Disclaimer: All appearing characters and places belong to Namco unless otherwise specified.

The O-dai themes belong to the Zeroshii-Wa, but it has closed down now. Ain't that so sad?

Setting: Just a few months post-game.

Warnings: Spoilers, and I can't thing of anything else.


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Normal Version,

#19 – At the Castle

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Right leg crossed over the left one, foot moving up and down, up and down, impatiently.

Not three days ago she had been summoned to meet the King of Tethe'alla – a most important matter of international interests, the missive had read.

'International', she knew, meant it had to do with Sylvarant, therefore she wasn't surprised they needed her.

She had, however, been kept waiting for perhaps twenty minutes now and was starting to get impatient. The small waiting room where she had been guided to didn't offer many diversions: the few books that rested within a wood and glass case seemed to be for decorative purposes and through the single window that decorated the wall in front of her she could see only a lonely courtyard with some trees she didn't feel like identifying: though they were most probably fruit trees they were almost leafless now that autumn was closing in.

She uncrossed her legs, moved them a little and looked around. If this was such a pressing matter, then why was she there instead of talking with the king?

She crossed her legs again – left over right, and without noticing she started moving her foot again, up down up down up down, arms crossed.

A door creaked to her left and she turned. It was only an old woman in an expensive-looking maid outfit and she held a silver tray, primly adorned with flowers, a plate full of fresh fruits, some crackers and two white porcelain cups. The woman placed the tray on a small table in front of the sofa she had been using.

"Excuse me," Sheena started, "Will I have to wait much more?"

The maid curtsied slightly – the kind of bow she did not out of respect but out of obligation. "I'm most terribly sorry, Miss, but I'm afraid his Majesty's business is not for a servant to know. However," the woman continued, cutting the ninja off, "You will be joined soon by His Majesty's second guest. I'll bring the teakettle in an instant, so with your leave -"

Another bow and suddenly the woman was out of the room, leaving Sheena with an arm up in the air and her mouth half-open. Incredible, she thought, how the woman had managed to escape with such speed without actually being rude.

"Experience," she sighed and sat back down, her feet again up down up down before reaching for a cracker. It tasted of cinnamon.

The door opened again but she ignored it this time. Just the maid bringing the teakettle so she and the 'second guest' could have some tea and crackers while waiting for the King to finish whatever it was he was doing and allow the two of them into the audience hall.

"Now now, didn't anyone ever tell you how rude it is to start eating before the rest of the company arrives?"

She didn't turn as the phrase ended, that wouldn't have been the human reaction. She turned around the middle of it, the voice too familiar for her to ignore. And she would've said something except her mouth was full of cinnamon cracker.

Zelos Wilder grinned his usual cocky smile, brushed his hair – which was held tightly in a braid – and sat on the chair in front of her, at the other side of the small table.

"Hey!" he greeted, happy tones floating in his voice, "Been a while, hasn't it?"

The ninja finally managed to swallow what was left of the cookie (unusually dry, she thought – meant to be accompanied by tea, not eaten alone) and said

"Wait, don't tell me you are the 'second guest'?"

Zelos arched an eyebrow. "You think I dress like this everyday?"

The Chosen has changed his pink attire for something slightly more formal, though not as much as the suit she had seen him wearing during the ball the princess had held for them. The redhead's new attire consisted of darker colors (contrasted with white as always) and looked significantly warmer than the last one, which was understandable since it had gotten pretty chilly lately.

It suddenly made her conscious of how downtrodden her suit must look. After returning home from the 'trip' with everyone she had exchanged her purple travel-clothes for the dark attire the rest of the ninja used. It had been only three months but it already looked worn, perhaps too worn-out for a meeting with the king.

Wasn't that a good thing, however? It showed that she was no flimsy court-girl concerned with appearance and etiquette but a hard-working woman whose main aim was comfort during her work-time.

It was also quite warm, and with winter coming in thatwas something she valued above anything else.

Whether he had noticed how she felt or not Zelos showed no special emotion on his face. As he opened his mouth to say something the door opened again and the maid from before walked in, carrying a kettle. Ignoring the fact that she was old enough to be his grandmother the Chosen 'greeted' her and flirted as she served the tea, making the ninja roll her eyes.

Once alone Zelos smiled at her again. "So what you been up to for the last months? Haven't heard of you at all."

"Mizuho's supposed to be a secret village. You can't expect letters to come out of it very often."

"Yes, well, I know how to find it though?" the redhead lifted his cup, "Not that secret now, is it?"

She crossed her arms. "And that's why we're moving it."

"What, just so I can't find you?" Zelos sighed and blew the steam off his tea, "You can be so cruel..."

"Why hadn't you told me about this, anyway?" she reproached, "I'll bet you know perfectly well why the King wanted to speak with me."

"Mmmh?" he took a sip of tea and took a cracker from the tray. "Yes, of course. I was the one who came with the idea, after all."

The girl had to contain herself. Throttling the Chosen or yanking some of his hair just wouldn't be acceptable while they were inside the castle. Outside, however...

"But the delay wasn't my fault," the man added suddenly.

She stopped halfway to the tea cup. "Delay?"

Zelos nodded, solemn. "Mmh, I figured they wouldn't tell you on time."

Sheena wasn't sure of what to answer. An explosion of anger wouldn't solve anything and, again, what was the point of yelling at the Chosen? He didn't have any authority over themonarch and it would only get her a lot of unwanted attention.

Once more unaware of her train of thought Zelos smiled widely. "And that's why I decided to come early. What kind of man would leave his favorite hunny all alone, in such a big castle...?"

"...couldn't you have sent me a messenger instead?" the girl asked through half-clenched teeth.

"Well I could but I figured it's been a while, you wouldn't mind spending some time with me!"

"I, unlike some other people, have work to do!"

"It won't kill you to take some time off!" Zelos countered, unfazed. "Have some tea, or crackers. Taste wonderful."

"Aaagh!" Sheena groaned, let herself fall back to the couch and took a bit off the cracker, washing it down with the tea. "Can't you at least tell me why am I here? And don't get smart on me, you just said you were the one who though of it!"

The redhead though for an instant. "It's a secret."

"No it is not. Tell me."

"It's a surprise?"

"I don't like surprises."

"Oooh, though girl," he laughed, "Fine then. My not telling you here it's political strategy, so there."

"...since when do you know anything of politics?"

"All of my life, hunny," he explained, batting his eyelashes and taking some more tea, "Only I hadn't felt like using it before."

"And I'm your first victim? Goddess..." Sheena finished the cracker messily, not caring her suit was covered in sugar and cinnamon. She rested her head on her hands and sighed. " I don't have time to waste here eating cookies. Can't you do something?"

Zelos shook his head, smiling apologetically. "I could give you a tour of the castle?"

"I already know most of it," she grumbled.

"In case you ever had to kill someone? Hey, don't look at me like that!" he raised an arm as in self-defense. "Gee, touchy ain't you?"

"You expect me to like that sort of joke?"

"Well I can't do anything against common belief, can I?" Zelos dusted his hands off and looked around as she sullenly sipped her tea. His eyes rested for a moment on the books, he grimaced and then looked at the window.

Here, his face lit up.

"You haven't ever been to that orchard, have you?"

"Orchard?" the ninja asked, "You mean those dry trees?"

"What can you expect? It's almost winter!" the Chosen stood up, "Lemme show you, the meeting won't start in at least an hour and a half anyway."

The ninja looked skeptic for a second before sighing, putting her cup down and taking the hand he had offered her just to get up. "Fine, fine..."

"Your suit is full of sugar, you know... perhaps I can -?"

"I can dust myself, thanks."

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He hadn't orchestrated the delay – really, he hadn't, but he was somehow thankful for it now.

They had walked down to the small inner 'orchard', as Zelos called the small courtyard where two apples, three plums and quite a few lemon trees grew. It was empty andwith the exception of the lemons all the trees had lost most of their leaves.

"You gotta visit during the spring, or the early summer," he told the girl, "This place smells of all the fruits."

Sheena had smiled. "Must be nice."

They walked side by side, slowly, as it wasn't a large orchard and they had a lot of time to kill. From the girl's clothes and from her mouthZelos thought he could smell a faint yet warm scent of cinnamon, andhe thoughthe liked ita few thousand times better than all the fragances that spring brought to that yard.

Just to keep warm they sat close on a small stone bench and talked and talked about mostly unimportant things - the weather, the friends, the lands they had visited, their favorite food, topics they had talked of before and yet never got tired of.Almost suddenly the bells of the Meltokio Cathedral rang and the girl looked up in surprise. "It's been an hour already?" she asked, "I didn't feel it at all."

"...time flies, doesn't it?" he commented perhaps softer than he had intended and got up. "Let's go back to the room, my butt is starting to freeze."

She slapped his hand away, laughing. "Do you have to be so coarse all the time?"

"Hey, I'm only saying the truth! Now, if your butt is freezing I think I could do something about it..."

Her face, already reddened by the cold autumn air, heated immediately. "You – you! How can you say something like that!"

"It was just a joke, a joke! Geez, do you always take things this serious...?"

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"...so that was your 'strategy', then?" she shot the man a glare.

He grinned, knowing himself victorious.

Sheena Fujibayashi had just been asked by the King of Tethe'alla to be Peace Emissary for Sylvarant. It was a honor she would've done without – but this was the King himself asking. There was no way to say no.

And Zelos knew about this. That's why he had chosen not to tell her before – he had waited until all escape routes had been closed.

"And you know the beauty of it all?" he teased, "Guess who you'll be reporting to?"

The girl opened her eyes. "You don't mean...!"

"Yep! From now on the great and marvelous ex-Chosen of Tethe'alla will be checking your progress and reports."

"Oh nice..."

"Awww c'mooon, Sheena?" Zelos whined, "You just said time flies by with me?"

"That was you!"

"But still!" he insisted, "We'll be working together from now on, right? Look at the bright side of it!"

"Which is?"

"You'll get to see my orchard in spring-time," he grinned and offered his hand.

Sheena tried to contain a smile but it finally got through. "Fine. We'll be seeing a lot of each other, so why not start with the right foot?"

"That's my hunny, now!" the Chosen laughed and shook her hand with enthusiasm. "You'll see, I know it... the Castle ain't that bad of a work-place."


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Notes: Anton Chejov once said that if a writer describes a gun, as inconsequential as it may seem to be, said gun must play a role in the story. That's the effect I wanted to go for with the courtyard, although I'm not sure I managed to pull it correctly.

The second effect I was aiming for was precisely the short scene at the orchard – small and mainly to show the friendship and how time goes by even when they're just talking. In other words, this o-dai was meant to be not so romantic as a friendship/getting closer sort of thing. That one did work, I think.

As essays and final exams close in I have less and less time... but hey, only one more normal to go! Then a new theme, finally. Yay! Thanks much for the response for the last one. I'm aware AU aren't that easy to get into, but I'll probably try a few more anyway, only 'cause I love 'em.

Thanks for reading!

WDR

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#20 – Screaming Sheelos!

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