A/N: Stuff happens. Like, romance and stuff.
The next day had been spent entirely on trying to figure out how to get into Yggdrasil's castle, rescue Sheena and Presea and attack Yggdrasil without being caught offguard like they had last time. After making a detailed map of the city thanks to Kratos' and Zelos' memory of the place, they had tried to guess what type of formation the Desians would be in.
It had made Lloyd's head hurt, frankly. Raine had tried to use logic, but she didn't know enough about mermaid culture, so it ended up being a back-and-forth argument between Raine and Zelos, who had come up with a ridiculous idea. Finally Kratos had simply marked a few places on the map with arrows showing where they would move, and they all agreed to just go with it.
Lloyd had stared at the map for a long time while they tried to figure it out. They had three rings of Desians, each dot representing five, and ten units. Two circled around the main tower where Yggdrasil was, another four in a small inner circle, and the last four in a larger outer circle that covered most of the city.
Finally, after a lot of debating, they agreed to call it a day and just tried to relax. Lloyd had continued to stare at the map, trying to figure it out, but he wasn't as strategical as any of the rest of his friends. Finally he just rubbed his eyes tiredly and wandered upstairs to the roof where Colette and Genis were probably sitting, going to join them.
It was night now. Lloyd couldn't sleep, the problem turning constantly over and over in his mind. Finally he sighed and pushed himself off his bed, walking over to his window and opening it. He leapt over the barrier of the balcony, landing and jogging down to the beach. Without pausing, he leapt into the water, going as deep and far as he dared before floating, turning up to stare at the sky.
As his mind slowly stopped raging, emptying of thought, he started to really become aware of the water. Every time he'd come in, it was to play a game or a prank, or fight, or practice, or go rushing off to do one thing or another. He'd never really stopped to just...feel it.
It was almost soothing, caressing his skin gently as it brushed over him. He closed his eyes, a slight smile on his lips, relaxing into the motions. It was so peaceful...as if it had wrapped him in a soft cocoon and silenced the rest of the world, giving him a quiet place to just rest.
He heard a faint swish, but ignored it, somehow knowing it wasn't an enemy. Instead, he went with the flow, swishing his tail slightly to slowly push himself forward. The water seemed to brush against his scales, and it was comforting to know that he was just accepted by it rather than judged like he was with everyone else. They may not realise it, but they all viewed him as something abnormal, and it had always niggled at him at the back of his mind.
Finally he sighed, opening his eyes. The fish which had been circling him quickly darted away, and he watched them go for a moment before turning and swimming back towards the beach.
He pulled himself up, and instinctively his tail became a pair of legs. He looked at them a moment before standing, lifting his hand. The water slowly drifted up, curling around him as he twisted his arm slightly, and he smiled.
Maybe he finally understood.
The next morning, as the group gathered around the map to continue their debate, Lloyd calmly sat through it all before taking the pen from Colette. He lifted it, drawing a line, then lowered it again.
"We'll just do this," he said, and the others went quiet, looking at the map in surprise. Finally Raine picked it up, eyeing it, before slowly nodding.
"Yes...This could work," she agreed.
They quickly crowded round it, intent on working out the rest of the details, but Lloyd just stood and went upstairs, climbing to the roof. Unsurprisingly, he was joined a few minutes later by Colette.
"You seem different today, Lloyd," she said eventually, looking at him.
Lloyd considered. "Yeah, probably."
Colette gazed at him a minute, before smiling and leaning against him. "I'm glad you're happy."
"Happy?" Lloyd asked, glancing down at her.
"Yeah...You've felt so stressed recently. You're always worrying about something. I'm just glad you finally relaxed again."
Lloyd nodded, laying his head on top of hers. "Well, a lot of stuff has happened pretty fast, I guess. I mean, a little under a month ago, we were just going into the water to rescue you from the Desians. Now we've failed twice to overthrow the ruler."
"You'll do it this time, Lloyd. And even if you don't, we'll have plenty of opportunities. I'll be behind you all the way," Colette said with a happy giggle.
Lloyd remained silent a moment, then lifted his hand. Colette glanced up at him, then watched in surprise as a bit of water appeared, floating infront of him. He crooked a finger slightly, and it curled, twisting in intoxicating shapes.
"So you can control it now?" she asked.
"Yeah," he murmured, taking her hand with his free and lifting it. The water twisted again, suddenly becoming a circle and solidfying into a thin aquamarine ring, almost the same substance as his scales. He caught it as it dropped, slipping it onto her finger.
"I'd like to marry you one day, Colette," he said quietly.
Colette nodded, smiling. "I know," she murmured, gazing at the ring a moment before lowering her hand again and staring out over the horizon.
A/N: Dayum, Colette. Look at that sass. Confident much?
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