Chapter 8: Darkness

(Okay, hopefully I can make this one make up for the last one. :D Two more chapters after this. Yay.)

There are things that cannot be undone, no matter how hard one tries. Of all the things in Sheena Fujibayashi's life, of all the mistakes, one stood out in her mind, far beyond the rest. Though which one it was may surprise you…

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It was the night after the party had fallen through the Otherworldly Gate and been spat out by Palmacosta. The entire lot of them were exhausted, though some more so than others. They'd made camp just outside the coastal town and after a brief dinner, the majority of them had crawled into their sleeping bags. All but Zelos, who was on guard duty, and Sheena, who had excused herself even prior to supper for a 'brief stroll' and had yet to return.

It had been hours since she'd left. Sure, she'd taken her cards with her, but still... anything could happen to her. And the Chosen was worried. No, not Colette, for the tiny angel was tucked up snugly in her sleeping back and snoring softly. The Tethe'allan Chosen. The one who pretended not to care about anything, until the dark of the night hid his tears. That's why he always took night watch. It gave him time to clear his mind, to get out of his system what he couldn't show during the day. Sure, he was tired as hell in the morning, but he hid it well, a perverted comment here, a snide remark at Genis there.

The dark of the night only intensified his fears.

"If she's not back in five minutes, I'm going after her," he vowed softly yet fervently, and sat down determinedly on a nearby log. Five minutes came and went. So did ten. At last, he could wait no longer. Sending a shifty glance back at those he was supposed to be protecting, the redhead slipped off into the forest.

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Not so far away, a raven-haired ninja sat curled up in the crook of a tree, her violet gloves' arms wet where she constantly wiped away her tears. Yet still they blurred her vision, made the world swim around her, blinded her. So she closed her eyes, shutting it all out, even if only for a few moments. Her knees were drawn up to her chest, and her arms were folded across them, providing a nice place for her head to rest.

"That idiot... He just had to butt in, had to pull me into the light and keep me from doing what's right. I hate him for it. I hate him for saving my life. Did it ever occur to him that I didn't want to be saved!?" Sheena softly choked out through her tears, aggravated and confused beyond mortal belief.

Suddenly, a sound came from the nearby woods, and her ninja reflexes made her tense up. It could either be a human or a beast. If it was a beast, part of her wanted to just jump out and let it devour her, likewise if it was a human with malicious intent.

"Sheena!? Where are you?"

She cringed, shrinking back even farther. The one person she wanted least to see. Zelos Wilder.

But apparently her movement, however small, had attracted his inhumanely keen eyes, and he turned to her in surprise. Suddenly aware of the tears on her cheeks, she turned her head left, burying her right cheek in her sleeves and obscuring her face from view. She heard him walk toward her, though it was no real surprise.

"Go away…"

Her words only seemed to draw him closer, however. She felt him crouch before her.

"Sheena, w-"

"Get away from me, you bastard, or I'll slap you," she warned weakly, and when he didn't put distance between them, she raised her head to see and her hand to strike. Though her movement was swift, he reached out and caught her by the wrist, and only when she felt the steady pressure of his hand against hers did she realize how violently hers was shaking. He reached out and grabbed her other hand as well, bringing them together between his. She tried to pull away, but he wouldn't let her.

"Don't touch me, let me go, or I'll make you regret it. I'll-, I'll hurt you, Zelos." She threatened, wanting nothing more than to get him to leave.

"You can't hurt me nearly bad enough to make me leave my hunny alone when she's down like this."

"I'll kill you…" She whispered, and he shook his head.

"No you won't."

And this silenced the ninja, for she knew as well as he did that she wouldn't make good of her threat. But Zelos didn't seem to mind the silence. He just crouched there, in an undoubtedly uncomfortable position, waiting for Martel only knows what.

"Why did you have to pull me away? I've accepted my fate, and the more you save me, the more I'm tempted to deny it, to fight for my life…" Sheena's voice broke the silence, almost inaudible, but still even she could hear the hurt, confusion, and accusation it held. Apparently, Zelos had known it was coming. He squeezed her hands slightly, causing her to look up.

"Your fate is in nobody's hands but your own, and you can change it however the hell you want. I pulled you away because I wasn't about to let my hunny die. You're... you're the closest to a friend I have in this little pow-wow, so I wasn't too inclined to leave you there to sacrifice yourself."

She snorted, turning away.

"Yeah, sure, more like you don't want to lose your groping target," she snarled, and he drew back, his grip on her hands loosening and his eyes widening in surprise. And pain. Sheena could sense it, not because of her ninja senses, but because she was a girl, as well as quite in tune with the weaknesses of all those around her.

"Sheena, it's not like that! I-"

"Bullshit!" She snapped, silencing him. "Everybody knows that's the only reason you follow me around, so don't bother lying. It's the truth, and you know it. If I didn't have a 'well endowed chest', as you so kindly put it, you wouldn't give a shit about me or whether I live or die."

He dropped her hands altogether now, backing off slightly. She knew she should stop, but she couldn't. All the confusion and frustration bottled up inside her made a fire that needed to be let out. And who better to let it out on than the cause of her frustrations?

"Even if my life is completely insignificant, at least it means more than yours. You were born to die, and nobody bothered to care about you. If you weren't famous, do you think you'd have 'hunnies' following you? If you weren't the Chosen, would the King even give you the time of day?" She ranted, and throughout her angry outburst the redhead's eyes had grown wide. By the time she paused, he was shaking his head, pushing away her words, denying their truth, as much to disprove them to herself as to her. And still she continued. "As soon as they realize it's Colette, not you, who's going to save the two worlds, they will care less about you than they will about me. They'll probably kill you, it'd make the world a better place anyways. Nobody would miss you. Nobody cares about Zelos Wilder."

By this time, Zelos had dragged himself a couple of yards away, plugging his ears the best he could and shaking his head. The ninja's seething words had struck on every fear in his mind, and thrown them in his face in a manner that left him shaking with the sheer force of it. He had his eyes closed tightly, apparently struggling to push away the thoughts.

Sheena expected to feel a sense of pride, turning the redhead from a proud swordsman to a trembling, whimpering pile of Zelos, but she didn't. Desperately, she tried to keep going, to gain that proud feeling rather than the lump that was forming in her stomach.

"Nobody cares about you. Not even your mom did; you told me yourself that she said you should never have been born. Even your own sister hates you," she spat, and he shook his head violently. Sheena's eyes widened as a shimmer caught her eye, flying from his cheek with the force of his denial and falling to the dirt beside him. A tear.

The lump immediately overwhelmed all other emotions, and she knew what it was. Guilt. She got up, crawling closer slightly.

"Zelos…" Though her voice was softer and extremely remorseful, the Chosen's head flew up, his eyes locking on hers. They held similar qualities to a trapped animal, scared, hurt, and confused. Just as she had been minutes ago.

"Please, no, no more…" He begged almost incoherently, scooting another few inches away. She crawled closer, and he buried his face in his knees, bracing himself for whatever was to come. "Please, make it stop…"

Before she knew it, she'd wrapped her arms around the Chosen, holding him close and burying her face in his sleeve. And the tears began to flow once more. Immediately he tensed up, expecting more of her harsh words and yelling.

"Zelos, I'm so sorry..." She murmured shakily, but still he remained tense, silent. "I shouldn't have said it all, I shouldn't, I was just afraid... I was afraid of you and what you stood for. Y-you were the only one who cared enough to stop me from giving my life, and I was afraid that if I started to care about you, I… I wouldn't be able to give it all up when the time comes..."

Still tense.

Still silent.

Sheena sighed, nodding in understanding.

"Alright, I screwed up. I know I'll probably never be able to fix it, but... I just wish I could take it all back. Someone does care about you. I do. But I'll leave you be. I've probably said enough tonight," she softly affirmed, rising to her feet and stepping away.

But for the first time since she'd known him, the redhead didn't follow.

They found her in the morning, in a pool of her own blood. The note read, "I loved him, but I lost him, and I never want to hurt him again..."

(I guess this is kinda Alternate Universe, since Sheena doesn't die in the game. And I'm sorry for doing this to you guys, don't worry, the next one will be better and more pleasant. As for the 'darkness', I think that the angsty-ish mood qualified as a shadowed chapter, don't you agree? Its SAD... I had a good ending for this, but then I thought, hell, it's DARKNESS, so... yeah... )