Fic for Colloyd Week 2021, organised by Darkhymns on Tumblr and Twitter, day one "Childhood Friends".
Post-game friendship fluff with Colette and Sheena (apologies for the fact that, considering it's a Colloyd Week fic, the Colloyd is light). Same as with some of my other fics I imagined it being in the same timeline as other post-game stuff I've written where Colette and Lloyd are living in Mizuho. There's a mention of the short story from the EX volume of the manga where Lloyd and Genis surprise Colette with a birthday picnic but it should still make sense if you haven't read that.
For everyone who misses Corrine.
Disclaimer: I don't own Tales of Symphonia.
Sheena paused on her way to the table and smiled at the plush toy version of Corrine sitting on the sideboard. Impulsively she juggled the tray she was holding so could hold it with one hand instead of two and picked up the fabric version of her friend with the other.
"Extra guest for tea," she chuckled as she put him and the tray down on the table. "The look he was giving me, seemed rude not to invite him."
Colette reached over and picked him up, looking closely at some of the stitching on the little creature. She'd made him as a present for Sheena a few years ago, having learnt to dye fabric from one of the other villagers because she'd wanted to make sure that he looked exactly as he should. She'd used some of the special fluffy fabric someone she knew in the costume department in the Altamira theme park had developed for his tails and on his head and had even put a little replica bell that worked that she'd asked Lloyd to make around his neck.
He was about life-sized and so lifelike that when Sheena looked at him she sometimes half expected him to yawn, stretch, shake then leap up onto her shoulder or into her lap.
Colette frowned, poking at some of the fabric a little bit.
"I should have stitched this bit differently, and I'd do that bit differently now too, could make it neater," she mumbled thoughtfully.
"He's perfect," Sheena insisted, shaking her head. "His face is just right."
"I am pretty happy with how that turned out," Colette nodded, putting the plush toy back on the table then gently booping his nose.
"Your sewing's improved a lot, he's so well made," Sheena said.
"Considering I could only really do embroidery when you first met me being able to make anything 3D was an improvement," Colette chuckled. "Thanks for teaching me some basics back when we were on the journey."
"It was a nice way to spend the evening, relaxing after some of the days we'd had. And it was good to be able to make some useful things and repair stuff," Sheena said.
"Some of the things I made first weren't very useful though, my stitching was horrible, all over the place," Colette laughed.
"You got sewing practice stitching them, and we turned them into toys for Noishe, sometimes Corrine played with them with him too, so I'd say the fabric still was useful," Sheena chuckled and smiled.
"Corrine was a good friend, wasn't he?" Colette said softly, gently stroking the fluffy fabric on the plush toy's head.
"He was, he was so kind and supportive. Sometimes, when I was younger, I felt like he was the only one who really understood and liked me for who I was, who didn't just see a title or what I could do for the village," Sheena said quietly, tipping her head to one side thoughtfully. "I guess maybe Lloyd and Genis were like that for you."
"When they realised that my birthday celebrations were more about The Chosen getting closer to going on the journey to regenerate the world rather than anything to do with me being Colette they made sure to do something special just for me. I'll never forget that," Colette nodded and smiled. "They made me feel like I was a person too, rather than just a title. It was a weird feeling at first."
"One you're used to now though I hope," Sheena smiled softly, taking a sip of her tea.
"Mostly, although I do still find myself thinking about how lucky I am, to be able to have a life living with Lloyd as just plain Colette that I never expected to have. It's so different, not to be treated as someone who's..." Colette paused, trying to find the right word.
"I think I know what you mean," Sheena said.
"I think maybe Lloyd and Genis sort of understood, in their own way, because they were a bit different too. Lloyd living with Dirk in the woods, and Genis being the teacher's brother, neither of them having been born in the village, the other children at school didn't always treat them very kindly either. We were all kinda outsiders. It was good to have each other, and even if I wasn't able to talk about some aspects of being the Chosen it was good to be able to have someone who understood what it was like to be different, and to look out for each other. Some of the simplest stuff they did really made a difference," Colette said.
"Having such a good friend, or friends, is important," Sheena nodded, absentmindedly stroking the Corrine plush toy.
"Thank you for being my friend too, and for sharing Corrine's friendship with me," Colette said softly as she put down her tea and moved to hug Sheena.
Sheena smiled and hugged her back. They stayed holding each other for a quiet moment before a playful smile appeared on Colette's face. She moved to take a biscuit from the plate on the table and offered it to the plush toy.
"He's not had any of these yet, rude not to share treats with friends," she giggled.
"Daft twit, you're getting crumbs on him," Sheena chuckled and picked up the plush toy to brush the crumbs off him. "Although speaking of sharing there's more left in the kitchen if you want to take some for Lloyd later."
"Is it OK to share with Noishe as well? He does really love biscuits so he might be upset if he finds out there were some and didn't get any, and he's been my friend since I was young too..." Colette asked. Sheena laughed and shook her head gently.
"Noishe can share too," she chuckled.
"Thank you!" Colette beamed a big smile and took a bite of her biscuit. "These are really good."
"Good treats for good friends," Sheena smiled back at her, earning another hug in response. Colette might be bigger and less fluffy than Corrine but like him she was most certainly an excellent friend and she was good to hug.