I had a ton of trouble deciding where to put this... (I guess the setting would be between the two games.) I've only played the second game (Dawn of a New World,) but I have seen the anime for the first one. Apparently it's only half of the story though... Well, no, less than that. Halfway through the third episode that one angel (can't remember his name) says: It's been a long journey, Chosen." Yeah, last time I checked, two and a half episodes does NOT equal a long journey, dude. Anyway, I decided to put it here because I'm just awesome like that. (Not really.) Also because it's the only Tales game I've played and because Genis (so far) hasn't had any stories in which he's highlighted! Ridiculous!

This is not meant to be shounen-ai though it may seem that way sometimes. It's more friendship than anything. And we all know how Lloyd gets about his friends.

Disclaimer- I own nothing. If I did, this would totally be a part of the game.

And with that, please enjoy the brainchild of my boredom!

This was, by no means, the first time Genis had been left home alone. Raine seemed to be leaving the village without him more and more lately, leaving him painfully bored and alone. Lloyd wasn't around, and hadn't been for a while now. According to Dirk, he was off collecting expheres. Colette only came around once in a while... She was usually trying to help others in surrounding villages, so she didn't have much time to just hang out and be a kid. So Genis was alone with Raine, who, to him, wasn't exactly a very fun person to be around. At any rate, on that particular day, he had decided to settle for studying while waiting for his sister to return, as he'd grown rather accustomed to doing. Finally, the sun began to set, and he started to worry about Raine's safety. Deciding he might as well at least try to find her, he put his book down, stood up, and went outside.

The town was more or less quiet with Colette and Lloyd gone, though the peace wasn't exactly what Genis had been longing for. He walked past the village entrance and out into the forest, the cool air settling in around him. The cold didn't bother him too much despite the fact that he was wearing little more than shorts and a t-shirt, but something was making him shiver. Something in the air just didn't feel quite right. "Raine!" He called, eyes scoping the landscape for her. "Raine! You out here? Rai-" Hands covered his mouth from behind, and just as he was about to turn around, another wrapped around his chest, holding him in place.

"You're that little traitor's brother, aren't you?" A male voice asked, right in Genis' ear. Genis refused to respond in any way, though he didn't really understand what was happening. "Well I suppose it doesn't really matter. Either way you obviously know her, so you should be enough leverage. You're coming with us, kid."

Suddenly, they were surrounded, and only one word entered the mind of the young half-elf: Desians! He was sure they'd already been taken care of... But apparently they were coming back. As if reading his mind, one of the members of the group stepped forward, "Do you recognize us, boy? We are the Desians, and we are returning to power. Raine has refused to join us, so now you're going to pay for her mistake."

Genis finally freed his face from the other half-elf's grip, "It's not a mistake! What you do is wrong-" His lips were covered before he could finish his sentence, and the Desian that had spoken previously, obviously the leader of this little gang, took another step forward.

"'Wrong' you say? Oh, do not worry, child, we've given up on humans. The human ranches are now full of elves." He smirked as Genis' eyes widened, "You must have figured it out by now. You're our new test subject. If the power of the exspheres that you produce are powerful, we will begin to use half-elf traitors like yourself and Raine, who refuse to join forces with us." Genis struggled only a moment longer before everything went black.

"Genis?" Raine called, home at last. She had been going out to the old human ranch more and more often lately. She had already figured out what the Desians were up to, and she was determined to stop it. "Genis, I'm home," She announced, though it was already obvious to her that he was not going to answer. The book he had been reading lie on his bed, which indicated to her that he meant to return soon, so she sat down and waited. After several hours of sitting and waiting for her younger brother, Raine found that she could no longer keep her eyes open and drifted off to sleep.

In the morning, she woke to the front door slamming open and Lloyd Irving's voice yelling, "Genis, I'm back!"

Raine threw a pillow at Lloyd's face and grumbled, "Do you have any idea what time it is? Or how to knock, for that matter?" She asked, a bit more grouchy than usual thanks to her lack of sleep.

"It's ten o'clock," Lloyd replied as-a-matter-of-factly, pausing before asking, "...Where's Genis? He's usually not awake by now on the weekends."

Sitting up, Raine sighed, "I haven't seen him since last night, but I think I know where he might be." In her sleep, the pieces of the puzzle seemed to fall into place.

"Yeah? Where?" Lloyd questioned. His childish desire to see his old friend again was compelling him to act like an immature kid who was waiting for his ice cream. ((A/N: Wow. I can't believe I wrote that. XD Terrible simile!))

"The old human ranch," Raine mumbled, standing, "I've been visiting there a lot recently. The Desians seem to be reviving themselves."

"What?!" Lloyd finally snapped out of his former trance, "How- why?! I thought-"

"I thought we stopped them too," Raine agreed softly.

"...You think Genis joined them, then?" Lloyd asked in disbelief. He didn't want to believe that his old friend would join up with the Desians like that, even though he was a half-elf. Lloyd thought Genis hated them just as much as he did.

"No, Genis wouldn't do that," Raine replied, "He hated the Desians with a passion. I believe they're trying to use him to get to me. I've refused on more than one occasion their offers for me to join them, and this is their retaliation."

A very disgruntled Lloyd glared, his eyes still locked on Raine. He wasn't glaring at her per say, he was simply expressing his annoyance. And Raine understood this. "That's a low-blow. Even for them." The dual swordsman spat. "We're going after him, right?" He asked, looking up at Raine.

Hesitantly, Raine nodded. She didn't want to bring Lloyd with her, as she knew it was dangerous... But at the same time, she knew she really couldn't refuse. Even if she were to leave him behind, he would probably end up following anyway. He had always been stubborn like that.

"Let's go then." Lloyd said confidently, turning and leaving the same way he'd come. He was not about to lose anyone dear to him to the Desians again, and Genis was no exception to that rule. Half-elf or not, Lloyd was determined to save Genis.

I was going to make this a one-shot, but I'm enjoying it too much. I'm madly in love with suspense. Maybe a three-shot, then. Meh, we'll see. Until then, my friends~