Yet another update. Okay, we're slowly getting to the end of this story and just to let everyone know, we're skipping the Yuan and Storm story and moving on to the next story. I have more ideas for that one rather than the other one and I really can't wait to write it. Besides the vote was pretty much a tie so I decided to make the final vote...sorry everyone who wanted the other story. Anyway, here's the next chapter.

Chapter 14: Surprise

Storm was completely caught off guard when Zelos suddenly woke her up to take her shopping. Sure, it was her birthday, but she wasn't expecting anything special to happen, especially with what had happened between them lately. Nevertheless, she dragged herself out of bed and got ready to go downtown with him for the morning. Zelos promised that he would buy her new clothes for her and the baby, even if they didn't know if it was a girl or boy.

Storm was rushed out of the house so quickly that she didn't even notice the group of people that walked in after she and Zelos left the house.

Meanwhile, Kratos was taking a break in a local diner as he waited for the time to come when he had to go to Storm's house for her birthday. He couldn't believe that she was already nineteen, it seemed like a few days she was just born. He couldn't believe that after all these years, time still flew by.

Kratos was just about ready to leave when he heard a couple behind him talking. Kratos was sitting at the long counter on a bar stool. The two behind him were seated at one of the booths by the windows. A normal human wouldn't be able to hear their conversation from where he was sitting, but Kratos had a hard time not hearing it.

"So, did you hear about Storm?" the woman asked the man.

"Yeah, word on the street says she's pregnant with Zelos' kid," the man replied.

"I feel sorry for the child. Having two pathetic parents will really do some damage on it," the woman commented.

Kratos could his hand start to ache as he instinctively clenched his fist. He decided that it was best not to start anything in this diner, especially since he had no right to fight someone for speaking their own opinions, even if they were cruel.

"Yeah, the father is a failed Chosen and a traitor, he's worthless," the man stated.

"Well, the mother's not much better. She's a human who betrayed Cruxis, not to mention that she betrayed her friends and family as well. You can't get much lower than that, just add the fact that she's a freak with angel powers," the woman laughed.

"She doesn't even deserve those angelic or elven powers she got. Why's she so damn special? The rest of us have elven powers and are persecuted, she's got them too and she lives like royalty. Something has to be done about that," the man added angrily.

"Well, we all know that they'll have a damned child anyway. There's no doubt about that," the woman concluded.

Kratos had had just about enough. He slammed the money he owed on the counter and made his way over to the booth the two were seated at. He gripped the handle on his sword and got ready to use it at any second.

"I won't sit here quietly while you speak about my daughter, my grandchild, or my son-in-law like that. I will not allow that," Kratos boomed as everyone in the entire diner stopped what they were doing to see what was going on.

"What are you talking about?" the man asked nervously.

The woman on the other hand recognized who he was and responded a little more confidently. "You're Kratos? Well, like father like daughter I suppose."

"You can mock me all you want but I won't stand for you to say anything against my daughter, you have no idea what she's like," Kratos yelled as his sword was pulled out a little farther.

"I do know that she claimed that she betrayed Cruxis to help end discrimination for half-elves, but all I've seen her do is get married to Zelos and live like a queen in her mansion. Meanwhile, every half-elf, including us, is still being persecuted and discriminated against. We're lucky if we find a place that we can live, or work for that matter. What are we supposed to do, wait for her to save us?" the man butted in, realizing that he had Kratos in a spot where he really couldn't attack them.

Kratos couldn't take it anymore as he pulled out his sword and threw it into the table for the two to see. "I'm not afraid to start a scene in here. Now, if I were you I'd stop saying those lies and get out of here," Kratos said through clenched teeth.

"Oh, we'll be happy to be on our way, I hope that we didn't manage to ruin your day too much," the woman called as she and the man got up out of the booth and left the diner.

The entire room was quiet after the two left, everyone staring at Kratos as he pulled his sword out of the table. Kratos went over to the manager who had come out to see what all the commotion was about, as he set down a large amount of money to pay for the damages he caused. He then walked past the accusing faces as he too left the diner.

Storm couldn't believe all the shopping she and Zelos had gotten done and she was happy to almost be home. The two walked in, Zelos in front, as Storm was about scared out of her mind. She couldn't believe what she was seeing in front of her.

Sheena, Raine, Presea, and Colette were all in their parlor with pink and blue streamers all over the place. This was accompanied by pink and blue balloons and a pile of presents in the corner. Storm was speechless at the sight in front of her.

"What is this?" Storm asked.

"A baby shower of course. You're eight and a half months pregnant, of course we're going to give you a shower," Sheena answered.

"Wow, I definitely wasn't expecting this," Storm replied.

"Well, I'm going to go, I'll be back in about two hours ladies," Zelos called as he went out the door.

After they got comfortable in the parlor, Storm and the others began to talk about how things were going for each of them. Storm's first question was for Sheena and her relationship with Lloyd.

"I can't believe how close we've gotten to each other lately. He's so sweet, I love spending time with him, even if it is for a mission. I really hope he decides to take it to the next step," Sheena told her.

"And that would be?" Storm asked her.

"I really hope he proposes soon," Sheena burst not afraid at all for everyone to hear.

Storm really hoped that her brother would get the idea through his dense head that Sheena wanted to get married, but she figured that she might need to help things along again. After all, it worked the last time she wanted their relationship to go to another level. Maybe this time she wouldn't use the walkie-talkie though.

Storm moved to Presea next, hoping that her and Genis's relationship she'd seen at the ball had been blossoming since then. "So Presea, how are things with you and Genis?" Storm asked with a large smile on her face.

"We were actually thinking of going on the journey to end discrimination together. I'd have to leave the Lazareno company, but I enjoy Genis's company," Presea replied, it was great to hear her opening up without her using quite as many large words in every sentence.

"That's great, you two are so adorable together," Storm said happily.

"So Colette, how's the road to teaching?" Sheena asked the young blonde.

"I'm almost ready to start working with the children. I really can't wait, I love them all so much," Colette said happily.

"Awesome, you'll make a great teacher," Storm said.

"There's no doubt about that," Raine said.

"Raine, what have you been up to," Sheena asked her suddenly.

"I was hoping that you'd ask me that," Raine began as she went into ruin mode. "I've been traveling around with my archeological party. We were recently studying the Otherworldly Gate. It was so fascinating...," Raine started as she began to go into detail of her research at the ruins. The others in the group were too afraid of the Professor's wrath to interrupt her and they let her begin her lecture. The only one in the group who seemed at all interested in the free lesson was Colette who was listening intently.

After a very long hour the Professor finally concluded her lecture. Storm slowly opened her eyes, having drifted off during the whole thing. "Well, now that we spent the entire baby shower listening to Raine's lecture...," Storm began before she noticed Raine's death glare. "What a wonderful lecture it was too and so riveting. What was it about again?" Storm asked.

"The Otherworldly Gate," Raine stated.

"Yeah that. Well, I suppose Zelos will be back soon now. Thank you all so much for all of the wonderful gifts and I appreciate all the support I have from all of you. It means a lot to me," Storm told them all.

"Hey, you're our friend, we're all here for each other," Sheena said. Suddenly, the front door opened and Zelos came in, followed by Lloyd, Genis, Regal, and Kratos. Storm was so shocked by all of the people that were gathered there that she was left speechless.

"Happy birthday Storm," Zelos said as he came up to her wrapping her up in a large hug.

"You were all in on this too?" Storm asked the girls behind her.

"Uh-huh," Sheena replied. "Happy birthday."

So, Storm and the others began to talk amongst themselves and Storm decided that it was a perfect opportunity to talk to her brother.

"So Lloyd, I hear things are going well with you and Sheena," Storm stated.

"Yeah, why do you ask?" Lloyd asked her.

Storm gave a large sigh, frustrated at her brother's lack of intelligence. "Well, I was thinking that you would be taking it up to another level sometime soon. I think she's waiting for you. You two are perfect for each other," Storm tried to hint to him, granted that it was a very big hint.

"What do you mean by the next level?" Lloyd asked her, apparently confused by her hint.

"Okay, I'm just gonna come out and say this. Lloyd, are you planning on proposing to her?" Storm asked him.

"Oh, I get it now. I was thinking about it, but I didn't know what she would say and I keep chickening out," Lloyd told her.

"What are you so afraid of? You defeated Mithos and reunited the two worlds and you're afraid to ask Sheena something that she's obviously going to agree on anyway," Storm yelled at him.

"Do you really think that she'd say yes?" Lloyd questioned.

"I wouldn't be telling you this if I wasn't sure of it," Storm answered.

"I think I'll do it. I mean, I've wanted to for awhile now, but I never could work up the courage. I'll do it soon, I promise," Lloyd replied happily.

"Good," Storm responded as she started to make her way to the other side of the room.

"Oh Storm," Lloyd called to her. Storm spun around to look at him. "Thanks," he told her as he went his own way.

"You've done more for me than I could ever do for you," Storm whispered as he went over to talk to Sheena.

Storm went over to where her father was sitting. He wasn't really talking to anyone else at the party, but that wasn't really uncommon for him. She sat down next to him and he tried to crack a small smile at her. "What's wrong?" she asked him.

"It's nothing. You shouldn't worry about it," Kratos replied. "Here, this is for you," he told her as he handed her a box. She took it and noticed how heavy it was. She opened the box and looked inside and couldn't believe what was inside.

Inside was a large hardcover book with moons and stars all over the cover. Storm opened the cover and looked inside. The book was from her childhood, it was read to her almost every night when she was younger. The book was very old, but it was in very good shape. It was from when Kratos was child and he was giving it to her. Inside were stories and legends that were told almost 4000 years ago. Storm hugged her father as she looked at the book. It was the perfect birthday present because it was for her and her child.

"That's for you to read to your child, keep those stories alive," Kratos told her.

"I will, thank you so much," Storm told him.

Kratos didn't care what anybody said about his daughter he knew what she was really like and he knew what she'd been through. He wasn't going to let anyone change his mind about that, he just hoped that he wouldn't be seeing them around anytime soon.

Well, that's it for this chapter and I hope you liked it. Anyway, thanks for reading now please review and tell me what you thought. For everyone who is missing the action desperately there may only be 2-3 more chapters for this story and then we're moving on to the action. For everyone who liked the peace, well, sorry but I'm bored with it myself. Quick thing about the next story is that it takes place 13 years after this one and involves Storm and her child as they face a new villain. New as in not in the game at all. Prepare for the takeover as Symphonia enters a new Dark Age. Thanks for reading.