Chapter 11

( Alright, alright. Here's all that action jazz you've all been asking for. –cringe- If only I could write action as well as I can write fluff. Heh. By the way, thank you Rose-Wisteria, The Zelda Master, Twilight Trinity, Dragonwings144, Winged Dancer, Strawberry Eggs, and Silverfox09 for all your reviews. I appreciate it. You guys have NO IDEA. XD I appreciate all other reviews as well, by the way, but those folks have reviewed like every chapter just about, so… yeah. –bows down- On to the Chappie!)

The ninja raced down the stairs, having declared the elevator useless and hopelessly slow, and emerged three flights below at ground level. Her speed didn't falter, however, as she shoved through the crowded lobby. Her only thought was reaching the battle scene, Kage, and Zelos. Yet despite the frantic speed at which she raced to the fight scene, Sheena halted, frozen, just outside the hotel's sliding door. Her gaze was transfixed on the battle before her, between Kage and Zelos. She couldn't help it; their motions were so quick, yet so complex. Each swing of the sword was so swift, each block so instantaneous, it seemed like a well-rehearsed dance. A dance that Sheena was too mesmerized to interrupt.

Zelos's thoughts, however, couldn't be more different. He was fighting with all he had just to keep his head on his shoulders, while all the while waiting for an opportunity to lop off his muscular opponent's. He wanted more than just to survive… No, he wanted revenge. For everything. For Mizuho, for knowing just how to torture others, for Sheena. Mostly for Sheena. With a cry of rage, he swung Excalibur once more, changing his path mid-air and slashing Kage across the arm. The brunette gasped in surprise and pain.

"You NEVER touch her, got that!" Snarled the redhead, whose sword was now blade-to-blade with Kage's staff-like weapon and the battle had shifted from a test of speed to a test of strength.

Suddenly, the ninja caught sight of a smaller man with a dagger coming at Zelos from behind.

"NO!" She cried, at last released from the transfixion and covering the distance between her and the battle with unearthly speed. Bracing herself, the raven-haired summoner slammed into the smaller man with all her momentum and strength. He cried out in surprise and pain before falling swiftly to the ground, and with a sickening thud he was knocked unconscious. Sheena winced slightly at the sound, though she did not feel sorry for him. He deserved what he'd gotten. But that was the least of her problems right then.

As if the fall of the smaller man was a cue of some sort, the many shadows of Altamira took shape, and from each one another man stepped. There were many different shapes, sizes, and hair colors, yet none were as big, as sinister-looking, or as hated as Kage. They'd been waiting... Waiting for the time to strike. Zelos noticed the other men, yet to look away for even a moment would mean death for himself and likely Sheena as well.

The ninja glared fiercely at the many approaching thugs. To what purpose, she didn't know, but the glare held all the fury and hatred that she'd bottled up inside for so long. This brought a smirk to more than one of the men's faces. Time to fight. The first of them came, and Sheena was ready.

"Pyre Seal!" She cried, sending a wave of blue magic at the first. As soon as he fell, another took his place. "CYCLONE SEAL!" Another fell. Another took HIS place. And so the fight went on. The summoner was vastly outnumbered, yet she continued to fight against the odds, for if she failed… the ninja refused to think of what would happen if she failed. From the corner of her eye, Sheena noticed that Zelos was no longer locked in battle with Kage, but now he as well was surrounded by the buff man's lackeys. Kage was nowhere to be seen.

"Dammit! He ESCAPED!" She roared, her deep anger alone sending violent sparks of blue flying at the nearest few men. Yet even that was no use. Slowly, she and Zelos were being driven backward, 'till they were almost back to back. Down fell a blue-haired rat-like man, then a blond one with the appearance of a snake. Down fell the brunette that looked slightly similar to Kage himself, and down fell the black-haired bull-looking thug. With each step she backed, the ninja took three men with her. Yet they just kept coming! The numbers seemed inexhaustible. With one more step back, she bumped into Zelos, who thought her touch was that of one of the many thugs and whirled at her with his sword. Only in mid-swing did he realize it was Sheena, and his eyes widened as he tried to cease the sword's motion. The summoner, surprised by his sudden actions, swung her arm up in reflex to block the oncoming sword. The good news is, Zelos did manage to slow the sword. The bad news is, he couldn't slow it by much, and the razor-sharp blade sliced deep into Sheena's arm, drawing blood almost instantly. The ninja gasped in pain and dropped to one knee, cradling her gashed arm against her chest.

The redhead's cerulean eyes widened for a second time, for now he was without a capable ally and outnumbered twenty-to-one. 'There are too many of them!' He realized frantically, and even his Chosen pride knew when to continue fighting would be suicidal. Zelos as well dropped to one knee, wrapping an arm around Sheena to hold her close so his spell would cover them both.

"Guardian!" He cried, and instantly the protective blue dome surrounded the duo. Knowing full well that, with his angelic powers, Zelos could keep up his Guardian for far longer than they could wait, the mob slowly dispersed, grumbling at the loss of their entertainment and bloodshed. When the last of them left, Zelos removed the barrier, gasping to regain his breath from the effort of the fight. He removed his arm from around the young woman and knelt before her, concerned eyes searching her own. "Sheena, are you okay?" He questioned, worried at how bad he'd hurt her. The ninja met his gaze and, though her arm was stained crimson with blood from the wound, she nodded. Visions of the fight still danced before her eyes, and how fiercely he'd fought Kage for hurting her previously.

Again the question surfaced. Do I trust him? Sheena knew not when she'd gone from uncertainty to a definite 'yes', but it had happened. Was it earlier, in the hotel room, when he'd shown he truly cared? Or was it long before that? Even though he'd wounded her arm beyond mortal repair, she automatically trusted he'd done it by accident. And she no longer cursed herself for allowing such trust. 'To love someone is to give them the ability to break your heart and trust them not to…' Yet she pushed that thought away, refusing to even consider it. 'No, not yet. I'm not ready.'

Lloyd chose right then to come racing from the lobby, the way having been blocked by passersby trying to get away from the battle in the streets. He looked on helplessly, for, as much as he'd wanted to help, he'd also promised Sheena not to get involved. 'Note to self: Never, EVER, promise anything ever again.'

The redhead reached to her arm, touching the wound lightly and sending a warm tingle down to her hand and up to her shoulder.

"I… think I can fix this." He stated, much more confidently than he'd felt. The arm was cut nearly halfway through, and he knew not if he had the strength in him to repair such a wound.

"Zelos, no. You'll kill yourself trying. I'm fine." She managed to murmur through gritted teeth, pushing away the pain as her years in ninja training had taught her to do. The ninja had voiced Zelos's fears… Yet he had to try. Bringing his right forefinger and middle finger to her forehead, he exclaimed those familiar words.

"First Aid!" the Chosen exclaimed, and immediately he felt the energy drain from his body, seeming to flow straight out through his fingertips and into the summoner which he was attempting to heal. Slowly, the blood flow lessened. Excruciatingly slowly. After a while, even the simple act of breathing grew hard for him, for breathing took energy that he scarcely had. 'Will it stop? Or will I die like this?' he wondered, slightly panicked. The wound was barely half healed, and already he felt closer to dead than alive, held upright merely by the magic that held his two fingers to her brow. He'd never had to stop his magic mid-stream before… But either he stopped it now, or he'd likely die. With his remaining strength, Zelos jerked his fingers from her forehead, causing a moment's burning sensation as the magic mulled around in his fingertips. It seemed angry at him for ceasing it's flow… Yet eventually the burning passed.

"I healed it as best I could..." He mumbled, still trying to recover from the sudden loss of energy. Sheena was rubbing her forehead tenderly, for she too had felt the burning sensation. But she didn't complain; he seemed in much worse shape than her, even WITH her arm halfway severed. 'How much DID he heal it?' As if he'd read her mind, Zelos mumbled an answer. "First Aid, it… It heals things in natural order… The… the blood vessels healed first, so you… you won't bleed much. It'll just… hurt a while." Though by some miracle he managed that large amount of speech, it was broken and slightly slurred, as one would hear from someone under heavy drugs in a hospital.

The ninja looked up at the Chosen. He was resting on one knee, his head rested against the other as he attempted to recuperate. 'I never should have let him try and heal me. He was already weak from the fight…But what's done is done, and we've lost Kage again. I swear, if I ever see that ass again, I'll-'

"Sheena, Zelos? Are you guys okay?" Lloyd's tentative question interrupted her thoughts. While she was thinking, he had approached unnoticed, and now he looked down at the two as if unsure of who to offer aid to first. They both looked pretty bad to him, Sheena with her arm and Zelos with his weakness.

"I'm fine. It's him you should worry about." advised Sheena, her Mizuho pride forcing her out of some assistance she otherwise would have accepted in an instant. Lloyd hesitated a moment, unsure despite her reassurance, before kneeling next to Zelos.

"We need to get back to the room. We're attracting a crowd." The ninja murmured to her companions, and Lloyd nodded, eyes sweeping the people who were slowly starting to gather and wonder at what was happening. "Zelos, let Lloyd help you back to the room." She prompted. Grudgingly, Zelos complied, draping one arm over Lloyd's shoulder and accepting his aid to rise. In a slow and laborious manner, they make their way back to the room, and after what seems like forever, the summoner, the redhead, and the swordsman found themselves sitting in Room 100 once more.

By then Zelos had recovered somewhat, though he still leaned heavily on the backboard of the bed for support. Occasionally, the other two sent him worried glances, yet that grew less and less frequent as the conversation went on.

"Ugh… How could I be so stupid to lose him AGAIN?" Sheena chastised herself from her spot on the floor adjacent to the bed, banging her head on the wall behind her in a mild form of self-punishment.

"Not your fault." Zelos insisted, his voice now only mildly impaired. Reluctantly, the ninja ceased her head-banging. After a moment, her soft voice broke the silence.

"Where do we go from here? He left no clues. He could be headed for Welgaia for all we know." She fumed, still unconvinced that she wasn't the one responsible for their failure. Her words were an exaggeration, of course; no mortal short of the Chosen's group had ever set foot in the city of the angels and lived to tell the tale. Aside from that and Derris-Kharlan, however, Kage truly COULD be anywhere. Or at least be headed anywhere, for it was highly unlikely that he had arrived wherever he was going in this short a time.

"Meltokio." The redhead declared, and at the other two's questioning looks he proceeded to explain. "The blonde guy… said he was from Meltokio." Though that 'explanation' brought even MORE questions to Lloyd's mind, Sheena understood perfectly, remembering all to well their mishap in Sybak. The blonde snakelike man that had celebrated Kage's victory. The victory that had destroyed life as she knew it.

"Meltokio it is, then." She agreed.

"And when we get there, I'll kick his-"

"Lloyd!" Sheena interrupted the brunette's declaration, a scolding look on her face.

"What?" Lloyd questioned innocently, a look of confusion upon his face.

"The promise." She reminded gently, and the swordsman's face fell.

"Oh yeah, that." He grumbled, his gaze on his feet. Silence enveloped the group, in which each wondered at their own questions. Sheena wondered how they were ever going to get out of this mess, Lloyd wondered who the 'blonde guy' was, and Zelos wondered what promise Sheena was referring to. After a while, however, Sheena brought her gaze up once more, attempting a light-hearted façade.

"So, how are you and Colette?" She questioned, attempting to lighten the mood a bit. This brought an almost childlike gleeful look to Lloyd's face.

"We're good. No, great! We're living on the outskirts of Iselia now. It's grown so much since you two were last there. Now the borders of the city are only a little ways off from Dirk's house. The villagers built us a nice little house in thanks for saving the world. They said it was the least they could do." He beamed. Sheena couldn't help but smile. If anyone deserved a house build for them as thank you, it was Lloyd and Colette. They were the courage, the faith, the strength, and the determination of the group when everyone else was ready to give up. They were what pulled us through to face and redefine the impossible. She looked up at Zelos to find him smiling too. That smile, the one that warmed her even when she was out in the frigid chill, the smile that- 'Sheena! SNAP OUT OF IT!'

"That's great. I always knew you two would get together in the end." She replied. A cloud that was previously blocking the sun shifted to expose the fiery day-star once more, reminding Sheena of their journey ahead. So many days she'd looked to the sun for the time that it became a reliable reminder to focus the ninja on the quest. She looked to Zelos, somewhat hesitant to ruin the mood.

"If you're feeling better, I think we should go…" She mused softly, and the redhead nodded in response, pushing himself to the edge of the bed and rising somewhat shakily. The summoner almost changed her mind, noticing how unsteady he seemed, but before she voiced her concerns he managed to stabilize himself and turned to her expectantly. Sheena glanced to Lloyd, who immediately caught the hint.

"Yeah, I should go too. I need to stop by and see Genis and the Professor on the way back to Iselia. They live in Sybak now, haven't you heard? Raine wanted to 'immerse herself in her study'." When he came to Raine's words, he put on a tone that one such as Zelos would describe as 'fancy-pants'. This drew a chuckle from all three of them. When their moment of amusement was through, however, Sheena rose to her feet, joining the other two at full altitude before tucking her essential objects under her ribbon. With one last look at the nice, comfortable, inviting bed, she sighed and stepped from Room 100.

The trio walked in silence to the entrance of the Seaside Paradise, for none could think of anything to say when they were so close to parting ways once more. Part of Sheena wished Lloyd could come with them; he was their good friend, after all, and his swordsmanship would likely prove quite helpful. But he was often reckless and many a time the brunette plunged into battle without thought of the consequences, something that would likely get him killed, when dealing with Kage. It was that exact piece of knowledge that made her demand he promise not to get involved. It was bad enough that Zelos could be killed because of her, she didn't want Lloyd in that danger too. In a sense, it truly was because of her. Because they had wanted to destroy every last one of the ninjas, and she had slipped past their assault.

At last, they reached the arch that read 'Welcome to Altamira!', though you had to stand on the opposite side to read it properly. At their last parting, Sheena had hugged Lloyd fiercely, for he had been her closest friend during the Journey of Regeneration… She glanced at Zelos. This time, hugging Lloyd didn't seem right.

Zelos refrained from embracing the swordsman as well, as he too had done when their last journey had ended. He was only messing around, of course, when he'd hugged Lloyd. Still, that didn't seem right anymore, not with Sheena there.

"Uh… Goodbye, I guess." Lloyd shuffled uncomfortably. He'd always hated goodbyes. Not only did they tear friends apart, but they were often awkward and drawn-out.

"Seeya, buddy." Zelos teased, using the nickname-of-sorts he'd often bugged the brunette with along the course of the journey.

"Later, Lloyd. I'll see you again, sometime. Heck, I may even come visit you in Iselia, when we kick Kage's ass." She grinned. 'IF we kick Kage's ass.' Those words were left unsaid, though all three of them thought that question as Lloyd strode off one way and the other two strode off the other. Though the day was warm and the birds were chirping away, the ninja harbored and pondered the familiar doubt. 'What if we don't win? What then?'

(Hehe. This one was better than I thought it would be. I was most of the way through what I'd had planned, but only a third of the way through the 3000 or so words this chapter is. Yay for useless fluff. xD)