Hello everyone! I'm sorry it took me so long to translate the next chapter ... But here it is. ^^

To silent romantic: Thank you for you're review, I was really happy =) I'm glad that you like this story.

Chapter 4: Philosophical gibberish

Sheena was wondering if she maybe really overdid it. Probably Zelos indeed hadn't had a good night.

Of course she knew that it presumably really was Ashton who had tightened the strings in Zelos' room but he still was a child and children sometimes did play tricks. However, she shouldn't have teased Zelos as well …

Couldn't she be nice to him just once? After all he seemed to pull himself together and didn't play the whole time Casanova; so it shouldn't have been too much for her to be friendly to him, should it?

She only would see him for a week anyway, then he would disappear out of her life. So she could pull herself together for this time and treat him a little bit better.

Determined to apologize to him for her behavior, she began looking for him. But unfortunately she had no clue where he could be. Maybe it was the best idea to ask Sebastian where Zelos usually went when he was angry or huffy.

So she went back to the playground where Sebastian was right now packing everything to go back to the mansion.

"Sebastian, where does Zelos usually go to when he's angry?" she asked the butler.

"To the sewer. No place for a nobleman but he's somehow taken with it," Sebastian answered.

Sheena nodded and thanked him. She knew where the sewer was.

As she got to the sewer she watched Zelos throwing little stones into the dirty water which was flowing into the canalization. He didn't seem to have noticed her, so she got his attention by clearing her throat.

Zelos looked at her briefly and then he turned away as he recognized her.

"Zelos, I'm sorry. I overdid it …" Sheena apologized.

But Zelos didn't react. He was just gazing at the water. He even stopped throwing stones into the sewer.

"At least say something!" Sheena demanded slightly angered.

"Do you think there is an afterlife?"

Sheena blinked confusedly. "What?" What was that question supposed to mean?

"And if it exists … What does it look like? Is it comparable to the first life? Does one experience the same situations again? Does one even meet the same people?" Zelos asked without looking at her.

"I-I don't know …" Sheena answered. Why did he ask such strange questions? Couldn't he just be mad? She could have handled that better.

Zelos sighed. "Sometimes I wish I could look into the future …"

"I think that everyone has this wish sometimes. It's good however that we can't. Some people would get too self-confident – or too pessimistic. Either way no one would behave the way he normally would have if he hadn't seen the future; therefore the things the person had seen wouldn't come true," Sheena said. If he had to come with philosophical questions, no problem. Then she would philosophize herself.

"That's not true. No matter what one sees, one would always act in such a way that the foreseen would come true. It's fate …" Zelos protested thoughtfully.

"Fate? In my opinion this word only exists, so that certain people can claim they couldn't have acted differently in some situations. Fate does only exist for cowards who can't stick by their actions and decisions. In contrast it takes a lot more courage to accept that one could have acted differently if wanted," Sheena responded. Why did she even talk about something like that with Zelos? Did he actually forgive her or not? The guy was strange today. Maybe that wasn't the real Zelos in front of her …

"Free will is an illusion, Sheena. We're puppets and whoever has the power of us plays a pretty crazy game with us. We're like chessmen on a chess board; we're moved how the player wants it. We have no power at all. Our fate is determined from the beginning. Our status, our race, everything we experience in our lives … Let's take us as an example. I'm the chosen of Tethe'alla. I always have been and I always will be. It was clear from the beginning that this will be my role. Your fate is it to be a summoner and make pacts with the summon spirits."

Sheena raised an eyebrow. What has gotten into Zelos? Why did he talk such rubbish? "Zelos, what the hell are you talking about?"

But the red haired didn't pay attention to her. "Don't they say life's a game? And indeed, it is! But we can't control it, we're not the players, we're the figures … We have no free will … But what if we're disappearing out of the game? Do we then get into another game where we have to obey the rules as well? Can't we never be free? But what does freedom actually mean? Does true freedom even exist?"

"Zelos, are you sure you're fine?" Sheena asked worriedly while testing his temperature by putting her hand on his forehead. Like she suspected he had a fever. That explained many things.

"Sheena … Why does fate do this to me? Why does the person I love the most hate me so much?"

Sheena thought he was talking about one of his groupies. "What do I know? You should go to bed, Zelos. You're sick."

"Sheena … Why? Why do you hate me so much although I love you so much?" Zelos hugged her.

Sheena was suddenly paralyzed. Did he confess his feelings for her right now?

Zelos put his hands on the sides of her face and looked deeply into her eyes. The next moment he kissed her.

If it had been possible for Sheena she would have tensed even more as stunned as she was. But she had turned into a pillar of salt anyway and didn't know what to do. It was quite strange she thought because normally she just would've pushed him back and that would've been it. But now Sheena was too surprised to do anything at all and a part of her even seemed to enjoy the whole thing. She was so confused she didn't even know anymore where up and down was.

Suddenly she felt how she relaxed. She closed her eyes and wanted to respond to Zelos' kiss – if wanted or not she didn't know at that moment – as Zelos suddenly drew back.

"I'm sorry, I … I just thought … I just wanted to have kissed you once before I never see you again …" Zelos murmured. Then he turned around. "I better go back to the mansion. I can't let Sebastian be alone with the little rascal for such a long time." The next moment he had disappeared and Sheena was standing alone at the sewer.

Confused, she leaned against the wall that was luckily behind her and slid it down slowly until she was sitting on the ground.

What the hell was going on? What had gotten into Zelos? Was everything because of the fever or did he mean what he had said? And even if he had been serious what did it matter to her? She never wanted to see him again, she … well, she didn't hate him but … he was so annoying. His whole attitude pissed her of. How he thought he was irresistible and flirted with every female creature that ran into him, how he whined the whole time when he was in an uncomfortable and exhausting situation …

But what upset her the most was that she couldn't hate him in spite of everything. She just couldn't … Apart from that he had behaved differently the last days. More responsible and grown … Though he did act like a little child when Ashton was around he at least hadn't flirted with other women since she was here. Maybe his confession wasn't just thin air …

Sheena sighed. What was wrong with her? What did it matter to her if Zelos loved her or not? He wasn't more to her than … well, in some way a friend … And after this week she wouldn't see him ever again … Probably … If he really stuck to the bargain. However, she didn't really doubt that.

By now she found it more likely that she would want to see him again after the week was over. And if she thought about it … Why not? Her condition maybe was too hard and by now she wondered how she got the idea in the first place.

Zelos could be annoying sometimes but he wasn't the only one. And she didn't had set the other nags conditions.

So this would have been a reason to change her condition. On the other hand … Zelos then maybe wouldn't try so hard to prove her his love – if the whole thing wasn't because of the fever.

But why did she even wanted him to prove her that he loved her? It wouldn't change her feelings for him – non-existent feelings better said.

Sheena shook her head. It was incredible how such a little kiss could confuse her this much! It was nothing, it meant nothing, so she should stop thinking about it. And she wouldn't change her condition either. She would go through with it now.

She stood up. It was time for her to go back to Zelos' mansion. However, the thought of having to see Zelos in a few minutes again made her stop. How should she act in his presence? She couldn't act the way she normally would. And he would act probably act differently as well … Maybe she should try to go out of his way. It would be better for him to stay in bed either way and then Sebastian could take care of him. Perfect plan.

While Sheena was walking through the noble neighborhood she wondered why Zelos got a fever in the first place. Did he catch a cold?

Well, it didn't really matter to her anyway. At least she tried to convince herself from that.

Did Zelos mean what he said? Did he really just catch a cold? Will Sheena really go through with her condition or will she change her mind?

To be continued ...