February

x x x

"Ow!"

Sheena examined her finger ruefully where the needle had bit into her flesh, bringing it at once to her lips to relieve the pain. The young summoner-in-training looked down in frustration at the little rectangle of fabric, a beautiful royal blue piece of silk that had cost her a week's worth of pocket money to buy. Her eyes focused intently on the curving golden letter that she was currently at work embroidering into the corner.

Unintentionally, she scowled a bit. It was hard to believe she had to have it finished by tonight! Maybe procrastinating wasn't one of her most resplendent qualities after all…although, she had contemplated for weeks in advance what kind of gift she was supposed to get the most powerful and well-known person in the world. And for such a gaudy occasion at that.

However, although she was only a girl of a modest fourteen, her ability to be resourceful surpassed her age by quite a bit. Even if her Chosen friend had or could have pretty much anything money could buy, she certainly could still produce for him something that money couldn't buy. That was her winning lottery ticket right there. 'Make something from the heart', as they usually called a gift that was, well…cheap and crudely handmade.

So she had thought back. What was it that she knew made him smile? Usually whenever one of them sought the other out for company, some smiles could be assured, but she couldn't exactly give him herself as a gift. Sheena felt her face grow warm at this, envisioning herself with a bright red ribbon around her neck.

But, silly thoughts aside, she had perceived one specific thing that brought a very subtle aura of happiness out of her longtime best friend. Ever since he had first introduced himself to her, she had always, unfailingly, addressed him by name. No 'Chosen One.' Not from her. Whether that was disrespectful or not, she had not bothered to consider, but she did notice the surprised looks people gave her when they saw a common, strange-looking girl doing such a thing.

Maybe she would have even stopped altogether, if not for one simple little thing: his eyes communicated to her the utmost gratitude in answer. To him, she sensed, the gesture meant that they were friends for a reason other than that loathsome title. It meant that she didn't care who he was or what that implied to their friendship.

Simply put, it was a grain of normalcy in the life of someone who hardly knew the meaning of the word. She hoped this little trinket would be a nice reminder of the special bond that they had forged. Perhaps, perhaps…

Her dark colored eyes shifted to the clock on the wall of her little room, a chamber in the wing of the laboratory that the researchers resided in. It was nearly a quarter past eleven, much too late for her to be active when her work always woke her so early in the morning. Luckily, she knew the task would only take another half hour at the most. Every Mizuho girl was taught to sew, and she was no exception, but her lack of practice had caused the night to drag on longer than she had anticipated.

She continued to poke the needle back and forth through the fabric, feeling embarrassment welling up inside of her all of the while. Over the past year she had spent here, it had become more and more apparent how different culture in Meltokio was from her own. Case in point, this whole stupid holiday. Such a thing would have never existed in Mizuho. A holiday where people spent money frivolously and put an enormous amount of time and effort into looking better than everyone else…she didn't understand it much herself, either. How was that connected to love, of all things?

Carefully, Sheena stitched up the back of her handiwork, disregarding the messiness. She would be stitching another side to it anyway, thus beginning the long process of binding the two pieces together to form a whole. It looked a bit pathetic, now that she thought about it, and she felt herself wince a bit at the idea.

But, she reminded herself, it was just an offering of friendship. Even if the day was for 'love', love meant friendship, too. That didn't mean it would be any easier to give a boy a gift…

Maybe it wasn't such a good idea after all.

But if you never try, you'll never know. Her grandfather had told her that many times when things seemed too difficult or scary to attempt. For the most part, it was true. After all, even when she made a mistake, sometimes the best things came as a result of what seemed like a complete failure. Corrine, for example, had turned out to be a much different companion than she had expected a summon to be. That had been for the best, Sheena thought fondly, recalling many carefree times he had spent close to her side.

Well, in the end, she would just have to give it a try. She had only one real friend in the whole lonely city, and if this was how people around here showed that they cared for someone else, then a gift was exactly the right thing to express her feelings with.

…Even if she didn't quite know what those feelings were.

x x x

Nearly two years ago, when the dark-haired ninja had first arrived in the capital as a trainee summoner, it had been approximately the same time of the year. The trees were skeletal with the memory of green leaves far behind them, and snow wasn't uncommon most of the time. Sheena hadn't known what Valentine's Day was at all, back then. She had asked one of the researchers that she worked with, having overheard the phrase being thrown around by a group of older girls.

The woman she had chosen to ask, a young half-elf with short, light blue hair and kind eyes, smiled at the question. Valentine's Day, she explained, was a time in which one could show that they cared for someone close to them, sometimes through a card, or a gift, or even just a few words. Usually there were many dinners and parties held by the upper society of the city, although it would be hard to walk through even the most destitute of neighborhoods that day without seeing couples holding hands or sitting together.

According to the story she was told, Sheena managed to gather that no one really knew when the tradition had started, or who 'Valentine' even was. Some of the other researchers, having lived longer lives than any human, recalled a legend that Valentine had been a great and powerful king of the ancient world, who held a ceremony each year for the young courtly men to select a proper lady to romance. A few claimed a different tale, saying that the person in question had supposedly been a disciple of Martel, whose benevolent services to the poor had earned him a holiday that had come to be associated with love and friendship.

Either way, it seemed that the day had inadvertently become just another chance to show how rich and powerful one was by throwing enormous, gala parties and collecting an armful of women to show off. Surely, she thought bitterly, this had not been the original intention of the holiday, regardless of its origin.

Presently, Corrine seemed to share her thoughts as he sat perched on the end of her bed, watching her secure her gift into a small paper box. "Sheena, why are you giving that guy a present? He's already rich." His fox nose wrinkled in disgust, tail thrashing slightly in annoyance.

The girl rolled her eyes as she finished tying a strand of ribbon around the box. The little summon spirit never did quite like the fact that she had a male friend, somewhat understandably. As her companion, he was naturally protective of her, sometimes to the point of being a bother.

"Ugh, we've gone through this already," she sighed, shooting a glare in the direction of the golden-colored spirit. "Zelos is my friend, whether you like it or not. Obviously, not," she added, laughing quietly. "But he's always been nice to me, nicer than a lot of people have. And—" She paused, thinking for a moment. "It's not about the gift itself; it's about taking the time to think of someone else."

"Psh." Corrine shook his head, not looking at her any more. "You just have a crush on him, that's what."

Her eyes stared daggers into her friend, a vague tinge of red on her face. "W-what! I do not!" Mercilessly, the heat only seemed to turn up on her complexion as she said this. "We're friends! And, that's all," she finished angrily, turning her back.

Sheena could sense the fox smirking at her outburst, but she ignored him. He was probably just in a confrontational mood because of the tests run on him today. It wasn't that hard to sympathize with him, but he had made a pretty personal shot at her just now.

"Look, I have to go meet up with him now, okay? I promised to be at our spot today, seven o'clock. Just stay here and don't cause any trouble."

Gathering her robes tightly around her against the cold, she walked briskly out of her chamber, leaving her canine friend to nap. The researcher at the front desk bid her goodbye for the day, his eyes looking a bit sad. Half-elves were not supposed to leave the laboratory. She said a soft farewell back, feeling somewhat guilty as always of her own freedom.

The intended place of meeting was a small urban park that branched off near divide between the city's main plaza and the 'higher income' section, as some called it. Sheena preferred to think of it as being just a bunch of spoiled twits living on huge estates, most of whom had never worked a day in their life. Fortunately, the location she was headed to was reasonably private and had an abundance of old, tired-looking trees, thus the reason they had chosen this as their resident hangout. Meltokio was, of course, extremely skeptical about relations between classes.

Weaving through a small flow of whimsical-looking couples, the young ninja went to take off onto the footpath that led to her destination, only to notice something odd in the distance. Her friend's house, er…what had that word been that people called it? Yes, a mansion. A crowd of people—women, rather—had gathered all around the door of it, talking and tittering loudly. She frowned; as if it were a question as to what they were doing here on this particular day!

Unusually bold, the ninja ventured in that direction. At an ordinary time, her presence would have been more noticeable, but no one was even looking her way. Clearly this was a chance they all wanted in on; although, unsurprisingly, Sheena was almost certain that they had never seen Zelos Wilder when on the verge of tears, or with his hair soaked from the rain, or...any of the sort of things only a good friend would witness. They wanted him on his 'good days'.

A bit jostled by the crowd, she ended up bumping into one of the girls in the long queue. She was a strawberry blonde, adorned all in pink and red, who might have been fairly good-looking without the ugly glare she shot toward the offender.

"Excuse you," she snapped, quite predictably given her appearance. The woman gave her a quick up-and-down look over, her eyebrows rising slightly in surprise. "Um…are you the Chosen One's new maid or something?"

Sheena gazed flatly at the question, half-wondering if it was an actual insult, but knowing also that this girl probably really was that dense. "No…" she replied quickly, trying in vain to get a look over the top of the mob. "But is he around? I—"

"Yeah, right," the blonde rudely interrupted, rolling her eyes. "I've been waiting for an hour to give him my gift, so I wouldn't count on, well…" She paused, her expression vapidly conceited. "Someone like you getting to the front any time this year."

The summoner did not allow her another word. She turned to go without a second look, feeling hot tears in her eyes. It wasn't because the girl had been so shamelessly mean, or even because she insulted her…she was just through with trying to be a good friend to the world's most impossible person. They were a world apart. But he had been so damn persistent in trying to talk to her, trying to meet with her any chance he got—

Oh, it didn't matter now anyway. She strode quietly down the path, following it back to the park she had originally meant to go. Well-rehearsed in the scenery, she slipped behind a smattering of leafless trees to the decorative fountain that was her favorite spot in town. It was weathered and unattractive by all accounts, but it was a private location and had a ledge around it that she could sit on and think. Seeking a bit of comfort, she called Corrine to her side.

He appeared in a puff of white smoke, shaking himself off from having been asleep. "Hm? Sheena? You need something?"

She shook her head, quickly wiping the tears from her face. More than anything, she didn't want to be given the old 'I told you so.' There would be time enough for that.

Much to her displeasure, Corrine had noticed already. He didn't give her the expected lecture, though, so she considered that a victory on her part. Instead, the golden fox jumped into her lap, nuzzling her hand gingerly.

"Don't take it so personally. You guys have been friends for a long time, you know this always happens. But," he paused, bearing his little set of pointy teeth, "I'm still going to bite him next time he comes around!"

She laughed softly at this, not doubting that he would do as he said. After a few moments she grew tired of sitting and lay down on the ledge. Her friend cuddled up next to her, nudging her hand for more petting. She had gotten the idea in her head to enjoy the quiet for a while, clear her head, and maybe watch the sun go down…

It wasn't until she was being shaken awake that she realized that she'd nodded off. Like most spontaneous moments of sleep, it didn't feel like any time had passed, but the sun only gave off a few streaks of light now. In addition, clear blue eyes were gently laughing at her, as this particular pair often did.

"Well, I was hoping I wasn't that horribly late, but…" Tethe'alla's Chosen of Mana smirked characteristically at his friend, flopping down next to her in a doglike manner. "I guess 'seven o'clock' wasn't a very good estimate this time…"

"I…I guess not." Sheena brushed the hair out of her eyes sleepily, making a point of avoiding his eyes. "But you had your hands full, right?" she added, a touch of venom creeping into her voice.

"Yeah, well…my PR department isn't all that great. I get to handle all of the 'fans' personally. Lucky me." He rolled his eyes, gesturing dismissively. "I have enough chocolate now to make an entire country diabetic. Aren't they just so creative?"

Unable to keep an angry face, she giggled a bit at this. Zelos had always been a fast talker when it came to sarcasm. She liked that about him, and probably always would.

When her eyes finally came up to look at his, he faltered a bit. She noticed he had been in the process of scratching his head nervously, but withdrew at once. Sometimes he was just too cute for his own good, making for a nice balance to the times when she wanted to simply strangle him for all of his stupid idiosyncrasies…

"Ah, but, I did want to um…give you something, hm? I'd be an ass to not give my friend a gift when it's a holiday and all." The Chosen fished a small box out of his coat, reminding her at once of her own gift. She quickly withdrew it from her own robe and held it up proudly.

"See, I indulged in the spirit of Valentine's Day too," she smiled triumphantly, waving the box in front of his face. Corrine chose the moment to stir awake, a growl escaping him at the sight of the redhead.

"Oh, bite him later, Corrine," the ninja told him roughly, giving a gentle pull to one of the fox's tails. "After he's given me a gift, for instance."

Zelos laughed a bit uncertainly at this, but pushed his present into her hands with none the less firmness. She smiled up at him before turning her eyes down to open up the box. He felt himself tense up.

Upon seeing the contents of the small container, she nearly fell off of her seat. A pretty silver locket reflected back at her, a smooth heart-shaped work of art. She could hardly envision it as being her own, let alone that he had bought her such a stunning gift.

"Mm, do you like it?" he quickly asked, and with the utmost seriousness too. Sheena wondered under what circumstances she would possibly not like it. "It looked like something you would like, I figured…want me to put it on for you?"

She nodded wordlessly, answering both his questions at once. A great red blush crossed her face when she felt him touching her, something that tended to happen quite a lot. She was vaguely aware of the words 'thank you' coming from her lips.

"Hey, I still haven't given you yours yet," she mumbled quietly, hoping to divert him before he noticed her red face. In an almost frantic motion, she handed her meager gift over.

She bit her lip as she watched him untie the ribbon, reverently taking the small blue cloth out of the box. "It's a handkerchief, y'know…" she explained unnecessarily, "I um…sewed it, that's why it looks, well…like it does."

The Chosen looked in awe at the meticulously sewn 'Z', a beautiful cursive letter that made something inside of him burst. It was without a doubt the most personal thing he'd ever been given; not the generic, pre-packaged garbage people kept giving him time and time again.

"Sheena…I didn't know you could sew," he teased softly, not wanting to let her see him there gaping like a moron. "You're so multitalented, you know?"

"Idiot…" she muttered in reply, giving her friend a gentle shove. It wasn't anything she expected, of course, when he pulled her into a hug.

She was stiff against him, at first, completely caught off guard. Only a few seconds passed, however, before she had her arms around him too. After all, she thought, they were friends…somehow. 'Friends' had a strange definition for the two of them, but it existed nonetheless.

When they broke apart, she finally got a good look at his eyes for the first time that night. He looked, all at once, nervous, happy, and completely enamored. She tilted her head a bit, wondering what that expression meant. It was so like him to give her those weird, long gazes, she remembered thinking, and then—

He kissed her, of all things.

Her mind went into shock. She felt their lips move uncertainly, experimentally, without her quite realizing what she was doing. Somehow, his kiss was distinctly apprehensive, but the fashion in which he held her close to him said so many clumsy words of desire. She couldn't describe what it was like to be the object of that desire, but she was aware at once, sharply, that she had been ignoring it for the longest time.

Their eyes met awkwardly afterward, a matching shade of pink flushing both of their faces. He couldn't quite believe he had actually done that, after having missed the opportunity more times than he could count. That had been his first, he thought in embarrassment, and if he had failed miserably, it would probably just make her think he was even more of an idiot. For a moment, he was absolutely certain that she was going to deliver a painful smack, but…

Sheena Fujibayashi, no longer so oblivious to his affections, leaned her head against his chest. And, best of all…she was smiling.

A/N: Pre-game , I am so damn cuddly. You know you love it. Er...um, and I hope to post again soon! Once I get an idea -cough-. Heehee. ;p As usual, I'm lazy and don't always proofread well, so if there's typos, I'll catch them once I go through this again.

Review please, if you have read and liked! I appreciate faves, of course, but a quick comment is very rewarding and helps me know that you likee! And thanks for reading, my dear friends, as always!

-FP