The Auction

Author's note: This takes place two years after Tales of Symphonia

"Alright, now that you're all here, we need a favor," Sheena said.

Lloyd, Regal, and Zelos were meeting in Zelos's living room to listen to something Sheena and Colette had to say.

"As you all know, the Meltokio Orphange Charity Bachelor auction is this Thursday," Colette began.

"And as you also know, Colette and I are the ones in charge of finding eligible bachelors to offer up as dates," Sheena continued. "So we were wondering-"

"Sheena, I hate to say this, but this kind of thing is… embarrassing for me," Zelos interrupted.

Everyone in the room gaped at Zelos.

"Wow…this is a bit out of character for you Chosen," Regal said.

"Don't get me wrong, I love all the attention it would give me, but I don't like the idea of me being 'sold' to women like a slab of beef," Zelos stated.

"I'll do it!" Lloyd said.

"Really?" Sheena asked.

"Yeah! Regardless of the circumstance, it's for a great cause!" Lloyd said with a smile. "Besides, one date with someone isn't going to hurt me."

"Thanks Lloyd!" Sheena and Colette said.

"Based on what Lloyd said, I'll do it as well," Regal said.

"Thank you so much!" Sheena and Colette said.

Everyone then stared at Zelos, making him feel a little guilty and uneasy.

"Sorry guys, but I stand by what I believe. I know it's for a great cause, but I personally don't feel comfortable with it," Zelos stated.

"It's okay Zelos, I'm sure we can find someone else!" Colette assured him. She then turned to look at Sheena. "Can't we ?"

Sheena looked a little troubled, but quickly overcame it. "Y-Yeah, I'm sure we can!" Sheena said.


After everyone had retired to their bedrooms for the night in Zelos's mansion, Zelos was the last to leave for his chambers. As he was walking down the hallway, he was stopped by Sheena standing outside the door to his bedroom.

"Hey," Sheena said.

"Hey," Zelos said, somewhat surprised. "So…did you manage to find someone to take my place for the auction?"

Sheena shook her head. "No such luck. Most of the people we asked were either already busy that night or were in a relationship."

"Wow, that's too bad," Zelos said in a somewhat sympathetic tone. "Well…I hope you guys still have a good auction regardless." He then continued to walk past her but Sheena stepped in front of him.

"Please won't you do it?" Sheena begged him.

Zelos was slightly taken aback by Sheena's uncharacteristic plea for help.

"Why are you asking me like this..? You're not acting like the normal demonic banshee that I know…" Zelos said.

Sheena ignored his question, and continued on with the "plan" Lloyd helped her come up with to get Zelos to say yes.

"You think me begging him like that would actually work?" Sheena asked Lloyd, completely and utterly surprised at the method he came up with.

"If there's one thing we all know about Zelos, it's that he has a soft spot for all women with goodness inside them," Lloyd told her.

"But couldn't Colette just do this instead? She's has more of an innocent angel appearance that he'd probably be more willing to oblige to," Sheena pointed out.

"Nope, it has to be you. Since it's not really your 'style,' he'll be taken aback by it!" Lloyd said. "And he also seems to 'drop his mask' more often with you than Colette."

"I have to do this. It's for the children in the orphanage!" Sheena encouraged herself. She grabbed Zelos's hands and placed them together, wrapping her hands around his.

"Please? Pretty please? It'd make me really really happy!" Sheena crooned.

Zelos chuckled, shaking his head. "This is really, really unfair."

"And it's for a really really good cause," Sheena said.

"I'm really really gonna regret this…" Zelos sighed. "Alright alright, I'll give you my answer."

Sparkles started to form in Sheena's eyes outwardly, but on the inside she was snickering that this plan was actually working.

"My answer is…" Zelos began, "…no."

Sheena threw her hands off of his. "Ugh, you stupid chosen! Why are you like this!?"

"You should know honey that tricks like that don't work on me. I could see right through your façade," Zelos smirked.

"You refuse to be in the auction just because of your pride? Even though it's for a great cause?" Sheena asked in annoyed tone. "I can't believe I even tried begging you. Forget it!"

Sheena began walking away down the hallway in a huff.

"Oi, Sheena!" Zelos called her.

Sheena stopped but didn't turn around. "What?"

"I'll do it," Zelos stated.

Sheena turned around and gave him a look of disbelief. "You what?"

"I said I'll do it," Zelos smirked. "You must be hard of hearing honey."

"Why the sudden change?" Sheena asked.

"I don't know, maybe it's because you tried so desperately to ask me, even acting out of character, to get me to be in the auction," Zelos shrugged, and then smirked again. "Lloyd gave you the idea for that one didn't he?"

Sheena turned red after being found out. "S-so what if he did? It doesn't matter now, you said yes, and that's I wanted! So you better not back out of your word!" Sheena said in an embarrassed yet threatening tone.

Zelos raised his hands up in defeat. "I swear to Martel I'll be there."

Sheena then nodded her head and left to go to the guest room her and Colette shared. Zelos chucked to himself as he went inside his bedroom.


Time flew by fast, and Thursday night had arrived. The boys had finished getting dressed in their suits and were waiting in the atrium of the mansion for Colette and Sheena to join them before they left for the auction. Lloyd and Regal wore black suits and pants while Zelos wore white.

"Is everyone ready?" Colette asked as she descended down the stairs. The boys turned to look at her in awe.

Colette was wearing a pure white dress that ended just above the knees and slightly ruffled at the end. The top portion had straps with white ruffles on them and a small red bow at the end of each strap. Around her waist was a large red ribbon that tied in a bow in the front.

"Wow my little angel, don't you look cute!" Zelos complimented.

"Thanks Zelos!" Colette smiled.

Lloyd just continued to stare at her without saying anything. Zelos nudged him, causing him to wake up from his trance.

"Uh- Yeah you look beautiful Colette!" Lloyd finally uttered out.

"Thanks Lloyd!" Colette said with a slight blush on her face.

"But where's Sheena?" Regal asked Colette.

"She was walking with me, but then she put her hand on top of her head, said that she forgot something in the guest room, and went back to get it," Colette said. "Although it has been a while since then…"

"I'll go see what's up," Zelos volunteered. "For all we know, she might have walked outside and fallen into a pit again haha."

He walked down the hallway to where Sheena and Colette's guest room was and knocked on the door.

"Oi honey, you ready?" Zelos asked. "If you're having a wardrobe malfunction, I'd be more than happy to help you with that-"

"AS IF I'D EVER LET YOU, YOU STUPID CHOSEN!" Sheena yelled. "Just give me a few more minutes, I'm fixing something!"

From behind the door, Zelos could hear Sheena muttering something along the lines of, "Why did it have to break now? Now it's all messy!"

"Heh, so she's having hair trouble huh?" Zelos thought to himself. He then slowly opened the door.

"Hey banshee, if you're having hair trouble, I can help you-" Zelos stopped midway through his sentence when he saw Sheena before him.

Sheena was standing in front of a mirror on the wall wearing a sequined, black, form-fitting dress that hugged her curves and ended just above her knees. The top portion of the dress had no sleeves, wrapped around her neck, and was open all the way to her lower back. She also wore plain black high-heeled shoes and translucent black pantyhose. On her face she had on rouge lipstick, light mascara and eyeshadow, and white dangling earrings. Aside from the fact that her hair was in complete disarray, in Zelos's eyes she looked absolutely gorgeous.

"Have mercy..." Zelos whispered in awe.

"Why are you in here? I told you I was busy!" Sheena said in an annoyed tone.

Zelos cleared his throat and walked further into the room.

"Well if someone doesn't help you honey we're going to be late. And believe me, you need help," Zelos said, gesturing to her hair.

"It's not my fault my hair tie broke!" Sheena said exasperatingly.

"No it's not," Zelos said, and began untying the bow wrapped at the end of his braid. His long red hair cascaded down his back. "But I can certainly help you with that."

He grabbed a brush from the table nearby and walked up behind her. Sheena's cheeks turned pink from his close proximity.

He began gently brushing her hair up to the crown of her head. Once he was satisfied, he tied it off with his ribbon.

"Do you want me to leave it as it is, or do you want it in a bun?" Zelos asked.

"Leave it as is," Sheena said. "But how did you get it so perfect?"

"Whenever Seles could visit when she was little, she sometimes wanted to play beauty parlor. She'd do my hair and then I'd do hers. I learned everything about hair from her," Zelos admitted.

Sheena smiled. "Sounds like you two had some good times together."

"Yeah," Zelos smiled, remembering those days. "But anyway my violent demonic banshee, we need to leave now before the girls start having a commotion over the Great Zelos Wilder not showing up."

Sheena snorted. "Alright, let's go."


"This is very different," Lloyd said, standing next to Regal and Zelos near the food and drink tables at the auction hall.

The event started with a 30 minute social so all of those that were bidding could look and socialize with the guys who were being "sold," for a date. But to the guys' surprise there was a lot less of them talking to the women and more of the women just looking them over.

"Very," Regal agreed.

"Ah come on guys, it's not that bad!" Zelos said, enjoying the attention he was getting from all the ladies.

"I thought you said you don't enjoy being 'sold to women like a slab of beef'?" Lloyd asked skeptically.

"Well yeah I don't like being "sold," but I don't mind the looks," Zelos smiled as one lady came up to him with a smirk on her lips. She looked him up and down and then looked at the number pinned on his suit.

"Number 3…I'll remember that," she said, as she winked at him and slowly walked behind him.

Zelos turned away from her to smile back at the boys as if saying, "See, not so bad at all!" But then he felt his butt being pinched.

"Whoah-hoho!" Zelos said, grabbing his butt, and giving a look to the same lady from before whose back was now turned as if she did nothing wrong.

"I take it back...that woman pinched me like a ripe tomato. This is humiliating," Zelos said in an annoyed tone to the guys.

"Well, now you know how women feel when you touch them," Lloyd said, smirking as he drank his glass of orange juice.

"I don't touch women's butts without their permiss-"

"Hi guys," Sheena interrupted as she walked over to them. "Having a good time?"

"Oh such a festive time!" Zelos said sarcastically. "Anyway I can get out of this fiasco?"

"Hi, I'm Pearl," a lady with golden blonde hair and a blue long-sleeved dress with a V-neck said as she sauntered past Sheena and over towards Zelos. "Are you one of our bachelors?"

Zelos's face instantly brightened. "Why yes I am! Tomato number 3!" he said as he pointed to the number on his suit.

Pearl laughed lightly in response. "I took the liberty of getting you some champagne," she said, handing him a glass. "I should have asked if you were old enough first, but I just knew that from your masculine good looks there was no way you were under 20."

Zelos smirked in response. "Thank you!" he said, taking the offered glass from her.

"A toast to charity?" he asked, holding up his glass. Pearl clinked glasses with him and they both stared at each other with flirtatious smiles on their faces.

Sheena mentally gagged at what she was seeing, but she gave a fake laugh and said to Pearl through grit teeth, "He's a true humanitarian isn't he?" She then began to walk away but didn't hesitate to slap Zelos harshly on his back as she did.

Zelos's face had a slight look of confusion because of Sheena's actions, but he recovered shortly in front of Pearl.

Colette walked up to the stage in the back of the room with two microphones in hand.

"Alright Ladies and Gentlemen, it's time to begin our date auction!" Colette said, "Everyone please take a seat at one of our tables while our bachelors take a seat in our chairs up on stage."

All the ladies sat down at the round tables and Sheena walked up on stage to join Colette in hosting. Colette handed her a microphone.

"Please welcome, bachelor number 1, Regal Bryant!" Sheena said.

The audience clapped as Regal walked to the front of the stage.

"Mr. Bryant is currently the President of the Lezareno company in Altamira. He may appear to be the serious type, but he is actually a very sweet and respectable man, helping anyone in any way he can, as was seen when he helped bring Tethe'alla and Sylvarant back together," Colette said.

"Can we start the bidding at 100 gald?" Sheena asked the audience.

Many women in the audience waved their white signs.

"200 gald?" Colette asked. The same women waved their signs again.

"300 gald?" Sheena asked. One woman in the audience waved her sign in the air.

"Do we have anyone else for 300 gald?" Colette asked. No one else raised their signs.

"No one else?" Sheena asked. "Going once, going twice, sold! To the lady with the…bird on her hat…"

Colette handed Regal a rose and he walked over to the lady who was standing up at her table. She appeared to be in her 70's.

"Good evening mam. I suppose I'm going to be your date a few weeks from now?" Regal asked, without showing any sign of concern in his expression or voice.

"Oh you're not for me honey. You're a gift for my granddaughter," the lady said with a smile. She looked over to her granddaughter as she stood up from her seat next to her and walked over to Regal. She appeared to be in her early 30's and had dark pink hair.

"Ohh, he's cute. Thanks grandma!" the granddaughter said, placing her hands on Regal's left shoulder. Regal gave a sigh of relief.

Lloyd and Zelos snickered on stage at Regal's response.

"Alright, now please welcome, bachelor number 2….Lloyd Irving!" Colette said.

The audience cheered and applauded as Lloyd walked to the front of the stage.

"Most of you may know Mr. Irving as the one who united both our worlds, but there's more to him than just that," Sheena began. "He's idealistic, kind, and always willing to help others out."

"Can we start the bidding at 100 gald?" Colette asked the audience.

Several ladies in the audience raised their signs.

"200 gald?" Sheena asked the audience

The same ladies raised their signs.

"300 gald?" Colette asked the audience.

Only the older lady with the bird on hat was remaining with her sign held up high.

"Going once, going twice…sold! To the lady with the bird on her hat!" Sheena said.

Colette handed Lloyd a rose and he walked down over the older lady.

"Do you have another granddaughter?" Lloyd asked her.

"Oh no sweetie! You're for me!" the older lady smiled.

Lloyd's face paled.

"We're gonna boogie all night long!" the older lady said.

"O-Oh, that's great…" Lloyd said, giving Colette and Sheena a look that said, "Please save me."

Sheena and Colette gave him a sympathetic smile.

"A-Alright, please welcome, bachelor number 3, Zelos Wilder!" Sheena said.

The ladies in the audience screamed like crazy. Zelos smirked in response as he walked to the front of the stage.

Colette said, "Zelos was known as the Chosen of Tethe-alla. He's a talented swordsman and-"

"Will you just get on with the bidding?" Pearl said from the audience.

"Eh? Um, sorry, okay…" Colette said. "Do I have 100 gald?"

Every lady in the audience raised their signs.

"200 gald?" Colette asked.

All the ladies waved their signs again.

"300 gald?" Colette asked. The result was the same.

Pearl stood up from her seat and said, "I bid 1,000 gald."

She sauntered up onto the stage and hugged Zelos's left arm.

"What do you of think that, Zelos?" Colette asked.

"A thousand dollars for a night with me? No pressure there," Zelos said, smiling.

"1000 gald…going once, going twice….So-"

"1100 gald!" A loud voice said.

Everyone in the room turned their attention to where the voice had come from…which turned out to be...Sheena!

Sheena's face was in shock. "Did I really just say that out loud?!" Sheena thought, as she turned red from embarrassment.

"1100 gald…?" Zelos said to her in surprise. Sheena shrugged.

"1200 gald!" Pearl said.

Sheena didn't know why, but she was starting to feel competitive.

"1300 gald!" she said, walking over to Pearl.

Pearl let go of Zelos, and the two girls started bidding right in front of him without Colette's help. Zelos tried hard to contain his satisfaction over this.

"1400!" Pearl said.

"1500!" Sheena said.

"1600!" Pearl said.

"2000 gald!" Sheena said. The audience applauded her for making such a bold bid.

"A-alright, how about 2100 gald?" Colette asked.

"Take him. I could I could never explain 2100 to my husband," Pearl said while walking off the stage. Zelos and Sheena gave each other confused looks after hearing that.

"Sold! To Sheena Fujibayashi for 2100 gald!" Colette said. She handed Zelos a rose.

The audience clapped. Zelos clapped with them and grinned at Sheena while she gave him a small smile back.


The group returned to Zelos's mansion later that night.

"Good evening Master Zelos, Sir Regal, Sir Bud, Lady Colette, and Lady Sheena," Sebastian greeted them in the entrance. "How was the auction?"

"It was very good Sebastian!" Zelos said.

"I got a wonderful date," Regal said.

"I got her grandmother…." Lloyd said in a disappointed tone.

"And I got Sheena!" Zelos said, placing his hands on her shoulders. "She paid 2000 gald for me!"

"2000 gald? That's pretty high!" Sebastian said.

"Well it was for a good cause and I…." Sheena trailed off. She then changed the subject. "So Sebastian, how was the house sitting?"

"The same as usual, Lady Sheena," Sebastian answered.

"I don't know about you guys, but I'm going to turn in for the night," Lloyd said yawning.

"I think I'll do the same," Regal said.

"Me too," Colette said.

"Say what? The party's just started!" Zelos said.

"No thanks Zelos, we're all pretty worn out," Lloyd said. "Good night everyone!"

"Good night," everyone said in response.

"Aw man, guess I'll go find myself a midnight snack in the kitchen then," Zelos said. "Is there anything already made in there Sebastian?"

"There are some nuts and crackers in the cabinet if you want those Master Zelos," Sebastian said.

"Yeah, that'll be fine. Thanks Sebastian," Zelos said, as he made his way to the kitchen.

Everyone else walked up the stairs to the guest rooms….except for Sheena, who plopped down on Zelos's couch. Colette noticed Sheena wasn't following and stopped where she was.

"Sheena, are you alright? You coming to bed?" Colette asked.

"Yeah, I'll be there in a minute. I just need a moment to think about something. I'm fine, don't worry!" Sheena reassured her.

"Okay, I'll see you in a little bit then," Colette smiled cheerfully and continued walking up the stairs.

Sheena twirled the rose held in her hand that Zelos had given her, looking at it intently.

"Is there something on your mind, Lady Sheena?" Sebastian asked.

Sheena sighed and looked at Sebastian. "Sort of…" Sheena said.

"Is it about you paying 2000 gald to go on a date with Master Zelos?" Sebastian asked.

"…yeah, actually…" Sheena sighed.

"Forgive me for speaking out of turn, but I'm not sure if you are aware of this…" Sebastian said.

"Aware of what?" Sheena asked, looking up at Sebastian.

"You could have had him for free," Sebastian pointed out. Sheena sighed in response, looking back down at the rose.

"Yeah…I realize that now…" Sheena said.

Zelos walked out of the kitchen with a plate of nuts and crackers in his hand. He stopped when he saw Sheena sitting on the couch.

"Sheena? You didn't go upstairs with everyone else?" Zelos asked.

"No…I just needed to think here for a bit…" Sheena said. Zelos walked over and sat down on the couch next to her, placing the plate of food on the coffee table in front of him.

"You want some?" Zelos asked.

"Sure…" Sheena said, reaching over for a cracker.

"Would the two of you enjoy some tea?" Sebastian offered.

"That would be great, thank you Sebastian," Sheena said. Sebastian bowed in response and went in the kitchen to make it.

"Zelos, we have to talk…" Sheena said.

"I figured as much," Zelos said with a little laugh.

"Look, I'm not gonna hold ya to this date thing. I know I've asked you out a few times…actually several times…" Zelos said with a small smile, "but you made it quite clear that you want to focus on being the chief of Mizuho and that-"

"Zelos I know-"

"No, I know exactly what happened. You got caught up in the bidding, the excitement, and money and-"

"Zelos I…to be honest…" Sheena began with a nervous smile on her face. "…oh boy.."

Sheena placed the rose on the table, got up from the couch, and walked a little bit away. She stared at a painting of roses on the wall like it was the most interesting thing in the world. Zelos remained silent, waiting for her to finish.

"Tonight…when Pearl was about to win that date with you…something happened to me…" Sheena said, "I was uh…"

Zelos started to figure out what was going on inside her head and smirked a little bit. "You were a little jealous…?"

Sheena squeezed her hands together.

"I wanted to claw her eyes out…" Sheena breathed out, exasperatingly.

Zelos got up off the couch and walked over towards her. "Really..?"

Sheena turned around and looked at him with a timid smile. "Uh-huh…"

Zelos smiled back at her and then chuckled a little bit at the situation.

"Zelos I know what I said before but…I think…maybe should go out. I mean who knows, maybe this could turn into something, or maybe it won't, or maybe it already has or…" Sheena rambled. She then looked down at the floor, bit her lip, and then looked back up into Zelos's eyes. "…maybe you should just shut me up."

"Okay…" Zelos said. He then stepped a little closer to her, placed his thumb underneath her chin, and then kissed her on the lips. What started out as something innocent became more intimate as they attempted to deepen the kiss. Zelos moved to place his hands on Sheena's waist.

"HOLY MARTEL!" they heard a voice yell from the stairs.

Zelos and Sheena broke away from the kiss and turned their heads to determine the cause of the outburst, which ended up being Lloyd. Sheena's face turned bright red, while Zelos didn't appear to have any shame in what they were doing.

"Uhh…sorry, it just kinda slipped out…" Lloyd said, rubbing the back of his head. "I just came down here for a glass of water and didn't expect to see that. I'll get out of your hair real quick…"

He then quickly walked down the stairs, went into the kitchen to get some water, and then returned.

"I do want to say one thing though…I'm glad you two finally got together," He said, smiling. "Have a nice night you two." He then walked back upstairs.

As soon as they heard the guest room door close, Zelos and Sheena looked back at each other. Sheena's faced turned even redder as Zelos looked deeply into her eyes.

"So…do you want to continue?" Zelos asked her, cupping the side of her face with his hand.

Sheena briefly closed her eyes and exhaled deeply. She then opened her eyes and looked back into Zelos's eyes.

"Yes…" She said with a timid smile. And they did continue.