Forever Strong
A/N: Back from my journey and I come with gifts! ...This is one of them... (I have a budget to stick to, ya know.)
"What to do, what to do...?" Sheena murmured more to herself than to anyone else in particular as she entered their temporary camp.
"You could start by helping me up, please?" Zelos interjected from his spot on the ground.
"Oh, yes, of course..." she said airily as she helped him up and over to a place adjacent to the pile of firewood she had kicked together. Once she set him down, she said, "Whoa, you stink!"
"Hmm." He said mirthlessly; in a solemn manner he observed Sheena, contrary to his normal 'checking out', like a farmer would a withering crop. "Sheena, seriously, are you alright? You're not, well, you. At all! ...You're actually reminding me of Colette to be honest."
Completely disregarding Zelos' past concern, whether intentional or otherwise, she asked, "What are you in the mood for? Personally, fish sounds good right now, but—"
"Did you even hear—"
"—if that's not what you're in the mood for then I won't make—"
"—what I just said?"
"—it." Sheena finished, and then stood a posture worthy of Raine. "It's rude to interrupt, you know. In fa—"
"SHEENA! Shut up and listen to me!" Zelos exploded; mouth still forming breathless words, she hushed immediately. His pain replaced by pure worry for her, Zelos stood, paced over to Sheena and grabbed her shoulders roughly so she was facing him. Sincerity laced his words while anxiety danced about in his azure eyes, "Please, you're scaring me. You're not you and I care too deeply about you to let you suffer any longer. So spit it out, what's wrong?"
She averted his penetrating gaze. "Nothing's wrong, I..."
He shook her lightly, "Dammit, Sheena, look at me! If you lie, it'll only make things worse! 'Dwarven Vow #1: Lying is the first path down the step of thievery', or something like that," he calmed himself, and then continued, "Please, what's troubling you?
She looked him straight in the eye and realized she couldn't wriggle her way out of this one; do or die. "I... I didn't want to... to tell you, but it's... you. You're troubling me..." she stated regretfully.
Taken aback and crestfallen, Zelos replied in a small voice, "...Me?"
"H-Hear me out, please! It's not... it's not you-you but... you, or me... or..." she hastily tried to correct herself, but was lost in finding the truth. By then he had turned, head hung. "...Well, if it makes you at ease, then I'll leave..."
"No, that will not make me happy!" With a complete role reverse, Sheena grabbed his shoulders, forcing him to face her. Unexpectedly, she slapped him compellingly, albeit pools of liquid formed beneath her violet eyes. "Don't you ever second guess me! If you leave me now, I swear I'll kill you!"
Unable to cage her emotions any longer, she flung her arms around his neck. Voice now trembling, along with her entire body, she whispered, "Zelos, I've loved you ever since the end of our quest, but I would never allow myself to admit such a thing, hoping it would subside."
He embraced her lovingly, "Why? What has been done to you?"
"Nothing! And that's just it!" she sobbed, "Whenever anyone in Mizuho would die, I always saw the ones who were closest with the deceased mope and everything,--their skill, money, ego, luck—everything would be in decline for them! I never wanted that to happen to me, so I feared falling in love!"
She looked up at him, her eyes slightly red from crying, "But then I heard what you went through when we got separated, and that you barely escaped dying three times! But you live through it because of your love! After hearing something like that, I thought maybe... maybe..."
"Just maybe." Zelos finished for her, and then drew her closer until their lips met. Their kiss was not overly long, but carried in a new outlook on life and a fresh beginning for the two.
Once they broke, Sheena, with a tinge of pink stretching across her face, said quietly, "I'd better go catch breakfast then. Thank you..." But before she could leave, Zelos clutched her all the tighter. "No, don't go yet." He said in a pleading manner.
She sighed and rested her head on his shoulder, "You really are a hopeless romantic, Zelos."
"Hopeless, now? Hardly. I've gotten you after all this time haven't I? Also," he went on, "if you go now, my leg'll give out and I'll fall like last time."
"...Timber."
"Timber?" he repeated in confusion. Sheena nodded and stepped backward a few feet with a mischievous dash to her normally outgoing smile. As predicted, Zelos staggered and fell to the forest floor at her feet. He looked up at her, and laughed, however not in the way he laughs at himself, which piqued her curiosity. "What's so funny?"
"Now you've got the crap all over you as well!" she looked down, and sure enough, a big, brown stain covered her left, abdominal region. She gave him a mock glare, "You're getting this out, you know!"
"And the golden rule hath rung: 'Do unto others as you would want done unto yourself.'" He eyed her slyly.
She gave the rule a moment of thought before declaring it absurd; coming from him, in any case. "Zelos, never say that again."
He shrugged lightheartedly, "It is better to have tried and failed than to have never tried at all."
"What'd you say?"
"Don't you have a fish to catch?" he looked up at her in deriding triumph; she rolled her eyes and headed for a nearby stream. Once she was surely out of earshot, Zelos taunted, "Gramps, if you can hear me all the way up—or down—there, I just want to tell you... up yours you old fart! It is possible to win over a girl with perversion!"
Dear Corrine,
I never would've guessed earlier on anything of this sort would've happened. It was certainly a heavy load off my chest. A few things still remain though...
My checklist:
1) Find out the meaning of the note.
2) Make it successfully to Iselia without sustaining any injuries (including a single status extra).
3) Adopt a dog.
Save for the third one, I'm thoroughly determined to see those through. But until then, I'll just have to settle for unburdening the smaller things.
...He's a good kisser...
There, I said it. It's a start, just 324 to go...