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Setting: In an alternate universe weeks before the group first travels to the Tower of Salvation; even longer before they first travel to Tethe'alla

Zelos's Letter to Sheena

She wasn't sure why she had kept the letter. Flattery must have played a part, though a very small one. Any moderately attractive woman who spent enough time with Tethe'alla's Chosen of Mana could count on receiving at least one love letter during their acquaintance. But Sheena knew better than to trust anything his letter might claim. Zelos Wilder's sweet nothings were just that—nothing. She'd found the letter inside her bag her second day in Sylvarant and had wanted to throw it away when she saw the signature on the envelope with its little pink heart instead of a dot above the i. Instead, she read it on the off-chance that it was mission-related. After reading it, she no longer wanted to throw it away. She wanted to rip it apart, use the pieces to construct a tiny papier-mâché effigy of the Chosen, and light it and cackle madly while it burned. Now, months later, she was glad she hadn't.

On the hotel room table before her were two letters, Zelos's and Lloyd's. Late into the night she read and reread both, using up most of a candle and no doubt annoying her roommates. She had just finished Lloyd's, which had become tear-stained as well as crumpled, and turned to Zelos's, still smooth, though tri-folded from being packed in an envelope.

Hiya babe,

For a kiss and a smile I'll let you in on a little secret. In addition to being incredibly handsome, intelligent, and suave, the great Zelos Wilder is also a fortune teller. Don't believe me? I'll prove it. I can predict with absolute certainty what you're thinking right now: That a real man would have delivered this letter face-to-face, not hidden it in your bag among your delicates. (Nice, by the way. Never pictured you in pure white cotton, but I will from now on. Heh.) Maybe you're right and I should have seen you off, but tearful goodbyes are a drag. Besides, I figured a note from the manly Zelos would pep you up when you started feeling lonely. I suggest sleeping with it under your pillow. It's the next best thing to having me in bed. We'll discuss THAT option when you return.

And seriously, Sheena, I do hope you return. Meltokio will be less fun without my top hunny keeping me company. Tell you what, you manage to make it back and I'll treat you to a night on the town. Dinner, a show, the works. I'll even buy you a new dress and let you show me off to all your friends. If that's not motivation enough for a successful mission, I don't know what is.

Last night I looked through one of my mother's old photo albums. A hell of a woman, my mother; smart, beautiful, talented. She had a way of taking photos that told stories. They used to say a photo by Lady Wilder could tell you more about a person than a hundred conversations. She unveiled a new album at the end of every year. It didn't matter if there were fifty photos in it or three hundred fifty. Every one of them spoke to you, sang to you. After she died, my father tried to keep the tradition alive, but it wasn't the same. I thought about trying it myself. I have boxes and boxes of photos in my closet, but I never had the patience to collect them into an album. I guess I'm not much like her. I care more about making memories than remembering them. Heh.

Anyway, Mother was days from completing an album when she died. My father and I had an unspoken agreement never to open it. As long as it stayed shut, she could still speak to us. As soon as we opened it, she'd be silent forever. This is the album I looked through last night. I'd like to tell you SOMETHING told me to look through it. I'd like to believe it myself because of what I found there. But that would be a lie. It was an accident; I didn't realize it was the forbidden album for over an hour. By then I figured a promise made to a dead man didn't amount to much. So I kept flipping pages until a photo stopped me dead. In it a girl, who can't be more than twelve or thirteen, stands alone in front of the cathedral. Oh, other girls are nearby, but they're not talking to her. The thing is they're not snubbing her, they don't even see her. She's there, but it's like she's invisible. There's more loneliness in her eyes and sadness in her frown than any face I've ever seen. You know who's in that photo don't you?

You're a beautiful girl, Sheena; beautiful girls shouldn't have to frown.

I also discovered something else, that my father broke his promise. He'd been through that album, and he'd written in it. Beneath your picture he wrote two words: "Our Hope." The sentimental old fool was right. You are Tethe'alla's hope. Everyone in this world is counting on you whether they realize it or not. I know you won't let us down. That's my final prediction.

Oh, and about that kiss. You can owe it to me.

Love,

Zel♥s

As Sheena finished the letter, she cursed herself for her foolishness. To think that only a few days before she'd allowed her infatuation with Lloyd to divert her focus from her mission. The Hope of Tethe'alla, am I, Zelos? I suppose you're right. No, you are right. And it's time I remembered that and started acting like it. But as soon as her eyes fell on Colette's sleeping form, her heart melted. She wouldn't kill the Chosen. Of that she was sure, and if Kratos could be trusted she wouldn't have to. The night he had inadvertently revealed his true motives to her, he had promised a way out. He could prevent Colette from initiating Sylvarant's Regeneration and spare her life. Now Sheena had to decide whether to trust him, and if so how much to trust him. That he was hiding something was a given. Someone who goes to the trouble of creating a cover will not come suddenly and completely clean even when caught. To put it simpler, everyone lies.

Well, not everyone. Not Kratos's son Lloyd. Child-like Lloyd, with a streak of honor so pure it made her weak in the knees and the potential to be a great swordsman. That's why she razzed him, in hopes of bringing out the man inside. Not because she was homesick and that meeting someone she felt comfortable with scared her. Good luck convincing yourself of that. Lloyd was a good man, perhaps the best Sylvarant had to offer. The more she grew to care about him, the more she felt her resolve to complete her mission weaken. It had withstood the children of Luin and the friends she made in Hima. It could not withstand Lloyd. Part of her was hoping he wouldn't measure up to the man she thought he was, that maybe this world wasn't as good as she believed it to be.

He had measured up. But Tethe'alla was good too, as were its citizens. Zelos's letter had showed Sheena a side of him she never expected to exist. There was something there, she wouldn't quite call it honor, but it was something. However, it was buried so deep within his lecherous heart that it would take a lot to coax it to the surface. God knows she wasn't patient enough to try. Besides, she wouldn't put it past him to fake a caring side just to manipulate her. Even if he were sincere, though, she doubted she'd find a trace of care in him when she returned.

There were good people in both worlds, and she'd save them both if she could. But what if she couldn't? Would she save the simple world or the complicated? The loving or the selfish? The one where humans are the persecuted victims or the vicious oppressors?

What it came down to—would she save a foreign world or her own? What else could her decision be? She exited the room silently and crossed the hall to the room the boys were occupying. She raised her hand to knock, praying that Kratos came to the door. She wouldn't know what to say if Genis or—God forbid—Lloyd answered the door. Before she could knock, a voice called to her. Kratos stood at the top of a flight of stairs. Good. In a moment she stood before him, looked up uncertainly into his eyes. Then, nodding, said "All right, I'm with you."