Well, here I am with another one-shot. This is dedicated to everyone that reviewed, favorited, or just read my one-shot Meaning. I'm posting this now because it has reached 5000 hits, something I thought would never happen. And this is my thanks to everyone that helped make that happen. It was my first story, and I never thought so many people would read it. So, here's some more Sheelos as proof of my appreciation.

By the way, while the summary is in first person, the story isn't. Those were just thoughts.

Disclaimer: I don't own Tales of Symphonia.

Their journey was nearing its end. Tomorrow, they would win, and once they did, the two worlds would unite and there would finally be peace. If they failed… no, they would not fail.

Despite everyone's confidence, Sheena was feeling restless. More than that, she was paranoid. She had not shared that with anyone, for she feared that they would question her about it, and she did not feel like delving into the reason behind it. However, she felt that she had good reason to be, even if no one else was.

Earlier, at the Tower of Salvation, her group had been betrayed, by none other then the group's annoying, womanizer Zelos. It took her, and everyone else, by surprise. No one had seen it coming. Just like she had told him during his betrayal, she always that he was a good person, no matter how lowly his acts were. He had just brushed off her comment with a snide, sarcastic remark.

After his initial betrayal, he ended up saving everyone's life, including her own. Apparently, he had betrayed them so he could obtain a way for Lloyd to use the Eternal Sword—a weapon crucial to the unification of the worlds. After they managed to get out of the tower, they had returned to Heimdall, which was where they currently were, and were resting for the big day tomorrow.

It was almost midnight, Sheena guessed, and she was unable to sleep. It was partially due to anxiety about the next day, but mostly because of unanswered questions. How could everyone place their trust in Zelos so easily? How could they not be the slightest bit suspicious of him?! She could understand Lloyd and Colette not being weary of him, but weren't at least Raine and Presea suspicious of him?

More importantly, how could she continue to trust him easily? After thinking about it for a few moments, she came to her conclusion… She couldn't trust him. The only way she could convince herself she could was by talking to him, hearing his reasons and whether he was on their side or not.

Sighing tiredly, Sheena sat up and slid off the bed, striding towards the door. However, she paused and stared out the window. There was someone outside the inn, sitting on a bench. The person was being illuminated by the moonlight, and Sheena could see the man's—because the build did not seem feminine to her—red tresses.

It has to be him, Sheena thought, quietly walking out of the room so she would not wake Colette.

Once she was outside the inn, she sauntered over to Zelos, taking in the little of his appearance she could see. His head was reclined onto the top of the bench, angled so that he was looking up at the sigh. While she could not see it, Sheena imagined his expression was dazed and that he was not really seeing anything in the sky.

Once the ninja was about a yard away from him, the swordsman let out a long, exhausted sigh. Sheena could not help but wonder how long he had been out here for. Now she could see that his eyes were closed, but he looked tense.

"Zelos?" she said hesitantly.

Eyes flying open, he jerked away, jumping up and turning around. "Sheena," he breathed, "you trying to kill me? You can't normally sneak up on me."

"Guess you let your guard down," Sheena replied playfully. "What are you doing out here?"

"Nothing much. Just watching to see if any girls would come out. And lucky me, one did."

Blushing slightly, Sheena lightly punched his shoulder, not in the mood to inflict pain on him. Walking around, she sat down on the hard wood, Zelos sitting down next to her.

"So… what are you doing out here this late?" he asked after a few minutes. "I doubt you're out here just for my company."

"Heh, normally you'd be right about that."

"Normally?" he repeated, looking genuinely confused.

"I was looking for you," she stated nervously.

"Well, I'm definitely honored. But I'm tired, and I need my beauty rest for when I see my hunnies again tomorrow."

He rose, but Sheena was not about to let him leave. She grabbed onto his wrist.

"You want me to stay that much? Well, I guess that-"

"You betrayed us."

"- I could stay out here for a little while."

"You don't have anything to say?" Sheena questioned.

"You say that like you're surprised. You kinda saw me betray you, hunny."

"Why?"

"Why what?" he asked with a grin.

He's trying to get on my nerves. Sounds like he doesn't want to answer, she thought, but replied calmly, "Why did you betray us?"

"Why do you want to know?" Zelos shot back.

"Because I have a right to know."

"Just like how I have the right to keep that a secret," he smirked.

This is the most juvenile argument I've ever had with him, and I've had many.

"Zelos," she said patiently, "I just want to know. No one saw it coming, and no one's asked you about it, right?" Receiving a nod, she continued, "You want the reason why I want to know? Fine. I want to know if I can trust you, okay?"

"I can't tell you what to feel and who to trust, y'know. That's up for you to decide," Zelos said, sitting back down.

"I'm not going to get a straight answer from you, am I?" she hadn't meant to, but she phrased it as a question. She all ready knew the answer.

"Who knows, maybe I'll surprise you."

The two of them fell into a tense awkward, each wrapped up in their own thoughts. Sheena could not figure out why Zelos was still outside with her. He could have easily ignored her wishes and went back inside, but instead he was still outside with her. It did not make sense to the summoner.

"How much longer do you want to stay out here, Sheena?"

Not allowing her surprise to show—he actually said her name—she answered, "Until you start talking to me."

"Okay, then. What happened to us?"

"Huh? What are you talking about?"

"You didn't tell me what I had to talk about. So answer my question and I might answer yours."

Where the hell does he get off making me do stuff?! Ah well, might as well act decent to him. Maybe he'll do the same for me…. On second thought, no he wouldn't.

"Fine, I'll answer the question. But at least make it make sense. What do you mean 'what happened to us'?"

"Why'd you start hating me?" he mumbled.

"Hating you?" she questioned, tilting her head. "Zelos, I don't hate. I've never hated you." Now she was the one who was confused. How did he reach that conclusion? It was true that he had a questionable personality, but she never hated him. Never.

"Yeah, I believe that," he said sarcastically. "Why'd we drift apart then?"

"Some things just happen Zelos," she sighed, knowing immediately what he was talking about. "We just… weren't right for each other."

"I can get that, even if I don't agree. But, that still doesn't explain why you acted like you hated me."

"Because you changed, Zelos! You started flirting with those other girls, even when we were together."

"What the hell are you talking about, Sheena?! I never did that."

"You started acting like a jerk to everyone, including me," Sheena continued, ignoring his statement. "So, what happened to you Zelos? Why did you change?"

"Maybe I did change," he said with a shrug, "but you did too. You've become less perceptive. You're a ninja, right? So why can't you see through lies as well as you could?"

"Zelos, why are you now just bringing this up?" She only asked that because she did not know how to answer the previous question. "That was a long time ago."

"Two years. Does it really feel that long to you?" Zelos questioned nonchalantly, even though Sheena could detect a faint sadness.

Has it really only been that long? She thought solemnly, but instead replied, "Feels like a whole other lifetime. I guess that… we've both just changed. Everyone does, so maybe it was inevitable. Why'd you distance yourself from me by treating me like I didn't even matter?"

With a humorless chuckle, he responded, "Would you want to be close to someone when you believed you were going to die to save the world?"

That answer took Sheena by surprise. Her eyes widened and she was barely able to contain a gasp. Was that his real reason? "Are you serious?" she found herself asking.

"Yeah, I am. I figured that… that if I was gonna die, you shouldn't be sad over it."

"So, you wanted me to hate you?" This was beginning to make no sense to her.

"Damn it, I don't know what the hell I wanted, Sheena. I guess it doesn't matter anymore, does it? Things change, people change, feelings change, why should I be so hung up over it?"

"Let me get this straight, 'cause I really want to understand. You changed how you acted towards me so you could hurt me, but it was for my own well-being? So I wouldn't hurt as much if you had to fulfill your duties as the Chosen?"

"Sure makes me sound noble when you put it like that," he joked.

"And is that what you meant when you said I couldn't see through lies? 'Because I couldn't figure you out?"

"Basically. At least, I think. I said most of those things because of the heat of the moment. Don't take it too personally, my banshee."

With a small smile, Sheena asked, "Now that I've answered your question, can you answer mine?"

"Depends, if I do, will you do me a favor?"

"… I just did!"

"Naw, that wasn't a favor. You answered 'cause you wanted to, not because I was forcing you to. If you want the answer so much, then you gotta do something for me."

What do I have to lose? With a sigh, Sheena conceded, "Fine, I'll do you a favor. But I better be getting your honest answer."

"Of course. I betrayed you guys so I could help you. But originally, I… betrayed you to save my own life. Yggdrasill offered to remove my status as the Chosen, like I believe you heard. If I wasn't the Chosen anymore… I wouldn't have had to sacrifice myself for Tethe'alla."

Sheena had a sinking feeling in her stomach when she asked, "And if you didn't have to die for the world, that would mean…"

"Maybe… maybe I could've been with you. If you forgave for all the crap I've put you through, that is," he chuckled.

"I'm glad you can joke about that Zelos, but there was I good chance I could've ended up dead because of what you did. Everyone could've died."

That sobered Zelos up. "I wouldn't have let you die, Sheena. I would've done anything for you to live, even if you wouldn't do the same for me. I would've died for you Sheena. Honestly, I was prepared to die."

"Y-you're not serious, are you? Zelos Wilder, don't tell me you're suicidal!"

"I wouldn't go that far hunny. Just know that I value your life more than my own."

Sheena felt touched by his words; words she could tell were true. There was more to him than she had thought which she found bizarre because she felt that, out of anyone else here, she knew him the best. But, apparently that was a lie. Zelos Wilder was an enigma. She was not sure if anyone knew the real him, but if given the chance, she knew that she would like to.

"You all right Sheena? You seem a little out of it."

"Yeah Zelos, I'm fine."

"Well, you want to ask me anything else, or have I satisfied your curiosity?"

"That's it Zelos." She knew now, without a shadow of a doubt, that she could trust Zelos, even more than she used to. He deserved her trust, since he had been looking out for her all along.

"Well," he began, sitting up and stretching, "we should probably go in now. They'd be screwed if we couldn't fight because we were tired."

Laughing, she sat up. "Yeah, let's go."

However, she was unable to walk away because Zelos had grabbed her hand. She almost lost her balance as he turned her around. "One more thing, then we'll go in. I want to ask you for that favor."

"Fine," she sighed, "what do you want me to do?"

"Don't hit me, okay?"

Sheena quirked an eyebrow and tilted her head. Before she could ask anything, she was silenced by Zelos's lips hesitantly touching hers. She had almost forgotten what it felt like—to be kissed by him. It had been so long… maybe even too long. Unfortunately, he pulled away before she could react.

"Sorry Sheena, but I couldn't help it. It's been a long time. So yeah, don't hit me," he muttered, nervously scratching his head and staring at the ground.

"What made you think that?" she asked with true curiosity.

"I figured you wouldn't want me kissing you because of… of all the stuff we've been through."

With a smile, she replied, "Well, you thought wrong. I wouldn't have hit you because, well…"

… I wanted to do that too.

Well, here's my story. I hope it didn't suck too badly because, honestly, I wrote all but the first two paragraphs today. Once I started, I just couldn't stop. Plus, the hits counter for Meaning just suddenly spiked and I knew I had to hurry and write if I wanted to accomplish what I wanted to do.

So, please review. Let me know if I'm cut out for non-angsty stories. I consider this a little sweeter than most of the stuff I write, so let me know if you feel the same way. Also, let me know if you would consider this romance. I wouldn't exactly consider it romance, but I'm going to say it is in the genre. Guess you could consider it light romance.

Hopefully, I'll come back to the Sheelos section soon. Don't know if anyone'll miss me, but I'll hopefully write something soon (Sorry for the long, annoying A/Ns).