Forever Strong

A/N: I feel really proud! So far, only few think they have a slight clue as to Zelos' note (besides the other people going with the elves)! I thought it was so obvious and people were gonna be yelling it out... Zelos just plans to joi—Eh, never mind, I'm not going to give it away just yet. Hurrah for pointy ears though!

And in a somewhat related note (this should be easier to understand after the chapter is read through) but this and the next chapter will be like one chapter two entries, so there is no "Dear Corrine" at the end of this. Next chapter will feature Zelos.

Instead of waking up to Genis' spell castings as he had often done during their journey, he awoke to a rather catchy song.

"La, la, la... Omelet! La, la, la... Omelet! La, la, la... Omelet! Eggs, cheese and meat, please! La, la, la... Omelet! La, la, la..." Sheena was singing to herself as she prepared breakfast, a wild guess said it was an omelet.

"Good morning, Sheena!" said Zelos cheerfully.

"G'morning, Zelos!" Replied Sheena, still focusing on the omelet before her. She felt a lot better now that she had finally returned that note to his pack (and the half of it being she didn't get caught).

After a hearty breakfast, Sheena having one and Zelos having two of her delicious omelets, they cleaned up and set off on their journey on a good note. Something Sheena has learned from long trips is that, with her, if it's not one thing, it's another. She had put the true meaning of the note behind her for another time, but then found herself engulfed in another, more important, problem. With this, she had to ask him face to face... with a good foot or two between them, she hoped.

"Hey... Zelos?" Sheena asked him in an almost small, child-like voice.

Zelos was greatly caught off guard by her uncharacteristically quiet tone, "Hmm? What's wrong, Sheena?" he said in all sincerity.

"Oh, well, nothing's wrong," She lied, averting her eyes to further put into question the authenticity of her statement. Her voice became even smaller as she went on, "I was just curious, why do you want, or need, to go to Iselia? ...You don't have to tell me if you don't want to..."

"Well, if you really wanna know, it's because I can't quite get out of 'adventure mode' yet, ya know? And besides, I wouldn't want to risk losing one of my friends if there was anything I could do about it. Especially with this new world, we all have to look out for one another. Even though we've both probably been to every city, town or village, with this joining of the worlds thing, people may not know what to think of an 'Emissary of Peace'."

She took a moment to let what he had said sink in. He was right; taking a solitary expedition over a land in which people had not been properly introduced had its hazards. That could be like walking between the paths of a mongoose and a snake, two enemies ready to fight to the death. She then thought back to the note, how could his answer relate to the note?

Which was the truth? He wouldn't lie to her face, now would he?

He could and he just may have. After all, he'd lied to everyone, and even deceived Cruxis entirely. How hard would it be, following that, to tell a little white lie to a single woman? That's what she figured, anyway, but she hoped with all her heart that she was wrong.

It was unusually silent between the two. They had been used to traveling with six other people and naturally it got pretty loud, however, with just Sheena and Zelos; Sheena speaking only if provoked and Zelos probably off somewhere in the famed "La-la Land", the only noise was mother nature around them. It was just one of those days... warm, sunny, and buoyant.

Just the right time to turn on the auto-pilot and distance oneself from the real world.

So, it had been a couple days since we started on our way to Iselia, and quite frankly, I couldn't have been happier to reach a destination. The quaint village of Iselia seemed no less a rapture after days of sleeping on grass, dirt and who-knows-what on the ground. I can't complain about the food though, fortunate for us, we both were sufficient enough at cooking.

At the entrance of the village, we said temporary partings as I headed for the Mayor and Zelos off to... to... that place, yeah. I had often heard from Lloyd and Genis of how closed-minded their Mayor was, making the presenting of the letter from the King of Tethe'alla all the more nerve wracking. None-the-less, all went smoothly and he said the word would be delivered to the capital town Palmacosta, and the news would be branched from there.

My job here's done. I head over to the Inn to see if Zelos was there to bid him a final farewell, for after this, I was to go under-cover for Mizuho gathering information for the M.I.N.

To my slight surprise, he wasn't there, but I did bump into Colette (or rather, she bumped into me), "Hello, Sheena!" she greeted enthusiastically, "What brings you here?"

"Oh, just delivering a peace letter from the King of Tethe'alla. Guess I'm kinda stuck as the King's number one messenger, huh?" I replied, Colette laughed. "Have you seen Zelos go by here? I was traveling with him, but we split ways at the entrance; haven't seen him since."

"I'm sorry, I haven't."

"Oh... well, if you see him, could you tell him I said 'Good bye and thanks for everything'?"

She smiled, "Sure, of course!" her smile then faded somewhat, "But what do you mean 'and thanks for everything'?"

I figured it wouldn't hurt to tell her the truth, and asked her if she saw any of our friends, to relay that message as well. "But why can't you even say hello to us when you're undercover?" she asked after my explanation.

I sighed, "When I'm undercover, if I called you, or anyone for that matter, by a first name-basis it could raise suspicion of my real identity, which could even put you guys in danger. I don't want that."

She didn't seem completely satisfied with my answer, but left it be anyway. "Well, okay. Just promise me you'll come and see us sometime, okay?"

I smiled. "Of course! ...Oh, do you know where Lloyd is? I'll just tell him myself."

She became quiet. "Well, he was going to go on that journey to destroy all the exspheres and such, but..."

"...But?"

Colette shrugged, her voice tinged with sadness. "...He just hasn't left..."

"Why? Is something—"

"Go talk to him." She blurted helplessly.

I nodded, and gave her a hug good-bye. A short walk through the small forest separating Iselia and Dirk's house and I found Lloyd sitting by a small stream a ways outside his home. He didn't notice me as I came closer, but even from my distance I could tell something was bothering him.

"...Hey."

He looked up, his eyes seemed filled with an atypical distress. Not at all like the confidence and wonder filled brown orbs we'd come to know him for. He looked back down, "Hey, Sheena." His voice was no more than a mutter, a bit indifferent even.

"What's wrong?" I sat down next to him, still trying to peer into him looking for an answer. He was as cold as ice and as despondent as a rock.

"...Mehh." was his response, either a jumble of words, or simply what it was. It didn't make sense either way, and I wasn't going to take 'Mehh' for an answer.

"Something's definitely off when you reply with that. ...C'mon, you can tell me."

...No, no, wait. This isn't going anywhere... ahuum... back to the Inn part...

I smiled. "Of course! ...Oh, do you know where Lloyd is? I'll just tell him myself."

"Oh, he left to go get rid of all the exspheres." Colette replied in a cheerful disposition, leaving me slightly confused. "Weren't you going to go with him?" I asked.

She really sounded like a blonde now. "Well, I waaas... but I had some, like, stuff to dooo..."

'What is it that Colette does now that she's not the Chosen, any more?' A thought entered my mind, I brushed it aside quickly. Sometimes, it was best not to know those things. A Zelos-ism perhaps? Speaking of the Idiot Chosen...

Wonder what he's thinking...?