Hey everyone! It's me, Hari-Chan! I've finally updated my story (sorry it took so long!). This onetook me a whileto write, hope you like it!
I must give credit here in this space to my friend Rin! She gave me the idea and outline forthis chapter! Thanks!
As the sun rose higher and higher into the sky, it's rays pierced Colette's curtains and woke her up. She sat up and yawned. Today is very nice outside Colette thought as she looked out the window. The birds were singing and there wasn't a cloud in sight… the perfect day for the amusement park in Altamira. Perhaps Lloyd will want to go to Altamira with me! The thought excited Colette. She quickly got out of bed and dressed. Then, she walked out the door to find everyone except Lloyd outside eating breakfast. "Good morning everyone! Has anyone seen Lloyd?" Colette asked.
"Good morning Colette. No one has seen Lloyd yet… probably still asleep," replied Genis. Meanwhile in Lloyd's room, the sun was shining directly on Lloyd's face but he didn't seem to mind. He just rolled over. But with every minute, the sun's rays were shining brighter and after half an hour, Lloyd couldn't take it anymore and woke up.
"What time is it?" Lloyd asked himself. He looked outside. "Oops… guess I overslept again." He pulled the covers off himself and got dressed. Then, Lloyd stepped out the door and walked outside. "Hey guys!" Lloyd said cheerfully as he looked at everyone.
"…You're late Lloyd," said Raine. "Honestly! Your always late for school as well!" Raine crossed her arms. Everyone nodded in agreement.
"Heh, sorry guys," Lloyd said, looking slightly embarrassed. Colette ran up to Lloyd.
"Good morning Lloyd," said Colette.
"Hey Colette. Good morning to you too." He smiled.
"Can I talk to you?" She looked around. "Alone?"
"Sure," Lloyd said slightly confused. The two of them walked back into the inn. "So, what's up?"
"Since today was so nice, I thought we could go to Altamira," Colette said.
"Yeah! I'd love too go with you. I'll go tell everyone to get ready!" As he walked towards the door, Colette stopped him.
"I meant just you and me Lloyd. Is that alright?"
"Of course! I would love to spend the day with you." Colette smiled and Lloyd smiled back. The two of them walked out the door and back outside into the sunlight.
As the two of them walked towards the rheiards, Sheena asked," Where are you two going?"
"Nowhere much," Colette said. "Just an errand." Then, the two of them took off, leaving a cloud of smog behind them.
"You know," Zelos began. "It's like their going on a date." He looked at Sheena with a funny look on his face.
"What? W-what do you want?" questioned Sheena as she started to back up.
"How would you like to double date?" Zelos began, advancing on her. "You know… with Lloyd and Colette?" He gave her a sly grin. All that earned him was an extremely loud and painful slap from Sheena.
"In your dreams!" Sheena turned her back on him. Zelos started rubbing his cheek, which had a huge red mark shaped like a hand on it that was throbbing.
"Sheesh… you could've just said no! Anyways, who wants to follow them? I wanna see what's going on between them." Zelos said.
"Wouldn't that be an invasion of Lloyd and Colette's personal business?" Raine inquired. "Still.. I would like to know more." She thought for a moment. "Okay! Count me in! Everyone who wants to spy on Colette and Lloyd, raise your hand!" Everyone raised their hand.
"Okay! It's settled by a unanimous vote! Off to Altamira!" Zelos was very excited now. He practically ran to the rheairds.
"Look!" Colette shouted. She was pointing to the huge multi-level hotel, which signaled to them that Altamira was directly below them. As both of them started to go lower and lower, Lloyd noticed that Altamira was indeed a perfect place to spend the day with Colette. Clear, blue water, warm beach, huge amusement park, sky gardens, and many shopping opportunities.
When they landed, they walked over to the Elemental railroad. A cheerful attendant was there to greet them. "Hello miss," the attendant said facing Colette. "Are you headed to the amusement park or the Lazereno Company?"
"To the amusement park," Lloyd said. The attendant held the door open for Lloyd and Colette as they got onto the boat. It was a fairly short ride, but Colette enjoyed every second of it. When they got off, they marveled at the sight. A huge roller coaster was looming overhead, happy children running around, tea cups rides, lots of food, and a huge ferris wheel. "What do you want to do first?"
Colette thought for a moment. "How about the tea cup ride?"
"Okay," Lloyd said as he took Colette over to the colorful, spinning cups.
"Zelos! Get your hands off me!" Sheena yelled in frustration. Zelos' hands retreated from Sheena's waist. Since Lloyd and Colette took two of the rehairds, Sheena was forced to share with Zelos. Genis sighed.
Are they always like this? Genis thought. He had to share a rehaird with Raine while Presea shared with Regal.
"How much further?" Sheena inquired, her voice full of impatience. She was tired of yelling at the Chosen who she thought was utterly useless.
"About 5 more minutes," Presea answered. The clouds were flying past as the rehairds were at full speed.
A couple minutes later: "There it is! Below!" Genis shouted. Everyone looked down to find the familiar sight of the towering hotel building and gorgeous beach. Everyone landed.
"Where are we going to find Lloyd and Colette?" Zelos asked.
"We can ask the attendant at the Elemental railroad. If the two went to the company or the park, the attendant will know," replied Regal. As they were walking towards the boat, Zelos disappeared.
"Hey! Where did Zelos go?" Sheena asked. Everyone looked around. "He's probably off flirting!"
"I think you're right Sheena," Raine said. "Look over there." Raine pointed near the hotel entrance. Sure enough, Zelos was standing there with some girl. Everyone watched him.
"Hey gorgeous!" Zelos shouted. A girl with long brown hair turned around.
"Are you referring to me, Chosen?" The girl replied. She had big brown eyes, a pretty smile, and was wearing a mini skirt (which was probably the thing that attracted Zelos' attention – besides the fact that she was female).
"Who else would I be talking to?" Zelos smiled – his white teeth gleaming. The girl giggled softly and blushed. Sheena had had enough.
"ZELOS!" Sheena yelled. Zelos spun around in time to see Sheena running up to him. Before Zelos could run away, Sheena had reached him, and grabbed a handful of his hair in her fist. "Honestly! Must you flirt with everything female?" She sighed as she dragged Zelos back to the group by his hair.
"My hair!" Zelos cried as he desperately tried to get the tangles out. "My long, silky red hair…"
"Serves you right for flirting in front of Sheena," Genis replied in response to Zelos' complaints.
"Anyway," Raine said with some annoyance in her tone," We should be finding out where Lloyd and Colette headed off to." The group headed towards the Elemental railroad. "Sir, could you tell me if you have seen a boy in a bright red outfit and a girl with long blonde hair?"
"A boy with a bright red outfit and a girl with long blonde hair?" The attendant paused for a moment and recalled his memories. "Ah yes! I do remember seeing two people like that. They headed to the amusement park. I could take you there if you like."
"Yes," Raine replied as everyone got into the small boat. In less than 3 minutes the whole group was standing outside the famous Altamira Amusement Park.
"Where do you presume Lloyd and Colette went?" questioned Presea. She looked around.
"I don't know but we had better start looking," replied Sheena.
"Let's try the food court!" Genis suggested," Lloyd is always hungry." Everyone walked over to the food court.
"Wow! That was fun!" cried Colette as she got out of the teacup.
"Y-yeah," Lloyd said, holding his head. He was so dizzy that he walked right into the wall. Colette flinched then ran to him.
"LLOYD! Are you alright?" Colette helped Lloyd get up.
"I'm fine."
"You sure?" Colette said, her voice full of concern.
"Yeah…" Lloyd thought for a moment. What should we do next? Lloyd noticed his stomach growling fiercely at him. In his excitement, he forgot to eat breakfast and was extremely hungry.
"Are you hungry, Lloyd?" inquired Colette as she laughed. Lloyd pat his stomach.
"Guess I am, I didn't get breakfast remember?"
"Okay then, why don't we go to the food court for lunch?" Colette suggested.
"Yeah, that would be a great idea." Lloyd smiled as he and Colette walked over to the where the tantalizing smells came from that was the food court.
"Where are they!" cried Sheena. They were at the food court but Lloyd and Colette were nowhere to be seen.
"Maybe they went somewhere else… or were never here at all," Presea said.
"Or maybe." Zelos began. "Or maybe they're right over there."
"Where?" Genis asked, hoping up and down.
"Riiiiiight over there." Zelos pointed to the small figures of Lloyd and Colette walking towards them.
Raine panicked. What if they see us? What will they do then? What will I do? She collected her thoughts. "If Lloyd and Colette are coming this way, we should go somewhere out of sight, but somewhere we can still see them."
Everyone thought. "How about over there?" suggested Regal. He was referring to a shady area with a lot of green bushes and benches.
"Good idea. Everyone! Run over there!" commanded Sheena. Everyone ran as if something demanding their lives was after them. When they made it safely, everyone let out a sigh of relief and fixed their eyes on Lloyd and Colette.
Lloyd's stomach was now protesting louder than ever. He blushed, his stomach was making him look like a fool in front of Colette; or so he felt. "…sorry." He looked at Colette who just smiled.
"I don't mind. You didn't get breakfast. I can't blame you!" She heard Lloyd's protesting stomach. "…or your stomach!" The two of them laughed; then silence. Suddenly, Colette said:" What did you want to eat?"
"Huh? Oh uh… I dunno. Hot dogs? As long as it doesn't have tomatoes!"
"Sure! It doesn't matter what I eat because I get to spend the whole day with you!" Colette smiled.
"Awwwwwww!" cried Zelos. "Lloyd is really warming my little hunny up to him!"
"Wasn't it obvious that they liked each other from the beginning?" said Genis. He looked at Zelos. "Honestly, you're kind of dense at times." Everyone was nodding his or her head vigorously.
"Hey!" Zelos cried.
"Shhhhhhhhhh! Be quiet, the both of you! If we make to much noise, we'll give our positions away!" Raine whispered. The two having not thought of the possibilities of being caught silenced themselves.
After they had eaten. Lloyd and Colette walked over to the Ferris wheel. "It's kind of big, don't you think?" asked Colette as she looked at the large, colorful wheel.
"Its not THAT big… wanna go ride it?" Lloyd grinned.
"Okay, let's get in line." Lloyd and Colette walked over to the small group of people waiting to get on the ride.
"NEXT!" cried the Ferris wheel operator. The line grew shorter and shorter and just before Lloyd was about to go through the gate… "Sorry young man. You'll have to wait another five minutes."
"Five minutes!" cried Lloyd. He had such little patience that five minutes could seem like an eternity.
"It's okay, Lloyd. Five minutes isn't that long of a time. We can talk some more."
Genis sighed. "Isn't it just like Lloyd to be so impatient?"
"Yes, of course," Raine replied. He's been this impatient ever since he started school as a young boy! He also looses interest in things quite easily as well…
"What do you think will happen next?" Presea asked.
"Who knows? That's why we gotta watch them all day!" cried Zelos as he thrust his fist into the air ad grinned.
"Clam down," said Sheena as she pulled Zelos down to the ground, with a loud THUMP. "Just be quiet and watch."
"NEXT!" the Ferris wheel operator bellowed.
"Finally!" said Lloyd excitedly. He walked into the gate and got into the small, blue, container.
"I can hardly wait! People say that this Ferris wheel goes so high up, that you can see Flanoir from here!"
"Really? That would be so neat!" There was a sudden rumbling as the machine started up. Soon after the ride began, the container started wobbling to and fro scaring Colette a bit.
"Whoa…Lloyd, w-will this t-thing fall off it's hinges?"
"It shouldn't…"
"Is it okay if I… if I sit next to you?" Colette blushed as she spoke. Lloyd blinked.
"Yeah… okay." Colette held onto the side of the container and slowly made her way across to Lloyd's side. The ride stopped for a moment, which made Colette stumble and fall onto Lloyd's lap. She looked up and saw Lloyd looking down at her. "Here, let me help you up." He held out her hand to Colette and helped her stand up; then to sit down next to him. The sun was shinning brightly and even though the top of the container shrouded the windows in shadow, the sun somehow managed to send several beams through that caught Lloyd's eye. He looked to his left. The sun made Colette's hair shine and her eyes twinkle brighter than usual. He let out a small gasp. Why am I seeing things like that? Somehow, Colette looks… different today. But why? Why am I seeing things? Colette looked at him.
"Are you okay, Lloyd?" He looked up.
"Huh? Oh, yeah. I'm alright." He paused. "You look different today."
"I do?" Colette was very confused.
"What I meant was that you look prettier today…" Lloyd and Colette were both a bright shade of cherry red.
"Thanks, you look nice today too!" Colette smiled. Suddenly, they reached the very top. Colette gasped. "Isn't it beautiful? Just look!" Lloyd looked out the window. He was stunned; the sight was just so amazing. There was bright, blue, water, green trees, grass, small towns, villages, and furthest away was the small town of Flanoir. Colette was right…you really could see Flanoir from up here! "It's like you can see the whole world of Tethe'alla from up here!"
"Yeah…" Then, the Ferris wheel slowly started to rotate as they were heading downwards, back onto the ground. It was almost sunset: the sun was going lower and lower in the sky, the clouds were beginning to look pink, and people were leaving the park. "It's getting late, we should go…"
"Is the day almost over already? I hadn't realized that… I was too busy having fun with you!" Colette's smile widened.
"We could go to the beach before we head back to the inn," Lloyd suggested slowly. Colette looked at Lloyd.
"Sure! The beach sounds like a great ending to a great, I mean perfect day." Colette grabbed Lloyd's hand, causing him to blush. "Come on!" Colette ran towards the beach with great speed, causing Lloyd to stumble and run clumsily.
"TO THE BEACH!" cried Zelos with his fist up in the air once again. Sheena sighed as Zelos started to run.
"…Let's go," she said. Everyone started to walk to the beach while Zelos was seen as a small dot that was running.
The sun was completely set now, which disappointed Lloyd since he wanted to watch the sunset with Colette. He sighed.
"What's the matter Lloyd?"
"Nothing."
"Okay then." The white sand was gleaming and reflecting the moonlight, causing both Lloyd and Colette to feel very relaxed. It was very quiet and still – the only traces of any humans (that is on the beach) was the footprints the couple left as they walked along the beach holding hands and smiling. As they walked, Colette noticed that there were many small seashells near the water, which gave her an idea. As they continued their walk, Colette stooped down every couple seconds to pick up a seashell. Lloyd was puzzled but didn't ask any questions. As Colette harvested her little treasures, Lloyd looked around and heard some noise coming from behind a rock. He stopped and listened more carefully and looked in the direction of the rock.
"Gah! He's looking at us!" cried Genis. "What do we do?" Everyone looked at the smartest member of the party, Raine. She put a finger to her lips and said,
"He might not know that we're here… as long as we don't make anymore noise." Her last comment was directed at Zelos and Sheena who were still arguing and glared at them.
"Here's a little tip guys," Genis whispered." Don't make Raine mad and you'll survive to see tomorrow." Genis smiled as he spoke.
"Yes, yes, very well," said Raine her voice with even more annoyance. "Just be quiet!" Everyone was silenced.
The noise seemed to have disappeared Lloyd thought. But I thought I could hear the voices of Genis and the Professor… He shook the thought out of his mind. I'm supposed to be focusing on Colette! "Hey Colette? What are you doing?" Lloyd questioned as he watched Colette gather seashells for the past half hour. Colette stood up and brushed the sand of her jacket and pants.
"I'm collecting seashells so that we can make a bracelet!" Lloyd grinned.
"You mean like a souvenir of the best day of my life?"
"….and of mine." Lloyd and Colette both blushed an even deeper shade of red. To keep himself from blushing even more, Lloyd began to collect seashells and Colette followed his action. Soon, between the two of them, they had over 60 small seashells. "You think we have too many?"
"Nah! After the bracelets we can keep the rest somewhere. Now… I need to drill holes in these, right?" Colette nodded. Lloyd took out a small knife from his pouch and began to drill holes in the small seashells while Colette began looking for string.
"Lloyd, I can't find any string…"
"Why don't you go buy some? It shouldn't be too far away if you fly…" He reached into his small pouch and pulled out 500 Gald, then put them into Colette's open hand.
"Okay! I won't take long!" Colette sprouted her shining wings and flew off into the night sky. Lloyd sat there drilling even more holes into the seashells. While Colette was flying towards the hotel, she saw some people hiding behind the rocks. Using her angelic vision, she peered even closer. It's Raine! She looked even closer. And Sheena! And Genis, Presea, Zelos, and Regal! What are they all doing here? Colette was puzzled but persisted on, knowing that Lloyd was waiting for her and depending on the string for their bracelets. So, she went in and bought a length of not string, but of pure gold. Lloyd will be so happy when I show him this! And raced off to find Lloyd. When she arrived she was about to tell him what she saw but stopped. Lloyd had already finished drilling 30 seashells – more than enough for two bracelets. "Wow Lloyd, you're really fast."
"Well, I guess it pays off to have a dwarf for a dad!" The two of them laughed. "Where's the string, Colette?"
"Oh! The string. It's right here…" Colette pulled the dazzling gold chain that reflected the moonlight and out it into Lloyd's expecting hands.
"Colette… this chain is gold!"
"You like it?" Colette was full of joy because the chain she had bought gave Lloyd such joy.
"There's no way you could've bought this with the mere 500 Gald I gave you!"
"Well, I bought it with the money you gave me and some of my own."
"How much?"
"After the 500 Gald you gave me, it cost 8000 Gald and-"
"You dork! You didn't have to go and buy this! 8000 Gald is a lot of money!"
"But it was worth it, getting a gold chain for our seashell bracelets. I felt that since this night was so special, we might as well make it special." Colette blushed as she spoke.
"Well if you feel that way, I can't refuse it. I'll turn this gold chain and these seashells into the most beautiful bracelets there ever was!" He smiled at Colette. An hour later, Lloyd had finished the two bracelets and they were simply amazing: a single seashell polished to it's best was strung onto the chain with smaller pieces of shells dangling around it. Colette gasped.
"Lloyd! It's amazing! It's…it's beautiful." She slipped it on immediately. "Hehehe… a perfect fit too!" Lloyd was full of bliss from the compliment.
Meanwhile, the rest of the party who had been watching were touched. "Wow, Lloyd can be so romantic…" Sheena said.
"I know!" replied Raine.
"It's kind of weird seeing him like this," said Genis. "We'd better get going, they might leave at any moment…"
"Good idea," said Presea. And with that, everyone walked back to the Rehairds.
"Lloyd? I don't want to spoil the moment of anything but I think we should get going… it's kind of late."
Lloyd yawned. "Yeah, we should." After Lloyd looked at Colette, he took her by the hand and led her to the center of the beach where he released the two rehairds from their little box.
"Can we um… ride together? On one rehaird instead of two?"
"Yeah, that's a great idea." Lloyd pulled his little box out and sucked the extra rehaird back in, and mounted. "Climb on!" He offered his hand to Colette and helped her climb on. Then, with a spectacle of slights, they soared off into the night sky.
"Can I tell you something?"
"Of course, you know you can tell me anything."
"While I was buying the chain, I saw everyone spying on us at the beach."
"…really? I thought they trusted us more." Lloyd's voice was full of hurt.
"Why don't we ask? I do feel bad about lying to them and keeping it – I mean keeping our little vacation a secret." Lloyd's tone changed right away.
"If you put it that way, we should go talk to them!" He smiled at Colette, who smiled back. With a slight push of a button, they were off and on their way into the inn.
"Hurry up and get inside!" Sheena commanded. Everyone rushed into the inn and took a seat in the main room. "Heh… just in time too, here they come!" Sheena ran to her seat.
"Remember, we don't speak a word of what we saw to anyone, do I make myself clear?" Raine asked. Everyone nodded. At that moment, Lloyd and Colette came in through the door.
"Hey guys, how was your errand?" Zelos asked.
"It went great!" said Lloyd. "Now, tell me … did you guys have fun in Altamira all day?" Everyone was stunned; how could they have known! "Why did you spy on us?" Genis stood up.
"Why didn't you tell us? You know you can tell us anything…" Genis shouted.
"Even if it was kind of obvious that you and Colette like each other," Zelos added. Lloyd and Colette blushed.
"Please, everyone… I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I-I don't why I didn't tell you guys, I am really very sorry," Colette apologized.
"And I'm really sorry too, I don't know why I wouldn't tell you guys, you're all my close friends!" Lloyd blurted out. Hey… when did I start apologizing like this?
"Everyone, Lloyd and Colette obviously are deeply and sincerely sorry for their actions," Raine began. "The right thing to do is to forgive them; besides… our actions weren't much better than theirs." Everyone agreed – Raine did have a point (she usually did).
"Everyone who is willing to forgive Lloyd and Colette, say I!" Genis shouted.
There was a unanimous cry of "I!" from everyone.
"It's getting late," Presea said. It really was getting late, the moon was starting to to rie higher and higher still into the night sky. And so, this segment of the story ends witheveryonegoing to bed, their friendsips even stronger than before, knowing that it could withstand any trial, and with Lloyd and Colette's friendship moving progressing and slowly but surely turning into everlasting love.
So... what did you think? I must apologize if the characters are slightly out of character (I'm not to great with that kinda thing but I try!). Chapter Three is coming up soon! Rin gave me an idea for chapter three (well, I came up with part of it). Genis and Lloyd have a cook-off! Who's gonna win and who will loose? (if this idea has been used before, sorry! I'll make it my own style).
Hari-Chan
PS: does anyone know the name of the "containers" on the Ferris wheels? You know, the little boxes you sit in? If you know, please tell me so that I can stop calling them "containers". Oh! And if you know the name of the box they put the rehairds and the boat in, let me know too!