A/N: Really wish to apologise! It's been so long since I updated it's ridiculous, and I feel like a scumbag! I promise to get around to finishing this fic shortly!
Anyway, this version is going to be completed before I start working on completing the uncensored version - which will, by the way, have a different ending entirely from the one here. As for my other ToS fics... Silent Suffering and I Can't Back Away... well, those might be a bit longer. Silent Suffering has the potential to go on at least for another 5 or 6 chapters - at absolute minimum estimates. I Can't Back Away will probably have another two chapters... and then I have to finish my threesome of Genis/Mithos stories (Dying Soul, Returning Hearts, and Blissful Mind)... not to mention my uncensored works on AFF for Tales of Symphonia and Fire Emblem and Growlanser II...
By the way, I know I never sent a lot of people the link to the uncensored version. Some of you found it by yourselves, but either way, go to http/adultfan. (WARNING: This site is not for minors under 17) and go look me up (Genis Irving) - on my profile you'll find it
And by the by the way, I've done Zelos' history in here. Seeing as how I actually have never seen Zelos' conversation at Flanoir, I can't well remember what happens, but I tried my best. So, ah, SPOLIERS for this chapter.

--5: Lloyd's Decision--

Everybody was having a tough time, with Zelos having been injured by Sheena. She ended up under heavy fire from everybody else for acting so rashly, but when Zelos forgave her, everybody calmed down somewhat. Zelos had said that he had more than likely deserved it, after all - and apologised even more profusely to Lloyd for having accidentally flirted with Sheena once or twice, purely by accident. And surprisingly to everybody, Lloyd had forgiven him.

Zelos ended up spending a couple of days in his room in Meltokio, being tended to by Sebastian, who had dealt with things like this involving the Chosen so often that it was really becoming quite routine and was quite good at treating injuries like this. He had to, since Raine steadfastly refused, perhaps because of all the pain he had caused the others.

"If he suffers a bit for all the pain he's caused Sheena, Colette, and my little brother, well, he deserves it," Raine said, calmly, when Lloyd had asked.

Although Lloyd had, at first, freaked out about Sheena's attack, the injuries that Zelos had suffered weren't very severe at all. However, a twisted ankle and badly rotated arm just needed to be rested up a couple days - a couple days that Lloyd mostly ended up spending by Zelos' side, chatting about Zelos' past.

Lloyd hadn't spent much time with Zelos leading up to this point, and he learned a lot about the chosen he hadn't known. He learned about Zelos' relationship with his sister Seles - the spiteful girl that Zelos really did care for. Zelos, apparently, often dreamed that he could give up his chosen title to Seles, because he knew that that would make her very happy.

Unfortunately, he also learned about Zelos' mother. The story that Zelos recounted to Lloyd about her would forever change the bond they shared.

"You know I grew up in Flanoir?" Zelos spoke of the frozen city to the Northwest, practically on the exact other side of the world from Meltokio. "It's a beautiful city. But... I don't like to go there anymore. I know my mother's grave is there and everything, but..."

"But what?"

"Well," Zelos shook his head, trying to clear the memories - and just gave up and let them out. "I remember how every day I used to play in the snow when I was a little boy, with my sister. Mother would watch over us carefully, making sure we didn't hurt ourselves, and we never did..."

"What happened?" Lloyd inquired, curious.

"...One day... one day, Lloyd, I was there, playing with my sister. We were trying to build snowmen, as fast as we could. A snowman building speed contest. Mother was watching from behind, I remember, I could sense her pleased smile. She knew me and Seles didn't really get along overly well, because of the fact that I was Chosen and Seles wasn't, but at times like this me and Seles didn't care. But there we were, playing in the snow..."

"I'm reaching behind me to grab at the pile behind me, which is being constantly restocked by the soft crystals falling from above. I'm so engrossed in trying to beat Seles that I don't even really notice that she's already way ahead of me. With a cry of joy, I turn my head to see her, my hand still working on the snow, and she smiles, telling me she's won. And then she falls silent. I wonder why, and I slowly turn back to my snowman, wondering if something was wrong with it, as my hand kept packing more and more snow on.

"The snow that I was packing on, now, was the same red colour as fresh blood. I... I remember being confused for a few moments, and then I was being pulled away by somebody, into the life I knew here... I remember seeing Seles getting dragged away too... and... and I remember seeing my mother's body... she had been killed, right behind me..."

At this point, Zelos started to cry a bit, and it was unusual for Lloyd to see the chosen crying, so he drew the bishonen into his arms and held onto him for a while, until Zelos recovered.

Seeing that side of Zelos, that memory, it gave Lloyd a brand new look at the pervert who was before him, gave him a better look into his mind. It was confusing, trying to link up that sad image of the young Zelos with the one he knew today, but slowly Lloyd was able to understand how it made the Zelos he knew today.

The Zelos he was certain he was in love with.

Once Zelos had finally calmed down, he had been really tired, and before he drifted off in Lloyd's arms, he smiled faintly. "You know... I've never told anybody that story. Not even Sebastian..."

"Why me, then?"

"Because I really love you, Lloyd... and I can trust you," Zelos told him, smiling wearily.

"...Are you... serious?" Lloyd blinked, a bit amazed.

"Yes, Lloyd, I'm being serious," Zelos smiled. "Normally, anybody that I fell for... would have been replaced by now. But you, you're different. You're... you're somebody special to me. I don't think I'd trade you to have back everybody I've been with up to this point, and that's not something I've ever said before... I really, really love you, Lloyd..." Zelos mused, slowly falling asleep.

Lloyd smiled down at him. "I really love you too, Zelos," were the last words Zelos heard before he fell asleep.

When Lloyd returned to the inn, while Zelos slept peacefully, his friends were all awaiting him.

"He should be getting much better by now, shouldn't he?" Raine asked, slightly a little worried and a little guilty now for having left Zelos like that - but not enough to speed up the process herself yet.

"He's better," Lloyd nodded, his tone more serious. "...He just needs to rest, I think."

"That's good to hear," Raine smiled, slightly, though beside her Genis couldn't quite look Lloyd in the eye.

Lloyd nodded, and an odd silence fell over the group.

"This isn't like you, Lloyd," Regal, to everybody's surprise, broke the silence.

"Huh?"

"These last couple of days, when you've had the chance to come home, you've been talking about Zelos a lot," Regal mentioned. "And now, suddenly, you're subdued."

"Well, umm... I'm just tired..." Lloyd lied.

"You do not sound tired," Presea stated, in her mostly-emotionless tone, "Please, do not lie to us."

"...He really trusts me," Lloyd said, looking down at the ground, eyes closed.

"...What?" Sheena blinked.

"Something he told me, back there... he told me... secrets, things he hadn't told anybody," Lloyd said, quietly, his eyes still shut.

"And that makes you think he trusts you?" Sheena asked.

"It's because... it's because he really loves me," Lloyd looked at her.

"...And I suppose he told you some sappy lie about how you're the only thing he cares about, and..."

"And there are some things you can't lie about," Lloyd answered, quietly. "I know, you don't want to believe it... but... if you had heard his words, you would have believed it too," he gazed softly at Sheena, shaking his head.

"..." Sheena fell silent. It was true, she hadn't heard the words - but obviously, they meant a lot to Lloyd. Still, she couldn't just sit back and watch, and...

"Sheena, maybe you should try to be nicer to Zelos," Colette spoke, surprising Sheena. "I know he's a bit of a... well, a bit of a jerk sometimes, but you and I both know he's got a really good heart in there somewhere. It was probably only a matter of time until he really found somebody special, and that that person happened to be Lloyd, well, that's just the way destiny works," she smiled.

"Colette..." Lloyd blinked, surprised she was so supportive.

"I don't... I don't want to say that I'm perfectly happy about this, Lloyd, because I know that would be a lie," Colette admitted, "And you don't like lies. But I've stopped being mad about it. I'm happy for you, Lloyd, and for Zelos. And maybe someday I'll find somebody special like you were to me, once."

"...Thanks, Colette," Lloyd smiled at her. "I'm glad to hear that you're okay with it. I... I want to stay with Zelos, but I always felt so guilty knowing you guys were all against it and hated me for it..."

"Well," Sheena spoke up, "If Colette's willing to forgive you, I probably should too. I mean, all my experiences with Zelos in the past were bad, but... Colette's right. He's a good guy, somewhere in there."

Lloyd smiled at Sheena. "Thanks, Sheena," he smiled. That was two-thirds of the weight lifted off of his shoulders. But there was still the heaviest there, and he slowly turned to face Genis, and everybody fell silent. Raine had backed away from the boy a bit, leaving him alone. He was still looking at the ground, not really moving, silent except for a sniffle or two.

"As long as... as you're happy, Lloyd," Genis finally spoke up, finding his voice again after a couple of days of him barely speaking. He couldn't quite look up at Lloyd, but was finally trying.

"G-Genis..." Lloyd slowly walked over to his friend, and kneeled down, so he was at eye level with the other as the youth finally managed to look at the object of his affection.

"As long as you're happy, Lloyd, that's okay," Genis smiled. "I love you. And... since I really, truly love you, I just want you to be happy... even if that means that it's not with me. I mean...," he sniffed a bit, and couldn't quite find the words for what he really meant.

"Genis..." Lloyd pulled the other boy into a hug, and Genis managed another faint smile. "Thanks. That means a lot to me. And you know, we'll always be the best of friends, right?"

"Of course, Lloyd..." Genis smiled, as he hugged Lloyd back. "Besides, somebody needs to make sure you don't do something stupid."

Lloyd laughed a little. "You dolt," he joked a bit.

"Idiot."

"Squirt."

Though normally the name calling wouldn't have been taken as such, something about doing it was getting a massive weight off of their chests, and by the time Genis had managed to run Lloyd out of 'friendly' insults, the two were practically laughing, just like old times.

And then the door swung open, and Zelos - looking a bit tired, mind you - walked in, rubbing his eyes. "Sorry I slept so late..." he giggled. "Where have you been, Lloydie? And... what did I miss?"

Lloyd just smiled, walked over, and kissed Zelos deeply, wrapping his arms around his love. And much to the Chosen's shock, this was met by applause from everybody.

A/n: That's it, the end of the story! Wow, I can't believe how easy that actually was for me to write once I got going - not to mention that it only ended up taking one chapter to end this story! Anyway, the NC-17 ending chapter (Or perhaps chapters, there's more stuff to take care of... things are more complex!) should be put up sometime soon. And like I said earlier, it will have a different ending from the one you've seen here. That one more extends on the Genis/Zelos/Lloyd love triangle that's going on. But of course you minors shouldn't read it (though I can't honestly stop you, if that's what you really want to do, but I can't take responsibility because you've been warned).
Anyway, thank you to my 80-or-so reviewers! I'd love to take time to thank you all personally, but honestly, the list would probably double this chapter in length, and then people would feel cheated that half the length of the final chapter is 'reviewer responses'. This story takes the cake for my most reviewed ever, though... at least, in the four short chapters it's been up, anyway (I technically co-author 'Fire Emblem: The Parody' which is at over 25 chapters and way past 100 reviews, but we didn't have a fraction of those reviews after only 4 chapters).
Err... thank you again! And... goodnight!

Lloyd and Zelos: (wave goodbye as they share a final kiss)
Genis Irving: (Is bopped on head with a Genis plushie)

We interrupt this peaceful ending for an interesting bulletin!

I There may be more Night To Think On to come...
I know it sounds really crazy, but as I was writing the closing remarks, I was suddenly hit with the realisation that there is still a couple of things left to do about the later game - more specifically, the scenes involving Zelos at the Tower of Salvation near the end of the game! That's right - once I finish AFF's NtTO, I may very well decide to continue the story! Cheers all around, people!
Lloyd and Zelos: Cheers
Genis: (Whining) You're making me do more angst! Oh, comeon! Didn't I already do enough acting! You haven't even paid me for the first part, and...
(Genis is glomped by a flying Mithos and taken into another room)
...Anyway, yeah! I can't promise anything, but if my muse stays like it did the night I wrote this final chapter... well, you can hope for the best!

Fin

Genis Irving (with, admittedly, the help of a kawaii neko-Genis muse, and his other various bishie muses)