Yet another one-shot from me
Okay, I lied. I was about to start the sequel when I found this half written one-shot, so I thought I would finish it first. Based on the Meltokio ball. Hope you enjoy.
Lloyd was running late, he was supposed to be at the party the King had thrown for them, after they had saved the Princess from the Pope. Unfortunately, Lloyd's suit had not arrived with the others, so he had to waste time going to the castle and get it. This took him some time as the maids who assisted him took a bit too much interest in him. What annoyed Lloyd most was that he was planning to meet Sheena there, and definitely did not want to miss her.
He hurried through the doors of the large building next to Zelos' mansion. He had never been in there before, assuming it was just a boring old museum, or hall where the nobles met to discuss important matters. Either way, he never saw it as a place he would enjoy being in. Tonight would prove him wrong, however, as he would be spending his time there with Sheena, the most wonderful person in the world, assuming he was able to get there in time.
"Mr. Irving, I presume?" asked an elderly man. Lloyd nodded, "The Chosen informed me that you would be arriving late, please enjoy the night."
"Uh…thanks." Lloyd replied, it made him feel weird being addressed as a noble.
"Oh, and one of your companions asked me to invite you to the balcony to meet her." He added, as Lloyd started to enter the main hall.
"Really? Great!" he answered joyfully; he hadn't missed her. "Thanks for telling me." And he walked into the main hall. It was one of the most extravagant sights he had ever seen. Three large tables were stretched across the hall, each laden with food fit to feed all of Meltokio twice over. He looked up and saw his destination; the balcony. He looked as hard as he could to see some sign of Sheena, but he couldn't see anything; had she left?
"Lloyd! Bud!" came a voice from behind. Zelos, followed as always by his female 'fans', was waving towards him. "Come over here and have a drink!"
"Sorry, Zelos." He apologised, "I gotta find Sheena." And he rushed towards the steps that lead to the balcony overhead, not hearing Zelos yelling behind him, "Sheena, huh? You go, Lloyd!"
He rushed up the spiralling staircase, and reached the door that lead to the balcony. He charged through it…but saw no-one. He had missed her. Had missed his chance to spend time alone with her. Then, suddenly, a strong arm coiled itself around Lloyd's neck, and placed him in a strong headlock. "You're late, Lloyd Irving." Said a half irritated, half amused voice, "I thought you'd know better manners than to make a woman wait."
"Sheena!" Lloyd sighed in relief, mostly due to the fact he had not missed her, but partially because he knew that she wouldn't use her headlock to cut off his air supply…well, assuming she wasn't too mad. "Sorry I'm late. My suit didn't come to Zelos' mansion, so I had to go and pick it up."
Sheena giggled, "Don't worry, Lloyd." She replied, "I heard about that from Zelos after he tried to get me to join his 'fan club.'" She didn't release Lloyd from her headlock, however. She enjoyed having a reason to hold him, even if it technically classed as an offensive move.
"So, are you gonna let me go?" he asked hopefully.
"Depends" she answered, "Are you going to make up for being late and making me wait?"
"Of course I will." He chuckled, not really knowing if she was just playing or actually angry with him.
"Okay, then." And she let Lloyd go.
Lloyd turned round, to see the most breath taking sight he had ever seen. Sheena was wearing a fairly revealing purple outfit. He was able to see her arms, lower torso, and her legs, making him blush slightly, and her hair was tied up into an oddly shaped bun. She also appeared to have put on more make-up than usual, which made her face more beautiful than ever. "Wow, Sheena! You look…well…great!"
She giggled again, noticing the blush that was forming on his face. "Thank you, Lloyd." She said sweetly, "I must admit that I felt a bit underdressed when I arrived, but I'm glad you like it." Lloyd's blush deepened. "You look quite handsome yourself, Lloyd. I've never pictured you in a tux before."
Lloyd laughed. He was indeed wearing a simple white tuxedo. "Thanks, Sheena. To be honest I feel a little overdressed. I'm not used to this type of thing."
"Yeah, I know what you mean. I'm not a big fan of these events. Though I suppose I should try to adapt to them." She walked to the edge of the balcony and stared, almost sadly at the crowd below.
"I bet being the Chief means you'd have to show up to all of these things huh?" Lloyd asked, walking beside her.
"Unfortunately." She sighed.
Lloyd watched as she stared sadly at the hall below. "Say, why don't we get out of here?"
"Huh? You wanna leave already?" she felt slightly hurt that he didn't want to spend more time with her.
"Well I was thinking, since neither of us are fond of fancy things like this, we could do something else."
She paused for a second, then smiled. "Sounds good, Lloyd. What do you have in mind?"
"Uh…" Lloyd's mind drew a blank, he was pleased, but wasn't expecting her to say yes. "Well we could go for a walk." He suggested, "Not the most exciting things but…"
"I'd love to, Lloyd." And she took his hand and started walking away from the balcony; Lloyd almost being dragged along.
0000000
A few moments later, Lloyd and Sheena were outside the large building, still able to hear voices coming from the party. "You know, I'm surprised that no-one tried to stop us from leaving." Stated Lloyd, "I mean, the party was held for us but they didn't even notice us as we left." Sheena just smiled, the truth was, someone had noticed; Colette. Sheena saw her waving to her, pointing to her and Lloyd's hands entwined, then gave her a thumbs up.
"So, Lloyd." She began, "Where do you plan on going?"
"Uh…" he really had no idea. "Well…We could…"
Sheena giggled, "Why don't we just have a walk around the coliseum." She suggesting, realising Lloyd had no idea in what to do. "It's usually lit up during the night."
"Sure, sounds great." And they slowly made their way through the grand city, towards the arena.
"Hey, Lloyd?" Sheena asked, after a couple minutes of silence, "Do you ever think about the future?"
"Huh?" this wasn't something Lloyd was expecting. "What do you mean?"
"Well, after talking about me becoming the Chief earlier…I kinda started to think about it more. It's kinda freaky really." She sighed and slowed to a stop. Lloyd looked at the saddened expression on her face. "And anyway I was wondering if you ever thought of it."
"Well…to be honest, I try not to." Sheena stared in confusion, "Well, there's no point worrying about things you have no control over. What ever is going to happen will happen. I just deal with it as it comes. One of the reasons why Kratos insulted my fighting style; I react as oppose to thinking my way through." Sheena could not help but laugh at this. "But seriously, Sheena, don't worry. You'll be a great Chief, and I promise I'll be there whenever you need a friendly helping hand."
"You'd better be, Lloyd." She laughed, before saying, "Thanks, Lloyd." And she squeezed his hand affectionately.
It was then that they reached the Coliseum, "Wow!" said Lloyd, as he saw all the different coloured lights emitting from the structure.
"Yeah, its beautiful." Added Sheena.
"And yet I can still think of something even more beautiful." Stated Lloyd, as he turned to the summoner, smiling. His eyes then widened, 'Did I really just say that?' he thought.
Sheena released his hand, and placed both of hers on her hips. The way she did when she was annoyed or angry with someone…usually Zelos. "Oh really, and what may that be?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.
Lloyd instinctively moved one foot away from her, "Uh…well…I…uh…"
"Lloyd Irving, are you hitting on me?" she interrogated, feigning a menacing glare and tone.
To say Lloyd was slightly scared now would be an understatement, as he remembered all the times Sheena punished Zelos for any slight hint of flirting. Not only did he not want to experience the pain Zelos did, but he didn't want Sheena to class him in the same league as Zelos. But these fears died instantly, as he heard Sheena giggle, "Thank you, Lloyd. I appreciate the compliment." And she moved closer to him, giving him a light kiss on his lips, "And the look on your face," she added as she pulled back, "priceless!"
Lloyd was speechless, he was expecting pain from Sheena, but instead he was thanked, and kissed. "You're welcome." He managed.
Sheena laughed again, "You thought I was going to hit you, didn't you."
"Well, that's usually the end result whenever Zelos says something like it."
"Zelos is a pervert and compliments to him are a way of getting into girls' pants." She replied, "You're not Zelos. You're kind, sweet, and caring, and I love any compliment you give me."
"So does that mean I've made up for my lateness?" he asked hopefully.
"Oh, not quite yet." She grinned mischievously. She wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him into another kiss. It was a much deeper, more meaningful kiss than before, and she was very pleased when he started to return the kiss, and put his hands around her waist. After a while, she pulled back, "Now we're even."
Lloyd chuckled as he held on to her, "So, Sheena. Would you do me the honour of returning to the party for a dance?"
"Hmm, I don't know." She answered, joking, "I kinda like it where we are."
Lloyd laughed again, "Oh, come on. Please."
"Oh, all right." She said, 'giving in', before whispering seductively in his ear, "But you owe me, Lloyd Irving." And he blushed.
0000000
Once more, Lloyd found himself walking into the large building next to Zelos' house, only this time he was accompanied arm-in-arm by the most beautiful woman in either world. The room had obviously been re-arranged for the later evening; the tables of food had been removed to the far sides, and a stand had been erected to hold a band of musicians, who were already playing a very slow piece of music.
"So," said Lloyd, putting on a posh voice, "would m'Lady still want to dance." He bowed and offered his hand.
She giggled, "Well of course, good Sir." And she gave a small curtsy before taking his hand.
And they walked into the crowd of dancing nobles. Lloyd then wrapped his arms around her waist, as she placed her hands on his shoulders. And they slowly started to rotate on the spot in time with the music, simply enjoying each other's touch and presence.
"Lloyd," Sheena started, "this is one of the best times of my life. Thank you."
"I feel the same way, Sheena." He answered, "In fact, I think that I actually…"
"Looking good, you two!" interrupted a voice. Zelos had somehow danced towards them with his partner, tonight some short, slender redhead. "Where did we stroll off to earlier I wonder?"
'Stupid Chosen!' thought Sheena, angrily, 'I'll make him pay for ruining this moment.' But for now, she just ignored him, keeping her attention on the twin swordsman dancing with her, unaware that he too, was planning vengeance on the philandering Chosen.
And there we go. Not overly sure if this is how the story was meant to go, to be honest. I can barely remember starting it in the first place. Oh well, I just wanted to get it out of the way. I hope you enjoyed it, and I will now concentrate on the sequel to "Defenders of Luin".