Chapter 12

(I don't know how many times I've started off a chapter with this word, but wow. I'm still so amazed at how far I've gotten. I may even finish this fic! Mwahahaha. Don't worry, I intend to try my hardest so this one doesn't die like the others did. Mree. Whoa, and did you know that in mythology, Heimdall was the guardian of Asgard? Heimdall must have been a person. It's kinda cool, since Heimdall and Asgard are both in ToS. And by the way, for the sake of this fic I'm making his mansion much much bigger than it is in the game. Like four stories high. Hehe. )

It's funny, how you can pass by something a million times yet never truly notice it. This was the case for Sheena as she and Zelos strode up to the ivory arch that marked the entrance to the Imperial City. For the first time, her hazel eyes caught the golden horses carved into each of the upper corners, poised to leap over the massive doorway. For the first time, as she passed between the two wide-open doors, did she notice the intricate designs carved upon each one. The doorway in itself was a work of art. 'Heh, and I thought Altamira was fancy.'

The pair made their way up the cobblestone path, between the twin light-posts of bronze and the twin light-posts of pure gold, each adorning a flag bearing Meltokio's colors, red and teal. Before they could set foot upon the equally ornate stairway, however, a small brown-haired boy came scampering up to Zelos, tugging on his sleeve with wide eyes. The redhead obliged to the small child's request, kneeling down to his level.

"Hello there, Finn!" He greeted, a wide grin on his face. Sheena glanced from the Chosen to the young boy. 'Hmm, I wonder which is more mature?' She thought to herself, and a ghost of a smirk appeared on her lips. Even though he was more tolerable nowadays, the young woman still enjoyed making fun of Zelos at times.

"Hewwo, Chosen." The young boy replied, and from his manner of speech Sheena decided he was only about seven. 'How does Zelos know this boy?' she wondered, but decided it wasn't important to ask.

"How've you been? Have you been a good boy while I was gone?" Teased the Chosen, which drew a giggle from the boy, whom Zelos had called Finn.

"Yeah!" Finn grinned, and Zelos nodded as if saying 'good job'. After a moment, the redhead looked up to Sheena, though his words were still to the boy.

"Finn, this is Sheena. She's going to stay here in Meltokio for a while." He explained, and the boy's eyes widened at the ninja. This was the first time the young brunette had seen a REAL ninja before, though he knew what they were from his mother's explanations. However, his mother had portrayed them as dirty thieves. He squinted, scrutinizing the woman before him. 'She doesn't wook wike a dirty thief to me.' Finn decided, and grinned at Zelos again.

"Are you guys married?" He asked innocently, which caused Sheena's own eyes to widen, and she turned away to hide her reddening cheeks. Zelos merely smiled slightly, and his reply came without missing a beat.

"Not yet."

'Not yet? NOT YET? What's THAT supposed to mean? I don't intend to marry him anytime in the near OR distant future, so he'd better not have THAT idea.' The ninja fumed, still a bright red.

"Can you and Sheena come pway with me?" Pleaded Finn, and the redhead chuckled, standing up once more.

"Sorry, Finny-boy, I've got business to take care of here in Meltokio before we have to leave again."

"Aww, do you have to?" The boy whined, and Zelos nodded.

"Yep. It's really important." He hushed his voice for effect, and the child nodded, obviously under the impression that the 'business' was some big secret. Something Zelos had learned since he'd first met the young boy when Finn had gotten lost in the slums was that the child would keep a secret to the grave, if he had to. Secrets were a big deal to the brown-haired boy, and even the mention of something hush-hush would silence his chatter.

Just then, a shrill, somewhat dignified cry of 'Finn! For Martel's sake, get back here!' broke the mood. The boy sidled behind Zelos, clinging to his miraculously white pants in an attempt to hide himself.

"Cassandra! He's over here, hunny!" Zelos called out, and the boy squeaked and buried himself deeper in the folds of Zelos's colorless slacks. Almost immediately, a large-chested woman with long blonde curls piled up on her head and a large blue gown appeared, lifting the sides of her gown to navigate the stairs as all proper ladies do. Coming to a stop before the pair, she gazed at Zelos expectantly.

"Well? Where his he?" She demanded, and Zelos reached a hand down to nudge the boy from his hiding place. "Finn! How dare you run off like that! You had me worried sick!" The boy gazed at the ground shamefully, an act that had always pleased his overly proper mother before. After a moment, he gazed hopefully up at the woman, his eyes pleading.

"But the Chosen is back!" He pleaded, knowing that would be the best way to avoid trouble for his actions. Ever since Zelos had taken a liking to the boy when he'd rescued him from the Slums, Lady Cassandra had been steering the Finn toward him, hoping that the Chosen's liking to her son would help her convince him to wed her. Yes, she was just another fangirl. But one of the more dignified ones, if she did say so herself. At his mention of the Chosen, she looked up at Zelos once more, batting her eyelashes in a flirty fashion.

'Oh puh-lease.' Sheena thought in disbelief. If this Cassandra woman were any more obvious, she'd be screaming 'I WANT TO HAVE YOUR CHILDREN'. 'Which I wouldn't put below her, right about now.'

Though her notice of Sheena was somewhat belated, the lady soon turned a disdainful eye on the violet-clothed ninja. 'I see the 'torn and dirty' look is back in.' She snorted to herself, eyeing the other woman's apparel with distaste. Out loud, her words were much less insulting… Though her tone said it all.

"Who's she?" Cassandra scoffed, and the ninja offered a nice, friendly death-glare in return. She didn't intend to let one of Zelos's floozies treat her like scum.

"This is Sheena. She's a good friend of mine… Is that a problem?" Though his voice was as lighthearted as usual, there was an underlying threat in his words. Sheena interpreted them as something along the lines of 'Say anything worse than 'Your clothes look nice.' and I'll have you beheaded.'… Or something like that. She wasn't too fluent in Zelos-speak anyways.

"Will she be staying long?" Cassandra asked innocently, though she was sending the ninja the snobbiest, most derisive look she could manage.

"Only for a few days. Then we'll be leaving again." He replied, with emphasis on the 'we'll'. "Don't worry, hunny. I'll be back before you can miss me too much!"

"You'd better." The noblewoman replied somewhat teasingly before herding her son off up the stairs once more. After a pause, Sheena broke the silence. She coughed slightly.

"Well. She seemed… nice." The summoner stated, barely able to force out that last word. Zelos smiled dryly, agreeing with her in a way that nobody who witnessed could use against him. Sure, they could try. They could say 'Zelos thinks you're all bitchy know-it-alls!', but how could they prove it? 'Well, that ninja said you were nice, in a way that didn't really mean you were nice, and Zelos smiled in a way that meant he agreed.' See where others might get confused?

"Let's head for my mansion, or there's a pretty good chance that more'll come. I'm a chick-magnet." He advised, somehow managing that last statement with a totally straight face. The ninja nodded, and together they hastily ascended two flights of stairs and veered right into the nobles' section. Before they'd taken two steps in, however, Zelos spotted one of Cassandra's closest friends, another of the many women he called 'his hunnies'. "Oh shit." Before the woman could notice him, however, he grabbed Sheena's sleeve and pulled her into the bushes on the left. Or what looked like the bushes. Instead, the violet-robed summoner found herself being dragged along a narrow path, brick walls nearly close enough to touch her shoulders. When they emerged once more, the two were on a grassy hill, overlooking a large complex garden, one that you could wander for hours yet never discover all it's mysteries. 'Remember to take a walk there later.' She noted in wonder, before following Zelos along small trail to his house. When she caught up, he was standing before the backside of said mansion, surveying… something.

"If you take a flying leap from there, spring off of that over there, grab-" Sheena's eyes widened. He was attempting to plan her leap to the balcony far above their heads. She interrupted him mid-stream.

"No. Nuh uh. Noooo way. There's no way you're getting me to jump up there. Why don't you do it?" She objected.

"Nope, no-can-do. See, you're a ninja. Not the best ninja in the world, but a ninja nonetheless. And I… I'm not. Therefore, it's your job to do the fancy little leaps and get up there, then send a rope down for me." He explained, as if he'd done it a million times. She decided to ignore his 'not the best' comment.

"Yeah, and there's just gonna be a really long rope conveniently piled right there." She raised an eyebrow, and her voice was skeptical. Zelos beamed.

"Actually, there is." He confirmed, still beaming. Sheena sighed in aggravation.

"Why don't you use your fancy little wings to fly up there?" She suggested, by no means intending to make the leap Zelos was planning. His face fell, and he shivered slightly, as one would when reliving not-so-pleasant memories.

"I guess I can…" The redhead stated hesitantly. He closed his eyes, drawing deep inside himself to reach for the magic that would reveal his fiery orange wings. Almost immediately, the familiar chill came over him. That's why he hated to draw his wings. Whenever he had them out, he was cold, chilled to the bone… and alone. It felt like he was the only being in the world, even if he knew he wasn't. The redhead didn't know why it was like that… Colette seemed to have no problem with her wings. Perhaps it was because he deserted Cruxis before they had fully completed his angel transformation. Perhaps not. It could be anything, but he had no time to ponder more, for his wings had at last faded into existence.

The ninja slightly regretted making him bring out his wings. She had noticed something strange about him, something like dread, when she'd mentioned it… And when he opened his eyes once more, something was different. They were distant, in a sense. Cold. Sheena couldn't help herself; she shivered as well. She didn't like this Zelos, not one bit. That was the last time she intended to even hint he draw his wings. And she hoped he wouldn't draw them otherwise, either.

He wrapped an arm around her middle, making sure she wouldn't slip from his grasp, before his wings flapped softly into life. This didn't bring the summoner the warm feeling she usually got from his touch… Not this time, for his hand and arm were freezing cold. Just like his eyes.

This was the first time she'd flown without the aid of a Rhieard, and she wasn't sure she enjoyed the helpless feeling it brought her. Otherwise she would have trusted him not to drop her, but after such visible changes… the ninja wasn't so sure anymore. It was a relief when she was safely upon the balcony, enough so that she allowed herself to sink to her knees and rest a moment. When she looked up once more, she was relieved to find that the redhead was back to normal. Back to warm-eyed, wingless Zelos.

"Well… This is my place." He informed nonchalantly, as if it weren't completely obvious. The ninja couldn't help but smirk.

"Oh really? I couldn't tell." The sarcasm was heavy in her tone, and Zelos snickered. He waited for her to rise to her feet before opening the multi-colored stained glass door and entering his room.

"Yes, really, and this is my room. No, you can't take a shirt as a souvenir."

"Um, why would I want to?" The ninja queried, lifting up the nearest shirt with two fingers and holding it out at arm's length.

"Because I'm irresistibly sexy." He informed, snatching the shirt and tossing it out of sight. "Next question, why didn't Sebastian clean up around here? This is just as dirty as when I left!" Sheena didn't bother to answer that, or even try. After all, what would she know about the actions of Zelos's butler? "Anyways, where was I? Oh yeah. This is my room. At its worst, I admit, but still my room. You can stay here, if you like…" At the ninja's 'not gonna happen' look, he sighed and continued. "Or you can stay in the guest room next door." Still the look. "Two doors down?" Still the look. "Alright, alright. You can have the room at the end of the hall. Happy?"

"Quite." Replied the ninja before she stepped out into the hallway, leaving Zelos to do what he wished with the mess he called a 'room'. The mansion hadn't changed a bit since she had last stayed there… She'd always loved it, and how effortlessly beautiful it seemed. With it's warm cream-hued walls and it's gold, silver, and ivory touches here and there, the house was perfect. 'Well, almost perfect, though the house bears no responsibility for the idiocy of it's resident.' Sheena felt no urge to smirk, however… Either insulting the redhead was getting old, or she was too fond of him to insult him. Hastily, she chose the first option. 'Fond of that pervert? What kind of bullshit is that?' the summoner mentally scoffed. The one thing she didn't like about the place was the massive amount of stairs involved in getting from floor to floor… 'Screw exercise. I could stay fit by just walking up to my room each night. Heh.'

A sudden impulse fought it's way to the young woman's attention, and her lips spread into a mischievous smirk. She brought herself over to the banister, running her hand down the closest length of it experimentally. Wooden, but the smoothest wood she'd ever felt. Perfect. Before she could talk herself out of it, the ninja had placed her rear on the banister and was sliding down at near breakneck speeds. 'Breakneck, meaning what'll happen if I slip.' She thought dryly, but it was too late for second thoughts. So Sheena brought her head down for less wind resistance and let speed and gravity do all the work. Past three floors-- or was it four? she'd been sliding too fast to count-- she slid, reaching speeds she didn't even know were possible, let alone on a simple wooden banister. A laugh of sheer bliss forced from her throat, yet she didn't bother to silence it. Zelos was still in his room far above, he likely couldn't hear her laugh. 'Thank god there aren't any bumps.' Yet the summoner should have known not to think that, with her streak of predicting the worst, for she'd reached ground level and the banister curved near vertical before her.

Eyes widening, the ninja could do nothing but watch with dread as she sped toward the incline. Or as she sped up the incline. She regained use of her limbs, however, when she found herself soaring through the air. The young woman held both hands up to her right, attempting to use wind pressure to her advantage, and thank Martel she succeeded, turning her frame little under 90 degrees so she was coming at the ground head-on. Somehow, due to some miracle, she managed to land on her feet, though the sheer momentum forced her to her knees, then to rest on her hands as well. Two hazel eyes blinked in shock… And then she laughed once more. Clear, pure laughter. It had been so long since she'd been allowed the privilege of having fun. In Mizuho, everything had been so strict, so old fashioned. She could barely laugh without many condescending glares thrown her way... This little adventure was so insignificant compared to the others as of late, yet so much better for her soul. Live, Laugh, Love…

"Though the slide was absolutely perfect, your landing needs work." Commented a certain redhead, though it earned him no smack or even a little glare. On the contrary, Sheena was still smiling when she turned to him, unfazed by his teasing. So, being Zelos, he continued. "I'm sorry, but your job description reads 'depressed, easily angered, violent, demonic banshee'. In no part of that does it give you permission to smile."

"It was my first offense." The 'banshee' put on the face of one pleading innocent before one like the king, complete with wide eyes, and they both laughed a few moments more.

"Sad but true. But wait a moment... Your first offense, what sort of punishment does that deserve?" He feigned contemplation, and the summoner's eyes widened. She knew he was going to demand something she didn't want to give, though how much he was to demand was still unknown. "As punishment for your crime, you owe me… One kiss." He smirked. 'There's no way to get out of this one, my dear Sheena!' He thought gleefully.

"No." Okay, maybe she could get out of it. The redhead frowned, disappointed to lose so easily. At his frown, the ninja shook her head. "Not going to happen. I do not, nor will I ever, intend to kiss you."

"Don't do the crime if you can't be a mime." He shrugged, blissfully unaware of how badly he'd butchered the saying he'd intended.

"Don't you mean 'do the time'?" Sheena offered.

"Heh, something like that."

"Zelos, you never cease to amaze me." She stated, but as he opened his mouth to reply she cut him off. "No, not like that, get your mind out of the gutter! What's your IQ, like six?"

"It can't be." He stated, with his familiar 'I-know-something-you-don't' grin.

"And why not?" Questioned the ninja, though she knew full well that something stupid like 'because I'm too pretty to be that smart' would result.

"Because it takes nine IQ to grunt. And I can grunt. See?" With this he made a sound that somewhat resembled a grunt. After a moment of silence, the both of them burst out laughing. "Seriously though, you need a lot of work on your landing skills." He teased, striding over to Sheena and offering a hand to help her up. She took it, for without it, the knees she so clumsily landed on would likely not unfold. Even after she'd risen fully, it took a moment of leaning heavily on the Chosen's arm to right herself, at which point she hastily dusted herself off and re-adjusted her robe so it hung straight once more.

The day went on in rather the same manner, though a bit less exciting. What happened doesn't truly matter, and you'd likely be bored hearing of it all. What matters is, Zelos managed not to screw up and Sheena didn't rip his head off, or even feel the urge to. When night fell, they parted, the ninja to her room and the Chosen to his.

"The offer's still open." Suggested the redhead, but the summoner merely chuckled slightly and shook her head.

"And I still say no. Goodnight, Zelos." With this she turned and entered her room, closing the door softly behind her. Zelos didn't move, however, not at first. Only when he heard the slow, steady breathing of the ninja's sleep did he budge.

"Goodnight, Sheena." He softly spoke, and with that, Zelos tiptoed back to his room and crawled into his nice, soft bed. Yet Sheena's eyes were still open, for she had not fallen asleep so easily. For the first time in what seemed like forever, the young woman was completely and totally alone. No faint whispered breath sounded nearby, no shufflings as her traveling companion of sorts shifted in his sleep. This unnerved the ninja slightly… As much as she wanted to deny it, the most comforting thing right then would be the redhead's presence nearby. So when she heard his voice, whispered through her wooden door, a smile came to her lips. 'No, I'm not truly alone... And if things continue as they are, I never will be again.'

( Aww... Hehe. I hope you liked it. Mree.)