Oh ho ho ho! I haven't been writing lately (due to lack of inspiration, heh heh…) but a somewhat random idea popped into my head. It's short but at least I'm trying…

Anywho, this is a one-shot for the pairing of Sheelos. Enjoy.bows

Beware to fluff haters! (Are there any?)

Disclaimer: I don't own Tales of Symphonia. If I did, no one would buy it.

Cooking Pot

By: Sango Taijiya-san

"All right! Let's set up camp… here!"

"Hai!"

"I don't know, this place seems slightly dangerous out in an open field."

"It'll be alright! No monsters come out around here…most of the time."

"…"

"Why are you looking at me like that…?"

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It was a regular day for the group of adventurers, and as the vibrant sun's rays diminished to a ruby red glow on the western horizon, the whole party decided to set up camp in an grassy area situated near a forest. As campfire was lit by one of them, the other members of the group debated on who would cook for this evening…

"Let me cook for once!"

"No, your food always ends up too spicy!"

"It was just that certain recipe…give me another chance!"

"I refuse!"

"Sheeeeeena!"

…Although the debating was mostly done by two people: a certain red-headed Chosen and one raven-haired Mizuho ninja. The criticisms quickly turned into insults that were unrelated to the matter that was at hand. The most rational individual of the party, a silver haired half-elf, halted the arguing.

"Sheena, we get your point about how bad Zelos is at cooking-"

"Hey!"

"-But the rest of us are quite impatient with watching you two bicker, so decide on who will cook!"

The Chosen, being the prideful man he was, made one last urgent request of, "Pleeeease let me try! If I screw up then someone else can do it next time."

When someone was about to protest though, the summoner replied, "Fine, do what you want. Just don't come complaining to us when you can't carry that pot with your limp hand or something."

"Heh." As he left to fill the pot with water in a nearby stream, he recalled the memories of how he received the wound on his arm…

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"It's coming!"

"Go!"

A wild dragon swooped down from the clear, blue skies. Sheena, Lloyd, Zelos and Presea approached the creature almost immediately after it lowered itself closer to the ground. With a cry, Lloyd flung himself towards the dragon and started slashing at its belly. Sheena and Zelos were attacking the creature from behind, all the while avoiding the tail that was swung around crazily. Presea attacked the dragon from the side, and attempting to chop off one of the limbs on the body.

After a few minutes, the dragon was almost dead, although anyone could see it was still trying to hold onto life. As everyone backed away, the dragon made one last attempt to kill the party. It was a horizontal slash from the steely claws of the monster. The attack was targeted towards Sheena, and when she turned around, it had almost seemed like it was too late to avoid the blow…

Out of nowhere, someone bounded over to her, quick as lightning. He grabbed her shoulders with his left arm and shielded his own face with his right. The claws slashed the glove and went through to pierce his arm. With a slight groan of pain, he let himself fall down from the momentum of his own run.

"Zelos!" As Lloyd cried his name, he hacked off the limb that had struck Zelos. He ran over to the fallen forms of Sheena and Zelos and bombarded them multiple questions, the majority of them being 'Are you okay?'

As the Chosen pulled himself up, he extended his left hand to Sheena, who still laid on the ground, shocked at the attack and who the identity of her savior was. She snapped out of her thoughts, and ignored the helping hand as the redhead pouted from the lack of her attention.

Feeling the searing of the wound now that there was nothing distracting him, he looked down at his right arm. The deep gash was still dripping with crimson, and it ran from his hand to his elbow.

"That can't be healed completely. I'm sorry."

Zelos looked up from his cut into the melancholy face of Sheena.

She continued, "Raine saw it and said it was too deep. She can seal the skin together, but the internal bit of damage can't be repaired by anyone but you."

He looked at her with his sapphire eyes and in a serious tone, said, "If you're safe…then, it's alright."

Her eyes widened at the comment until he grinned and responded to her reaction.

"Ah, gomen, gomen, that was unlike me, right? Just forget about it."

And with his trademark smile, he placed his uninjured hand on her breast.

"Baka!"

The sound that followed was part of their own daily routine…

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As his feet carried him to a stream within the forest, he was unaware as he approached it until he heard the wet splash beneath him. With a sigh, he looked at his soggy boots and decided that life hated him today. He filled the pot with the clear, untainted water from the stream and prepared to heave it up with both hands. Unfortunately, the added weight was too much for his injury and he dropped the cooking pot on the dirt path. He clutched at his arm and waited for the searing pain to subside.

'Well well, how am I going to carry this by myself…?'

As he almost gave up on finding a solution, but just as he heard a faint rustling in the bushes, his mind was diverted from that problem. His body tensed, preparing for a battle, despite his lack of a weapon and a wounded arm.

As the figure materialized from the shadows, he relaxed, seeing the purple-garbed ninja. Curious, he asked, "Hey, aren't you supposed to be at the camp?"

Slightly flustered, she answered, "Well, you can't carry that pot by yourself with your arm in that condition. So I thought I'd help…"

"Aww, you were worried? Thanks hunny!"

With an exasperated sigh, and a brief glare, she replied, "Let's just get this pot back to camp. Everyone's waiting and you still have to cook something."

Without further ado, she took one of handles with her right hand. He understood immediately, and took the handle that was on the opposite side of the pot. Together, they hefted the heavy pot up and started making their way out of the forest.

"Oi, Sheena."

"What?"

"…Thanks."

And she blushed.

-Owari-

And I'm finished. As usual, please read and review and feel free to criticize.

Did anyone notice that I didn't put up anyone's name in the non flashback section? (Not counting dialogue.) I have a tendency to change writing styles for some odd reason…heh. Oh, by the way, I've been looking desprately for the actual tracks of Namco's Rodeo Ride Tour Drama CDs. If anyone knows where I can download them or something, please tell me in a review or PM me, ok? Thanks!

For people who don't know…

Hai - Yes

Gomen, gomen - Sorry, sorry

Baka - Idiot, stupid, etc.