Welcome to the next chapter of Journey of Discovery! Included in this chapter is a bunch of history from both Kratos and Zelos; sections of it have undoubtedly been influenced by what I've read, but the only influence I can identify for certain is Satanic Mechanic, who has a wonderful fic about Kratos teaching Zelos swordsmanship. (Lovely Kratos/Zelos. Go read it.) So if anyone else sees something familiar in here, I'm very, very sorry; consider it a compliment that I think of your idea as basically canon!

As always, I don't own them. Enjoy!


Chapter 2: A Quiet Evening

Zelos' offhand prediction about Kratos' recovery time turned out to be accurate; the Seraph was able to walk within three days of his injury, mostly thanks to Zelos' continued efforts at healing. Unfortunately, this process left Zelos' mana levels consistently drained, as he spent all of the mana he could spare to cast healing spells on Kratos. The former Chosen insisted that Kratos save his energy for natural healing, which would unfortunately leave Zelos as their only spellcaster.

Kratos, of course, had no intention of obeying this; he simply made sure not to heal himself while Zelos could observe him. This lasted for the better part of a day, until Zelos noticed the flare of mana as Kratos surreptitiously cast yet another First Aid spell.

"I told you not to do that!" Zelos cried in irritation, "You can't afford to use up your energy after losing so much blood, and there's still a risk of infection! I did a lot of work to get you healed this far, I don't want all that to go to waste just because you were being an impatient patient!"

"Zelos, I've been healing my own wounds for longer than you've been alive. I think I can manage," the older swordsman pointed out, "And it can't be healthy for you to keep draining your own mana levels like this. Gels can only do so much in that regard."

"I'm fine, save your concern for those who need it…like yourself. I'm not the one in danger of getting my wound infected if my body doesn't have the energy to fight off germs and stuff," Zelos said stubbornly, "Trust me, gut wounds like that are nasty. If that gets infected, it'll spread into your bloodstream real quick, and then it'll go all through your system like wildfire, and even you'll be in serious trouble if that happens. And like I said before, you haven't fully recovered from the blood loss; you're still all pale. You need to rest. The Exspheres can wait another day or two for me to finish healing you; they aren't going anywhere that soon."

Lloyd and Colette made it quite clear that they agreed with Zelos, and although Kratos grumbled about it, he knew the younger man had a point. He did insist that he could handle being on the boat, though, so they eventually agreed to continue their travels, as long as Kratos spent the next few days' worth of boat trip resting, to which he reluctantly acquiesced.

So, the merry little group bid farewell to Ormrist Bessen, and set off again. Their next destination? Sybak.

The next few days went by smoothly. Kratos' wound was all but healed, and Zelos finally agreed that he was well enough to cast his own healing spells. There was only one small problem aboard the tiny vessel; Zelos had walked in on what he believed was a 'moment' between Lloyd and Colette at least three times now, and he was sure that Kratos had done the same. It was simply impossible to find privacy aboard the boat except in the bedrooms, and he knew that both Lloyd and Colette were far too naïve and innocent for it to even occur to them to try one of the bedrooms as a place to talk. Something Needed To Be Done in order to allow those two some privacy for a while, and it wouldn't happen until they were on land, at the very soonest.

They landed at a dock several miles from Sybak around noon of the fourth day after they left the Meltokio side of the bridge. After a brief discussion of the distances involved, they agreed to stay in the area overnight, and head for Sybak the next day. Once camp was set up, Zelos put his plan into motion.

"Hey, Kratos," he said cheerfully, "Now that your wound's fixed up and all, you're gonna wanna exercise it a bit, to make sure the scar doesn't end up restricting your movement or anything. How about a sparring match?"

Kratos blinked at him, slightly unnerved by Zelos' helpfulness. "…That's a good idea," he conceded a bit uncertainly.

"Okay, let's head over there," Zelos replied just as enthusiastically as before, pointing to a point in the distance over a nearby hill. "You kids stay here and guard the camp, okay?" he added.

"But I want to watch you guys. It sounds like an interesting matchup, I want to see what happens!" Lloyd said.

Zelos sighed, "Lloyd, what's going to happen is that I'm going to get my butt kicked. Doesn't matter that he's recovering from that wound, he's still way out of my league. At the very least, I'd like to preserve my pride from you guys watching, okay?"

"Lloyd, let's stay here," Colette said suddenly, catching on.

Lloyd looked at her, "…Okay, then. You guys have fun!"

Zelos chuckled a bit; Lloyd didn't stand a chance when it came to Colette's wishes. "We'll be back later!" he called out, "C'mon, pops!" Kratos followed him, grumbling a bit.

Zelos kept going in the direction he'd indicated until both of them were well out of sight and hearing of the campsite; then, looking around and determining that they were at a safe distance, he flopped down on the grass, showing no sign of actually wanting to spar with anyone.

This confused Kratos somewhat. "Whatever happened to helping me exercise?" he asked, a bit dryly.

"As if you need my help for that," Zelos snorted, "If you want to exercise a bit or something, feel free; I just needed an excuse to get us away from camp."

Kratos blinked at him, "Why did you want to do that?"

Zelos shot him an amused glance, "I see where Lloyd gets his density from. In case you hadn't noticed, those two are very much in love, and need some time alone together to figure it out. They weren't getting it on the boat, and they probably won't get it at all with us older folks around all the time. Lloyd is too oblivious, and Colette is too polite, to ask for some time to themselves, but they needed it, so I'm giving it to them."

Kratos looked thoughtful for a moment, then smiled ever-so-slightly, "You're right, and I would never have thought of it." He glanced sidelong at the other swordsman, "Tell me, does anyone else know that you're a romantic at heart?"

Zelos' eyes widened in half-faked panic, "Shh! Not so loud, someone might hear you, and then where would my reputation be?"

"I was under the impression that women liked a man who could be romantic."

"Not the ones I go after; I try to keep away from the girls who might want a commitment from me. Easier on everyone that way."

"…I see."

After a few moments of silence, Kratos sat down on the grass a few feet from Zelos. They spent several silent minutes simply watching the clouds go by in the sky. Finally, Zelos spoke. "You know, it's really shameful how little I know about you, considering that we've been acquainted for over five years now." He thought for a moment, "Hey, I know! We'll ask each other questions. You start with the first one, and then I'll ask you something, and we'll keep going like that. No quick answers, either; if it's a yes-or-no question, or a one-word answer, you have to elaborate on it a bit. So what do you say?"

"…Why do you want to get to know me?"

"Because I'm bored, and we ought to stay away from camp for at least the next few hours. Besides, if I'm stuck traveling with you, I want to know who I'm traveling with."

Kratos shrugged, "Very well. …You had already received the Oracle regarding who you were to marry, had you not?"

"Yeah, it was this girl from a little town in the middle of nowhere. She was pretty enough, sure, but not really my type. Too sweet and nice, although she could certainly take care of herself in a fight; I guess she'd had some kind of martial-arts training ever since she was a kid. Anyway, we were supposed to be married when I turned twenty-five; she was as glad as I was to be able to break the engagement. Last I heard, she was marrying some kid she'd grown up with, a swordsman guy with spiky blonde hair and a weird name, Skye or Storm or something like that. (1) My turn now, hm…" Zelos thought for a minute. "Where are you actually from, originally? Is the place even still around?"

Kratos smirked broadly, apparently quite amused by something. "Actually, I grew up in and around Meltokio, the son of a general in the Tethe'allan army. We had a mansion in the noble's quarter; I was the only child, and after…the war, my parents were both deceased, and I didn't need the mansion. The girl we'd picked to be Tethe'alla's first Chosen One needed to have a house in Meltokio, so I gave my old family home over to the Chosen bloodline." He continued to smirk, waiting for Zelos to put the pieces of this together.

Zelos blinked, then did it again. "Wait a minute…you're saying that you grew up…in my house?"

Kratos' eyes were glinting with merriment as he said, "I believe it's my turn to ask you a question…How exactly did you end up involved with the Renegades?"

"Well, I'd been up on Derris-Kharlan giving reports to Yggdrasill, and I'd seen pictures of the wanted 'leader' of the Renegades, Botta. Then one day, I caught Yuan talking to Botta via hologram, and put two and two together. Unfortunately, he saw that I'd seen them; but I agreed not to turn them in if they'd let me work for them."

"…In other words, Yuan wouldn't let you live otherwise."

"Details, details." Zelos waved off the comment, "How did you meet Yuan?"

Kratos' eyes took on a faraway cast. "He was a…we called them 'servants', but in reality, they were half-elven slaves. Another slave, a little girl, was being beaten, and Yuan fought back in order to defend her. Unfortunately, he'd done similar things one time too many, and the supervisor was going to have him executed. I saw what had happened, and stepped in; I believe I said something ridiculous about taking him for a personal servant and 'taming' him, fully intending to free him as soon as they left us alone, and tell anyone who asked that I'd executed him after all. He refused to let me free him, though, telling me that he needed to 'repay his debt of honor'. Yuan always did have a flair for the dramatic; I found out from him much later that he simply hadn't wanted to admit that he had nowhere else to go. So after that, he acted as my personal servant in public, and as my friend when we were alone. Eventually, I was made a knight, and went traveling with him as my companion; we rescued a pair of half-elven siblings from bandits, and the rest is, quite literally, history." He focused back on Zelos, "When I came to teach you swordsmanship, you knew that I wasn't a mercenary; you knew who I was. Why did you play along and let me teach you?"

Zelos shrugged, "I figured that if Cruxis had sent you to kill me, you'd succeed one way or the other, so it wouldn't matter what I did, and if you'd been sent to teach me, I might as well learn. …I didn't much care if I lived or died at that point, anyway. Also, I was curious. I thought…that maybe you'd be a point of stability, someone I could look up to, the sort of person I'd never had in my life. …It didn't work out that way, of course, but that's what I wanted at the time." It was a major confession, from Zelos, and he hoped it wouldn't backfire.

Kratos' expression was subdued and slightly troubled, "…I'm sorry. I could see, at the time, what you needed…and to be honest, it…frightened me. I'm afraid I pushed you away somewhat because of that…"

Zelos shook his head, "It's fine, it's fine; I understand now. You'd already lost one kid, and a Chosen One ain't exactly a good emotional investment." That last was said with just a hint of bitterness, but he continued neutrally, "Not that it didn't hurt a bit at the time, but I'd been hurt worse. I'm over it."

Kratos did not seem reassured. "I'm sorry…" was all he would say.

Zelos decided a subject change was in order. "So, how did you meet Noishe, anyway?"

Kratos stared off into the distance, remembering, "It was Martel who found him and brought him back to camp; he was a bird at the time, and his wing was injured, probably from escaping the cages where the military kept the Protozoans they used in the war. No one else had ever seen a Protozoan before, so I was the only one who understood what he really was for a while, or the fact that he was about as intelligent as the average human; as a result, he tended to prefer my company, since I was the only one for a long time who didn't talk down to him as though he were an animal. He took an interest in us, and stayed with us even once his wing was healed; eventually, he evolved into the Arshis form which he is in today. Someday, probably fairly soon, he will evolve into a human." Kratos smirked a little, "Of course, 'fairly soon' means probably within the next two hundred years…" He shook his head, growing serious again, "Zelos…since I could not be your…" his next words seemed rather forced, as if he was reluctant to say them and make them real, "your 'father figure'…all those years ago…what do you hope to find in me today?"

Zelos thought silently for a long moment. Finally, he said, "You know, I'm not really sure. I mean, we seem to have passed the goal of 'lack of hostility', so…I don't really know. I suppose we'll see, y'know?" Suddenly, Zelos felt uncomfortable. To dispel the feeling, he jumped to his feet, grinning widely. "Hey, I think I'm interested in having that sparring match after all. What do you say, old man? You wanna try and defeat the great Zelos Wilder?"

A competitive gleam entered Kratos' eyes as he rose. "Old man, hm? I'll have you know: in my case, 'older' only means 'more experienced'. Let's see how much you've improved since your last lesson."

Zelos noted, with an odd feeling of warmth and pride, that he said 'how much' and not 'if'. He really does have faith in my skills. Then, Kratos drew his blade, and there was no more time for thought.

As Zelos had expected, he ended up thoroughly bruised and battered by the end of the session…but he had gotten more hits on Kratos than he expected, something he chalked up to the older man's not-quite-complete recovery. Finally, he collapsed on the grass, laughing breathlessly, "Okay, okay, I give! You're still way better than me!" He examined his hands, which had gotten rather blistered without his usual gloves. Poking one of the blisters, he winced, and wondered if his depleted mana reserves could handle fixing them. "Ouch," he commented.

"What's wrong?" Kratos asked, coming over and kneeling beside him.

"Oh, just my hands; they're all blistered without my gloves." Zelos tried to brush it off, not wanting to seem weak in front of the other man.

"You should know better than to fight without your gloves on," Kratos commented, "In fact, why haven't you been wearing them? There are still monsters about; it doesn't do to be unprepared for battle."

"Yeah, well, I haven't had a chance to get new ones, and my old ones are kind of all bloodstained. They're beyond repair," Zelos remarked pointedly.

"…Oh." Kratos actually seemed a bit embarrassed. After a moment of looking uncomfortable, he reached out and took Zelos' hand, "Here." Zelos was about to ask what in the world he thought he was doing, when Kratos muttered, "First Aid," and Zelos felt the rush of healing mana over his hand, repairing the blisters easily. Kratos then repeated the process with his other hand.

Zelos felt his cheeks grow slightly warm at the man's surprisingly gentle touch, and found himself almost disappointed when it didn't linger any more than necessary. Whoa, whoa, no way. Nuh-uh, not happening, he thought, And don't read anything into all this, either; it's probably just his way of apologizing about the whole glove thing. "Thanks," he said, once Kratos had finished, "I'd have done it myself, but…"

Kratos nodded, "Don't mention it. …Do you suppose we should go back to camp? It's nearly dark."

Zelos glanced at the sky in surprise, to find it tinged with pink and orange. Wow, were we really gone that long? "Yeah, we should get going, before they start to worry." He grinned to cover up his internal confusion. "Race you back!" he cried, and took off running back toward the camp.

Later that night, after Colette had gently chastised them both for staying out so long (She's going to be a wonderful mother someday, Zelos thought), they all settled down for bed. Zelos volunteered to take the first watch, in order to let the others rest, although Kratos insisted that he be allowed to take part of the watch as well. Zelos reluctantly agreed, and the others went to bed, quickly falling into slumber.

Zelos found himself watching Kratos as he slept, a little surprised that the Seraph had fallen asleep so quickly. Then again, he's probably not fully recovered, he thought. …He looks so different when he's asleep…so much gentler… Zelos shook himself. No. No, no, no. Not going there. He may be pretty, no denying that, but he's Kratos, for heaven's sake. Besides, he's straight, right? I mean, he married Anna and had Lloyd…

Not that that means anything, another part of his mind said, You like girls, too, remember? And he and Yuan are pretty close.

Of course they're close, they've known each other for four thousand years. It doesn't mean he likes guys. Most guys don't. And even if he did…no! No, no, no! It's not happening.

He looked at Kratos' sleeping face again, and sighed, just a little, then turned away resolutely to stare into the darkness instead.


(1) Cloud/Tifa, anyone?

Muhahaha! So, the romance begins. Please review!