Sui: I'm back with yet another fic. Hehe. I'd been wanting to write this for a long time but I just didn't get around to do it. Hey Yuan, say the disclaimer.

Yuan: Why should I?

Sui: 'Cause I have blackmail material if you don't. -takes out fanart of Yuan in a maid outfit- Hehehe...

Yuan: -shudders- Fine! Heisui does not own Tales of Symphonia. If she did, I'd be in one of the anime cutscenes.

Heisui: On with the fic!

Chapter one: A Gift

Dear diary,

Wow! This is the first time I write in a diary. Kratos bought it for me today. He said it would keep me busy, or something. He also mentioned that I should write to you like I'm talking to a real person. I didn't understand why at first, but now that I think about it, he probably meant that it would be handy if I needed to ramble about something that bothered me. Even if he wants me to write my feelings in here, I'd probably rather talk to him about it. I feel like I can trust him, like I can tell him everything. Is that weird?

He's always serious, you know? But despite that, I know he's just shy. He saved me from the Asgard Human Ranch, that hellhole where I was nothing more than an experiment. Kvar, the leader of that ranch, one of the Five Grand Desian Cardinals, was creating a special kind of exsphere, a Cruxis Crystal...inside my body. However, he treated me a little better than most of the other captives. If I died, his experiment would fail. If the experiment failed, he wouldn't be able to offer the Cruxis Crystal to his leader, Ygg-something and wouldn't get an opportunity to become the leader of the Five Grand Cardinals. Or so I've heard, I've spied on him a lot while I was still at the ranch.

Honestly, I didn't have any hope of getting out of that place. Until that fateful night, where Kratos busted me out of that prison cell. He'd been to the ranch a few times to inspect Kvar's work and that's probably where he first saw me. I think I looked pretty pitiful.

It was right after I'd gone through some painful experiments. I had bruises all over from a beating I received earlier when I'd tried to break free from the experiment table, my wrists had big, red marks from where I was strapped to the table and my eyes were red from crying so much. But...the look he gave me when our eyes met was...so deep. I'll never forget the way those deep brown eyes stared at me, full of pity and sadness. And it was like he'd made a promise to me: A promise that he'd save me from that hellhole.

He kept his promise, because that very night, he'd broken into the ranch and busted my cell open. I didn't have time to ask any questions, I didn't have time to fight back, he'd already picked me up and busted a hole in the wall, with a few spells. We fled to Hima, where we stayed at the Inn.

When I asked him why he'd done this, he simply replied "You do not deserve such fate". Never in my life had someone been so kind to me. My parents...I don't remember much about them. I was taken away to the ranch when I was only nine years old. There was this one girl at the ranch who I considered a great friend, but Kvar found out and eventually killed her, because I'd 'pissed him off'. That bastard.

The day after Kratos had saved me, he brought me clothes shopping. I obviously couldn't keep walking around in that old, smelly robe I'd been given to at the ranch. I found it funny when the shopkeeper tried selling Kratos some new clothes, claiming that purple was a girly color. I still giggle when I think about that moment. See? As I'm writing this, I'm grinning so widely the corners of my mouth could reach my ears.

Kratos told me I had to keep my exshpere hidden at all time, because Kvar would eventually come looking for it. But what would happen then? Would Kratos be able to protect me? Wait, what am I thinking? Of course he would. I mean...he's so strong. I've seen him fight monsters before and he's incredibly skilled.

His hair...how the hell did he get it to stay like that? It...defies gravity. You can't see his right eye, because strands of his auburn hair is in front of it. It's kind of silly, actually. I wonder how he'd look if that wasn't there?

But what confuses me the most about him is why Kvar called him 'Lord Kratos' when he came to the ranch for the first time. That would give him a higher rank than Kvar, so he'd have to be working for the Desians. But aren't Desians all half-elves? Kratos doesn't seem like one. However, he can use magic...ugh, this is confusing. Maybe someday he'll tell me, but until then, I'd rather not think about it. It's going to give me a headache.

Today, when we started traveling to Luin, my hometown, he gave me this diary. He said he'd picked it up earlier, while getting supplies for the trip. He'd offered to escort me back to Luin, so that I might be able to go home. But the truth is...I don't really want to stop traveling with him. Sure, he's not talkative at all, he's stiff, cold and he's always acting like he knows everything, but I guess that's what I like about him. I'm positive there's a kind and loving person deep inside and I'm determined to find it!

Well, it looks like we're going to start walking again. I promise I'll write about what happens when I get the chance.

Please review. :D

Oh and I have another prewritten chapter. I won't be able to upload it for a while, I might be gone for two weeks (yet another vacation).