[What-if] What if Martel was Lloyd's mother? What if he was born a few years before the Kharlan War? What if Lloyd unintentionally became the next Chosen? Tales of Symphonia "what-if", partially follows the game/manga/OVA. [AU]

Hm, last chapter, I forgot a disclaimer. So for those of you who don't know, I don't own Tales of Symphonia or any of its sexy characters. Dang it. Only this idea and this fan-fiction, I guess. Reader's response to previous chapter reviews (if any) will be at the bottom of this chapter and for future reference.

Enjoy chapter two, though it may be a bit short because it's so peaceful. xD And kind of funny.

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The Goddess' Son of Mana

Chapter 2: Happiness and Oops!

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Exactly twelve months later since the birth of young Lloyd Aurion, the first baby born of a half-elf and a human angel, was now turning one. The boy now had a mop full of light brown hair, which at times appeared almost auburn as his father's when turned with the sun. He was now able to walk, albeit very clumsy. His eyes were a mixture of pale gold and brown, although they had a red tint to them. The mop of his brown hair was half wild, mostly swaying off to the right unlike his father's. Some of his hair had barely fallen towards his face, and at the back, a simple, thick strand of his hair stuck out like a ponytail.

Lloyd was dressed in a red, long sleeve shirt, dark blue shorts and simple brown sandals. At the moment, while the sun was over them, he was sitting in his father's lap, chewing on the swordsman's right index finger as support for his teething. Another thing Kratos was grateful for his lack of touch and feel. While he could feel his son gnawing on his finger like a beaver, he couldn't actually feel any pain that would have naturally stimulated from it. He figured he'd have been wincing at the in-growth of the infant's baby teeth.

The four friends had situated themselves in the village of oracles, Iselia three months prior. Only a few houses stood, however, they were welcomed into the village. Thankfully, racism of half-elves hadn't reached Iselia yet, so Yuan, Mithos and Martel were grateful for that. The villagers allowed them to celebrate the young child's birthday there, given they could join in as well. Mithos beamed in joy at their kindness, Yuan smiled and the parents of Lloyd were the happiest. Martel, Yuan, Mithos and the Iselians were fixing up a small area for a party with decorations and a few presents while Kratos remained with the birthday boy and his teething.

Kratos sighed in relief when his son let his finger go and now was chewing on his own fingers for amusement. He turned the boy around, staring at him. The boy only looked back before returning his father's serious gaze. The auburn frowned and much to his dismay, so did Lloyd. It was like looking at the mirror of youth; the young brunet looked so much like him it was scary. Why was he copying him? "Lloyd…I want you to smile. It's your birthday today." Kratos told the child sternly. Unfortunately, Lloyd did not smile, nor did he understand what his father was telling him. In his own response, he began to drool sloppily, the saliva running on Kratos' clean shirt. Kratos' grimaced but nonetheless, didn't bother. It was all part of being a father.

"Lloyd." Kratos called the child's name that responded by laughing and began pulling the man's hair with his saliva covered fingers. Unfortunately, Kratos' lack of touch and feel rejuvenated itself for that split moment and he winced at his son's violent tugging at his hair connected to his scalp. For a baby, he was quite strong. Lloyd laughed more giddily tugging harder until he pulled out a few strands of auburn hair. The small pair of hands stared at the hair strands quizzically, watching his father grumble in what appeared to be pain. Not like Lloyd knew what was going on, but it was rather fun to him. He began chewing on Kratos' pulled hair like it was food.

…That actually hurt… Kratos said to himself, rubbing the spot where Lloyd pulled out the few strands of his hair. He noticed his son nibbling on the hair as if they were spaghetti. "No Lloyd, you cannot eat that." The father told his son, removing the hair pieces from the boy's tight grip. The brunet's huge, child eyes stared at his father with watering eyes and Kratos knew he had done something wrong and paled instantly. Lloyd was going to cry any second and that would alert Martel. Kratos…Think of something quickly…Hm, I know.

He offered his hand to the child who stopped sniffling and grabbed at the larger hand before him. Lloyd wrapped his tiny fingers around Kratos' thumb, pulling it to see if it would come off. That didn't work after ten tries, so the teething infant decided to chew his way through. Kratos did a mental face-palm but chuckled anyway.

"Looks like someone wants his daddy to become a cookie." A familiar voice said as the owner neared them. Kratos looked up and saw Yuan approaching, a crooked smile on the blue-haired half-elf's face.

"Yuan, you've been shirking your god-fatherly duties." The auburn swordsman reminded him.

"That's because you, Martel and Mithos won't let me have a chance to hold him for more than five seconds."

"…Well, here's your chance now." Kratos offered the still chewing-on-daddy's-thumb Lloyd. Yuan laughed a little, taking the tyke from his father's care, grinning.

"Hey Lloyd, my little man. You'll be with me for awhile now. Let's say bye-bye to Daddy." Yuan said, showing the boy how to wave "good bye". His emerald eyes fell on the boy who copied his half-elf godfather's wave, although more crooked. Still pleased with the effort of the child, Yuan smiled proudly. Kratos waved to his son who stared at him with those huge eyes of his. "We won't be gone too long or too far." Yuan told his friend, who simply nodded.

"Of course you won't." Kratos added, watching his half-elf angel friend walk off with his little boy. It hadn't been thirty seconds and Kratos was already missing the drooling pre-toddler's presence. This must be how parents feel when their child is gone for awhile. The young father sighed to himself, getting up from where he was sitting and walked towards the house he shared with his family of five. He would need to change out of his current attire, as Martel approved his "casual" wear.

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Happiness

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"Happy birthday, Lloyd!"

The birthday boy was seated at the center chair at the end of the table with his mother and father—the latter being dressed in a simple, partially long-sleeve black shirt and a pair of dark blue pants. Yuan and Mithos were seated next to them, then the rest of the villagers. A lot of hand-made streamers, cake, cookies—all of which were Lloyd's favorite kind, chocolate—and other prepared dishes were upon the table. Nearby were the boy's small gifts some villagers were happy to give to the growing toddler. Oblivious to the cheering noise as any child his age, Lloyd decided it was best to grab the nearest thing and destroy it. Near him was his chocolate cake however his uncle caught him before he could grab it with his small hands. "Wait Lloyd, we have to blow out the candle!" Mithos told his nephew, who kept trying to grab the cake anyway. Everyone chuckled to the scene, especially Martel.

A single candle was lit on chocolate cake, and it became an object of Lloyd's toddler attention. "Lloyd, close yours eyes, make a wish and then blow out your candle!" Mithos giggled; half knowing his nephew had not a clue what he meant. The blond carefully held his nephew towards the cake's candle, but far enough so he couldn't grab it and burn himself. Everyone waited silently for the candle to go out and when it did—thanks to the assistance of Mithos—everyone cheered happily for the now-one year old. With the candle's fire out, Lloyd made his earnest attempt to grab it and possibly gnaw on it like a beaver does to wood. Mithos took the candle carefully out of the cake, putting it aside on the table, away from his nephew's reach.

Martel replaced Mithos standing behind Lloyd, carefully taking a knife and cutting into the cake, giving the first slice to her son. Lloyd saw his mother putting the brown thing upon a plate and now drew his attention on the delicacy. "Here Lloyd, let Mommy cut it—" She stopped as she saw the one-year old grab the cake with his hands, shoving the mashed up dessert into his mouth and eating it sloppily. The green-haired half-elf chuckled to herself, passing the knife and the cake platter down so everyone could get a slice. The mother had a wet rag with her almost always, and when the boy spilled cake on himself, she would wipe it off almost instantly. Still with the first mashed up chocolate cake in one of his hands, Lloyd used his other to grab and mash up another handful and shove it into his mouth messily.

Seeing this, Yuan grimaced, unable to finish his own slice. "Just watching him eat makes me feel a little ill." He admitted, earning a laugh from Mithos and a half-glare from Kratos. Noticing the glare first, he shrugged. "What? I'm only telling the truth. The kid's cute, but when he eats, it just…freaks me out a little."

"Ha-ha-ha-ha! Yuan, it isn't that bad!" Mithos said, grinning. "At least he isn't drooling over his cake and then putting it back."

Unfortunately, Mithos jinxed it. Lloyd did exactly that, making the pre-teen cringe now. "Ugh, forget I even said anything." Now it was Yuan's turn to laugh at his fellow half-elf's displeasure. Kratos suppressed his chuckle, simply smiling at the bantering of the half-elves. Mithos shot Yuan a pouting glare, narrowing his blue eyes at the blue-haired man. "Yeah, yeah, laugh it up." He muttered sarcastically.

"Now, you two. He's only a baby. He'll do things like this from time to time." Martel added herself into their conversation, wiping the drool and mashed up cake from Lloyd's mouth and hands. She looked up to them, smiling. "We'll have to get used to it."

"I don't think I'll ever get used to it." Mithos admitted.

"He'll grow out of it in time." His sister reminded. "Remember, he's learning how to eat for himself. Not only that, he's teething. The cake must feel good to his gums."

"I guess so." Yuan forked in a piece of his cake, regaining his composure and slight appetite for it. Kratos wordlessly finished his cake before giving Martel a heavy stare. The goddess-like woman caught it and smiled warmly.

"Yes, Kratos?"

The auburn haired man smiled in return. "I'll hold him when it comes to opening his gifts." He told his wife, who nodded in agreement.

"I think he'll love that."

After an hour of eating—and more of Lloyd's grossing out his uncle and godfather with his toddler eating habits—it was time to open the few birthday gifts! The villagers huddled underneath a large tree, surrounding Kratos, who was holding his son. Martel was sitting next to him, Yuan on the left side of Kratos and Mithos beside his sister. The first villager came up to present his gift. He was only six years old, at the very least. His mother walked up to them with him.

"Um…" The little boy shyly began. "I…I made this for Lloyd. My mommy helped me. I hope he likes it!" The boy held out a wooden toy, that looked like a block with wheels on it. It was painted in blue and red, and had been left to dry beforehand. Kratos smiled, thanking the boy and watched the interaction between him and his son. The brunet boy stared quizzically at the gift before taking it slowly. His eyes studied the toy before bringing it to his mouth to chew on it. Martel carefully took the toy from her son, laughing. "Lloyd, you can't eat this, baby." She said in a sweet, loving baby-like voice. It seemed to work since the toddler didn't try to persist. Inwardly, Kratos was wondering how she did that…

"S-so does he…like my gift?" The boy asked, wondering.

"He does." Martel answered. "He'll definitely play with it. Thank-you so much." She gave her natural, beaming smile to the young boy. He nodded, being lead away by his mother.

The next gifts were two more toys; a painted, wooden boat and a few building blocks, and the last was a woven blanket made of cotton to keep the child warm at night. With all three of them, Lloyd attempted to chew at them for his teeth. Mithos sighed at his nephew, glancing to his brother-in-law. "Does everything he gets his hands on have to go into his mouth?" Kratos eyed the blond, shrugging almost.

"I'm…almost as clueless, Mithos. I suppose to him, it's a way of knowing what the item is in place of texture." The swordsman answered, despite he was unsure. Whatever the baby had done baffled him, and he was still new to this parenting thing anyway. After the presents were given, Martel thanked each one for the party and gifts to her son. By afternoon, Lloyd had exhausted himself to sleep, which was the ending of the party. Yuan was tasked with holding the sleeping Lloyd and his new blanket wrapped around him while everyone else went to clean up. The older half-elf angel sat on a bench, with the sun half between the trees he was partially sitting under, carefully holding his godson close. As he watched the villagers and his friends busying themselves, his mind lightly drifted off to his thoughts.

Here he was, holding Lloyd, the child that could have been his, if he had admitted his feelings to Martel a year and a half ago. Although he probably wouldn't have named him 'Lloyd', he still could have been his. His emerald eyes glanced down on the sleeping child, who was off in dreamland, lightly snoring. He had all the qualities of his parents, more so Kratos than Martel, however. Sure, the boy had the charisma of his ever caring mother, and the appearance of his father, but what also made him stand out was his vastly large amount of mana stored in his tiny body. It rivaled his father's at such a young age, and would therefore continue to develop when he got older.

He could use magic easily when he gets to the age of three… Yuan thought to himself, continuing to keep his eyes on the boy. He was a strange specimen. The first born child of a half-elf angel woman and a human angel man; something the world has never encountered before. If his calculations were correct, somewhere deep down in Lloyd's blood was elven, although it was fairly weak and diluted, due to his parent's half-human heritage as well as their angelic half. That would obviously shove the elf in him down the line, but it was definitely there. Lloyd could still be classified as a half-elf when he grew older. While Yuan thought it was no problem, there was the fear of watching the child grow up and be disgusted for his half-elf heritage by racists.

No. No matter how much he coveted Martel's love and the wishing of Lloyd to be his, he couldn't do that. He would not allow his past emotions to throw his best friends off course. He loved Lloyd, yes, and would do anything to protect his godson from discovering racism as well. He would have to help raise him, of course, to love every species as his mother did, regardless of the discrimination of race. The blue-haired half-elf knew his parents would most likely drill that on him when he got older, but he'd do the favor and help that as well. It's the least I can do to help them. Lloyd is too special to be mistreated. Yuan mused to himself. He shook from his thoughts, looking up to see Martel approaching him, smiling.

"We're nearly done, Yuan, but I was worried that you may need a break from holding Lloyd." She said, taking the boy gently from him. "I'll get him to bed. Thank-you for watching him, Yuan."

Yuan stood up from his spot, nodding. "It's no trouble, Martel. He was sleeping like a rock, like his father." He chuckled at the end, watching Martel laugh lightly at his joke before heading inside. The half-elf could feel Kratos' glare burning on the back of his head and when he turned to meet the human angel's gaze, sure enough, the man was glaring at him. "Oh, Kratos, you used to sleep like a rock!" Yuan defended himself. The young father rolled his eyes somewhat, deciding to ignore Yuan's comments.

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Oops!

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Four months after Lloyd's first birthday, the village returning to its daily peace, Kratos—in his causal black shirt and now dark grey pants—was glancing up at the sky, watching the clouds for some reason. Today was peaceful, and he himself had turned twenty a month ago. He was thoroughly distracted that he had not heard someone behind him; when he turned, he saw the small form of his walking son coming near him. His large, innocent eyes stared up at his father, drool hanging out the side of his mouth as usual. Kratos stared back, unsure of what the child wanted. What was unexpected was that he held up his tiny arms, wanting to be picked up.

"Hm, what is Lloyd?" Kratos asked gently, picking up the young toddler carefully. The child continued to stare the man, then raised his arms up again.

"Dah!" He babbled, Kratos quizzically glancing at him.

"…What?" The man wondered. "I don't…understand…baby talk."

The boy kept his arms raised and repeated his babbling. "Dah." He said. The angel blinked in confusion. What was it that his son wanted? At times, he wished he could read minds and figure it out. Unfortunately, the world did not work that way. He pondered some possibilities that his child could want. A shoulder ride, maybe? Martel wouldn't let him fly around with the boy anyway, scared he would fall off or something else happened. The next best thing would be to toss the child into the air. "Hm, well, Yuan told me to act more…human…" Kratos mused to himself, keeping his eyes on the still babbling brunet boy in his hands. "Up?"

Lloyd's staring face now turned into a bout full of giggles. Kratos immediately knew what his son wanted and lit up with delight. Finally, something he got on his own without asking Martel. "Up? You want to go up?"

"Dah!" was Lloyd's squeaky reply, obviously a yes.

"All right then. Here we go." Kratos smiled as he gently tossed Lloyd a bit in the air, catching him when he returned. Lloyd giggled in delight, wanting more. "Okay, okay, here we go again." The auburn swordsman laughed along with his child, throwing him up a little higher each time, the boy joyously laughing when he sailed into the air then back down. Kratos stopped awhile to watch his child babble on and giggle with utmost glee, happy to be spending time with his father. Smiling wider, the human angel thought of tossing his son higher than before. However, there was one thing he forgot…

"All right Lloyd, let's go higher. Aaaand go!" Kratos laughed, tossing his son up. However the smile faded when he realized he threw the child too high. In fact, the boy was sailing past a few clouds. Kratos, keeping his arms up, stared, paled, and put on a dumb, straight face when he realized something; his Exsphere. Didn't Yuan tell him to unequip it before playing with Lloyd, in fear the power of the gem amplified his already angelic strength? Oops. "Damn…" The auburn cringed, knowing Yuan and Mithos were going to chew him out, and Martel would be in shock. Quickly, the man released his mana, the blue-colored angel wings taking shape, and then, he took off to the skies after his son. When he caught up to the sailing boy, expecting him to be dropping at high velocity, he was met with a rather unusual scene, causing him to gasp, unbelieving for just a second.

The boy was floating down, but being held up in small, dove-like sapphire and emerald colored wings, the size of the child's arms length. Lloyd somehow grew his angel wings and without an Exsphere, to boot. Kratos shook from his daze and carefully caught his son, who was babbling away in laughter like nothing even happened. It was probably possible, seeing as he and Martel shared angelic quality, but he wouldn't have known it would have passed down to their son. Experimenting, Kratos held one of his hands underneath his son, the other still holding onto him, then carefully released him. The joyous boy remained afloat, but didn't flap his wings at all, as he most likely didn't know, even by instinct. Lloyd began to descend after a few seconds of staying mid-air, his mana-made wings being used like a parachute. Smiling, Kratos bundled the boy in his arms and descended himself.

When he landed, he was met with an angry-faced Mithos, a frowning Yuan and a shocked Martel; pretty much what he was fretting.

"Kratos. I told you to remove your Exsphere before playing with Lloyd!" the blue haired half-elf reprimanded.

"Why were you flying in the air with my nephew?! He could have fallen!" Mithos raged and crossed his arms.

"A-are you both all right?" Martel asked, more worried about both of their safety.

Kratos sighed, deciding to answer Yuan and Mithos' anger later. "We're fine, Martel, but look at this." The man pointed to the angelic wings of Lloyd, who was busy picking at his father's shirt than worried about what was around him. The other three stared at them, amazed and perplexed. Well, Yuan figured it would happen sometime soon, Martel smiled and Mithos blinked.

"Wait, he has angel wings?" The blond-haired uncle asked. "He doesn't have an Exsphere like us, though."

"Mithos, his parents are half angels, there's no doubt he was born as one, too." Yuan said. "Of course, I had a feeling."

"Wonderful!" Martel beamed brightly. She took her son from Kratos, stroking the toddler's hair. Lloyd purred in affection, loving his mother's attention. Before anyone knew it, he was out like a light. "I think that's enough activity for him today." The green-haired woman said, laughing. With a light stroke of his back, Lloyd's wings disappeared in a light flash, thankfully before any of the villagers took notice.

While Martel left to take Lloyd inside, Yuan and Mithos ganged up on the human angel as he dismissed his wings. He sighed, closing his eyes.

Oops…

Galdr: Yeah, I totally took the last bit from the manga. xD Just altered it a little and yeah. Oh yeah, and babies…Being with my niece for four years of her life, I know exactly how they eat when they're about 1 or 2 years old. Ugh, it grosses me out, too. –shudders-

Review replies!

GrinningCheshireAmy: Thank-you for your compliment and taking the time to read and review this. :D In the first paragraph, I was actually having Yuan be about the same age as Kratos, since I have no idea if Yuan is older or if Kratos is older. Never saw it in the game… Anyway, yeah, I'll go fix that. I was a bit in a hurry to post that since I was going to work yesterday and didn't want to waste anymore time. Ha-ha, I should have…gone over it one more time, though. My bad. Well, my aim is to end this story around the fifteenth chapter, if it gets that far. I type a lot, so it just might. Anyway, thanks for your review, I kindly appreciate it.

Deco (Guest): Thank-you for taking the time to read and send in a reply my good sir or ma'am. While I haven't seen any Kratos/Martel based-like pairing stories yet (because I haven't bothered to look) I guess mine's the first on that. As for Lloyd being the Chosen, there's a few of them out there already. xD I'm not the first. Anyway, I hope you enjoy Chapter 2. I'll most likely have Chapter 3 up pretty soon, where things get more action-y and fun.

To other readers, please leave a review if you like!