A/N: This is my attempt at a Sheelos oneshot. It is my first TOS fic, but I hope it will be gude. At the bottom of this screen you will find that there is a thing called a SUBMIT REVIEW BUTTON….maybe when u are finished reading this, u might use it? I will love u forever if u do! PLZ!

Disclaimer: I do not own TOS. I wish I did, cuz it's a kick-ass game! But sadly, I don't, Namco does. I'm just a broke person trying to find ways to amuse herself.

For Always

Sheena Fujibayashi ran through the streets of Meltokio as fast as her feet could carry her, fighting back the tears that threatened to spill from her eyes. She was a proud Mizuho ninja, and she was not about to cry here. She ran frantically, not caring who she ran into in the process, wanting only to be away from this accursed city.

She was oblivious to the shouts of protests that others made as she accidentally bumped into them in her hectic attempt to leave. She was oblivious to the fact that since she was running through the streets like mad, she was attracting a large amount of attention to herself. She was oblivious to just about everything. Except the urge to run. And so she ran.

She reached the gates of the city, and her heart skipped a beat. Soon, she would be away from this horrible place. She ran, full tilt, towards the gates, her heart hammering in her chest and pulsing in her ears. Through the exit she went.

Sheena Fujibayashi was free. Free from this congested city. Free from all the hurt that she had experienced. Free from Him. That was, at least, until she heard a voice calling her name.

"Sheeeeeeeeeeeeeenaaaaaaa!" Sprinting down the stairs from the upper class area, and headed in her direction was none other than Zelos Wilder. The very person that she was trying to avoid in the first place. Sheena turned and immediately started heading in the opposite direction; she wanted nothing more to do with him.

Apparently Zelos saw this, and as a result, increased his speed in hopes of catching up with her. "Hey Sheena! Wait! Don't go! I have to talk to you!"

"GO AWAY, YOU STUPID CHOSEN!" Sheena screamed back at him at the top of her lungs. Why, why is he doing this! Why does he constantly want me to suffer? So intent was she on getting away from her pursuer, she neglected to note that a tree root was jutting out of the ground in a very awkward position. Before her mind could even register what had happened, she tripped over the root, flipped, and landed on her back.

This had definitely not improved matters any, and the waterworks had almost started flowing right then and there. Sheena got to her feet shakily…and came face to face with the Chosen of Tethe'alla.

"Falling for me, as always, eh, my voluptuous hunny?" said Zelos in that annoying singsong voice.

Sheena couldn't take it anymore. She was angry, hurt, and just…confused! And all at once too! And now the cause of all her problems was standing before her, mocking her once more. "Get away from me! Just go back to your mansion and parade yourself around like the pompous bastard you are!"

Zelos was a bit taken aback by this statement, but not enough to make any sort of difference in his behavior. He simply shook his head and flashed a charming smile. "Now now, what could I have possibly have done to merit such treatment as this?" his tone was jovial.

Sheena stared at him, feeling as if her heart had plummeted to the ground in one swift drop. Suddenly, the will to argue, to scream, to yell, to run…the will to do anything just vanished. She was tired, so very tired. In that moment, she felt hopelessness as she had never imagined. She turned from him, and began the long walk home.

"Sheena? Hey, Sheena!" said Zelos, a touch of concern in his voice. He walked after her, trying to catch her eye, but she merely continued onward as if she hadn't heard him. "…Sheena," he tried once more, this time grabbing her arm, stopping her and turning her towards him.

"Leave me alone, Zelos," Sheena replied, despair creeping into her voice, "I have nothing more to say to you."

"But Sheena—"

"NO!" Sheena jerked her arm from his grasp and disappeared with a cloud of smoke.

She reappeared on the outskirts of Mizuho, her home village. She was happy and sad at the same time; glad to be away from Zelos Wilder, yet sad because of the torrent of constant emotions surging through her soul.

Sheena reached her house, and went inside, relieved to finally be someplace where she could be alone. She thought she might eat something to calm her nerves, but then decided against it, since she didn't think her stomach could process the food right now even if she was starving to death. She didn't think her mind was focused enough right now to cook anything either. Having her house burn down around her ears due to lack of attention to cooking didn't sound like an appealing end to a very tiresome day. So instead, she sat down and tried to relax. However, one person kept coming to mind.

Zelos Wilder, the Chosen of Tethe'alla. Sheena snorted derisively. He was going to be the death of her, in one form or another. She tried, time and again, to force him from her mind, drown him from her memory, but her attempts met with failure. No matter what she decided to think about, Zelos always found his way into her thoughts once more. There was also something else that she was failing miserably at – staying angry at him.

No matter how hard she tried, Sheena couldn't muster the energy involved to stay angry. It wasn't that she wasn't angry; she just felt more sad, depressed, and downright wretched than anything else. She felt the tears welling up in her eyes again, and she fought valiantly to stop them. Zelos was a self absorbed, lying, arrogant bastard. There was no way in hell she was going to waste her tears on him.

Yet here she was, grief-stricken and upset. And all because of him. It felt like her very soul was dying, like it was being ripped out of her body by some unknown, unseen force. Part of her wished the pain would stop, that all this hurt inside of her would just go away so that she could live a normal life. Another part of her though, wanted the pain, almost longed for it. The pain was becoming such a constant feeling that she was nearly used to it.

Sheena pulled her knees up against her chest and wrapped her arms around them, lost in the silence, and refusing to let a single tear fall from her eyes. Why had she been so sure of herself? Had she been wrong in thinking that she, Sheena, would actually be able to be happy for once?

It certainly seemed like it now. She had let herself trust Zelos – something not many sane people would do – and as a result, he had ripped out her heart, stomped on it a few times and then shoved it back into her body, a bleeding, shriveled mass. He also left her soul squirming in agony, writhing in anguish until it became all she could do to stop herself from sinking into oblivion.

Why? Why did I trust him? Why did I let this happen? Sheena Fujibayashi asked herself in the quietness of her home, replaying the events over and over again in her head. Only silence answered.

:Flashback:

Sheena sat near the river, with her back up against one of the trees. She had deliberately distanced herself from the others so that she could have some time to think. It was easy enough to do; Lloyd and the others were so excited about being in Heimdall, the only truly elven village, that they simply went about their business excitedly, never even noticing that she had gone.

She sat now, watching the river lapping gently over the rocks. In her hand, she clutched a small bell. She sighed, feeling the loss of her summon spirit, Corrine, still as deeply as the day she had died. Corrine had been her only friend for so long…

"It never goes away, does it?" someone asked, startling Sheena from her thoughts. She looked up to see Zelos, standing slightly to her right, watching her.

"What doesn't?" she asked defensively.

"That empty feeling you have when you lose someone," he stated plainly. Sheena's eyes widened. "Oh don't even act like you're surprised that anyone knows what you're feeling," he added casually, "it wasn't that hard to miss."

"Really? I didn't know that," said Sheena quietly, wondering how many others could see right through her.

"Well consider yourself informed," Zelos replied, plopping down on the grass beside her. Then his expression softened, "You know…you don't always have to keep all this inside, Sheena. You have friends now! You can always go to any of us, like Lloyd or Colette, or...uh...me."

A bit taken aback at the sudden seriousness of the normally overly-energetic chosen, Sheena merely sat there and stared at him. Then she shrugged and turned away, staring into the river once more. She pulled her knees up to her chest and hugged them tightly, something she did when she was nervous or insecure.

Zelos had always had that effect on her, and she hated it. She never knew what to think when she was around him. Sometimes, he could be so obnoxious, aggravating, and downright heartless…but then there were times when he did things like this….

Sheena's brain ceased to function, mid-thought, as she felt a pair of strong arms encircle her. Her body tensed and froze, not knowing how to respond to this new…predicament.

"I'm sorry," Zelos whispered into her ear, "but believe it or not, I understand what you're feeling." He rested his head on her shoulder.

Sheena shifted herself in his arms so that she was facing him. Whatever retaliation she was going to make was lost upon looking into his eyes. She saw truth there, genuine caring. His gaze never left hers. Nobody had ever looked at her like that before.

She felt the hotness rising in her cheeks and squirmed to get away, but Zelos tightened his hold on her to prevent her from doing so. "L-Let go," she stammered, lowering her eyes to avoid meeting his.

"No," he stated simply, calmly, as if it were the most rational thing in the world, "You know what Sheena?"

"What?" Sheena replied warily. Zelos forced her to look up at him.

"You worry too much," and with that, he kissed her.

Sheena was stunned beyond belief. She gasped as his lips met hers, her eyes widened in shock. Her stomach lurched with fear and…something else. She tried in vain to pull away from him, but he held her firmly, almost possessively.

There were so many emotions racing through her at that moment that Sheena thought that she might explode. She was scared of what she felt for Zelos, scared of what could happen if she let herself indulge in such emotions. She knew that what she wanted would never ever happen. Yet, here he was, kissing her…

She looked at the face so near her own. His eyes were closed and he looked so content, as if everything was fine with the world as long as he was kissing her. Despite her best efforts, Sheena felt herself relaxing in Zelos' arms. She closed her eyes and let her emotions overtake her. Zelos seemed to sense this and deepened the kiss, tightening his arms around her. Sheena sighed happily and kissed back, entwining her fingers into Zelos' long red hair. She forgot everything around her. She only knew that right now she was not completely alone in the world. And the only other person in her world right now was Zelos Wilder.

Both of them could have stayed there under that tree with their lips locked together for quite some time; however, the human body requires air in order to sustain itself, so they both had to stop after a few minutes and practice proper inhalation and exhalation etiquette.

Zelos sidled closer to Sheena and wrapped his arms around her reassuringly. They both sat there for a moment in silence, each reflecting on what had just happened. Sheena could not have been happier. True, she had had countless arguments with herself about getting involved with Zelos. But when he had kissed her it had felt so…right.

"Mmm…we should get back to the inn," Zelos said quietly, "Everyone will be looking for us." Sheena's previously shut down brain jolted to a start at this statement. Her stomach seemed to be turning itself over and over inside her. The others. Of course! How could she have forgotten the rest of the little group that was off exploring Heimdall? All of a sudden she wasn't feeling so great anymore. What would Zelos tell them? What would they say?

"Hey," Zelos said gently, squeezing Sheena's hand to get her attention, "Don't worry about it." Sheena looked at him questioningly.

"Worry about what?" she replied.

"Anything. What did I tell you before? You can count on others you know!" He gave her a quick hug. "Don't worry. I won't tell the others anything you don't want me to tell them."

Sheena stared at him dumbfounded. Maybe she had misjudged Zelos badly. Maybe he really was a nice, genuinely caring person. A person that would love her, like she so desperately wanted him to.

Zelos flashed her a smile and stood up, offering his hand to assist her. She smiled in return and took it. They walked back to the inn hand in hand.

:End Flashback:

That had been one week ago. This whole week, Sheena had been on top of the world. She had someone she could trust, someone she could rely on. Zelos had been being so nice to her, so unlike the usually obnoxious person he normally was.

To think that it had all been a lie.

She remembered how happy she had been today. The whole group had come back to Meltokio to speak with the king. Everyone was in high spirits, laughing and talking and having a wonderful time. Sheena had never liked Meltokio much in the past, but this time, she was so happy, and it made no difference where she was, as long as she could feel this way.

Everyone had split up, some went to restock on items, and others went to see the king. Sheena had wandered about waiting for everyone to finish and meet up. She had headed towards Zelos' house, as they had all agreed to meet there when finished. She skipped up the stairs to the mansion, threw open the doors…and then her world had plummeted.

Sheena could still remember the look of surprise on Zelos Wilder's face as he saw her enter the room. He was sitting on the couch in his living room, with some girl. Some girl she had never seen before. Sheena couldn't remember if she had said anything or not. She could only remember the sight of Zelos making out with this complete stranger on the couch, and hearing the other girls clear voice ring out "What are you staring at?" when she noticed Sheena standing there.

And then she had run. She ignored Zelos pleas to wait, to listen to what he had to say. She thought of nothing but escape. Escape from all the pain that was throbbing inside her.

And now she was here…in the solace of her home. Alone. A single tear slid down Sheena Fujibayashi's face. She knew then that she could no longer stem the flow of tears from her eyes than she could pluck the stars from the sky. Exhausted and filled with pain, she cried herself to sleep.

She awoke to the sound of someone knocking softly at her door. She sat up, groggily, wondering who would be coming to her house at this hour. Whoever it was could just turn around and go right back home, in Sheena's opinion. She was in no mood to receive visitors of any sort.

However, the knocking continued over the next few minutes. Sheena had to give the persistent bastard credit, whoever it was. She got up and walked to the door, figuring it was probably the Vice Chief, coming over to give her some new information, or ask yet another favor of her. Sheena sighed and opened the door.

It was Zelos. She immediately tried to close the door again, but he quickly placed his body between the doorframe and the door so that it couldn't close. "Oof! Sheena, come on, I really have to talk to you!"

"Get out! Get out of my house!" Sheena yelled, probably rousing half of the village in the process.

"Sheena! I'm sorry! Will you let me explain?" Zelos pleaded once more, fully entering the house and closing the door behind him.

"Explain? Explain what, Zelos? Explain how you're a lying arrogant bastard who's only interested in himself? Sure go right ahead then! Honestly, do I look like one of your playthings? Like some toy that you can just throw away? Is that what you take me for! Is that what you see when you look in my eyes!" She was on the verge of tears again, but there was no way in hell that she was going to cry in front of him. He was already looking at her with something akin to pity because of her already tear streaked cheeks.

"No, of course that's not what I see," Zelos began carefully, "I understand that you are mad at me, but it's not what it looked like, Sheena, honest!"

"Oh, so you're saying that that girl was just helping you to clean out the inside of your mouth with her tongue then? Oh I see. That makes perfect sense then!" Sheena laughed; the laugh was somewhat hysterical.

"No, I'm saying that I was talking to her, trying to get some information out of her," Zelos said pointedly, "We do need information you know. It's vital that we gain as much knowledge as we can, anything may help us against Cruxis."

"So what, you sold your body to her for information? That's rich."

"No, she was the one who came on to me!" Zelos said frantically, "I swear, Sheena, I brought her to my place so that we could talk without being overheard by the pope, and then she just threw herself at me and started kissing me!" There was a pained expression on his face, and pain in his eyes too. Sheena had never seen pain in those blue crystalline orbs before. He had always masked everything so well…

Sheena wanted desperately to believe him. She wanted to run into his strong arms, and break down and cry her heart and soul out to him. But if she did that, there was a chance that she would be hurt again, and she was so very tired of being hurt. She didn't know what to think or believe.

"Get out," She said wearily.

"What?" a stunned Zelos replied.

"Get out," Sheena repeated.

"But Sheena—"

"Please!" Sheena said, almost hysterically, "Please just leave me alone!" All of Sheena's feelings were pulsing and surging through her in agonizing waves, trying to find some sort of solace, some sort of peace. She hoped that he would leave, leave and never come back. She couldn't take this constant sorrow that was wrapping itself around her heart and bleeding it dry.

"No," Zelos stated determinedly, "I can't do that. I can't just leave you here. I won't."

Sheena tried to laugh, but it caught in her throat and came out as a forlorn sob. "Zelos, please. Stop trying to be so noble! I…Don't want you to see me like this," tears slid freely down her cheeks, "I'm not brave or noble, like most people believe. I'm just me! And I can't deal with this!" She said sobbing openly now, "I'm not strong enough to handle this, and I can't take all this pain anymore!" Sheena dropped to the floor, sobs wracking her small frame.

Zelos came forward quickly, intending to attempt to comfort her in one way or another. His progress however, was quickly stopped.

"Stay back!" Sheena cautioned. She was still sobbing uncontrollably, but she held out her arm with her Card of Lightning ready to strike. "Please, just leave!"

Zelos Wilder decided in that moment that he no longer cared if that Card of Lightning and five hundred others just like it struck him a mortal wound. He kneeled next to Sheena and put a hand on her trembling arm that held the card. "It's ok, Sheena," he whispered gently. He proceeded to wrap his arms around her, to try to comfort her in some small way.

Sheena's mind was racing. She wanted to shove Zelos away from her with all the strength she had in her, yet at his touch she melted. Breaking down completely, her tense body became limp in his arms. He held her, saying nothing while she proceeded to cry her eyes out, like a little child that has lost its mother. The Card of Lightning lay forgotten on the floor.

After she'd had a good cry, Sheena felt a little better. Her tears slowly ceased, her ragged breathing the only sound in the quiet room. They both sat there like that for several minutes, neither saying anything. Each one afraid of hurting the other or being hurt themselves. Finally, Zelos broke the silence.

"I'm sorry. I'm really sorry that I hurt you, Sheena," Zelos said, true apology in his voice, "The last thing I want to do is make you cry. You have to believe me."

"I…don't know what to believe anymore," Sheena replied softly, her voice hoarse from crying, "All I know is that I can't do this anymore." At that last sentence, Zelos flinched, and his body went rigid.

"Listen to me," he said gently, tilting her chin upwards so that he could look in her eyes, "I know that I hurt you. And you have to believe me when I say that seeing you like this is killing me inside," he paused, as if considering his next words, "You have every right to be angry. And if you truly want nothing to do with me, then I won't trouble you anymore. But do you honestly want to throw all this away?"

"Zelos—"

"I know that we don't have a perfect relationship, or any relationship really, but still…there is a lot of potential! At least, that's what I feel…"

Sheena sighed. She did agree with what he was saying, because it was what had been in her heart all along. But if she let this continue, there was a chance that she could be hurt again…

"Sheena, I'm sorry. I never meant to hurt you. Not ever!" Zelos said soothingly, "I love you!" Sheena jumped at this revelation. "I always have, I guess. And I always will, for that matter. For always. No matter what…Even if you shun me and never speak to me again," he concluded, somewhat grimly.

Sheena felt a flutter of hope somewhere deep inside her. She saw a light at the end of the long dark tunnel that she had spent so much of her life in. In that moment, she made her decision.

"We can try once more to make it work. This time though, do you think maybe you could leave out the 'bring home mysterious girl and make it look like you're making out' phase of your master plan?" Sheena said, attempting a laugh.

"I think I can do that," Zelos said grinning, "But only because you are my most favorite hunny."

"Is that so?" she countered.

"Oh yes, of course it is. And for the record, I guess I did lead her on a little bit."

"You think?"

"Thanks for the vote of confidence there," he said wryly, "but at least I wasn't the one who started the whole make-out session! You have to give me brownie points for that one!"

Sheena sighed, and rolled her eyes, "Whatever."

Zelos kissed her gently, holding her tightly to him, "Thank you," he whispered into her ear, "You won't be sorry. I promise."

Sheena nodded, and then smiled.

"Well, I would think that such upstanding citizens such as us should be in bed at this hour of the morning, wouldn't you say?" Zelos asked jokingly.

"Probably so," Sheena agreed, "Then again, most of the citizens of Mizuho woke up quite early this morning. Some crazy lady was screaming at this guy for some reason."

"Hmm…I wonder why? They have no respect for the peace!" they both collapsed into fits of laughter, feeling much happier now that everything had been resolved.

Sheena felt like a burden had been lifted from her shoulders. So she had overreacted. She believed what Zelos had said. True what he had done had been wrong, but Sheena had yet to meet a perfect person, be it human, elf, half-elf, or angel, in either of the worlds.

They lay down together, hoping to glean at least a few hours of sleep before they had to be on their way again, on their never ending journey to save the worlds. Sheena rested her head on Zelos' chest, content at last. Finally, something was going right for her. Finally, she would have peace.

For always, Sheena thought blissfully, before she faded into sleep.

Fin

MUAHAHAHAHA I FINISHED IT! I finally finished this one at 6AM:is very proud of self: so…please take pity on the crazy tired person and SEND ME A REVIEW PLEAAAAAAASSSEE! TY!