Pairing: If the words "Sheelos" or "Zeroshii" make you want to scream and shoot your computer, then please do not read kthx.
Disclaimer: No own ToS me do! Mmmyes.
Crimson timeline, so you's ain't cunfuzzed. Go read it iffen ye hasn't, or else I'm 'fraid I'll have to get all Valkyrie Profile on yo ass and do a Nibelung Valesti on you. This shall be engraved upon your soul!
Beware: I'm totally braindead while writing this. There may be parts that don't make sense, parts that don't fit, mess up the mood, Sheena or Zelos may be complete out-of-character idiots, or something. I'm trying, man. I really am. This is hard enough when I can't write. Then I have them in my head with other people and they...get distorted should I say.
Duh I haven't read fanfiction in like months. So if this is plagiarizing hit me nicely, please. The last time I checked, this wasn't done. But I could be wrong, with my ancient knowledge what.
The door opened, and the little angel walked in, pulled it closed, and tried her best to wander silently back to her bed without turning on the light or tripping.
"Colette?" Sheena mumbled, awakened by the door, which creaked a bit no matter what. It wasn't a very loud creak, since the angel was very careful, but the ninja was a light sleeper anyway and had excellent hearing.
"Sorry, did I wake you?" the little one whispered.
"Nah, wasn't asleep yet," Sheena lied, shifting to flip the bedside lamp on. "Now what are you doing up so late?"
"Um," the younger girl coughed, searching for an answer. "I...was talking...to Lloyd?"
"Are you keeping secrets from me?" Sheena smiled, noting the 'let's hope this answer's enough' tone. "You can't keep secrets from your big sister, c'mon, spit it out!" she grabbed her 'little sister' in a noogie.
"No, I'm serious!" Colette laughed, trying to bat her captor away, "all we did was talk a bit."
"Oh, really," Sheena pulled at her cheek, "just talked..."
Colette nodded furiously.
"Nothing happened," the summoner went on. "Nothing, nothing at all...not even a little kiss. Right here," she poked her lip.
"Not!" Colette's head became a blur as she shook it vigorously. "We didn't!"
"Oh, admit it," Sheena dug a fist into Colette's hair. "Lloyd and Colette, sitting in a tree..."
"Sheeee-naaaa!" the girl dragged out the name, biting on her hand. "Stop it!"
"Ow! You little monster, still got big red wolves in you?" Sheena looked in her friend's ear. "Nope, nothing," she knocked on her head. "Empty!"
"Quit it," Colette laughed, sneaking out of the summoner's grip.
Sheena laughed as well, reaching for the box of biscuits on the bedside table. "Well, if you didn't do anything else, what did you guys talk about?"
"Um...stuff!" Colette nodded, keeping her eyes on the ground. She looked up momentarily to say "Wanna biscuit."
"Aw, stuff so secret I can't get in on it," Sheena pretended to shed a tear, passing the box.
"Nothing really important," the angel flapped her wings, accepting the box and selecting a treat from it.
"Alright," Sheena chewed on her cookie of choice, "I'll accept that excuse...for now."
Colette fiddled with her skirt, mumbling quietly. "But...it was nice..."
Sheena smiled, nodding. "Well, I'm sure you're tired after all that, yeah?"
Colette flopped back on her bed while chewing on the biscuit, sighing blissfully. "Mmm-hmm."
"I think I'm going to go outside a bit, so you'll be able to fight any bedtime monsters without me, right?" Sheena stretched, too awake to go back to sleep.
"Of course!"
"Good night, then," Sheena snuck out.
Her friend nodded and waved good night as she slipped away.
Outside it was pleasantly cool, and walking near the rooftop was calming. The stars, now sure the sun wasn't going to chase them away, stretched out across the sky, twinkling in a way that resembled laugher.
Sheena stopped her mindless wandering and stared out, trying to sort out her thoughts. She didn't know whether to sigh a million times or scream like a banshee that everyone seemed to call her, so she did neither and dropped to her knees, staring at the ground.
She couldn't hide it anymore - Colette had Lloyd, and she was jealous.
The word was sticky and ugly, and she shuddered at the thought. She shook her head frantically, trying to shoo away the thing, which ate away at her, tainting her with its malice.
She didn't want Lloyd, she reassured herself anxiously, clearing up the muck in her mind a bit. Lloyd suited Colette much better, and he was too stupid too often, not her type. But...when Colette looked so happy, telling her what had happened...well, she would ask about it, so it was partly her fault, but still...something always died in her when she listened to that.
Colette had gone through a lot of suffering, though, she deserved someone to sit by the fire, to romp and forget about all the pain with. Sheena couldn't begin to imagine what she had to put up with every day, when she wasn't 'all there', when Crimson decided to drop by and eat her, basically, her numerous kidnappings...and yet, she kept that cheerful attitude and never stopped trying her best.
But, Sheena punched the ground, I have my own pain! Don't I deserve someone...as much as she does?
No, no, that sounded all wrong! She curled up, feeling absolutely miserable and suddenly cold. She clawed at her head, trying to get the horrible thoughts out, but they only came faster. Voices in her head chattered incessantly about various unpleasant subjects, driving her deeper into her misery.
No matter what spiteful nonsense her head was spewing out now, though, she was glad for her friend, proud. There were times before when the angel had broken down in her arms, wanting more but afraid of the change. That she had gotten what she wanted - and it was working out so well, too! - the little angel's happiness was contagious.
But that only reminded her of her loneliness.
The guy she was lusting after (if one could use that word) didn't give any clear signs, and always seemed to be running around with another lady. A flash of red hair always put her on the alert, bristling and ready to swipe to protect her pride. He would say something or touch her, she would hit him and they'd go nowhere.
But there were times when they had some nice conversations, when they forgot about their little fights and talked about something worthwhile, or simply enjoyed each other's company. It always cheered her a bit when she thought of those, warm, happy moments in times of constant fear.
Sheena heaved herself up wearily, sighing and leaning against a railing. Those little moments were too far and in between to confirm anything. She knew, deep down, that she did like that kooky Chosen - but she was afraid of telling him that. There could be so many problems arising from that...
He could take it the wrong way and treat her like one of his many groupies.
He could take it as a joke.
Or maybe he'd reject her, finding her unworthy.
That thought always ruined her day, in a completely horrible way. It had taken a great deal of bravery and effort to admit she liked him more than the others, but to have all that crumbled up and thrown away felt like being consumed alive by a giant snake made of ice, its bite chilling her so much she wanted to curl up for a while.
She looked down, sighing again. The distance from the roof to the ground was dizzying, so she could concentrate a while on that instead.
She briefly considered falling, but she caught herself in time. She couldn't die over such a stupid guy, anyway, and the worlds depended on her not to break down so she could save them.
And that reminded her of the last time she failed to save people...
And falling sounded like a good idea again.
She was leaning forward listlessly, wondering how it would be like if she plunged. Like an eagle, swooping for its prey. The only difference would be that she wouldn't be able to fly away from that stunt.
A small orb of light snapped her to attention. It was slightly round, like an hourglass tipped on its side. It was golden - or was it orange? But whatever it was, it hovered near the balcony of a room a few floors below her, hesitated, and floated away.
Glad for something other than thoughts of death to occupy her, Sheena decided to follow it, dashing down the steps to get to the ground floor where she could pursue it.
There was something warm and inviting about that light, and childishly she wanted to find it and keep it for herself. The light had vanished when she had reached the ground floor, but she saw it going toward the forest, so she went that way.
The brush was tame enough, but it liked her clothes too much and she paused many times to wipe off some shrubbery off. The light was nowhere to be found, and she grew discouraged and hoped she knew the way back.
Just as she had that thought, the forest parted and there was a small clearing with a lake. The moon shone on it, making it look like a giant piece of silver - and as soon as she had that thought, she wanted to eat it for some reason.
But more importantly, she saw the light flicker on the edge closest to her before it vanished.
She paused in thought, wondering what in the worlds it could be - did it die? Whatever it was, it dragged her out this far. She wasn't going to do anything else for a while, considering she had run around too much (and too far) to go to sleep.
Slinking quietly, she approached the edge, but there was nothing. Just to make sure, she walked around the entire lake to see if the light-thing had walked around.
All she found was a crouched figure sitting by the bank. Upon closer inspection, the figure turned out to be none other than Zelos. Sheena wasn't sure how to feel about this, so she crept up to him to see what he was doing.
The guy in question didn't seem to do anything at all, other than dozing very lightly. Half of Sheena wanted to shake him and yell at him for all her misery, and the other half wanted to just look at him and dream about insignificant things.
For now all she did was sit next to him and stare, trying to find some way to bother him (because she wanted to bug him) without waking him up (because she didn't feel like talking). A strand of hair was straying a bit too far from his face, and it bothered her. Reaching slowly, she brushed it behind his ear.
The eye closest to her opened and glared at her, but relaxed when it discovered who it was.
"Hey," Zelos yawned.
Sheena nodded instead of speaking. The last thing she wanted to do was start a conversation, because it usually ended up with her hitting him. And right now, she didn't feel up to it.
Zelos yawned again very loudly, smacking his mouth a few times. "So...what are you doing here?"
Sheena blinked, staring out of her catlike eyes at him. "Nothing."
Zelos skipped a rock across the lake. "Well, I guess we have some things in common then."
Sheena continued to stare. "Really."
"Why, yes," Zelos motioned, yawning a third time, "Both of us can't sleep, are by the same lake, and for no reason whatsoever."
"I followed something here," Sheena explained, if only for a reason not be like him. "I don't know about you."
"So did I," Zelos leered.
"Really?" Sheena challenged.
"As a matter of fact, yes," Zelos waved, "my whim."
Sheena looked aside, snorting softly. "Figures."
Zelos skipped another rock, watching as it hopped along. Sheena chewed a bit on her cheek as it flew and sank as rocks tend to do in water.
Sheena reached for a rock of her own to see how far she could fling one. At the same time, Zelos also reached for it, so their hands bumped into each other.
Sheena's first reaction was to jump, but she relaxed as Zelos didn't notice and skimmed it. Taking care to find one that he couldn't reach, she threw one of her own.
"Oh! What a sad toss..." the redhead remarked as the pebble skipped a disappointing distance.
"Bah, never good at this game anyway..."
Sheena thought about asking him how he got so good at it, but remembered she didn't feel like talking, so she kept it to herself.
Besides it was so calm and cool and relaxing she wanted to doze off...
But then she remembered that Zelos might take advantage of her while she was asleep.
She shook herself awake, but to no avail.
"Moon's pretty tonight," Zelos pointed.
"Kinda orange," Sheena nodded.
Orange...
The moon couldn't have possibly brought her here though. What was she thinking? The sleepiness must have gotten to her head.
Then what was it? She wanted to know, at least before she fell asleep.
She was about to give up until, as she closed her eyes, she saw the orange light reflected in the lake.
And she smiled a little.