Tales of Symphonia

The sun was setting, giving off its bright rays of yellow, orange, and red over the world; and from Lloyd's group's point of view, it was the perfect thing to take a break and look at. Of course we had a few protests from yours truly, Kratos, who had said that they should keep moving till it gets completely dark. With much pleading from the children of the group, and some minor convincing from Raine, he finally sighed and gave in.

They set up camp near the bottom of a hill, which at the top contained a small meadow looking out over the ocean. After everything was set up, the group went to do their own things: Genis, trying to help Raine put out a fire she had caused from trying to fry oil, Kratos, sitting on a log keeping lookout and watching in amusement at the scene that was occurring a few feet away from him, Lloyd, getting a bucket of water to help, and Collette, who knows what's she's doing; she was nowhere to be seen.

Lloyd came running frantically with the bucket of sloshing water, "Don't worry guys! Here!" He threw the water directly at them, soaking Genis and Raine, but successfully putting out the fire. Lloyd surveyed the scene triumphantly, but soon started to cower away when he saw Raine's expression. Her face was turning red, and steam seemed to be coming out of her ears.

"You better run Lloyd! She's mad!" Genis said, already hiding behind Kratos. Lloyd looked at Kratos for help, but all he did was smirk. What am I supposed to do now! Shit, shit, shit, shit! Lloyd thought as he ran away from Raine. She was gaining on him, but he made a dive for the trees. He climbed it like a little monkey, reaching the top in no time.

"You can't get up here right Professor?" Lloyd asked meekly. She seemed to have calmed down, but glared at him. Maybe she's PMSing, Lloyd thought. He figured that made sense, since this "angry" Professor wasn't how the normal Raine would act.

Lloyd's POV

Deciding to wait until she left, I looked out over the horizon. It was going down very slowly, and its rays were absolutely beautiful over the ocean. But as I was looking, a glint of yellow caught my eye on the hill. I saw Collette sitting there, staring out over the horizon as well.

I jumped down from my hiding place, and ran up the hill, looking behind me to make sure Raine wasn't following; and luckily, she wasn't. I relaxed a little as I approached Collette.

"Hey," I said sitting down next to her. "Why aren't you with the others?" I looked at her. She seemed a little startled, but smiled at me.

"Oh! Hi, Lloyd. Um, I'm sorry! I just really wanted to see the sun set," she said, scratching behind her head in embarrassment. She giggled after and said, "It's really beautiful isn't it?"

I looked at her again, but this time, I noticed something. She was shining, and it was more beautiful than the sun. Her bubbly personality was probably brighter than the sun, and that's what made Collette so fun to be around. She was almost never sad, and made the most of things to make other people happy. She was so caring and considerate, and not to mention pretty.

I blushed at my previous thought, of her being both beautiful and pretty. I guess there was no denying it… I liked Collette. I know, I seem really mature right now, but being around her makes me think about things.

I looked at Collette, but her expression was changed. I could see the obvious sorrow in her eyes, and the frown that had now made its way onto her face. "What's wrong Collette?" I asked, concerned.

All she did was keep looking out at the sun, her arms wrapped around her knees until she finally spoke after a few moments, "Oh, it's nothing; I was just thinking…"

I tilted my head confused and completely clueless, "Thinking what?"

She smiled and giggled a little at me, but she was still sad, "Just thinking… What's going to happen when this journey is over? I'll have regenerated the world, but I'm scared. I'm scared that I won't be able to see everything else in the world. I'm really honored to be the Chosen One, but I just… It's hard to give everything you love up."

She looked directly at me when she said the last part. I was definitely surprised at her confession. She was scared? Of course she was scared, what am I thinking? But all this time she was happy-go-lucky and seemed as if she didn't have a fear in the world. Has she been holding this in all this time? I wanted her to stay and experience the world, to be happy. That's what she deserves.

"Don't worry Collette. After the world is regenerated, you can come back to Iselia." I said, leaning back on the grass.

She looked at me, with her eyes open, as if I had just told her she was pregnant or something. But her expression changed, and she smiled sincerely at me, "Really?" she asked.

I gave her a clueless look, but then smiled and said, "Of course; after you come back we can travel the world together. Just you and me." I propped up my head on my elbow, and looked at her directly in the eyes. "I promise," I said, extending a pinky her way.

She looked at me, a pool of tears surrounding her eyes. She took her pinky and wrapped it around mine, "Thank you, Lloyd." She wiped away the tears quickly and said, "I'm sorry! I ruined the sunset for us…"

She was right, it was already dark; but I didn't care. "It's ok, we can just look at it tomorrow, and the next day, and every day after that even after the regeneration of the world." I smiled at her again, and then stood up. "We should probably head back." I put my hand out for her to grab so I could help her up. She smiled, and accepted it.

"Thank you Lloyd," she said again, looking at me with sincerity.

I just smiled again. Man, I really can't stop smiling. Just seeing her like that makes me smile. A lot.

We started to tread up the hill back to camp, but I looked back over the ocean. Someday; someday she's going to smile as bright as that sun because of me. I'm sure of it. I thought, smiling to myself.

"Lloyd! Come on!" Collette yelled from the top of the hill. I started to run to her.

Yep, I'll make her happy for as long as I live; that's a promise.

Thanks for reading! Please review what you think :3

-Tales