The Remnants of the Desians

Sheena walked along the moonlit stream, her feet almost weightlessly touching along the blades of gentle grass as she let the sounds of the free flowing water soothe her on the calm crisp night.

An unexpected sigh escaped her lips.

It had felt like years had passed since they had been on the journey to collect all the exspheres, the creations born of man and woman that still polluted the newly combined world. Between her quest of the exspheres and her knowledge of the growing tensions between the two cultures had been preoccupying her mind more than ever as of late. The straining issue of the war over mana was one thing that both people could put behind them but now it seemed like there was a war between the two amazingly large gaps of culture, like either side went about seeking a new reason to find an issue wrong with the world.

She could not help but look over to the camp where Lloyd had set everything up for the night. She knew the issues of the world troubled him just as much as herself. Yet he had the strength to be able to focus on the task that he promised himself and managed to find his strain behind his ever steeled resolve. She could not help but admire the strength he always had in the face of tension.

The man was a stubborn idealist, she knew if he got too involved with the issues of the tension among the citizens of Tethe'ella and the citizens of Sylvarant; that not only would it put their current journey on hold but joining in the fight would likely involve him in the darker side of politics that she feared would have Lloyd emerge not as the man she admired...the man that she...

He would change as the world would need him to. Sheena could not help but worry just what the world would need him to be to change the world for the better once more. Lloyd aged himself mentally over the course of their journey to save it...the world ever needed and wanted more from him.

Exspheres. That was the task which they focused on. The task she wished for him to focus on.

She let out a sigh once more, looking to the water with eyes almost completely dominated by the emotion of distress and even sadness. She liked to think she was as idealistic as her male counterpart, but the thing she questioned was her strength. That is why she needed Lloyd more than she could admit.

It was the only thing he focused on and did tirelessly, their quest to end the grip of exspheres on the new world...start the world anew.

She felt the wear coming down on her as she placed a hand gently against her hip and closed her eyes, she accepted all the tasks that had been placed before her yes. But she had to confess she did not think of how much time she would lose to be able to be herself. A selfless sacrifice.

She heard the foot steps behind her as her head turned to face towards the man she knew was closing the distance. As if by some hidden allure her eyes went back to the water before confirming what she already knew. She did not want him to see her like this, she was tougher then this.

"Sheena?" came the predictable inquiry.

Sheena breathed in deeply as she closed her eyes for a moment and then breathed out as if to regain herself to face the man. Her face was back to being strong and independent.

"What is it, Lloyd?"

"You cannot sleep, can you?" he asked the obvious.

"No." she confessed with a subtle shake of her head

"Why?"

"Lloyd...have you really put the thought of the idea of trying to collect every single exsphere in the world and what that implies?" Sheena started as she bit her lip for a moment and then breathed out lightly before continuing. "Have you ever thought it was not possible?" she wondered, feeling that honest thought enter her mind. She did not want to sound negative, but this is what happened when she was allowed to think to herself a little too much about the sacrifice they made too much.

"Wha?" came the reply. "Well...I don't know, Sheena. I mean-" he started.

Sheena became flustered as she realized her statement may knock the young swordsman off his stance and she did not want to be the one to tell him he could not do something. Not her. Never her.

"H-hey! I wasn't serious!" she said out flustered. "This is where you are supposed to tell me something like 'Of course it is possible, you dork' and then you are supposed to tell me how much we have been through already that this is easy." she stared right at him, her heart hurt each time it beat at the thought of maybe denting his drive.

Lloyd blinked at her and gave her the predictable moment of silence as he tried to figure out quickly how to react before his mouth turned up and a light laughter came out while his hand reached up to rub the back of his head.

"Oh! Yeah. I guess I forgot...maybe I am just tired." He confessed embarrassed.

Sheena could not help but feel the fatigue of weeks of travel melt away when he gave her that smile and she had heard his laughter. They had both been so focused on the task that she had not felt a moment more real with Lloyd then this one moment. As long as he gave her that smile and cheer, perhaps she would have the strength to continue this path.

"Well just don't forget." she said, now in a scolding manner as she tapped her foot slightly with both hands on her hips and leaning forward. "You promised yourself that you would do this and I came with you believing that! You better not let me down too." she knew a good scolding would boost his resolve as well, as funny as that sounded to her. But she knew.

"Alright alright." he laughed still, lifting both his hands as if to calm her.

Sheena was surprised once more, his mannerism continued to crumble the weight she felt pressing down on her mind and shoulders...just melt away in a matter of moments. If Lloyd were not so headstrong and driven, she might had wanted to try and convince him perhaps to take just a small break from this and take time together to just get to remember each other...that sounded real good in the back of her mind.

Sheena let out a sigh with a nod "Good." she confirmed.

"Sheena?" Lloyd asked, his laughter slowly dieing down to ask.

"What is it, Lloyd?" she wondered.

"Thank you..." he started.

"Wha-where is this coming from?" she got out in a sudden fluster, his eyes had that serious glint to it that added sincerity to his words that she even had to battle the instinct to blush.

"You came with me. You have stayed with me and fought by my side as we collected every exsphere we could. I don't know how far I could have gone without you." he confessed.

"St-stop that." she sputtered as she turned around, folding her arms over her chest, now feeling her heart hammer against forearms.

Lloyd gave a small smile as he walked towards the purple clad ninja and reached out maybe to place his hands gently on her shoulders. But his hands froze in midair as he stalled for a moment as if realizing what he was about to do, pulling his hands back and keeping the cheerful smile.

"I'm serious, Sheena. Not everyone would have been able to do this for this long."

Sheena lowered her eyes, the water was her direct vision as she felt the blood surfacing to the skin of her face and she had to stop that. But she also thought of what he was saying deeply. The selfish side of her thought that even if they did do this task for a couple years longer she would not mind, as long as Lloyd would not forget she was there. Such a foolish ninja she was.

"I couldn't let you do this alone, Lloyd." she said in almost a whisper.

A sudden memory flashed through her mind, how when Mithoes tried to claim Lloyd and she remembered how she threw herself in the way of him and allowed herself to be taken by insane war hero. She did not even think about it, she just did not want to lose him...she sacrificed herself for him...for Lloyd.

"Sheena?" Lloyd wondered.

Her eyes blinked once as if snapping too and she felt herself grow a little nervous.

"Y-yes?" she stuttered. Dammit, why couldn't she sound more confident?

"You went silent all the sudden. Are you alright?"

"Oh yes." Sheena confessed, letting out a sigh as she looked to the side at the stream. "This isn't where I thought I would be at right now..." she hesitated before closing her eyes. Might as well compromise herself a little more, break her pride a little. Maybe it will pay off. "With you...you know?" she kept her eyes closed.

"Oh! You...wanted to be somewhere else?" he now grew nervous as he took a step back, he felt this strange twisting sensation writhe deep in his chest as the powerful feeling forced his mind to race for the undiscovered answer.

"Well...Lloyd...you see..." she started.

"I'm sorry Sheena. I guess I never thought about it." he started, Sheena stayed silent for a moment as if she felt a small sting of pain.

Did not think about it? About her? About them?

"I guess I forgot you have a lot of duties you need to do as well, being the Chief of Mizuho and everything. I just got so caught up in everything that I forgot you have your own duties as well." he regrettably looked to the side.

"What? No...No...I..." she stuttered and suddenly her stubborn nature got the better of her as she let out a defeated sigh. "Arg...idiot."

"What? What did I do?" Lloyd said in a worried tone.

Sheena folded her arms over her chest as she felt her brown eyes close once more, a little more tightly this time as she felt a swell of emotions coursing through her at once. There was only so much she could do, Lloyd had to take some steps as well. She would not run all the way to him...could she? She shook her head.

Of course not.

"It's nothing, Lloyd. Let's just get some rest for tomorrow." she said, her tone had returned to a more stern and serious tone that she used to mask her weakness. A weakness she did not like showing, but Lloyd had a way of getting it out of her and making her feel like a...like a silly school girl.

"Sheena..." Lloyd whispered, trying to encourage her to open to him.

She turned on her heel and walked towards the camp. She knew if she stayed and listened to him for too long she would crumble and this was an emotion she had to hold onto for now, it was strong and determined. Something she had come to depend on so much.

Next Day.

The wind felt nice once more as they zipped through the skies in the trusted rheairds that they managed to hold onto. The mana in the world was more then enough to keep it flowing smoothly through the skies as she held onto Lloyd from behind, keeping her cheek against his back.

The replays of last night rang too loudly in her head as she did not even pay attention to what was happening as she remembered his smile and felt him closing in on her. Then he had to go and be all...Lloyd on her. It frustrated her so much sometimes.

But yet at the same time she could not possibly blame him for being himself, after all it was cause of who he is and how he lived his life that made him stand out so much from everyone else she had ever known in her life.

Maybe all the time that had passed by and they had so tirelessly been hunting down Exspheres was catching up to her and she did not like the feeling of having a moment that they actually managed to pull away from the world and claim it as their own was ruined by the young mans inability to comprehend that she was obviously hosting a progressing crush on him.

She was in trouble, she had fallen for a wonderful man. But that same man did not exactly knew she existed to him in a romantic manner and that she was waiting on him to develop the consciousness to start thinking on the deeper emotions

In that moment she made herself a promise.

Next time such a moment came up, maybe she would make it more obvious to him. But how? Maybe she could confess to him. But did she really have the strength to spill her feeling to him like that? The thought alone made her stomach turn with uneasiness. The man confused her when it came to his deeper emotions. He treated her so well and so kindly and even in the past had given what she swears could be signals. But then he would go and blow it by...well being himself.

The issue with her coming foreword and spilling all her emotions was hard enough to try and work up, even if she believed she knew the answer. She could get a completely different answer and then she knew that would make her a different woman for the rest of her life. That thought scared her too much. She buried her face in Lloyds back in a more protective manner like she was hiding from the concept of what she thought, maybe she could forget it and think of another way to make it just that much more obvious without exposing that weak...softer heart inside the vessel of this world hardened woman.

Plus for all she did know, maybe she herself was reading too much into the mans actions. Perhaps she was reading only what she was hoping would be there...no no...she was letting her heart dictate what thoughts were swirling around in her head and interfering with what would normally be rational thinking.

She was suddenly jarred from her thoughts as she felt a sudden turbulence rock the rheaird hard during its dissent. How careless of her to forget that these things do not always fly smoothly and that sometimes Lloyds had some problems with the landing as she felt a moment of pure weightlessness and the cold air surrounded her body.

A scream rang from her lips as she attempted to grab the young swordsman in a tight embrace, but she was lost in such a daze that when her arms tightened, there was nobody there to tighten around and her body fell and in a flash of a second she saw the rheaird for a quick moment and then saw it pass as she fell to its side. This was how her journey was going to end? She could not believe it and yet here it was.

Everything was going so slow, like time decided to slow this moment just for her so she could watch every detail of her fall.

But time seemed to snap back as she felt her fall actually stop with a violent jerk. Accompanied with a tightening pressure on her ankle as her weight shifted.

Her weight?

She could feel her weight against her, meaning she was stopped from her fall. Be still her terrified and beating heart as she looked up suddenly and there was Lloyd, grasping onto her ankle like the world depended on him doing so while trying to keep the rheaird steady as he grunted once. He was holding her weight with one arm, leaning over to maintain his grasp around her as she could tell the toll it taking on him by how violently the rheaird shook while he balanced both flying the machine and keeping hold of her

She could not help but let the sight sink in, Lloyd had once more saved her life as she still felt her heart racing. She could see his lips moving, but she heard nothing from him. Even with the soundlessness of his voice that she could tell he was telling her to hold on. He had a locked combination of determination and deep fear.

Taking a glance downwards towards the forested area as she saw the woodlands slowly come closer to her vision and she knew he was landing as soon as possible without placing any risk on her.

Yet he was placing a risk to himself the longer he held onto her deadweight.

"Lloyd! Let me go!" she started to struggle a little, she did not want to worry Lloyd so much and she did not want him to risk hurting him which she knew he would do. He would have the muscles of his shoulders tear from their joints and bone before he would let her go, then she would never be able to live with herself if she caused that.

"What!? No! I won't let you fall!" he yelled back, but his face told another tale of strain that it took to keep her up and keep the rheaird balanced enough for a safe landing.

"Lloyd! Trust me! Please!" she begged.

"This is no time to be strong!"

"Lloyd! You idiot! I can summon Sylph!" Sheena informed as she focused the flow of mana in the palms of her hand, ready to summon the spirit of wind.

Lloyd shook his head as he tried to keep a focus, but his worried eyes kept looking down at Sheena as if to make sure she was still there.

"Sheena! I almost lost you once cause I did not come to pull you up! I'm not going to make the same mistake twice. I'll never forgive myself if I lost you again!" he yelled back, his jaw clenching as he focused everything he could to keep her in his fingers grasp. He would need to lose his arm before he let her fall again.

Sheena did not know what to say or do. No matter if she liked it or not, she was going to be rescued from this predicament. But who was she kidding. She wanted to be rescued as she felt her face soften at his determination.

"Lloyd! Pull me up!" she screamed at him.

"I...I can't while trying to land!" he screamed, that statement only seemed to cause his jaw to clench as if he despised saying he could. not

"Lloyd! Please! Just trust me and do it! I know you can, Lloyd." she pleaded with the young swordsman so he would not injury himself. He had to trust what she had in mind.

Lloyd seemed to close his eyes on hearing her statement and felt his fingers tense around her ankle, like she could tell anyway. He was holding onto her pretty tight. With everything he hand he pulled her upwards towards him, but with his body positioning and the balance needed to be maintained was not a lot. He could probably pull her up if she was on the edge of a cliff, but this was different as she breathed out and pushed herself to bend forward and her hands actually managed to grab onto Lloyds forearms, she could swear she heard the man grunt in pain as the weight shifted on his arm.

She could not let his efforts go to waste, she reached up and dug her hand into his shoulder and pulled herself up, she would make it as quick and hopefully as painless as possible as her leg lifted, managing to catch the edge of the rheaird, allowing her to climb back onto the seat. Her arms quickly slid around his waist as she held onto him with a renewed energy and she hid her face back into his back like she was ashamed to have put him through that.

Her insides becoming a cocktail of mixed emotions, part of her being happy that he showed so much concern for her and the other part of her guilty for putting him through such duress.

She hoped Lloyd would forgive her foolishness, she knew he did. But she could not help but make herself uneasy that on some level he may not. Martel that thought made her stomach twist.

The had finally landed as Sheena sat on the edge of the rheaird and held onto Lloyd, even a little tighter for she actually was afraid in her heart to let him go. Her release would allow him to turn to her and even worse, allowing him to talk to her.

But perhaps she would be getting worried over nothing. Maybe he will turn to her with concern and care and want to make sure she was alright and maybe even hold her through some deep seated concern that he would get at the thought of almost losing her.

Then he would scold her. She could not face that fact even though she deserved it.

She could only bring herself to holding him to her with eyes shut tight like a child awaiting a scolding from the parents.

She felt his body start to move, he was trying to stand up. But the moment she felt him stand she only held on tighter and closed her eyes. Maybe if he didn't stand for a while he may forget all this and they could just move on. Maybe...just maybe.

"Sheena..." came the whisper like tone.

Here it came and she knew it.