"She's been out there for almost an hour now," Lloyd said, looking out the window at Shihna who was standing in the rain. Nobody could convince her to go back inside. Not even Lloyd could. Zelos also looked outside, his eyes dark. He didn't even want to try. He'd probably make the situation worse. "She's going to get really sick if she stays out there any longer," Genius pointed out, sitting at the table doing his homework.

Zelos pressed his head against the glass. He should've known something was wrong when Shihna kept on saying that she was okay and everything was fine. Was she making herself endure punishment or something? He felt like such an idiot for not knowing what to do. Could he do anything? Anything at all? He didn't want to lose another person. He couldn't let this happen. Not like what happened to his mother...

He knew...that Corrine's death wasn't Shihna's fault. That was his choice to make. Shihna needed to know that. Even if it was her fault...he would fool her into thinking it wasn't. Anything to make her happy...anything. If only he could...get her to trust him. Of course he knew that he didn't deserve it. Not one bit. He was such a liar. She was right not to believe him. But now...he would give away anything just for her trust. Lloyd handed him an umbrella. "Zelos, you want to bring Shihna back, don't you?" Zelos stared at Lloyd. "Sometimes I wonder if you're really stupid or not," he said. "Hey," Lloyd grumbled, "I'm doing you a favour, okay?"

"Thanks, bud." Zelos stepped outside and opened the umbrella. He shut the door behind him. Shihna didn't even turn to look at who was there. "Shihna..." he said, softly. "You're going to catch something." She didn't respond. Zelos held the umbrella above Shihna's head. "I know that you're feeling bad about Corrine, but it really wasn't your fault. Nobody wanted this to happen it's-" "It's all my fault," Shihna said. "If I hadn't said that he couldn't do anything he wouldn't be dead now." She seemed to choke out the word "dead". Zelos sighed. "It was Corrine's choice to save you. He doesn't want to see you like this now. He wanted you to live, you know that? He wants you to be happy," he said. "I want you to be happy too..."

Shihna shook her head. "Do I really deserve happiness?" Did she?..."Of course. Everybody does," Zelos said, wishing that Shihna would turn around and face him. "Let's go back inside." He took her hand in his. Shihna let him pull her back inside. Everybody looked up from what they were doing. "Oh, Shihna. You're back. We were so worried!" Collet ran up to her and took her hands in hers. "Come on! I'll prepare a bath for you and..." Zelos sweatdropped as he watched Collet dissapear with Shihna. "I'm going to take a shower," he said, also heading upstairs. "Zelos doesn't know that he's the one that understands Shihna best does he?" Genius asked. Lloyd shrugged. "He's always joking around, but I can tell that he really cares about Shihna." Genius sighed. "He'd never admit a thing like that." "Yeah."

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

Zelos stepped out of his room with a towel around his shoulders. He wondered if he should see Shihna or not. He hadn't expected her to come back inside so willingly. It was Shihna, after all. He paused in front of her door. Would she even want to see him? He knocked, quietly. "Come in." Zelos took a deep breath and opened the door. "Shihna?" He closed the door behind him. Shihna looked up from her position on her bed. "Feeling better?" Zelos asked. He had trouble seeing his face because there was a towel on her head and she happened to be scouring her head, trying to get her hair to try faster. "How long does it take for your hair to dry?" she asked, avoiding Zelos' question. Zelos chuckled at how frustrated Shihna sounded. "Dunno...I just kind of leave it for a while," he replied, cheerfully.

Shihna continued scrubbing her head. "Here." Zelos sat down next to her and pulled the towel off her head. He smoothed her hair down with this fingers. "Your hair's gonna dry fast," Zelos said, taking a few strands of it. "Just be patient."

"But I hate the feeling of having wet hair," Shihna pouted. "Oh, really? Is that why your hair is so short?" So that's why she didn't grow her hair out. He had always wondered why. "That and I don't feel like bothering with it," Shihna said. "Hmm...well you could just get me to do your hair for you."

"No thanks," Shihna said, quickly. Zelos placed the towel back on Shihna's head. "Why did you come back with me so fast anyways? I was expecting you to run away from me," Zelos said, softly. "I was surprised by what you said," Shihna replied. "What?..." Zelos rested his chin on Shihna's head. "You said that you wanted me to be happy," Shihna mumbled. "I meant it," Zelos said. "Be happy, okay?" He pulled away and got off the bed. "G'night Shihna."

"Night..." Shihna watched him turn and left the room. "...Thank you, Zelos."

SakuMeiMei: Sorry for the delay! (Or something...) I'm not very happy right now. I just left my memory card at my friend's house who happens to live in a semi-faraway place and I won't be able to get a ride there for at least a month so now I'm sad. I get...NO TALES OF SYMPHONIA FOR AT LEAST A MONTH. What sucks even more...I won't have as much inspiration because I don't have the game right in front of me. Hyuuu...

Now, about the actual story. I'm sorry. It's so similar to one of the earlier chapters. Sorry, sorry, sorry! I didn't notice until I was more than halfway through it and I didn't want to waste it. The next one will be better, I promise.