Forever Strong

A/N: Warning: There are sprinklings of Colloyd in this chapter. Many are getting restless with the note (now that I had to go and bring it back up...), so I'll give you this, and only this little clue: "Zelos is a proficient speller and wouldn't misspell anything if not on purpose." Enjoy!

Lingering and waiting wasn't Sheena's favorite method of living life, though it should go without saying. Zelos was more of a 'go with the flow' kind of person, hence his trailing of her not unlike the manner of a stray dog.

As they later found themselves immersed within the vast confines of the desert, it was then they gave up on their instincts and decided to look at their copy of the map of Sylvarant.

"Zelos? You have the map, right?" Sheena had to raise her voice over the howling winds; he nodded wordlessly and pulled out the rolled up map from inside his pack and held it up where she could see it. Though their luck had it, the wind rose from a blundering gust to a raging gale as it swept the map right out of his hand and it fluttered out of sight.

Somewhere, Sheena thought she heard the faint laughing of three girls, but pushed it aside for now.

A few feet away stood Zelos, smiling sheepishly grasping a handful of thin air where the map was once held. "Ehehe... my bad." She could see Zelos mouth for lack of hearing. She stepped closer to him so she wouldn't have to yell to be heard, not like that would stop her from doing so never the less.

"How the hell did that happen?"

"Sorry," he said honestly, "it just kinda... slipped."

Swallowing her anger she tried to make out any figures past her thirty foot line of vision. Nothing could be perceived to her save for the immeasurable waves of sand tearing with the wind. Zelos followed suit, but even he with his angelic sight, was unable distinguish anything past the sandy winds.

"I'm going to fly up to see if I can get over these sandy winds and find Triet!" He told her, and before she could protest, he had already drawn his wings and kicked off. She watched him as he flew higher and higher, occasionally turning directions in search of the desert oasis. Within seconds, he landed back at her side, "I think I saw it, it's this way."

After heading north-northeast for around ten minutes, they safely reached the desert oasis with a great relief. As they entered the town from the back entrance, the friendly hustle and bustle sounds of a busy day in town greeted them, like any other small town. With sounds, come sights, and what a sight they found...

Unexpectedly, Zelos swiftly pulled Sheena behind a nearby tree along with himself, hushing her before she could object. Carefully he peeked around the side of the tree and pointed at a couple, "Are those the people I think they are, the ones sucking face?"

Sheena peered around the other side, and gaped, "L...Lloyd and Colette?"

He chuckled, "It's about time!"

She shook her head, "I always thought it was too much of a fairy tale to come true!"

"...You did, didn't you? Which reminds me, remember that bet we made...?"

"...No."

"In Sybak that one night?"

"No... yes."

"Pay up."

She smiled in spite of herself and began to withdraw some gald. "No, no, put that away. That's not what I want that, hunny." He waved away her offering of gald with a devious smile. Sheena had caught on but mere seconds before she was captured in a fierce kiss, though startled slightly, she responded with no less passion.

When resurfacing for air a minute later, Sheena whispered huskily, "How's that?"

He licked his lips, "Good enough for now." He teased, winking.

Before the two could rejoin, it became apparent that they had been spotted by their friends. So to save themselves from any questioning, they separated slightly as the couple came into view.

"Sheena! Zelos! What're you doing here?" greeted Lloyd enthusiastically, with Colette trailing behind him, smiling as usual.

"Oh, we have to deliver a peace message from Tethe'alla." Zelos responded casually, sparing them their some horrific, some more personal details. "You two on your exsphere journey? How's it goin'?"

"Very well!" Colette piped up bubbly, "We even managed to shut down the Renegade base!"

Sheena frowned, "You didn't blow it up?"

"Oh, no. Only Raine can blow up."

To keep himself or Sheena from laughing, Zelos cleared his throat and said quickly, "Anyone hungry for lunch? I'm starving..."

After a quick lunch, the two men couldn't help but spar each other in a harmless match, using sticks found outside the city, much to Noishe's displeasure. Colette and Sheena watched from the sidelines, cheering them on, and secretly, Sheena watched carefully for any hits to Zelos' wounds. At this time, she figured she was probably over-worrying but looked out for him nonetheless.

Their match went on for about five minutes before a certain spectator lost control and ran into the bout snatching all three 'weapons' in his mouth. At last content with regaining with what he thought rightfully his, Noishe trotted around Lloyd and Zelos waving the sticks in his mouth in a taunting manner.

Their match forgotten, the two teamed up against the protozoan, Lloyd tackling him from behind and Zelos straight on. After a small game of tug-of-war, they recovered their sparing tools, however with every inch of them covered in protozoan slobber, it was Noishe who won in the end.

It was late in the afternoon before the two couples bid their farewells.

"It was nice seeing you guys again, good luck on your journey!" Sheena said as they were parting ways.

"You too!" replied Colette; Lloyd nodded, "Yeah, we're counting on you to stop another 'Kharlan War' before it starts."

Zelos smiled as his optimism shined, "No worries! We should be at Iselia in two days, no less, and all will go smooth from there, I hope."

"That reminds me! Could we have a Rheaird?" Sheena blurted, "We would want to get here as soon as possible, of course." She added.

"Oh yeah, I still have 'em all, don't I?" Lloyd laughed as he grabbed for the Rheaird holder. "How many?"

"Just one." They said together.

Dear Corrine,

It was fun meeting up with Lloyd and Colette after all this time. I still can't believe they finally found love with each other, too much of a fairy tale for me. That aside, it seems their quest is going well. It must be really hard trying to collect all the exspheres in this world. That's almost like tracking down every person on this planet.

Ironically, in a sense, it is.

We'll be in Iselia soon, our trip together will be over... and I'll head for the M.I.N. I never thought about this before, because I never thought this is how it would all turn out, but I love Zelos, I can't just leave him. At the same time, working for the M.I.N. is what I've practically been assigned to do.

The only way out of an assignment at M.I.N. is... but I fear it's all too soon for that, best not get my hopes up.