Zelda's Fox 38: The gel thing was a joke some of my friends have, like they're the cough syrup of ToS.

MrAndersonMan: "Fluff"? It's the fluffy, happy, romance stuff that will show up in this fic fleetingly before running away again.

Master Kenny: Sickness is a bit of a plot device, but, hey, it works. Guess what I listened to while writing this? (Regal seriously needs a better theme.)

Dracobolt: Thanks and- ARG! MY HAND!11!one!

Just Some TOS fan...: In the game, Regal is 34 (so says the official art book) and Presea is 28 (so says the Presea at the end of the game). As Presea is Alicia's older sister, I'm giving them an age difference of roughly a year and a half. This means that Regal is seven and a half years older than Alicia in my fanon. However, it is canon, not fanon, that he must be at least six years older. I've done the math. In fact, doing the math is what inspired this fanfic. There are also in-game clues as to Alicia's death date. I am taking all of these into consideration when I write so that I am keeping as close to canon as I can, though I know that I am straying from the original story of the Presea Flower. Still, this doesn't change how Regal is not seventeen, and I will not make him seventeen unless I make Alicia four years younger as well. And that this point in the story, it's a little late to do even were that to be a good idea. The age difference remains. Thank you for your input.

End of Response Section

7/23/05 I was writing part of this while listening to the ToS soundtrack. I wrote the words "when she saw Regal" and Regal's theme started playing. A bit odd.

This is my longest chapter so far. It just kept writing itself, something very rare, very pleasant.

Disclaimer: Rallalon does not own Tale of Symphonia or any of its characters, places, or items.

.-.-.-.-.-.

There was a part of her that still wondered why.

But there was a much larger part of her that simply said "why not".

And so, she went. The first time she saw him again, there'd been an additional nerve-wracking element that she hadn't taken into consideration.

When Melissa had gotten her off the Terrace all those days ago, she'd done so with the aid of an "emergency". Obviously, Regal had been concerned.

Also obviously, Alicia couldn't tell him what the problem had been. Well, she could, but... referring to his age as an emergency wouldn't exactly be a good way to start off this stage of their relationship.

However, that was where Gregory Tate came in. It was very easy to pass that particular individual off as a dire crisis. So Melissa had panicked over her boyfriend, because... because it had sounded like he was... erm, proposing. And Melissa definitely wasn't ready for that and panicked. But it turned out that he hadn't been. It had just sounded like that. Everything was all right.

"I see. You're sure?"

Alicia smiled up at him. "Completely. And you're better?"

He looked slightly taken aback "You knew I was sick?"

"Word gets around."

And so, things went back to normal. Or perhaps, as close to the old normal as they were going to get.

Despite how Regal was now far busier, meaning they saw each other far less, the increased amount of sleep was a help. In one way, it was probably for the best. Alicia knew that she would happily wear herself out, if it meant she would be able to spend time with him. In fact, Alicia knew she would do most anything to be able to spend time with Regal.

It was a little frightening, to be so dependent on a person. She didn't consider herself to be an incredibly independent person, but... after nearly five years of working as a kitchen hand, three years since last contact with her family, she wasn't sure to react to needing someone. She knew she'd never be able to explain what she felt. A long time ago, she'd asked Melissa what it was like to be in love. Melissa hadn't been able to explain well. It had just sounded nice, all fanciful and truly something to inspire a pair of girls to giggle late into the night.

That had been a little less than a year ago. That had been before Regal.

She couldn't stop thinking about him. She felt like there was something else she was supposed to be doing and couldn't be doing it, no matter what task occupied her attention at the moment. Her mind kept straying back to him, counting the hours, tucking away memories of snippets of conversations with the idea that it might be something she and Regal could talk about.

Alicia was in love.

She was in love with Regal, down to his last nuance.

Melissa had once told her that when she was younger, she'd had a crush that she hadn't really seen, not as a person. They had just been the idea of a perfect person, her perfect person. Melissa had found out later that she hadn't known them at all. She'd just been drawn in by mere infatuation.

Alicia knew Regal. She knew his faults and accepted them. They were what made Regal who he was. The force behind what she thought to be a too-strong belief in religion was the same as the one that allowed him to take everyone seriously, no matter who they were. The cause of his workaholic nature was the same dedication that made her feel as if she was as important to him as he was to her. There was a thought to cause giggling, if not outright swooning.

Not that Alicia would ever swoon. Even for Regal, there were limits.

But the point was that Regal was a real, flesh-and-blood person to her. A real flesh-and-blood person who just happened to be amazing, handsome, funny, and intelligent, and would also be a better cook than she ever would be if he kept improving at this rate. A real flesh-and-blood person with whom a conversation on the Church of Martel in general and redemption in particular was always a bad idea, who could clam up unexpectedly and be fine moments later without telling her what was wrong, who had a reluctance telling her what was bothering him -- as if it wasn't important enough.

No, Regal was very much real to her. She'd like to think that he'd been since a plate of chicken and rice had been placed on a counter for her with a note, in a way that was completely and utterly like him. Quiet, to the point, yet thoughtful with a hint of playfulness. She'd had to wash the plate and silverware, hadn't she?

There were times when she wondered what he saw in her. Alicia would never be beautiful like how Presea must be by now, or even like how Melissa was. She'd long ago settled for just being "pretty" or "cute". She didn't even really know how to be a girl. She knew how to be some kid in Ozette, how to chop wood and stack the cart. She wasn't all that smart, like how Horace had been. She wasn't musically talented at all, like Presea and Horace's sister Janet.

As far as Alicia could tell she had two things going for her. She could carve wood, like all Combatir family members could. This wasn't, however, something Regal would particularly care about. More importantly, she could cook like Mommy.

And every time she thought about it, that was where she left off. Their mutual love for the kitchen had turned into a mutual love for each other.

There was, of course, the slight issue that neither of the two had never so much as told the other that they were even moderately fond of the other. Not aloud, anyway.

She'd been planning on saying it right away. Just three words, but so much more. She wanted to tell him, let him delight in it with her. She'd been nervous, true, but... When it came down to it, that wasn't why she had stayed silent.

Alicia had looked at him, and the words became useless. Just words, just sounds, just pointless utterings used for ordinary conversation.

And Regal had looked at her. She wondered later, what he had seen in her expression.

She hoped it was the same as what she had seen in his.

Alicia had been in his arms a moment later, smiling against his chest, the side of his head resting on the top of hers. She could feel her heart pounding, hear it in her ears. She could feel Regal's heart pounding.

After a moment, she'd had to pull away, filled up with too much excited energy to stay still. She'd smiled up at him, and he'd returned it, abet slightly uncertainly. Alicia had kissed him then. There wasn't much else she could've done at that point. What was the point of words?

Quiet, to the point, with more than a hint of playfulness. That was what they were together. Whatever thoughtfulness came from Regal's side was countered by Alicia's penchant for doing unexpected things that seemed to refuse to turn out how she'd planned them.

Which was probably why it was a relief that Regal was the one who had offered a certain tentative plan.

"Alicia, when is your next day off?"

She loved how he would always ask, instead of simply going ahead and checking from the company database. "A full day, you mean?" At his nod, she responded with "In three days. Why?"

He looked somewhat disappointed. His expression quickly changed, letting Alicia know that he was serious about whatever this was, as well as nervous. Regal looked at her for a moment more before saying, "I would like to meet you."

I would like to meet you, Alicia. May I?

"You mean, outside of the kitchen? During the day?" Like an actual date?

The tension disappeared from Regal's shoulders, for the most part. It was always there, these days, but it showed how heavily this must have been weighing on his mind. He gave her a smile, and a nod.

"But I take it that you're busy then..."

"When else are you available?"

Fairly soon, the pair had drawn up a hurried calendar in a vain attempt of merging Regal's hectic schedule and Alicia's rather non-eventful one.

"How about then?"

"I've a meeting with Peter Vharley, the Exsphere broker. He refuses to be rescheduled." By the look on Regal's face, he'd already tried to do so, possibly several times. "How about..." He tapped one of the squares on the paper with his index finger.

"Regal, that's a holiday," she told him, surprised that he'd even suggest it.

"Then won't it work?" He sounded nearly as surprised as she felt.

"It's a holiday with the closest thing to a feast I'll ever see for dinner, a horrifically difficult lunch, and, well, fasting from morning until noon. But that's when lunch is being prepared and dinner started."

He looked vaguely impressed, as if he'd never wondered as to whom was cooking all that food on the holidays. "Won't work."

"Won't work," she agreed. "And you said you'd be gone on a trip from here -" She slid a finger from one square to another. " - to here." At his nod, she crossed the squares out. She then handed the pencil over, and he crossed out yet another row.

"How about then?"

She looked to where he was pointing and tapped the square after it, smiling at the memory of a plate of chicken and rice. Their anniversary. "Then."

He looked at her questioningly. "I'm sure that it was the day before... The night before, rather."

Alicia considered this and realized what the matter was with a laugh. "It was for you. It was two-thirty in the morning the for me."

Regal smiled and accepted having a two-day anniversary. "Are you free either day?"

"I don't think so- Oh. Melissa's off on the second day. My roommate," she clarified.

"The one with a Gregory Tate?"

Regal had the amazing ability to say little, unimportant things that showed just how much attention he paid to her, without even realizing he did. And usually in a tone that said he would always be on her side.

"Yeah. I should be able to switch with someone..." Renley -- a man in his early twenties with no first name that she knew -- shared her next day off after that day. If Alicia remembered correctly, Melissa had said something about dreading her next day off because Renley was all the woman she shared the day with would talk about. She couldn't remember the woman's name, but Melissa's stories of all her attempts to loose the woman for some peace and quiet were certainly stuck in her mind.

Renley was going to kill her if he ever found out she'd switched with that woman on purpose.

Or name her godmother to the firstborn, depending.

"With Melissa?"

"Melissa's my excuse." She continued with a smile, "I can't very well take a day off just to meet someone I don't know I'm going to meet, can I?"

"We're settled then?"

"Completely. When do I get to see you next?"

"How does three nights from now sound?"

"Far too long away," she replied honestly, "but I can deal with that."

"If only I could as well."

She gave a light laugh and the pair parted after what could only be called a private moment.

"See you in a month and a half, stranger."

.-.-.-.-.-.

It was a hot day in the resort of Altamira, a well-known seaside paradise. Enthusiastic screams came from the theme park, laughter from the beach. Dance in the Sunshine was heard from the many speakers, the staff having repaired the damage caused by the jingle incident a few months back. A few people stood up on benches and belted out the annoying melody, but were quickly pelted by fistfuls of seaweed.

People of the higher class lounged on the beach, sipping cool drinks as their children ran amuck in the water, doing their best to ignore the mere servants who'd been let loose for the day.

"I got it!" A girl of fourteen hit the ball back to her friend, bare feet leaving imprints in hot sand.

"No you don't!" the other girl called, a young woman of eighteen. "Oops!"

The ball flew back over the younger girl's head, close enough for her to think she might be able to reach it were she to lean back farther, farther, running backwards...

"Wahh- Oof!"

"Ali, you okay?" her friend asked, laughing as she jogged to her side. "You completely back-planted there."

"'Mokay..." Alicia replied getting up slowly. If she hadn't still been wet from her swim earlier, the sand would've really burned.

Melissa started laughing. "You-your back... Martel, this is priceless."

"What?" Alicia asked, trying to look. She'd been freaking out all morning, wondering when Regal would show.

"Your back is completely covered in sand. I mean, completely. Go wash off." Melissa made a shoving motion with her hands toward the ocean. "Shoo. I'll grab the ball." She paused an added quietly, "Give him a little longer. He probably doesn't recognize you in a swimsuit."

If anyone commented on Alicia's face being red, she could always blame it on sunburn. A hand going to the Octagon-Shell Turtle Twins charm at her throat and checking to see that the twine of the necklace was still as it should be, she splashed in, diving under once she was up to her waist. Alicia would never be overly fond of swimming, but with the charm of safety her sister had made for her before she'd left to live on this island was something that she loved to use. It made her feel like, no matter where she was, her big sis was looking out for her.

She came back up, opening her eyes carefully and glad that she had her hair tied back into pigtails. Though, she realized as she felt one, they were really gritty from all the sand. Seeing Melissa coming in after her, Alicia sunk down into the waves, her feet and a hand searching. The temptation was too great, even for her.

"See, that's better, isn't-"

People got this wonderful expression when seaweed was thrown at them. Alicia had noticed that often there was a pause, no matter how slight, before the reaction set in. In some cases, it was long enough for the one who threw the slimy gunk to slip away.

In other cases, it wasn't.

"Alicia Combatir!" Melissa shrieked, throwing it back at her.

Then they were chucking the stuff back and forth at each other, experiencing the familiar sensation of the weed's green, watery juices trailing down their arms. They'd been doing this for years, the first seaside game a twelve-year-old had taught a girl of eight. It had to be one of the oldest beach game there were. It was silly and completely undignified.

Which was why Alicia froze so completely when she saw Regal heading down the beach in their general direction.

"Jeez, Ali, you're supposed to move out of the way!" Melissa laughed, watching her sputter and pull the green mass off her head. She then followed the younger girl's gaze, looking back quickly when she saw him. "C'mon, let's go dry off," she said, starting to get out of the water.

"Right," Alicia replied, suddenly nervous, still holding the seaweed.

But not for long.

Once again, her name was yelled, and Alicia made a dash for the nearest human shield.

Regal looked rather surprised to find her behind him, laughing out "Hide me! Hide me!" with Melissa protesting the use of a bystander for cover.

"All right, all right," Alicia replied to her friend before giving Regal a smile and a "Sorry about that. We get a little carried away sometimes."

"Sometimes?" Regal questioned, in one of his playful moods.

There was a moment of awkwardness, but it was soon to pass. For pretending to be strangers, they didn't much act as if they were. In short order, the pair had become a trio, splashing about and talking. When Regal had taken off his shirt to go into the water, Alicia had looked away to the best of her ability. A short while later, with Melissa nudging her in the side with her elbow, she had claimed sunburn when asked why she was so red.

Alicia had guessed before, but now she was sure: Regal worked out.

One of the conditions about this date was that they wouldn't officially tell each other who they were. Alicia was the one who had put this requirement in place. It wasn't proper for a noble to deliberately fall in- to socialize with a commoner. That, and it was keeping truer to how they had met, for the real first time.

Far too soon, it was time for lunch, the day slipping away from them already. Melissa invited Regal to join them, knowing full well what she was doing. They'd packed a small cooler in the morning, guessing that they'd eat on the beach.

And, of course, they'd backed enough for more than two people. After all, it was very important to eat enough when one was exercising all day, Melissa explained. Hydrated, too. Would Ali mind grabbing the drinks?

Actually, Alicia did mind, but she took the small purse of Gald to the drink stand anyway. Melissa probably just wanted to get to know him and make sure he was good for her. She could've just taken Alicia's opinion, but then again, Alicia had never taken hers on Tate. There was, of course, how it was utterly ridiculous to compare Regal with Tate, but that was a matter that could be put aside for the moment.

She came back and found the pair sitting in silence. Regal was unreadable, but Melissa smiled broadly at her and gave her a look that clearly said that she approved as much as she could under the circumstances. It was a good lunch that followed, though Regal seemed a little more guarded than he had been before.

Alicia was beginning to find that Regal opened up to her far more than she had ever thought he did. It wasn't that he seemed to dislike Melissa. Rather, it was like he was suddenly treading very carefully and wasn't quite sure what a wrong step would be.

Melissa could have that affect on people sometimes.

As the three finished up their meal, Regal offered the idea of walking around a little and then going over the theme park. Would Alicia like to take on a ride on the Ferris Wheel?

Alicia choked on her drink and went into a coughing fit. Melissa gave him a look while pounding on her back, kneeling beside her on their blanket. Had he meant...? Please let him not have meant...

Her "sunburn" had just gotten very, very bad.

"What did I say?"

Melissa raised an eyebrow. "Ali, I think he actually doesn't know."

Alicia looked up at her, still coughing. How could someone his age not know that? Still, that was a relief, to be sure.

"What don't I know?"

"All right, guy. Let's think about it for a moment," Melissa began, looking both amused and embarrassed at the need to explain it. "The Ferris Wheel compartments are big enough for two. No one else can look in after it gets going. The thing is big enough for one ride around to last about ten minutes." She paused. "Do you see where I'm going with this?"

"Yes," Regal replied, looking nearly as "sunburned" as Alicia. "And I honestly didn't know."

Alicia avoided looking at him by taking a few sips of her water. Her throat wasn't feeling good after all that coughing, after all.

"Good."

The three were quiet for a moment, the sea breeze ruffling their hair.

"Is there anything else I should know?"

Melissa seemed to consider this for a moment. "Ali's not riding in your bumper car."

"The bumper cars were taken out three years ago," Regal replied, calmly to the ignorant observer. Alicia thought he looked somewhat unsettled. Apparently, the bumper car comparison hadn't reached noble ears. It really just meant that Alicia wouldn't be getting into trouble with him and that Regal would make sure of it, even if they had to be apart for a little while.

"Ali's not riding in your bumper car," Melissa repeated, as if Alicia weren't sitting next to her.

"All right," Regal agreed, evidently finding no reason not to. "She's not riding in my bumper car." Alicia would have to explain it to him later, she decided.

"Right then," Melissa replied with a grin, standing up. It was as if that conversation hadn't just taken place. "Let's go make ourselves nauseous on the cups!"

Melissa was one of those people one loved despite themselves.

"What are you, Melissa?" Alicia asked in an attempt to lighten the mood, holding out a hand to be helped up. "Eighteen or eight?"

"Eight!" Melissa replied brightly, pulling her up.

"So much for you being older than me."

Together with a practiced ease, they folded up the blanket and put it in the empty cooler. It would be fine to leave it there; the cooler and the blanket were company property.

Now fairly dry, the girls pulled on skirts and Regal put his shirt back on. Not that Alicia was disappointed or anything.

It wasn't like she was going to forget that sight any time soon.

Dance in the Sunshine still flowing from the speakers, Alicia couldn't think of a more apt name for what this day was feeling like, on the whole. Walking over to the boarding station for the elemental railway, she laughed as Melissa looked pointedly to her left. When Regal looked questioningly at the two of them, Alicia explained.

"A long time ago, Melissa found a... What was it?"

"Rotting monster thing," Melissa clarified. "Right over there." Without looking, she pointed to their right, at the water outside of the roped off swimming area. "So gross." Melissa shuddered.

"She hasn't been able to look over there for as long as I've known her," Alicia added.

"You're just lucky you didn't see it," Melissa countered, an old debate starting up. "Even if it was before you came here, you're still lucky. Scarred me for life."

"I think I remember that incident," Regal said thoughtfully. "It had gotten hit by a boat and swam to land."

"That's what everyone said," Melissa agreed. "But it didn't really look like a sea monster. It was more humanoid, not like a fish or an octopus."

"That was about eight years ago, wasn't it?"

Alicia leaned back against the rail of the bridge, glad they were finally getting along. Suddenly, she had the thought of how it would go if she were to try to introduce him to Presea or her Daddy. It was much better to be amused by Melissa's retelling of her only horror story while they waited for the railcar. Despite claiming to have been "scarred for life", it was a topic she was more than willing to talk about.

"Yeah, I was ten, so around that time."

Alicia waited with a small smile, knowing all the details of the tale of terror that was about to commence. The innocent girl walking along over the bridge thought she heard someone say her name and looked down at this repulsive thing, flailing in the shallow water. It reached up with these huge claws, gurgling something that truly sounded too much like her name for comfort. It was hideous, looking as if it was trying to trash out of its very skin. Three globs that could only be eyes stared at her inhumanly as it reached out to her, trying to grab her, making that horrific sound...

Melissa didn't continue her story, though. Instead, she was looking to Regal, waiting for him to say something. Alicia followed her gaze.

Regal looked as if something had just occurred to him. He turned to her and asked her, "Alicia, didn't you say you came to work here when you were eight?"

He was breaking the rules: he wasn't supposed to know anything about her that she hadn't told him today. "Yeah," she replied, confused. "Oh, the train's here!"

She and Melissa had gone a few steps before noticing that Regal wasn't following, those heavy footsteps missing. Alicia turned to face him, Melissa refusing to look back.

Over the years, Alicia had seen people hit in the head with many things. Pots and pans had fallen off of their hooks and collided with the skulls of those below. A flipped pancake had been over-flipped to smack into the back of a head on more than one occasion. She was very familiar to the reactions various friends had when pelted with seaweed. She knew several dozen ways people reacted when seabirds left dropping on them. Alicia knew how some of those expressions felt, having been hit with pillows, having had cold water poured over her head, having had seaweed dropped on her.

As far as Alicia could tell, nothing physical had collided with Regal's head. There'd been no sound to indicated that anything had.

Yet there was an unmistakable look in his eyes, as if he was too surprised to do anything but allow whatever disgusting substance it was slowly trickle down the back of his neck.

"Alicia," Regal asked slowly, "how old are you?"