Title: Broken Mirror
Author: SMB814
Rating: T
Warnings: Zelos being Zelos (i.e. mild language, adult themes, etc.) This story also has a bit of non-graphic sexual content...thanks so much for that, Zelos.
Category: Romance/Fluff, Drama, Angst, Character Study
Pairing: Zelos/Sheena, plus references to Lloyd/Colette, Zelos/other, and Sheena/other.
Time Frame/Spoilers: Sequel/alternate universe to the Whatever Will Be series—although I'm pretty sure this story can stand alone. In other words, you don't need to read that series in order to understand this story; I've tried to make it so everything you need to know about the series has been explained here. However, just keep in mind that, despite my best efforts, it's likely that parts of Broken Mirror will make much more sense if you have already read the series. Also, I can tell you that if you haven't read the other stories before reading this one, you will be completely spoiled for them. I recommend reading the others first, but it's really up to you. (The seven stories in the main series are, in order, Mental Holiday, Trust Building 101, Exceptions to the Rules, Crossing the Line, The Experiment, Guardian Knight, and Worth It.)
Summary: If Sheena had known what her wish would unveil—a beautiful, coveted mirror that had been broken beyond repair years before by a single thoughtless decision—she might have thought twice about making it.
Disclaimer: Alas, Tales of Symphonia and all its lovely characters don't belong to me. They belong to Namco-Bandai Games. I'm just borrowing them and not making any money off them, and I promise I'll return them unharmed (and probably happier than they ever were before) when I'm done playing with them. Any characters you don't recognize from the game belong to me.
Feedback: Feedback is love and fodder for future fics.
History: General plotting began late 2011. Detailed plotting notes completed November 6, 2013. Rough draft completed January 7, 2014. Final version completed March 10, 2014.
Author's Notes: Huge love, hugs, and thanks to every single person who took the time to read the Whatever Will Be series, favorite it, and/or leave such incredible feedback on it. I likely never would have written this story if not for all of you; the ideas would have remained safely locked up in my head, never to see the light of day. There is nothing more encouraging for a writer than knowing even one reader has enjoyed something you spent so much time and effort putting down into writing. Truly, thank you all so much. You have no idea how much it means to me. Here's hoping you'll find this story to be a worthy addition to the series!
I had hoped to post this story by the time Tales of Symphonia Chronicles came out to celebrate the PS3 re-release of what is probably my favorite video game of all time, but I missed it by a few days. Whoops! Real life can be a painful, irritating distraction sometimes. I hope all the new players to the game come to love it—and especially its characters and universe—as much as I did when I first played it back in 2008. And always keep in mind that Zelos Wilder is NOT the man he looks like on first glance. Take the time to really get to know the guy and you might just find yourself writing hundreds of pages of fanfiction to analyze him like I did.
This story is loosely inspired by the massive plot twist that was introduced at the beginning of Season 4 of the TV show Eureka. Poor Jo and Zane. Those two and their 'might-have-been' completely broke my heart. At least they worked everything out in the end!
For anyone interested in single-page versions of this story or the other stories in the series, they're available at: .
Not betaed, so any mistakes or typos you find are entirely my fault.
I think that's it. I hope you all enjoy the ride!
0~*~0
Prologue: The Wish Tag
It was finally finished. After days of wracking her brain trying to figure out how best to do this, how to get the design, the wording, all of it, perfect...it was finally finished. She hadn't slept well in days, her mind constantly mulling over every possible aspect of it; her daily duties had been neglected because of her focus on getting this right. Of course, she kept telling herself, if it worked, then those neglected duties wouldn't matter in the grand scheme of things. This was, after all, far more important than that.
For a moment, she just stared at it. Would it really work? Could it really fix all of her problems? Or was it a hopeless cause—was she a hopeless cause—and nothing would come of it? She shook her head. No, she couldn't think like that; she had to stay positive. It would work. With all the love and prayers she had poured into it, it had to work. She had to have faith that it would, because if it didn't...she couldn't even think about the repercussions that would result for all of her people, not just herself, because of her failure. As hard as it had been to admit that she couldn't keep going like this alone anymore, that she needed outside help getting her life back on course, the desperation and despair had finally worn down her pride. Now here she was, with the result in hand. She had finally reached the point of asking for help.
Her hopes and dreams for the future hung on this simple piece of wood. But now that it was finished, all she could do was be patient and have faith that someone was listening, someone with the power to change things and send her what she needed most. And with that, she took a deep breath, placed the precious offering on the shrine in the corner of her living room where it would be impossible for any higher being to miss, and, realizing how late it was, turned and headed to bed.
If she was lucky, and if the gods cared about her even a little, then everything in her life would be different come morning.
She couldn't wait.
0~*~0
(Continued in Day 1, Part 1: The Answer)