And welcome to the fic =)
This fic was originally posted on DeviantArt for this year's Valentine's Day... thought it was about time I posted it here, too XD (It's a side-story to a bigger fic I'm working on - the prologue for that will be out hopefully soon - so that's why they all already know each other and stuff ^_^;;)
Anyways, hope you enjoy!
DISCLAIMER: I do not own Tales copyright or the characters; I am merely a fan who enjoys writing about them. All rights belong to Namco; character designs (c) Kosuke Fujishima.
St. Albert's Day : Part One
It was a nice day to be in Grand Chokmah. The weather was pleasant - not too hot or too cold; though it was still winter, a freshness of coming spring was in the air. It felt good.
Zelos, however, was anything but good. Oh, certainly, this planet had its abundance of beautiful babes - none of whom were completely immune to his charms - but today, only one 'babe' was on his mind: the future chief of Mizuho, Sheena Fujibayashi.
It had been little more than a month and a half since that eventful day when the eight Aselians were blown across the galaxy to the Planet of Fonons, Auldrant...only to find that Kratos, the ancient Seraphim of Cruxis, had been blown there as well. The whole incident had been the result of Lloyd's determination to see his biological father again (if only for a short while), a broken teleporter, and Volt. They were still trying to figure out how get back - but in the meantime, they were enjoying the company of their new friends.
Zelos' current, Sheena-related dilemma, though, had only begun the night before. It happened as Zelos, Genis, and Lloyd had happened upon Guy, Luke, and Jade while the latter three were talking in the Curtiss manor's kitchen; Guy and Jade calm whilst Luke appeared to be upset over something.
On Auldrant, the three learned, there was a tradition of giving "that special someone" a gift on St. Albert's Day (which, they also learned, was less than 36 hours away). Luke was woeing because he had forgotten it was coming up and hadn't the least idea what to get Tear. He had been discussing ideas with Guy as when the other three joined them (the former servant hadn't forgotten about the holiday, but he was having trouble finding the proverbial 'perfect gift'). Jade simply watched, utterly amused by the whole thing. As for the three Aselian males, this idea - while not really new - nonetheless sounded very good, and they decided that they, too, would give a special gift to their special someones.
And thus was Zelos' predicament. It wasn't as though Sheena was terribly hard to shop for; no, the hard part was choosing what. Chocolates and flowers were things that nearly every woman loved; little delicacies that brightened their day. But Sheena was not just any woman, and he didn't want to get her just any gift. Candy and flowers were just So Cliché, she had plenty of cards, and he had no time to go on a poetry search (love poems were usually cheesy, anyway!). What on Auldrant was he to get her?
Then, of course, came the task of actually obtaining the gift. On Aselia, despite the 'ex-Chosen' status, he was still quite popular in Meltokio, and at least he knew where to get things - here, not so much. It wasn't a huge problem, but still one he could've done without.
Pocky. Huh? Where on Auldrant - or Aselia - had that come from? Wait...pocky? Yes! And maybe a rose or two? Yes, It wasn't much, and yes, they both fell into categories that were kinda cliché...but pocky wasn't your run-of-the-mill box of chocolates, either, and what was a "holiday of love" without a rose or two? At the very least, she would know he had tried. Now to get it...but would anyone here even know what pocky was? To the library!
Genis was stumped. He had been trying to think up a good gift for Presea ever since yesterday. Auldrant's tradition was a good one, but nonetheless a pain in the neck!
A sharpening stone went over well the last time he had given her a present, but he didn't want to give the same gift twice, and she didn't really need two of them, anyway. Hmm...he could ask Lloyd for ideas, but the twin swordsman was busy carving Luke's gift to Tear, and his own for Colette. Luke and Florian were who-knew-where, and Raine was doing who-knew-what (he wasn't sure he wanted to know). Kratos was keeping his son company in the basement and Jade was in the library (where Zelos had just headed). Anise, Natalia, and Colette were shopping (again), Tear and Sheena were supposedly training (soldiers and ninjas – was that all they ever thought about?!). Regal was in the garden, watching the water flow. The blue-haired man had worked closely with Presea during the year after the reunification...perhaps he would have some more ideas.
Regal did. "Perhaps a simple choker or a charm," the older man said, "if you are leaning toward more traditional ideas. Whatever you choose, I believe she would prefer a simple gift rather than one more elaborate."
"Yeah...I was sort of hoping to get her a more practical present, though. She really liked the sharpening stone..."
"I see...and you think you must live up to that standard. She will not think less of you for a less 'practical' present. Simply try and get her something you know she will really enjoy. That speaks more than the practality of a gift, right? You also know she loves to laugh, nowadays."
"Yeah..." Genis thought hard for a moment, then grinned. "I have it...thanks, Regal."
The blue-haired Duke smiled. "You're quite welcome."
Genis smiled to himself, heading back inside. Yes, he knew exactly what to get her.
Regal smiled as he watched Genis scamper off (oh, to be young and in love!). The blue-haired man turned back toward the ocean. Though his eyes were on the water, his thoughts were far away.
The marketplace was busy that day - people bustling about with last-minute preparations for the following day. Luke glanced around at all the hubbub, thinking about everything that had transpired in the last month.
"Luke, do you think Anise would like this?" Florian asked, startling him out of his thoughts. The green-haired young man held up a necklace, with a pretty pink jewel hanging off a silver chain.
Luke nodded. "Yeah. You know how she is about pink - she'll love it."
"Indeed," asserted a familiar sarcastic voice. "You might also consider throwing in a hair ribbon or two."
"Aaugh!"
"Hi, Jade."
"You really get a kick out of that, don't you?" another, younger voice stated.
"Jade? Genis? What are you guys doing here?" Luke asked, after he could breathe again.
The half-elf shrugged. "I'm getting my gift for Presea and he's getting ingredients for pocky."
"Pocky?" Both replicas looked lost.
"A rather interesting treat made of thin, stick-like wafers and a flavored coating of some kind," Jade obliged.
"Sheena really likes it," Genis finished. "Zelos wants to give her some, but you can't buy it here so we gotta make it ourselves."
"Eh? So why are you here and not Zelos?" Luke wanted to know.
"Oh, he's elsewhere," Jade said with a wave of his hand. "We...negotiated."
A shiver went up the noble's spine. Neither Genis nor Florian seemed affected. Florian he could understand - the colonel had rarely said a harsh thing to him, and when he did Florian hadn't minded. But Genis? Does he not know what Jade could have meant by that?! Luke thought.
"Oh, for Origin's sake - he told Zelos to clean the library," Genis answered to the shivers, "in exchange for Jade making the pocky. You're pathetic."
"Yanno there's like a hundred different morbid ways he could have meant that word..."
"You're daft," Genis answered, rolling his eyes. Florian laughed.
*glare* "Whatever..." Then it hit him. "Zelos is cleaning your library?"
Zelos glanced around the library. Books were scattered here and there, some lay open on the tables and countless others were stacked in piles. Since they [the Aselians] had accidentally come to this planet, both they and the Auldrians had been searching for a way to get back (in-between fun excursions and small breaks such as today, of course). The research work could be long and tedious - first they actually had to find a book that sounded like it might help, then they had to skim it to see if the information was relevant, too. So, Jade had instructed the servants to leave the library alone for the time being...and as a result, it was a continual mess.
The open books were ones the brainiacs were currently working on; the ones in piles were those they'd found not helpful and just hadn't bothered to put away. Some of them, he noticed - both open and those in the piles - didn't even belong in the library, but were ones the Colonel actually kept in his room (geniuses and their books...honestly!).
Zelos sighed heavily - he had a lot of work ahead of him. But hey, Sheena's pocky was at stake!
Luke stared in awe at the small wooden charm. A selenia, simple in design, but intricate in its detail; so fine was the workmanship that - had the color been a bluish tint rather than the white-beige of the wood - he wouldn't have guessed it was anything but the real flower. Lloyd was now studiously working on his own gift to Colette - a small figurine in the shape of a dog. He still had a little ways to go, but, he'd finish it before tomorrow.
"Thanks, Lloyd..." Luke said. "It's perfect." Lloyd nodded, pleased that Luke approved, before continuing on with his own task.
Zelos grinned as he wandered through the kitchen.
"My, the Colonel really outdid himself..." Tear observed as she looked around.
For the past two hours, Zelos had been off with Tear (Natalia and Colette were working on their own gifts, Anise was in the kitchen, and he didn't want to know what Raine was doing). The Oracle Knight had helped him pick out a cute little towel and a small basket (to place the pocky in - he'd asked the Colonel to make a LOT, and Jade had agreed) and a few pink roses. It wasn't all one-sided, though - she'd also picked out something for Luke.
They had just returned to the manor and headed to the kitchen, and Zelos was quite pleased with the results. Pocky – tons of it, of several different flavors, all of which were Sheena's favorites - were out and about on the counters. Behind it all, Anise stood...and she was not happy.
"What d'you mean, 'the Colonel outdid himself'?! I'm the one that made it all!"
"Huh?" Zelos looked confused. "Jade said that he-"
"Well, he didn't, I did!" Anise declared huffily, and muttered something about not getting any respect. Tear, looking mildly annoyed and somewhat exasperated, merely put a hand to her head.
"Typical," she sighed. "Don't worry about it, Zelos."
"Oh, I will...but not right yet," Zelos responded, before turning back to Anise. "Thanks, Anise - I owe you big time." He thought for a moment, then handed her a small bag of Gald. "Here...that's reasonable recompense, right?"
It was more than reasonable, in Anise's mind. This guy really knew how to please women. She grinned, "You're forgiven!"
"I knew you'd like that," Zelos grinned (that bag, after all, was nothing but a drop in the bucket for him). Vowing to get the Colonel later, he turned to the task of readying his gift.
That night, as the day was coming to a close, the sixteen of them gathered in the (now) no-so-cluttered library and just relaxed for awhile. Whether they were playing games or simply chatting, they were content, fully enjoying the company of one another.
At last, as midnight was approaching, it was insisted by the self-appointed "parents" of the group that everyone get ready for bed, and it was reluctantly agreed to be a good idea.
After leaving the library, Natalia came into her room (she found she really wasquite tired). Upon entering the bedchamber, she saw an unexpected something: a single white rose, and an envelope addressed to her, sitting on the pillow.
She smiled as she read the note inside.
AUTHOR'S NOTES:
- "St. Albert's Day" is in no way canon, but rather my own creation (supposedly the day on which Fleil Albert proposed to Yulia Jue). However, if any of you should like to use it in a fic, consider permission granted! =)
- This takes place a few months after Luke returns and about half a year before the start of Dawn of a New World.
- They are all in Grand Chokmah at the Curtiss manor. This is because (as it will be explained in the main story) they are searching for a way to get back to Aselia, and Jade is the person (on Auldrant) most likely to know how to go about it and/orhave the means of doing so. Thus the location.
Finally, the characters' ages for each game are as follows:
SYMPHONIA
Genis: 14
Presea: 14 (30)
Colette: 18
Lloyd: 19
Sheena: 21
Zelos: 24
Raine: 25
Kratos: 30 (4030)
Regal: 35
ABYSS
Anise: 16
Florian: 17
Tear: 19
Luke: 20
Natalia: 21
Guy: 24
Jade: 39 (yes he's old XP)
Thank you all for reading!