Insaneiac: Gah…Here is my pearl of wisdom for the day. Work kills your rate of update. Well, work and a severe lack of sleep, but that is another story for another day.

Disclaimer: I still do not of Tales of Symphonia, or any of the wonderful characters within it.


Chapter 2: Sheena Fujibayashi

"Lloyd?" Colette muttered weakly, her hands wrapped around the blade of a sword. A sword that was imbedded in and through the young blonde's stomach. A sword that was held firmly in the hands of the one she just called out for. Me. Her eyes, her once potent and full of emotion eyes began to fade into obscurity, and her body began to buckle in on itself, lost amidst the deathblow. Yet she still smiled. She was dying at the hands of someone she once considered her best friend, at someone she still considered her best friend. She was dying because of me and my hands. Her breaths were steadily weakening, becoming almost non-existent, and her hands were trembling pitifully as the blood trailed down from her stomach to her hands. Her left hands twitched weakly before falling to her side. Yet she still smiled. I could only watch as she stumbled to her knees, tears streaming down her eyes as death began to take her. She coughs once, blood spurting out of her mouth and onto my top as she descends to the ground. I fall to meet her, stopped her before she falls down completely. I feel her hand rest on the side of my face, cupping my cheek gently within it. With whatever life she had left, her eyes flashed once more, one final time, a look of pure love, before it faded away into the darkness she was bound to go to herself. Yet she still smiled!

Here she was, dying at my hands, dying in my hands, dying BY MY HANDS, and yet she still smiled at me! WHY COLETTE? WHAT HAVE I DONE TO EARN YOUR KINDESS, TO EARN YOUR SMILES? WHO AM I TO HAVE YOUR LOVE?

"I'm sorry." Lloyd muttered softly. A soft whimper soon followed his words before he settled them away. The sight of her blood, of her dying body, of her haunting smile was gone, replaced with a field of black. Reality rushed in to fill the gap that his dream left, and reality came with a vicious bite. Every sense that his body had was murky at best. He could either see nothing at all, or the place he was in was cast in darkness. Aside from his words, he could hear precious little, other than a constant low volume buzz that plagued him like a disease. Of course, this could just be due to the fact that nothing was making a sound. As for his sense of smell, either he had lost that entirely or the room was for the completely odourless. He could feel himself wrapped in something, or at the very least, he thought he was wrapped in something. "Ugh…" He muttered again, slowly turning his head to see if anything was visible.

"Huh?" A surprised voice sounded, startling the blind Lloyd. She couldn't help but smirk as his body jolted, before his head began to try and locate where the voice had come from. "You're finally awake." She followed up.

"What the…Whose there?" Lloyd responded, trying to find the voice. His sight was, at the very best, blurry now. Most of it was black fuzz, but he could see a little. As he swept the room, his fuzzy vision locked on a pair of brown eyes. He stayed there for a brief second, before sweeping the room, taking in as much as he could. Of what he could tell, the entire room was foreign to him, nothing striking him as noticeable. Refocusing his vision on the eyes, Lloyd opted to speak again. "Where am I?"

"You're in Luin." She replied, sitting down on a chair beside him. She rested the back of her hand on his head, letting it trail to his cheeks briefly before removing it from him. "Fever's down. How are you feeling?"

Lloyd struggled with the question, confused with how to answer it. Parts of him felt fine and healthy, while other parts seemed to be completely numbed. The odd part of him, like his shoulder, felt like it was burned. "Uncomfortable." Lloyd finally answered, blinking his eyes a few times to try and regain his vision. The effects were minimal if anything at all. "I can't see much."

"Yah, I figured that much. It should come back in a little while." She replied. "You're really lucky that that's all you've ended up with." Lloyd sighed in agitation. His mind was clouded and his thoughts blurry. It annoyed him to say the very least, and the woman could tell, by the look on his face, that something was wrong. "So…Do you have a name or something?"

Despite his rather susceptible position, and the fact that he still could barely see anything more than her eyes, Lloyd attempted to smile. 'She has a nice voice.' "Give me your name, and…I shall give you mine." Lloyd hastily muttered, bringing his left hand to his eyes, and rubbing them. Despite his hindered sense of hearing, he clearly heard her chuckle at the comment. 'Well that sure blew up in your face Lloyd.'

"Heh. That sounded kind of stupid." She began, stifling back a laugh as she watched his face scrunch up with agitation. "…but it's fair enough I guess." She started her voice an intriguing mix of strength and amusement. "My name is Sheena." Smiling, she looked back at Lloyd, who was still squinting to make out anything. "Your turn."

"I'm Lloyd." He began, blinking his eyes a few more times. When he opened his eyes this time, he could see a fair bit better than before. What was once a small window of sight amidst a field of blur was now a mildly blurry full image of the room and the person in it. Slowly, Lloyd forced himself to sit up, brining a hand to his head as a wave of pain ripped through his head. Lloyd gritted his teeth in pain and let out a low moan of pain. Amidst his moment of suffering, Lloyd realized that he was in a bed. "What…What happened?" Lloyd muttered weakly, cringing as a rush of nausea hit his stomach.

"You were attacked, I'd assume. And I guess one of them must have poisoned you. I guess you were charging to get to a town or something, but instead of a town you charged into me." She paused for a moment, glancing momentarily at him to make sure he was okay. Aside from looking a little green around the edges of his face, he was fairly healthy looking. A small smirk crawled gently onto her face as she continued with her story. "I was about to give you a beating when I heard you gasping for help. After that…I rushed you to here as fast as I could. Luckily, Luin had a decent doctor." She recounted, confused by the surprised look he was giving her. "What?"

"You carried me here all by yourself?" Lloyd spoke with astonishment. He could see his words had an effect, as they elicited a confident smile from his saviour. "That's amazing!"

"Aw, it was nothing. I couldn't just let someone die." Sheena replied. 'And you owe me a Guardian.'

Lloyd smiled as he heard her reply, rubbing his eyes with his palms once more. When he opened his eyes up for the again, his vision had mostly returned itself to him. He took a whiff of the air, satisfied that his sense of smell had returned. He smiled as an exotic and fantastic scent filled his nose. 'What smells so nice?' Slowly, Lloyd gazed around the room again, greatly appreciating the lack of blur in his vision. On the shelf beside the door was a large lamp, lighting the room as it burned away. By looking out the window, he could see it was night time, which he quickly assumed meant he was out for at least a day. Despite this, nothing looked even slightly familiar to him. Then his eyes rested on the person that had brought him here, an. 'WOW…she's beautiful.' His eyes firmly locked themselves on the face of his rescuer. He had hardly even noticed himself that he had done so. Slowly, his eyes met her eyes. 'She has brown eyes…beautiful…brown…eyes…'

"Um..." Sheena began, though slightly unsure as to how to start. The both of them just seemed to lose themselves for a moment, before almost simultaneously turning their heads away. Glad that Lloyd could not see the shade of crimson that adorned her cheeks, she desperately began to search for something to break the silence. "So…where are you going to exactly?" Sheena cringed at the obvious topic switcher, mentally berating herself for doing something so blatant.

Lloyd found himself greatly thankful for the fact that in his position, Sheena could not see his cheeks burn red with embarrassment. Still facing away, Lloyd tried to piece together his thoughts and answer the relatively simple question he had been presented with. In fact, it wasn't so much the simplicity that got him, but the impulsiveness of the question that got him. "I…I really don't have a place I'm going to." Lloyd replied. "What about you?"

"I…I have a couple pieces of business." Sheena muttered.

The two turned back to face each other, though attempting the best they could to keep from making eye contact this time. Then, in unison, they both spoke. "You're alone then?" Suddenly, Sheena blushed again, whipping her head to the side to avoid being seen. This time, all Lloyd could do was stare at Sheena slightly confused. He almost laughed when he saw the girl turn her head away from him, but decided to keep it to himself, lest he offend her.

"I decided to leave on my own." Lloyd began, looking down at his bed cover. "I had gotten me and my best friend banished from our village."

"For what?" She inquired shocked.

Lloyd paused, breathing in deeply. "We met someone at a human ranch, a nice old lady who really didn't deserve what she was getting. She was being beaten by a couple of guards so…I attacked them." Lloyd muttered. "I got them to come out of the ranch and then I beat them down. They discovered it was me who did it and attacked the village as an act of revenge." He continued while his voice grew more sullen through the duration of his words. He didn't need to look up to tell that Sheena had adopted a much more serious face. "They unleashed this monster to kill me and my friend… It turned out to be the old lady." Lloyd paused as he heard Sheena suck her breath in. Whether it was in shock, or in rage, or both, Lloyd paused for a second before continuing. "We…had to defeat her, and she sacrificed herself for us to get away. After that, we were banished from the village."

Sheena sat there speechless, astonished at Lloyd's tale. 'Those Desians…' "What happened to your friend?" Sheena finally asked, breaking the solemn silence.

Lloyd paused at that point, his thoughts slipping in and out of focus. "…We split ways at Triet." Lloyd muttered. He didn't notice the tear that manage to find its way to his eyes, and threaten to roll down his face. "I felt it would be best for us both if I left." 'She doesn't need to know why else I did it.'

"You…" Sheena began, the words losing themselves in her mouth. "You've been through a lot." Lloyd nodded in response, bringing a hand to crush the tear that was ready to roll. "You're not expected anywhere…right?" Another nod, as Lloyd soon began to believe his words might betray him. Satisfied that he got rid of the possible tears, he turned his head back to Sheena, who was wearing a warm smile on her face. "Do you want to travel with me for a while?"

Lloyd smiled briefly at the offer, but felt the weight of reality come crashing down on his temptation. "I don't know. Those Desians are hunting me down. It might not be safe to be near me." Lloyd replied.

"Heh. Good, cause I have a score to settle with those Desians. If some find you, then we'll take them down. They'll never stand a chance." Sheena shot back as she drove her left fist into her right palm, grinning confidently.

Lloyd stared at the confident Sheena, a smile on his face as her words reached his ears. "You too huh? What did they do to you?" Lloyd inquired, tilting his head curiously. Sheena sighed deeply, before standing up. She looked down at Lloyd, who was in the act of looking quite confused. "Sheena?"

"It's late right now. Get some rest…I'll show you tomorrow okay?" Sheena responded as she walked towards the door to the room. Lloyd began to form a retort, but found himself silenced by her smile as she waited at the open door. "You just recovered from a nearly fatal dose of poison. Your body has been fighting to keep you alive. Let your body rest a little bit." She waited for Lloyd to reply, which he did in the form of a nod, before snuffing out the lantern and closing the door and encasing the in darkness.

Slowly, Lloyd settled back into his bed, quickly realizing just how tired he really was. Yet, before he could let himself slide back into sleep, his mind wandered to Genis. His mind shifted towards Genis and Colette. "Did I make the right choice…?" Lloyd muttered into the empty room. "I bet Genis hates me…Probably thinks I ditched him. Colette…" Lloyd began, stopping himself as he felt his tone go sour. After a moment of breathing, and a reaffirming of his thoughts, he continued. "Colette…why did you lie to me? I thought we were friends. You could have told me the truth!" Lloyd muttered, his voice rising near the end. Cringing mentally, he continued to talk to the shadows. "I'm all alone here…There's no Genis, no Colette, no dad." Lloyd froze for a minute, the horror of the revelation taking him in before allowing him to breathe again. "No friends here. I am all alone." Lloyd murmured, before slipping into dreamless sleep.

­------ The Next Morning ------

Gradually, the morning sun crawled into the sky, lighting the world gently. As it proceeded into the sky, a bank of clouds began to sweep into the sky, rolling towards the sun. What had began as a beautiful sunrise soon turned into a cloudy and gloomy day, the clouds threatening to bring forth rain to the world of Slyvarant. Yet the rain drops held their posts in the kingdom of clouds above the heads of the people below. With a great yawn, Lloyd sat up in his bed, rubbing his eyes as he brought himself back into reality. With his return to the world of the real, Lloyd soon realized something he had not before, when he had his talk with Sheena. His swords were not only off, hanging off his bed post beside his head, but so was his top. He raised an arm to his shoulder, where the arrow had pierced him. He was bandaged up pretty well, and although his arm was a little stiff, it did not hurt to move it.

"OW!" Lloyd grunted, as he found something that did hurt. 'Well…it doesn't hurt to move it too much.' Sighing to himself, Lloyd threw his legs out over the side of the bed, reaching for his red top. He looked at it closely, smiling as he saw that any trace of blood that might have gotten on it was washed away, and the hole that the arrow had made was stitched up. Though it took him a little bit, Lloyd slipped the article of clothing back on, hooking his pants suspenders over his shoulders. Wincing slightly as he felt the band of leather slap his wounded area, Lloyd went back to preparing himself, slipping his swords back to their comfortable positions. Finally, Lloyd slipped his hands into his leather gauntlets, and his feet into his boots, before standing up on his own. Despite being a little stiff and his shoulder feeling slightly odd to say the very least, Lloyd felt good about himself. With a few confident strides, Lloyd opened his door and exited into the inn's main area.

"I wonder how late I slept in." Lloyd spoke, walking out of the inn, and into the main street of Luin. Glancing around, he saw no people in the streets, no body bustling about in a daily fashion. He glanced up into the sky to try and get an idea of the time, but found himself staring into a field of clouds instead, ranging from a dull grey to a dark, threatening grey. "Wow…ugly day."

"I don't know. I don't think it's ugly." A voice called from above him. Lloyd's head whipped upwards to see Sheena smiling down at him from the roof of the Inn. "It's just not a good looking day."

"Wow Sheena…you're weird." Lloyd shot back, smirking. Sheena waved his hand at Lloyd dismissively, before jumping from the roof, and landing gently on the ground below. Had Lloyd not just done a very similar thing a handful of nights ago, he would have been awestruck. However, just because he wasn't struck by a rush of awe, did not mean he was not impressed. "Show off."

Sheena grinned as she stood to full height, brushing off any dust that found its way onto her clothes. "It was faster than the stairs." Sheena shot back, her voice riddled with a slightly smug amusement as she walked down the path, towards a bridge. Turning, she beckoned Lloyd to her with a wave of her hand. "Come on." Giving his head a good shake, Lloyd raced to catch up with the woman. As he caught up, she tossed a bag towards Lloyd, who caught it with ease. "Figured you'd be a bit hungry after sleeping that much." She almost broke into full laughter when Lloyd's eyes lit up at the sight of food. After Lloyd wolfed down a couple of scones, Sheena turned her attention back to the journey ahead. "I want to leave early. Thieves prowl around near mid day where we are going."

"Wow, sounds pretty dangerous." Lloyd replied, his left hand resting on the handle of his sword. As soon as his gloved hand touched the hilt, his mind wandered back to the fact that he had woken up without his top on. Since he was unconscious due to the poison, curiosity began to price at Lloyd's mind, until he found the words beginning to form in his mouth. "Can I…um…ask you a question?"

"Sure."

"When you got me here…who was it that took my top off?" Lloyd asked out of the blue. When he saw the edge of Sheena's left cheek take a fading shade of red, he began to assume he got himself an answer.

"I…um…h-had to. You were bleeding too much. If I didn't…stop it… you w-would…" She stuttered and skipped. She looked back at him to see how he might of reacted, and saw him fighting away a blush of his own. That left a smile on her face. "I had to put the bandage on too."

"Wow…you're pretty amazing Sheena. You carried me here all by yourself, you bandaged me up, and you waited for me to get better too." Lloyd replied, Sheena rubbing the back of her head in response.

"Like I said, I couldn't just let you die." She said, before stopping at the exit of Luin. Sheena pointed towards a set of mountains in the southeast. "That's where we are heading, to Hima." Lloyd nodded in response, and the two departed for the town.

From a distant corner of Luin, completely out of the limited public sight and sitting on the rooftop of a random house, was a man in a cape. Slowly, a smile crossed his face as he watched the two begin their way to Hima, the traveller's place of rest. Glancing to his rear, he locked eyes with a man with black hair that stood up, parted in the middle. "Follow him, but don't let him see you." The man said, before turning his attention to the two. They were quickly disappearing into the distance. "And make sure to get a good look at his exsphere."

"Yes my Lord." The man said, before charging off, leaving the man in the cape to himself. A small, confident smile slipped onto his face, as he stared, watching the two disappear into the landscape.

"So that is Lloyd Irving. And with the woman from Tethe'alla no less. This will be interesting."

------ Hima ------

After close to five long hours of travelling and fighting, Sheena and Lloyd entered the gates of Hima, exhausted. Neither had expected to run into ogres that far inland, as they mostly stalked the bride leading to Izlood. It took quick thinking on both of their part to avoid a rather bloody defeat. Both of them had noticed that they fought well with each other, like a unit. At first, Lloyd laughed when he saw her choice in weapons, preferring cards to swords or other weapons. After watching her destroy with them, however, he was quickly humbled. Her seal spells made for perfect openings, allowing him time to eviscerate opponents with his swords. No matter how ugly the challenge seemed to get, they were both well prepared to fight. And when they had a chance to talk, they talked about whatever would make its way to their minds. Though, more often than not, the avoided talking about where Sheena came from, only briefly mentioning it was from an "island far away from here."

"Ugh, I'm starving." Lloyd muttered, mumbled, rubbing his stomach. Sheena rolled her eyes at her companion, looking into her pack for any edible supplies. When she found nothing of the sort in her pack, she shrugged.

"Just wait until afterwards." Sheena replied, walking towards the Inn. Lloyd sighed, slouching over helplessly before following Sheena, the two of them entering the Inn one after the other. The innkeeper turned around, opening her mouth to give the usually greeting to potential customers, but stopped upon seeing Sheena. "Hey Sophia."

"Sheena!" She exclaimed.

"How's Pietro doing?"

For a moment there was nothing but silence, until Sophia breathed in deeply. "He's not any better than the last time." Slowly, her attention turned to Lloyd, upon whom she flashed a smile to. "Friend of yours?"

Sheena glanced back at Lloyd, who smiled at the two of them. "Yah. I met him in Luin." Sheena stated happily, before turning to Sophia. Sophia tilted her head curiously, but Sheena waved off her worries. "Can we see Pietro?" Sophia nodded once, leading them to his room. Pulling out a key, she unlocked the door and let them in. Before entering, Sheena turned to Lloyd, giving him a very serious stare. No words were swapped, but the message was very, very clear. 'Prepare yourself'. Turning her head gently, she flashed Sophia a subtle gaze. "Thanks Sophia."

The two entered the room, and closed the door behind them. The room was pitch black, seeing as how the windows were covered up with thick blankets. Shuffling over to the side, Sheena's hand traced the area for a lamp, drawing it towards her when she found it. Striking a match, she lit the lamp, and the room. Placing the lamp on the shelf beside them, Sheena directed Lloyd's attention to a man standing in a corner, his head resting on a wall. Low mutters came out of his mouth repeatedly, though nothing Lloyd could clearly make out. Sheena slowly broke away from Lloyd, walking up gently to the man, and placing an arm around his shoulders.

"Pietro?"

"…Mana…Die…" The man muttered loudly, turning to face Sheena. Lloyd almost choked on his saliva as he saw his face. It was frozen in some perverse state, a mix between what looked to be pain and fear. "Angel….angels…pain…die…" The man muttered, as Sheena wrapped her arms around him. Lloyd could hear what sounded like whimpers coming from the man, as his body shook with tremors within Sheena's arms. "Human….ranch…pain…"

"They did this to him. The Desians." Sheena muttered to Lloyd as Pietro wept.

Slowly, Lloyd's eyes opened widely to dual realizations. 'Those…bastards!' Lloyd mentally growled, watching Sheena carefully. He could hear her clearly whispering soothing words to the man, trying to get him to stop crying. It almost hurt him to watch. During the brief stint of travel the two had shared from Luin to Hima, Lloyd had found himself drawn to Sheena. Though he honestly didn't knew what it was, seeing her comfort and sooth Pietro hurt him. 'She wants revenge. I would to if someone did that to a person I love most.' Quickly, he felt himself fall into sense of admiration for Sheena, as she cooed and comforted Pietro. 'Pietro... you sure are lucky to have someone like Sheena.'

"You said they were hunting you." Sheena started again, after Pietro stopped crying. Gently rubbing the back of his head, Sheena let Pietro go, watching as he shuffled off to his corner again. "You said you had a score to settle too. What's your reason?"

Lloyd stalled for a minute, hesitant to talk to her. It didn't take him long to realize that she had shown him something that only a very select few had seen. Lloyd let a long, drawn out sigh escape his lips as his right hand rested itself upon his exsphere. "They killed my mother." He paused briefly, almost waiting for Sheena to say or do something, before continuing with the real hard part. "They killed my mother for her exsphere." Lloyd muttered, raising his left hand up, and showing it to Sheena. "They swore they would hunt me as long as I held onto her exsphere. They are treating me like a thief for holding on to the only piece of my mother I have." Lowering his hand again, Lloyd watched Pietro stand in the corner, mumbling. He was glad the room was still fairly dark, as it nicely hid the tear that slipped down his face. "That's why I hate those Desians."

"Lloyd…" Sheena whispered, hesitating on the follow up. They let the silence overtake them, only interrupted by the murmurs from Pietro. Lloyd turned away, walking out of the room in the silence. He made his way to the exit of the in when he felt a hand rest on his good shoulder. "I want to heal Pietro. He's cursed, but I think there is a way to save him. I need help though." Sheena began, lowering her head. "Then we can take care of those ruthless Desians. What do you say?"

Lloyd closed his eyes and lowered his head. He absolutely wanted to shout out that he would do it. He owed it to her for saving his life. But inwardly, he wanted Pietro to stay like that, or worse. If he was gone, then Sheena would be alone. 'What the hell am I thinking? Dwarven Vow number 2: Never abandon someone in need.' Lloyd shouted mentally, sighing exasperatedly, his mind flashed back to the sight of Pietro standing in the corner, mumbling and muttering repeatedly. He imagined him sobbing like that every night, alone in his own shattered world. He knew all too well what he had to do.

"Lloyd?" Sheena repeated, drawing his attention back to her.

"Of course I'll help." Lloyd replied without breaking his gaze. He smiled brightly as he saw Sheena's face light up with joy.

"Then the first thing we need to do is go to Thoda Geyser."

Lloyd turned to Sheena, a confused look pasted on his face. Although he had never been to the geyser, he had heard tales of it. "Um Sheena…I don't think sightseeing will heal him…" Lloyd replied slowly, wincing as he heard Sheena sigh.

"Just trust me Lloyd."


A/N: And so, the plan to save Pietro. But wait, who was the watching Lloyd? And what does Sheena plan to do by sightseeing? Will Lloyd be able to come to terms with the fact that Sheena loves Pietro? Will I stop asking questions I obviously know the answers too? I did not mean for it to take nearly this long to finish. Whatever the case, here you go. I promise it won't take nearly as long for the next one.