Chapter 2: Strawberries

"Sounds good to me! Good job, my little Colette," Zelos replied while putting an arm around her.

"Thanks, Zelos," Sylvaraunt's former Chosen smiled happily.

"Zelos, leave her alone you pervert!" the summoner warned as she dragged him away by the back of his shirt.

"Aww, come on. Don't get jealous now, my Violent Demonic Banshee," he flirted.

"You've got to be kidding me! Ugh, I'm going to bed!" the now enraged Sheena shouted, dropping the redhead on the floor as she darted up the stairs.

"Ow! See, I told you she's a banshee!" the young noble whined. The whole group sweatdropped and hung their heads in exasperation at the scene, forgetting about the earlier incident between Zelos and Lloyd. Genis was the first to recover.

"Oh, I almost forgot, we won't be going to the Ice Temple until the day after tomorrow. Raine and I kinda arranged to decorate one of the larger rooms for a Christmas party tomorrow. The actual party is going to be on Christmas Eve, which is two days from now. We'll go to the party after we finish examining the ruins," the mage explained.

"That's awesome! Just us at the party?" Zelos exclaimed as he got up from the floor.

"That's right."

"Woo-hoo! Count me in!" He shouted as he raised his right fist in the air in a cheer.

Everyone agreed to help as well, and Colette promised she'd tell Sheena the details that the ninja had missed out on. The whole party said their goodnights and walked up to their rooms. Only the seraphim and the president of the Lezarano company remained in the lobby.

"Well, this is awkward…" Kratos finally spoke up.

"Indeed," Regal answered.

The angel sighed. "You seem to be the only sane person left in this group. Would you care to discuss what happened between my son and that idiot Chosen?"

The noble brought a hand up to his chin thoughtfully. "Of course. I'm always up for a good debate," he answered as he followed the mercenary up the stairs. Kratos sighed again. This was going to be a long night.


Lloyd cursed under his breath as he stared at the white ceiling of the hotel room, sleep refusing to claim him. No matter how much he bundled up in the blankets, he was still cold. Shivering, he rolled over to face the other bed that was occupied by Zelos, only to find the said person staring at him with a concerned gaze.

"Hey Lloyd, you look kind of cold. Why don't you slip in with me?" The Chosen questioned, sitting up and patting the space next to him.

"Wh-what?" Lloyd stuttered. He could feel his cheeks heating up.

"Whoa, hey, chill out, man. Body heat's pretty much the fastest way to warm somebody up." Zelos replied, flashing Lloyd his trademark smile.

The Eternal Swordsman's blush deepened, and he fixed his gaze on the wood floor. It was a moment before he opened his mouth, hesitated, but finally answered. "…Okay." Zelos responded by padding over to his roommate's bed and offered to help him up. 'Why is he acting so…so…' Lloyd desperately tried to think of a word as he took the Chosen's hand and walked over to the other bed.

Slipping under the covers next to his friend, Lloyd gasped when Zelos pulled him closer so that his head was resting against the older bishonen's chest. "Better?" he asked innocently. Well, as innocent as Zelos can get.

"Y-yeah…" Lloyd stuttered before adding a quiet "Thank you." Zelos had answered with a smile. Lloyd absent-mindedly looked out the window to see the snow falling silently outside. Snow. 'That's right…' the swordsman thought, remembering the conversation he had with Zelos the last time they were in this city. His expression darkened slightly at the memory. "Zelos…it's snowing. Does it bother you?"

The angel's expression held a bit of sadness as the smile faded. "Maybe a little. But that's okay. 'Cause now, I know there are people who want me to live. And I'm not the Chosen anymore."

"I wanted you to live even when you were the Chosen," Lloyd reassured.

Surprise flashed across Zelos's face for a split second before returning to the usual, carefree smile. "Thanks, Bud. That means a lot," Zelos felt the said person finally relax and snuggle closer as he mumbled a faint goodnight. He waited until he was sure Lloyd was asleep before brushing a lock of the boy's spiky hair out of his face and whispering into the night. "Really, Lloyd, it does mean a lot. More than you'll probably ever know…" He planted a kiss on the Eternal Swordsman's forehead. The angel fell asleep soon after that, basking in the joy of being this close to his love, if only for a single night.


Zelos chuckled to himself. Lloyd was always the last to get up and this day it would prove to be very entertaining.

The swordsman slowly awoke, but refused to open his eyes. The first thing he noticed, much to his dismay, was that Zelos was no longer near him. Well, that was to be expected. The former Chosen probably got bored waiting for him to wake up. Plus, it was warmer now. Zelos wouldn't want to sleep with him longer than he had to.

…Right?

The second thing he noticed was that something was tickling his face.

"Stupid bugs…" he said as he brought a hand up to his face to swat the said 'bug'. The idealist let out a cry as his face came in contact with a glob of whipped cream. "Gah! What the hell!" It was then that Lloyd noticed the snickering perpetrator, who was hiding one of his shiny orange feathers and a can of whipped cream behind his back, trying to look as innocent as possible. Lloyd brought his other hand to his face to wipe it off, failing to notice that the foamy substance was on that hand as well. Zelos finally burst out laughing, no longer able to feign his innocence.

"Ahaha! Lloyd… y-your face is priceless!" he managed to gasp out. Trying to stop laughing only made him laugh harder, and he was unaware of the fact that he dropped the can of whipped cream, which rolled over by his roommate's feet. Lloyd smirked and picked up the can, slowly walking over to Zelos, who was clutching his stomach from all the laughter.

He waited for Zelos to look up at him, and his smile broadened at the Chosen's frightened expression. "Payback."


"AAAAAAH!"

Sheena dropped the book she was reading in the lobby and nearly fell of the couch at the high-pitched scream that could only belong to Zelos. How a guy could reach that high of an octave was beyond her.

Raine looked up from some of her research papers as well. "What in the world was that?"

The summoner sighed. "I think the guys are awake," she said.

"Something tells me this is going to be picture worthy," Genis said. The rest of the party followed the half-elves and the summoner to the second floor. Genis was about to open the door when Sheena stopped him. She pressed her ear against the hard oak door to try to figure out what was going on in there. It was obviously some kind of struggle, judging by the occasional thud of someone bumping into something.

"Okay, I'll open it on the count of three," Sheena stated simply. Genis readied the camera.

"I'm afraid to look," Colette spoke up.

"One…two…three!" The summoner pushed the door open in one fast movement. All the party could do was stare in shock, aside from the young half-elf, who dropped the camera right after he took the picture. There Zelos and Lloyd were, laughing and rolling around on the floor in nothing but their boxers, both covered in whipped cream.

"Oh, hey everyone. What's up?" Lloyd asked casually, completely oblivious of the position he was in. Currently, he was on top of the redhead, pinning his arms above his head and straddling his hips in a manner that was beyond suggestive.

"Uhh…Lloyd? I think we'd better get dressed…" Zelos said, only making it sound worse.

"Wha?...Uhhh...," His gaze traveled down their barely dressed bodies. "Oh! Dammit, this is not what it looks like! You have to believe me!" the boy shouted as he jumped off his companion, mortified. He waved his hands in front of him for emphasis.

The door slammed shut and was followed by two thuds and a cry of "Kratos! Sheena! Are you okay?"

"Well, aside from the interruption, that was kind of fun, huh?" Zelos asked as if nothing happened.

Lloyd glared at his companion and smacked him upside the head before stomping off into the bathroom to wash up.

"OW! Why does everyone hit me these days?"


Genis snickered as he took a picture of the seraphim clutching the hilt of his sword, looking quite paranoid at the moment. And he definitely had reason to be. The half-elf suppressed his laughter. He had caught every embarrassing moment that had happened that day on film. Besides the picture of Lloyd and Zelos from earlier, he had caught his sister trying to kiss Kratos, who had been in charge of hanging up mistletoe. The mercenary had broken his normally calm composure for the second time that day and had run off as fast as he could to find something else to do. He had also taken a picture of Sheena who had suspiciously snuck outside. In the end, she had come in carrying a snowball. Kratos was too busy hanging up banners to notice her approach, and she had promptly stuffed the snowball down the back of the 4000-year-old angel's shirt. The following picture was of Raine giving Sheena a high-five.

Presea walked up to the young half-elf. "Excuse me, Genis, may I ask you something?"

He perked up, blushing deeply. "O-of coure! W-what is it, P-Presea?" he stuttered.

The pink-haired girl held up a mistletoe that Kratos had obviously forgotten to hang up. "What is the function of this plant?" she asked in her usual monotone voice.

Genis's eye's widened as he turned a deeper shade of red. "Ah, th-that's… well, it's…when your under it with someone you l-like you're supposed to k-k-kiss them," he managed to stammer out.

Presea blinked, her expression unreadable. Then, in a fast motion, she placed a hand on Genis's shoulder and pressed their lips together. The silver-haired mage's eyes widened in shock, but then he closed his eyes and put his arms around the girl shyly.

Meanwhile, Zelos and Lloyd had finished the job of decorating the tree, and were lounging on the couch eating strawberries. Zelos was sitting in one corner of the couch leaning against the armrest, while the brunette sat to his left with his bare feet resting on the space beside him. Most of them hadn't bothered to wear shoes or dress formally because they weren't going to be in public.

"I feel kinda bad for your old man, y'know?" the Chosen said as he took a bite of one of the sweet red fruits.

Lloyd chuckled. "Me too. But I'm glad he's able to lighten up a bit." The pair laughed as Lloyd's angelic father tensed up when the girls walked by. They shut up as soon as the seraphim had sent them a death glare.

Zelos was quiet until his eyes widened and he pointed across the room. "Twerp action!"

"Huh?" was Lloyd's response as he looked in the direction his friend was pointing. He gasped as he saw Presea slowly pull away from his blushing half-elven friend.

"Did I do that right?" the pink-haired girl asked.

"Y-yeah," Genis whispered as he wobbled from side to side with hearts in his eyes. He jumped as he heard the red-haired Chosen applaud from the side of the room. Everyone else followed his example, drawing more than a bit of unwanted attention toward the duo. Presea just continued to stare, but she was smiling slightly. Genis was redder still, which was previously thought impossible.

"Genis, Presea, I'm so happy for you!" Colette exclaimed.

"Thank you, Colette," the latter said as Genis nodded in agreement.

Things returned back to normal after a few minutes and everyone returned to their tasks.

"Whoa, check out the size of that one!" the brunette exclaimed as he pointed to an unusually large strawberry. There was a mischievous glint in the redhead's eyes as he lowered his head and picked the fruit up with his teeth. His gaze turned to Lloyd with an expression that seemed to say, "Still want it?" Lloyd took a moment to weigh his options. He could freak Zelos out by accepting the strawberry in this manner. On the other hand, this might be the only chance in a long while that he would get to drop a hint of his surfacing feelings. His head started to hurt just thinking about it. Determination flashing in his eyes, he put his right hand on the back of the couch and his left by the Chosen's right arm, which was still on the arm rest. He leaned in closer, blushing furiously as he met his crush's gaze with half-open eyes and closed his mouth over the other end of the sweet red fruit, his own lips a mere centimeter away from Zelos's. Neither of them heard a 'click' in the background. Zelos's eyes widened in shock as he lost his grip on the fruit. Lloyd took this opportunity to pull away and happily munched on his prize. He grinned nervously at his companion before he heard another 'click'. The duo turned to face Genis, who was waving the camera back and forth in a taunt. Lloyd looked as if he would pass out from all the blood rushing to his head. He and Zelos stood up.

"Genis…!" They said in unison. Said person gulped and turned to run, closely followed by the two swordsmen with cries of "Get back here!" and "You're going to pay for that, you little runt!" Fortunately, the mage was the only one that had witnessed the incident, and everyone else was completely clueless as to why he was being chased around.

Raine suddenly held her staff out in front of the three. Obviously not paying attention to where they were going, all of them tripped on it and landed unceremoniously on the floor.

"That's enough, you three. Everything is in order now. It's going to be a long day tomorrow and we're getting up early. Everyone should go to bed now and get lots of sleep," the healer instructed. The rest of the party nodded and exchanged their goodningts. They exited the decorated room and strolled towards their bedrooms.

"Need me to warm you up again, Bud?" Zelos asked once he closed the door behind them.

"A-ah, I don't know…" Lloyd said while trying to find something on the floor to stare at.

"Well, if you get cold you can slip in anytime," Zelos said with a smile as he turned off the light. His bed made a soft creak as he bundled under the blankets. A small sigh blew past his lips as he fixed his gaze on the wall right next to his bed. Lloyd didn't feel the same after all. After the whole scene with the strawberries he had hung onto a thread of hope, but that had been cut by the hesitation in his love's voice. Maybe Lloyd did like him as a friend, but surely that was all.

…Right?

The ex-Chosen sighed again. Why couldn't anything go right in his life?

"…Zelos?"

Said person jumped at the break in the silence. He hadn't even heard the boy approach!

"Sorry," even in the dark, he could see Lloyd rub the back of his head in embarrassment.

"No, no! It's okay. So, what's up, Bud?"

"Um, well…" there was a moment of silence between the two. "Nevermind. It's nothing important. Goodnight," Lloyd turned to walk away when he felt a pair of warm arms wrap around his waist and drag him backwards onto the bed. He let out a cry of surprise at the sudden action.

"Is that what you wanted?" the redhead inquired. Lloyd was too embarrassed to answer, and his response was only a small nod, but it got the message across. The younger swordsman called his name, earning his full attention once more.

"I'm sorry to keep bothering you like this."

'Bother? I'm in heaven, hunny!' was what Zelos wanted to say, but he opted for a better choice that wouldn't hint at his feelings. "You're starting to sound like Colette, you know that? So I guess I'd better respond with a Lloyd-ish speech," Zelos said with a smirk, but his expression softened slightly. "You mean a lot to me. During our journey to unite the worlds, you were always the one that took me seriously, and listened when I needed to vent. I just want to return the favor by being there for you, that's all." It was far from being "all", but it was true none the less.

Lloyd smiled casually. "Well, that's what friends are for, right?" He said with a chuckle.

"Now you're starting to sound like me!"

That comment sent the two into a fit of laughter. They had no idea what the future would hold for them. Right now, though, they didn't care one bit. They were just happy with living the moment.


A/N: Well, that was a fairly long chapter. Hmm…let's see…there should be anywhere from one to three chapters left. I'll have to warn you, the next chapter has a tiny bit of a dark theme in it. Anyway, back to this chapter. I decided to add the GenisxPresea pairing because I think it's cute. Oh, and about the KratosxRaine pairing, I personally don't like it. No offense to any fans out there, but I just put it in there for humor.