Disclaimer: Rodeo Ride Tour is not mine. I'm not getting paid either ;;

Flashback alert!

Tales of Symphonia; Drama CD Anthology

Rodeo Ride Tour

A fanfiction adaptation by Winged Dancer

Track Five –

Words that Were Left Behind

A few buttons were pushed and the Rheaird started up, steam coming out of its junctures before it got off the ground, hovering a few inches above.

"Sorry 'bout this!" Zelos called over the noise, "I know it's the only Rheaird but I need to get there quick!"

Next to Orochi, Sheena shook her head, smiling. "Get going already! You must have a mountain of paperwork waiting for you!"

The Chosen threw his head back and half-laughed, half-wailed. The machine started to take a little more altitude.

"Be careful in your trip, Chosen One," Orochi called, solemn as he always was.

"You too, Orochi!" the noise grew louder and louder and Zelos was now a little above their heads. "Sheena!" he yelled, looking down to her.

"Yeah?"

Zelos grinned and left a few instants go by before answering. "Don't forget!"

"Forget what!"

Whether he had chosen to ignore her or whether he hadn't heard her she didn't know, next thing she knew Zelos was gone in a flash or steam and energy.

She huffed. "What's with him…?"

Orochi turned to her. "So your journey… it's over, right?"

"Yeah."

"…What kind of journey it was?"

The ninja looked at the sky, as if in deep thought. "Mmmh… do you want the long version? Or the short one?"

The man chuckled a little but the effect was basically hidden by his mask. "Keep it short."

"I see, then…" she lazily scratched the back of her head and then crossed her arms behind her, "It was fun. Yeah, it was fun!"

Orochi didn't say anything else. She was always uncomfortable when he looked at her like that, mainly because she could never tell what he was thinking.

"So anyway," she re-started the conversation, "Shall we start heading back, too? If we go by sea, then… two days, maybe three 'till Mizuho, I think? Well, it depends on the ship though… say something already Orochi! Anything wrong?"

"Sheena…" the male ninja looked down at the grass beneath their feet and then sharply back up, staring into her eyes. "Listen."

"Uh?"

"What I told you before… about the extermination of the terrorists? There's something else!"

"…something else?"

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"Yeeaaaaaargh!" a man charged at him, sword in hand. It seemed he was the leader, but that didn't mean he was any good at handling weapons.

"Too slow!" Orochi had easily parried the attack with his own short tanto, quickly countering with a few swift blows and forcing the man to back down.

"We… we are no terrorists!" he had cried, struggling to keep the ninja away, "We shall kill the Chosen and build a new, golden era!"

Orochi's eyes narrowed and he put some more pressure onto the sword, "A new age is already in the works. However, an age created like this…!" he shoved the man aside and with a quick thrust his sword was impaled into the terrorist's stomach.

"…it is not one that would last long."

The ninja removed his sword. Immediately enough blood started pouring out of the wound, staining the man's clothes and falling to the floor.

And yet…

"…heheheh… hahah…" the man was laughing. Blood gurgled out of his throat and yet he kept laughing. "…this matters not… we have something that ensures our victory… and then we will grant the Chosen his fate…"

Orochi was young but he was already used to this kind of situation. He didn't panic nor did he dismiss the dying man's words: calmly he took him by the collar, with enough strength to be intimidating and yet cautiously, as he didn't want the man to die before spilling whatever information he possessed.

"What are you trying to say?"

"…tell the Chosen…" the man's eyes were starting to look glazed, "Seles…"

"...what!"

"Your sister is now in our hands…" he grinned. It seemed he though he was talking to the Chosen no.

"You bastards!" Orochi had to restrain himself from slitting the terrorist's throat in that moment.

"If you aren't in this place in two days…" a rumpled, blood-stained paper was shoved into the ninja's chest, and the man's eyes focused once more. "The Chosen, alone…! Tell the Chosen only… if he tries anything funny… Seles…! We will…!"

"You cowards!" Orochi threw the man back to the floor. He could die now for all he cared.

He laughed once more. "We shall attain glory for our cause! We shall curse the Chosen! Forever… hehehahahahah…!"

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The small valley they were standing in suddenly seemed a lot more empty and barren than before. The wind had picked up and resounded in her mind.

"…if told, the Chosen One would certainly go and help Seles… and lose his life in exchange," Orochi was saying. "If he wasn't told, then Seles would be… should I have told him? Should I have kept it a secret? Tell me… what would you have done, Sheena?"

"…ah-ah…" she was too shocked to do anything more than gasp.

"I told the Chosen… I told Zelos everything!"

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"…just… don't tell Sheena anything," the redheaded had looked at the sleeping girl with fondness in his eyes, "That girl… worries too much about others. You understand what I mean, I guess?"

The ninja nodded. "Yes."

"And… I've already caused her too many troubles. Well, that's expected, being the who I am, heh…"

"I…!" Orochi interrupted, "I shall go with you. I brought one more Rheaird with me. If I go with you, maybe…"

"Seles and I, you know…" the Chosen had interrupted him, looking up at the sky. "Some time ago, a lot of things happened… things ain't going very well right now."

Slowly, Orochi nodded. Zelos smiled a sad grin before dropping his head.

"The Chosen System… isn't it stupid? But for a long while, it just went on between us… and it kept getting more and more complicated, too!" it was as he wasn't talking to anyone in particular, Orochi was sure that at the moment the Chosen was only trying to clear up his mind.

"It's not that it's my fault… it's not that it's Seles' fault either, of course. But, you know…" here the redheaded had grinned as if in conspiracy and then once more looked at the sky, his silhouette almost outlined against the sky, "From morning to night… working the fields, getting caked with mud. I haven't, you know, showed her that cool side of me. So, I wanna!" he was obviously having some troubles expressing what he had in mind but the ninja understood. "Just once… just one time is good enough! If I do that, I get the feeling I'll be able to get along with Seles! So… so, please… let me go alone. Please?"

He had stared at the Chosen. He understood but that didn't make it any easier.

"There is no proof that the terrorists will liberate Seles even if you keep the deal."

"But!" again he had interrupted, waggling a finger, "If I don't go alone then there's a 100 chances of her dying. Whether the possibilities are bad or good… I don't have any option but to do it."

The two stared at the fire for a few seconds, the weight of reality heavy on their shoulders.

And then Zelos had looked up, smiling as he usually did. "Hey! Can ya lend me some paper and a pen or something?"

"Paper…?"

The Chosen grinned. "I'm writing a letter."

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"He left this."

In Orochi's hand there was a paper, neatly folded in four but slightly wrinkled. Sheena stared at it, almost afraid of the words it held within.

Once more she felt stupid. Once more she realized she didn't really know that idiotic, good-for-nothing wild horse… it was the same as when he had first asked her to come along on the trip: she hadn't seen what lay behind his mask…

Slowly, she reached out to take the paper.

For how long had she been traveling with him? Months, now. Just the two of them. She had though she knew him better by now, and yet…

He had always hated the Chosen System. He had hated the title and all it implied.

And yet…

…why, now that the world was one, was he thinking of himself as a sacrifice? Just once he wanted to show Seles his 'cool' side, even if that meant he would die…

She took the letter and held it to her chest for barely an instant before opening it and reading its contents. Her breath caught in her throat and she could feel her eyes starting to water.

"I… do not wish you to go," said Orochi, looking down. "But. I don't think I can stop you either."

The ninja spoke, trying to keep her voice level and being only half successful at it. "I'm sorry, Orochi…"

"I've left a Rheaird deep in the forest," he interrupted manner-of-factly.

"I – I'll leave Mizuho to –"

"You are not my Leader!"

In surprise, she gasped. Was he implying that she was not qualified…? Why now, of all moments, did he have to…?

But then he lowered his mask and smiled softly at her. "You are Sheena Fujibayashi."

She choked back her tears.

"So just go now! Go and help him, quickly!"

"I… Thanks."

"I'll be praying for good luck," instead of crossing his chest in the traditional Igaguri style he squeezed her arm slightly, still smiling.

"…Thanks!" and she set off running.

The ground was uneven and hard to run on. Branches and leaves whipped at her face and body as she ran through the forest but she didn't even feel them as she dashed ahead, desperate, tears streaking down her face.

Won't 'cha come on a trip with me?

Sometimes she would try to wipe her eyes off with her sleeve, just for the sake of clearing her view. But she couldn't stop crying.

…at any rate, I was thinking of taking the path to my right…

…does that girl standing by the shade of the tree have any problem…?

All of the moments she had spent with Zelos, all the new sides she had discovered of him…

Was that not enough to keep him by her side? Was she at fault for not seeing deep enough… for being so stubborn and keep acting strong instead of allowing him close?

Good morning… my princess.

Or was he to blame for always acting, for not telling her the truth?

He never did.

If he had only told her, she would've allowed him to go, if that's what he wished…!

Brothers of Altamira! This, only…

Justice… wins…..!

No, she wouldn't have. She would've insulted him, she would've called him weak and unreliable and would've insisted in going with him because she couldn't just leave Seles' fate in his hands.

And it would've been an excuse, and a bad one at that.

"Zelos…"

Because deep down, so deep that even she couldn't see it, the only thing she would be wishing was to be with him.

…I'm sorry. I… talked too much….

…Cht. Not much else to do with that…

She kept running and running. Zelos' voice resounded in her mind… two days, Orochi had said. One had been wasted while Orochi found them, and the other was half-way gone…

…it may be, you know, that I've ended up liking this…

"Zelos!" she found herself screaming his name at nothing, but it was the only was she could think of letting out all the feelings that swelled in her chest, threatening to explode…

She tripped with the root of a tree and fell to the ground. Whimpering, the girl could only crush some dead leaves in her hands and punch at the ground in desperation.

…the way we are, right now… why don't we just escape to some other place…?

She got up and limped ahead. Her ankle hurt.

But the second day was half-way gone.

Ignoring the pain and with new-found tears she once more raced through the forest.

In the letter Zelos had left behind there was one word.

Just one word…

…...Thanks……

"Zelos!"

I ran. Stumbling time after time, crying…

Would I catch him…? That wild horse… so that he'd continue singing and dancing just a little in front of me… that good-for-nothing…

Notes: Heheheh, two more chapters to go. Sorry, I was feeling silly-stupid last chapter and therefore I decided to post it like that. Most notes will be altered at some point (so many chapters to repost after correcting grammar and misspellings), so, uh, yeah…

I don't know what can I say about this chapter except that it is so lovely. You can pretty much read my opinions up there, mixed with the dialogue, so I'll try not to rant too much here, but there is one thing I'd like to say… is it just me or is Zelos still kind of having problems with his self-esteem? To leave a letter saying only "Thanks" (the most dramatic "Arigatou" I've heard in a while) and to ask "Don't forget (about me)!" is kinda… depressing, in a sense.

But that's why we love him, I guess.

I also find it funny how Sheena is basically hysteric over him and still calls him 'good for nothing', 'wild horse', etc… its also really sweet how, at the ends, what she wishes is for him to "continue singing and dancing just a little in front of her"…

Anyway, I'll leave it at that now. Reviews will be very, very appreciated, as always.

Thanks for reading!

WDR

Next chapter - Into Death's Domain