Hi again! Sorry it took me so long. I was quite busy. (School, family,...)

I thought after rather violent chapters I should write a cute one.

So here you go. Hope you'll enjoy!

I do not own the characters or the locations of Tales of Symphonia.

Pretty good story till now, ha? Not so sad and tragic like you imagined, right? Although I have to admit that was not quite the fun part. But don't worry it will start soon enough. Okay, where was I? You shouldn't do that. Kratos! What are you doing here? Hey, what do you mean? Some stories should stay untold.

Oh, no! You are so not stopping me! But I…But you what? You told them already? Oh, I know that and I'm really disappointed. If I remember correctly you told them like this: You came down on this world. You met me. I gave birth to Lloyd and then I died. Wait, you said you killed me.

First of all you saved me and your son by killing me. I…NO! I'm talking! And secondly how could you possibly describe these five glorious years we've spent together in four sentences? We are not like Romeo and Juliet! It wasn't a tragic love story. We had a lot of fun or at least I had. Besides we were…sorry, are awesome together! And you can't deny that! I'm going to tell them everything and not even you can stop me from doing it!

Hmpf…Oh man, you are so cute when you think you can win a fight against me. Didn't you want to tell your story? Oh yeah. Right. Hey, maybe we can tell it together. After all it's our story. Alright. Am I allowed to interfere? No. I should have known that. Okay, when I'm talking about all the Cruxis stuff you may help me. Very well.

Okay, but we should skip some time ahead, because to be honest nothing exciting happened during the first week. There was just awkward silence. Man, that was boring! There was nothing to say at that time. Yeah, you're right. You were really creeping me out. Okay, that's not quite true. I was absolutely afraid of you…and I didn't trust you…and I really didn't like you…and…Oh, well. I…ah…I guess I've made my point. Yes, you did. Hey, don't be mad. I changed my mind very soon after that. I can tell exactly when it happened. It was the tenth night after my escape. When I think about it, it is quite a lovely memory, don't you think? Yes, indeed.

"Is something wrong?" Anna asked a bit worried and a bit annoyed "Why are you watching me, while I'm eating?" She sat on the ground and was looking at him. Anna held the apple Kratos had given her tight. Although this apple tasted so incredible delicious and even though she was so hungry, she couldn't eat more than a few bites. What is wrong with me? I've been free for a few days now and I'm still not able to eat properly. Her stomach wasn't used to this kind of food anymore and if she would force herself to eat more she would definitely throw up.

"There is nothing wrong" he replied. "Then stop watching me! You do that every single time! That creeps me out!" she said. She looked at the apple and sighed heavily. "Your appetite will return. It's only a matter of time" he said suddenly.

"Oh….well…I guess, you're right. Still it's frustrating to see food and you're not able to eat it" she answered. For a while she was looking at him lost in thought. Then Anna sighed again. "There's no way this would work…" she said to herself.

"What wouldn't work?" Kratos asked. She lay down, crossed her arms behind her head and answered "Asking you questions. But I think I will try nevertheless. There is too much about you that doesn't make any sense. And I'm still worried that all this is some kind of Desian experiment….I'm also a little bit curious."

"You can ask me questions if you like, but I doubt the answers I will give you will be satisfying" he replied. Then he sat down and watched the little campfire, he had set up. "Okay, sounds like a plan. Well, then…what's your surname?" she asked with a faint smile. His eyebrows rose. "Why do you want to know something like that?" "I'm not going to travel with someone, if I don't know his full name. That would be just weird. Besides you know my full name, if you haven't forgotten it already."

"Aurion."

"Aurion? That's your surname?...Kratos Aurion…Hhmm…Yeah that is….It's not what I expected, but for someone like you it's quite…fitting."

"…"

"That's a very old name."

"Why do think that?"

"If you believe it or not I studied my whole life languages. And this language was mostly used during the Kharlan war. I hope you know that your name has a meani….Ahhhhhh! WHAT IN MARTEL'S NAME IS THAT?"

Anna jumped up and looked terrified at the huge dog like creature that had suddenly appeared behind her companion. It was just as big as a horse and had huge ears. Its fur was milky white, but on some places it was mint green. It huge paws were mauve. It was looking at her with its little grey eyes. It had a somehow curious expression.

Trembling she was looking at Kratos, who seemed to be not impressed at all. "I remember telling you to not let her see you" he said to the thing. "What…what is that? A monster?" she asked stuttering. "He is not a monster. His name is Noishe. He is…a dog" he replied, while pointing at the huge creature. "What? That thing has a name?" After a few moments she met him with disbelief and said "This is supposed to be a dog? Are kidding me? This thing is huge and it's green…and…and…" She stopped. Why is this thing looking at me like it would know what talking about?

"You should not talk about Noishe like that. He is able to understand you" Kratos said calm. "It…he can understand me?" Anna looked at the huge…whatever he was. Suddenly the animal had a playful expression. I don't like this look… "Why is he looking at me like tha…" but before she could finish the sentence he jumped towards her. "Noishe, no!" Kratos told the creature, but it was too late.

Anna was already lying on the ground while the animal was licking her whole face. "Get off me! Get off me! GET OFF ME! DO SOMETHING!" Anna cried totally freaking out. "Noishe! Let her go immediately!" Kratos said. And he really did. Shocked she was just staring at the two. The huge animal was looking quite excited, while her companion was looking quite annoyed and a bit worried. "Are you alright?" he asked. "I was attacked by a…a…whatever he is that wanted to eat me and now my whole face is covered in spit! I'm far away from alright!" she answered angrily "Ewww! That is so disgusting!"

Anna wiped the liquid off her face. "He didn't want to be rude. I suppose he was just excited to meet you" he explained.

"Meet me? You mean this…this…animal has been following us?"

"Yes, and he is a dog."

"Yeah, right and I'm a summon spirit."

"You don't have to be afraid of him."

"How should I not be afraid of him? He's even more frightening than you are!"

"…."

"If you say dog, you…you mean that Noishe is your pet?"

"He is my friend, but if you want to call it like that…"

"You have a pet? You are not joking?"

"Why should I?"

Anna suddenly started smiling.

"Is something wrong?"

"No, nothing is wrong. It's just…that is so…human. You have a pet. A weird and scary pet, but it's still unbelievable. Not in my wildest dreams I would have expected something like that."

Kratos didn't answer. He looked like he didn't know to respond to that. Then she started to watch Noishe. He was looking at her with incredible cute puppy dog eyes and had an interrogative look on his face. Oh, come-on! Don't be so soft-hearted! That thing will eat you! After a few moments she sighed and said "Maybe…when you promise me that he won't do anything…well, maybe then I put him out of his misery and pat him just one time."

"I thought you are afraid of him."

"Have you seen his puppy dog eyes? How can I possibly resist that?"

"…..Well, I'm sure he will behave."

"Okay, if you say so I will try."

Carefully she moved closer to Noishe, which seemed to be even more excited than before. Then she moved her hands slowly towards him and touched his forehead softly. Oh Goddess! I'm going to die! She opened her eyes and saw that Noishe's tail started to wag.

"Wow! His fur is so…soft."

"…."

"I admit it, he is kinda cute. But he is still scary."

"He seems to like you."

"Really? That would be the first time."

"First time?"

"That would be the first time that an animal would like me. Animals usually hate me."

"Hate you?"

"Sounds crazy but it's true. If I come close to a cat, dog or whatever they freak out and try to kill me. Well, not exactly killing but I swear they would scratch out my eyes if they would get a chance."

"…"

"Don't look at me like that! That's the reason why I never had a pet. It would have killed me in my sleep."

"I'm sure Noishe will not try anything like that."

"Well, I think I'll trust you on that. Fine,…he is really cute!"

She was patting Noishe now almost without fear, although she didn't feel completely safe. After a couple of minutes she moved away from him. "Sorry, but you startled me quite a bit. I'm still afraid of you,…Noishe" she said with little, but honest smile. The huge…dog seemed to be pleased about this explanation and laid down.

For half an hour she just watched the sleeping animal. It was already dark and the stars shone above them. How can something so big be so innocent and sweet? He really behaves like a dog. But this is the strangest animal I've ever seen. I wonder what he is exactly and why he is able to understand every single word. He is just as strange as Kratos. Both of them are just surrounded by mysteries. …I'm not sure if I should trust him or not. She stole a glance at him. But in these ten days he never lied to me. Okay, that Noishe is a dog is obviously a lie, but except that he was always honest.

But he is a Desian Lord, Anna. He has to be evil…or at least a bad person. But he did save you and helped you since then. And look at it the logical way: that thing on your chest feeds on the fear and the pain of humans. If this was an experiment, wouldn't there be more pain and fear? Besides when was the last time someone you didn't notice when someone was lying to you?

Alright, I guess I can assume that this isn't a Desian experiment, but if I'm right then that begs the question why is he helping me? He achieves nothing by saving me. It just doesn't make any sense! I'm just a human. Well, I'm also host body for a damn Cruxis Crystal, which could be quite powerful in a few decades. Isn't he sabotaging the Angelus Project by helping me? Why would a high ranked Desian Lord sabotage a project that could be the breakthrough at harvesting Cruxis Crystals?

Damn! The more I think about it the less I understand. Oh Martel, I did ask you for help but just killing the Desians would have been enough. It so frustrating not to know his reasons! So damn frustrating! She looked at him again. Goddess, he will drive me crazy in this one month, without even doing something!

"What is it?" he asked, while looking at her. "What do you mean?" she said a bit confused. "You look like you want to say something."

"Oh, it's nothing."

"Well, then…"

"Oh my Goddess, I think I'll burst if I don't ask! Why are so kind?"

"Kind?" He sounded quite surprised.

"I'm not sure if it's kindness but why are you helping me? Fhew…Never felt so relieved after asking a question."

"I have my reasons."

"Could you please be more specific?"

"Why is it so important for you to know why I do it?"

"To know your reasons would make it easier to trust you or just to be grateful. I really would like to say "Thank you", but I don't know if it's appropriate."

"You don't need to be grateful."

"Well, yes I do. Even if you saved me, because of some selfish reasons it doesn't change the fact that you did save me. You have no idea how grateful I am, even though you are part of the organisation that caused me more pain than anyone else. And somehow you are the first person, who has been kind to me. At least you didn't lie to me."

"How do want to know that?"

"I'm…not quite sure how to explain that. I'm good at reading body language and well, I just…feel it. People are not too different from books. I just read them."

"…"

"…Are you using a Cruxis Crystal too?"

"Yes."

"That explains it."

"…"

"How you could kill the Desians so quickly, if you didn't know what I meant.

"…"

"I'm getting on your nerves, am I not? Well, at least that proves that I'm becoming my old self again."

"…"

"I guess I should just shut up."

Anna lay down and started to watch the stars. After her escape the whole world seemed to be more beautiful than she had ever expected. In the past few days she had been so excited. Everything she had seen had been so wonderful. The beauty of every small thing was just overwhelming. There was so much joy in her heart. She had been hyperactive before her time in the human ranch, but now it was just of the scale.

She sighed. There was just one thing that didn't give her peace. Her nightmares. She knew that she had a trauma, but Anna had never thought it would have shown like that. In the ranch she had been far too exhausted to dream, however now she was dreaming quit lively. She dreamt of death, torture and blood. Because of that she woke a few times every night. To be honest she was afraid to fall asleep, because in her dreams she was still at the ranch.

"Kratos? How…how much…" She couldn't finish the sentence.

"What is it?"

"No, never mind. It was just a question. It's not important." Just ask, Anna! You need to know that! "Well, actually it's important. …Do you know…how long it takes till a Cruxis Crystal…awakens?"

"Some decades to my knowledge."

"Do you know how long exactly?"

"No. Why do you want to know…"

"I wanted to know how much time I have got left, if I don't get killed before that."

"You don't seem to be surprised that the Crystal needs so many years to awaken."

"I already knew that. It was hard to miss that, when there are so many Desians around you just talking about the Angelus Project."

"…How old are you?"

"What…ahm…about 20. I'm not sure. I was…captured a few weeks before my birthday. That is quite an unusual question from you. Why do you want to know?"

"Because I wasn't sure. Sometimes you behave like an adult and then like a child."

And suddenly Anna giggled. This sentence was so odd familiar and reminded her of her past. Then she answered "Okay, now I'm convinced that you are not evil. Someone who says that about me can't be truly bad at heart. Everyone who knows me describes me like that, but it's so true. I'm just a very light-hearted person, without that I wouldn't have survived in the ranch. And what's better than to see the world through the eyes of a child?"

"I see."

"I'm quite the opposite of you. You are always so serious."

"…"

"Well, then I should sleep now."

"…"

"Hey, thanks for the talk. It's interesting talking to you, even though you barely say something."

Then she lay down again and within a few minutes she fell asleep. And because of that she didn't hear how Noishe barked and looked at Kratos. He just nodded and answered "You're right. She really is."

To be honest I really like how this chapter came out!

And if there's someone who is waiting for the love story, don't worry that is going to happen soon enough. But both of them have to earn this romantic moment. So it will take a little while.

Reviews are appreciated!