November

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Dazzling white moonlight danced on the ocean's dark surface in the dreary midnight, a thin shimmer coating the water as though some great god had doused it with quicksilver. It was a clear night, and the brilliance of a million stars lit up the black heavens with fireflies. Far off in the distance, the flame from a lonely lighthouse just couldn't compete with the proud celestial display above.

Resting sleepily on an isolated dock in the town of Palmacosta, the one and only Zelos Wilder leaned his weight against one of the wooden supports. Though the hour was late, he couldn't help but take the time to himself. After all, there wasn't any place like it in Tethe'alla, at least that he had ever been to. Altamira rested by the sea, but it was so gaudy and silly, certainly never filled with the peace he was enjoying here. Most of the places he had spent his life were so flooded with bright city lights that he had only on a few occasions seen a sky filled with stars.

He would have plenty of time to enjoy the view for now, at least. As it was, Lloyd and his merry followers had stopped by Palmacosta to drop dear old Mithos off somewhere safe. How the Chosen did detest that manipulative little bastard. Despite the fact he himself was currently deceiving the very same people, there was a distinctly sinister pleasure that the half-elf seemed to get out of toying with others. Giving people a false impression happened to be something Zelos prided himself on—he had been practicing such a thing most of his life. To a point, it was rather fun; he made it more of a game to challenge himself with. People made it even easier when they devised the lies themselves, and for the most part, no real harm came out of the petty rumors and gossip that his little experiments generated.

But, as of late, it seemed as though his lies had become more and more dangerous. It wasn't a game anymore, and beneath his exterior of indifference, he wasn't exactly comfortable with the direction he was going.

Heaving a world-weary sigh, he tossed a chunk of wood that he had peeled off of the dock across the water. In some ways he felt so very justified in screwing everyone over. Even though Lloyd was a pretty likeable guy, it was that very trait that Zelos found so excruciatingly annoying. It seemed wherever the kid went, he won people over…and all he had to do was be his own simpleton self. If he tried that on the people of Tethe'alla, or his little crowds of small-minded fans, the Chosen was absolutely positive that they would abandon him like a sinking ship.

No wonder she admired Lloyd so much. He himself had never truly felt like he deserved her anyway. If only he wasn't so bonded to her, maybe that fact wouldn't cut so deeply into him. Like a stray dog at her doorstep, he waited patiently in the cold for the day he could return to her side.

And, though his trust wasn't easy to win…his loyalty was eternal.

So it wasn't exactly a surprise that this whole deception-and-betrayal business had begun to wear on his senses. Everything had become a mess now, and he had no idea how to fix it.

The surreal feeling of a hand on his shoulder brought his contemplations to an abrupt end. Zelos hadn't really considered anyone would come to find him, not when it was so late. But the familiarity of the touch was a dead giveaway, in any case. Plus, who else was that good at sneaking up on him?

He assembled his best flirtatious visage before glancing up into that pretty face of hers. "Burning the midnight oil, Sheena-dear?"

"Sorry," she murmured. Her brown eyes averted awkwardly from his, and she quickly removed her touch from his arm. "I didn't bother you, did I?"

The redhead blinked. This was different. "Mm, not really. Did you want me to get you a glass of water or something?"

Sheena shook her head, a nervous smile on her face. Could she possibly make this any weirder?

"You sure pick odd places to hang out," she commented, nervously fidgeting with the end of her obi. "I just wanted to make sure I found you before I went to sleep."

"Oh, I like where this is going." He grinned obnoxiously, but her expression had already gone from uncertain to mildly exasperated. She turned to go.

"I must be the stupidest person in the world," she muttered, not looking back at him.

His blue eyes went sharp again. "Hey, c'mon, wait a second Sheena," he called back.

She kept walking. The young woman certainly had impeccable skills for ignoring him.

"Fine, I won't be a smartass anymore!"

This caught her attention. She stopped, turning to face him with a stern look. "You better mean that."

Zelos gave her his best innocent little smile, wiggling a gloved finger at her. "Pinky swear."

Somewhat grudgingly, the ninja returned to him. This time, she sat down beside him on the dock.

A few moments of silence passed, only the sound of the tide filling the air. It felt really uncomfortable, but he wasn't going to be the one to break it. He didn't trust his stupid mouth.

"The reason I wanted to talk to you," she began at last, looking out at the water. "Is that I wanted to apologize for getting mad at you earlier. You know, back there when we came through the gate. I just wasn't thinking clearly, and you obviously were."

Sheena clasped her hands together in her lap, nervously cutting to the chase. "Uh…so…thank you. That's what I'm getting at."

A conspicuous silence filled the air for a moment. It was only cut short by the Chosen's familiar chuckling. He had been sure she would be angry at him for days, especially since he had mouthed off to her after his minor act of heroism. He had never considered that she would appreciate it; protecting her was simply one of the ways he expressed his dedication to her.

"You don't have to thank me, sweetheart. Or apologize, for that matter."

The summoner looked up at him, though his gaze was out on the water as hers had been. The reflection of the ocean on his blue eyes made for a beautiful illusion.

"And…I really shouldn't have said that thing to you. That was pretty cold." He took her hand from where it rested on the wooden surface, giving it a fond little squeeze. "So I'm the sorry one."

Her face was hard to see in the dim light of the moon, but he could tell her cheeks were tinged pink. Zelos supposed she wasn't expecting him to ever take responsibility for his recent behavior. Of course, it would jeopardize his plans if he fell too far out of his persona…and yet he had a hard time getting that hurt, offended expression of hers out of his mind. In short, he felt like a complete ass.

"It's okay." Sheena gave a small smile back, surprisingly not taking her hand back from him. "I guess I can forgive you. But you're still not getting a kiss."

Now he had to resist the urge to blush. It was easy to be a jerk when he had an audience, but when they were alone together, the whole thing felt stupid and immature. He couldn't help but wonder if what Mithos was offering him was worth all of this. She was acting like a stranger to him, the one person that had loved and trusted him for so long. If he lost her, he'd have no one to blame but himself.

Perceptive as ever, Sheena noticed his change in aura. "You getting sick or something, Zelos? I mean, I didn't actually believe you really were going to drop the annoying attitude."

He sighed half-heartedly, leaning his weight against her. "Too tired to piss you off, I guess?"

"Well, apparently not!" she complained, not quite succeeding in pushing him away. "I am not your pillow!"

The Chosen was tempted to make a sarcastic comment about her cushiony chest, though he had enough sense not to. "Aw, but I'm sleepy, I wanna cuddle."

With a slightly more forceful shove, she managed to pry the cuddler from her. But he was taking her with him. Zelos decided he had planned this rather nicely, ending up flat on his back with an irritated ninja on top.

Sheena stared at him disapprovingly for a split second, no doubt getting ready for a scolding. He beat her to the punch. Like a puppy, he bridged the small gap between their faces, and kissed the tip of her nose.

Her face looked as bewildered as if he'd just bit her.

Rubbing her nose, she pulled herself off of him. Zelos really was setting records with his spontaneous behavior this time. True, it was often how he got when he was tired, but this was a bit much even for him.

"Well," she stated simply. "I don't really have an answer for that one. I think I'd be mad if I wasn't, you know, confused at your total weirdness."

"Oh, come on, Sheena." He laughed as he said it, still on his back. He'd propped his arms behind his head, figuring he might as well enjoy the nice view of the stars from this angle. "Aren't I always weird? At least, according to you."

She stared at him blankly as she re-tied her hair ribbon. "You're right. You are always weird. And speaking of weird, I did have something else to ask you while the others aren't around."

Half falling asleep, he muttered something that sounded like an "uh-huh."

"Why in the hell do you keep telling Lloyd I'm in love with him?"

And he thought his little kiss had shocked her. Her questions were practically as stealthy as she was.

"Whatever do you mean, hunny?" he purred back.

Sheena scooted closer to him, leaning over his face to give him a good stare. "Don't act all innocent with me. You and I both know Lloyd is way too dense to make that stuff up without you putting him up to it."

He hated being caught red-handed. Time for a change in strategy. "Well, my dear, you do make it quite obvious. You stare at him, you agree with him most of the time, and you act all dejected when he and Colette are together." The Chosen held up a finger for each crime.

Much to his delight, the young woman begun to blush, and her temper flared. "That's none of your concern. And none of that means I 'love' him. At least Lloyd cares about Colette! He came all the way here to make her better. He's not running around bragging about how he's such a stud, treating girls like they're all the same, acting like a jerk."

She folded her arms to punctuate the statement, muttering some unintelligible complaints.

Zelos winced. That did kind of sting. A pretty decent part of him wanted to refute this, the part that cared a whole lot about her and what she thought of him. It just wasn't the right time, as much as he hated to admit it.

With a surprising amount of tenderness, he brushed a stray lock of hair out of her face. "Hey, look. It's okay. I didn't mean to get you all upset." He paused. "I won't say anything like that to Lloyd anymore, alright?"

"I'd appreciate that." Her frown had softened a bit, and she looked off toward the streets of Palmacosta. "But now I'm heading to bed, if you don't mind. It's gotta be well past midnight."

He pulled himself up from the hard wooden surface of the dock, offering her a hand up. She accepted, but wouldn't look at him until they had already begun to make their way to the inn.

The redhead speculated that Sheena might remain mad at him from that point forward, at least until she stopped short. He glanced over at her, and in a startling instant she had met his gaze intensely. She moved forward a step, placing a hand on his chest.

"This doesn't mean you're off the hook, but…" She hesitated for a second. "But I absolutely meant it when I thanked you. Even if you drive me crazy, you're still the one who knows me best. Don't think that I forgot that."

Fast enough to catch him by surprise, she leaned up and pressed a quick kiss to his lips. It was lightning fast—over before he even knew it happened—but definitely enough to leave him pretty much dumbfounded.

She had already darted off for the inn by the time he had recovered, her pretty laugh following her.

"G'night, Zelos."

A/N: Surprisingly, I noticed I've never written interplay about the gate scene between them even though it's basically one of the major Sheelos scenes in the game. I know people like to address that a lot, but I wanted to anyway, just so this collection is representative of a lot of their most important little moments. And the theme was giving thanks! Hehehe. You know, Thanksgiving. Hurr hurr. Anyway hope you guys enjoyed, I wrote more dialogue than I'm normally comfortable with, trying to get better at it and such. Until next time, when we have the grand finale!

Much love,

-FP