Heh... I was just playing Tales of Symphonia (Last week...), and it was the dramatic moment where Lloyd discovers who his father is... and my mother starts laughing. I was like, "Mom! This is a serious moment!!" and she says, "But it's funny!" ...Poor, poor Lloyd. Receives no pity from my mom... or me, really. But still. Anyway... now that that's recounted, I shall go on to the story. (And answer reviews in the end author note)

Disclaimer: I clearly don't own anything from Tales of Symphonia.


The Quest for True Love

{Chapter II: Where do we Start?}

Sheena stood just outside the entrance of Altamira awaiting Zelos' return. It had not been a willing decision to visit the tourism capital in the first place... She had been chosen among the Mizuho residents to go and purchase some mythril accessories for the village's fighters. "I didn't even get to go to the beach... the one thing I enjoy about this city..." Sheena thought. On top of having to go to Altamira at all, Sheena had now gone and gotten herself into another unpleasant situation: travelling across Tethe'alla with Zelos. "It seemed like a good idea at the time," she murmured to herself, "But now I'm stuck with Zelos while he's trying to go girl-hunting... and he does enough of that as it is." Sheena looked towards the city and saw Zelos flirting with one of the tour guides dressed as a bunny. "I'm going to regret this," Sheena said with a sigh.

Completely unaware of Sheena watching him, the Chosen was enjoying himself while conversing with Altamira's residents, tourists, and workers. "Some meaningless enjoyment before getting serious shouldn't hurt," he thought while looking the tour guide up and down.

"So what are you doing here, Chosen?"

Zelos' gaze returned to the woman's face, "Well, is it so unusual for me to come and visit my favourite hunny in Altamira?"

A light shade of red covered the bunny girl's cheeks, "Oh, Chosen... I'd love to stay and chat with you and all... but I should really be focussing on my job..." she muttered with a sigh, feeling reluctant to reject the handsome Chosen's advances.

"How about I introduce you to a different type of 'job'?" said Zelos as a devious smile crossed his face.

Sheena – who had been eavesdropping on the entire conversation – decided to cut in at this point, "Okay, that is quite enough, Zelos!" she shouted while marching over to the spot where Zelos and the tour guide were talking. Sheena then looked in the direction of the bunny girl, "Sorry, but you'll have to say your goodbyes to the Chosen now. He has places to go... don't you, Zelos?"

"Yeah, yeah..." Zelos mumbled. He then flashed a smile towards the bunny girl, who appeared rather depressed that she would have to part with Zelos. "Do not worry, my beloved hunny. Fate shall bring us back together when the time is right!" The girl's face perked up as she nodded her head enthusiastically.

"Let's go now," Sheena said as she rolled her eyes. Zelos followed the ninja out of the Altamira resort where they would discuss their plans for finding the Chosen an exclusive lover. "So, Zelos... where do you think you'd find someone who you would be willing to spend your entire life with?"

Zelos closed his eyes and contemplated, "Hmm... I've always found the women in Mizuho rather–"

"No," Sheena objected sternly without feeling the need of allowing Zelos to complete his suggestion, "I am not taking you to our hidden village, and I am not letting you have 'fun' with any of the Mizuho residents!"

"Okay, okay!" Zelos waved his hands defensively, "Don't freak out now, my violent banshee. We'll just go somewhere else... All right, I've got it! It's so obvious! I mean... Meltokio has never let me down in the love department!"

Sheena shook her head in protest, "Zelos, I am well aware that if we go to Meltokio, we'll run into your swarm of groupies... and they don't like me... and I don't like them. It wouldn't end well. Plus, I assure you that none of those rich snobs are destined to be your true love."

"They are not 'groupies'," Zelos corrected, "They are 'hunnies'! And you shouldn't feel embarrassed about coming out and admitting that you're jealous of my beloved followers whom I adore so much." Sheena merely glared at the Chosen in disapproval of his assumptions. "Very well... continue living in denial! So... Mizuho and Meltokio are out, then? Hmm..." Zelos became entranced in thought once more, "...Of course!!" he suddenly exclaimed, "How could I have not thought of it sooner? Flanoir! It's perfect!"

His companion raised an eyebrow in bafflement, "How can a place where everyone has to be completely bundled up in jackets and scarves be a good place to find a romantic interest?" Even Sheena had to admit that there had to be some physical attraction in a relationship... and Flanoir was not the place to find it.

"Well, you see... it would go something like this..."

- --{---[--]---}-- -

((A/N: Italics are what Zelos is currently speaking to Sheena, and non-italics is what Zelos is pretty much imagining in his mind.))

After arriving in the snowbound town of Flanoir, I would almost immediately walk into the conveniently located inn. The receptionist would of course be shocked to see the beautiful Chosen in such a town... and would willingly offer me one of their vacant rooms. I would accept, and then walk up the stairs towards my room. As I reach for the doorknob of my room, I would overhear a woman's voice complaining about the cold...

"Oh, my. It is so very cold in this room that I am staying in tonight... alone... without a boyfriend... or husband... or any other person at all. Woe is me!"

And so – being the caring person I am – I would wander towards the source of the voice to console the lonely girl.

Zelos glances in the direction of the source of the voice, and sees that it is coming from the room next to his. He silently walks to the door and carefully opens it just enough so that he can see inside. When Zelos peers into the room, he sees an attractive woman sitting on the windowsill, staring out at the stunning Flanoir scenery. Despite the chilliness that she had been whining about, the woman has the window open, so that the wind drifts into the room and lets the breeze flow through her long hair. An awe-struck Zelos carefully opens the door and steps into the room. The woman turns her head towards the Chosen, "Who are you?" she questions.

Zelos walks over to her, "Well, my pinnacle of beauty... I am the Chosen of this land... and I have come to rid you of this harsh weather."

Naturally, she will be amazed that the one and only Chosen has come to help her escape the cold weather of Flanoir... but she will also be unable to deny my masculine sexiness, and so the way to heat up the cool inn will be inevitable.

"The Chosen??" the woman says in disbelief, "I cannot believe that the one and only Chosen of Tethe'alla has come here... to help me warm up, nonetheless! I can also not believe... how incredibly handsome you are..."

It would just be like magic! No explanations... no words... Everything would simply come together.

Zelos holds his hand out to help the woman up. Without hesitation, she takes his hand in hers, and Zelos pulls her up into his arms. The woman becomes lost in Zelos' warm embrace as he presses his lips against hers. Zelos slowly moves towards the bed, and pulls the covers back once he could reach them. They fall onto the softness of the bed and continue their passionate display of affection late into the night...

-)--{---[---]---}--(-

"...And that's just how it would happen."

Sheena, who had listened to this entire daydream while being speechless, finally found the perfect words to say, "What kind of true love is that?!" she shouted, "I mean... that is so insanely unbelievable! It's like some cheesy romance novel! It... it makes no sense! Things don't come together like that! Jeez... have you ever even had sex?!"

Zelos appeared rather taken aback, "Why... of course I have! I mean, come on! How could someone like me still be a virgin? Things just happen smoothly for me, y'know?" his voice seemed to be losing certainty as he attempted to defend his manliness, "I've been with so many women, it just happens like that now! It's all so natural for me! You just... you wouldn't know the feeling..."

Sheena looked directly into Zelos' eyes, and a slight smile crossed her face, "I can't believe it... A player as proud and perverted as you is actually a virgin! That's so... hilarious!" she exclaimed, trying desperately to contain her laughter.

"Just because you say it, doesn't necessarily mean that it's true, Sheena!" Zelos continued to deny.

"It isn't like you to refer to me by my name so often, Zelos... you seem... uncomfortable," the Mizuho native teased.

Zelos exhaled loudly, "You can believe what you want, but I'm going to prove you wrong! Let's go to Flanoir and make my fantasy come true!!"


I finally beat Tales of Symphonia! Go me! But now I'm sad... because I have to go aaaall the way to Tethe'alla to see Zelos again... Oh well! It's only a matter of time. Anyway... please review and tell me what you thought about this chapter! I'm not sure what possessed me to torture Zelos so much... but I'm enjoying myself. XD Here are my responses to reviews:

To Obsidian Ideals – Thank you very much for telling me how to improve on my story... I've done my best to work on all of the things you pointed out, but I still need work on Sheena's character... her personality is kind of tough for me to portray properly. But I'm going to keep trying! (And as for the awkward paragraph in the first chapter... Well, I realized how weird it was even before I posted the story, and I'm still contemplating how to word it better)

To Cute But Psycho – I am glad to see that you're enjoying the plot line! : ) Zelos is a great character to mess around with. XD

To Ryukia – Perhaps it is going where you think it is going... and perhaps it is not... I cannot say because... Well, I haven't a clue where you think it's going! [sweatdrop]

To potter29vo – Thanks for pointing out what I need to work on! I'll do my best to strengthen my weak points. : )

To ????(And so on...) – Yeah, he really is a perverse snob... and that is precisely why I think that Zelos rocks! [laughs maniacally]

To Justin T. Melanson – I'm still contemplating whether or not I want to bring the Sylvarant gang into this fic... It would bring up a lot of interesting situations, but I also don't want to screw around with the games plot... hmm... [ponders]

To red – I have to admit that I though Zelos was a girl at first, too... [nervous smile] But now I see that he is anything but a girl! Sort of, kind of, maybe...

To Kratos-Yuan – Yaoi would be interesting to bring up, but perhaps for another fic sometime... I'm still not into writing male/male... I'll read it sometimes, though.

In regards to the pairing... It's a secret! Therefore I will not comment on your suspicions! And as I mentioned in one of the review responses, I am questioning whether or not to bring in the Sylvarant gang... what do you guys think? On another topic, I was wondering if perhaps someone who went to the King's party in T.O.S. and knows what Sheena's party outfit looks like could please describe it to me! I didn't get to see Sheena at the party, and I may want to make use of Meltokio later on in the story. Anyway... thank you to all for reading! I'll update when I can!