Thanks for reviewing:

Taishoku Yuri: aww, thanks!

FFIATOAL: um, here you go.

ManaMage: there's more to the avoiding thing later on. Thanks for the Gnomelette info.

MoonCannon: thanks. I choose Sheena, she's now Lloyds soul mate…along with Colette. Uh…what do you mean, 'big stuff'?

Sunnigen: Well, I'm going to update a lot faster now. so keep you're eyes open!

azuma ninja14856: hmmm…reviews, that's a very tempting offer…- Oh, Zelos can cook, he's pretty good but he puts a lot of effort into it. He was sweating at the earth temple scene.

Suzu Fujibayashi: Yes cute, but there's a story behind that. It all adds up to the grand finale!...or at least close to it…

Raine's Tears: Can't stray from his true nature for too long.

Disclaimer: I not own nothing…no Tales of Symphonia no nothing

Memories

Sheena's POV

Zelos was right…they were low on the neck. Not one of them is decent enough! By that I mean they all show way too much skin…typical of Zelos.

I sighed and stuffed the evening gowns back in the closet; I have plenty of time to decide what to wear.

I looked around my empty room and then out the window, it's nearing nightfall…Zelos still hasn't come home. It annoys me that he just leaves the place early in the morning and doesn't come home till late at night. Doesn't he even consider how I feel cooped up in here with nothing to do?

I let my head fall a bit, of course not. The way I treat him I'm surprised he still talks to me. I guess I should ease up on him, but sometimes he just makes me so angry.

Shaking my head I made my way out of my room and into the well lit hallway. It always amazed me how huge his house is. After all, the houses in Mizuho are not even half the size of his living room…that reminds me, how long can I live here?

Zelos is bound to kick me out some time or the other, I can't stay here forever. The only place left in the end is Mizuho, which now lies in ruins.

I've tried to stop thinking of what…I've done, but it's just impossible to forget my past. What bugs me the most is that there's always something wrong with what I do. The time with Volt, I really tried to make a pact the first time…but no one understood what he said so it just ended up in a total disaster. So many lives were sacrificed…because of me.

Now, where do I go from- "Yeouch!"

I looked up and rubbed my head, I had bumped into a hard oak door with all my pacing, "Stupid door."

I turned the knob slowly, funny. I never noticed this door before. The room was surrounded by darkness except for a few glimmers of light being emitted of the walls. I reached around for the switch and flipped it on.

"Oh…" This room was smaller than the rest but still quite large.

On the walls hung swords of many sizes and designs, probably Zelos' old fighting materials. Yet some were rusted and dated back years before his possible birth…who could these have belonged to? His father probably, I highly doubt Sebastian's into fighting.

On the other side were tiny, jewel studded daggers and long crystal necklaces. There was also a portrait much like the one in the living room of Zelos' mother. Under it, enclosed in glass lay two rings. One a plain band of platinum and the other decorated with stunning diamonds.

"These must have belonged to his mother." I mumbled to nobody in particular.

Out of the corner of my eye I noticed a sharp glare of light, taking a closer at the glass case I noticed a carelessly thrown thick golden band with a name etched into it. Although it was too tiny to make out.

I moved along to the far corner of the room where a solitary wooden chest was placed up against numerous boxes. I sat down in front of it and pondered if I should open it. The chest had no lock so definitely it wasn't meant to be a secret of some sort. Still I prayed that Zelos wouldn't enter the room.

Inside was just a thick dusty book…it looked like an album. Gingerly I picked it up and blew off a layer of dust. I opened the cover to reveal old family photos. A man and a woman took up the first few pages; the pictures were in black and white and faded with age so I couldn't really make out who exactly it was. Though, I had a hunch it was most likely Zelos' parents. I wonder why he never mentions them.

The next few pages I noticed the man in the earlier photos was missing, only the woman was left, holding a clearly noticeable new born in her arms…she looks so sad. As I kept turning the pictures became more and more visible and then finally in color. These last ones were all of Zelos as a toddler.

I had to confess, he was so adorable dressed in various outfits …none of them pink. One picture even had him in a large cup laughing and pointing to something in the distance.

I stretched and yawned, that was the last of them, as I began to put back the heavy album something slipped out and landed beside my knees.

"What's this?" I picked it up and read the back, "Picture by: Sebastian."

There were many pictures with this written at the back so I turned it over without much thought. The picture held a six year old Zelos and his mother, standing out in the snowny grass beside an almost finished snowman. Zelos was reaching up to put on his carrot nose and his mother was smiling down at him.

This puzzled me greatly; Zelos once mentioned back in Flanoir that he hated the snow. He wouldn't say why and when I asked Regal late one night he told me that when it snows in Meltokio Zelos goes on a pilgrimage to the south. Zelos looked like he was having fun in this photo…so why would he have such bitter outlook towards the cold?

I shook my head and opened the album from the backside to put back the picture. That's when I noticed a small silver key hanging from a tiny nail drilled onto its hard cover. Carefully, I pulled it out and studied it. It had a soft red ribbon and on the key itself was the words, study room.

I got up and looked around, sure enough there was another door and on a sliver plate it held the same words.

"Miss Sheena?"

I nearly jumped out of my skin at the sound of Sebastian's voice, "Y-Yes?" I tried not to sound suspicious.

"Dinner is served." he announced, tone unchanged, "Master Zelos is waiting for you in the dining room."

"Oh, alright. I'll be there in a bit." I pocketed the key so Sebastian wouldn't notice it.

He nodded, bowed, and left.

I sighed in relief, he hadn't said anything. So what I was doing wasn't wrong after all. I took one last glance at the locked door, feeling slightly guilty I fingered the small key in my pocket and walked out the door.

------------

"Hey hunny!" Zelos grinned widely and patted the seat beside him as I entered.

I pretended not to notice and instead sat across the table from him. He frowned and tried to get my attention, but failed.

Sebastian was also in the open room with us, humming softly and walking about placing closed dishes in front of us.

I looked up at Zelos, "What's Sebastian so happy about?"

"No clue." Zelos caught my gaze and held it, "He just burst into the kitchen, ordered me out and stared rattling around pots and pans."

Looking away I mused, "Does he always do this?"

I could still feel Zelos eyeing me, "No. Just when he feels like it. It gives me a break from cooking."

"Oh. Okay." I began to blush under his strong gaze and tried to concentrate on the boiled lobster in front of me.

Sebastian finally stopped moving and stood beside Zelos, "Dinner is ready." he then took of the lids from the silver platters and left the room.

I admired the food; lobster, salad, mixed rice and a roasted chicken, "Wow, this looks great."

Zelos grunted from the other end, "Didn't seem so excited when I cooked for you."

I tilted my head to one side, "What? I said your mashed potato was good."

"Stuffed potato." he corrected looking hurt.

"Heh. It's still a potato and I said it tasted good. What more do you want me to say?"

He furrowed his brows maintaining a childlike hurt look, "Didn't you notice I decorated it with parsley to add the rich flavor?"

I didn't know that was actually part of it, "Yeah…sure I did. Why are you making such a big deal out of this?"

"No reason, only that you haven't yelled at me all day and it just doesn't feel the same." he answered with a hint of sincerity.

I was slightly taken back but bought myself back to normal, "That's because you weren't home all day."

He suddenly had a very smug look on his face, "Oh? Did my beautiful banshee miss me?"

"Don't call me that." I hissed, "Besides, I never said anything about 'missing you'"

Zelos casually waved his fork in the air, "Oh please, I can see right through that tough act. You need me."

"Ha!" I spat, "That's as unlikely as you settling down with one woman."

He raised his hands in defense, "Hey, it could happen."

"Zelos, old habits die hard."

"And…?" he asked fingering his empty plate.

"Well…I don't know…it's just hard to imagine you settling down…for good." I stammered all over; embarrassed I was actually talking about this. Even if it didn't concern me.

Zelos considered this for a moment, "Do you mean with you, or with someone else?"

I felt my ears burn and my cheeks tinged with pink, "Wh-what do you mean with m-me?"

Zelos smirked, obviously enjoying this, "I know you only meant what you said because you can see me settling down with you. But you know what they say, never say never."

I felt my cheeks burn up even more and the pink shading quickly turned into light red, "You don't make sense. I don't get what you're saying…"

"Sheena…" his voice grew deep and held slightly seductive tone to it, "…I know you want me."

I almost fainted when I heard that, but there was no way he could possibly be serious. Zelos was just toying with me, "No way! Why would I want you of all people! You're nothing but a philanderer!" I finally snapped.

He suddenly broke out in laugher, "There you go, oh hunny of mine!"

"What!" I demanded, "Now what are you talking about!"

He continued to laugh and smile broadly, "I got you to yell-OWW!"

I had got up and smacked him as hard as I could, "You stupid…stupid…stupid person!"

Phew…I'm done. And that didn't take long at all, now did it?

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please?