So this was originally supposed to be just GenisxPresea, but Zelos and Sheena worked their way in as well...I couldn't help it .
Presea prided herself on her ability to learn: having lost sixteen years of her life, the still-twelve year-old took every chance she could to watch her strange group of friends and learn from their triumphs and mistakes. Granted, some of her newly-acquired knowledge was more than any average person really needed, such as her extensive knowledge of exspheres or her ability to speak perfect Klonoan (whatever that meant, nobody but her seemed to know). However, by soaking up everything that was sent her way she was able to distinguish a couple of "normal" rules: it is considered polite to return a gift or complement with one of your own; some questions, especially those asked by Zelos, do not actually require a response; and, most importantly of all, never, ever eat Professor Raine's cooking, no matter how much she insists. Nobody will think you impolite.
She was extremely grateful to her life tutors but she couldn't help but be frustrated sometimes, especially when she felt that they were keeping something from her, preventing her from taking in and learning everything she possibly could. Like any twelve year-old, the phrase, "You'll understand when you're older" was a constant nuisance, a cheap cop-out from the most awkward of questions. She wasn't so naive as to miss that.
"Sheena?"
The young woman was reclined comfortably in one of Zelos' plush couches. Leafing through the day's paper and sipping a cup of coffee, she only seemed to half hear the young girl. "Hmm?"
Presea paused, looking down at her book to make sure she had read the word properly. "What is...'kiss'?"
Sheena made an odd choking noise from behind her paper, and the axegirl knew right away that she had hit one of those more uncomfortable topics. "Wait...what?" she spluttered.
"'Kiss...'" Presea slowly repeated the word, unsure of her own pronunciation. "It's in my book. Context is: 'All he longed for now was a kiss from his beloved before he was doomed to the long, cold, lonely nights ahead of him...'"
Sheena gave a small "huh" as she put down her coffee. For a young girl who barely understood the difference between men and women, her reading preferences were very girly and incredibly romantic. Looking at the crumpled newspaper, proclaiming nothing but peace now that the worlds were united, she made a mental note to swipe the girl's book for a night.
"Sheena?"
Sheena was jolted from the beginnings of her elaborate plan-in-the-making, and her face flushed as she remembered the bemused girl. "I don't understand," Presea stated in her matter-of-fact voice.
"What, what a kiss is? Aww, cummon, any girl your age knows what it is!" The young chief floundered helplessly.
"...which age, twenty-eight or twelve?"
Presea's eye twitched as Sheena laughed loudly and ruffled her pink head. "You're funny, Presea, you know that? Zelos! Hey, Zelos! You ready to go? We're gonna be late for that...thing! You know!"
Zelos had just walked in the door, completely sopping wet and obviously not ready for anything. Before he could open his mouth, however, Sheena had leapt to his side and was steering him towards the door. "What are we doing? It's raining outside," he whined. "Ow!"
Sheena elbowed him in the side as they walked out, leaving Presea very confused and irritated. She turned to Zelos' butler, who was just coming out of the kitchen with his sleeves rolled up and an apron around his middle. "Sebastian...?" she began.
"I'm sorry, Miss. But the dishes simply must get done before the other young Masters and Misses get here tonight."
A couple of hours later, the rain finally stopped and the sky cleared. Presea's mood, on the other hand, didn't. She was upstairs in the guestroom, leaning over the balcony railing sulkily and drawing patterns with the water drops as she pondered on the word and its meaning.
"Kiss," she said aloud. She'd been doing this for the past hour and she knew she sounded ridiculous. However, the word had enough power to send two grownups (three, if you counted Zelos, even if he'd had no idea as to what was going on) from the room within minutes of saying it, so she was almost positive that no one was listening to her now. "Kiss. Kiss, kiss, kiss."
"Are you serious? That's the reason you made me go back in the rain?" Zelos' loud voice was only too recognizable.
Presea peered over the railing to see the Chosen and Sheena strolling through the alley, both soaked and on their way back to the mansion. Sheena was giving him a rueful smile. "What was I supposed to say? I suck at talking about stuff like that! Do you know what happened when I talked about Mizuhoan marriages with Lloyd? My face went beet red!"
Zelos laughed. "Yeah, I can see that. Besides..." he wheeled her around, playfully pressing her up against the stone wall. "Actions have always spoken louder than words for you," Presea heard him say. It didn't help her confusion at all.
Sheena smacked him and pulled away laughing. "You're a pig sometimes, you know that?"
"Aww, I've gotten over it. Nobody's perfect, honey. Anyway, how hard can it be to explain a kiss to a twelve year-old?" He chuckled again at the idea.
She was flustered now. "Don't laugh at me! It's such a common word, I thought she would have known! And then it just...came up and...Don't look at me like that! L-like you said, nobody's perfect! Do you wanna try?"
"And get involved in the ponderings of a preteen girl? No thanks." He snorted. "Just tell it like it is, Sheena. You've always been good at that whole mothering thing. Hell, sometimes you're a little too good. Makes me wonder what's going to happen once we get married."
"What does that mean?" she brought up a hand to slap him again.
Zelos laughed and drew back. "Only the best, honey!" he sang.
The two sat down on a nearby bench, Sheena leaning comfortably into him. Presea couldn't help but smile as she watched them. She didn't always understand everything; that was a fact she was able to accept. However, she also knew that didn't need to understand to see that Sheena and Zelos were happy together. As she'd been sharing the mansion with them for a couple of months, she'd been able to sneak peeks at them from behind her books. Out of respect (and a little embarrassment) they'd toned down their affectionate displays in front of her, but there was one thing they hadn't been able to hide: the sight of one another was almost always enough to make them smile.
"Do you really think I'll do okay?"
"What, mothering or giving Presea the talk when she starts asking about sex?"
This time, she did slap him. He simply laughed again. "You'll do great. I know it." Presea could hear the assurance in his voice from her high perch. Sheena smiled as he said this and, reaching up, pressed her lips fondly to his cheek. "I love you."
Zelos grinned at her. "See? Why didn't you just do that?"
"What?"
"Kissed her on the cheek? It would have taken care of the whole thing!"
"Oh, please..." Sheena rolled her eyes and got up. "You're hopeless."
"Whaaaat? It's a pretty damn good idea if you ask me! Easy and painless!"
The couple disappeared around the corner, still laughing and arguing as they opened the door and were greeted by Sebastian. She listened to them make their way noisily upstairs, turning around just as they peered into her room. "Yo, Presea!" Zelos greeted her. Sheena was still giggling at something he'd said. "What're you up to?"
Presea smiled innocently, picking up her book and settling back down on her bed. "Nothing."
"Genis, stop fidgeting."
Genis wrinkled his nose, something that he was sure his sister was about to comment on as well, and gave one last nervous tug at his shirt. "It's really hot out," he mumbled. "How are you not boiling up in that?"
They were both wearing their usual outfits, but Raine looked a lot more comfortable than he could possibly feel at the moment. "What are you talking about? If anything, it's still a little chilly; it just stopped raining a couple of hours ago. And speaking of clothing..." she raised an eyebrow. "Did you iron your outfit?"
Genis felt his face flush. "It was wrinkled! And we weren't going too far, 's not like it was a total waste or anything!"
"If you say so..." Raine smiled to herself as she reached up for the knocker and gave a couple polite raps. The flowers clutched behind his back were a dead giveaway anyway.
"Presea! They're here!"
Presea tilted her head from one side to the other, looking at herself in the mirror and readjusting her pink pigtails before making her way to the staircase. Downstairs, she could already hear Raine and Genis making their way inside: Zelos had made the mistake of using some precious, historical stone in Sheena's ring.
"Sheena, I never thought I'd see the day this man would settle down...But for him to get you this ring! Oooh, this is amazing, just look at the cut, do you see this? This is what makes it so different from diamond, it gives off more of a lavender shine...and look at the carving in the band! This has to be a lost art...Zelos, where did you get this sample—er, jewel? I simply must have one!"
Genis was at his older sister's side, grinning hopelessly and helplessly as she nearly attacked Zelos, but looked up the staircase as he heard footsteps. "Presea!"
The tiny axegirl descended the steps, her smile feeling bigger than usual as she caught sight of her friends. "Hello, Genis. Hello, Raine."
"Presea! Hello! Have you seen this marvelous ring Zelos got Sheena?"
The two laughed at Zelos and Sheena's exasperated expressions, turning away to catch up. "Uh...h-hey. Again," Genis said lamely. The color was quickly coming back to his face. "Hello," Presea repeated with an even bigger smile. She couldn't help herself.
An awkward pause settled between them for a couple of minutes, the two unsure of what to say. He coughed. She continued to smile politely at him.
"How are y—" she started after a couple of minutes.
"I got these for you!" Genis shoved a bouquet of lilies in her face, the words rushing out of his mouth. "I mean, I'm good, how are...you?"
Presea looked at him bemusedly, then at the bouquet, then back at him. His hand was shaking as he offered her the flowers. As she took them from him they touched slightly, causing him to go an even deeper shade of red. Genis could only watch in surprise as she beamed at him and, for the first time ever, broke out into a fit of giggles. "I'm very well. These are lovely, thank you."
Genis brightened up at her warmth. "Glad you like them! Raine thought you might want roses but I told her they were way too mushy...not that I don't think they're nice! I just thought lilies were a little more in-season! A little less cliché! I mean, I thought you might like something different..." he was back to tripping over himself, but it only caused her to laugh again. In the back of her mind, she vaguely wondered if this was how Sheena and Zelos felt around each other.
"I'm sorry I didn't get you anything." She cut him off from his nervous rambling. "I know that's what you're supposed to do."
"What? Oh, no! Don't worry about it! It was kind of a last minute thing..."
She was beaming by now. "Come help me find a vase for these?"
"Y-yeah, of course!" He sprightly leapt up the stairs after her.
Presea always felt calm next to her friend, mostly because of his nervous fluttering, but for some reason today she felt she could sympathize with him. Her insides churned in a way that was both uncomfortable but exciting (not unlike butterflies, she mused to herself) and it only increased now that they were away from the chaos of their other reuniting companions.
"What do you think of this one?" She turned around to see Genis standing awkwardly in the doorway. "Genis?"
"Hmm? Ah, sorry, I was just...yeah." He was actually at a loss for words.
Presea heard that same giggle from before escape her lips, mind once again turning to her recently engaged friends. An idea suddenly struck her. "Actually, I did get you something." She knew she sounded abrupt, but she didn't quite care.
Making her way towards Genis, unable to hide the spring in her step, she stopped right in front of him and cocked her head to the side again. This had seemed so much easier when Sheena had done it...
"P-P-Presea?" His stammering had increased. "What are you..."
Genis blanked out completely as Presea leaned in and pecked him lightly on the cheek. His hands had finally stopped shaking, but the corners of the room had gone oddly fuzzy and he felt a little woozy. His mouth hung open like an door.
Presea, on the other hand, pulled away thoughtfully. "Hm. So that's what it is," she mused aloud. She was careful not to say how much she'd enjoyed it.
"What?" Genis snapped out of his stupor at the sound of her voice. The vase lay completely forgotten on the table.
For the third time in the past fifteen minutes, Presea giggled as she took his hand and pulled him back downstairs. "Nothing."
Reviews, please! I'll be getting back to Avatar soon, I promise!