Title: There's A First Time for Everything
Author: kaosu fujibayashi
Description: sheena's first speech as cheif.
Rating: T
DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN TALES OF SYMPHONIA!...i wish i did.
Chapter One: The Speech
Sheena sighed heavily, blowing air out her nose.
"Mmmh…"
She walked around the village of Mizuho, thinking to herself. She was scared; it was her first day as Chief of the village and they automatically expected her to give some big inauguration speech or something. To make things worse, her friends from the Journey of Regeneration had somehow caught word of this event and had soon come knocking at the village gates. She hadn't seen them all in a while: Lloyd, Colette, Genis, Raine, Regal, Presea, and even Zelos had come. Kratos had also shown up for the occasion, although soon he would be leaving for Derris-Kharlan.
A crowd had gathered in front of the small wooden podium that her grandfather, Tiga, and Orochi had been standing near, waiting for her.
"Might as well get this over with…"
She muttered to herself, walking in the direction of the mass.
You can do this…Just breathe…
Sheena stepped up to the podium, adjusted the microphone, and cleared her throat. How come she had seen Tiga and Grandfather do this so many times, yet had never seen them as nervous as she was now? Ugh, Martel, and just as a silence fell over the crowd, that Idiot Chosen had to go and open his big mouth; yelling her name and waving his arms. That wasn't helping either.
Rolling her eyes, Sheena turned to look at Orochi, who nodded his head.
Start now. Okay…this was it.
She nodded weakly in return, turning back to the mob that fell silent again as Raine hushed Zelos.
"Uh…hello." She began, gulping soon after.
Not off to a good start.
"Uh, I, Sheena Fujibayashi, the new Chief of Mizuho, have made my first decree. Now that the worlds have been reunited, I have declared that the village of Mizuho be moved into the Ymir Forest, near the elf village of Heimdall."
The crowd whispered their mixed thoughts.
"I-if you're wondering if I've gotten the approval of the elf village. I have, as well as the King of Tethe'alla. And, well, we will begin the move in the coming months…and…um…" She paused, regaining her thoughts, before taking in a deep breath. "I think it will be a learning experience for the whole village if we…" Sheena mumbled, stumbling over her words.
She could do this. She could DO this.
She couldn't do this.
Fidgeting a couple times, Sheena knocked against the podium and dashed for the trees. Naturally, Lloyd, Zelos, and Orochi's voices called out for her to come back, but she kept running, tears running down her face.
She couldn't do it. She was scared.
Of giving the speech, of being the chief, of facing her friends. Everything.
The ninja soon found shelter under one of the many tall trees, wiping her own tears with her glove.
"I've gotta stop being so nervous all the time…" she said, standing up. "I have to stand up for –"
"That was a lovely speech, Sheena." A familiar voice cackled, and Sheena stopped moving. Kuchinawa appeared out of the forest, smiling and clapping slowly.
"What the –" Sheena gasped, turning around and pulling out her summoning cards.
"Cyclone Seal!"
In an act to protect herself, Sheena moved quickly, watching as Kuchinawa easily dodged the spinning green circle on the floor.
"You haven't changed, I see." The red-clad ninja spoke coolly. "It's the same pattern you used the last time we fought."
Kuchinawa pulled out kunai knives, flicking them at her. Sheena attempted to dodge again…
"Erk…"
She cringed as one of them nicked the side of her neck, spewing blood almost instantly. Clutching her neck, the kunoichi closed her eyes and dropped to the floor in a reluctant submission.
"Gah…"
She watched her opponent, her vision blurring as she swayed sideways onto the wood floor.
Kuchinawa simply laughed.
And she faded away, a streak of light blue being the last thing she saw.
"Sheena?"
"Uh…"
"Sheena?"
"Guh…what?" She kept her eyes closed, listening to the voice. Definitely male – Kuchinawa? No. The voice was cold, deep, and hardened with age.
"R…"
"Good. You're awake. I was afraid I had come too late."
She suddenly remembered the flash of light blue she'd seen before she'd blacked out.
"Regal?"
Her eyes fluttered open, a sharp pain causing her to clench her jaw and cringe at the immense pain flowing through even the tips of her fingers. Regal, brighter-eyed than as she normally saw him, glanced over at her.
"Yes?" he asked.
"You…you saved me." She had noticed that Kuchinawa was nowhere to be found.
"I had to." Regal said. "After you left, Lloyd wanted to go find you. Zelos mentioned that it probably wouldn't be a good idea, and so we waited awhile. I was rather worried about all of them and how worried they were about you, so I elected myself to sneak out and find you to make sure you were all right. I never intended for you to see me…" he explained, falling quiet. Sheena smiled despite the pain in her neck.
"But when I saw that you had been ambushed, I had to do something." The man concluded.
"Thanks." She replied, making Regal engage in a half-smile.
"You're welcome." He nodded.
With that, Sheena lowered her head, releasing the tension in her shoulders.
"You were going to bleed out, or rather…I thought you were. Where you were hit is dangerously close to where a major vein resides." – He pointed to roughly where her wound was – " I was a bit frantic, so I patched it up." He then pointed to a rip in his pants along the hem.
Sheena laughed weakly – she never thought she knew Regal too well, but he had saved her life just the same.
"Can you walk?" The man asked.
"I think so."
Regal helped Sheena up and assisted her back to the village, muttering, "Maybe you can finish that speech you started…"
A reddish-black figure retreated into the woods.