Well, I'm sorry that it took me so long to post this. Finals killed my writing inspiration, so this was very difficult to write. Hopefully, I'll go back to updating once a week.

Disclaimer: Tales of Symphonia doesn't belong to me in any way.

Chapter 2- I'm fine

Hesitantly, Sheena opened the bedroom door and looked into the Zelos's room. At first, she thought that he was asleep, but then she could see his beautiful blue-gray eyes staring sadly at his ceiling.

She closed the distance between them. Coming to a stop before him, she watched as his eyes slowly locked onto her own. Sheena waited patiently for his next move, silently praying that he would speak. Or that he wouldn't look away from her.

After what felt like an eternity, she mentally decided that he wans't going to say anything, so to break the silence, and maybe even coax him into talking, she opened her mouth. But before she could speak, he talked.

"So, how was your trip?"

To put it simply, Sheena was shocked. She hadn't expected the former chosen to talk to her, especially since he was being rather reclusive lately. The ninja fidgeted nervously as she averted her eyes from Zelos's intense gaze. His eyes seemed to have a new piercing aspect to them, almost as though they were looking straight into her.

Hoping to soften his gaze, she replied, though not able to fully contain a nervous stutter, "I-it was fine. How were you while I was gone?"

Zelos turned away from her and shrugged, just like she had expected. To Sheena, he was becoming very predictable. Or maybe he just didn't know any other way to respond.

"It was okay, I guess,"

Okay, maybe he's not so predictable. Sheena thought, mentally sighing. Just when she thought she had Zelos figured out, he'd do something that she wasn't expecting.

"That's good." Sheena hated how awkward their conversations were becoming again. Just like before.

Since Zelos was still looking away from her, Sheena took the opportunity to glance at his arms. Lucky for her, his long arm gloves weren't on at the moment. As far as she could tell, his arms appeared to be scar free. That fact alone made her feel at ease.

"Have you eaten yet?"

Sheena jumped at the question. Had he really just asked her that? No, he couldn't have. He couldn't have just miraculously stopped starving himself. Could he?

"Um… I'm sorry, I didn't hear you. What did you say?" She held her breathe, hoping that he really had regained his appetite.

Sighing in annoyance, Zelos repeated, "I asked if you had eaten yet."

Unable to contain a small smile as she noticed his eyes roll, she answered, "No, I haven't. I'm going to find something. Are you coming with me?"

Sheena winced a little as she watched Zelos force a grin, "Sure,"

Before Sheena could react, Zelos had shoved himself off of the bed and walked across his room to his door. As he opened the door, Sheena jogged over to him, following him down into the kitchen.

After the meal, Sheena was able to convince Zelos to take a walk with her. Her true intentions were just to see if he would since he had locked himself up in his room the entire time. To her surprise, he agreed with no arguing or reluctance.

Along with that, Sheena observed that he ate a bowl of ramen without her having to force it down his throat. This was confusing her. She didn't normally know what was going on with the swordsman to begin with, but she was more out of the loop now than she had ever been.

Even though he was eating and listening to her, Sheena could tell that he wasn't okay. She knew that something was just… wrong. He wasn't acting normal, well, as normal as he could be.

He was quieter, that much was obvious to her. And his eyes, Sheena noted, were different. She could always read his eyes. She could tell when he was happy, angry, or in pain just by looking at them. But now, it looked like there was nothing behind them. It was… unnerving.

Maybe it's just my imagination. She tried to convince herself. Yeah, that could be it. I'm just imagining it, that's all.

"Are you okay?" Sheena was brought out of her thoughts by his question.

I should be asking you that. She thought wryly. Before Zelos repeated himself, Sheena replied, "I'm fine."

"Well, you haven't answered a single thing I've asked, so I was just checking."

"What did you want?" Sheena asked, suddenly curious.

Zelos shook his head quickly, "No, it's nothing. Never mind."

"Come on," Sheena pleaded in a false whining tone, "you can't just drop it. I really want to know."

"Really, it's nothing. Do you want to keep walking?" Zelos questioned.

Sheena could tell that he wanted to drop the subject, so she stopped that conversation for the time being, "I guess we can go back,"

"I don't care."

"I didn't really think you would." Sheena muttered.

"What was that?"

"Oh, nothing." Sheena said with a small smile.

Once they returned the mansion, Sheena left Zelos and went into the kitchen to get a glass of water. She didn't like today ended up. She could tell that there was something wrong with him. And the worst part was, she knew that he wouldn't confide in her.

The only thing that Sheena wanted was for Zelos to tell her what he was feeling. He blamed himself for Seles's early death, even though there was no possible way it could have been his fault. Sheena guessed that he just needed to hear it from someone. Maybe that would help ease his guilt.

As Sheena climbed the stairs, she could hear the distinct sound of retching. She winced, immediately knowing that it was Zelos. She was afraid that he wouldn't be able to hold down his food.

While she was sure that he wouldn't want her to see him, Sheena walked into his bathroom and watched his body heave. Since he had yet to notice her presence, Sheena got on her knees and rubbed his back. It tensed at the contact, and before he could talk, he retched again. Sheena had to fight the urge to cringe.

"Are you all right?" Sheena asked. It had been a few minutes since he had thrown up, though she was still rubbing his back.

"Y-yeah," He replied, his voice a little hoarse.

"Are you really?" She questioned. She wasn't just talking about his stomach.

"Yes," He insisted after coughing a little.

"Damn it Zelos! You need to stop lying to me!" As soon as the words left her mouth, Sheena's eyes widened. She hadn't meant to let that slip out. It just… happened.

Before she could apologize, he abruptly got up and left the room. But Sheena wasn't going to let him get away from her. She was stubborn, just like he was.

"I'm sorry, Zelos." She said as he sat down on his bed.

"Don't be. You didn't do anything,"

"I shouldn't have yelled at you,"

"I'm still fine." Zelos said, changing the subject.

Calmer, she repeated, "Don't lie to me. You're not fine. Don't you think I can tell by now?"

"Do you want something to be wrong with me?" Zelos challenged, now glaring at the ninja.

"Of course not, don't be stupid. I just want to you to stop running."

"And what makes you think I'm running from something?"

"All right then. Maybe you can convince that you're okay. Look me in the eye and tell me that nothing is bothering you."

She smirked internally when he hesitated. They could both tell that he had lost their little argument.

"Please," She whispered, "talk to me. Tell what's on your mind. Tell me what you're feeling."

"I can't." He whispered back, his eyes darting to the floor.

"Why not? I thought I told you that you don't have to face things alone. You don't have to keep everything bottled up, Zelos."

"It's not that, it's just…" He trailed off.

"Don't you trust me enough, Zelos?"

His eyes instantly met hers. Sheena couldn't tell what kind of emotion was in those blue orbs, "Yes, I do! I trust you!"

"Then, tell me what's wrong." She insisted.

"I can't." He repeated.

Seeing that she was getting nowhere, she sighed in defeat. He probably didn't feel like being around her right now, and, to be honest, she didn't like being in the same room as him right now. She felt alone, like he was building a wall around himself and leaving her on the outside. It was… difficult, feeling like this.

"I'm going downstairs. See you tomorrow, Zelos. Try and sleep."

And with that, she turned away from the former Chosen and walked out of the room, completely forgetting that she had meant to reassure him that he wasn't responsible for his sister's death. And it wouldn't be until the next morning that she figured out that her conversation with him only increased his guilt.

I'm not that pleased with this chapter, but I think I now have ideas for it again. Once more, I'm sorry about the chapter lengths. I just can't seem to get them that long.

So, hopefully you liked it. Please review. Readers words always seem to make me happy. It would also help me out if I'm told how to improve the story and/or my writing.