Colloyd week fic for day three, "Wings". Post-game introspective fic featuring Colette.
For Darkhymns, thank you for organising Colloyd Week.
Disclaimer: I don't own Tales of Symphonia.
Colette paused with a shirt midway between the basket and the washing line as she spotted a small bird landing on the birdbath at the end of the garden. Slowly, so as not to startle the creature, she lowered the shirt back into the basket then leant on the back of a garden chair as she watched the bird fluff up its feathers and splash water on itself, beginning to preen.
She was entranced as the little bird stretched out its wings, showing each individual feather as it ran its beak through them. It was odd, she thought. Most people saw birds flying and thought of freedom and travelling. When she was younger, however, while she had associated wings with travelling she had also associated them with the very opposite of freedom because she had known that when she received wings of her own she would be on the journey of regeneration, a journey on which she knew she would die. The fate of the world depended on it, or so she had been lead to believe at the time. She had known it was selfish to wish that she would be able to live but while she had wanted to save the world so that it would be a safe place for her friends to live in a small part of herself wanted to live to enjoy it with them, and felt trapped by a fate she hadn't chosen for herself, one that had been given to her at birth.
When she had actually received her wings, however, the moment had been different to how she had imagined it. Instead of being a solemn event during which she took a step closer to death it had been something of a celebration with both Lloyd and Genis admiring them. Of course, they didn't know what the wings meant and for a moment Colette had been able to forget that too as she enjoyed amusing her friends with the new appendages. She had particularly enjoyed the twinkle of light in Lloyd's eyes, although she hadn't been sure if it had been joy, a reflection of the light from her wings or both. Later on she had decided it was both.
Over time with her friends help she had come to see her wings as much less of a negative, although it had taken a lot of time. Even when it turned out that there was a way of saving not just Sylvarant but also Tethe'alla, a world she hadn't even known existed at the start of her journey, without her having to die they were still a reminder of the lies that had been told and that would have been used to justify her death. Lloyd had, however, gradually been able to make her see that they didn't have to be that, that they were another part of her, a person he loved, and he loved her because of who she was. Who she was happened to be, amongst many other things, a person with wings. It was one detail in a list of many that he loved everything on. Not that he'd worded it exactly like that, he'd used his own particular Lloyd-ish words and manners to do so, and she'd really appreciated it. She still loved the way he looked at her wings with a sense of wonder and joy, all these many years later.
A splash and the sound of flapping wings brought her out of her thoughts and she smiled as she saw the bird soaring away into the beautiful clear blue sky. Impulsively she decided to leave the washing and to follow the bird, to see the world from that different perspective. Letting the feeling of pleasure at being alive and being loved and the warmth of the sunshine on her face bubble up inside her she leapt up, letting her wings carry her into the air as she let out a giggle of delight. She paused when she was above the house, looking around happily at the peaceful afternoon around her. Then, with a playful smile on her face, she flew down to where she had spotted Lloyd working on the vegetable patch, wrapping him in a hug as she half landed, half hovered beside him. He laughed, called her a dork in that wonderful affectionate way that somehow always managed to make her feel special, then ruffled her hair gently with a slightly lopsided smile on his face. Sighing happily he then returned the hug, softly brushing a hand over a wing, that same look of wonder from the first time he'd seen them still on his face. Colette gave a contented little hum and nuzzled Lloyd's shoulder as the pleasant feeling of having her wings fussed washed over her and she thought that it turned out that, surprisingly, wings were a positive thing after all.