A/N: I'm making up Zelos's angel spells, so bear with them. Also, this was gonna be the last chapter, but since I'm combining the stories, there's more to come!

Ch 4

"Dad!" Lloyd cried as Kratos met him halfway to the clearing. The two ran towards each other, colliding into a hug as the seraphim held him tightly. "Dad! I thought something really bad happened to you! I'm so glad you're okay!" the boy half-sobbed. Kratos made a strange sound under his breath that seemed almost an echo of his own sob.

"Goddess, I didn't think you'd catch onto the trail that quickly." he murmured, clutching the swordsman as if he were afraid Lloyd would vanish if he let go. "Good to see you again, Lloyd, and you have no idea how glad." Lloyd pulled back and looked up at him.

"Dad, where's Zelos? Didn't he come with you? Did he get loose too? Or is he...?" Lloyd trailed fearfully as Kratos closed his eyes with a heavy sigh, bowing his head, "He's not... dead... is he? Dad, please! Don't tell me Zelos died!"

"No, not dead when I left. Zelos told me to find you." Kratos murmured, "He sacrificed himself to reunite us." He fell silent then, a frown crossing his face as he thought hard. Suddenly, Kratos was running back towards the clearing. Lloyd jumped and raced after him. "I won't allow it! Hurry! We can still save him if we hurry!"

"Yeah! Let's go!" he cheered and dashed faster with the aid of the Ex Gem embedded in the bracelet on his own arm, catching up with his father. "After all that Zelos has been through for us, it's the least we can do!"

"I refuse to abandon either one of my sons! It's what Anna would have wished me to do, to protect the both of you!" the seraphim declared. Lloyd blinked in surprise at those words, then swept them out of mind as the forest burst into flames at random points, lightning shining among the trees.

The clearing was mostly a disaster area, littered with burning rubble, charred ground and smoking bodies of thieves and witches. Kratos took in the sight quickly, scanning the area for signs of the redhead. Lloyd yelled in a fury as the few remaining rogues ran at them, several surviving witches putting themselves to work casting spells of healing.

"Lloyd!" Kratos shouted as the boy raced in, swords drawn for battle. Unable to lend a blade, he resumed his search and spotted the larger man pinning down Zelos, trying to strangle the Chosen. Remembering his vow in the forest, he dashed forward to help.

"I'll see you burn in hell for what you've done!" the gravel-voiced man raged as Zelos choked and gasped for air.

"Burn with me then." the Chosen managed to force out, "Eruption!" The explosion of fire rushed up from beneath the redhead, setting both men aflame. Screams of pain filled the air as the bigger man threw himself aside and ran in a panic, arms flailing as the fire spread over him.

"No!" Kratos exclaimed in horror, watching the flames dancing higher, cutting him off from the Chosen that lay trapped within the circle of destruction he created, "Zelos! You idiot!"

"Hot, hot, hot! It's so hot! Hurts so much! Hurry and kill me already, stupid fire! Why the hell does it take so long to die?" Zelos thought frantically as he clenched his teeth, pain coursing through him as the burning went on. The blast had hit his back straight on, billowing around him to knock off the would-be murderer. He could smell burning flesh, cloth and hair. "Gah! Dying stinks! I should have just made myself some hemlock tea! At this rate there won't be enough of me left to bury!"

Something suddenly scooped him up and raced him out of the flames into cool air that bit into the burns and sent a fresh wave of pain through him. He screamed again as he was dropped onto the ground and cloth was thrown onto him, patting and putting out the flames that clung tenaciously to what remained of his clothing.

"Why the hell do you draw it out?" Zelos snapped at his rescuer and blinked. Kratos puffed above him, greatly affected by the heat of the flames he had run through to pull him out. "Kratos? I told you to get out of here! Why are you back?" The seraphim pulled him to sitting position and began work on the bonds still wrapped around his hands.

"Not abandoning another son. Not anymore." he gasped briefly and worked furiously to untie him. Zelos blinked again, unsure of whether the words were part of another act to get him to behave, or something real this time. "Damn knots. Who taught them to do knots?" Kratos grumbled and bent to pull at them more desperately, gnawing at them with his teeth to cut into the rope. The redhead scanned the area and spotted Lloyd fighting against the survivors, swords flashing in the light as he held off the men and incurred damage from the women casting spells on him.

"Lloyd found you?" Zelos asked dumbly as Kratos spit aside a mouthful of the cord. The rope split apart and he sat back on his heels, rubbing at his bleeding mouth. He nodded as he studied the reddened wrists. The Chosen winced as additional pain streaked through him as the wind rushed by his burns. "Then we'd better help out." he added and looked up as one of the men ran at them with Excalibur aimed right for Kratos's back. "Hey!"

The seraphim had no chance for a cry as the redhead grabbed him and threw them both aside to avoid the cowardly attack. Zelos cringed as fresh pain shot through him and wondered if he would ever have a pain-free day again. Climbing to his feet, he dimly noted the small chunk of charred hair that fell from his shoulder onto the grass, joined soon after by another, then by shreds of pink cloth from his vest. Kratos jumped to his feet and gave chase, determined to get his sword back from the thief. Zelos set to work on a healing spell, at first for himself, then changing his mind at the sight of Lloyd nearly cave at being clubbed in the back.

"I can stand a little more hurt. Not like it'll really kill me. That'd be the easy way out and life doesn't wanna cut me slack, right?" Zelos remarked to himself and sent the spell out, "Healing Stream! Kratos isn't the only one with that spell!" Lloyd stood straighter with the mana streaming around to heal him and resumed the battle. Alternately casting out attack spells to help Kratos beat down the sword thief and healing ones to help Lloyd outlast the remaining gang members, Zelos wore down his reserve mana from the strange beam and wobbled slightly. It was with relief that the men and women decided they'd rather live and fled the clearing. Kratos kicked over the dead thief and pulled the Silver Sword from him. He frowned as he examined the half melted blade and looked over at Zelos in exasperation.

"You overdid the Eruption." he merely pointed out and tossed the sword aside to collect the other two. Zelos laughed tiredly.

"Sorry." he apologized, "But hey, it was either that or I let him get away." He dropped to his knees then and would have fallen onto his face had he not thrown his hands forward to support himself. "Ugh, Goddess, everything hurts! I still feel as if I'm in that fireball!" Lloyd ran after him, digging into his pack for small glass bottles filled with a pale violet liquid as Kratos joined him with the swords in hands.

"Drink these! They should cure the burns! Dad! He's really low on mana! He could die right now!" the boy cried, opening bottles and shoving them into Zelos's mouth. He fought with one and waved him back.

"Hey, watch it! You nearly chipped my tooth, Lloyd!" he scolded and drank the Miracle Potion, wincing as the magic infused liquid set to work on restoring his body. Kratos added in another Healing Stream to help close wounds and recover his meager supply of mana.

"When did you get wings?" Lloyd demanded, holding up the orange and rose feathers in his hand as Zelos choked on a third bottle of potion. He stared at him and blushed.

"That? Eh, well, I kinda, sorta had 'em for a while. I got them when you guys got sick that one time, but..." he stammered and then looked downcast, unwilling to face Lloyd. "To tell the truth, I learned how to call up my own wings long before then, too. Lloyd, if you hadn't really reached out to me the way you did long ago, I really would have betrayed you in that tower. I thought life didn't really care for me at all, so I learned to summon the angel wings and additional mana reserves... to fight you." he murmured and shut his eyes tightly, bending over lower to hide his face. "I was prepared to kill you and the others there if things didn't work out, but I couldn't! Not after all the trust you put in me. I can understand if you call me a traitor and never forgive me. I didn't forgive myself. I still haven't. So I guess I leave my judgment to you." he added quickly, "Just do whatever!"

Zelos waited for a sword blade to come down on him, almost wished for it, the waiting was unbearable. He tensed, already imagining the bright metal turning red as it sliced into him, ripped through him. He jerked in shock when he felt instead the boy kneel by him and lift him up into a hug.

"Thanks for helping us instead. You put your wings to good use!" Lloyd exclaimed happily as the redhead looked past him in shock, eyes wide as Kratos knelt by and smiled slightly at them, shaking his head for no real reason but to show some emotion. "See, you can be a great Chosen if you follow the right path!" Lloyd added and cried in fear as the redhead suddenly fell limp in his arms, silent and unmoving.

"He's asleep, he'll be fine. He exhausted himself helping us all." Kratos interrupted as he moved in to take the weight from his son, standing with the young man held close to him. He eyed the clump of ash that fell from his shoulder and took a closer look at him. "Damn it." Lloyd cocked his head in confusion. "Look at him, Lloyd. The fire's burned away most of his clothing and a good portion of his hair." the seraphim pointed out with a frown. "He's basically ruined himself."

"We can cut his hair shorter to get rid of the burned parts and it'll grow back." Lloyd suggested, "But he might get mad about that. Oh well. As for clothes, hmm. I can modify some new ones for him, but you're about the same size he is, Dad." Kratos stiffened at what he feared his son was thinking. "Can you lend Zelos some clothes for now, Dad? Just until we get to Meltokio for him to grab some more?"

"Why can't he wear yours?" Kratos griped, "He'll prance around in mine!"

"Because Zelos is bigger than me and you're the closest size to him. Pleeease?" Lloyd whined back. The seraphim finally sighed and nodded. Lloyd cheered and marched off back towards the town as Kratos followed, struggling to hold Zelos aloft as well as the two recovered swords without dropping either of them.

With news of the slavers and thieves having abandoned the town due to the fight against the three swordsmen, the mayor of Nealar finally allowed the release of the Exspheres and offered to restock the ship with supplies for their next trip. Lloyd cheerfully accepted the gifts and watched as the crates of spheres and food was loaded onto the ship. Kratos and Zelos stood aside, watching his enthusiastic jumping about.

"How are you feeling?" Kratos suddenly asked. The redhead fingered his freshly cut hairstyle, the layered shortness still unnerved him even though enough of his bangs survived the fire to drape down his cheeks. His outfit was heavily altered from a spare mercenary costume Kratos had hidden away in his room, the sleeveless violet shirt tucked into the heavy black cloth pants and cinched with a leather belt. His shoes had partially melted and were swapped for a pair of sturdy black leather boots. Lloyd couldn't help but add a pair of white streamers to the collar of the shirt, both of which now floated on the breeze and flew behind him.

"Honestly? Like the world is laughing at me right now." Zelos replied with a sigh and looked down at his newly gloved hands, the soft black cloth accessories that Lloyd pleaded with him to wear bound snugly to his arms with thin leather straps. "I'm not used to this. I'm already wishing I hadn't set myself on fire back there." he murmured and tossed his head. "The Great and Sexy Zelos Wilder will not be held down by mere mortal ugly men! He shall overcome all obstacles and come out of it just as beautiful as before!" he declared and laughed, "Yeah, right!" Kratos smiled and shook his head in mock exasperation. "Sorry, but an actor still has to act at least once a day, right? If only to maintain appearances in Meltokio." Zelos remarked and then cleared his throat, looking back at Lloyd, "So, about what you said in that clearing... did you mean it?"

"..." Kratos remained silent, glancing sideways at the redhead that shifted nervously beside him.

"I guess not. You know, you have a bad habit of raising and breaking people's hopes of having a decent father." Zelos muttered irritably, "Is that something Mithos drilled into your head during those four millennia or does it come naturally to you?" He yelped as Kratos's arm suddenly looped around his neck and pulled him under.

"I told you I'd get you for that old man crack!" the seraphim declared and rubbed his knuckles into Zelos's hair, "I'm not old! I just have a very long life span!" Laughing, they struggled to get free of each other as Lloyd ran up and joined in, tugging on them both as they spun together towards the ship.

"Dad! Zelos! Come on! Let's go to Meltokio! We have so much stuff now, we're gonna have to find a place for the Exspheres soon!" he laughed as they fell to the ground and wrestled about. "You guys! Zelos! You're getting your new clothes all dirty! And after all the work I did to get them decent for you! Dad! You started this! Quit it!"

Wonderful, glorious

True family;

Shining together

So joyfully.

You always forgive,

But I can't forget.

I once betrayed you;

I must pay my debt...