July

x x x

The decadent clock tower that loomed over Meltokio struck four o'clock in the afternoon as the young summoner strode out into the castle's courtyard, brown eyes a bit tired and faded. Travelling to the city on foot in the mid-summer heat was exhausting enough to begin with, but accepting a mission to journey to another world and assassinate an innocent girl would be a much greater test of endurance. It would take every ounce of skill and willpower she had to carry out this oh-so-important order of business.

But…that didn't mean she wasn't nervous as hell about it. Because this time, failure would not be an option; the last time she'd messed up, people lost their lives. Sheena Fujibayashi would not make the same mistake twice. She wasn't going to go down in history like that.

Even still, the thought of murdering someone turned her stomach. She was going to have to keep in mind that this was for the good of all of Tethe'alla. Thousands of people were counting on her to prevent their world from falling into decline. Letting them down would be the worst thing she could imagine. In any case, she couldn't wait to get back to her room at the inn and talk to Corrine about this fine mess…

Her train of thought flew off the tracks at the sound of a familiar voice and a flash of red in her periphery. No, absolutely no way was she going to talk to him right now. She didn't want any prying as to what business she had in the city. He'd find out in due time about her little errand in the other world, so she had no intentions of being the one to share the 'good news.' Knowing Zelos, he wouldn't exactly be thrilled about his best friend doing something that risky. Sheena quickened her pace, praying that he wouldn't notice her passing by, and—

She bit down on her lip as she heard him halt in mid-sentence, piercing blue eyes catching hers over the little mob of females he was in the midst of chatting up. The expression on his face lost the rehearsed guise of confidence, transitioning clumsily toward genuine delight. Every pair of overly-made-up eyes followed his gaze to glare venomously at the potential threat. They all sensed the meaning of that amorous look on their idol's visage, like a shark senses blood in the water.

"Mm, would you 'scuse me for a moment, ladies?"

Sheena had resigned herself to the inevitable fact that she'd been caught, fidgeting a bit nervously as he parted the crowd to meet her. He looked as though he wanted to catch her in an embrace, but she motioned purposefully with her eyes toward the other girls as a signal to be discreet. Zelos backed off a bit with the blatant affection, but his mannerism was still exuberant when she finally managed to look at him eye-to-eye.

"Just get into town, hun? It's been way too long, I was hoping you'd turn up here soon…"

The ninja brushed a lock of hair behind her ear, his cheeriness only increasing her own solemn mood. "S-sorry, I had a message to deliver to the king. I'd have stopped by to see you later—doesn't seem like I caught you at a good time anyway."

Zelos frowned in thought, tilting his head slightly with interest. "Sheena…" Her heart leapt up in her throat at the caring way he spoke her name. "You feeling alright? Look a little pale. Not overworking yourself again, I hope."

"No, no, don't worry about me! I'm just…" She shook her head despondently. "Just a little tired. I was heading back to the inn to catch a little nap."

"Oh. Well, that's understandable, with the trip over and all. After you rest up though, would you maybe wanna spend the festival night together?"

Sheena squinted at him in confusion. "…Huh?"

The Chosen rolled his eyes playfully, a teasing smile on his lips. "Aw, I figured you'd have forgotten. You know, the summer festival? We went together a few years ago, when you were staying at the research center."

She most certainly did remember. All of the times she had spent with him were quite lucid memories indeed. That particular night had been nerve-wracking; after all, being out in public with Zelos was intimidating. Most of Meltokio was distrustful both of Mizuho and of half-elves, and anyone who associated with either was looked down upon. She fell into both categories. But at least most of the people had been too sauced up on alcohol to really care much about anything…

He looked a bit uncomfortable with her silence. "So, maybe you could use a little fun then? Away from all the super-serious-ninja-stuff? Just me and you?"

Sheena smiled slightly at his rather obvious groveling. Next she expected him to come right out and give a good, long "Please?" the way a little kid would to his mother.

"I guess so," she finally sighed, pretending to be reluctant as a means of deflating his ego. "The fireworks are pretty, even if the people are mostly asses."

A delighted grin tore across his face at her half-hearted affirmation, the blue in his eyes shining radiantly in the late afternoon sunlight. "Perfect! Then I'll come by and pick you up around eight-ish? If that's good with you."

Behind him and across the courtyard, the band of women was still staring venom into her as she nodded curtly in agreement. She was becoming increasingly self-aware of how much attention she'd attracted. Although normally not one to back down from a conflict, Sheena found herself wanting to retreat from the situation in light of the day's events.

"Uh, sure, that's fine," she muttered quickly, looking down at the ground again. "And, um—sorry if I interrupted your little…whatever that is." She glanced again toward the others.

She didn't notice it, but he was smirking at her comment. "Yeah, well, you can interrupt that any time you feel like it. I sure won't complain." The young woman looked up at him skeptically, and he gave her a cute little wink. She wasn't sure if she should smile along with him or be annoyed.

"O-okay then…see you later?" She turned to go, but Zelos seized her by the forearm. Their eyes met, and he gave her that genuine smile again, like he had when he first caught sight of her.

"Don't look so worried, hm? In life, things aren't always as bad as they look."

She took her arm back, frowning a bit. He had no idea how bad things really were at the moment, but she couldn't tell him that. Instead she hid her anxiety with snappiness, as she often did with him. "Tsk, thank you Socrates. Now if you don't mind, I really need to lie down…and don't you dare offer to come with me!"

Sheena didn't look back at him as she walked away, and yet she was sure she could feel him fondly watching her leave. It was true that he was good at making her irritable, but somehow, she was certain that he was a whole lot better at making her feel guilty.

x x x

Only a few rays of sunlight remained in the sky as she stood outside the inn, waiting for her not-so-ordinary escort to come fetch her. By her watch, it was already fifteen minutes past the hour. Zelos had a habit of being late to their engagements. This time, however, she wasn't as annoyed as she might have been. She still felt out of sorts about the impending assassination mission; Corrine had offered his utmost support, which definitely helped to raise her spirits. Even so, Sheena doubted she would be able to relax and enjoy the evening with this weight on her chest.

In an instant she reassembled her composure when she saw her friend rounding the adjacent street corner. His eyes lit up when he came up to meet her, admiring her in an awkwardly obvious way before catching himself doing so.

"Get a nice little rest, sweetie? Certainly look refreshed," he added coyly, smiling at her light blush. "Really though…you're adorable with your hair down, y'know. Haven't seen you like that in ages…"

Sheena felt a smile tugging at her lips as he cast his gaze downward, clearly a little flustered. She had to admit, he didn't look too shabby himself. Thankfully, he'd left off the silly pink adornments this time, just the simple black shirt that contrasted his lengthy red curls. In a discreetly feminine fashion, she made note of his finely-toned body through the light fabric.

Quickly she saved them both the embarrassment by asking the obvious question. "So, what did you have planned for tonight? I don't really want to mingle with all of those snobby aristocrats, if that's what you're going for…"

Zelos wrinkled his nose in exaggerated disgust, earning a little snicker from her. "Not exactly, dear. I spend enough time with them at all those lackluster formal events. Like I said earlier, tonight's supposed to be actually enjoyable. So…I thought maybe we'd do something a bit naughty."

She glared at him flatly. In light of the rumors she'd begun to hear about him, she was afraid of what he might consider naughty.

He caught the gist of her expression in a heartbeat. "—I don't wanna know what atrocities you're thinking of, but what I meant was we're gonna ditch this city. You said you only like the fireworks anyway, so why don't we watch them from the outskirts of town?"

The mischievous look on his face spread to her as she contemplated the notion. "It was kind of hard to see the show last time, with all of the city lights. Are we taking the usual route?"

By this she meant sneaking out via the waterway deep beneath the city. In their younger years they had utilized it quite frequently as a nighttime means of escape, having a variety of adventures on the beach or in the surrounding wilderness. Sheena was rather proud of herself for being the one to think up the idea in the first place; she'd been pretty well trained in the art of espionage, even at an early age.

The Chosen nodded. ""Course we are. Only one way out after the city gates shut, am I right?"

Fortunately, the entrance to their escape route was in a mostly deserted area of town. Everyone had gone to the main courtyard for the festivities, and the pair easily made their way into the depths below. Sheena remembered the route far better than he did; it'd been a few years, after all.

She smiled back at him when they emerged from the channel where the sewer led out to. True to character, Zelos was already running up to her side, like an eager hound to its mistress.

"Mm, so now that we're in private…" He took her hand in his, flashing her a warm grin when she raised an eyebrow. "I'm assuming this is okay, if you're not in a banshee kick-my-ass mood."

The ninja just shrugged, not dignifying him with an answer. These days, with everything that was going on, they got along best when no words were exchanged. She still sensed that he cared deeply for her, but for whatever reason, he was much more guarded about it than ever before. Even still, he was insistent as ever to see her whenever possible.

At his suggestion, they headed out into the open field just north of Meltokio. A half of a mile in, he abruptly released his hold on her, flopping onto the grass. He patted the spot beside him, and with some reluctance, she seated herself.

He scooted close to her, not paying any mind to her standoffishness. "So, you were playing messenger again today? Just business as usual I'm guessing…"

Sheena kept her eyes cast down. "Yeah…just business as usual."

"Ooh, you know what I heard though?" he went on, unaware of her fidgeting. "I heard that someone from Mizuho is being sent to assassinate the Chosen of that…um, other world. You know anything 'bout that?"

"Ah…no, I haven't heard that yet. They don't always keep me posted on that kind of thing. The less people who know, the easier it is to keep secret."

Zelos must have bought the lie, because he didn't persist in the topic. She felt every muscle in her body relax. Now it was her turn to put him on the spot.

"So, what's with all of the girls lately…?" She shot him a rather poignant glare, one of the no-nonsense sort. "I've been hearing you're the talk of the town."

He shrugged, leaning back to lay flat. "Meh. They say lots of things. But I gotta be nice to them all anyway 'cause I'm the Chosen One."

She laughed humorlessly at the way he said it. There was only bitterness in the word.

"I know what you're thinking though, sweetheart," he added in that loathsome flirting tone. "You don't have to be jealous. It's not how you think."

Sheena rolled her eyes, cracking a tiny smile despite herself. "I didn't think so, but…it was bugging me a bit…"

A smirk formed on his face. "You should've seen how pissed the little brats were over me talking to you earlier."

They both laughed, relieved and happy to be away from the rest of the world for a while. She almost even felt like things were going to turn out okay for once, but the feeling passed when he cornered her with an affectionate gaze that went right through her heart.

"Well, in any case…I'm really glad you're here." A little bit of a blush dusted his face, something he had never had much control over, especially around her. She felt her face heating up too when he pulled her playfully on top of him, their faces only a few inches apart.

Sheena smiled coyly at him, her dark locks brushing against his neck. "Aw, you missed me? 'Cause you know, that sounded like a confession to me."

"I always miss you. If I could…" Zelos decided to push his luck a bit, kissing her neck softly. "I'd wanna see you every day."

She laughed quietly, twirling a red strand of hair around her finger. "You're sure charming when you want to be."

The Chosen gave her a shy grin in return, but his blue eyes danced with summer mischief. "I do try…"

Sheena was still in the midst of forming a sarcastic retort when he quickly leaned up for a kiss. His passion melted against her, intense but warmly affectionate. She moved her lips against his in return, feeling his fingers brushing against her back. The sigh of longing that escaped him was music to her ears.

The sound of fireworks in the sky caused them to separate, and both pairs of eyes looked up at the lights exploding over the city rooftops. Red, green, blue, gold; she counted the colors one by one, feeling him gently threading his fingers through hers.

She still had a knot of worry stuck in her chest, but her dearest friend was kissing her hand and nuzzling her neck, so it became increasingly difficult to hold onto that sinking feeling. Maybe he was right after all. Maybe things weren't always as bad as they looked.

A/N: Thanks again to all my readers, you've been a great help in keeping me on this fic. I hope ya'll enjoyed. Now I need to contemplate a theme for this next month. ;)

Love much,
-FP