This is dedicated to greenninja93 for the awesome reviews on all of my ToS fics! Thank you so so much! I hope you like this!

Rated for some language. This is mostly just a Zelos and Lloyd friendship story, but the ending could be hinting at the something more! :D

I don't own Tales of Symphonia.

The entire group was taking a few days to rest in Meltokio before splitting up and going their separate ways. They had saved the world a few days ago – Cruxis and the Desians were destroyed, the worlds reunited. Yuan had the Renegades helping with the merge; Martel was finally at peace, Mithos dead, the Great Tree growing. Kratos was out in space somewhere on the drifting remains of Derris Kharlan.

Sheena, Raine, and Genis were in Zelos' main conference room making plans and discussing all that still had to be done. They stopped talking abruptly, however, when they heard a large crash upstairs followed by pounding feet on the stairs and yelling.

"Goddammit, Zelos! Give it back!" Lloyd yelled, chasing Zelos around the bottom floor of his mansion.

Zelos laughed and dodged Lloyd's frantic lunge, holding something high over his head, as Lloyd crashed to the floor.

"Ah, ah, ah, Lloydie!" he said between laughs. "You'll get it back – once I show the others!"

Lloyd pushed himself into a sitting position, panting softly, his face red, fists clenched on his knees.

"Zelos! Please, just give it back!" he said through clenched teeth.

"Hmm," Zelos pretended to think, tapping his chin with his empty hand. He grinned, "Nah!"

"Zelos!" Lloyd growled, standing up and making his way to the redhead.

Zelos cackled and fled. Lloyd followed close on his heels, but stopped abruptly when Zelos skidded into the large room where most of the group was gathered.

"Hey, guys!" Zelos yelled, still laughing as he quickly positioned himself on the other side of the table, watching the doorway for Lloyd to appear.

Lloyd stood just outside the doorframe, out of Zelos' sight, body shaking slightly. His teeth hurt from clenching his jaw, and he could feel hot tears starting to gather on his eyelashes.

Fine. Let them think what they want. He was out of there. Lloyd turned on his heel and left the mansion, pulling out his Rheaird and flying away, ignoring Sebastian's inquiries as to where he was going.

"Zelos, what the hell's wrong with you?" Sheena yelled, smacking the still-laughing former Chosen.

"Little Lloydie has a girrrlfriend!" Zelos cackled.

"Really? How do you know?" Sheena asked, her eyes narrowed suspiciously but curious nonetheless.

Raine merely lifted an eyebrow at the thought and shared a glance with Genis. Lloyd? A girlfriend?

"Well, when I went to his room just now, he was looking at something, but as soon as I came in, he stuffed it under his pillow. I pretended not to notice, then pounced and grabbed it before he could stop me, naturally," Zelos explained with a smirk.

Genis rolled his eyes, "Of course your first response was to steal it."

"So what was it?" Sheena asked.

"This!" Zelos declared proudly, placing a picture down on the table in front of Sheena.

Sheena picked it up and examined it. It was a candid picture of a young brunette laughing. Her brown eyes were sparkling and her shoulder length hair was shining in the light.

"Wow. She's pretty!" Sheena said, passing the picture to Raine.

"Yes, she is," Raine murmured, studying the photo.

"Lemme see, lemme see!" Genis said, squirming in his chair impatiently.

"Genis! Behave!" Raine said, before sighing and passing him the picture.

"Go, Lloyd!" Genis said, grinning as he looked at it.

"Hell yeah! Our bud has good taste!" Zelos said, slapping Genis on the back, who turned to glower at him.

Sheena rolled her eyes, "Of course he does – he's not airheaded like you."

"Sheeena!" Zelos whined, pretending to pout.

Colette, Presea, and Regal entered the mansion, Regal carrying several bags.

"I should start preparing the meal," Regal said, juggling the bags of groceries.

"I will help you," Presea said.

Regal smiled at her.

"I'll go find everyone and let them know we're back!" Colette chirped happily.

Regal and Presea headed to the kitchen while Colette headed to the conference room, following the sounds of everyone talking.

She walked in to Zelos dodging a chair cushion that Sheena had just chucked at him.

"Hi everyone! We're back!" Colette said.

"Oh, Colette. Where are Regal and Presea?" Raine asked.

"Colette, guess what?" Zelos asked, excitedly snatching something off the table and bouncing over to her.

"They're in the kitchen cooking, Professor. What's that, Zelos?" Colette asked, cocking her head.

"A picture Lloyd was hiding from us – it's his girlfriend!" Zelos exclaimed.

"I didn't know Lloyd had a girlfriend…" Colette mused, looking confused.

"Well, obviously he's been holding out on us! Here, take a look!" Zelos said, extending the picture.

Colette took it and looked down at it closely. Her smile faded and she clutched the picture tightly.

"Zelos, this is not Lloyd's girlfriend!" she said urgently.

"Colette, what's wrong?" Raine asked, watching her student closely.

"Where's Lloyd?" Colette asked, ignoring Raine's question.

"I don't know. I'll ask Sebastian," Zelos said, leaving the room to find the butler.

"Colette, are you okay?" Genis asked, suddenly worried.

Colette shook her head. She opened her mouth to say something, but closed it again when Zelos quickly reentered the room, visibly shaken.

"Lloyd's gone!" He exclaimed.

"What the hell do you mean, Lloyd's gone?" Sheena exclaimed, quickly standing up.

"He's gone! Sebastian said he ran out as soon as I came in here and flew away somewhere on his Rheaird!" Zelos explained.

"What the hell? You should never have taken that picture!" Sheena shouted.

"Don't you think I know that now! I didn't know he'd freak out! I was just teasing!" Zelos said.

"It isn't like Lloyd to run away…" Genis said, worried for his friend.

"Don't worry, I'll find him," Zelos said, looking determined.

"Me too," Sheena said, nodding.

"Wait. Colette, do you know the woman in the picture?" Raine asked, staring intently at the blonde.

Colette answered, her usually smiling face completely serious, "Yes. It's Lloyd's mother."

Lloyd sat at the top of the Fooji Mountains. The area behind him was where they had first crash-landed into Tethe'alla, and later where Colette had regained her heart and memories. He sat at the very edge, hugging his knees to his chest as he looked out at the setting sun.

His mind registered the sound of an approaching Rheaird, but he ignored it, lost in his own memories. Zelos landed his Rheaird next to Lloyd's, frowning when the brunette didn't move an inch.

Hesitantly, he approached his friend, "Lloyd?"

No response. Not even a muscle twitch.

Zelos sat down next to Lloyd, staring intently at his face. When Lloyd didn't react, the redhead sighed, running his gloved fingers throw his tangled mane. He turned his gaze out to the sky.

"Lloyd, I'm sorry. It was wrong of me to take that picture, and to tease you about it."

Lloyd fingers tightened on his legs, clutching his pants tightly. When he blinked, his eyes stayed close for a beat longer than necessary. Otherwise, he didn't respond.

"Lloyd, please. Talk to me. Yell at me. Tell me I'm a jerk. Say something!" Zelos pleaded.

"You're not a jerk," the voice was scratchy with emotion and barely audible, but it was there.

Zelos gave Lloyd his lopsided grin, "You're the only one who doesn't think so."

Lloyd shook his head in his arms, still not looking at his friend, "No. It was my fault for leaving. So it's my fault they think that, not yours. Sorry."

"Lloyd, stop. This isn't like you. Snap out of it!" Zelos said, shaking the brunette's shoulder.

Lloyd sat up, letting his legs drop and fall over the edge, leaning backwards on his hands. He looked at Zelos and attempted to smile, failing and only looking depressed.

"Colette told us it was a picture of your mom," Zelos whispered.

Lloyd stiffened. "She did?"

"Yeah…"

Lloyd took a deep breath. "Kr-Dad gave it to me before he left," he said, looking up into the sky as if searching for Kratos there.

"She was beautiful," Zelos said quietly.

Lloyd nodded, "Yeah… Yeah. She was. I wish I could remember her…"

"You don't remember anything?" Zelos asked, surprised.

Lloyd slowly shook his head, "I can't remember her at all. I don't have a picture of her in my head – no memories of her before she died. I hardly remember anything at all before Dirk – I know I used to watch the stars with Kr-Dad, though. But I think…" Lloyd sat up, staring at his Exsphere intently, "I can hear Mom call my name."

"Lloyd…"

"I remember her laugh. And sometimes, I hear her voice. I told Kratos, and he told me that it might be echoes of her in the Exsphere. Since it was the result of the Angelus Project, no one really knows what it's capable of. But Kratos thought that maybe it had somehow preserved that tiny bit of her. And I think he's right."

"You mean… your mom is still in there?"

Lloyd grimaced, "No. No, she's gone. What's in here is just an echo, a memory. That's why Kratos gave me the picture. So I could see her, and maybe remember."

"Lloyd. I'm sorry."

Lloyd lifted his gaze off of his Exsphere, once more resting on his hands as he glanced at the redhead next to him before returning his gaze to the sky, "It's okay."

"Heh. Lloyd, you're the strongest person I know," Zelos said seriously.

Lloyd cocked his head, "Really? 'Cause I think you're pretty strong, yourself."

Zelos shook his head, "Nah. I'm not strong. I'm mostly a coward. It was pure luck that I ended up sticking with you guys, when everything was telling me you would lose. I trusted you, though, so I stuck around. That's not being strong. But you… You lost so much. And yet you're one of the purest people I know. You're strong, Lloyd."

"Zelos… It wasn't luck. You stayed because we needed you. We trusted you."

"Heh… if you say so."

"I do."

"Then I'll have to insist that you're strong, too."

Lloyd shook his head, "No, I… I miss them so much." He turned his tear-filled gaze to Zelos, "I didn't really have choice, when I lost Mom. And I made sure that nothing like that will ever happen again. But Kr-Dad… I just let him go. I let him leave. I'm the only one who could have sent him to Derris Kharlan, and instead of making him finally stay with me, I let him go!"

"Lloyd. It's not your fault. You had to let him go," Zelos said.

Lloyd just shook his head, a few tears spilling over and trailing down his face. "I miss him," he whispered brokenly, "He was only my Dad for such a small amount of time…"

Zelos wordlessly pulled Lloyd into a tight hug, letting the brunette cry into his embrace.

"Lloyd… You don't have to hold this in. No one will think less of you for being upset. He's your dad."

Lloyd pushed himself back enough to wipe at his eyes and shake his head, "No, it's selfish. I still have Da-Dirk. Genis, Raine, Regal, Presea, you – you all lost your family."

"Lloyd, just because we lost family doesn't mean we won't get mad at you for missing yours! Don't you think we all cried, too?"

"R-really?"

"Of course! I'm sure Kratos wouldn't want you to be upset – he left to protect you. You have to live up to that, and you can't do it by running away from your friends."

Lloyd sighed, "You're right. We should go back. I don't want everyone to worry."

"Too late for that," Zelos said with a short laugh. "Everyone's out looking for you."

Lloyd winced. "Let's go then!" he said, quickly standing up. He was so eager to get to his Rheaird that he didn't realize how close Zelos was sitting to the edge of the mountain himself, so when he stood up, his foot slipped and the other stepped onto nothing but air. For one horrible moment he was frozen there, he stomach plummeting. Then he was falling backwards, spinning his arms madly to try to regain his balance.

Zelos sprang to his feet, reaching for him, "Lloyd!"

Their fingertips brushed before Lloyd was gone, over the edge.

Zelos stared at the space Lloyd had been only moments before. No… no. This wasn't happening.

"Lloyd!"

"Whoa! That was scary!" the brunette said, hovering in front of the redhead, his white wings fluttering softly, keeping him floating in place.

"Holy shit! Don't scare me like that!" Zelos said, smacking Lloyd's arm.

Lloyd laughed, landing next to Zelos and pulling in his wings, rubbing the back of his neck, "I guess we both forgot I had wings for a minute…"

Zelos grumbled under his breath, "Let's just get back already."

"Yeah. Thanks, Zelos," Lloyd said, smiling hugely at his friend before climbing onto his Rheaird. The redhead just shook his head and took off into the sky, heading for Meltokio, Lloyd close behind.

"Lloyd Irving! Where were you?" Raine demanded as soon as the two entered the mansion. Zelos had used his communicator on the way back to let everyone know they were both returning, so the rest of the group was all crowded into Zelos' entryway waiting for them.

"Sorry, Professor. I just needed some me time," Lloyd said.

Raine's gaze softened, "Oh, Lloyd. I understand."

"Lloyd!" Colette called, pushing her way over to him and hugging him tightly.

"You okay?" she whispered.

"Yeah. Thanks, Colette," he replied, hugging her back before stepping out of her embrace.

"So I know Colette told you who's in the picture. Sorry I didn't show you guys before, it's just…" Lloyd trailed off.

"We get it, Lloyd. It's okay," Genis said.

Lloyd smiled, "Thanks, Genis."

"Lloyd. Here," Sheena said, stepping forward and extending the picture to him.

He took it carefully, "Thank you, Sheena. Hey, Presea?"

The pink-haired girl blinked, "Yes?"

"Do you think you could make a frame for this?" Lloyd asked.

"Of course. I will start right away," Presea said.

"Thanks! Regal, weren't you going to cook tonight? I'm starving!" Lloyd said, laughing.

Regal nodded, smiling, "It's all ready. Let's eat."

Everyone was relieved that Lloyd was himself again, and they started to go into the kitchen to eat.

"Lloyd, I'll put that in your room for you, if you want," Zelos offered.

"Yeah. Thanks, Zelos!" Lloyd said, gingerly giving his mother's picture to Zelos before entering the kitchen with the others.

Zelos sighed, looking down at the picture as he made his way to the brunette's room. Now that he looked closely at it, he could see similarities between mother and son.

He placed the picture on Lloyd's desk and was about to leave when a blank pad of paper caught his eye. Making an impulsive decision, he grabbed a pen and scrawled a hasty message, knowing it would make Lloyd smile later, before hurrying to get some food before it was all gone.

Lloyd-

Your parents loved you and would want you to be happy. Never forget you have a family right here with all of us. We love you too.

Meet me at the Fooji Mountains tonight at midnight, and we can watch the stars like you say you used to with Kratos. We can start our own tradition.

-Zelos

Well, Green, I hope you liked it! :D

To everyone else: Thanks for reading! Review?

Edited 11/24/11