A/N: Oh my Lord! It's been nearly TWO years since I've updated! I am SO sorry, guys! Uh, guys? -crickets chirp- Ummm...uh-oh...Do I have any reviewers still out there? Peoples, I am really sorry about the huge wait, and I really hope that at least one person is still looking for this...Who knows? Maybe some new people will appear...

Oh, yes. I've completely re-written this whole thing. It was in desperate need of help. Not that it's much better now, but, still. I tried. So, please read and please review! Rant, rave, and if your a newcomer, let me know what you think!

Disclaimer: I do not own Tales of Symphonia...It's been such a long time since I've said that...

Chapter 13: Training Session

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Though Presea had only gotten a little over four hours of sleep, she was already up and prepared for a long day.

A long day of training, that is.

The pink-haired woman was clad in a pair of light blue cotton bottoms, and white tank top. Her shoulder-length hair was tied up in a high ponytail, and she was ready for action. All she had to do was slip quietly out of the house. Which shouldn't be to difficult, considering the fact that everyone was still sleeping quietly. Even Regal was back in bed.

So, treading lightly, Presea made her way out of the patio door, and across the dewy grass. The sun was already peaking over the horizon, so she concluded that it was around six-thirty in the morning. Perhaps seven. Though she herself had only been in bed for about four hours, Presea still felt rested. She was finally ready to train.

Of course, if Regal knew what she planned on doing, he would put a stop too it; say that her ankle was not healed. Truthfully, it wasn't, and it was bothering her at the moment, but she didn't care. She needed to prepare herself.

And that was why she was sneaking out of the back door and trekking across the lawn silently. She wasn't going to let Regal catch her.

Stopping near the patch of woods to the left of Regal's property, Presea surveyed her surrounds. This was an adequate spot. Trees behind here, lawn before her; seclusion on one side, open space on the other.

"Yes, this will do," she spoke quietly.

Deciding to start small, Presea sat down on the slightly damp ground, stretching her legs out and reaching for her toes. It was best to do a few stretches before starting anything to strenuous. After about twenty of those each, she kept her legs stretched out and leaned forward, testing out how far she reach.

"Gee, I've really slacked off," she mumbled, finding that she could barely reach past her toes. She used to be able to lay narly complete flat. Then again, she had also been younger.

Not wanting to dwell on her past, Presea pulled herself up, moving on to toe-touches. Bending at the waist and kepping her legs erect, she touched her toes twenty-five times. She started to do a few jumping jacks, but stopped very quickly. Her ankle would not tolerate that.

Instead, she stood on the lawn, wondering what to do next. She suddenly felt slightly self-conscious. They only thing to do now was practice punching, kicking, and parrying. Yet, she wished she had a target. She should have constructed one.

"Out of what? A pillow and a stick?" she mocked herself aloud. So, with no pillow or sticks handy, she turned her attention to a spindly looking tree. It was as good as target as ever.

She drew her hands up in fighting position, keeping her body loose, yet tense. She really didn't want to hit the tree, but it was really her only option. So, she approched it slowly, treating it as she would an opponent. Quickly, she gave it a small jab. That wasn't nearly as painful as she had thought it would be, so she added on another. Soon, she was punching, jabbing, and dunking, just as if the tree was real.

Presea was so wrapped in her 'opponent' that she didn't hear the sound of approaching foot steps. Nor did she feel a pair watchful eyes on her. She did, however, come to life when a pair of strong arms wrapped around her, pinning her arms down as they did so.

Presea started, struggling in the strong grasp. Memories of Duke came flooding back in one huge tidal wave, which only added to her confusion and fear. Jerking her arm free, she elbowed her attacker in the stomach, and then brought it up quickly, poping the assailant in the chin.

The arms slipped from her quickly, and she heard the person let a groan.

A familiar groan.

"Oh my- Regal!" Presea spun around, her pale eyes wide. It was indeed Regal, kneeling on the ground and holding his face in one large hand.

She rushed to his side, adding, "What were doing! Oh Martel, did I hurt you?"

At her last comment, Regal meet her concerned gaze, his one of incredulousness. Yet he chuckled despite his pain. "I believe that tree has had enough abuse."

"Regal, what did you do that for! I- You-" Her stuttering trailed off, watching as he lowered his hand from his mouth. "You're bleeding! Martel, I've made you bleed!"

"It's nothing." Regal rose. Slowly. Presea was before him in mere seconds.

"I'm sorry, Regal! I didn't- I thought you were- Let me see." Her stammering gave way to concern.

"It's my own doing. I should not have come upon you so." He tried to evade her hand, but Presea would have none of it. She whapped him on the shoulder and commanded that he hold still. Regal felt as though it was a complete role-reversal.

"Stop!" Presea shot him a stern glare. "Let me see," she added in a softer tone, inspecting the small gash on his lower lip.

"It's nothing," Regal repeated, cathing her hand. "It really is my own doing. I should have annouced my presence."

Presea nodded in a agreement. "That would have been nice..." She stood on tip-toe, murmuring, "I am sorry," before kissing him lightly. She then turned, seemingly embarrassed, and saunteered back over to her tree opponent.

"What are you doing out here? So early?" Regal queried, changing the subject completely as he followed after her.

"Training," Presea responed simply.

Regal arched a dark brow. "So I see. You do realize that we have had a total of about five hours of sleep, correct?"

Presea shrugged. "I need to train."

Regal folded his arm's across his chest. "Do you really think your well-"

"No, I'm not, but I don't care. I was weak, Regal. My ankle is a result of that."

The determination in her voice told him that no amount of hounding would change her mind. So instead of trying to sway her, Regal dedcided to join her.

"You are not weak, but if you insist on it, I will train with you."

Presea met his gaze, surprised. "Really?"

Shrugging, Regal replied, "The tree is in need of a break."

Turning her gaze to the ground, Presea felt herself flush. She quickly pushed the feeling aside, however. "What if I injure you?" There was definitely a hidden, teasing tone in her voice.

Regal ignored her comment, stepping towards her and readying his arms. Though he swore never to use them as a tool for destruction, he did not classify training as destruction. "You want to train, then let us train."

Presea did just that. Regal quickly found out that she was quite nimble, and quite fast. If he didn't already know that she was injured, he would never have guessed it. She held herself well, and was efficient with her blows; it was as though she had never stopped training.

Presea, on the other hand, found that trying to land a punch on Regal was like trying to get a wall to talk- impossoble. He blocked every strike seemingly effortlessly. And he had just woken up! She thought about trying to land a kick in, but knew that her ankle would fold like a wet piece of paper. And so, she continued throwing punches, blocking the occasional blow that Regal offered.

She was becoming winded. Regal noticed it right away. Her swings were slowing. But she was determined to land a hit. So determined, in fact, that had left the lower portion of her body vulnerable. Deflecting her hard right hook, Regal simply used his foot to sweep Presea's feet out from under her, catching her swiftly before she landed on the grass.

Presea, recovering from her initial shock, gazed up at him, looking highly agitated. "You cheated."

"How so?" His smirk only added to Presea's annoyance.

"We aren't supposed to use our feet!"

"I don't recall that being said...And, may I remind you, that is my preference."

Presea calmly removed herself from Regal's hold. "May I remind you that I cannot use my feet?"

"Exploits one's weakness." He smirked, though his eye's held a smile.

Presea scoffed, readying herself. "Fine. Let's 'exploit' the other's weakness."

They tested each other for a good fifteen minutes. Regal deflecting most of Presea's blows; Presea dodging the strikes Regal offered. He didn't use his feet, nor did she. Both we're constantly moving, neither saying stationary. They circled, parried, took the blow, and then delivered one of their own.

Finally, both jumped back, each breathing heavily. Presea bent over, hands resting on her knees, trying to catch her breath. "Yo..you're...good."

"You are a...a worthy...ad..versary."

Presea couldn't help but give a small laugh. "We..sound hor..ribly out of shape."

"I've not..had such an excruci...ating work out for...sometime." Regal smoothed back his damp hair, the peeled of his t-shirt, leaving himself clad only in his pajama bottoms.

"Men are fortunate. It's not considered..indecent exposure if they...run about without a shirt," Presea commented, standing tall once more.

"If you want too..." At Presea's abashed expression, Regal burst into laughter. "Forgive me, Presea. I was only teasing."

Presea felt her face light up, and she was sure it was beet-red. "Do you- do you want to continue our workout?"

Regal nodded, his laughter dwindling down. He pulled readied himself, staying light on his feet. Drawing a deep breath, he replied, "Are you prepared?"

Presea nodded, tossing back the strands of hair that had worked their way out of her ponytail. She had rested long enough. "Yes."

The two leap back into action, each one more determined that ever to prevail victories. Presea, however, kept finding herself drawn more so to the before her than the actual battle. Her gaze kept finding it's way back to bare chest, and she would have to forcefully pull it back to the situation at hand. Her lack of attention was costing her; Regal had already landed a few good hits.

Regal quickly picked up on Presea's wavering attention, and couldn't keep a smirk off of his lips. She was focusing on him. She was slacking off so, and moving at such a slow pace, that Regal easily caught her on-coming jab. Grabbing her other hand, he drew her to him, grinning all the while.

"This isn't training," Presea mumbled, her heart picking up considerable speed at the close contact.

"I'm exploiting my enemy's weakness."

"Such arrogance," she murmured, his lips a breath away. She waited eagerly for him to close the gap, and felt her heart nearly burst when he did so. She willingly deepened the kiss, locking her hand's at the nape of his neck as he he tightened his grip on her waist.

There was no longer any doubt in her mind- she did love him.

She was musing over that fact when she heard approaching foot steps. Thinking that it was someone from the house, she ignored the sound, assuming that they would interrupt her soon enough. The sound of the deep voice, however, alerted her that it was not one of her friends.

In fact, it someone that she never wanted to see again.

"Well, well, well. Lookey here."

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A/N: Boy, that was a short chapter! I'm sorry, but I had to get this thing updated! I really needed to update! I really hope some of you guys old reviewers are out there, and again, I apologize for the super long wait. Please, please review! One little comment is all I'm asking for. I will definitly finish this; I enjoy working on it. So please, leave me comment.

I doubt there's any use to personally thank you reviewers, since most of you are probably gone, but I will just give a big thanks to those who did review to it. And to the fairly new people that read it even though it was old. Thank you all! Hopefully, y'all are still out there...