Title: Breaking Free

Summary: Taka's been protected her entire life, and she's growing quite sick of it. When she gets the chance to break free of all the rules, she takes it, and soon finds out just why they were protecting her. Rewrite of ToS with an OC thrown in.

PP: Alright, better explanation of the entire fic. I've taken Tales of Symphonia, created an OC, and mixed them together, resulting in... THIS! The first chapter might be a bit weird, but I assure you, it's just to introduce the fic and my main character. Also, some scenery and locations of things might be changed, but I'll try to keep the changes to a minimum. I'm not quite sure what else to say about it, except that I hope you like it, and remember to review!
Chapter 1

The radio crackled with static as the transmission came through to her. "Are you in position?"

She lifted the radio to her mouth and pressed the transmit button, whispering into it. "Affirmative. Currently awaiting further instructions."

"Hold position. New incoming data. We need time to process it."

"Affirmative."

She slipped the radio back into its protective pouch on her belt, but left it open, and sat back against the tree, making herself fairly comfortable. She was careful that the branches didn't move too much underneath her, just in case someone was watching her location. She doubted it, but life had told her to always take precautions, even when they seemed unnecessary. She fingered the scar on her neck, a constant reminder of what happened when you didn't take the precaution of watching your back around Desians. She was lucky she didn't lose her head that day.

"Come in WarChild, come in."

The crackly voice snapped her out her thoughts. She frowned as she pulled her radio back out. "I thought I told you never to use that nickname again."

"It's always fun to tease you with though."

"Anyways, the new data?"

"Oh yeah, the data. You're gonna have some company."

"Ooh, are they friendly? Because if they're hostile, they're not the only ones."

"They're neutral, for the moment. They are on the target list of possible allies though. Actually, I don't think you quite agreed with the methods we were using to... recruit them."

She sat up, grinning in a slightly predatory way. "Don't tell me that I'm finally going to meet group #1."

"Well, there's the possibility that you might. I've got a message from the guy behind the desk concerning that. I don't have any idea what it means, but I was assured that you would know."

"Come on already, just tell me."

" 'Be careful. If there's anyone around there who could recognise you, it's him. Don't go looking for trouble. If you do run into trouble, try to use it to your advantage, and to our group's advantage. Stick to your mission, in and out, and try to come back in one piece.' You get all that?"

She was already smiling, having been reminded by the message of just how protective Numero Uno was of her. It also confirmed that she was really meeting him (maybe), and that made her slightly nervous. "Yeah, I got it. You tell him that I'll always be his innocent little angel, doing whatever he tells me to do. Now, do I have clearance?"

"You're all clear for takeoff."

"Affirmative. Now closing radio contact until mission is complete. Will re-establish contact when coast is clear." She shut the radio off and slid it back into its pouch. She surveyed the area once again just to make sure that there wasn't anyone nearby and slid down from the tree. The ranch was in front of her, east of her current position. She darted towards it, being careful not to make any unnecessary noise in the foliage.

The edge of the forest came up on her rather quick. She smiled when she saw how close to the outer wall the nearest tree was. One well planned jump from one of the higher branches and she'd be on top of the wall. Obviously they thought that the mountain would stop enemies on that side.

With a couple of quick moves she was on the right branch, and a moment later was crouched on top of the wall. Her foot slipped, and she held her breath, hoping the guard below her didn't notice the couple of pebbles she knocked loose. She let out a small sigh of relief when he left and she saw a glint of light from behind one of the buildings.

She quickly dropped to the ground and sprinted over to the shadows where her inside contact was waiting. He looked just like a regular Desian, but the small pin he had clipped to his collar confirmed that he was one of them. The necklace she wore twisted the mana in the air around her so he couldn't see her though, meaning that she had to use a verbal confirmation of her identity ("Clippin' the angels' wings, one tower at a time,"). He frowned slightly at the sound of her voice. "I thought they were sending a guy."

"Why? Because they said they were sending the best?"

He instantly shut up and motioned for her to follow. They skirted around the edges of the ranch, the area with the fewest people. Through the gaps between the buildings she caught horrifying glimpses of the ranch prisoners' daily lives. She wanted to dart out and save them all, but forced herself to look away and focus on her mission. Without concentration, mistakes were made.

He finally brought her to a stop in front of what obviously had to be the main building. Not only was it MUCH taller, but it also seemed to exude a certain sense of power. There were more people wandering around here as well, so her contact couldn't say a word to her for fear of exposing her. He waited for her to signal that she was ready to go inside instead.

She wandered around the building, looking up towards where the power room was located. "Hmmm... no windows, no holes, no nothing! Guess I have to do this the old-fashioned way." She walked back to her contact and lightly placed her hand on his shoulder, indicating that she was back and ready to go. He led her to the door and opened it; only letting it shut when he felt her hand leave his shoulder and knew that she was gone.

Neither one of them knew that, at that very moment, the Chosen's group was sneaking through the back door with a pass they received from Governor Dorr.

Inside the building, security was a bit tighter then she had expected, but it didn't bother her at all. There was a reason they called her the best after all. The few people that were in her way never realized that they had even been hit, and were arranged so it looked like they were sleeping on the job.

The first thing she saw when she walked in was a warp pad. She consulted her map, and saw that it wouldn't activate until she had switched over her Sorcerer's Ring. There was a purple circle drawn in the room off to her right, indicating a spot to switch the ring, so she ducked that way. She quickly checked to make sure the coast was clear before she opened the door.

She instantly realized that she wasn't alone when she saw the green glow of radar. The next thing she saw was a sparkle coming from her chest. "Shit! We didn't test it for its reaction to sensors!" She clasped the pendant between her hands and backed up into the door, praying that no one had seen it. Soon the radar dissipated and she let go of the necklace again, while stepping away from the door. She heard a door shut somewhere and realized the other person/people had left.

She quickly switched over the ring and left the room again. The Sorcerer's Ring quickly activated the warp, sending her to the next room. There was only one warp there as well, and she found that someone had already activated it, making the three cards she had been given useless.

After reaching the next floor, she referred to her map again, which quickly lead her through the confusing maze of warps. When the main power room was in front of her, she sent up a quick thank you to whatever genius had realized that she would need a map.

Once again, she quickly looked around to make sure no one was watching and zipped through the door. There wasn't anyone inside, which left her free to click the necklace off, revealing herself. She stretched herself out, glad that she was able to see herself again.

She strolled over to the control panel and took a second to look at the screens, trying to figure out which screen showed the outside of her current room. It didn't long, considering it was right in front of the keyboard. She sat down and quickly got to work, keeping one eye on the camera screen. A couple of keystrokes and she was into the main system.

Getting into the mana control center screen was a bit more difficult, due to all the protections placed around it. Computer hacking was her specialty though. It took a grand total of about 2 minutes to get past all the passwords and encryptions. "Too easy," she thought, smirking.

Just after she began to enter the commands to modify the mana flow though, 'INVALID COMMAND' flashed across the screen and it all went black. She sat back, thinking. It meant that Magnius had gotten worried and moved the important controls where he could keep a close eye on them. She'd have to find a way to sneak into his office and modify the mana flow before anyone noticed her.

Her deep thinking drew her attention away from the camera screen, so she didn't notice the group that appeared outside the door until the sounds of their conversation reached her ears. She sat up and stared at the screen. The Chosen's group was right outside the door. They were arguing over whether or not they should enter the room.

One of her hands drifted up to her necklace, and a finger hovered over the switch that would instantly conceal her again. They weren't entering right away though, so she used the opportunity to take a look at them.

There were six people standing there, all of them completely different in looks. She had already been shown artists' drawings of them, so she knew what their names were. The smallest one, wearing blue and with silver hair, was Genis, and his sister, Raine, was the silver haired woman in orange. The boy in red was Lloyd, the one they wanted the most, and the blond haired girl in white was the Chosen, Colette.

The woman in blue with purple hair surprised her though. She was positive that the woman was Sheena, but she had been hired to kill Colette, and there she was helping them.

Then, there was him. He looked exactly like he did in all the old photographs she had been shown of him. His brown hair was a spiky mess, going whatever way it wanted. He also stood in the exact same way he did in every single photo. Kratos.

They moved away and she relaxed. Her mind was racing though. He had been right there. On the other side of the door. She had been that close to finally meeting him. Of course, if they did meet, he wasn't allowed to have any idea at all of whom she was. That thought saddened her a bit, but she knew it was for the best.

She waited for another 10 minutes, to give them enough time to get away from the door entirely. Before she left, she made sure she turned the necklace back on. They were long gone when she stepped out, and she sighed, not quite sure whether she was relieved or disappointed. She pulled the map back out and continued on her way, keeping an eye open for the Chosen's group.

By the time she reached the warp pad to Magnius' office, they hadn't shown up again though. When she thought about it, not very many people had shown up. A sign that they had already gone through. That could mean that she would find them in the office. She gulped. That wouldn't be cool, because it would mean more people there that she would need to work around.

She calmed herself down, and stepped on the pad, disappearing through the ceiling. When she reappeared, she felt a spark on her hest, stinging her. She lept back and watched in horror as the necklace malfunctioned, revealing her again. She swore multiple times, then realized there were sounds of fighting within the room. She looked up and saw the Chosen's group locked in battle with Magnius and two Desians.

They were fighting valiantly, but the warp maze and all the Desians on the way had most likely tired them out, and it showed. Magnius' group was outnumbered 2 - 1, but still looked like the victors. "Not for long." She darted forward, pulling out her staff as she ran. She jumped over the chair in the middle of the room and brought the staff down on a Desian's head as she came down. He instantly crashed to the ground and she landed lightly on her feet. Sheena looked at her, confused, but she ignored it and ran to help Kratos with Magnius, because Lloyd and the Chosen seemed to have the other Desian under control.

Kratos took a step away from Magnius, probably to give himself room for a technique, but Magnius took advantage of the space to swing his axe straight down at Kratos. She ran in between them and intercepted the blow with her staff. She could sense Kratos' confused gaze on the back of her head, and Magnius openly gaped at her. "Who the hell are you!"

She just smiled at him and forced him back, freeing her weapon again. She pressed a hidden button in the middle of the staff, and a foot-long blade popped out of each end. "Lightning Thrust!" She swung it around and thrust it into his armour as lightning sparked around the blade that connected. It threw him backwards and left a small burn mark on his chest. Sheena and Kratos both rushed forward, using his recovery time to their advantage. A blue circle appeared beneath him too as she heard Genis call out a spell.

Magnius was engulfed with a pillar of water and rocketed into the air. Kratos and Sheena were waiting for him when he came back down. She looked around, wondering if she'd be able to complete her mission while they had Magnius distracted. Then she saw the Desian she had taken out earlier slowly creeping up behind Sheena. "Look out!"

She launched forward and swung at his back, slicing his armour off. Sheena spun around and performed a Pyre Seal on his exposed chest, finally putting him down for the count. Sheena nodded in thanks and turned back to Magnius as she looked over at Lloyd and the Chosen. They were still fighting off their Desian, so she decided to help them out a bit. She turned the staff so it was vertical and closed her eyes, beginning to chant. A purple circle appeared beneath her as mana swirled around her.

After a short while, her eyes popped open again and she twirled her weapon around before pointing it at the Desian. "Spark Wave!" His body was covered with electrical charges as he went into convulsions. They faded away and he fell to the ground, unmoving. Lloyd and the Chosen both turned towards her, stunned. It must have been a spell that their mage didn't know. They both rushed forward to help against Magnius though, who was quickly falling to their combined power.

She stood back and watched as he finally fell, then ran to what looked like the main computer and started working. Once again, she had to make her way through all the passwords and encryptions, but it was much easier than before because she had already made it through everything once. Modifying the mana flow was actually easy when she compared it to all of the protection around it.

She quickly finished up what she was doing and shut down the system, even though there probably wasn't anyone else who could access it with Magnius dead. She said a quick prayer for his soul, then turned towards the warp pad. Before she could use it though, a firm hand gripped her arm, stopping her. "Wait."

The voice was soft and friendly. It still sent shivers of fear down her spine. She gulped, and slowly turned. Sure enough, it was him standing behind her. Her knees suddenly felt very weak, just looking into his eyes, but he forced herself to stand straight and hide it. "Yes? What is it?"

"I just find it surprising that you would run off without even telling us your names after you helped save the Chosen."

She made her eyes go wide with surprise that she didn't feel. "The Chosen is among you? I had no idea! I was just helping out some kind-looking folk who were in trouble. I should really be on my way now though."

She turned to go, but Kratos' grip on her arm tightened. She frowned and looked up into his eyes again. In them, she could see a mild confusion. "Do I... know you? You look slightly familiar."

Her heart was gripped by fear. If he recognised her, everything could be over. "I don't think we've met before. At least, you don't look very familiar to me."

His eyes narrowed, probably because he was trying to figure out who she was. "I'm SURE you look familiar though. What's your name?"

She gulped. "It's R... I mean, Taka. It's Taka. Now, I think you should return the favour by telling me your name."

He was about to answer when Raine turned away from the computer she had been working at. "We should probably continue this question and answer session later. This ranch is going to blow in about 10 minutes, and I know that I have a lot of questions to ask you, like what you were doing here in the first place."

Kratos' eyes suddenly widened again. "Of course! You remind me of one of my old travelling companions, that's who!"

She froze, but was saved from answering right then by Lloyd, who ran forward and pushed them both into the warp. "Didn't you hear Professor Sage? We don't have the time for this now!"

Kratos finally let go of her, but kept a close eye on her. Good thing he couldn't read her mind, or he would have realized that things were going downhill a lot quicker than she had thought they would. If he really did know her for who she was, and then he turned her over, everything they had worked towards hiding her entire life would be for nothing.

Helping them out could have been the one mistake that destroyed everything.

PP: Ok, if you're reading this, then you obviously read the chapter, so let me know what you thought! I know that it may not have been the best, but this was also the first chapter, where I was just trying to introduce my character. In the next chapter, I'll explain what Taka looks like and her personality and such, maybe, but her connection to Kratos and why him recognising her is such a bad thing won't be revealed until the time is right. By the way, anyone who correctly guesses what group Taka is a part of, that sent her into the ranch to modify the mana flow gets... cake! And everyone else who reviews gets cookies! Until next time!