Me: Thank you ShadowVDP, SymphoniaFreak, and lee for reviewing!

Tenebrae: What are you doing in this chapter?

Me: I felt really bad about killing Marble so I devoted this chapter mostly to her.

Yuan: AquaticWings does not own Tales of Symphonia.

Me: Enjoy!


We'll Miss You Marble, Rest in Peace

We all sat around the fire, everyone was silent with grief, everyone except the voices in my head.

'Stella dear, it wasn't your fault okay? You don't need to keep beating yourself up for it.' I felt the woman's presence in the air around me.

'It was my fault…'

'Stella,' the man thought to me, 'Stop thinking like that. It won't change the fact that she died.'

'Don't be so harsh on the girl.'

'What I'm saying is true.'

'It may be true but respect her feelings.'

'Both of you stop talking to me. I need to think alone.' The man's eyes went to stare into the fire. The woman was silent, but I still felt her presence. I wished the man had saved Marble as well, then she'd still be alive, walking on Sylvarant with us! I looked at Marble's dead body where we left it. Getting up I walked over too her.

I stopped right next to her and sat down. I touched her hand and whispered, "I'm sorry, sorry for everything."

"I couldn't save her…" I looked behind me at Genis.

"Nothing was your fault Genis; it was all my fault…"

"No it wasn't! I couldn't protect her or you!"

"But it's my fault! If I hadn't gotten hurt then she'd still be alive!"

"You guys are actually fighting over whose fault Marble's death was?"

"It was my fault!" Genis and I cried at the same time.

Lloyd sighed, "Then it might as well be my fault as well."

"You didn't do anything Lloyd! I did…"

"Stella! It was me! I couldn't protect my friends…"

"How about this?" We looked at Lloyd, "It was Genis's, Stella's, and my fault. We work as a team and everyone in the team participates and takes all the blame."

"What about Chikita and Noishe?"

"Genis! Chikita is only a child!"

"Sorry Stella…"

"And Noishe is only a dog."

"She's right," Lloyd said, "We're the older members of the group so we must accept responsibility and the consequences."

I thought about what he said; it was all true. "But we don't have to keep the blame to ourselves; we should share the blame because that's fair."

"He Lloyd, when'd you get intelligent?"

"Shut up Genis!"

"Hey guys," I looked at Marble's body, "Shouldn't we give her some type of funeral?"

"Yeah, she was like my grandmother."

"Of course! It'd be rude to let her decompose like this!" Lloyd and Genis gently lifted up her body and took her near the fire.

"I'll go get some flowers!" I told Lloyd and Genis.

"You shouldn't go by yourself." I looked at the man who had said that.

"I suppose you're going to follow me?"

"Yes."

"Are you a stalker?"

"No."

'Trust him Stella.'

"Fine. What's your name?"

"Siryno."

"Nice name, now let's go find some flowers!" I ran off and he followed.

'You're doing the finding, I'm only protecting you.'

'I only trust you because she said I could.'

'So she hasn't told you who she is yet…'

'Will you tell me?'

'No, she'll tell you eventually. Yellow flowers, to the left.' I veered left, and just as soon as I had done that Siryno cut a monster in half.

"Uh… thanks, so there weren't any flowers over here?"

"There are." I looked straight ahead and I saw them. There weren't just yellow flowers though, but blue, orange, and red.

"Thanks!" I picked up so many flowers Siryno ended up carrying some.

"Aren't you going to get some pink flowers?" He asked pointing to a lot of them.

"No way! Pink is for girls!"

"You are a girl."

"Pink is for girly girls!" I didn't like pink at all. Ever since I turned twelve I tried to make pink disappear from my closet and room, but that's kind of hard when the walls of your room are pink.

I let my mind wander back to Marble. What was she doing in the after life? Or did she just start life over again but as a different person? I wonder if she's okay… I know she would tell me it wasn't my fault for her death, but it is mostly my fault…

'Stop it Stell, or you'll get a headache.'

'Stop ready my thoughts Ryno.'

'I have a nickname?'

'Yes and even if you complain I won't change it.'

'I already knew that. Back to Marble though. You had some fun times with her and was very close to her, but you shouldn't let her death get to your head.'

'Even if you can read my thoughts you still don't understand!' I ran away from him and back to camp.

At camp…

"Here are the flowers guys!"

"They're pretty Stella!"

"I'll let you put them on Marble's grave, alright Chikita?"

"Okay!" I looked at the boys digging alongside Noishe. They were making dirt fly everywhere! One piece of dirt hit me in the shoulder.

"Watch where you're flying that dirt boys!"

Lloyd looked at me, "Sorry!" I burst out laughing. His face was smothered with dirt!

"What's so funny?" Genis was worse. I laughed so hard I fell on the ground. Chikita was laughing right next to me. The boys looked at each other, and then both were laughing as hard as us. Siryno was silent, watching us. He was, though, watching me more then the others.

"So… is the grave deep enough?" I asked the diggers.

"Probably," Lloyd replied.

"Okay, I'll prepare Marble." I went into my bag, grabbed a nice big purple blanket. I wrapped Marble in it, Chikita helping me. Siryno picked Marble up and laid her into her grave; we helped to close the hole. As we pushed the dirt back in I began to cry. Genis began to weep as well as Chikita and Lloyd.

After we the hole was filled up Lloyd grabbed a piece of wood. He made a plank out of it and carved Marble's name and today's date on it. We set it behind the small pile of dirt. Chikita and I threw the beautiful flowers that I picked on top of the grave. We mourned for a while, and then I spoke.

"Marble had a life filled with hardships, sorrow, and challenges. But she did have a life of joy. She was lucky to have met us and we were lucky to have met her. Lloyd, would you like to talk about the time you had with her?"

"Yeah. I met her when Genis went to talk to her on the day of the oracle. Marble was happy that day, for that was the start of the of Colette's journey to regenerate the world. In the time that I knew her she felt like a grandma to me. She cared for me and taught me some patience. I was really lucky to meet her. I will help to regenerate the world for her and the people of this world!" I looked at Chikita.

She began to speak, "I didn't know Marble well, but we became friends. She reminds me of my mother, happy and caring. I'll miss Marble, but by regenerating this world I'll never forget her."

"Take it away Genis."

"I had been seeing her in the human ranch for a year, bringing her food and giving her company. She was grateful for me and said that the goddess Martel had blessed her. She never got to eat much so when I went to give her food she gobbled it up," Genis smiled at the memory, a few tears trickling down his cheek, "She had been really joyful seeing the light of the oracle. She had been happy meeting Lloyd as well. When she got turned into a monster Stella saved her; Marble was thankful. We had a lot of fun with her during the short time between leaving Iselia and her death. I will never forget her and to remember her I'm going to use her exsphere to regenerate this world!" When he finished he was crying so hard it looked like a waterfall. I walked over to him and hugged him. He cried into my red jacket. I began to talk about the time I knew Marble.

"I met Marble by waking up in the same cell as her. I asked her if there was some way I could escape. She told me that if I believed hard enough and trusted the goddess Martel I would one day escape. She was right. Without Marble's help I wouldn't have met you all. I thank her that I'm able to live without being beaten by the desians. When she got turned into a monster I saved her, but blamed myself for her pain. She told me it wasn't my fault and that she was happy I had done what I did. When I got attacked by that monster she came to help. The wolf would've killed me if it weren't for her, but she did die in my place. I will never ever forget what Marble has done for me. Siryno, would you like to say something?"

"Marble saved Stella. She was very brave to do such a thing. I won't forget such a woman."

"We'll miss you Marble, rest in peace." I said for all of us. We all, except Siryno, began to sob again. Genis cried the hardest.

I will miss you so much Marble. I am grateful for what you did for us, but why couldn't you have saved me and lived?

Me: I didn't want Marble to die, but what is going to happen in the future wouldn't be able to happen if she didn't die.

Tenebrae: And what's going to happen in the future?

Me: What makes you think I'll tell you?

Tenebrae: I have chocolate.

Me: Uh oh, I better run away so I don't give out spoilers!

Tenebrae: Get back here and tell me!

Yuan: Review please.