Dedication: All the Sheelos-lovers out there; especially you, Sis! n-n
Inspiration: The song "Real Emotion" from FFX-2.
Setting: Post-game.
Warnings: Fluffy and Zelos-y Sheelos one-shot.
XOXOXOXO
X (Love is an Illusion) X
XOXOXOXO
"Love is an illusion; emotion is real." These words I heard from a certain hunny that's got brains as well as a voluptuous body. It was something I never understood; profound things like that have always made no sense to me. But it was even worse because Sheena had said it right to my face.
As I sat around in my room, thinking about the proverb, I began to wonder if maybe I was looking at it the wrong way. Perhaps to look ahead, I had to look back first . . .
XOXOXOXO
"Oh Sheena!" I called, wandering into Mizuho despite the guards' protests. They knew why I was there, anyway. "Hey, hunny! Where are ya?" Was she hiding from me? She wasn't in her house or anywhere else. A commotion raised behind the chief's house, so that's where I went.
There she was! Ninja-training with Orochi, I guessed. They attacked each other wildly, magic cards flying in all directions. Sheena jumped and spun and flew and flipped, whirling around in midair and pulling off a Pyre Seal to blow the guy away. She landed softly — so gracefully! I was stunned — and turned away to run and catch her breath. Orochi followed really closely, and when she stopped, he stopped, stepping on one of the tails of her bow.
I saw the rest coming. Sheena went to move, and the bow came undone, her blue robe-thing fell off, and presto! her chest was completely exposed. Of course, both of them saw me standing there right about then, scrambling to get Sheena's shirt back on.
"What are you doing here?" Orochi asked, folding his arms. "This is secret training!"
He was trying to sound so tough. "Is it? I can see why." I pointed at Sheena, who blushed.
"Zelos, you pervert!" she growled. "What are you doing here?"
"I was looking for you," I answered. These Mizuho people were always so secretive and guilty. Lousy traitors. But since Sheena was here, everything was fine.
Sighing in that bothered way, Sheena went about fixing her shirt and retying her bow. Orochi helped, looking like he'd just got jipped out of an afternoon with Sheena . . . which he had. Once she was ready, she set her hands on her hips and followed me back to Meltokio.
XOXOXOXO
"Close your eyes." Just before I opened my front door, I turned to Sheena, grinning a mile wide.
She cocked a brow at me, then closed her eyes one at a time. "I swear if you touch me . . . " she threatened, letting the threat part speak for itself. I laughed, leading her inside.
Up the stairs and into the room I practically never used, only when I had her sitting on the bed did I say, "Okay . . . open them!"
She looked around, jaw dropping at the setup. The entire room was covered in flowers of every kind, rose petals littered the floor, and the windows were replaced with stained glass. "This . . . is all for me?"
"That's not all!" I exclaimed, opening the walk-in closet to reveal a new wardrobe for her and boxes upon boxes of jewelry. "So is this."
I could tell she was thoroughly pleased. "What did you do all this for?"
"Eh . . . I was bored," I answered . . . boredly. But my smile stuck as I watched her wander the room, and look through the clothes. "It's all yours for whenever you stay with me." What I was waiting for was the, "Thanks, Zelos! I love you!"
But I only got half of that. Slightly irritated, I prompted, "I love you!" and expected her to answer the same. I'd gotten her to do it once before, even if it was sort of an accident. Long story.
She turned and stared at me, then heaved a heavy sigh. "Love is an illusion. Emotion is real."
In all honesty, I was half a second from laughing. "What?"
"You say you love me . . . " She folded her arms. "But how do I know you're not just being a flirt?"
"Because I went out and got you all this!" I motioned around the room.
"That doesn't prove anything, only that you've got cash to burn and generosity."
Needless to say, this was really hurting my feelings. Here I was expecting her to tackle me and smother me with love, but all she was doing was telling me how she didn't believe that I loved her! "But . . . "
"You think about it," she told me, walking away and leaving the house without another word.
XOXOXOXO
And that's how I ended up here, making my head hurt in trying to figure out what she meant by "Emotion is real." It was just so senseless. This philosophical mumbo-jumbo was now the cause of a ruined day. "I don't get it!" I yelled at Sebastian, who simply bowed his head. Having told him the story fifteen-hundred times, you would think he'd say something helpful! But all he did was sigh and look down . . . with this pitying expression on his face.
"Love is an illusion . . . emotion is real," I sighed to myself.
"Tell me, Master Zelos . . . what is the definition of emotion?"
"Eh?" I blinked at him. "Emotion is . . . feelings you have for someone in your . . . heart?"
My butler nodded his head. "What do these feelings in your heart say to you when you're around Miss Sheena?"
I was confused. "My emotions don't talk to me . . . !"
"Bear with me," Sebastian said. I wrinkled my nose in thought. How did I feel around Sheena? ...
Before long, I had words pouring out of my mouth endlessly, unable to think about them beforehand. "It's like there's a thousand butterflies in my stomach, and I feel so vulnerable . . . my legs get all wobbly and I feel like I'm going to collapse . . . my thoughts start racing out of control . . . "
"Good, good . . . " My butler was starting to sound more like a psychiatric councilor than a butler. "Now try telling all that to Sheena."
Man I tell ya, he trapped me good. I wasn't about to admit that I could never say something like that to her, yet I felt as though it was my duty as a Chosen to argue with him. Or something.
"Go on," Sebastian urged, grinning a . . . creepy, butler-like way.
XOXOXOXO
During this trip to Mizuho, I knew for a fact that Sheena would be at home, so I went there first.
"So, you're back." She gave me a discriminative look as she opened the door, but surprised me by asking, "Wanna come inside?"
"Sure!" So I hadn't lost my cool yet. That was good. "Look, ah . . . I was thinking about what you said earlier — you know, that whole "love is an illusion" thing?" Was I rambling? For once in my life, I felt kinda stupid.
Sheena nodded. "And . . . ?"
Okay. I had been practicing my recital all afternoon. "Sheena, when I'm around you, I feel . . . like I could never love anything more. And there's just something about you that —"
She couldn't have interrupted me any better. All she did was hold up her hand and my mouth shut itself. "Where did you learn to talk like that? Who gave you the hints?"
"You're quite a heartbreaker today," I commented, feeling the blood rushing to my cheeks. "When I said I loved you, I wasn't just flirting, you know."
"Then I'm glad." Then she goes and hugs me, acting like she's going to cry, or something. "Say it again?"
I was tempted to ask, Say what again, but I guess my heart figured it out before my head did: "I love you, Sheena!"
XOXOXOXO
It's real emotion, that's shaking up the world.
