Author's Note: Okay, before I begin, I have to say that this isn't shouen-ai. Just the friendship between two boys, okay? It's not anything more in the slightest (though I guess you can have it that way if you want to..). But really, I was a little disappointed at the lack of stories about this subject – I enjoyed Genis's relationship with this person, so this just was begging to be written about. There are indeed spoilers here, so if you haven't finished the game, this might be something you want to skip over.

Disclaimer: Tales of Symphonia belongs to Namco… I think everyone knows that by now, right?

Not Quite

Figures it would rain today.

I mean, rain is always associated with sadness; all of Raine's books always have some sappy scene in the rain. (Those are usually romantic, though, right? Or maybe they were associated with drama. I forget)

This… wasn't quite the picture I had in mind.

Here I was, sitting in front of his grave with white lilies. Sad part is, all I could think about was how incredibly stupid he was.

I trusted him. We all trusted him.

Yet, how could we have not noticed that he was a traitor? How could we have not seen the look of betrayal in his eyes?

Could I have been so ignorant as to not have suspected a thing?

"You stupid jerk," I murmured, rubbing the edge of his gravestone with my fingers. "We all really liked you, you know that? I... did too. You were my friend, though I didn't act much like it."

There went a crack; lightning flashed behind me. I didn't care. Lightning may be scary (and it could probably shock me), but this was more important.

I sighed, leaning against the side as I set the flowers down.

Sure, I was getting drenched. I sneezed - there went my chances of passing off as unharmed. "I'm sorry," I murmured.

Maybe it was the rain... my eyes wouldn't focus. Everything just kept getting blurrier and blurrier (I wasn't crying, I swear! Not over him!)

"Genis? It's... time to go."

I looked up; there was Sheena, holding an umbrella to shield her from the sky's tears.

Shaking my head no, I glanced back over at the grave. "Do... I have to, Sheena?"

She was crying. Yet, she extended her free hand. "...Yeah," She finally said, her voice shaking. "You paid your respects. I think he'd be happy to know that you still care for him."

As I rose with her help, letting the final flower fall to the ground, she raised an eyebrow. "Are you... crying?"

Nodding (and knowing I had to admit it to her), I shakily replied, "I know.. I shouldn't be..."

"...But the tears just won't stop coming," She murmured. Taking my drenched hand, we walked out of the graveyard.

I glanced back at the gravestone one last time, knowing very well the inscription there.

'Here Lies Zelos Wilder.

Friend, protector, elder brother.

May you rest in peace.'