It was her birthday. Finally...Shihna's twentieth birthday. In her previous years she never really felt any different about herself. Getting older by a year...she had still felt young inside. But this year she felt as if some of the things in her life were ending...and weren't coming back. She would be legal next year. She might have to get married...the thought made her sigh. Married? Her? Pfft. As if.
It wasn't like nobody wanted her though. She stopped herself. That was just...she wouldn't go there. Shihna set her thoughts on the presents that she had recieved. This year she had gotten way more presents than she ever had in...a long time. She smiled at the thought of Collet giving her the scarf that she had awkwardly hand-knit. "May I ask exactly why I have to carry all of your presents, Shihna?" She turned her head to look at Zelos, who was carrying a bunch of boxes and bags. "Being the only one who didn't give me anything, shouldn't you at least be doing a small service?" she retorted. "I got you a present! It's just at home!" he whined. "Besides, I paid for dinner!" Shihna exhaled loudly through her mouth. "To think that the Chosen would be complaining about paying for dinner..."
"That was 10 450 gald for just your birthday party, hun," he said. "Well sorry for making you pay a whole bunch of gald for dinner then," she said, irritation in her voice. "I didn't mean it that way," Zelos said. "How does it feel...getting another year older?" he asked, changing the subject. Shihna raised an eyebrow. "It feels weird, I guess."
"How so?" he asked. "Something like...I'm really not a kid any more," she said. "Didn't you technically stop being a kid once you hit puberty, hunny?" Shihna's face turned pink at his words. "Th-that's not what I was getting at!" she protested. "I...I...realized that there are some things that I'll never be able to do any more and I'll miss them."
"But there's things that you can do that you couldn't when you were younger like uhhh...marriage and-" Shihna whacked Zelos in the shoulder, making him almost drop all of the packages in his arms. "I don't want to hear those things coming from you." He chuckled softly. "Worrying about marriage, already?" he asked. "Well, it is you after all so..." "What do you mean by that?!" she demanded. "It's better if you don't know," he replied. "Hey, Shihna...can you get my keys? They're in my pocket."
"Get them yourself," she said. "I can't. I'm carrying a bunch of stuff." She sighed and grabbed some of the packages. "Do you really want to avoid reaching into my pockets that much?" he asked. "Yes!" Shihna replied, loudly. The way he said things always seemed to make situations worse. Zelos' keys jingled as he unlocked the door. "Sebastian!!" he yelled loudly. "Yes, Master Zelos?" He handed Sebastian the packages he was carrying. "Take the ones that Shihna's carrying too," he said. "Yes, sir." Shihna sweatdropped, as she handed him the presents. "Happy Birthday, Miss. Fujibayashi," he said politely. "...Thank you."
She sat down on the couch. "So where's that present you said you had for me?" she asked, turning around to look at Zelos who was searching for something. "Just a sec, hunny." His eyes brightened as he found what he was looking for. "Got it." He picked up a medium sized box covered in lavender-coloured wrapping paper and a bow that was a darker shade of purple. "Here," he said, handing it to her as he sat on the couch. "So, how much did the giftwrapping cost?" she inquired. "Hmph, I wrapped it myself," he said, proudly. "Eh?!" She looked at him in surprise. "What kind of a reaction is that, hunny?" Zelos put a hurt expression on his face. "I...just didn't expect you to do a thing like this."
"Heh. The great Chosen, Zelos Wilder is better than you think," he said. She ignored him and opened the present. She stared at the contents of the box in silence. "Shihna?" He leaned forward slightly. "Are you...okay?" He had wondered if it was really a good idea to give her a present like that. Now he was sure that it was definately a bad idea. "...Corrine..." She picked up the stuffed animal that was made so well it could have been mistaken for the real thing. Tears came to her eyes. "Corrine..." Zelos quietly took the box off of Shihna's lap and set it on the coffee table. "...How did you...?..." Shihna's question drifted off. "I have my sources," he said. "...Do you like it?" he asked cautiously. She nodded. "Good."
Suddenly Shihna rushed forward and hugged him tightly. "Hmm?" He was surprised by her touch. "Thank you, Zelos," she mumbled in his ear. "No problem, hun," he replied, softly. "You okay?" She nodded. "I was surprised..." she said. "When I first opened the box I thought Corrine had really come back." Zelos gently patted her on the back. "That's how it should be." He wasn't about to tell her that it cost him five times the price of dinner. "I have a request for my birthday next year, though." She pulled away from him. "What?"
"Your hand in marriage," was his reply. "What?..." She stared at him, dumbfounded. "Your hand in marriage," he repeated. "I-I..." Her face reddened. "I'll wait for you if you want," he said. "I...need time to consider," she said nervously. "Take all the time you want." Shihna stood up. "I'm going to bed now." She quickly ran up the stairs and into her room. He noticed that she had left the Corrine plushie sitting on the couch. He picked it up. "Is she going to ever look at me?" he asked it. He looked up at Shihna's room. He would wait...
SakuMeiMei Says: CRAPPY ENDING! XD I'm sorry! I wasn't even planning on having Zelos propose! Errr...if that's a good thing or a bad thing, I don't know. I almost didn't get to write the rest of this chapter because the computer at my uncle's house busted on me and I had to come over to my other uncle's house (where I'm writing this stuff now) and finish this thing.
Well that's how my luck is on my birthday. XD In a way I'm proud of it because something bad has happened every year ever since I've turned ten. XD Heh heh...Yeah, it's my birthday. July 27. I don't know what the date is for everybody else any more. I'm confused. XD Anyways...I'll answer reviews I find neccessary to answer and just kinda leave the rest for later. XD No, it's not like I don't love everybody else! I'm just lazy!
WingedWithFireyMana- Actually it's spelt しいな. In Narikiri Dungeon 3 they had all of the character's names in english and it was spelt "Shihna". Tales Namco said so. XD
I think I remember seeing animated Z-skit faces somewhere...but I don't remember and searching for them on this piece of junk wouldn't be fun. XD When I come back from China I could find them for you, though. You know what the eggs own? XD My Hello Kitty slippers. XD I can't find them so I'm assuming they took them. My friend made a comment about Kratos having heavier armor or something like that and saying that's what made him slow, but I don't really remember any more. I'm getting old. XD (I'm not that old!!) Oh, crap...forgot I have a time limit. XD
Gonkfish! Imma ditch! XD