Set sometime in Tethe'alla before Kratos is revealed to be Lloyd's father. XD Yah. Man, I'm supposed to be asleep, but yon emo dialogue just wouldn't leave me alone. So... enjoy?
Disclaimer: I'm sure none of you would have guessed that I don't own Tales of Symphonia, it's really quite hard to believe.
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Lloyd absently kicked at the gravel beneath his feet. The others were setting up camp for the night- starting a fire, setting up bedrolls, and unpacking materials for cooking, which Regal had thankfully managed to convince Raine to abstain from for the day.
"Lloyd, are you alright?" inquired Colette, sitting beside Lloyd on the log he occupied.
He stared at the ground, an unusually somber expression lining his features. He made no reply.
"Lloyd?"
The boy started and looked up at Colette with desperation in his eyes. It was gone in an instant. "Oh… Hi Colette."
"Lloyd, what's wrong?" she pressed.
"Wha-? Nothing's wrong, I'm fine!" assured Lloyd waving his hands halfheartedly. "I was just… It's nothing, ok? Gee, I totally forgot to help set up camp. I'll get that!" he called to Sheena, who had begun to unroll his bed-matt.
Colette passed a worried glance to the rest of the party. "Lloyd…"
"Look Colette, I'm fine. Please just… not now, ok?"
The girl gave a mute nod, noting the emotion in his plea. Lloyd took his dinner a little off from the camp, and the party ate the meal in silence.
Soon the bowls were cleaned and the food put away. After some deliberation Regal decided to approach Lloyd and find out what was troubling the young swordsman. He drew near without a word, standing behind Lloyd's designated log-chair.
"You have been alternating between a staring contest with the ground or the heavens all evening, Lloyd. What can you hope to discover that you haven't seen already?"
Lloyd didn't turn around, but there was a noticeable pause in his breathing. Finally, his voice rumbled "I used to watch the stars with my dad when I was little- my real dad." He gave a bitter laugh so unlike him that it disturbed Regal. "I can remember the stars. I can remember the air, my shoes… what the grass by my damn feet looked like. But I can't… I can't remember him."
Regal said nothing, waiting for him to continue. As he stood, Zelos approached them to attempt to understand what ailed his friend.
Lloyd finally turned to face his companions, eyes agonizing for an answer that couldn't be found. "What kind of a son doesn't remember his own father?"
"That's all?" Zelos had the gall to question. Regal shot him a terrified glance, begging him not to insult something so important to the boy.
"'That's all?' What do you mean, 'That's all?'" Lloyd asked dangerously. All movement in the campsite stopped.
"Well, the way you were acting, we all thought it was something important."
"It is important! More important than anything!"
"Anything, huh? More important than Colette's life? More important than saving the worlds?"
"What the hell does that have to do with anything?"
"It has everything to do with it!" Zelos responded, his voice an angry staccato. "You're here wallowing in self pity and worrying everyone else just because you can't remember something! What the hell does it matter?"
"Zelos," warned Raine in a low growl.
"No, he needs to get over it." The Chosen stated firmly, turning back to Lloyd. "Lives are being lost while you sit here feeling sorry for yourself because your memory isn't as perfect as you want it to be. People are dying out there Lloyd, and I'm pretty sure they don't give a damn about what your mother looked like."
Lloyd stood up, whirling indignantly toward Zelos.
"You don't know what it's like!" he snapped. "You can't know what it's like to forget…" Lloyd's voice trembled as he looked away. "To not remember the face of your father, or the mother that gave you life."
"Shut up and stop complaining." Sheena's expression did little to stop the Chosen's sneer. "Thank whatever god you believe in that you don't remember." That you never will remember what it's like… to watch your mother die. "There are people who would kill to be able to forget."
Lloyd stared in dumb shock at Zelos, as did the rest of the group. The gravity of his voice sounded alien to their ears. He had no patience for Lloyd's self-loathing, and turned back toward the camp. His parting words wisped past their ears and rose like smoke to the heavens.
"You're the lucky one."