Disclaimer: I do not own Tales of Symphonia.
The Downside of Chocolate
"Happy Valentine's Day!"
Raine sat straight up in bed and whirled her head around. It took her a moment to figure out that she'd been asleep and that there were two teenaged boys (okay, one ALMOST teenaged boy) standing at her bedside. They were also holding some things – one had two small boxes wrapped in pretty pink paper, and the other held a bouquet of roses.
She also realized that she was wearing her nightgown, it was six AM in the morning, and she was not ready to leave the dream world just yet.
"GET OUT!" she cried, springing out from under the blankets and simultaneously pushing both boys towards the door.
When she'd pushed them to the hallway, she slammed the door, grabbed the nearest chair, jammed the doorknob with it, and dove back into bed. She fell back asleep almost immediately.
Hours later, Raine woke up once again, this time to a loud knocking at her door. She groaned, and then glanced out the window. Since it was February, snow covered the ground, the trees, and the rooftops. Now, it had to be about nine o'clock – she would have to get up soon.
Then she remembered what today was – her least favorite day of the year.
Valentine's Day.
She rolled out of bed, threw her bathrobe on, and answered the door, albeit reluctantly.
"Yes?" she asked groggily, but her eyes soon shot straight open. "For Martel's sake, Zelos! Get some clothes on!"
Zelos stood in Raine's doorway, wearing nothing but a towel around his waist. He was soaking wet, and had obviously just come out of the shower.
"Sorry, Ultra Cool Beauty," Zelos replied, not sounding sorry in the least. "I was just wondering where you guys keep the shampoo in this place…"
Raine sighed with exasperation. "Zelos, it's right there in the bathroom, next to the sink. Didn't you see it?"
"I must have missed it," he said. "Well, thanks, Professor! By the way, you're looking great this morning!"
"Oh, shut up," she muttered, and turned to go back into her room and get changed.
Zelos heard her, and an extremely wounded expression appeared on his face.
"How can you say such cruel things on Valentine's Day?" he cried, trying to be dramatic.
"Zelos!" she barked. "Go back in the shower!"
"Okay, okay, gosh…"
Raine pulled on her usual attire. She made sure not to wear anything pink or red, even socks and underwear. She did not, in any way, want to express that she was in the Valentine's Day spirit. Because she definitely wasn't.
Raine went downstairs, still in a bad mood. Usually, she hid her emotions from the public, but today she was just with people she'd known for a while, so she didn't care. It was really Genis's fault, anyways. HE was the one who invited everyone to Iselia for Valentine's Day. Now that she and Genis had a new, renovated house, he had wanted to put all of the extra space to good use.
Raine sat at the dining room table. She WAS hungry, after all. Across from her sat the small ax girl, Presea. Raine liked Presea at this particular moment, because she didn't try to start a conversation or wish her a 'Happy Valentine's Day'. Presea merely sat quietly, and nodded as Raine sat down.
Raine examined the room. Genis and Colette had decorated it with cutouts of hearts and flowers. Real flowers were in a vase on the table – they appeared to be the same flowers Lloyd and Genis had attempted to give her earlier. Two small gifts sat on the placemat that Raine sat at – Genis knew she always sat there, so they must've been for her. In fact, Raine recognized the gifts from the six AM affair.
She reluctantly opened the first box. Inside were several chocolates of all kinds – dark, milk, white, almond, coconut… Raine knew she should appreciate a gift like this, but at that moment… she couldn't.
"What, are they trying to make me fat?" she muttered, closing the box and shoving it away.
Before she could open the second gift, Genis came in with two plates.
"Pancakes are ready!" he announced gaily.
Raine just "hmphed" at this news. At the same time, Presea smiled pleasantly at Genis as he set the plates down in front of them. On each plate was a large, heart-shaped pancake decorated with chocolate chips and whipped cream. There were also two pieces of bacon and sausage. Raine had been hungry, but now she felt nauseous. Valentine's Day was even invading her breakfast! She pushed the plate away.
"I'm not very hungry," she explained to Genis.
He shrugged, but looked disappointed. "Okay. You can eat later."
Raine got up from the table and went into the living room. It was freezing in here. She would start a nice fire and then she'd sit by it with a book on archaeology… Yes, that would be nice… She'd forget all about this Valentine's Day that was going on…
Moments after she'd sat down, however, another person entered the room.
"Hi, Professor!" called Colette, walking towards her. "Happy Valentine's Day! WOAH!"
Colette tripped over her own two feet and fell flat on her face. As she crashed down, so did a nearby pile of books – Raine's carefully alphabetized books.
"NOOO!" cried Raine, running towards the books. She turned to Colette, and angrily told her, "Be more careful! I had these books all organized and you had to go and ruin them!"
Colette's expression turned to surprise, and then to guilt.
"I'm so sorry, Professor! I'm such a klutz," she apologized. "Here, I'll help you put them back in ord – "
"NO!" yelled Raine. "Don't – touch – them."
"O-okay," stuttered Colette, backing away. "Um, I'm gonna… go find Lloyd!"
The girl ran off, obviously upset by Raine's uncharacteristic behavior.
Raine couldn't concentrate on reading after an hour had gone by. She stood up and decided she would take a walk outside. Yes, this room was too hot, and a brisk stroll around the town would help her clear her head. She could plan out her next trip to the Asgard Ruins as she went. She grabbed her coat and went outside.
The others were already outside, however.
Genis and Presea were building snowmen using Raine's favorite scarf and gloves; the same gloves that were delicate and expensive and needed to be used for people, not snowmen. Zelos was hitting on a couple of Raine's students, and telling them how he and the 'Ultra Beautiful Professor' were an item. Sheena was trying to deal with an angry Efreet (disturbed by the cold weather) who was threatening to set things on fire, and Celsius (mad that Efreet couldn't 'act like a real summon spirit' and take the weather) who was threatening to crystallize Efreet. Lloyd and Colette were sledding, and were consequently pushing snow back onto the walkway that Raine had shoveled clear for hours yesterday. The only one merely observing was Regal, but his NOT doing anything seemed annoying in itself – why wasn't he trying to stop anyone else from messing things up?
Raine was about to burst. OF COURSE everything was going wrong! This was the worst day of the year! It always was, and it always will be. Why did everyone else seem to be having such a good time?
She decided to go deal with Zelos, and made her way over to him. As she passed Genis and Presea, she heard the two of them whispering – gossiping.
"Is something wrong with your sister?" Presea asked.
"Nah, she just hates Valentine's Day," he explained, patting some snow down on the snowman. "It's always turned out badly for her. It started a couple years ago, when she started teaching – the students pelted her with snowballs on V-Day. The year after that, she got food-poisoning from chocolate. The next year, she had an allergic reaction to the type of flowers someone got her. Last year, some guy she was dating broke up with her. And… well, this year, she's just grumpy. Lloyd and I tried to make her happy this morning but… it didn't go so well. I just don't get why she tries to move on from all that stuff and have a good time."
Raine ignored Genis. He would NEVER understand what pain she went through every day for the last five years. He'd never know how humiliated she'd been as her ten-year-old students laughed at her, a mature 18-year-old (at the time) and how cold and wet she was, or how her stomach had hurt when she'd gotten food-poisoning, or how she couldn't stop sneezing when she'd had the allergic reaction, or how much she cried when her six-month boyfriend had broken her heart.
This year would be no different. It had already gone horribly – how could it possibly get any better?
As she marched towards Zelos, she didn't notice a tree branch sticking out of the ground. A moment later, she fell straight into a pile of snow. She hurriedly stood up and brushed herself up, but she could feel everyone's eyes on her. Some of them laughed, others whispered… but they all made her feel uncomfortable.
"Whoa! My Ultra Cool Beauty!" cried Zelos, coming over to help her out. "You have got to be more careful! Or were you just falling head over heels because you're in love with me?"
That did it. Zelos could flirt; he could pretend that he liked her; but he could NOT go this far.
Raine said nothing. She merely slapped him as hard as she possibly could. Then she marched off into the forest, praying to Martel that no one would follow her.
"Hey, Raine! Wait!" called Sheena, running over to Zelos. "Wow, what did you say to her? …Never mind, you probably deserved that anyways."
Zelos 'fake-sobbed' to himself, "Nobody likes me…"
Raine had no idea where exactly she was going, but she knew she wanted to get away. She also knew that she didn't want to go back any time soon.
She stopped by a random tree and then leaned against it. This could possibly be her worst Valentine's Day ever. And that was saying a lot. She kicked snow into the air, wishing the day would end already.
She heard a branch snap behind her. She turned around suddenly. Someone had followed her! Well, she was going to give it to them straight, and then that person would experience a severe beating…
"Raine?"
Or not, if it was the person who it sounded like… but if it was the person who it sounded like, why was he here? Hadn't he left her months ago, alone with people who just didn't understand? Why would he come back now? Unless she was delusional…
"Kratos?" she managed to ask, not knowing if she should be angry or not. Kratos wasn't the kind of person who cared if you were angry.
He appeared in front of her, and he looked the same as always – shaggy auburn-reddish hair, same dark and brooding eyes, same expressionless face.
"Why are you here?" she asked him, not afraid of being straightforward, even if it was Kratos.
He stepped forward. "I got here this morning. Didn't Lloyd and Genis tell you?"
She recalled that morning. "…No. That's not the question I asked, though. WHY are you here?"
He should recognize the edge in her voice; her icy tone had to be obvious. He should be able to see she was in a bad mood and that he shouldn't play games with her right now.
He was unnerved. "I came to visit my son… and to see you."
She snorted. "Me? Of course. Did Lloyd ask you to come talk me out of hating Valentine's Day? Or did Genis? Were they too annoyed at me, the grumpy spoilsport, to come here themselves, so they sent you in their place?"
"No," he replied. "I came of my own free will."
"Well then," she continued, "what do you have to say? Make it quick, I don't feel like dallying out in the freezing cold."
Maybe Kratos didn't deserve such harsh words from her, but it was too late to take them back. There was a moment of silence as Kratos examined her.
"Genis told me why you dislike Valentine's Day."
"Oh, so everybody knows now," she grumbled. "That's just wonderful."
"I'm not such a great lover of the holiday myself," he continued, ignoring her comment.
"Well, we have something in common then," she said.
"…Raine," he said. "Valentine's Day… is just another day. It's not any different from the day that comes before or after it."
"That's not true!" she blurted out. "Everyone expects you to be all happy and loving and to eat chocolate and make yourself fatter! They don't care if you don't on other days."
He raised his eyebrows. "Is that what you believe? Interesting…"
She didn't have anything to say to that.
"The truth is," he said, "I forgot today was Valentine's Day."
She coughed and almost choked on her own spit. "W-what?"
"I chose to come and visit today from Derris-Kharlan at complete random," he explained. "But I had no idea it was Valentine's Day."
She couldn't help but ask… "How could you forget Valentine's Day? I know you're all alone up there, but can't you see everyone in the whole world making a big deal about it?"
Kratos shrugged. "Well, no one was making a very big deal about it. That's just the thing. No one is making a very large deal about a foolish holiday. You seem to be making the biggest deal of it than anyone else."
"WHAT? That is not true!" exclaimed Raine.
"You can think what you want," he said dismissively. "I'm going to go now. Are you coming?"
He left her stammering, angry, and confused. Was it true? Was the hype all an illusion she'd made up in her head? She stood there and thought for several minutes – in fact, for quite a while.
Yes, her rational mind concluded at last. It was me all along. Valentine's Day candy is still just chocolate. Heart-shaped pancakes are still just breakfast. Colette being a klutz and Zelos being a flirt are nothing new. Children playing in the snow and making mistakes aren't incredibly unusual.
She felt her anger disappear; she felt her hate of the day dissipating.
Maybe this day is just to remind us to care about one another.
The day was only half over. Raine decided to head back home. Standing out here all day wasn't worth it.
When she arrived at the house, so saw that everyone had put on ice skates and set out on the frozen lake. Lloyd was trying to help Colette skate, but she kept falling on her bottom. Regal was showing Genis and Presea how to skate backwards. Sheena was skating away from Zelos, who was chasing her. Kratos was nowhere in sight.
Genis spotted her and waved. "Hi, Raine!"
She hesitated, and then waved back. He stumbled off the ice and ran toward her as fast as he could in ice skates. Then he looked up at her with wide eyes.
"Are you okay?" he asked. "I know you hate Valentine's Day."
"I am now," she assured him. "I'm sorry about my behavior this morning. It was unacceptable, and I owe everyone an apology."
"No, it's okay," Genis told her. "Everyone understands what you've gone through. But if you want to… you can tell them at lunch. We're going to head in soon, anyways."
Then Raine realized that she was starving.
"I'm going to head inside now," she said. "Kratos is there, right?"
Genis shook his head. "He had to leave. But he left a gift for you. I don't think you opened it."
"…A gift?" she asked.
"Yeah. Lloyd and I tried to give it to you this morning, but… it didn't quite work out," Genis replied, turning red.
Raine nodded. "I see… I'm sorry about that…"
"Well, you go inside now!" urged Genis, slightly pushing her. "You're probably cold, and hungry, right? I saved your pancakes. You could heat them up on the stove. Just… don't destroy them like you do all other food."
Raine rolled her eyes, but she actually felt herself beginning to smile.
"Genis, I can heat things up," she reminded him. "I'm just… unable to create them in the first place."
Genis laughed for a moment, until a voice interrupted him.
"Genis?" called Presea, waiting for her skating partner to come back.
"Looks like someone's waiting for you," Raine said.
Genis turned red. "Yeah. I'm coming, Presea!" he called, and turned around to run back to her.
He tripped of the same tree root Raine had fallen on earlier, went sailing through the air, and landed in a heap at Presea's feet.
"Ow," he commented.
Raine couldn't hold back her smile now.
"Genis, are you alright?" asked Presea, concern in her eyes as she helped Genis up.
"Yeah," he mumbled. "I'm fine."
"Are you ready to continue with the lesson?" asked Regal.
The two nodded and followed him back out onto the ice.
"Come back here, my voluptuous hunny!" came Zelos's voice as he skated after Sheena. "You can't run forever!"
"Watch me!" she taunted, speedily sliding in the opposite direction of Zelos.
Raine was in a much better mood as she entered the house again. Her hate of Valentine's Day wasn't completely gone – she did have some horrible memories of the day – but she realized that, this year, it was only bad because she'd made it bad. She went into the kitchen and heated up the food Genis had made earlier.
While she was eating, she noticed the two small presents at her place again. She remembered opening one – it was chocolate – but she'd never gotten to the second. Perhaps this was the present Kratos had left for her…? She realized that she was eager to see what he had left her…
She undid the ribbon and tore up the paper. Then she slowly opened the box. She gasped with delight. Inside was a necklace with a glittery silver chain. At the center of the chain was a silvery blue snowflake, with little jewels on it that sparkled when the sunlight reflected off of it. It would match her eyes and hair perfectly! How did Kratos know to get such a wonderful thing for her? It was perfect!
She was holding it up and admiring it, when suddenly, everyone else came tumbling into the room. Genis and Regal headed for the kitchen to make lunch, while Presea, Colette, and Lloyd took a seat at the table. Raine noticed that Zelos and Sheena were not present.
"Hey, Professor!" Lloyd greeted her. "Did you like your gift?"
"Yes!" she exclaimed. "Where did your father get it?"
"Huh?" asked Lloyd, confused. "Oh! He made it!"
Raine's eyes widened. "He did? Oh my! It's wonderful! I never knew Kratos could do that sort of thing…"
Lloyd laughed. "Not Kratos! My other dad! You know, Dirk? Genis and I had him make it for you!"
Raine was confused. "But… I thought Kratos left me a present…"
"Oh, he did!" Lloyd said. "Weren't there two boxes?"
Raine's eyes fell on the box of chocolates. She raised her eyebrows, but kept her thoughts to herself.
For someone who had forgotten it was Valentine's Day, Kratos had known exactly the right gift to get her for a day such as today.
A/N: I hope you liked it. I know some of the characters were kind of OOC, but it is supposed to be humor… Anyways, please leave a review! And Happy Valentine's Day!