Hello! I came up with this idea while walking home (plus a whole bunch of random thoughts that I just added in). Then, I scrunched up those ideas into what I would like to call chapter three of It's All In The Stars! Enjoy!
Disclaimer: I do not own Tales of Symphonia
Lloyd walked down the hallway of the inn the party was staying at. A flash of red caught the swordsman's attention and he looked up to see Zelos walking around the corner. Something else caught his eyes – a bright pink object. Curious as to what the strangely bright pink object was and what Zelos could be doing with it, Lloyd bent over and picked it up. How To Woo The Hunnies – A Guide to Getting All the Girls By: The Chosen, Zelos Wilder. Lloyd started in disbelief. What kind of book could Zelos possibly be making! …I guess I had better give this back to him, Lloyd thought as he walked down the hall. Lloyd kept walking until he reached the large lounge where Zelos, surrounded by at least 7 girls was sitting. "Uh hey, Zelos? Can I ask you something?"
"Hey Lloyd. Sure, ask away," Zelos replied.
"I meant in uh…in private," Lloyd said directing this comment to the cluster of girls surrounding Zelos.
"M'kay. Sorry ladies, but the great Zelos Wilder has some business he must attend to," Zelos said as he rose from his seat, completely ignoring the cries of protest that was coming from the girls. "Let's go back to my room, Lloyd." Lloyd followed Zelos back to his room. Once inside, Zelos asked Lloyd:" So, what do you want?"
"This may sound kind of awkward, but I," began Lloyd looking down at the pink book in his hands. "I wanted to ask you how to uh… um, get girls to l-like you." Lloyd was now a deep shade of red. Zelos blinked.
"Well! Thanks for asking the great Zelos Wilder! You have made he right decision! But, why is it that you ask? …Besides the obvious reason," Zelos added quickly.
"Well…" Lloyd began looking down at Zelos' book," I found this and uh.." He handed the book to Zelos. Zelos stared at his book and took it,
"This thing? Uh I was, um well…" Zelos stammered looking embarrassed.
"No! I meant that I saw your book and I was hoping you could help me with Colette… I want her to notice me!" Lloyd shrunk back into his seat.
How dumb can you get Lloyd? Can't you tell Colette already digs you? As tempting as it was to say what he thought, Zelos decided to hold back and keep it to himself. "Sure Lloyd, I'll help you. First off, you have to impress her."
"Impress her? You mean like be a show-off? I don't think Colette really likes show-offs…"
"No! I meant that you should do something so great that Colette will notice you! Show her something that will prove you're the best! …Second best to me though."
"Heh… as if that'll get Colette's attention," a voice said. Lloyd looked towards the open door to find Sheena standing there, an amused expression on her face. Lloyd turned red.
Had she heard everything I said? What if she tells Colette? "Hey Sheena," Lloyd said, forcing a smile. "How much did you hear?"
"Enough…but don't worry!" Sheena added after seeing the shocked expression on Lloyd's face. "I can help you with your 'Colette Problem'. That is, if you want me too."
"R-really?" Lloyd asked.
"Of course, you're my friend, and friends have to help friends. You see, girls like romantic dates. So, take Colette out on a romantic dinner and then, when the mood's right, tell her how you feel! " Sheena said.
"Nah! That won't work! You have to impress Colette! Lloyd has to show her what a man he really is!" Zelos blurted out. "The ladies love a tough guy!"
"WHAT DO YOU KNOW, STUPID CHOSEN?" Sheena yelled.
"I know tons!" Zelos replied, now standing to meet Sheena's gaze. Lloyd looked up. He suddenly had a spine-chilling feeling, as if something bad would happen – something that would put his safety on the line. Lloyd was right. As he looked up, he could see hot sparks flying between Sheena and Zelos' eyes.
Lloyd, fearing for the safety of his well-being, got up. "Thanks for the advice guys! Really! I think your both right!" Lloyd began to slowly back up.
"Lloyd?" Sheena began, her face contorted with rage.
"Yes Sheena?" Lloyd asked.
"I suggest you get out of the room, this may get ugly." Sheena said as she looked at Zelos, who began backing into the corner. Knowing better than to make Sheena even more furious than she was already was, Lloyd quickly walked out of the room, closing the door behind him. Sheena's voice could be heard coming from the inside. He began to walk away from the door as soon as he heard several loud crashing noises, suggesting that Sheena had begun clobbering Zelos. As he backed up, Lloyd bumped into someone behind him. "Sorry," Lloyd said as he turned around. He gasped, it was Colette!
"Hi Lloyd!" Colette said as she smiled at her best friend.
"H-hey Colette! I was just looking for you."
"Really? You were?" Colette questioned. Colette had been longing to have a talk with Lloyd ever since her night with him in Altamira. Looking down at Lloyd's exposed wrist, Colette saw something that was gold and shone brightly. "Hey! You still have the bracelet that we made together on the beach!" Colette exclaimed as she pulled back her sleeves to reveal a bracelet almost identical to Lloyd's.
"How could I ever loose it? This bracelet is the souvenir of one of the greatest nights of my life!" Lloyd said while looking down fondly at his bracelet. Suddenly remembering Sheena's advice, Lloyd looked up and opened his mouth to ask Colette to go out for dinner with him when something red and pink flew past their legs and landed on the wall opposite them with a loud crashing sound. The red and pink object turned out to be Zelos who was thrown into the wall by Sheena, who stormed off towards the main door.
"Zelos! Are you okay?" Colette questioned, her voice full of concern as she went to help Zelos up. Struggling under Zelos' weight (not that he was really heavy or anything but he is heavy for one person to carry alone), Colette signaled to Lloyd, who rushed over to help drag Zelos towards his room.
"Ouch! Hey! That burns!" was the pitiful cries of Zelos as Raine tried to apply some antiseptic ointment onto his scrapes and cuts.
"Hold still!" Raine said as she struggled to bandage all of his wounds and apply ointment onto the open ones. However, Zelos would not stop struggling and Raine was out of patience. Lloyd winced as Raine smacked Zelos on the head to quiet him so that she could finish her job. When Raine did manage to finish, she stood up and said. "Now Zelos, how did you manage to get all of these wounds?"
"Professor, do you really want to know?" Lloyd said as he stood up and stood next to Raine. "To make matters simple, Zelos angered Sheena and she beat him, then threw him out the door and into the wall where we 'found' him and dragged him back here."
"Hey! Don't I get a say in the matter?" Zelos protested. Everyone but Colette glared at him, which caused him to be silent once more.
"Well, I have to go help Genis cook dinner now," Colette said as she rose from her seat and headed towards the door. "I'll see you all again at dinner time." Everyone waved goodbye as the angelic girl walked out the door.
"Yes, with that being said I have some research I must continue." Without another word after her statement, Raine walked out the door and to her room.
When all was silent and Zelos was sure that no one was around, he asked Lloyd," Did you challenge Genis to a cooking competition yet?" Lloyd looked at Zelos, dumbfounded.
"A cooking competition? You never said anything about that!" Lloyd cried.
"Well, you want to impress Colette right?" Lloyd nodded. "Then challenge him already! Everyone knows that Genis is the best cook among us and beating him in a competition will show Colette that you're something else!"
"But why cooking?"
"Well, the ladies love a man who can cook! So, you'd better challenge him tonight while everyone's eating dinner or else!" Zelos cried. Lloyd sighed as he walked out the door, thinking about the task at hand.
Later that night at dinner when everyone was at the table, Lloyd began to think about how he was going to challenge the best cook in the party to a cook-off when he could barely make himself a sandwich. Lloyd began to think of ways to challenge Genis, but all ended with negative thoughts. He sighed. Colette who noticed the sigh asked," Lloyd, are you al right? You haven't touched your food and you've been sighing a lot."
"I was just thinking about something," Lloyd replied in a casual tone that made Colette suspicious. She had known him since her early childhood and knew that when Lloyd spoke in a casual tone, something was wrong. "Please Lloyd, tell me what's on your mind!" she eagerly asked.
"Well," Lloyd began as he summoned up his courage (normally Lloyd wouldn't need to but it is related to Colette, so I think that he'd need to),"I challenge Genis to a cook-off!" He suddenly blurt out. The once noisy room went silent as everyone stared at Lloyd.
"Lloyd, what's that supposed to mean?" Genis asked, clearly puzzled.
"I think that I know," Zelos said, a smug grin on his face.
"I challenge you to a cook-off… tomorrow!" Lloyd cried. Man, what am I thinking? Have I gone crazy? I just challenged Genis to a cook-off!
"I guess I accept Lloyd," Genis replied, shocked at the thought that Lloyd would challenge him to something like cooking.
"Lloyd, what's gotten into you?" Sheena questioned. Lloyd's behavior was suddenly very odd and most unlike him. At that moment, a thought struck Sheena and she smiled. That must be it… Lloyd is listening to Zelos' advice and is challenging Genis! Yes! Sheena's facial expression suddenly changed from a smile to a look of despair. Wait a minute; Lloyd actually listened to Zelos' advice? What an idiot! …and I thought that Lloyd knew better than to listen to a dope like him. Sheena slapped her forehead.
"Something wrong, Sheena?" Presea asked.
Looking up, Sheena replied, "It's nothing. Really. I'm gonna go to my room now." Sheena then stood up and left the room without another sound.
As Lloyd was about to go to bed, he had a sudden thought. How was he going t beat Genis if he couldn't cook and didn't know any recipes? He sighed. I know! I'll go ask the Professor and see if she has any recipe books! Lloyd, satisfied with the thought, got up and went to Raine and Genis' room. As Lloyd began walking through the dim hallway, he saw that there was still a light coming from the Sages' room. Heh, Raine must still be studying or researching something. Ignoring the fact, Lloyd turned his hand into a fist and began to knock on the door, which startled Raine.
"I wonder what it is now," Raine wondered out loud as she got up and opened the door. "Lloyd, what are you doing here this late at night? Shouldn't you be in bed?"
"Well, I was just wondering if you and any recipe books." At the word books, Raine's eyes lit up.
"Is it possible that you actually want to read a book for enjoyment?" Raine blurted out, completely ignoring the word recipe that Lloyd uttered out of his mouth before the word book.
"No, you misunderstood! I meant that I want a recipe book, not a plain boring book!" Lloyd's reply was a mistake the moment his lips formed the word "no". Hearing that Lloyd didn't want to read and that he thought books were boring set Raine's eyes ablaze.
"How dare you insult books!" Raine cried as she flung her hand out dangerously towards Lloyd's head. Luckily for Lloyd, he had quick reflexes and was able to dodge the blow but saying that he was lucky would be inaccurate; because before Lloyd knew it, Raine had struck him with her foot, which caused him to hit the wall.
"Ow!" Lloyd said as he began rubbing the back of his head. Using the wall as his support, he slowly got up and was able to ask: "So do you have a cookbook or not?"
"Oh, why didn't you just say so Lloyd?" Raine said as she smiled politely. "There's one in my bag!" Raine walked over to her bag and pulled out a large, dusty cookbook and handed it to Lloyd.
"Thanks Professor!" Lloyd said happily as he began walking back down the hallway and into his own room. "Heh, I am gonna win for sure now!" Lloyd said as he began flipping through the pages.
As the sun rose higher and higher into the sky, the youngest Sage woke up. He sat up in bed and yawned, observing his surroundings. Raine is still asleep Genis thought to himself as he got out of bed and put on his usual outfit. Sighing, he walked towards the door and opened it, careful to not make too much noise because waking Raine up under any circumstances was suicide. Genis began to walk to the kitchen when he noticed that Lloyd was sitting at the table, asleep. This'll be fun. Taking advantage of the fact that Lloyd wasn't the world's lightest sleeper, he began to squeeze mustard into Lloyd's hair, forming the shape of a smiley face. Genis began to laugh, which woke Lloyd up.
"Wha?" Lloyd asked sleepily. "What time is it?"
"…it's about 7:00am Lloyd," Genis replied coolly. "I'm about to start breakfast, can you wipe the drool you left off the counter?" Looking embarrassed, Lloyd quickly grabbed a paper towel and began to clean up the small puddle. Suddenly, Genis had a thought and asked," Lloyd, why are you challenging me to a cook-off?"
"Well…" Lloyd began as he started to blush. "I wanted to impress Colette." As he spoke, his voice began to diminish and was soon barely audible.
"What? Can you speak up Lloyd? Your voice is really quiet… let me guess. It's about Colette, isn't it?" Genis now had a grin on his face as he stared at Lloyd.
"Wh-what?" Lloyd said, taken aback. He was sure that no one heard the last part he said about Colette. "Well, I…"
"It's no big deal Lloyd." Genis smiled. Well duh. Everyone already knows that Lloyd and Colette have feelings for each other. Maybe… everyone but themselves. "Lloyd, you still didn't answer my question – why do you want to beat me so badly in cooking?"
"I told you." Lloyd began. "It's a secret! But, promise me one thing," he said suddenly dead serious.
"Of course Lloyd!" Genis said.
"Promise me that… promise me that you'll do your best. I want to beat you at your best!" Lloyd cried, smiling. Genis smiled and nodded.
"Okay then, I promise to beat you this afternoon!"
"Hey!" The two boys began laughing as they threw flour that they found in the cabinets at each other. Just at that moment, Raine stepped in.
"Is that," Raine began pointing to the white power all over the floor. "Is that the expensive flour I bought for our breakfast?" The two looked up from their flour fight at Raine, whose face was beginning to turn a violent shade of red. They watched as her eyebrows began to twitch and as her hand curled into a fist and began to shake.
"I think I hear Colette calling me and…" Lloyd began as he stood up.
"You're not going anywhere!" Raine shouted, her rage out of control now. She pulled her sleeves up, prepared to deliver her style of punishment (which is really quite painful).
"No…please! Professor, don't!" were the pitiful cries of Lloyd and Genis as they began backing up to the wall. Just next-door Sheena was asleep, a smile on her face. But a moment later, screams and bangs could be heard which woke her up.
"What?" Sheena asked herself out loud, startled. Hearing the screams and noise coming from the kitchen, Sheena sighed. It must be Raine again. Getting out of bed, she slipped her shoes on and stepped outside. "Hey guys." Everyone looked up at Sheena.
"Thank goodness!" Lloyd cried as he ran up to Sheena. Then in a barely audible voice, Lloyd said," Thanks for saving me. The Professor is crazy!" Smiling, Lloyd bolted out the door.
"Hey! Wait a minute! I'm not done with you yet!" Raine cried as her gaze followed Lloyd out the door. Seizing his chance, Genis got up and ran out the door, seeking freedom. Raine sighed.
"Lost them again, did you?" Sheena questioned. Raine stood up.
"Yes, but I suppose it's alright."
"What were you punishing them for anyway?"
"Oh that, they used my very expensive flour for a flour fight and well… I was using my authority and right as an adult to punish them."
"…More like abusing your authority and rights," Sheena said under her breath as Raine walked out of the room.
Later that afternoon at around three, everyone gathered in the kitchen. Zelos, who took it upon himself to be the announcer stood up. "Good afternoon everyone!" Zelos cried. The party responded with a cold glare. Ignoring the glares, Zelos pressed on. "As you know, today is a special day. Today, Lloyd and Genis are going to have a cook-off!" Zelos paused, expecting some applause – but there was none. At that moment, Genis and Lloyd came through the door and walked to their appropriate places. "Each contestant has his own side of the kitchen and a number of ingredients. The two will have to utilize their ingredients to make a delicious dish that will win the judges over and declare them the winner!" Zelos sighed. "Let's just skip the intros and get to the competition!"
"You're gonna loose Genis," Lloyd said as he began to grin.
"I'm not the one who's gonna loose, LLOYD!" Genis shouted as he too broke into a grin.
"Let the competition begin!" Zelos shouted, banging a pot and pan together because he didn't have a gun he could shoot into the air. Immediately, the two competitors began clambering all over their side of the kitchen, searching for pots, pans, utensils, and their ingredients.
"Let's see…" Lloyd said to himself as he began to inspect his ingredients. While he was searching, his eyes wandered over to something red and round. Curious, Lloyd picked up the red object and threw it back onto the counter. "Whose idea was it to put tomatoes down as an ingredient!" Lloyd angrily shouted. Looking over the faces of his friends in the audience, Lloyd saw that Zelos' grin was a little too wide. Frustrated at the thought that Zelos had put tomatoes as an ingredient knowing that Lloyd simply detested them, he picked up a tomato and threw it in his face.
"Owwww!" Zelos cried, his hands covering his face. "The tomato juice stings! It burns! It BURNS!" Zelos continued to scream and run in circles until he crashed into the wall and lay unconscious on the ground, his face still covered in tomato chunks and juice. There was an eerie silence as everyone stared at Zelos.
"Well… that takes care of Zelos!" Sheena cried happily. Everyone nodded in agreement and the cook-off resumed.
"What can I make with eggs, a tomato, and green onions?" Lloyd cried out in frustration. Suddenly, an idea popped into his head, which did not occur very often. Then, Lloyd's eyes just so happened to "wander" over to Genis' side of the kitchen. On the other side of the kitchen, the young half-elf had already begun utilizing his ingredients – his onions were already diced, the eggs were already beaten, and was starting on the tomatoes. Maybe I should…copy his idea. Lloyd began to crack his eggs into an empty bowl. However, Lloyd had never cracked an egg before and left small fragments of pearly white eggshells in the bowl. Next, he picked up the green onions and began to chop them. Noticing how quickly Genis could dice his onions, Lloyd tried to mimic his actions… rather unsuccessfully. Sheena slapped her forehead with her open palm.
"Lloyd is so careless!" Sheena cried as she kept her eyes on Lloyd; who by the way cut his fingers and was now screaming in pain.
Worried, Colette stood up and shouted: "Lloyd! Are you okay! I'm going to get you some band-aids!" Suddenly, Zelos began to stir and sat up slightly. Unaware of this, Colette continued to run towards the door, tripped over Zelos, and fell over. When Colette tripped over Zelos, her legs fell on top of Zelos' head and caused him to once again, become uncurious. Raine sighed.
"I would assume that today was a bad day to have a cook-off?" Presea said, smiling. "Everyone seems to be having some sort of bad luck… everyone that is, except Genis." The small axe wielder was correct – Genis was now putting his eggs into a large frying pan and was well on track (much unlike Lloyd, Zelos, and Colette). Regal laughed silently to himself at Presea's joke. Like a sudden bolt of lightning, Colette jumped up and ran off towards Raine's room in search of the first aid kit that Lloyd so desperately needed (for he was still clutching his wounded fingers and was running around screaming).
"Almost done!" Genis said out loud to himself. His eggs were completely cooked on one side so he added his diced tomatoes, onions, and a couple pinches of salt and pepper. Next, Genis folded his egg over the newly added ingredients to make a semi-circle. Content with the way the competition was going, Genis began to whistle.
"Where is it?" Colette cried. "Where did Professor Raine put that first aid kit?" Desperately, Colette began to tear Raine's room apart until "Found it!" Clutching the first aid kit in her arms as if it were some priceless treasure, Colette ran out of the room to the kitchen where the kit was needed. Upon arriving, Colette (being the klutz that she is) tripped over Zelos again, causing the kit to fly out of her arms. "NO!" Colette screamed. Raine, Sheena, Regal, and Presea watched with some sort of sick obsession as the first aid kit flew through the air.
"This can't be good," Regal concluded. Presea stared at him.
"How so? Please explain," Raine said obviously interested.
"Well, the first aid kit is flying directly towards Lloyd and –". Regal didn't get a chance to finish his 'observation' for there was a loud THUD! The first aid kit was flying in Lloyd's direction and unfortunately for Lloyd, had hit him directly on his head. Genis however, had just finished his dish and was now placing it on a plate. Scrambling to her feet once again, Colette ran over to her dear friend.
"Lloyd! Lloyd, are you okay?" Colette said, her voice full of concern and worry.
"Don't worry Colette," Raine said as she walked over. "Genis, the competition is over, and judging by what Lloyd has made, you are the winner."
"That's great and all," Genis began," But Lloyd is more important than any cooking competition…" Raine smiled at the maturity that her younger brother was showing.
"In any case," Sheena added, "We should get Lloyd back to his room as soon as possible and treat his numerous injuries." Motioning to Regal and Presea, the four of them moved Lloyd to his room and set him down on his bed. With skill and precision, Raine had all of Lloyd's injuries bandaged in no time at all. He was however; still unconscious which made Colette worry.
Seeing the worried look on Colette's face, Raine said:" Don't worry Colette, Lloyd's going to be fine. Why don't I just leave you here with him so you will know when he wakes up?" Colette nodded, tears threatening to pour out of her blue eyes. Raine smiled at Colette, and then left the room.
Once alone, Colette burst into tears. "I am so sorry Lloyd! I'm such a klutz…" Colette knew that the first aid kit incident was only an accident but that did not stop her from feeling responsible for Lloyd's condition.
Just outside, Sheena and Raine were listening. "She really does care about Lloyd," Sheena whispered.
"Yes," Raine replied. "You should have seen them when they were young children."
"Really? Can you tell me the story some day?"
"Yes of course… someday. But for now, we should leave the young lovers to themselves."
"I guess so…" Sheena said. As she followed Raine outside, she couldn't help but look over her shoulder every couple seconds at the room where Colette and Lloyd were.
"Lloyd looks… so peaceful," Colette whispered to herself. Normally, he always had a grin on his face or on certain occasions was dead serious. Colette extended her arm out to Lloyd, but quickly pulled it back in. Gathering up her courage, Colette stretched her hand out all the way and began to stroke Lloyd's hair ever so gently. A smiled escaped her lips as she sighed: "Lloyd, get better soon." Suddenly, Lloyd groaned causing Colette to pull her arm back rather quickly. His eyes fluttered open and smiled. Unable to help it, Colette threw herself upon Lloyd and gave him a fierce hug. Surprised by the sudden action, Lloyd sat up. "Oh Lloyd! I was so worried! I was afraid that I had hurt you! I was afraid…" Lloyd smiled.
"You dork! As if something like that could really hurt me." The truth was in fact that Lloyd was deeply touched by the fact that Colette had been so worried about him and began to blush. Noticing that Lloyd was blushing, Colette immediately cut the embrace short and sat back in her chair. For the longest time, there was an awkward silence between the two. Perhaps it was because Colette had hugged Lloyd so suddenly or because they were both blushing; but whatever the reason was, Lloyd decided that the silence had to end. He gently raised his hand to Colette's face and wiped her tears away – an action which surprised her.
"L-Lloyd?" Colette asked, obviously startled. Lloyd smiled.
"Hey, how would you like to go out to dinner with me? Tomorrow night?" Lloyd cautiously asked. It wasn't so much that he was afraid of the question, but rather he was afraid of Colette's answer.
"Yes," Colette answered. "Of course I'll go with you!"
So, how did you guys like it? I apologize if any character was OC. Thank you for reading.
Hari
PS - I would really appreciate it if you would rate and review!