M'kay, well, this was the focus for the November, but I've been- you guessed it- busy. I thought once tests would have calmed down I would have had some actual time to write and NOT bash my head against the wall . Freaking Calculus is evil…DX Damn you and your gravity constant, Genis! AH! DERIVATIVES!
Deeerririiivatiiiiveesss…(fetal position)
That aside, please enjoy.
Disclaimer: OWN NOTHING.
"Lloyd! Are you listening to me?!"
The seventeen-year-old male flinched, shaking his head as he directed his attention at the short half-elf beside him. He'd been looking up at the sky, as he usually did, it was just so…amazing. A horizon was amazing, that something could just keep going and going…it made him wonder what was further out there, what was around the corner, what was beyond this sky… It made his back hurt, too, though that wasn't a positive thing. It felt like the feathers were solid inside of him, gently tickling his back as if trying to coerce him to let them blossom forth.
He crushed the feeling.
"Hm-? Sorry, what is it?" he asked, looking down at his friend.
"I said Colette looks a little down…maybe you should talk to her?"
Lloyd looked up from his desk at the blonde who- contrary to Genis' words- was chipper as always. Well, that's how she appeared at any rate, Lloyd knew well enough to know- as did Genis- that she was forcing that smile. The brunette frowned, biting his lip as he thought about the last three years, how Colette had slowly but surely wormed her way into his heart, as did Genis and even Raine to some extent. He'd been wary the first time he saw her, to be honest, but…at lunch that first day…
"Why are you sitting with him? He's a kid," a classmate jeered.
"He's nine, that's not that much younger than us," Lloyd responded, frowning a bit.
"Yeah, well, whatever," the boy said.
Then without anything further he snatched away Genis' lunch.
"Hey! What the hell are you doing?" Lloyd scoffed, outraged.
"What does it look like?" he said.
"Give-"
"It's…okay…" Genis mumbled under his breath, "They always do this…"
"What?" Lloyd looked down at him, slightly stunned. "You…and you let them?"
"W- Well, I-"
"Excuse me," a soft voice said.
The boys turned to see a young blonde girl standing before them, a smile forced on her face as she looked at them.
"Um…Could you please give him his lunch back? I'm sure he's hungry…and…and that's not very nice," she frowned a bit.
"Ch- Chosen…" the bully stammered.
Lloyd's eyes narrowed. That girl, the Chosen…he'd seen her in class earlier, the most holy person in the church… Why was she bothering with this? Wasn't she too 'important' to worry about some kid getting bullied?
"Please? I noticed you don't eat it anyway…you just throw it in the trash," she frowned, "So you're not taking it because you're hungry…
"I- I- Here, see?! I'm giving it back!" the boy said, throwing the bag back to Genis. "I'm sorry!"
With that he ran off, Genis sighing deeply as Lloyd kept his gaze on the blond girl.
"It's not like I can eat this anyway…" he muttered, "Raine made it…"
"Hm? Is your sister a bad cook or something?" Lloyd asked.
Genis just stared at him.
"Oh, you don't like your lunch?" she frowned. "Hm…Oh! I know!"
With sunny smile she pulled out her own, holding it out toward Genis.
"My father made a lot, we can share!" she chirped.
Something wasn't right…why…she didn't seem like a bad person at all, she was really nice, even…
"R- Really!? Thanks, Colette! You're the best!" Genis grinned.
"Colette?" Lloyd frowned.
"Y- Yes? That's my name…" she trailed, glancing at him.
"…"
He'd promised Phaidra he'd look out for her, so…so he guessed he should hold up his end of the deal. His mother would've been mad at him if he hadn't, and he'd already done enough against her memory as it was…
"You're…Lloyd, right?" she asked.
"Yes, it's nice to meet you, Colette," he nodded.
She stared at him.
"…Is…something wrong-?"
"You called me by my name," she said simply, her eyes widening.
"…I'm sorry, was I not supposed to-?"
"No, no!" she shook her head, smiling brightly. "It's fine- I- I actually like that more."
She'd rather be called her name than her title? …Heh, maybe she wasn't as bad as he made her out to be… Then, she was just a kid, like him, so maybe…
"As you wish, Colette," he smiled gently.
She merely smiled.
"…Perhaps I should-" Lloyd started with a nod.
"All right, everyone, I've graded your essays," Raine said, having made her way to the head of the class.
"Ah, too late," Genis spat, frowning, "You're gonna have to wait until after class…"
"Now then, overall it seems you did fairly well," the woman stated as she handed back the papers, "Though it seems you all tended to have some trouble with the Ossa mine's uses- except for you, of course, Lloyd."
The woman smiled warmly as she placed his paper on his desk, an almost loving expression on her face.
"You do so well in history, Lloyd!" she exclaimed, sighing dreamily. "If only all my students could be as well learned as you are!"
"W- Well, Professor I-"
"That is, in everything except science," her expression changed abruptly into a fierce glare, causing the boy to freeze, "In that, you need to work harder."
Genis snickered a bit as his friend merely nodded slowly, hesitantly taking the paper as she continued to walk by. Honestly, he was afraid that woman was bipolar at times…
Class proceeded relatively smoothly, nothing much out of the ordinary happened at all, really…that is, until a bright light flooded the room.
"W- What is-?" Genis stammered, looking out the window.
"That's…" Colette trailed, her smile faltering.
"The oracle," Lloyd whispered, his gaze out the window.
He didn't care about anything.
He did, once, but he had long since lost the ability to care, to feel, to live as he once had. He despaired in waking up in Welgaia, finding that he had not died along with his family, that he had lived while his wife and child had perished. Why was it they had to heal him? Why couldn't they have just left him to die with his family? It didn't matter anymore, nothing mattered anymore…if Martel revived, Yggdrasill would reunite the worlds. Perhaps that, at least, would be enough. Until then….it didn't matter. He would do as he was told and escort this Chosen to her death-
It was then he spotted the downed priest, then looked up toward the chapel. Renegades. Hmph..it didn't matter. Nothing did. Nothing could ever matter again. He barely noticed he had knocked Vidarr down onto the ground, saving the teens behind him, he didn't care that he had, all until he heard the voice from behind him.
"Dad?"
That one word, that awed, disbelieving word seemed to completely change the world around him. Nothing looked different, no, but it was…all of a sudden it was that the world…existed. It was there, it mattered; it felt as if he had been in a fog, and that one word, that name, that title, blew it all away, leaving the world crisp, clear and in focus.
It couldn't be…
He turned to look over his shoulder, seeing the brown-haired boy looking up at him.
"Ll-?" his eyes widened.
"Dad-!" Lloyd's eyes widened in horror, looking behind the male.
Kratos turned and swiftly incapacitated the Renegade's muscle, knocking the large man to the ground- now without his right-arm. Lloyd barely had time to get his feet when several more Renegades hit the ground and Botta, their leader, made a hasty retreat. That didn't matter, however, none of that mattered. The only thing here that mattered was-… He turned back to Lloyd, staring down at the boy in disbelief.
"…Dad…is it- is it really you?" he whispered weakly, his brown eyes wide.
"You're alive…" Kratos whispered, as if not believing the words he was speaking, "You're-"
Lloyd all but launched onto his father, his red sleeves tightening violently around the man in a hug that seemed as if he was trying to break the man in half. Kratos' sword dropped onto the ground with a clang as he in turn wrapped his arms around his child with the same intention of never letting go. Lloyd began to cry violently into his father's shoulders, the man rocking him back and forth gently as he ran his fingers through the boy's hair, hushing comforting words to the sobbing teen. Colette, Genis and Phaidra merely stared, unsure of how to react, though they knew enough to keep quiet…for the most part.
"Colette…do you really think that's his dad?" Genis whispered to the blonde.
"It must be," she whispered back, "See? They're hugging and everything…"
"But he looks too young!" Genis hissed under his breath. "That guy can't possibly be old enough to be Lloyd's dad…"
"Yeah, but…" she trailed, frowning, "He's gotta be…"
"He is my dad," Lloyd's voice interrupted.
They looked up as the brunette turned to look at them, his cheeks tear-stained and he was still refusing to let go of his father.
"This is….this is my father," he stammered, "I- I know he- but he-"
"This is your father?" Phaidra stared at Lloyd. "This is…the 'one' parent?"
Lloyd froze, noting the old woman's awed gaze at Kratos while the Seraph merely frowned, looking to his son for answers. The teen hesitated a bit, looking between his father and the old woman, unsure of how to react.
"I-" he started.
Then it hit him. It wasn't a realization, no, it was more of a…mood-swing, actually. The overwhelming emotions of seeing his father again- the positive ones, were swiftly blown away as the other half of his reactions surged forth. Lloyd stared up at his father and his expression shifted from one of awe to one of anger.
"You…You're…you're alive! You…"
The teen pushed his father back violently, shocking the man.
"Where the hell have you been!?" he shouted at the top of his lungs, glaring death at his father.
"Lloyd-" Kratos began, startled at his son's outburst.
"I thought you were-! I thought you were dead-! For- for three years! You- you jerk! How the he-!? Where have you-!? I-! I-!" he stammered.
He cut off, staring at his father's forlorn expression before he let out an angry shout and ran down the chapel stairs, hearing his friends and father call after him. That bastard! That- that-! He thought he was dead! He thought he was alone! Then, just out of nowhere, he shows up and- and- He didn't know what to think. He was happy his father was alive, yes, but he couldn't really take note of that fact beneath all the infuriated and sorrowful emotions that had surfaced. Where had he been? Why hadn't he…why hadn't he looked for him, if he was alive? Why…why…
He slowed to a halt at the base of the stairs, breathing hard. All right…running away from it wasn't going to make anything better, he knew that. That and…and he had to help Colette with the Oracle and all, and….and…
"Lloyd."
He whirled around, backing up a bit from his father as the man sadly approached him, his eyes misted.
"Lloyd, I…I didn't- I thought you were…I-"
"I thought you were dead too," Lloyd choked, his eyes downcast, "I…I'm sorry-"
"Why are you apologizing, Lloyden?" Kratos scoffed. "If anyone should be doing such, it should be me, I- I am so sorry, Lloyden, I…"
The man slowly approached his son, just as slowly reaching his hand out to place on the boy's head. Lloyd responded by tackling his father in a hug once more, burying his face into the man's shoulder.
"It's all right now…" Lloyd muttered through his sobs, "We're- we're together again- I-…I'm sure Mom'd be happy…."
"…" Kratos wrapped his arms around Lloyd, closing his eyes.
"I have something to tell you, Dad" Lloyd wiped his eyes, breaking away, "It's…very important. I- Well, I'll tell you later, but right now…Colette has to-"
"The Chosen has to receive the Oracle, I know," Kratos closed his eyes, "I…assume you want to go with her?"
Lloyd nodded, the man sighing a bit.
"Let us go together, then," he said, "We can both protect her."
A smile crept into Lloyd's face that eventually broke into a grin, the teen now in a mix between crying and laughing. Kratos frowned, a bit concerned for his son when Lloyd merely shook his head, blurting out an apology.
"I just…never thought I'd…I can't believe you're…here," he stammered.
"Lloyd-"
"Never leave me again, okay, Dad? Promise you won't leave me again…"
They embraced one more time as Kratos merely stared out into space. How could he promise that? How could he promise that when the best thing for his child would be to never see him again? But for the moment…his son was alive, his son was alive and in his arms…
For that moment, that was all he could want.
Sorry it's short, but it's better than waiting till January, right? Now I have to study for…FINALS! D: DUN DUN DUN
Wish me luck..n.n' Hope you liked it! It was a real biotch to write…