Shihna stared at the big crowd assembled in front of the castle. What? Was something happening today that she didn't know about? She noticed Zelos' fangirls. They were...crying? Did something happen to Zelos? She found herself starting to worry. Was he okay? "Attention everybody!" She looked up. "The Chosen is..."
-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-
Zelos happened to be reading a book when Shihna burst into his room, gasping and out of breath. "Shihna? I thought you were going to see the king today." There was no response but Shihna's heavy breathing for a while. "You're...engaged?" she managed to say. "...Yeah."
"Why didn't you tell me?" she demanded. "I was going to tell you today, but I guess you figured it out all by yourself," he replied. His calmness annoyed her. She wanted the usual carefree Zelos to be there, not this calm one. "But why...Princess Hilda?" She had never thought that Zelos would choose her of all people. "I have my reasons," he said. "What are they?" she asked. She wasn't satisfied at all with his answer. She wanted to know. "You'll understand after a while."
"I want to understand right now!" Zelos' book dropped on the floor. "I'm sorry..." Shihna's eyes widened as he hugged her. "What are you doing? You're engaged to the princess! You can't do this. I-" "I want to hold you for one last time." She hated herself for still blushing at his words. He never meant it, but she still..."I...I can't do this!" She pushed him away. "I can't!" He watched as she ran out of the room. He heard her run down the stairs and out the door. Was this really the right thing to do? he wondered.
For the next few days he didn't see Shihna at all. Not even a glance. "You miss her, don't you?" Princess Hilda asked. "Hmm?" He got out of his daydream and turned to face her. "Shihna." Oh, right. He was at the castle with the princess. He was so busy thinking that he had forgotten. "I think...it's better like this." Hilda held back a sigh. She knew that she meant nothing to Zelos. She had the suspicion that he was only marrying her because of Shihna and the people of Mizuho. However, she had no proof and being the princess meant she couldn't make any decision about who she was going to marry. In way Zelos was making her feel guilty. He had to marry her even though he didn't like her. She admitted that she did have feelings for Zelos, but...to take advantage of him like this just didn't feel right. What was the point if he didn't love her? Even if he said he did she wouldn't believe him. His heart belonged somewhere else...with her. Shihna. She had always been slightly jealous of her. She was so beautiful...and Hilda wasn't stupid. She could tell that Zelos adored her even if he didn't show it in front of her. "The wedding is tomorrow," she said. "Everything is prepared."
Zelos nodded. "Well then, I'll go home now. If I don't sleep I won't be able to stay awake for tomorrow," he said, feigning cheerfulness. He hoped that the princess didn't see through it. "Alright, then." She watched as one of the servants lead him out of the room. She looked down at the table where a few invitations that weren't sent yet sat. She picked up a pen and started writing on one of them.
-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-
Shihna found herself slightly surprised as she opened her mailbox to see an invitation to Zelos and Princess Hilda's wedding. Well, she was still one of his friends. Of course she would be invited. She was sure that Lloyd and the others were invited too. She turned the card over. "Hmm?" She was surprised to see Princess Hilda's neat handwriting.
Dear Shihna,
Go see the Chosen as soon as possible. I'm sure he wants to see you. This must seem strange to you considering how I'm his future wife, but I believe that he really wants to see you. He hasn't said anything but I'm sure he has something to say to you. Thank you.
Princess Hilda
Shihna stared at the words for a little while. The princess wanted her to see Zelos? He...wanted to see her? The wedding was at five...meaning she had less than three hours. I have to hurry. She remembered that she had left her formal clothing at Zelos' house. She started running. What did he want to see her for?
-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-
Once Shihna had landed her rheaird and entered Meltokio she was surprised by how many people were there. Had the streets ever been more crowded? Well, she was a ninja after all. She could handle this.
Oh, sure. She could handle everything back there, but the situation that stood before her afterwards was worse. Exactly why was everybody crowded in front of Zelos' house? It wasn't like the wedding was going to be there. It was going to be in the church! She sighed. Coming early was a good idea after all. At least half an hour had passed as she went through the crowds earlier. She didn't want to bother with this, especially because Zelos' annoying groupies were there. Shihna decided to enter from the back. She quickly jumped over the fence and dashed to the back of the house. Now she had to get up to the balcony of his room. She sweatdropped.
-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-
Shihna knocked on the door of his balcony. A maid opened the door for her and if she was surprised she didn't show it. Shihna stepped inside. "Zelos?" He turned his head. "Shihna? What are you doing here?" For a little while, Shihna just stared at him. She didn't think she had seen him looking more handsome than at that moment. His tuxedo was white, lined with gold and...exactly how long did it take him to put that on? There were so many buttons and..."Shihna?"
"Oh, uhh...on the invitation it said that you wanted to see me," she said, snapping out of her reverie. What was she thinking, anyways? Looking at Zelos like that..."Oh, really?" Zelos guessed that Princess Hilda had something to do with it. "I'm sorry I couldn't bring you a present or anything," she said, nervously. "That's fine. We've gotten enough presents as it is. Having you come is enough," he said. They could both feel the distance that had come between them. "Were the others invited too?" she asked. "Yep, all of them came," he said. "The princess says she wants to talk to you, by the way."
"Eh? With me?" What did the princess want to talk to her about? "Yeah, she wanted me to tell you when you got here," he said. "I'll go and see what she wants then," Shihna replied. "I'll...see you later, Zelos." She turned and jumped off the balcony. (SakuMeiMei's Weird Comment: That makes her sound suicidal. XD So sorry...) Zelos stared after her, wondering if he could ever see her the way he always had after the wedding.
-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-
Shihna stepped inside Princess Hilda's dressing room. "You wanted to see me?" she asked. "Yes," was the reply. If Shihna thought Zelos' outfit was complicated, Hilda's was way beyond it. "Do you love the Chosen?" the princess asked. "Eh?" Shihna found herself blushing. "I think he loves you, too," Hilda said, turning her face a little to look at Shihna. "Does it really matter if he loves me or not?" Shihna asked. "He's going to be married to you."
"That's why I have a plan."
-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-
He had expected a lot of people, but not this many. The church was packed and outside there was even more people that were waiting anxiously. More than anything, Zelos was bored. He just wanted to get through this. What was with everybody and making a huge deal out of things just because he was getting married? He wasn't the Chosen any more...well, maybe if he had decided to marry someone other than the princess there would be less of a commotion. But, what could he do? He had made this choice...
As the wedding started Zelos' thoughts travelled. He kept on thinking until his bride appeared. How long did it take her to put that on? he wondered. The princess had to have a more elaborate wedding dress than anybody else, eh? There was something weird about her, though. She looked...different.
He didn't find out why until he lifted the veil off her face. "Shihna?" He couldn't believe what he was seeing. "What are you doing here?" he asked. "I switched places with Princess Hilda," Shihna answered quietly. "What?..."
-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-
"Put on this dress and go in my place," Hilda said. "Eh? I can't do a thing like that!" Shihna protested. "I've decided that I don't want to marry the Chosen," Hilda said. "So I, as the princess, order you to take my place."
-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-
So she ended up wearing the extremely complicated and uncomfortable wedding dress instead. "Oh..." Zelos said. "What? Are you dissapointed?" Shihna demanded. "Of course not!" he said. "But..." He looked towards the crowd. "How are we going to deal with them?"
Shihna whispered something in his ear. "Sounds good," he said. They turned to the priest. "We're sorry!" they both said loudly. Zelos took one of Shihna's hands in one of his. "Let's go."
They ran out of the church as everybody else stared. "Do you have any regrets?" Shihna asked. "I might later, but not right now," was Zelos' reply. "Hmph."
To be happy with you, I will go any distance. I love you so any sacrifice will be worth it.
I'm finally done! Yay! Rejoice! Be happy! I tried really, really hard on this one. I wanted to give up in the middle because I was so tired. That's why that part is so weird. Sorry. XD
As I said in chapter 29, this might be the last one for a really long time. Sorry in advance if this is the case. I'll be in Hong Kong for a bit and then mainland China.
Putting that aside, this chapter was...interesting. There was a surprising amount of scene changes and I'm sorry if it seemed jumpy. This was originally going to be chapter 40, but I changed my mind. I felt a bit sorry for Princess Hilda. Actually, I think I always feel a bit sorry for her. Seriously, who names their child Hilda? Especially if it's a princess! Anyways, Zelos-sama was jsut so...off in his own world. XD
Did you like the ending? I thought making them run away would be better than them getting married. XD What is this?..."Prevent them from getting married as much as possible?" I'm going to answer reviews since it's been a while and I might not be here or have enough time to do this. XD
aCEMANIa- Bum ba bum. First review answer thingy for today. Ah, yes. I read the Z-Skit Theater. (Some of it.) Writing sexual themes is a bit...strange for me. XD It's like "Why do I feel so young writing this?" Maybe it's because I am young, weird and don't like dealing with the real world. But really, who does? I get the feeling I have yet to reveal my age to public. o.o;; Anyways, thanks for reviewing!
Dawnstarshine- I shall go SakuMeiMei power-up update as much as possible this summer! Really. Anyways...I don't know what to say. O.o;; Err...yeah. I can't say anything. Sorry. XD But, thank you!
Maxmagnus20019- I'm sorry about chapter 12 not being that funny. It was hilarious when I first thought of it, but then when I actually wrote it...the whole thing died. I love it when Zelos changes a serious atmosphere with his silliness too. XD Thanks for reviewing so much! Out of all my readers I think you're the one that reviews the most! XD
MoonlitInuko- Inuko-chan!! I'm getting better? Yay. I'm glad somebody thinks so. XD Thank you!
Demonic Waffle D2K- Variety is always good. XD Makes me happy. It's hard finding Shihna and Zelos fics, eh? That's probably the reason why I try my hardest to update as much as I can. Refill is a weird name, isn't it? XD Some day I'm sure Shihna will look past Zelos' exterior. (As the writer should I really be writing something like that?!) XD Thank you for reviewing!
Samurai Ryo- It's too emotional? XD I always thought it lacked a bit. XD I'll try my best to update as much as I can.