Disclaimer: See the Prologue

Chapter 4

Aiden Wilder and Lloyd's Proposal

A few days later, in the relatively new Luin Prison, Shanna gave birth to a little boy, and named him Aiden Wilder, giving him the same last name as his father. The boy had red hair and gray eyes, though he had Zelos's pale complexion. Afterwards, she was released early from prison in order to take care of the infant. A guard accompanied her at all times to make sure that she didn't try to hurt anyone.

However, she once managed to escape the guard and dashed off for the adoption agency, to drop off Aiden. She was going to kill herself for what she had done to Genis. In her eyes, she had committed the ultimate sin by stealing something as personal and valuable as his virginity, and deserved no less than death as her punishment. Kissing the young infant on the forehead, she placed him in the arms of the lady and told her, "You'll…take good care of Aiden, won't you?"

The lady smiled, "Of course we will. He's an adorable boy." She asked, "I'm curious though. Why don't you want him?"

She didn't want to reveal her true plans, so she told a little white lie, "Because…his father was abusive toward me and every time I look at him, I see him. Surely you can understand that." She then silently added, "Sorry Zelos."

The lady blinked, "Oh…okay. Yeah, I understand that." She smiled, "We'll take good care of your son, ma'am. Good luck with everything."

Shanna smiled back, though it was close to a smirk, "Heh thanks." She then ran out of the adoption agency, still eluding her guard. She left Luin and headed for the Fooji Mountains. Once there, she went up to the highest point, ready to throw her over the edge.

Kratos had secretly followed her, having had a suspicion shortly after they had turned her and Hexa in that she might try something like this. He sighed and walked up behind her, "This won't solve anything, you know. Once you're dead, you can't make up for what you did to Genis. You also have a child that needs you."

Shanna sighed, "Maybe, but…it's so horrible that Genis had to experience what he did. He's so young! I totally messed up his life…death would be an appropriate punishment for a crime like that, yes?" Without another word, she stepped closer to the edge.

Kratos grabbed her arm, glaring, "I am NOT going to let you do this. Your child will be without parents and I am not about to let you throw the rest of your life away!"

Shanna wriggled free, "I won't let a heartless bastard like you stop me! You have no idea what I'm struggling with right now!" She yelled, "I can't ever go home! The only person I ever cared about in any way is dead, and I totally messed up another person's life! Leave me here to die…"

Kratos shook his head, "No, I won't. Lloyd told me something about 4 or 5 months ago that I think may help you. At least hear these words. After that…" He sighed, "Well, it's your decision what to do, but it made me realize how much he truly cared and that I still had a place in this world." He took a breath and then told her, "When you die, that's the end. There is no meaning in dying."

Shanna began to tremble, sobs wracking her body, "Wow…but, no one cares about me anymore! Zelos is dead…you and your friends certainly don't care about what happens to me…so what is left for me here?"

Kratos sighed, "You can only make things up to us if you live to apologize and make amends for what you've done. Dying won't solve anything. Come back to the Luin Prison of your own volition, or I will take you back there by force. It is your decision. Also, take care of your child. He became your responsibility the moment he was born."

Shanna sighed, wiping tears away with the back of her hand, "All right…fine, I'll go back." She headed back down the mountains and Kratos followed her to make sure she didn't turn around.

Kratos escorted her back to the adoption agency to pick up Aiden and then back to Luin Prison. He then headed back to Iselia, to check and see what Lloyd and Colette were doing. It was rather late by this time, but he was curious.

Lloyd was lying on the ground, looking up at the stars. He sighed contentedly as he sat up behind Colette. He placed his arms around her shoulders in a loose hug, "So, Colette…how's Frank?"

Colette replied, "Oh, my father's doing well. Thank you, Lloyd. And how are both of your fathers?"

Lloyd shrugged, "Doing all right. I think Dad had something to take care of though. He seemed a little on edge when we turned in Hexa and Shanna. Dirk, well, he's retiring from making crafted items…said it had something to do with getting older." He chuckled a bit at this.

Colette smiled and giggled a little, "Well, time waits for no man, so the saying goes." She leaned back against Lloyd's chest, turning her head so she could listen to his strong heartbeat and sighing contentedly. She then gave a slight yawn, Lloyd's heartbeat relaxing her.

Lloyd smiled, "Yeah, that's true." He wrapped his arms around Colette's middle, taking her into a loose embrace.

Kratos was standing quietly in the background for now, not saying a word. He didn't want to disturb them, but he needed to let them know what was going on with Shanna at some point. He gave a small smile at how happy they seemed. It reminded him of the four happy years that he and Anna had while running from the Desians. They had been difficult times, but also the happiest times in his life. He leaned back against a tree, continuing to watch over them.

Colette fell asleep soon after, lightly dozing against Lloyd.

Kratos sighed and walked up, "Lloyd…I am sorry to disturb you two, but I have some rather disturbing news about Shanna."

Lloyd blinked and looked up at him, "Oh…its okay. What's up?"

Kratos replied, "…She tried to kill herself by jumping over a cliff at the Fooji Mountains this morning. I stopped her, of course, but I can't be sure whether she will try again or not. I reminded her that she still had a child to care for…but that didn't phase her. I'm thinking we should give her a chance to apologize to Genis, as in, really apologize. She feels that guilty about it."

Colette woke up and asked, having halfway heard them since she was only dozing lightly, "Well…will Genis be okay to be in the same room as her? I mean…he might still be afraid of her."

Presea walked into the room just then and added, sighing, "Even if Genis is still frightened of her or dislikes her for what she did, we should still give her that chance. If she wants to kill herself for doing that to him, we have to do whatever we can to stop her, for Aiden's sake."

Lloyd sighed, "Yeah, good idea, Presea. We can't let Zelos's son suffer because of his mother's madness."

Raine came in as well, "No, we can't." She told them, "Enough children have suffered because of their parents' flaws…"

Colette asked Raine, "How is Genis doing, Professor Sage?"

Raine replied, "He's still sleeping, but I can easily wake him up. Lloyd, why don't you and your father go get Shanna and I will go and wake Genis?"

Lloyd nodded, "Sure that sounds like a plan." He whispered in Colette's ear to get her to let him get up, as she had been sitting in his lap by this time.

Colette blushed a little and nodded, standing up and stretching her arms slightly.

Lloyd picked up his swords and placed them back around his waist, then started to walk away. He turned back around, and looked to Colette.

Colette smiled and darted over, kissing him gently on the lips. After the kiss was broken, she told him, "Be careful as you go, Lloyd. Not all the monsters have disappeared yet."

Kratos finally spoke again, telling her, "Not to worry, Colette. He'll be well looked after, and I promise to bring him back to you in one piece." He looked to Lloyd, "Ready?"

Lloyd nodded and told him, "Yeah…I just hope Genis is able to forgive her…I'd hate to think of what Shanna will do if he doesn't."

Kratos sighed, "We'd best not think about that now. Come on." He walked off, Lloyd following him without a word.

Raine walked over to Colette, "Let's go and wake Genis up."

Regal walked in just then, "No need for that. I just did. He's been sleeping all day and it worries me."

Genis walked in, yawning and rubbing the last of the sleep from his eyes, "Hey, sis, Colette. Where're Kratos and Lloyd?"

Colette replied, "Oh, umm…they'll be right back."

Raine told him, "They've gone to get Shanna, so she can apologize to you."

Genis sighed and nodded; fear causing uncomfortable knots to form in his stomach, "…I'm scared. What if she tries to do something else to me?"

Presea spoke again, "We'll all be here protecting you, Genis, so there's no need to worry." She walked over to Genis and gave him a small hug to make him feel more secure about being in a room with Shanna.

Genis blushed like a cherry, "Uh—umm, okay, P…Presea. Th…Thank you."

About 10 minutes later, Kratos and Lloyd came back with Shanna in tow. She was carrying Aiden, whom she had recently just retrieved from the adoption agency.

Shanna sighed, "This is a complete waste of time. There's no way he'll ever forgive me…I am beyond anyone's forgiveness."

Lloyd looked back at her, "Cut that crap, will ya? I've already forgiven you, as has Kratos. We know you feel bad about it, so I guess that made it easier."

Sheena stormed into the room behind the three, "What's this rumor I hear that Shanna tried to kill herself this morning?"

Kratos confirmed, "It's no rumor, Sheena. I was there. She did try to take her own life. I stopped her though."

Sheena looked at Shanna, "Dying won't solve anything, you know. It's just another form of running away from your problems. You can't just run from your problems though. You have to face them head on. You also have a child to think about now. How could you even consider it?"

Shanna sighed, "I'm just overwhelmed with guilt about what I did to Genis. I feel beyond anyone's forgiveness."

Sheena told her, "You shouldn't feel that way. You're never beyond forgiveness no matter what you've done, or attempted to do. Lloyd showed me that when he first accepted me into this group. Initially I was trying to kill Colette, but he still accepted me for who I was, even if I started out as his enemy. I've already forgiven you, Shanna. I think probably most of us have."

Raine nodded, "Yes…despite how much I don't want to, I have as well."

Regal added, "You are never beyond redemption, Shanna. I also have forgiven you of this crime…despite the fact that it is one of the sickest crimes you could ever commit."

Presea sighed and commented, "I have also forgiven you of this offense, for you are mother to the son of a man who was a dear friend to me. I didn't want to forgive you, initially, either, but I managed to find in my heart the courage to do so."

Genis went and sat down in a chair, "Okay…I'm listening, Shanna." His eyes were glued to the floor, for he was still slightly afraid.

Shanna went over and stood beside him, then knelt down to meet his eyes, "…Genis, I really am sorry. I didn't want to do that, but…it was either that or loses my life. If I had not done as she asked and died at that time, the baby that I now hold in my arms would've died too. Just think about that…"

Genis sighed and finally managed to meet her gaze. He told her, "…I…I forgive you, Shanna. That baby…he has the same skin tone and hair as Zelos. Did you two…?"

Raine answered his question, "…Zelos paid for her services relating to that, yes."

Genis blinked, a bit uncomfortable and surprised at the thought of Zelos 'doing the deed' with someone, "…Oh. When did he have time?"

Regal shrugged, "Who knows? The point is that it happened." He looked at Shanna, "Even Genis has forgiven you. I told you that you are never beyond redemption. Are you…feeling better now?"

Shanna stood up, tears rolling down her face. However, they were happy tears, not sad ones, "Yes. Thank you, everyone. I'll go and serve out the rest of my sentence now." She looked at Kratos, "You look like you know how to handle children. How about I name you Aiden's godfather and you can take care of him while I'm in prison?"

Kratos blushed a light pink at the sudden attention, "…Why me?"

Shanna replied, "Well, you were the one who stopped me from killing myself, and the first to reach out to me. I think it would be only appropriate if you cared for Aiden whenever I'm away. Please say you'll do it!"

Lloyd added his voice, "Yeah, Dad. You can do it! That way it'll be sort of like having two sons."

Kratos smirked, "Heh…true." He liked the prospect of having a second chance at being a real father to someone, but would Aiden accept him? He looked to Shanna, "All right, I'll do it."

Colette smiled, "Great, Kratos! So…wait, then how would Lloyd be related to Aiden?"

Raine told her, "That would make Lloyd his first cousin."

Shanna walked over to Kratos and placed the sleeping Aiden in his arms, telling him, "Well, I'm heading to the prison now. Take good care of Aiden. I'm counting on you and Lloyd. You guys are great!"

Regal spoke again, "Couldn't you just leave Aiden with your parents?"

Shanna sighed, "No, they didn't even know that I slept with men to make money. If they found out about Zelos…having sex with me and having Aiden, they'd probably disown me, because they are very strict traditionalists. They believe in sex only within the constraints of a marriage. They think sex outside marriage is a very shameful act and that one will get thrown into the fires of hell for it."

Lloyd blinked, "Oh…okay."

Shanna looked to Kratos, "I'm counting on you. Don't let anything happen to Aiden. Oh, here's his bag. It's got bottles and everything you'll need in there."

Kratos nodded and took the bag on his shoulder, "I promise to protect the boy with my life, as I would my own son, and to always be there for him." He smiled over at Lloyd as he said this.

Lloyd smiled back, "Yeah, you can count on my Dad. He never breaks a promise."

Shanna nodded, "Then goodbye for now. I'll be back to pick up Aiden once my sentence is served." A guard from the prison came to pick her up.

Presea spoke again, "I'm glad that you have found new purpose in your life, Shanna. As Lloyd said, 'No life should be born for the sole purpose of dying.' We'll see you again sooner than you think. If you keep good behavior, they might let you out early for that."

The guard spoke up, "All right, that's enough. Come with me, Shanna, unless you wish to put up a fight." He moved his spear ever so slightly.

Shanna gulped, "No…I won't fight you. I'll come quietly. Lead the way."

The guard nodded, bound her arms up, and led her away.

Aiden began crying at that moment.

Kratos gently rocked Aiden to try and calm him down. However, this didn't affect the young infant, and he tried feeding him. Finally, Aiden quieted down and began to suck on the nipple of the bottle, taking in the milk. After the bottle was half-empty, he fell asleep.

Sheena smirked, "Wow…you're just full of surprises, aren't you, Kratos?"
Raine spoke, "It shouldn't be that much of a surprise. After all, he did have to help…Anna…when Lloyd was really small."

Kratos sighed slightly, closing his eyes at the mention of his dead wife, "Yes." He said simply then added, giving a sad smile. He quickly changed the subject, "Let's hope Aiden doesn't take after his father."

All the girls in the group were made a bit uncomfortable by what he said.

Sheena then finally said, "Yeah…we don't need another chauvinistic pervert in our group."

Lloyd let out a chuckle then commented, "I doubt it. He's not being brought up in the same environment as Zelos was, so he's bound to be very different."

Kratos spoke again, "You're right. He's being brought up in an environment where people actually care about him."

Colette walked over to Lloyd and whispered in his ear.

Lloyd blushed lightly then told her quietly, "Go on outside. I'll be there in a minute." He gave her a quick but passionate kiss then let her go.

Colette smiled and blew Lloyd a kiss from the door. She then went outside and shut the door behind her.

Regal blinked, "…Well, that was interesting."

Lloyd blushed, rubbing the back of his neck nervously, "Uhh…yeah." He then fiddled around with something in his pocket.

Kratos noticed him fidgeting and asked, "Lloyd…are you planning to 'break the question' tonight?"

Lloyd blinked, "Well…yeah, how did you know?"

Sheena smiled, "You're acting really nervous. If Colette sees you like this, you'll make her nervous too." Too bad it's not me, but I know it will make Lloyd happy. I'm more concerned about Lloyd's happiness than my own.

Raine told Lloyd, "Yes, it's best that you calm down before you ask her that, Lloyd. If you're uncomfortable, you'll make Colette uncomfortable."

Presea smiled, "Lloyd…I am happy for you and Colette."

Genis finally spoke again, managing to smile for his best friend's happy situation, "Yeah…me too. Even though I saw it coming for quite a while."

Regal told Genis, "Really, Genis, we all did. Lloyd's feelings for Colette were always obvious." He walked over and gently patted Lloyd on the back, "I'm happy for you as well. I can't think of a better match."

Kratos spoke again, "Now, go ask her, Lloyd. Are you feeling better about it now?"

Lloyd replied, "Yeah, I feel better about it. Less nervous and more confident." He hugged Kratos loosely and carefully so he wouldn't crush Aiden. After releasing his father and cousin from the hug, he told everyone, "Thanks for everything, guys. Oh, I made the ring by myself…well, mostly. Dirk found the diamond, but I made the band."

Regal asked, "…May we see it?"

Lloyd sighed, "Okay okay." He pulled the ring from his pocket.

It was a simple gold ring with a medium-sized blue diamond.

Raine gasped, "Wow…a blue diamond. Aren't those extremely rare?" Her eyes started to glaze over slightly. Gasp, she was entering Ruin Mode!

Sheena told Lloyd, "Better go propose to Colette with that before Raine starts taking it apart, piece by piece."

Kratos told him, "The band's got excellent craftsmanship, Lloyd. I'm impressed."

Lloyd shrugged, "Yeah well, it wasn't exactly hard…anyway, see you all later. I've got to go propose to Colette." He walked out of the room and outside, where Colette was waiting for him. He called out to her, "Hey! Colette!"

Colette blinked, "Oh, Lloyd…there you are. What took you so long?"

Lloyd replied, "I was just in there talking for a little while…sorry."

Colette smiled, "That's okay, Lloyd, at least you came."

Lloyd smiled back, "Yeah. Umm…Colette, could you turn around for a second?"

Colette blinked, then nodded, "Sure, okay. What's up?"

Lloyd walked over to her and took her hand in his and knelt down. He asked her, "Colette Brunel…will you do the honor of marrying me?" He was blushing a bit at this, as he took the ring from his pocket and slipped it on her finger.

Colette gasped at the beauty of the handcrafted ring. She smiled and nodded, "Yes, Lloyd Irving, I will!" She giggled, then hugged Lloyd tightly and sealed the whole affair with a passionate kiss.

When they broke the kiss, the couple headed back inside, greeted with only a warm smile by Kratos. Evidently, everyone else had tottered off to bed.

Kratos told Colette, "Welcome to the family, Colette." He yawned a bit then looked at Aiden, who was asleep for the night now, "I'm proud to call you my daughter-in-law."

Colette smiled, "Thank you, Kratos. I won't let you down. I'll take good care of Lloyd."

Kratos looked at both of them, "Lloyd, you must take care of Colette as well. You most both promise to me that you will always take care of each other and stick together through thick and thin."

Lloyd nodded, "I promise, Dad."

Colette replied, "Me too, Kratos. I won't ever leave Lloyd."

Kratos sighed and smiled, "Then the best of luck to you." He headed out of the room, carrying the still sleeping Aiden with him.

Lloyd looked to Colette, "I never thought us getting married would make him so happy."

Colette told him, "He's so happy because you are, Lloyd. Like I said before, every father wishes for the comfort and happiness of their children. Your father is no different." She smiled, "Come on, let's go look at the stars."

Lloyd smiled and nodded, "Sure that sounds great."

The couple went outside and lay down next to each other, gazing up at the dark sky that was littered with tons of stars.

Eventually, Colette fell asleep against Lloyd, listening to his heartbeat once more.

Lloyd smiled and sighed, also falling into a contented sleep.

A/N: Well, that does it for Chapter 4. Lots of Lloyd/Colette fluff. And if their engagement seems to have happened all of a sudden, it's because I was going to have a wedding for them in the next chapter. Please review!