Sorry that I've taken so long to update

Sorry that I've taken so long to update! School and family is a tricky combo. I don't recommend it. Disclaimer: I do not own tales of symphonia or any of Freakeyanimegal456 characters.

Chapter 2

The news that sari had run away traveled through the group like wild fire. Genis, being Mithos's best friend, was the first to know and within a half hour everyone was assembled in Genis and Presea's living room. Everyone was quite shocked at the news and worried about Sari. But no ones shock could compare to Mithos who sitting very white and shaky in the corner of the room with a cup of black coffee.

"Alright people." Genis called over the buzz of chatter. "Right you have been gathered here to form a search party. Now we have a lot of ground to cover because we don't know where she's going."

"But I do know that she is traveling by foot" added Mithos. Everyone stared at him. This was the first time he had spoken in half an hour. "She was in such a hurry she forgot to take the rheaird."

"Okay, that limits our possibilities." Lloyd commented. "All we have to do is search around Altamira, right?"

"It will still take a lot of time, for we must also travel on foot to properly search for her." Raine added. A heavy gloom hung in the air for a minute then Cheresea broke the silence.

"well what are we waiting for? We are only wasting time sitting here!"

"Yes, I agree." Regal stated. "Why don't 7 of us search the island while the remaining 12 search more inland? We can all meet in Altamira around 10:00."

"That seems to be the best course of action right now" said Yuan and there were murmurs of agreement. Lloyd, like always, decided the teams. He, Cheresea, Chala, Colette, Raine, Yuan, Presea, Malk, Lerek, Quet, Jeremy and Mithos would go inland and the rest would remain on the island. The "inlanders" split in to small groups and went different directions calling Sari's name in to the darkening sky. Lloyd, Cheresea, Chala and Noishe were walking on a trail while having a very heated argument.

"For the last time Cheresea, NO! We are not splitting up! I won't risk you or Chala getting injured!"

"But dad, we can cover more ground and find Sari quicker!"

"No! It's completely out of the question!"

"Come on dad! The big, bad monsters aren't going to attack a crazy angel and an awesome swords... woman."

"Well Cheresea, I guess your dad doesn't want anything to happen to his wittle girl." Chala mocked in a baby voice.

"Shut it, Chala!"

After About 5 minutes of constant bickering Lloyd finally gave in. "Fine! You and Chala can go but you have to take Noishe with you."

"Deal!" Cheresea exclaimed while Chala rolled her eyes. The two girls and Noishe ran while Lloyd called behind them "you have to be back by 10:00!" The girls ignored him and ran until they were out of his sight. They slowed down to a walk to catch there breathe. Chala, who was farther behind Cheresea, searched only half heartedly while Cheresea called in to the night for her lost friend. Chala started to analyze Cheresea's movements with curious and disappointed eyes.

"This is pathetic" Chala thought looking at Cheresea's silhouette "Calling for her is only going to make her run away. Besides, Sari is not the type to brake promises and she promised that she would come home in her letter."

"SARI! Where are you?" Cheresea yelled with a slight whine. Chala shook her head at Cheresea's stubbornness not to quite the search.

" SARI!" her yells filled the forested area. "SAR...AHH!" Chala looked up to see something drag Cheresea in to the bush. Running to aid her friend, Chala's heart pounded in her ears. "Not MY friend, asshole!" she thought angrily, but when she jumped behind the bush all she saw was Cheresea embracing Sari in a sisterly hug.

"What the hell were you thinking, running away like that?" Cheresea yelled breaking away.

"I'm sorry" Sari mumbled to her hands. "I know everyone must be worried about me, but this something I have to do or I'll regret it the rest of my life."

Chala looked at Sari sternly with her hands on her hips. "You how absolutely crazy this is don't you?" she asked. Any trace of shame in Sari's face left and was replaced with rage. A fire crackled in her eyes and she glared at Chala. "Don't you call me crazy, Chala Sage! That's what Shana use to call me, just because I'm a little different!" Cheresea grabbed at the back of Sari's shirt to prevent her from beating Chala to a bloody pulp. But Chala didn't look even a little frazzled by this outburst. "Well this doesn't surprise me at all" Said Chala calmly. "Neither you or Cheresea listen to what I say. I didn't say you were crazy, I said this is crazy." This calmed Sari down a bit and Cheresea was able to release her.

Sari, still breathing a little hard looked at Cheresea and said "Well?" Cheresea looked confused and replied "well what?" "Do you think this is crazy?" Cheresea looked apologetically at the brunette. "I'm sorry Sari but I agree with Chala. This is crazy. I mean, you don't know where she is or what she looks like. So you're basically wandering around aimlessly." Sari looked from Cheresea to Chala, slightly hurt from their judgment. "You both think I'm just a silly child, don't you? You think that I just ran away with no plan in mind? Well, I'll have you know that I was planning to travel to Sybak to find any newspaper clippings that could tell me where she lived, what school she went to or anything helpful. Then I would travel to that place. I'm not the stupid little airhead everyone thinks I am."

Cheresea was red with embarrassment and shame as she tried to comfort Sari. "Sari, nobody thinks that you're stupid. Its just that no one understands why you would run away to find someone that you have a good chance of never finding." Sari looked at Cheresea with disbelief. "But I thought that you of all people would understand. If you were still an orphan living at Kratos's and you found out that your parents were still alive, would you give up an opportunity to find them or do what I'm doing right now?" Cheresea looked at Sari in wonder while cursing herself for being so stupid. "I would go." She mumbled.

There was a moment of silence and no one was quite sure what to do. "Well," Cheresea said "I can't let you go by yourself or I'll be afraid that you're hurt, so I'm going with you." Sari hadn't predicted this happening. "W-what? No you can't come. I have to do this alone." She protested. The friends started to bicker about whether Cheresea should go or stay in a very childish manner.

All through this situation Chala had been a fly on the wall, observing her friends reactions and trying to figure out why they were behaving this way. But after 5 minutes of constant arguing she started to get very annoyed. "Enough of this! Both of you shut up!" Sari and Cheresea had almost forgotten that she was there and jumped at the sudden noise. Chala stood with her hands on her hips. She rounded on Sari first. "Can't you see that this petty arguing is getting you nowhere? Cheresea is as stubborn as a mule and if she says that she is going with you, you have no choice but to bring her." Sari stared with a blank expression on her face then sighed in defeat. "I suppose I'll enjoy the company..." she mumbled. Cheresea smiled feeling victorious then looked at Chala with narrow eyes. "What about you?" she asked. "What about me?" "Yes. If you go back my dad is going to notice that I'm not with you and ask why." "Do you honestly think of me as a snitch?" "no." this one syllable was said by Sari. "But daddy is very good at manipulating people in to telling them what he wants to know. I suppose that's a trait that ex-dictators don't forget so easily." A shiver went up Chala's spine as she imagined what tactics might be used to get the required information from her. She took a deep breath and said "I'm strong, but not indestructible. Eventually I will have to tell them where you are." She glanced at the girls faces of shock and horror. "But don't worry," She added hastily. "I'm strong enough to give you a day or twos head start. Besides, I don't know where your final destination is so they wont be able to find you immediately." Relief washed over Cheresea and Sari and for a moment there was silence.

"Well Chala," Sari chimed, "you better head back with Noishe before they start searching for all of us."

"No. You two keep Noishe. He'll help you for speed. I'll fly back to Altamira." Cheresea and Sari knew better then to argue so after a brief farewell, the angel disappeared in to the night.

Hope you enjoyed the chapter!