And I'm back with another one-shot. Something that's bothered me in the game, no matter how high your affection level with Sheena is, it's always Zelos who saves her from Kuchinawa and the Papal Knights, during their attempt to get back to Sylverant.
"Then this time," came a voice out from behind the group, "allow us to send you to hell instead!" They all turned to see a man in red, along with three men in armour, each wielding a large axe.
"Kuchinawa!" yelled Sheena in shock. "What are you...?"
But before she could finish, he had yelled, "Kill them all!" and the three armoured knights attacked.
Sheena seemed too shocked by what she had just seen to even draw her weapons, let alone attempt to block the oncoming attack. What was Kuchinawa doing with those Papal Knights? What's more, why were they following his orders? And why did he order them to kill them?
While she was pondering this, one of the soldiers tried slashing at her, taking advantage of her lack of guard. Just before the axe's blade struck her in the side, a blade stopped it, and a red figure smashed into the soldier with his shoulder.
"SHEENA! Get a hold of your self!" cried Lloyd, as he inclined his head to see if she was ok. "We need your help to take these guys out!"
Upon hearing his voice, she nodded and drew her cards. 'Man,' she thought, 'I've got to stop letting him save me like this.' And she charged the soldier who attempted to cut her in half.
It was over fairly quickly, Lloyd and Sheena had overwhelmed the one soldier with a combination of speed and power. Zelos and Presea had teamed up to take down the second, and the third...well. He attempted a horizontal strike at Colette, who tripped and fell over, avoiding this assault. This allowed Regal the time to knock him out with a swift kick to the head. Raine and Genis didn't have enough time to cast any of their offensive spells.
"Damn!" exclaimed Kuchinawa, "Get them!" he yelled again. From behind the ruins came at least 20 more Papal Knights, all with huge axes as before. They all made a circle around the eight heroes, allowing no gap for them to escape. Kuchinawa began to laugh.
"We're surrounded." Cursed Regal.
"Chances of success with direct assault 20." Muttered Presea.
"Yeah, facts like that, keep to yourself my little rose bud." Replied Zelos.
"What are we gonna do Lloyd?" asked Genis.
But before he could answer, Sheena stepped forward and said, "What are you doing Kuchinawa? Why are you with the Papal Knights? Are you working for the Pope?"
"The reason you filthy failure is simple." And he glared at Sheena, hatred the only thing visible in his eyes. "After you failed at your first attempt to forge a pact with Volt, countless of people were killed in our village, including my parents. Since then, I have sworn vengeance, and the Pope has given me the way to do this."
"That's not fair!" shouted Lloyd, rage ruling his voice, "Sheena was too young at that time. She was..."
"But since then she has been making pacts with other spirits just like that!" he interrupted, "I say she wasn't trying in her first attempt!"
"Don't say that!" argued Colette, "Sheena would never do something like that!"
"And since she wasn't able to kill you, Chosen of the other world, she has failed Mizuho, putting the village in danger from the rest of our world. It also means all of Tethe'Alla is in danger of destruction!"
"But..." she tried to fight back.
"NO!" he yelled, "Nothing you can say will prevent me from killing her, or any of you for that matter. Kill..."
"WAIT!" interrupted Sheena, and she began to talk very fast. "If all you want is vengeance on me, then take it, and allow my friends to leave safely."
"Sheena, no!" exclaimed Lloyd in shock. He couldn't believe what she was suggesting, "You can't..." But Kuchinawa had already made his decision.
"Agreed!" he laughed, drawing a small knife from his belt. Sheena began to slowly walk towards the edge of the circled knights.
'I'm sorry, Lloyd.' She thought, 'It's my turn to save you.' Meanwhile Lloyd had noticed that behind him, the portal had opened. 'Lloyd, I've never had the courage to tell you this, but I will always...' But a hand had prevented her train of thoughts continuing.
"Come on guys!" yelled Lloyd as he dragged Sheena towards the portal, "Let's go!"
And they all ran towards the small, circular portal.
"NO!" screamed Kuchinawa, "Get them! Don't let them get away!" But it was too late; they had all escaped into Sylverant as the portal closed behind them.
0000000
The group started to look at their new surroundings; those who had been could tell they were back in Sylverant...but something was different.
"The mana level's risen." Said Genis noticed, "But this is definitely Sylverant."
"It appears our releasing of the seals has helped this world." Inputted Raine.
"Aren't we just outside Palmacosta?" Asked Colette. Before Anyone could answer however, Sheena begin to yell...not at Zelos, who she seemed to enjoy yelling at, but at Lloyd.
"LLOYD! WHY DID YOU BUT IN?" No-one had ever heard her yell like this at Lloyd. In fact, she seemed to never yell at him at all. "IF THAT PORTAL HADN'T OPENED, WE WOULD HAVE ALL BEEN KILLED!"
Lloyd, surprisingly, seemed perfectly calm at her outburst. He didn't even flinch at all. "Guys," he started, addressing his other companions instead of Sheena, "can you go on to Palmacosta? I need to speak to Sheena."
"But..." began Colette, ready to object.
"Sure thing, bud." Interrupted Zelos, dragging her away "Come on guys, let's go." Before she could complain however, he whispered, "Take it from me, never get in the middle of a lover's spat." And sure enough, as they were walking away, they heard a loud smack.
Lloyd was rubbing the side of his cheek, where a large red mark was making an appearance. "Ouch." He said chuckling, "I'd hate to see what you'd do to me if I let you get hurt."
"DON'T JOKE ABOUT THIS!" she yelled again, tears starting to form in her eyes, "We could've been killed! Why didn't you let me give myself up? Why wouldn't you let me save you?" Tears were actually slipping down her cheeks now.
At this, Lloyd placed his hands on both her shoulders, making sure she was looking into his eyes. "Sheena, do you remember why we're on this journey?"
Sheena was stunned by this obvious question. "To...save the worlds." She said, though hesitating as if she were somehow wrong.
"Well that's the simple terms of it. Why don't we want to just let the World Regeneration continue? The two worlds still survive with it."
Sheena thought for a minute then, "So Colette doesn't have to sacrifice herself." At the thought of how protective Lloyd was for the chosen, her tears seemed to increase slightly.
Lloyd, whether noticing her greater flow of tears or not, increased the pressure on her shoulders. "Not just Colette, I don't want anyone to sacrifice their lives meaninglessly. Not a chosen, not a village, not either one of the worlds, and especially not you."
Sheena was shocked, did he mean...no, surely not...could he? But before she could even put these thoughts into words, Lloyd closed in on her and kissed her. It was the most wonderful thing she had ever experienced. Though it only lasted a couple of seconds, she felt as if a lifetime had past. "Lloyd." She said affectionately.
"Sheena," started Lloyd, whispering so only she could hear, "I love you."
Sheena blinked a fresh flow of tears from her eyes, they weren't of anger or sadness, however, but of complete and utter joy. "Lloyd," she chuckled "I love you too." And she wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him into another kiss.
After this longer, more passionate kiss, Lloyd looked back into Sheena's beautifully glistening eyes, ad said, "Sheena, promise me you won't scare me like that again, promise me you'll never attempt to sacrifice yourself for me again."
Sheena hesitated for a bit, before answering, "I'm not sure if I can make that promise. I care about you too much. I'll always watch out for you, and I'll never let you get hurt."
Lloyd, however, wasn't surprised by this response, "How did I know you'd say that? You're so stubborn."
"And you better get used to it!" she laughed, as she playfully punched his arm.
They both laughed, then Lloyd said, "Sheena, I'll always be there for you, I promise you this."
"Thank you, Lloyd." And she hugged him again. They stayed there embraced, for how long? They never knew, but it did not matter; they wanted to savour this moment for however long they could.
Eventually, and slightly unwillingly they let go of each other, and began to walk towards Palmacosta, hands entwined.
And there you have it, hope you enjoyed! I'm gonna hopefully start another fic soon, just depends how long it'll take to start up. Until then, goodbye!