And here comes chapter 7!

Wow, never thought I would make it this far! Okay, this chapter starts a few hours later after chapter 6 ended.

Please enjoy!

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

"Noishe! I said turn around!" Anna said angry to the huge animal. She was standing in the waist deep creek beside a few high rocks, which gleamed in the moonlight. "It was hard enough to stop Kratos from following me! Please don't force me to bathe in my clothes." It had been really hard to stop Kratos from worrying about her back. But somehow she had managed to come here alone. Well, at first she had been alone. After a few moments Noishe, who had been absent the whole day, had shown up.

For a while she looked at her reflection. Her back was covered in scars and her front was disfigured by the Cruxis Crystal. Veins spread from the Crystal and were slightly pulsating. Disgusting!

Although there wasn't much left, that could be blemished. She wasn't so skinny anymore, but…It's useless to beat about the bush, Anna. You just don't look like a woman anymore! With her left hand she angrily hit the surface of the water. Her figure never had been perfect, but she had looked…nice. And now there was nothing left. Anna, just be happy that you're still alive and free! To be upset about something this unimportant is ridiculous! Still she couldn't prevent that one tear ran across her cheek.

"Hey, be glad that those cuts are nearly closed" she said to herself. Like she had predicted her cuts hadn't been a serious wound. "All this fuss about nothing" she whispered, while she kneeled down. Then she dove her head under water. For some moments she enjoyed the hollow silence that covered her than she emerged. The water was pleasantly warm. She just sat in the water for a while. But then slowly a strange feeling overcame her. She felt like she was being watched.

Anna turned around and saw only Noishe, who was just sitting there. She looked into his eyes and noticed that he was avoiding eye contact. "I know there's something wrong, Noishe. You look so guilty. Don't you want to tell me what's wrong?" But he didn't do anything. She rolled her eyes. She had an idea what it could be. Really? Doesn't he trust me at all? She asked "Noishe would you be so kind to bring me my clothes?"

He seemed to be surprised, but came to her nevertheless. Noishe handed Anna her clothes. He wanted to go, but suddenly she said "No, stay. Just don't look, okay?" Now he seemed to be absolutely confused. And covered by Noishe she dressed. It was a bit hard to dress while standing in water, but she managed it somehow. Some of her clothes were a bit wet however that didn't bother her. "Thanks, Noishe!" she said and patted his forehead. His tail wagged. He's getting cuter and cuter everyday she thought smiling.

"Well,…" she stated a bit louder "mind telling me why you are watching me?" She was still patting Noishe, but she was looking at the trees, which stood beside the creek. "I know you're there, Kratos!" she added. And he really appeared.

"How did you know…"

"That you are there? I have a good instinct, that's all. So why were you watching me?" She stayed calm, although she could have been furious right now.

"You didn't let me treat your back and I had to make sure it was nothing serious."

"And instead of trusting my words that it was nothing to worry about you came here?"

"Yes." Anna really wasn't in the mood for a fight. If any other person had done that she would have yelled at him for at least half an hour. "Man, you are so lucky that I know that you are really just worried about me. If anyone else had done that this person wouldn't be alive anymore."

"…"

"And how long have you been watching?"

"I assure you that I just saw your back."

Her eyes widened. Then she blushed and looked away. To be honest any other answer hadn't bothered her so much. She would have been angry, that was sure, but she wouldn't have been so…embarrassed and ashamed. And then some tears were running down her cheeks.

"Are you crying?" Kratos asked. He sounded shocked. "No, of course not! Don't be ridiculous!" she wiped the tears away "Why should I? You just wanted to check whether I'm okay or not. No big deal." But Noishe beside her started to whine. Angrily she whispered "I'm trying to convince him that I'm alright! You are not exactly helping me right now!" Now Noishe looked more worried than before and his whining grew even louder. Frustrated Anna rolled her eyes and walked out of the creek.

"Even if your pet doesn't believe me I am okay!" she said insistent, but for the first time she avoided eye contact. She didn't want to look into his eyes, because her expression would have given her away. Anna always knew when someone was lying, but she was a terrible liar herself. She just walked past him towards their camping place. Great, Anna! Try to act more suspicious!

After some steps Kratos stopped her. A bit surprised she looked at his hand resting on her shoulder. "I apologize if I should have hurt your feelings, Anna" he said earnest. For a few moments she was quite confused. He had just said…sorry and her name. Kratos called her by her name very rarely. And the fact that he did use her name told her that he really meant what he had just said. "My…feelings?" she said silently while turning red "You…don't have to be sorry. You did nothing that could have hurt my feelings. Don't worry you didn't hurt me in any way." She smiled at him. "To be concerned about my safety is something that will never be able to upset me."

She continued walking. How can someone who is that serious and scary be so sweet and considerate? How? When she arrived at their camping place she sat down and watched the fire. Kratos stood a few meters away and was looking at her. Again there was this awkward silence. "I really should treat your wounds" he stated after some minutes. Anna groaned and let herself fall back on the ground. "That is so unnecessary! I. Am. Fine! Those cuts are nothing more than scratches."

"They could get infected."

"Oh, please! I spent a year in a human ranch and not a single wound got infected there."

"That doesn't mean it couldn't happen now."

She turned her and looked at him. He was a bit closer than before. Then she crossed her hands before her chest and said "You can try it if you want, but I'm going to resist if you should try to treat my back. And I'm sure you don't want that." He sat down beside her and answered "I don't necessarily need to touch you to treat those wounds." Anna frowned and sat up.

"What do you mean?"

"There's the alternative to use a healing spell."

"Healing spell? But humans can't use…Does being an angel allows you to use magic?"

"Not…exactly. But I'm able to use magic."

She looked at him for some minutes. Her look was thoughtful and serious.

"And this healing spell would heal those cuts?"

"Yes."

"And you don't have to touch me or my back?"

He nodded.

"And if I let you do that you finally stop getting on my nerves?"

Kratos sighed. "Yes."

She narrowed her eyes and said "Then I guess it's alright."

Anna sat there a bit frightened. She had seen magic, but it always had been a spell to hurt her or other humans. To be honest she hadn't known that magic could heal as well. She didn't look at Kratos. She didn't want to see him while he using magic. There was part of her that feared she would be afraid of him if she would see that. Anna was looking at the ground. Her companion was still sitting beside her, but she didn't know what he was doing right now.

Suddenly strange glowing lines appeared on the ground. Anna recognised Elven-runes, but after a while the light was so bright that it hurt her eyes. But she didn't close them. Then some strands of her hair started to move in a soft breeze, which was caused by the spell. It was quite frightening yet exciting at the same time.

Eventually she couldn't resist and looked at Kratos. He looked like…always. He looked normal, except the fact that he was the center of the glowing lines on the ground. And then for a split second she saw a green light and she felt how the light pain of her cuts vanished. After that everything was like before.

Anna looked at Kratos, who was watching the fire. She opened her mouth to say something, but closed it again, because she didn't know what to say. She realised that Noishe was lying a few meters away the fire and was watching both of them. She watched Kratos for a bit longer. He looked gloomier than ever. He looks so sad. But why? Then very slowly Anna came closer to him till she was just a few inches away from him.

"You know" she started "at first I thought you were the scariest and the most boring person in this entire world and I thought there was no way I could trust you." He was still watching the fire. The flames were reflected in his eyes. "But…you proved me wrong. You are not…boring, actually you are more interesting than anyone else I know and I'm not afraid of you anymore. In fact I feel quite comfortable around you. And to be honest I started trusting you quite a while ago. Even before you told me everything."

She looked at the moon, while running her hand through her hair. "Why did you tell me that?" he asked. Anna closed her eyes and answered with a faint smile "I thought that's something you should know. You told me the truth and now it was my turn. Besides…you look so sad and I wanted to cheer you up. And I thought saying something nice to you would work."

"…"

"Thank you for healing those cuts. …Although it was completely unnecessary."

"…"

"Are you mad at me?" she asked suddenly. Anna looked at him a bit curious and a bit worried. "No. What makes you think that I am?" he replied a little bit surprised.

"Well, you…talk even less than usual and if you say something it sounds so…upset. And…and you don't look at me. You don't look into my eyes. Did I do something wrong? Have I said something…inappropriate?"

"No, of course not." But he was still not looking at her.

"…Oh." Suddenly Anna sounded so sad like never before. "Then I know what's wrong." And she moved away from him. Now she was only looking at Noishe, who saw her gloomy expression. He came closer and touched with his nose her shoulder to comfort her, although he didn't know why she was sad.

"Anna, what's wrong?" he asked concerned. "It's…it's…Torture and abuse leave their marks. I can't do anything about this fact. But I know very well how it looks like. I'm not blaming you. I think my body is disgusting too." She had whispered the last words.

"Disgusting?" he sounded like he wouldn't believe what she had just said. How the hell did he hear that? I whispered! How did he do that? He kneeled down beside her and asked "What should be disgusting about you?" His question sounded honest. She turned her head away from him and mumbled "The scars, the crystal, everything."

"What you say is ridiculous." And while he said that, he sounded…amused. How unbelievable it may was it was true. Surprised she looked at him. He looked like always but his eyes were maybe not so serious as usual. But she wasn't sure.

"I'm just not used to be around a human. That's all."

"…You are…you're just saying that to make me feel better."

"If I remember correctly you said that you always know if someone is lying to you."

She looked at him for a while, then she said "You…you…You play with dirty tricks! That's unfair!" Then he just slightly shook his head. And Anna's eyes widened in disbelief.

"What is it?" he asked.

"Did you…did you just…smile?" she asked while staring at him.

"I didn't pay attention."

"But you did! You smiled!" Anna sounded absolutely shocked. "How is that possible? You can't smile or can you?"

"I am able to smile. I just don't do it very often." He rolled his eyes while saying that.

"You smiled. You really did." Anna was more talking to herself than to him. Then she looked at him. "So you really are just not used to human company? And you are not bothered by my…scars at all?" Again her last words were very quiet.

"Yes."

"…Alright. I will believe you." She hesitated, then she said silently "You don't realise it, but you are more human than you think."

And right in the moment when Kratos wanted to stand up she wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him. Both fell on the ground. And for a moment she forgot everything around her. Then she moved her head a bit back so she could catch her breath, but her arms stayed where they were. Anna looked at his quite surprised face and said "I know, I know. I promised to not distract you for the rest of the day and I'm sorry. But what you've just said was so incredible sweet that I couldn't resist. And your smile didn't help my self-control."

"You…don't have to apologize. But would you please let me sit up?"

"Let me think about that. …No. I feel quite comfortable right now and I don't intend to move. Besides how do you ever want to get used to human…my company if not like this?"

"Still I would like to sit up."

"Aww…Really? But this feels so nice."

Kratos sighed. "I give up."

She rolled her eyes and said "You sound like I would torture you."

"This could count as torture."

"Yeah, being kissed by a woman is surely painful." Anna leaned forward and kissed Kratos again. Perhaps it was just her imagination, but she believed that his reaction was a bit stronger than before. Then she said smiling "And is the pain unbearable yet?" "I wouldn't describe it like that" he answered.

Her smile became a bit brighter. She sighed. "I don't like to say that, but I have to go to sleep now. It was a quite exhausting day and the Exsphere didn't help. But when I think about what happened yesterday, it was a surprisingly nice day. At least I didn't beg for my death."

She let him go. Then she stretched her arms. Kratos was standing again. He looked not as gloomy as before. At least some kind of reaction she thought smiling. And before she lay down she said "By the way if I should ever again catch you while watching me bathing I'm going to cause you some real pain. Good reason or not."

"I'll keep that in mind."

"Alright. Good night then."

"…Good night."

After she had fallen asleep Noishe looked at Kratos, who was watching her. "What?" he asked after he had noticed Noishe's look. The Protozoan barked silently and pointed with his nose at Anna. "I don't know what you mean" he said, although both of them knew that he did. Now even Noishe rolled his eyes and lay down beside the woman, which had, after a single month, mixed their lives totally up.

Hope you enjoyed reading this chapter!

Reviews are always welcome!