May I just say, I'm so, so, so sorry for taking so long! Please forgive me! Um… I'm not sure if this'll make it up to you, but here are some things I've done between my last update and now: Went on a three week vacation, beat two Final Fantasy games, suffered from writer's block, wrote a quarter of this chapter, suffered from writer's block again, and then started school. That last thing happened a week ago.

So, like I said, sorry! And also, only two reviews from the last chapter wasn't a giant motivator. Did the last chapter suck that much?! So, to my (hopefully) still loyal readers, here's the next chapter.

Disclaimer: I don't own Tales of Symphonia.

One more thing!! I could not believe this when I found this out about a month ago. I was in utter shock. My stories are on the Sheelos community! Now, I don't know much about communities (I know what they are, but just haven't been interested in learning more), so I'm not sure how I story gets added to one. Could someone explain it to me? But I'm so happy about it.

Chapter 6- Relapse

Maybe I should just go back upstairs and see him. Then again, that might not end well. He made it perfectly clear that he didn't want me around, so… maybe I should just listen to him. Sheena shook her head violently, instantly banishing that thought. She refused to abandon him, not now.

Even though that may be what he really wants. Damn it, why does this have to be confusing?!

The ninja continued to pace around the lavish living room, pausing momentarily, allowing her gaze to linger on the giant, towering picture of Mylene Wilder. Her brown eyes hardened a little at the sight of it. Sheena, unsuccessfully, tried to convince Zelos to take the picture down, but he adamantly refused, while not giving much reason for his decision. While she did not press the issue, her opinion had not changed. Zelos's mother definitely did not deserve the honor of having her picture displayed within the mansion, not after causing her son so much emotional trauma for her son.

Shaking her head, Sheena forced herself away from the picture and back to the current problem. Moving from her stop in front of the picture, Sheena absentmindedly noticed that her legs were moving her towards the stairs. The summoner was too wrapped up in her own thoughts to truly notice. However, almost tripping up the stairs had managed to force Sheena out of her reverie.

Sighing, she mentally came to her conclusion. Not that I really had to give it much thought.

It was true, Sheena knew, that she really did not have to consider it much. She knew what she had to do, and she was prepared to do it, and whether she ended up getting hurt in the end did not matter.

Taking a calming breathe, Sheena slowly began climbing the stairs. She kept that slow pace until she heard a loud, crashing a noise; a sound that ripped through the looming silence violently, making Sheena jump. With renewed vigor, she ran up the remaining stairs, almost afraid of what she would find at the top of them.

Without regaining her wits, Sheena wrenched Zelos's bedroom door open, eyes widening at the sight of… nothing? Brown eyes scanned the semi-dark room frantically, but when she found nothing, she let out a held breathe, unaware that she had been holding it in. However, she did not allow herself to relax. Her eyes landed on the swordsman's closed bathroom door, knowing, even though she would love to deny it, that the breaking noise had come from there.

Even though it had only taken her a few seconds to cross the room and stand in front of the door, each step felt like it had taken an eternity. With each step she took, Sheena felt like she was starting to suffocate. It felt shameful to admit, but Sheena was truly scared of what she would find behind the door.

Forcing herself to be calm, since it would not be a good idea to act irrationally or impulsively, Sheena quickly opened the door, bracing herself for what she find on the other side.

Once she opened the door, her eyes widened, but at the same time, released a held in breathe, relieved. There was no blood anywhere, as far as she could see, just shattered glass from a broken mirror.

With calm eyes, Sheena looked at Zelos. More specifically, she looked at the inner parts of his arms. They were slightly obscured, but she could see no blood. It seemed like she could breathe again. Nevertheless, there was still another matter that had to be resolved. Why had Zelos smashed the mirror? Was he trying to kill himself?

"I thought about locking the door," Zelos said, causing Sheena to blink and look at his face, "to see if you'd break it down, like you said you would."

Sheena could vaguely recall threatening to do something like that once before, after Zelos's attempted suicide. Was that a confession? She would not know unless she asked.

Ignoring what he had said, Sheena asked, "Zelos, what are you doing?" Though she tried to keep her voice firm, her question had been voiced a little shakily.

Zelos opened his mouth, but instead of replying, dropped the piece of glass he held in his hand. Sheena cringed slightly at the sound of the shattering glass.

"I thought about Seles, and her funeral." Zelos said, causing Sheena to tilt her head in confusion. He had said it so conversationally, almost as if he were talking about the weather or something.

"… I hadn't thought about her since then." He finished.

"And?" Sheena urged, praying he would continue.

"I didn't really want to… I just did,"

"Is that why you broke the mirror?"

"Don't really know." Zelos answered, shrugging.

"What do you mean?" Sheena asked patiently.

"I didn't want to think about her anymore." Zelos responded after a small pause.

Quirking an eyebrow, Sheena replied, "So you broke the mirror…" She said it more as a statement rather than a question.

"Better than what else I coulda done." While Zelos was trying to conceal it, Sheena could detect the impatience in his voice.

"Would you if I hadn't come in?" This was the question that she was hesitant to ask. She was not sure if she would like the answer she would receive…

"Dunno,"

… If she received a real answer.

"Honestly?" Sheena could not help but be a little skeptical. Zelos had to have known if he would or would not cut himself.

"I… hadn't really thought about it." He sighed.

"Which hand did you punch it with?"

Instead of replying, Sheena watched Zelos's eyes drift down, towards his left pocket. His hand was inside it.

"Let me see." Sheena quietly commanded.

Hesitant, Zelos complied, taking his hand out of pocket. Sheena could now see the blood dripping from his knuckles since they had been cut by the shards.

"You need to get those bandaged. If I leave you alone for a minute, will you do anything?"

"No." Zelos answered quietly.

"Are you serious?" Sheena wanted to believe him, needed to believe him. But for that to happen, he had to say it convincingly; to say it like he truly meant it, which, Sheena hoped, was actually the truth.

"Yes." He said. Sheena knew that Zelos was an exceptional liar, he sounded sincere. She decided to trust him, and hope that she would not end up regretting it, or that Zelos would not do something drastic and irreversible because of it.

Turning around, Sheena briskly walked out the room, but before she was completely out of the bathroom, Sheena turned her head to face him, "Why don't you go rest on your bed,"

Even though that was what she had said, she truly wanted him out of the bathroom.

Sheena waited until Zelos was out of the room before she closed the door, hoping he would not enter it again while the glass was still in there. Sheena observed him silently as he sat on the bed, dabbing a towel he had grabbed before exiting the room on his knuckles. They weren't bleeding badly now, but Sheena knew that they ought to be wrapped up with bandages.

Before she exited the room, Sheena asked Zelos, "Why did you choose to break a mirror? Why that and not something else?"

"It was the first thing I thought of. What should I have done?"

"You should've talked to me." Sheena answered quietly, her brown eyes drifting to the floor.

"I thought you left." Zelos replied morosely.

Lifting her eyes, Sheena gazed into his icy orbs and, with a small smile, said, "Get it through your head Zelos. I'm not leaving you."

With that, she turned around and left the room.

After a few minutes of searching through countless, Sheena was finally returning to Zelos's room. Upon entering, Sheena found Zelos asleep on his bed, knees curled up to his chest, his hand limply holding onto the towel. Due to that, some of the blood was dripping onto his bed sheets.

For once, Zelos looked content in his sleep. Peaceful. Sheena was not sure that she would ever see that again on his face, whether or not he was asleep or awake. She had missed that look.

She quietly walked over to him and gently grabbed his hand. The ninja was surprised at the fact that he continued to sleep. She slowly began wrapping his wounded knuckles, pausing every now and then to look at his face.

Once she was finished, she positioned herself next to him, slowing laying down. Sheena decided that she would stay awake and watch him, just in case. Mostly, she felt that if she fell asleep, Zelos would wake up and have that relapse that she was afraid of.

She stroked his hair, caressed his face, things she had not been able to do for a long time. And that's all she did for the rest of the night.

So, there's chapter six. Once again, sorry for the long update. I hope that's the last time I ever go that long without updating. And for the record, this has yet to be thoroughly proofread, so if you noticed any errors, feel free to point them out.

So, was it any good? Please review, even if it's just to complain about my lack of updating. Hopefully, the next chapter will be up soon.