be quite fine, I assure you. Just be careful, alright?" She pinched my cheek and walked off.

I scowled at her back, rubbing my face where I was pinched and continued on my way.

After two more forced conversations I found myself at the Colisseum's doors. I pushed the doors open, hoping that Lady Luck would be with me. I saw the young woman behind the desk and grinned. It seemed tonight she would be.

"Chosen One!" she exclaimed. "What are you doing here so late at night?"

I bowed low, planning to make this conversation as over the top as I could to get to the jail. "My apologies, beautiful lady of the night. I dread to tell you that I cannot tell someone as lovely as yourself the secrets that plague my mind. But I assure you my business here is of the utmost importance and I must ask that keep any other visitors out of the side rooms for tonight."

"My, such flattery…" she sighed. "If only you were ten years older! Of course I will!" she agreed happily.

I smiled genuinely at that. It would help me immensely if I had fewer witnesses. "Oh, and one more thing. Could you do me a favor and pretend I was never here?"

"Of course Chosen One,"

I thanked her and went into the side room, looking in the dark room for the door that would lead me to the jail. Oddly enough there weren't any guards around.

"I guess without her exosphere she isn't much of a threat…" I mumbled to myself as I opened the unlocked door.

I stepped into the room and froze at the sound of the most beautiful voice. She was singing.

"Tori ha sora he mushi ha hatake he sorezore no ieji yo

Ichibanboshi hikkatta

Uchi he kaerou

Atatakai waga ya he" (1)

The song had put me into such a happy trance that I forgot where I was or what I was doing. I blinked and shook my head, hoping she wouldn't start singing again before I spoke to her; otherwise I'd be stuck there all night.

It was dark in the jail and I could barely make out her form in the back cell. The moonlight came in halfheartedly through the little window at the back of the room, lighting the place up just enough so I could see my path to the cell.

Her head swung around towards me the second I took a step, her eyes glittering in the half light. I still couldn't tell what color they were, and this fact seemed to bother me.

"Who's there?" she called out softly, approaching the bars of her cell to get a better look. There was dried blood on her face and she looked like a worse mess than when I first saw her.

I remained silent and walked far enough into the room so she could see my face in the glow of the moonlight. She back farther into her cell with each step I took until she was at the back wall, the top half of her body was cover in shadow.

"…Are you the one who's going to kill me?" she asked, fear making her voice shake. I felt pity well up inside me along with the rage of anger. My heart broke as I thought about all the things that had been done to her in the past twelve hours. She had been beaten by men twice her size, thrown into a cold jail with only the floor to sleep on, and was completely alone. The Papal Knights had said she was nine, but she barely looked older than six or seven in this light and the crouched position she was in. The cold and sadness in the jail reminded me of a terrible, snowy day in my past…

"No," he reassured her, smiling softly. "No hunny, I'm here to rescue you."

She never told me her name, and I didn't ask for it. It just didn't seem like an appropriate thing to talk about at the time. But she had plenty of questions for me as I snuck her out of Meltokio. Most of them involved the half-elves that she had kept hidden, and whether or not they were safe. I answered her questions the best I could with the little information I had on the subject, but she seemed grateful for the few answers I had. I was happy to find her talking and functioning well after her ordeal. Most children her age would be crying, but she never complained once, even after I told her our escape route would be through the sewers of Meltokio. She did crinkle her nose after I explained this to her, but agreed nonetheless.

She lapsed into silence about halfway through the sewers, simply looking around in wonder at the place. What could be so wondrous about a sewer, I would never know.

I was bursting with a million questions about her time with the half-elves, how she had been found and captured and why she was even involved with half-elves at such a young age, but finally I just asked a simple unrelated question, breaking the silence. "Where did you learn that song?"

She cocked her head to the side, thinking about it. She always seemed to have her face turned away from me, almost as if she didn't want me to see it. Finally she answered, "In a place far, far away from here." Her voice was surprisingly soft and quiet when she spoke normally. I almost couldn't believe that this was the same girl who had screamed like an alarm for ten minutes straight.

"I may not pay much attention in geography class, but I do know most of the towns in Tethe'alla. I'll probably know the name if you give it to me."

She shook her head at my offer. "No," she said simply. "Trust me, you don't know about it."

"Oh… alright," I was dumbfounded. I'd never been rejected by a girl before. I didn't really know where to go with the conversation now. Luckily, she decided it for me.

"What's your name?"

I blinked in surprise. I didn't think there was anybody in Tethe'alla who didn't know who the Chosen One is, but I answered anyway. "Z-zelos Wilder."

She giggled at the tone of my voice, her laugh sounding like tiny bells. "Nice to meet you Z-zelos Wilder."

Her laugh was contagious, and I couldn't help but smile myself.

"How old are you?" was her umpteenth question of the night, but I had a feeling I'd answer her questions until the end of time.

"Twelve. But I'll be turning thirteen soon."

"I'm sorry I can't be there for it," she apologized, sounding sincere. "You're very nice. I was afraid that all Meltokio people were mean…"

"Those men were Papal Knights, they work for the Pope. Only terrible people would attack a nine-year old girl!" I declared, letting my emotions get the better of me. I took a breath and tried to remain calm.

"Thanks, but I get in trouble with the knights a lot, I knew who they were. I was just afraid that everybody hated half-elves and half-elf supporters in Tethe'alla."

"Right…" I agreed unwillingly. I wasn't a supporter of half-elves in the slightest, but I didn't want to tell her.

"Don't lie to me Zelos Wilder," she said, sudden strength in her voice. "I can tell you don't like them either! …but that's okay. Maybe one day you will. After all, it can't rain forever. The sun will come through some day. Maybe not next year or the next hundred years after it, but some day humans and elves will accept half-elves! I don't have to be there to know it will happen."

This young girl just seemed to be full of surprises. I said nothing to her speech, just kept walking, knowing we'd reach the end in a few minutes.

Finally when we were at the exit she paused and turned back to look at me. It was still too dark to see much so all I could make out was the shape of her face which seemed to irk me to no end. I desperately wanted to see the color of her eyes.

"What color are your eyes?" I burst out suddenly as she opened her mouth to speak. She smiled at my question, then laughed a bit.

"How about this Zelos Wilder?" she began, "You come find me some day, and I'll tell you then."

I was about to protest when she raised her hand in a signal of goodbye and turned away into the world beyond Meltokio. A part of me envied her freedom and anonymity.

She was almost a speck on the horizon when I shouted out my last words to her.

"I hope you find your sun!"

I can only hope she heard me.

(1)- This song is called Uchi e Kaerou (the song that Colette sings in the anime). If you haven't heard it and want to, here's the link: .com/watch?v=2Zs-Tc610rU&feature=related Well, I hope you like the first chapter! :D Let me know what you thought about it and I'll try to update it soon!

~KristyStar*