3. Cellphone
Sheena Fujibayashi/Zelos Wilder (Tales of Symphonia)

"That's a horrible idea, Zelos." Sheena huffed in irritation.
"Oh, COME ON! You know pink flamingos would look great in your yard!" Zelos retorted quickly, his cry defensive.

Zelos guided the raven-haired young woman through a collection of aisles, shovels and giant books displaying carpet samples stamped across every corner. The colors made her dizzy, her surroundings dissolving into a flurry of shades every time Zelos made a sharp turn. It was her first time in a large store such as this one, and Zelos was somehow convinced that this was easier. It was tantalizing seeing so many things at once. All she needed was flowers.

Everything had begun yesterday. She'd wanted to plant flowers in her yard back at Mizuno, and was thinking about purchasing seeds to plant them around the house. She'd revealed the idea to Zelos, but being the city boy he is, he was quick to discard it. He told her that there were already fully grown flowers in a place called "Home Depot", where she could purchase a variety and plant them. Although she knew nothing of this Home Depot, Zelos insisted that he be her personal escort ("Anything for you, my honey~!") and help her purchase what she needed.

"Well, I already have tools…" Sheena's eyes travelled across a set of gardening utensils, tucked neatly into a small beige bag. Her dark hair was pulled into its usual messy bun, her bangs framing her pale, doll-like face.
"Spoons and cups don't count as tools." Zelos commented with disgust, trying to provoke her on purpose.

Sheena's hand snapped instantly on the back of Zelos' head, knocking him forward.

"Ow!" Zelos cried.
"It's what you deserve!", Sheena scowled and positioned her hands on her hips. "For making stupid remarks."
"Pfft… I always piss you off…" Zelos glowered childishly, scrambling to pick himself up in the clearance aisle.
"Then try doing things differently." Sheena replied, her harsh voice lessening.
"Like?" Zelos' voice elevated a pitch on the "i" as he inched towards Sheena who was eyeing the clearance shelf.
"Well… uh… I don't know, don't try stupid things…" Sheena's hands glided curiously over a can of insulation foam on the shelf, long fingernails clattering on the yellow plastic lid.
"Oh? Are you trying to tell me you've never done anything remotely stupid?" Zelos smirked.
"Nah, I know better than to get into stupid situations." Sheena smiled with assurance.
"A-ha… these will be the very words I will use against you when you do something stupid, Sheena. You'll be begging to take those words back when I prove you wrong! However, I will be merciful. I'll let you go if you let me take a peek a—"
"You pervert!" Sheena slapped him on the head again.
"Ow!"

The two walked, if Zelos' limping could be called walking, towards the gardening section. Its broad, crystal-clear windows streamed rich sunlight despite the cloudy weather. It instantly warmed Sheena who was wearing a white cotton tank top, white sandals with simple stone-washed jeans. The clothes were Zelos' idea too, who was also decked out in a gray v-neck, black sneakers and jeans. The clothes felt bizarre to her, but peculiarly liberating. She welcomed the change, however bittersweet since she missed how her kimono and boots felt.
She watched Zelos walk ahead of her, his fiery, chest-length crimson hair making sharp contrast against his dark shirt. "Here we go. Flowers." He halted in front of a large shelf littered with potted flowers of all kinds. Sheena's eyes glittered as she took in the myriad of flowers. "Wow, this is convenient. Heh, sometimes you really do have good ideas despite your idiocy." Sheena smirked. Zelos didn't reply, which caused her to turn around.
"Gah, dammit… I left my wallet in the car…" Zelos frowned, oblivious to her comment. "I'm gonna have to head back, but… I can't leave you here alone." Zelos brainstormed. "One of us is going to have to get back to the car…"
Sheena's eyebrows arched quizzically. "Well, what if I go with you?"
"… You know what? I think I might have something… so you can pick out the flowers while I go back for my wallet…." Zelos smiled and began to dig through the pockets of his Levis. He fished out a diminutive, navy blue rectangle and promptly offered it to Sheena. "Here, you'll need a Cellphone."
"Cell… phone…?" Sheena repeated
"You've never heard of a Cellphone? Well, aren't you glad you have an idiot like me around." Zelos guffawed heartily, winking. He had heard her, and it was his way of payback. "Well, you hit this button to call me, this other button to hang up, and these numbers are used to dial… but you won't really need to do that. I'll just call to check up on you, so just press this button." Zelos explained the contraption in a bored manner to an awestruck Sheena, whose hands caressed its smooth, plastic surface. "So… can you handle it?"

"… I-It's fine, Zelos! I can handle it on my own!" Sheena growled, trying to conceal her confused look.
"Jeez, fine… it was just an offer.." Zelos' large hands spread in front of him, as if trying to halt her burst of anger from damaging him. "I'll be right back, don't go anywhere."
"… Ok…", Sheena eyed him as he sauntered towards the exit, and to the parking lot. Sheena huffed, turning the Cellphone in her hand.
"Damn, what button did he say did what again?" Her black eyes shifted between the Cellphone and Zelos' silhouette. Wait, he'd just explained everything to her. If she asked him again, he would go on and on about how he was right and that it was the first stupid thing she'd ever done… and that would mean she would be wrong and he would never live it down…. "No way In hell I'm going to ask him for help." She set the small gadget aside, next to her stack of already chosen flowers. She wasn't ready to give in now. "Hmm, some petunias would be nice… white, pink…" Sheena contemplated.

Suddenly, a shrill ring shook the still air. She turned sharply, switching into battle position. What was that? The high-pitched sound, like bells swinging together rapidly, filled the flower aisle. Was it some kind of animal? A bomb? She turned about rapidly in search of people, but saw nobody else but herself. Her eyes flickered back and forth, in attempt to find the source. Suddenly, her eyes fell on the Cellphone. It began to shake violently, emitting the bell-like sound. The multiple high-pitched noises seemed to string together a tune, sounding oddly familiar… the Cellphone was making the sound.

"Oh great, how do I stop it…" Sheena neared the noisy object when, suddenly, she felt herself lose balance. She fell forward, but luckily caught herself on the shelf. However, the shelf began to shake. She quickly pulled herself up, but it was much too late. The shelf snapped in half underneath the weight of the pots, and an avalanche of dirt and petunias began to rumble noisily to the floor. The pots made a clattering sound, like plates, as they fell to their destruction on the smooth, brown linoleum floor. Now, her feet were littered
"Oh god, what do I do…" Sheena bit her lips until they turned a healthy red, and began to scan her surroundings for something to pick up the spilled dirt and pots. Then, she noticed the presence of something plastic and rigid in her pocket. Curious, she lowered her hand to her jeans pockets.
She had a summon card in her jean pocket, withdrawing it and holding it in between her fingers. Well, it was better than trying to fix the entire mess of dirt herself, right?

At that, a glowing ring appeared beneath her feet. "Come fort, my summon, I call to you!"
In Sheena's nervousness, she didn't even check what summon card she was holding.
The ring beneath her feet shifted to a light blue, as a halo encircled her slender body.
Then, at that instant as the summon materialized before her, she'd noticed who she'd summoned.
Undine.
Oh. No.

"H-Hey! Wait, I changed my mind!" Sheena wailed and waved her hands in front of her riotously, trying to stop the cobalt blue maiden hovering before her. However, she seemed oblivious to Sheena's cries, and began to haul a large, cerulean wave above her head. It rose, shadowing Sheena and her bewildered expression. Rapidly, the wave dove, shoving through the feeble wooden aisles swiftly. The waves pushed entire shelves to the floor, annihilating their contents all on the ground. Sheena could only watch in shock as a colossal wave rumbled and chucked items around the glass dome.

"…." Sheena was speechless.
"I'm back, sweetheaaaart~!" Zelos chirped as he waltzed towards Sheena. When his sneakers made contact with the slippery, muddy floor, his smile immediately faded. "Sheena?... What happened here?..." He said carefully.

Sheena snapped back into reality. "I swear, it was an accident!"
"What did you do?" Zelos inquired.

"Nothing, I swear." Sheena replied defensively.
"An accident this big just doesn't happen like that…" Zelos replied, pushing a pot of gardenias aside with his foot as he walked towards the stunned young lady. "Is this in any way related to why you didn't answer my calls?"

"Grah…" Sheena grimaced and looked towards the floor. "It kept making this... irritating noise, that cellphone, so I tried fixing it... and when that didn't work out, I tried a summon, but I didn't know it was Undine and..." Sheena glanced nervously at Zelos. Despite her reprimanded kindergartener facade, there was a strong, almost irate, gleam in her eyes.

"I see... and your efforts managed to blow up an entire gardening aisle..." Zelos summarized, savoring the words on his tongue as they dropped one by one. He was silent as he stared back at her. "So that must mean... A-HA! I WAS RIGHT!" Zelos hopped with joy, his smooth features arranging around his ecstatic smile. "YEAH-UH! ZELOS IS RIGHT! WHOOHOO! UH-HUH! UH-HUH!" He yelled, pumping a fist in the air.

Sheena sweatdropped.

Zelos began to do a strange jig on the mud-caked floor, humming cheerfully in between. Sunlight barely filtered through the screen of mud splattered on the glass windows, with an array of pots, flowers, gardening tools and wood littering the gardening section in a cakey mud mess.

"Uh, I'd probably get us out of here if I were you..." Sheena frowned. Her coal-black hair glittered faintly in the sun, reflecting morsels of dirt.

"Face it, I was RIGHT for once! I even got to SCOLD you! HAH! 1-0, Zelos wins! Hell yeah, I was right, I was right, I was riiiii-hiiiight~" Zelos' voice fluttered as he sang cheerful tunes. "But y'know, I wouldn't mind a little lap dance to tie the score…" Zelos purred, eyeing her tank top coated in mud suggestively.

"Dream on." Sheena growled, the corners of her mouth turning down sharply as she shoved him. They both began to make her way towards the exit, Sheena trying to knock off the mud on her clothes.

She bit her lip and smiled. "Y'know, I think I'll just stick to doing things the old way…"