Chapter 9 is also finished.

I have nothing special to say, so…

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

You know Kratos; I'm still a bit disappointed that you just wanted to let me go. At that time I was still hoping that I could keep you from getting involved with Cruxis. Ähm…hello? You created Cruxis with Yuan and Mithos! I was involved in the moment where you first looked at me. You have to know that he fell in lov…Anna. Okay, okay. I won't tell them. You are so sensitive. Anyway…what were we talking about? Izoold. Oh right!

I bet you would have let me go without even saying something. How could I have possibly known that you felt the same way as I? …Is this a serious question? Please! I KISSED you after you told me everything about CRUXIS! After a month of believing you were a DESIAN Lord, a superior of Kvar! Wasn't it kinda obvious?

You were the one who said she didn't know how she felt about it. That's not my fault. You threw everything at me in just one night. It took me some time to digest that. Besides you never ever asked me

Asked you what? Today you are a bit slow, aren't you? If I love you, of course! If you had asked me, you would have forced me to think about it more seriously…or maybe I would have said just yes without thinking about it at all. But it would have sped things up

I didn't think a twenty year old woman would know the difference between affection and love. First of all after a year in a human ranch you know the difference between every emotion. Secondly you weren't my first boyfriend so I had experience with a simple crush and love and thirdly I counted again and at that time I was still nineteen. My birthday was on the day we arrived at Izoold.

Besides, why does age matter anyway? You are four thousand years old and you were so reserved that I thought we would never do more than kissing. Not this again…I'm still mad at you because of that! I took me a whole week to… Don't you want to proceed telling the story? …Okay. But don't think you will get away this easily! We will discuss this later!

Alright, where was I? Right. Izoold. I'll give you the short version, and then we can move on to the next interesting part. On the next morning he told me that he would take me to Triet, because there I would be safe and I could wait till Kvar's Desians leave the coast. To be honest I wasn't really sad about that

Anyway, it took us some days to get to the Ossa-Path, but nothing exciting happened. But after a week, we were still travelling across the mountains, something quite…interesting happened. I thought you said you were afraid at that time. Kratos, when someone is travelling with you fear and excitement lie very close to each other.

Why are you so damn nosey? Why, Anna? Your curiosity has always caused you trouble! So why don't you finally learn your lesson and keep your nose out of stuff you have nothing to do with? It's not that hard! Anna thought while hiding behind a tree.

Quite some time had passed after they had decided to go to Triet. Well, Kratos had decided it, but she was fine with that. Honestly she had enjoyed every minute of those two weeks, since they left Izoold. The fun she had with Noishe and the interesting things she had talked about with Kratos made her…well, happy. She was happy and Anna enjoyed every last bit of it.

And…actually…not just the conversations with Kratos were quite enjoyable. Only being around him was so…nice. She couldn't think of a better word to describe it, but she knew she wouldn't mind if the journey would take longer than expected. No, not at all.

But today had been different. The whole day Kratos and Noishe had been …restless. And even Anna had felt that something had been wrong. This uneasiness hadn't let her sleep right and her nightmares had been worse than usual. After the second time she had woken up, Anna had realised that Kratos was missing. It wouldn't have bothered her, if she hadn't heard distant voices. And reckless like she was, she had tried to find out what was going on.

Far too late Anna had realised her mistake and was now hiding behind a tree, praying to a goddess that didn't exist that no one would find out that she was there. She hadn't seen who was there, but she had recognized the voices. Two voices she had wished to never hear again. Anna knew that Yuan was there. The other Seraph. The half elf that had the same frightening aura that surrounded Kratos.

But the other voice had just terrified her. There had been just one single occasion where she had heard the voice of Lady Pronyma, the leader of the five Grand Cardinals. It had been a conversation between Kvar and Pronyma, where Kvar had told her that his Angelus Project was more promising than he had ever expected and that she would loose her position very soon. But Pronyma had just laughed and had said that no matter what Kvar does he would never become the leader of the Grand Cardinals. And Anna had needed to take just one look at her, to believe that. She was the epitome of cruelty. And not even Kvar could take that position.

"Lord Kratos, this is the last attempt to return you to Derris Kharlan without using violence" Pronyma said with her cold voice, nearly sounding like a robot "Lord Yggdrassil's orders were very clear." "I you don't return now, we will force you" Yuan added. For a moment there was silence. Then Kratos said "And you think just the two of you are able to do that?" Perhaps it was just her imagination, but Anna thought she had heard a bit of arrogance in his voice.

"Yggdrassil must be overestimating your abilities" Kratos stated. "And you are overestimating yours" Yuan answered. The tension was growing. Anna could sense that. It didn't take much more and this conversation would end in a fight.

"Lord Kratos" Pronyma said "if you don't return to Derris Kharlan, you will be marked as a traitor and be punished as such. Ignoring Lord Yggdrassil's orders is treason." She sounded angry. "Pronyma, stop it! He doesn't care if he's betraying Yggdrassil or not. Such arguments are useless" Yuan said annoyed. "You are right, Yuan. I don't care. And I would prefer if you would leave now. I have got nothing left to do with you" Kratos replied.

Someone sighed. Probably Yuan. "If I wouldn't know it better, I could start to believe you are betraying Cruxis for this human." Oh shit! "For a human?" Pronyma asked incredulous.

"You don't know? He is travelling with this woman that escaped from the Asgard ranch."

"Lord Yuan, do you mean the host body from the Angelus project?" Pronyma sounded shocked and there was hint of anger in her voice.

"Exactly this human. I believe her name is…Anna" Yuan answered. Anna's eyes widened and her heart started to beat faster. The fact that Yuan knew her name was frightening. Truly frightening. "Hmpf…Believe what you want, Yuan" Kratos said after some moments. "What are the orders regarding this host body?" Pronyma asked. And Anna was sure to hear excitement in her voice. "I was ordered to kill her if I should get the chance, but I suppose you could take her and try to harvest a Cruxis Crystal, if you want to. It doesn't matter really. She will die no matter what happens."

I'm doomed…"Come to think of it. Where is she? I guess quite nearby" Yuan said. Anna didn't like how he had said that. This silent implied threat scared her more than anything else he had said before. "And what makes you think that I will answer this question?" Kratos asked. "So she must be very close. But since she's a human she must be asleep now." And Anna really wished she would be sleeping right now. "Tell me Kratos, does she know what's going on?"

Dead silence.

"Are you really so foolish that you think I would tell her the secrets of Cruxis?" Kratos asked. "I was just curious, of how much she knows. But you are right. No one would be so cruel to destroy the worldview of a human like this" Yuan replied. Well, you have been proven wrong.

"This nuisance has been long enough. I will make myself clear: I won't return to Derris Kharlan and I will no longer obey Yggdrassil's orders. If you want to force me go ahead, but I warn you. I will not hold back" Kratos said serious.

For a while no one said something. Then there was a noise like a footstep. "No, Pronyma! He had enough time to prepare himself. If you attack now, you will be crushed" Yuan said sharp "If things are like this, he will win." "But Lord Yuan! We have orders to…" "Like you said yourself this was the last attempt to talk to him reasonably. We are going to report to Yggdrassil." And this part was meant for Kratos "But next time you won't get away this easily!" "We'll see about that" he answered.

Then there was nothing left but silence. For some minutes nothing happened and Anna could only hear the beating of her heart. Then finally she managed to sneak back to their camping place. When she arrived, she fell on her knees and sat there for a while just trembling.

Anna had just heard her death warrant, but that didn't bother her that much. Since the ranch she wasn't afraid of dying anymore. No, the thing that scared her the most was the possibility of losing… Some tears were running down her face. If want it or not, Anna. There's no turning back now. You had your chance to get out of all this, but you stayed. Damn! You didn't even want to enter Izoold!

"Anna?" Kratos asked behind her. She looked at him, not thinking about the fact that she was crying. "Why are you…" and before he could even finish his sentence she slapped him.

"You are such an idiot! Why haven't you said something? Why? Why haven't you told me that I'm causing you even more trouble than you already have? Did it never enter your angelic mind that I could be worried about you too? That I don't want you to get hurt? Does your own life mean so little to you that you would sacrifice it for an insignificant human? You have already problems! Why do you make it worse and stay with me? If you had said something, I would have gone! I slow you down! I keep causing trouble! You said you don't want to be distracted by me! If you had been clearer, I would have stopped! I really would have stopped, but you let me do it over and over again! Why did you let me do that?" Anna yelled at him furious.

She turned around. "Don't you realise that I care more about you than anyone else? That I care more about you than I should?" Anna whispered, while she was trying to wipe off the tears of anger and frustration. Noishe, who had woken up some minutes ago, was trying to comfort her, but she moved away. "No, don't! I'm angry not sad. You don't have to do that" Anna said. It was true. She really wasn't sad. She was angry at Kratos and herself, because he had never said something and because she had never thought about the consequences of staying with him.

Frustrated she sat down. "It's just like at the ranch" Anna groaned "Because of me people get hurt. And I can do nothing about it. …Sometimes it sucks to be a normal human!" With her left hand she touched the spot, where the Cruxis Crystal was. A move she always made, when she was either angry or thinking about something. Now it was both.

"…" Anna wanted to say more, wanted to express how angry, how worried and afraid she was right now, but her mouth seemed to have stopped working. For at least ten minutes, which felt like eternity, there was just silence. Finally she managed to say something. "I'm…I'm sorry for…slapping you. I guess I…kinda freaked out. But just because I'm sorry, doesn't mean you didn't deserve it. You are still an idiot for not telling me those things" she said still a bit angry, but her voice was softer now.

"Your concerns are needless. Cruxis doesn't have the necessary power to take me down."

"For a comment like this you should be slapped right again" she answered while staring up in the sky. I wish I had your confidence…

"It's the truth."

Anna sighed and stood up. "You can be quite arrogant if you want to."

"I just know their limits and mine. There is nothing arrogant about that."

"You are not making it better" she answered. Then she folded her hands before her chest. "And even so…Even if you are that strong…I'm still causing you more trouble than you already have. I…don't know Cruxis as well as you do, but I know that you are playing with fire."

"If you are worried about your safety…"

"My safety? My safety?" she asked unbelieving and turned around. Her look was more than just angry. "Dammit, Kratos! I'm not the center of the world! Not everything is about me! I'm an insignificant, absolutely not important human! I don't care about MY safety! I care about YOURS!" She groaned frustrated. "It's like talking to a wall…" Desperate she looked at Noishe. "You know what I'm talking about, right?" He nodded.

"See? Noishe gets it. And I'm not even talking with him!"

"You…"

"And if say now I don't know what I'm talking about then I swear to whatever greater force is left in this world I will kill you!"

"…If you are really so concerned about my wellbeing…"

"I am!"

"…then I assure you that nothing is going to happen to me or you."

She narrowed her eyes. "Do you…promise me that?"

"If you wish…"

"…Thanks. I feel a bit better now." For a while she just looked at the ground. Then finally she asked "Does that mean…I don't…have to…leave?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well, if I'm…allowed to stay with you…two. To be honest I really don't want to leave…" She mumbled quite silently, while still looking at the ground. "I mean, only if you don't mind and only if it doesn't make things worse, which I doubt is possible" she added. Okay, Anna you've said it. …Oh no! He's not answering! Oh damn! What if he says no or…or something worse? Oh why have you said it? Stupid, stupid Anna! You need to learn to shut up! First you yell at him, because he hasn't told you that you make things worse and now you want to stay! You are really stupid!

"…If you want to stay, I won't force you to leave" he answered finally. Relieved she breathed out. Then she said "Kratos…I…" and before she could think the sentence through a totally excited Noishe jumped at her. It took her some moments to realise what just happened. The Protozoan licked her face over and over again. "This feels oddly familiar" she said smiling.

After a while Anna said still smiling, but insistent "Noishe, I'm really glad that you are so excited, but if you want me to stay alive, you should get off me, because I can't breathe right now." He didn't move, although he stopped licking her face. "Don't thank me. Thank him" she pointed at Kratos "He allowed it." And faster than she ever imagined Noishe could be he ran over to Kratos. Now the Seraph was lying on the ground and trying to get Noishe off him.

"You saw that coming didn't you?" he asked her annoyed. "Sorry, but for me there was no other way to get him off me", she said giggling, while standing up. Then she went to them and asked "Need a hand?"

And before he could answer, she kneeled down and said to the Protozoan "Noishe, would you please get off him? I doubt that a serious person like him can survive your cuteness for much longer." A few seconds later Noishe got off Kratos. "Seriously…"Anna said to Kratos "What would you do without me?" Instead of answering he sat up.

"Really. Without me you would have the most boring life in this entire world. No, that's not true. The most boring life of both worlds."

"Your mood is better now" he stated.

"Yeah, much better! Although I feel guilty for slapping you, even though you deserved it" she answered and with one hand she touched his cheek "It didn't hurt that much, or did it?"

"…"

"Sorry. I promise I won't do it again, unless…you behave like a jerk again."

"…May I ask you something?"

"Sure. Go ahead."

"Why do you want to stay?"

"Why didn't you want to kill me when I asked you to?" They looked at each for a moment, and then she said "That's the reason. It's as simple as that." Anna jerked her shoulders. "Plain and simple."

She stood up. Then she looked around and said "I don't have much experience with Cruxis' methods, but isn't it a bit stupid to stay here, when Yuan and Pronyma were so close?"

"…What about your sleep?" he asked, when he was standing again.

"With the image of Lady Pronyma in my head I won't be able to sleep anyway. Really, this woman is just creepy! How did she manage to become the leader of the five Grand Cardinals?"

"…She proved to be the most loyal of them."

"More loyal than Kvar? I never imagined that this could be possible. …See? That's why I love talking with you! I get to know so many interesting things."

"…"

"Shouldn't we get going?"

"You are sure, that you are not too tired?"

"Like I said I'm not made out of glass. Don't worry about me. I'll be fine."

It's interesting that every time I'm writing a moment like this Kratos gets slapped. But it always seems so fitting. And yes, Anna finally figured out how she feels. And for the

ones who are wondering why she was crying, realising that you love someone that will probably get you killed isn't that great.

You know it's quite sad, but even after 9 chapters they are still not a couple. This has to change quite soon, or I'll lose it.

Reviews are welcome!

Thanks for reading!