Disclaimer: I don't own Tales of Symphonia, mmkay?
I thought this story up during the Engagement ring sidequest. It's set after the game ends, kind of an alternative to how Yuan could get his ring back.
Enjoy!
It really was pretty.
Sheena sat cross-legged on the floor, examining the small gold band that rested on her finger. It glinted in the sunlight, the gold making a small circle on the Summoner's cheek. Up above, the light filtered in through the thick canopy of leaves, making the 'roof' of the forest appear to be a bright, vivid green. The earth below was crumbly and moist, equally as green at the leaves above. A stream gurgled nearby; causing even more glimmers of light to flicker at the sun caught on the surface of the water.
The lettering on the ring, Sheena noted, was still there, but it was worn and old. She could barely make out what they said at all. The Summoner decided that she didn't much care about the initials anyway. It would only remind her that the ring belonged to somebody else.
Sheena smiled slightly, and was quite glad that she was by herself- She felt oddly childish, sitting in the middle of the forest with a golden ring on her left hand.
And yes. She had slotted the ring onto her ring finger.
A slight blush unfolded on Sheena's face as the tiny, chipped diamond sparkled on the gold. She felt about six years old, but it was oddly peaceful in the small forest. She could stay here for hours, feeling no inclination to leave. Absently, the Summoner lay down on her back on a patch of warm grass, closing her eyes, listening to the sounds in the forest. The stream was the most obvious- Sheena could hear it as it rushed along the pathway, an even occasionally hear the odd sounds of splashing every now and again. Grass tickled her cheek, and the wind rushed through the trees, causing them to rustle softly.
Then Sheena heard something else, and flicked one eye open. A soft rustling issued from a gap between the clearing. Sheena should have felt worried, but she merely kept her eye on the clearing, her hand slowly snaking toward her pink obi and withdrawing a few cards, her grip tightening on them very slightly.
So Sheena was quite surprised to see that the intrude was none other then the blue-haired leader of the Renegades, Yuan.
"Yuan!" Sheena said, sitting up. Yuan cast Sheena a somewhat disgruntled look, clearly as surprised to see her there, as she was him. Sheena bridled slightly. He seemed to remember who she was, at any rate. Putting her hands on the grass to push herself further upright, Sheena looked at Yuan, her eyebrows raised in confusion.
"What are you doing here?" The Summoner blurted out, before she could stop and consider the question herself. Yuan sighed, as if Sheena was being tiresome and irritating.
"That's none of your concern." Yuan replied in a slightly muffled voice. He was not looking at her, but his gaze was rather sweeping over the mud by the side of the small stream and scanning the beaten brown path that he had just strayed from. Sheena scowled, her fingers tracing the pattern on the first spell-card in her hand almost longingly.
"I was here first, you know!" snapped Sheena, considering getting up and telling Yuan off properly. She also considered just lying back down and ignoring him until Yuan's indignation prompted him to leave. Instead, the Summoner compromised by doing neither, but the anger in her eyes was still there. Yuan cast Sheena a disdainful expression, but wisely chose not to venture closer to her.
"Believe me, I didn't come here to have this thrilling conversation with you." sneered Yuan, making Sheena want to jump up and give him a Pyre Seal in the stomach. Getting to her feet, Sheena glared at Yuan, folding her arms angrily over her ample chest.
"Why did you come, then?" demanded the woman, watching Yuan closely. She didn't want him suddenly pulling a sneak attack and hitting her with one of his electricity orbs. According to Lloyd, they were quite painful. Yuan glared at her, but Sheena met his gaze. They stared each other out for a few moments before Yuan relent, looking determinably away from the Summoner.
"I told you before, I'm just looking for a ring." muttered Yuan grumpily, kneeling and padding the grass with his hands. "I thought it might be here."
"Oh." Sheena supplied, blushing. She suddenly felt churlish. So, following suit, Sheena knelt in the grass as she felt around, her eyes now showing concentration instead of anger as she looked through the grass as well.
"I don't need you to help me." Yuan spoke to the air in front of him, but Sheena merely smiled.
"Oh, be quiet. I'm helping whether you like it or not."
Yuan obeyed, seething at Sheena's impertinence. But he was silent as the two of them continued their search; the only noises now were the occasionally splashing coming from the stream and the birds up above in the trees. Sheena even began to hum to herself as she absent-mindedly looked at the ring on her finger, shining against the patch of clovers that her palm rested on. The sun was gradually inching along the stretch of azure sky, but luckily the tress provided sufficient shade from the heat of the sun. The two people went on like this for a while until Yuan abruptly stood up.
"It's not here." Yuan said shortly, already turning to go. Sheena frowned a little, pointing to the path over Yuan's shoulder.
"Now wait a minute! You didn't-"
"Wait!"
Yuan suddenly turned and came toward Sheena, who drew her head back, blinking a little in surprise. Yuan was staring at her left hand.
"Let me see that." he commanded. Sheena threw Yuan a filthy look before doing as she was told. Raising her fist, she showed the ring to Yuan, who looked at the small, glittering gold band on Sheena's ring finger intently.
"That's it!" Yuan gasped, surprising Sheena. "Give it to me!"
"This can't be yours!" Sheena protested, backing away from Yuan a little bit and scowling, flipping over one of her spell cards to show the design on the front. "Lloyd told me he found this ring in Hima, just before Colette and the rest of us went to the Tower of Salvation. There's no way-"
"Hima..." repeated Yuan, ignoring the rest Sheena's explanation. "So then...Kratos."
"What about him?"
Yuan turned and fixed Sheena with a scrutinising look, but Sheena was not to be caught off guard. She merely raised her eyebrows at Yuan, beginning to get thoroughly irritated with this whole conversation. She half-wished she had just told him to leave earlier on and then ignored him. Then maybe she wouldn't have to put up with his condescending attitude!
"I tried to assassinate Kratos in Hima." Yuan explained, a little stiffly. "But Lloyd left the inn and saw me appear. Kratos then managed to give me a... slight injury and I must have dropped the ring. Now, hand it over."
But Sheena held her fist back, still looking a little suspicious. She felt an odd tightening feeling in her chest- the idea of handing over the ring to somebody so rude and emotionless did not sit well with Sheena.
"Why should I?" argued the raven-haired Summoner, sneaking another glance at the small gold band. "What value is this to you anyway? And if you say it's not of my concern again, I'll throw it away, I swear!"
Yuan sighed, scowling slightly in frustration. Sheena felt a slightly pang of sympathy at this uncharacteristic lack of control, but she kept her face blank and eventually Yuan caved in. Looking away, Yuan spoke, in an oddly brittle, quiet voice. It was quite unlike his terse words from before.
"You already know how the beginning of it begins. Mithos, Kratos, Martel and I...I was engaged to Martel."
Sheena's eyes widened at that. Looking down at the ring, the Summoner saw now, the letters M and Y. Sheena bit her lip, feeling strangely saddened. Reaching to her hand, Sheena's fingers tightened around the ring as she slowly slipped it off her finger. The warm weight of the metal left her knuckle feeling oddly naked, even though she was still wearing her gloves. Stepping slowly forward, Sheena stretched out her fist. Wordlessly, Yuan extended his palm and Sheena dropped the ring into his hand. For a moment, the two of them stared at it. Then Yuan closed his fist and stowed away the ring, an oddly satisfied feeling rushing through him. He looked up and saw to his surprise that Sheena suddenly looked oddly crestfallen, her gaze fixed on her left knuckle. Yuan sighed.
"Sheena."
Sheena looked up, grateful for an excuse to stop looking at her hand. Yuan cleared his throat.
"Thank you."
Sheena nodded, feeling to her annoyance a slight tinge appearing on her face. She fanned herself with the cards in her fist and Yuan raised his eyebrows.
"You're...you're welcome."
Yuan nodded, then, glancing over his shoulder as he looked at Sheena, feeling almost as though he owed her something. It was not a feeling that Yuan particularly liked, so he suddenly reached into his pocket and threw something to Sheena, who caught it looking startled.
"We'll see each other again." Yuan promised. Then, his body suddenly shimmered, becoming translucent. Then he disappeared, leaving with a slightly whooshing sound echoing behind him. Sheena looked down at the thing she was clutching in her fist. It was a small, silvery-white bracelet. Although the design was fairly simple, Sheena could feel by tracing the pad of her index finger over the band of the bracelet that several charms were inscribed into the band. Smiling, Sheena slipped it onto her wrist, feeling the cold inside of the bracelet and admiring the sparkle of the bracelet.
It really was pretty.
Crack pairings are love, you know?
Reviews are sparkly and cool.