A/N: This is a side-story of "Unconditional Love" (a LloydXSheena fanfic for those of you who are unfamiliar with it). In my novelization of Tales of Symphonia, instead of killing or letting Zelos live, I found an interesting median. Zelos is now crippled with a paralyzed-for-life left arm and has suffered permanent damage to both legs, making it excruciatingly painful for him to walk. He had forfeited his entire fortune and title of "Chosen" over to Seles and now lives in a sort of retirement with Colette. This story is angsty as Zelos continues to struggle with mental and physical trauma but, in the end, it will be a ZelosXColette fic. Enjoy, and don't forget to R&R!

As a note, I would suggest that you first read "Unconditional Love" to understand how Zelos became what he is now, though it is not neccessary as it is summarized in this first chapter.

Also, inner-thoughts of Zelos will be in italics.

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Chapter 1: Pain

"All I want is a fun, easy life. That's it. Nothing more, nothing less!"

These words rang through the fallen Chosen's head as he looked out the window from his chair. Children could be seen outside, playing with a ball as they laughed. Zelos closed his eyes for a moment.

"Say what you want. It's not like you ever trusted me, anyway."

He took his good hand and touched the shoulder of his paralyzed left arm. He could steal feel the pain of Lloyd's blade as it pierced his shoulder and cut all of the nerves leading through his arm, thus causing his state of paralysis. He moved his legs in an attempt to get more comfortable but instead felt a sharp jolt of pain come through both of his legs. He put his hand to right leg, remembering all the crushing injuries Regal and Sheena had dealt to leave his legs in the state that they are in now.

"Of course you can trust me! We're buds, right?"

Zelos lowered his head, looking at what he had become: a hopeless man who had lost everything. His fortune was gone, having given all of it to Seles in hopes that she would make better use of it than he ever did. To anyone who didn't know him, he appeared to be nothing more than a life-long inhabitant of Iselia. These days, he looked very much like a peasant, s, and smoke-grey porting a simplistic brown wool sweater, a pair of equally simplistic and baggy, smoke-grey pants. Instead of the fancy adventuring shoes he once wore, he know only wore a pair of brown, leather boots. The only thing that remained of his old outfit was his white headband which now had a few bloodstains on it, all of which were hidden by his unchanged hair.

"You… you… stupid Chosen!"

That's exactly what he thought he was: a stupid Chosen. After he gained the trust of the people who called him "friend", he decided to betray his friends in hopes that they would end his miserable life. Much to his surprise, they didn't kill him. Wounded him badly, yes, but did not kill him. By sparing Zelos, it showed just how much they did care for him.

"Can I really do this?"

Zelos sighed heavily as he closed his eyes and thought back to that day. After turning Colette, the kind girl who was caring for him now, over to Cruxis and being defeated in battle by his friends, he thought for sure that he would die. He didn't. He remembered looking at them as they disappeared into the teleporter, wondering if anyone would come back for him. No one did however.

"You're nothing but a weakling, Zelos."

Those were the first and only words that came from the man that had saved him: Kratos. As Zelos' life was flashing before his eyes, Kratos had come into the tower with a group of ninjas from Mizuho. After uttering that phrase, he remembered the disappointed look in Kratos' eyes as he healed up Zelos' major injuries. As he was carried out of the tower by the ninjas, he had seen Kratos run into the teleporter… ready to save his friends.

"You should have never been born!"

His mother's dying words rang more true than ever as he thought about these events. Not only did he lose most if not all respect from his friends, but he was now doomed to a life of inability, forced to spend his days staring out of a window in Iselia, hopes of his physical recovery burning dimly and diminishing more and more every day. Even people that had never met him before, such as the people of Iselia, disliked him as tales of his treachery had spread across the now joined worlds of Sylvarant and Tethe'alla. Every time he attempted to talk a walk around town with the support of a cane or crutches, kids would stop playing and adults would stop, stare, and whisper as they watched him pass.

"It's not true, is it Zelos? Please say that it isn't!"

Hearing this in his own mind reminded him that there was still one that called him friend. The same girl that he had turned over to Cruxis had taken him into her home as a guest and toiled without rest to make sure that he was comfortable. She was willing to do anything to help him but he couldn't understand why, considering everything that he had done to hurt her. There was still one person in this newly formed world that still believed in him.

"Thanks Colette! Us Chosen have to stick together, right?"

Colette: quite possibly the world's most innocent and sweet-hearted girl. She was the poster girl of what fairy-tale angels were supposed to be like. While it was true that both Zelos and Colette angels, in Zelos' mind, the two could not have been any more different. Betraying her friends for her own personal gain was certainly on the bottom of her list of things to do if not lower. She was simple minded but that only helped to enhance the aura of innocence she exuded. In addition, this helped her enjoy the simple things in life. For this reason, she could ask for nothing more than to settle down one day and start her own family in Iselia.

"Zelos isn't like that! He was just scared!"

That was the excuse Colette gave her friends when they found Zelos in Mizuho. It truly amazed him. Despite his betrayal and his willingness to turn over Colette, she still believed in him. Zelos knew that what he did was all part of the plan to get the Aionus the party so desperately needed. Fighting the party though, was not. Feeling that his part of the plan was fulfilled, he no longer wanted to live and hoped the party would end his life. They didn't, and, through Colette's kindness, ended up in Iselia.

"Don't worry Zelos. I'll take care of you."

He sobbed when he heard this inside his mind. He didn't deserve such kind treatment. Several times over the past two weeks, he thought about taking his Ether Blade which now hung uselessly on the wall along with his pieces of armor and ending his own life. Perhaps the only reason he didn't do this is because he thought it would make Colette sad for one reason or another. Why did she care so much? It just didn't make any sense to him. Of all of the girls he knew from Meltokio, not a single one would treat him this nicely. They saw only his charm and fortune. Now, here he was with nothing left but a broken body and yet… and yet this girl, Colette, was caring for him as if he was a brother… or maybe…

"Shut up Zelos."

He did so and continued to stare out of the window. The children that were playing outside finally caught a glimpse of him looking through the window. Just like they always did when he went for his walks, they immediately scattered, doing their best to hide from his view. Zelos hung his head in shame.

"Zelos…"

He told himself to be quiet.

"Zelos…"

He grabbed his head and shook it. "Shut up!" he yelled.

"Zelos?"

Zelos opened his eyes and saw a concerned Colette, standing next to his chair, a tray in her hands. She no longer wore her old outfit and instead wore a white sweater made of soft wool and a sky-blue skirt. Along with her light boots, her outfit screamed "farmer's wife".

"Are you ok, Zelos? You had me worried for a second," she said.

Zelos blinked a few times and shook his head. Was that Colette calling his name the entire time? He wasn't sure, but if it was…

"I-I'm sorry Colette. I was just… thinking," he said, fibbing as he did so.

Colette flashed her trademark, closed-eyes smile. "Hehe. That's good to hear. Are you feeling any better?"

Zelos thought for a moment. There was no need to worry her so, once again, he fibbed. "Oh… I'm feeling a little better. Uh… thanks for asking."

Colette nodded, still smiling, and set down the tray she was holding.
"I brought you some sandwiches and a cup of hot soup. I thought you might be hungry."

Zelos looked at the tray. The food looked good, but he just wasn't hungry. He noticed that she had even put a slice of melon on the side; his favorite fruit.

Zelos nodded slowly. "Thank you Colette. It looks delicious."

Colette nodded happily. "You're welcome Zelos." She began to walk away and turned back once more. "Do you need anything else Zelos? A blanket maybe? Winter is here now, so you must be cold sitting next to that window."

Zelos stared outside once again. She was right, it was cold next to the window. He didn't care though. He didn't care about much these days… especially his own well-being.

"Just… leave me alone," he said quietly, not turning back to her.

Colette continued to smile but was obviously hurt by what he just said. She wondered if he'd even touch the food she brought him. "Oh I'm sorry Zelos. I'll check on you later. Enjoy your lunch!" She did that fake giggle of hers and walked away.

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Once she was back in the main room of her house, a tear came to her eye. She was hurt, yes, but she thought that she might just be more worried about Zelos. No one told her so personally, but everyone in the village had criticized her decision to bring Zelos to their village to live amongst them. If she wasn't such a kind person and a hero on top of that, they may have tried to stop her. As it turned out, they did nothing and put up with Zelos.

"Zelos…" she said to herself, beginning to sob. "What happened to you? Will you ever get better?"

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"You stupid Chosen!"

"Way to go Zelos," he told himself. "Poor girl's probably crying now because of you. She's just trying to help. If it wasn't for her, you'd be dead now and forever forgotten."

He looked back to the blade on the wall. "You'd be dead now…" he repeated. He remembered back to when he first started living in Iselia. Colette had walked in on him one day when he was holding the tip of his blade to his chest, ready to plunge it in. She had begged and pleaded with him not to do it, crying as she did so. He eventually dropped the weapon but sometimes wondered why. Was it really because of her? Or was he just weak?

He turned back to the tray of food Colette so kindly prepared for him. As before, he wasn't hungry. However, he thought that it might make Colette feel better if he ate something. He turned his chair to the table that the tray rested upon and took a bite of a sandwich as a few snowflakes fell past his window.

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Alright! Chapter 1 of the Zelos and Colette side-story is done! What did everyone think? I won't be updating this story as regularly as "Unconditional Love", but it will be updated ASAP nonetheless. Leave me some reviews, please!